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S.A.C. 32nd Sub Distr Cotton Gin Texas Sir I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your communication of Dec 21/67 - with inclosures The Asst Commissioner directs me to instruct you, that all authority vested in officers & agents of this Bur by the Act of Congress passed July 16th 66 still continues. You have therefore full jurisdiction in the cases you mention (See 14 Sec of Act of Congress enclosed.) You are expected to see that exact & impartial justice done between the freedmen & their employers, & to enforce your orders by force, imprisonment or both. In the case of Mr Jefferson, it would have been proper for you upon the evidence, which would clearly sustain an action for false imprisonment, to have fined the defendant five hundred dollars, & I should advise that you make a selection of several of the worse cases, & mulct them heavily by fine. Compel respect for your decisions, & punish severely all contempt of your authority. Your district is a difficult one, but it is thought that
Transcription Notes:
mulct - extract money from (someone) by fine or taxation.