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Opinion of the Commissioner

I will first state the facts of the case. The plaintiff and his family were once slaves, the property of R. W. Morris. Morris hired plaintiff and his family to defendant Scull for the twelve months constituting the year 1865.

Sometime in June of that year, Morris, the former owner, and Scull the defendant, ceased to treat plaintiff and his family as slaves, and about the same time endeavored to make a contract with plaintiff for the balance of the year, entirely denying plaintiff's to any remuneration for the months preceding June, and plaintiff has applied here to learn what his rights are and to have them enforced. Such are the facts of the case.

The date at which he is entitled to recover from is entirely a question of law, how much he is entitled to recover is entirely a question of equity. Whether the holding on treating plaintiff as a slave, in violation of the laws of the United States, was or was not a felony, I will not now enquire into, and hope the question will not be raised now or hereafter.

The whole policy of the Government and of this Bureau is and has been to reconcile as

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