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EB 176
D of T. 1867
Hd. Qrs. Dist. of Texas. 
Galveston. Texas. Jany 17. 1867. 

Respectfully returned.
By reference to Sec. 1. Act. Appd. March 12. 1863. Sections 1. 2. 10 & 11. Act. Appd. July 12. 1864, it will be seen that investigations such as within contemplated, were made the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury Department, through his trusted or appointed agents, for the collection and disposal of confiscated lands and property.

Had such investigations been deemed a proper subject for Military Boards, General Orders, No. 331, series of 1863, A.G.O. War Depart. would have been doubtless so construed by the Treasury Officials; but, a duty specifically enjoined by Statute subsequent, prevents the possibility of any such construction after its promulgation, whatever may have been the conviction prior. 

This request is considered under the requirements of General Order. 102. series of 1865. A.G.O. War Depart, but it is conceived being precisely similar in character to the General Order above cited, that it does not authorize or empower a District Commander at his own option, and in the absence of an order from superior authority, to convene a Board of Officers for the purpose of determining questions relating to the subject of "Abandoned Lands and Property", but that it obligates, and was so intended in its issue, to aid the Freedmens Bureau in enforcing its legal measures, and to secure that assistance from the military, which would enable its agents, to obtain without obstacle or hindrance, possession of such houses, tenements, lands, and plantations,- as may be determined by the Bureau to be appropriated,- and to maintain authority over the same. 

By Executive Order, June 2. 1865, published in General Orders, No. 110. of 1865. A.G.O. War Depart. all abandoned lands and property not disposed of by the Treasury Department, was directed to be turned over to the authorized officers of the Freedmens Bureau, created by Act. Appd. March 3. 1865., but this property now in question, does not appear to have been so turned over, and it is proposed to resume possession, by the U.S. through the Bureau, by seizure under Sec. 12. of the Act. passed, July 16. 1866, that the jurisdiction conveyed by this section, upon the officers of the Freedmens Bureau, implies under the transfer of the control and management of such property from the Treasury Department, as above set forth; the duty of performing its own investigations, for the guidance of its own official and administrative acts. 

If this "Cotton and Woolens Factory", was taken by the Government, and late in the possession of the Treasury, it could not be now properly in private hands, or constitute a source of revenue to the state of Texas, without there being a "clearance" paper issued by that Department, or some special executive order, in existence for its return. If no proper papers are producible by the parties having control of this property, showing rightful possession, and the fact of its seizure by the Treasury agent, can be established; the inference points to a violation of Sec. 4. Act. Appd. March 12. 1863, relative to such property, found in the insurrectionary states. 

Establishing the data required, to bring this property within the provision of Act. of Congress, declaring it confiscated to the Government, and to be taken possession of, by the Freedmens Bureau; it may be prudent, to submit the case to the War Department, for instructions, the case being peculiar in its status, and involving manufactural interests to the state of Texas, of no unimportant character. 

Chas Griffin.
Bvt. Maj. Gen. U.S.A. 
Comd'g