Viewing page 23 of 268

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

8
them the very last dollar.
[[left margin]] Action of last therm of District Court. []/left margin]]
In trials of cases before the District Court convened in October, I exercised special supervision, and the fact that upon one occasion I set aside the proceedings of a Justice Court, convinced the Grand Jury of a determintaion to guard the interests of Freedpeople, it was the strict surveillance that prevented a single Freedman or woman tried before the District Court being sent to the penitentiary, and not because the jurors were disposed to be lenient.
[[left margin]  State Penitentiary [[/left margin]
In the State Penitentiary at this point there are daily additions being made of Freedpeople from all parts of the State; it can only be hoped that a change of the form of State of Government will end in the liberation of many confined therein, whose only fault consisted in having incurred the anger of former masters and are now the victims of their persecution or being found guilty by a bitterly prejudiced jury of theft, ie, petty larceny, and sentenced from two to ten years imprisionment.
[[left margin]  Acts of Legislature Labor Law [[/left margin]
In reference to the Acts of Legislature regulating labor, the Vagrant Law, and the Apprentice Law, I would state that here is a disposition to comply with the Labor Law and the Apprentice Law.  Contracts have been drawn up in compliance with the Acts of Legislature on the subject

Transcription Notes:
---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-04-15 16:09:01