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State is in full possession of jurisdiction in regard to the whole subject of the Freedmen. The care of the negros in the plantations I have mentioned is one of great urgency. When the land is delivered to the lessees what is to be done with them; where are they to go & how are they to be supplied with provisions?

Should not the Freedman's Bureau make an appropriation for their support? I speak particularly in reference to the estates of Mr. Carter. His heirs, besides their great loss of property, amounting to many hundred thousand dollars, will have the remnant in cumbered with a heavy debt, for expenses already incurred in maintaining the liberated slaves. The land will be placed in the possession of the tenants who have rented it, on the 1st January. Some of the freedmen may enter into contracts to continue on the plantations, but they generally share a just indisposition to do so, & the women & children, where there are no men in the families, will be unable to support themselves. 

I have already incurred as I said, a heavy debt, & can do no more for them.  Some action I think should be taken by the Bureau for their present relief, if it be but temporary.  When the condition of labor, in Virginia, becomes more settled, & the State authority is recognized, without doubt, the whole subject will be placed on a satisfactory footing. Until then there must be great suffering, unless there be an interposition on the part of the U.S. government. And it should be remembered that these people are brought into this destitute condition by no act of their own.

I respectfully ask Col. Brown to place this statement before Genl. Howard as soon as he can do so, & to refer him to my communication of last September, which is on file at the Freedman's Bureau in Washington.

Wm. F. Wickham
December 9th 1865

Col. Orlando Brown, U.S.A.
Richmond -

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