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Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, 
HEAD QUARTERS 2nd SUB-DISTRICT, VIRGINIA,
Petersburg, Va., December 31st 1867

Bt. Brig. Genl. O. Brown
Asst. Com'r Bu R F &c
Richmond, Va. 

General: -
I have the honor to inform you that in compliance with existing orders I have completed my tri-monthly inspection and report as follows. 
1st General Condition of the Freedmen.
In my opinion the Freedmen have never been so poor as at the present time. 
Being naturally indolent, working mostly on shares in the country, being on impoverished soil to cultivate, lacking all skill and judgment necessary for successful farming; after defrauded in a division of the crop, which this year was unusually small, these people in the agricultural district find themselves but poorly provided with the necessaries to prevent suffering during the winter. In this city their conditions is still worse; unsuccessful farming and defraudation drives them into the settlements, where too many already have congregated; here they eke out a miserable existence on the fruits of an occasional days work, or of crime. The number crowding into this city is continually increasing, and all that come stay; hence apart from the