Viewing page 154 of 262

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

such a way as to prepare the freedman for his new condition, to aid him during the transition period from slavery to freedom by a United States Agency presumed to be free from local prejudice; to protect him in the enjoyment of his natural and acquired rights immediately consequent upon emancipation; to inaugurate and secure to him a system of free labor, and to foster and develop education. I think much has been accomplished toward this during the three years continuance of the Bureau, and that now we ought, with the protection which wise legislation has thrown around him, to give him a fair trial under its provisions. 
It is very true, that in many parts of the late slave states, it is difficult for the colored man to get justice in the inferior courts. In many counties of all those states, his rights are neglected or positively disregarded. Among certain