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in possession till such time as their crops were gathered, and in the cases [[strikethrough]]in[[/strikethrough]] to which you refer, the men and women represented to me that they were leaving their gardens. As to the truth or falsehood of these representations I had to be my own judge, and if they were false do not think the blame can attach to me. In regard to the collection of rent on land sold under the confiscation act during Feby last, in such cases where I have done it, (and I have not on any of your lands,) I did it not with the intention of defrauding any one, but simply because I did not know and could not learn the condition of those sales as to whether the rent for the current year was to accrue to the Bureau or go to the purchaser, and when I have collected it, I still hold it subject to the order and decision of Col. Brown to whom I have referred the matter.