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Disposition to Labor

Nearly all of the freedmen in these counties, have made contracts for this year, and judging from the indications so far developed, I believe they will fulfill their share of the contract, if the employer performs his.

On some of the plantations I have visited, I found some of the Freedmen greatly dissatisfied and not disposed to labor with the energy or interest their contracts required, Upon investigation, I ascertained that this dissatisfaction was caused by the dishonest conduct of several of the employers, in failing to pay them for last years labor. The freedmen naturally felt a distrust in some of their employers on this account, but upon assuring them of the necessity of their laboring for their support and also that their rights would be protected, I succeeded in doing away with their feeling of distrust and they are now working faithfully.

[[stamp]] THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UNITED STATES [[/stamp]]

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