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Bureau Refugees, Freedmen and Abd Lands
Office Asst Supt Co's Jefferson & Berkeley
Harpers Ferry W Va. December 31st 1866

Sir
I have the honor to report the condition of Affairs in these two counties as favorable, though not as a whole what might be desired. So long however as the black race remain in their present uneducated condition so long will they be the victims of unprincipled men. This want of knowledge has often led them to commit mistakes in their dealings with their employers, which in the end has subjected them to loss. As the Courts of this State make no distinction in the races, their condition in this respect cannot be bettered. I have however endeavored to settle all disputes without recourse to law and have so far been successful, and I find that a pressing demand will bring the money quicker than a suit at law though no hesitation need be made in bringing suit, as the Officers of the Law treat them with all the fairness that the Law demands. Still, in an aggravated criminal case in certain localities I fear that the Justices of the Peace, for want of courage, would be led to patch up the matter rather than bring it to trial. If the suit now brought before the Supreme Court of the United States for the return of these two Counties to the State of Virginia should be successful, the advantages now enjoyed by the colored inhabitants will be lost, as a complete revolution will take place in Office Holders, and bitter rebels will occupy

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