Viewing page 33 of 228

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

communication I have arrived at the conclusion that as a general rule, Freedmen do better by hiring for the year, at so much in cash per month, than by any other system of labor and compensation.
(There is no Freedmen school in either Bath or Allegheny and I would suggest the propriety of establishing one at the Warm Springs-the county seat of Bath, where some thirty or forty scholars could attend. The colored people in that neighborhood earnestly desire one but some of the White citizens are strongly opposed to the setting up of such an institution in their midst. An Episcopal minister named Mason, who delivers moral and religious lectures to the Freedpeople there on certain Sunday afternoons, has been subjected to a good deal of obloquy for this manifestation of his true benevolence and piety, and even some of his personal friends have become unpopular in the community because they thought proper to endorse his conduct in this matter. Nevertheless, I do not despair of being able to work a change in the public sentiment of the locality if I am only furnished with a prudent and sagacious teacher who knows when, where, and how to speak, and when to keep silent.)
The health of the Freedpeople in this Sub-district during the month has been good, and the greater part of them are well clothed, and all thus far, have had plenty to eat. I do not expect to have to call on the Government for rations unless their obstinate persistence in refusing to make contracts should, in the case of some few, bring about this unfortunate state of affairs.