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Office Asst. Supt. Matthews & Gloucester Co Va
Matthews Ct. Ho. Va January 31st 1867
Bvt. Brig. Genl. O. Brown
Richmond Va.

General
I have the honor to forward the following report of the condition of Bureau affairs in this sub district for the past month.
There has been but little change in affairs since my last report. The employers see more than ever the good effects of the contract system and are very generally adopting it-more so than the past year. The plan of renting land and shares is the favorite system of labor with the colored rather than working at stipulated wages. Probably three fourths of this class of laborers rented land on share the past season, and the proportion will hardly be less the coming season.
The terms in which the Freedmen rented land last year was very favorable to