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0011

I regret the Department is unable to furnish some Medicines for the indigent Freedpeople here. The Social relations between white and colored though in the main unchanged present no sign of improvement. in fact more Complaints than usual have been made during the month of both Freedmen and women being beaten by whites on trivial or no provocation. I refer such cases promptly to the District Magistrate but redress is so slow, uncertain & expensive that the result practically increases, not remedies the injury. Nothing can set this right but having at least a moiety of Magistrates selected from the non slaveholding class.

The Political relation of the white and colored are as friendly as can be expected between parties whose principles are diametrically opposite That freedmen will cast their votes for Republican candidates is certain and it is equally certain that their doing so will give great offense to many employers. Already men are being punished in advance in the various way, so easy for proprietor or employer to resort to without infringing the letter of the law.

The Moral condition of the Freedmen admits of infinite change for the better and such change must be brought about before they can advance in the social scale. Even yet the marriage  relation is considered more a legal than moral bond 

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---------- Reopened for Editing 2024-03-19 18:08:19