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52 
Bureau Refugees Freedman and Abandoned Lands 
Office Sub Commr Meridian Miss June 8th 1866

Love W. A
DeKalb Miss

Sir

Your communication of the 15th ult having been referred to Genl Thos J. Wood Comdg Dept and Asst Com. Bu R.F. and A L I have the honor to furnish you with a copy of his reply thereto 

“Headquarters”
Department Bureau Refugees Freedmen and Abandoned Lands Mississippi Office Asst. Com for State of Mississippi 
Vicksburg Miss June 2nd 1866

Bvt Maj  JJ. Knox
Sub. Comr District of Meridian

Major 

The enclosed letter of W. A. Love with your endorsement thereon has been considered I have the honor to furnish desired information The within communication appears to contain five questions as follows.
1st Can an Employee under a contract for a given length of time leave his Employer after he has been cruelly treated by his Employer.
2nd Can a Freedman be punished for Vagrancy on the ground that he has left his present Employer and before he has had sufficient time to find another engagement and make a new Contract
3rd Can a party Employing be subjected to penalties for engaging a Freedman who has left his Employer for reasons above set forth.
4th Can a Freedman quit an Employment when he 

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is under Contract without becoming a Criminal
5th Can a White Man Employ a Freedman who has been driven from keeping his Contract by Cruel treatment without becoming a Criminal 
The 1st Interrogatory is answered in the Affirmative
The 2nd Interrogatory is answered in the Negative
The 3rd Interrogatory is answered in the Negative
The 4th Interrogatory is answered in the Affirmative
The 5th Interrogatory is answered in the Affirmative

Regarding the first question and interrogatory: it is not necessary that the acts of the Employer be actually Cruel if his conduct is such as to render the employment oppressive, a breach of Contract on his part is the consequence and relieves the Employee. In the second any man while seeking employment is in the eyes of the Law engaged in lawful and proper business. Vagrancy attaches the the moment the man throws aside lawful business and permits himself to become a burden on the community. The 3rd and 5th questions and interrogatories relate to the effect the hiring of a Freedman who had been forced to leave his Employer for maltreatment will have upon person Employing In this case the new employer is not guilty even if it were in accordance with the provision of the "Civil Rights Bill” and it certainly is not to make a criminal act of this or subject him to penalties for it is a principal of Law that every man is supposed innocent until proved guilty. The new Employer would not be supposed to know that the applicant has broken a Contract or in any way laid himself be liable to the penalties of the law which would make the hiring of him effect the Employer. The truth is there is no breaking of a Contract in the act of leaving an Employer for Maltreatment if the Contract

Transcription Notes:
-ult=abbrev for ultimo -Comdg=abbrev for Commanding -"interrogatory", rather than "interrogating" "a written question which is formally put to one party in a case by another party and which must be answered" ---------- Reopened for Editing 2024-06-25 11:34:39