The war and its consequences have laid waste nearly all the old fields, only a few acres were cultivated this year to raise sufficient corn for the immediate use of the respective families and the small amount of stock they succeeded in retaining after the many raids and campaigns which took place in the State of Mississippi. Even these attempts will only prove partially successful, for, although the final suppression of the rebellion was evident for the past two years, the collapse which followed the surrender of the rebel armies brought with it all the consequences of an unforeseen surprise. The people had in no way provided for this contingency, and of course became very restive, when all property which they had so long been accustomed to look upon as their own suddenly assumed a doubtful character. Their "slaves" began to wander off and left their masters, and those growing crops, which could only be matured and gathered by the labor of the former slaves. For the first time the people saw and appreciated the extreme poverty into which they were thrown by the consequences of the rebellion, and it will hardly surprise any one familiar with human nature, that people in good standing before the war should resort to all kinds of schemes, even disresputable ones, to retrieve their broken fortunes.
Theft and every species of crime became matters of every-day occurrence. The large amount of government cotton in all parts of the State proved a welcome objective point for every description of lawlessness. Absent owners of cotton were looked upon by these people as public enemies and became the victims of their (mostly illegal) speculations during the rebellion. This state of affairs continued for some time in all portions of the district not occupied by United States troops, and were in most instances accompanied by outrages and even murder perpetrated on the persons of the late “slaves.”
As soon as a sufficient number of troops could be brought into the district, I placed garrisons at such points as would, as far as my means permitted, give me control of almost every county. By the adoption of this system I succeeded in preventing this wholesale system of thieving, and a portion of the stolen goods was recovered and returned to the owners, while the outrages on negroes and Union men sensibly diminished.
From the beginning of the occupation until a recent period only five (5) cases of murder or attempted murder occurred in my whole district, and I had no apprehension but what I would be able to stop the recurrence of such crimes effectually. The troops at my disposal were, however, sadly reduced by the recent muster-out of cavalry and infantry regiments.
Attala and Holmes counties were, on my arrival, the theatre of the greatest outrages; the interior of these counties was garrisoned by cavalry detachments, which communicated with the infantry posts along the railroad, and they (the cavalry) were most effective in preventing crime and arresting malefactors, thus affording the much needed protection to peaceable inhabitants. The cavalry garrisons, however, were withdrawn about two (2) weeks ago for muster-out, and since that time four (4) murders, two of white Union men and two of negroes, have been reported to me from Attala county. The infantry garrisons along the railroad are actively endeavoring to effect the arrest of the suspected parties, but the chances of success are exceedingly doubtful, as only mounted troops can be successfully used for that purpose.
There is no doubt whatever that the state of affairs would be intolerable for all Union men, all recent immigrants from the north; and all negroes, the moment the protection of the United States troops was withdrawn.
In support of this opinion permit me to make a few remarks about the citizens. Although the people, as a general thing, are very anxious for peace, and for the restoration of law and order, they hardly realize the great social change brought about by the war. They all know that slavery, in the form in which it existed before the war, and in which they idolized it, is at an end; but these former slave owners are very loth to realize the new relative positions of employer and employé, and all kinds of plans for “new systems of labor” are under constant discussion. The principal feature of all plans proposed is that the labor of the nominally freedmen should be secured to their old masters without risk of interruption or change. This desire is very natural in an agricultural community, which has been left for generations in the undisturbed enjoyment of all the comforts and independent luxuries induced by a system where the laborer and not the labor was a marketable commodity. It is, however, just as natural that those most interested should differ essentially with the slaveholder on that point. They naturally claim that they (the laborers) have by the war and its consequences gained the right to hire out their labor to whomsoever they please, and to change their relations so as to insure for themselves the best possible remuneration. The defenders and protectors of this last position are principally the agents of the Freedmen's Bureau and the co-operating military forces, and of course they are not liked. Their decisions and rules are looked upon by former slaveholders, and late rebels generally, as the commands of a usurper and a tyrant, and they will continue to be so regarded until a general resumption of agricultural pursuits shall have brought about a practical solution o this much vexed question, which, "in abstracts," is rather perplexing. I think that if each party is compelled to remain within the bounds of justice and equity by the presence of a neutral force, i. e. United States troops, one year's experience will assign to both employers and employés their respective relative positions.
As soon as this most desirable end is attained, and the labor of the southern States regenerated on a real free labor basis, and thus brought into harmony with the other portions of the Union, the exclusive and peculiar notions of the southern gentlemen, so much at variance
