made between blacks and whites. Governor Parsons, of Alabama, approved of the arrangement, and urged the State officials to comply with the condition, and thus do away with the necessity for military courts in connexion with freedmen affairs. I have no doubt I could have induced the governor of Mississippi to take the same action had I thought it the policy of the government. I was under the impression that General Swayne had made a mistake, and that he would defeat the very objects for which the bureau was laboring. I thought the citizens were not to be trusted with freedmen affairs until they had given some strong evidence that they were prepared to accept the great change in the condition of the freedmen. I had not the least idea that such a limited control as General Swayne now has would accomplish what the authorities desired. The protection he gives freedmen under his order is so limited, and will fall so far short of what the freedmen have a right to expect, that I did not think of bringing the matter before the government. Late orders and instructions from the President convince me that I was mistaken, and that the trial is to be made.
I have issued an order in accordance with these instructions, which I append:
[General Orders No. 8.]
Office Ass't. Commissioner for State of Miss., Vicksburg, Mississippi, September 20, 1865.
The following extracts from Circular No. 5, current series, Bureau Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, and General Orders No. 10, current series, headquarters department of Mississippi, in reference to the same, are hereby republished for the guidance of officers of this bureau:
[“Circular No. 5.]
Bureau Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, Washington, May 30, 1865.
“RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR ASSISTANT COMMISSIONERS.
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“VII. In all places where there is an interruption of civil law, or in which local courts, by reason of old codes, in violation of the freedom guaranteed by the proclamation of the President and laws of Congress, disregard the negro's right to justice before the laws, in not allowing him to give testimony, the control of all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen being committed to this bureau, the assistant commissioners will adjudicate, either themselves or through officers of their appointment, all difficulties arising between negroes and whites or Indians, except those in military service, so far as recognizable by military authority, and not taken cognizance of by the other tribunals, civil or military, of the United States.
| “O.O. HOWARD, Major General, | |
| “Commissioner Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, &c. |
“Approved June 2, 1865.
“President of the United States.
[“General Orders No. 10.]
“Vicksburg, Mississippi, August 3, 1865.
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“VII. This order, (Circular No. 5, paragraph VII, Bureau Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands,) however, must not be so construed as to give the colored man immunities not accorded to other persons. If he is charged with the violation of any law of the State, or an ordinance of any city, for which offence the same penalty is imposed upon white persons as upon black, and if courts grant to him the same privileges as are accorded to white men, no interference on the part of the military authorities will be permitted. Several instances have recently been reported in which military officers, claiming to act under the authority of the order above mentioned, have taken from the custody of the civil authorities negroes arrested for theft and other misdemeanors, even in cases where the courts were willing to concede to them the same privileges as are granted to white persons. These officers have not been governed by the spirit of the order. The object of the government is not to screen this class from just punishment—not to encourage in them the idea that they can be guilty of crime and escape its penalties, but simply to secure to them the rights of freemen, holding them, at the same time, subject to the same laws by which other classes are governed.
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“By order of Major General Slocum:
“Assistant Adjutant General.”
