Even more far-reaching in its effects upon the State as a whole than the relief of the destitute was the relationship existing between labor and the bureau. Soon after the bureau commenced its operations, General Howard issued instructions to his subordinates outlining the general policy of the bureau in this regard. Agents were to be appointed in each sub-district to look after labor matters, with the special duty of approving contracts and settling the rate of wages. In regard to certain things, such as the freedom of choosing employers, the abolition of any form of compulsory, unpaid labor, the abolition of the overseer system, and the prevention of any acts of oppression, the rules were general and inflexible, but his instructions otherwise were merely advisory, to be modified as local conditions might demand. Written contracts were recommended as safer and less likely to cause misunderstanding. To facilitate the work of furnishing employment, Colonel Whittlesey entered into an arrangement with L. P. Olds & Co., a firm of land agents, by which an intelligence office was maintained in almost every county in the State. The agents at once began supervising the making of contracts, and by March 31, 1866, 717 had been witnessed and approved, and over 6,000 negroes had been given employment.* The rate of wages varied, but the average was between $8.00 and $10.00 per month. The witnessing of contracts, however, was far from making labor conditions satisfactory. Even Colonel Whittlesey, always inclined to regard the freedmen with a more partial eye than he did the Southern whites, was obliged to confess, as early as the fall of 1865, that it was extremely difficult to make the negroes keep their contracts. In their unsettled and excited condition a long period of work seemed too irksome, in fact, a return to slavery, and this tendency was increased by the issue of supplies by the bureau and the ease with which they were obtained. Even when they consented to make contracts, it was in most cases for a short period and, whenever possible, for wages rather than for a share of the crop. This was natural, but, in the practical working out of the plan, most disastrous. In most cases no sooner was a payment of wages made than the labor *No figures are available as to the whole number of contracts witnessed. ers, regardless of whether the period of employment had expired or not, abandoned work and proceeded to spend their earnings "in riotous living." The bureau was powerless to remedy this, though in most instances that came before him, Colonel Whittlesey did all in his power to assist employers so treated. The same, however, could not be said of most of his subordinates. Another apparently popular plan of the negroes was to refuse to work just when the crops needed most attention. In many cases of this sort, employers were forced by the bureau to fulfill the terms of the contract, regardless of the failure of the other parties. This injustice rankled and was the cause of many of the cases of cruelty which were reported by the bureau in such horror. It was hard for the planters to accustom themselves to a condition of affairs where a negro could refuse to work, often in a defiant and insolent way, and not be punished for it, and so it is not a remarkable fact that they at times took matters in their own hands. Nor is it to be denied that there were cases of great cruelty and oppression. But these were the exceptions rather than the rule. The bureau officials, partial to a degree in favor of the negroes, said that four-fifths of the white people were ready to treat the negro with fairness,* and it is a fact that many of the remainder would have been so inclined had it not been for the bureau. As time went by, hostility was injected into the relation between the races and labor conditions remained in a most unsettled condition for many years. That they were finally settled after a fashion was in no sense due to the exertions of the bureau, but to the education which experience gave both races and to the natural laws which govern labor. The bureau officials kept the freedmen stirred up and the charge was frequently made that many of the agents made a regular practice of levying contributions from employers by means of threats of taking away their laborers.† To enforce fulfillment of contracts and to protect the freedmen from injustice, the bureau was given judicial powers. The jurisdiction of the bureau courts extended wherever civil courts were interrupted, where negro testimony was not allowed, or where *Ho. Reports, No. 30, 1st Sess. 39th Cong., p. 191. †This charge was wide spread, but the author has never been able to substantlate it. punishment differed for members of the two races, to all cases in which a negro was a party.* Where the punishment exceeded one month's imprisonment or one hundred dollars fine, the case went to a military commission.† In such cases as went to the civil courts, bureau officers were directed to appear as counsel for the freedmen. For some time after the establishment of the bureau, its courts acted without interruption, but when the provisional State courts established by Provisional Governor Holden began their work, complaint was made of the exercise of jurisdiction by the bureau. Governor Holden and General Ruger, who was in command of the department, made an agreement as to the jurisdiction of the civil and military courts, which was satisfactory for a time, but was not generally observed by the bureau courts.‡ As soon as Governor Worth came into office, he made efforts to secure full jurisdiction for the civil courts. The laws of the State, after March 10, 1866, made little discrimination between the races, and it was thought that no valid objection could be made to leaving the entire administration of justice to the State courts. In the case of but one crime was the punishment different for black and white,§ and negro testimony was admitted in all cases where a negro was concerned. In all other cases it was admissible by consent. This difference, however, was sufficient to prevent the bureau from surrendering full jurisdiction, especially as it was provided in the law that negro testimony should not be admitted until State courts were given their full jurisdiction. Jurisdiction in all cases of crimes committed by freedmen, however, was transferred at once. In April, 1866, Colonel Whittlesey attempted to interfere with the whipping of a negro convicted of larceny by writing to Judge Fowle that as white men were in most cases tried by military commissions, a discrimina *Ho. Ex. Docs, No. 11, 1st Sess. 39th Cong., p. 45. Executive Letters, Provisional Governor, pp. 177-9. The agreement was that cases concerning white persons only should be tried by the civil courts, while all those cases concerning negroes should be left to military courts. But the civil courts were given power to order the arrest of negroes and bind them for trial. §An assault with intent to commit rape by a negro upon a white woman was made a capital offence. Ho. Ex. Docs, No. 120, 1st. Sess. 39th Cong., p. 5. tion against the negroes was the result. Judge Fowle with much point replied that under the law the penalty was the same for black and white and that, if military interference with the courts resulted in injustice, a remedy was easily to be found in leaving the cases to the civil courts.* In July the convention removed all distinctions which existed so far as justice was concerned, and, on the 13th, General Robinson, who had succeeded Colonel Whittlesey as assistant commissioner, directed the bureau agents to transfer all cases to the proper civil courts except such as related to wages due under contracts witnessed by bureau officials, which, for the sake of promptness, should be adjudicated as before.† Other claims went to the civil courts, but bureau officials were ordered to attend courts and see that justice was observed. They were also directed to take jurisdiction in such cases as the civil courts neglected. General Robinson stated later that he had no cause to regret his action, as in nearly every instance the courts were fair and impartial. This opinion was also expressed by General Sewall.‡ This was particularly true in regard to the Superior courts.§ Jurisdiction in the reserved cases was retained until the completion of Reconstruction in 1868, when it was surrendered to the regular courts. To facilitate the transition, Governor Holden commissioned all the bureau agents as magistrates.|| No accurate figures are preserved regarding the judicial work of the bureau, but an idea of the immensity of it can be gained from a statement of Colonel Whittlesey in May, 1866, that ten thousand cases of difficulty between blacks and whites had already been settled. General Miles wrote General Howard in 1867 that in one office six hundred cases and in another four hundred were settled within a period of four months.° As to the character of the justice administered by the bureau there is but little doubt. Probably in many cases it prevented *Standard, April 25, 1866. +A short time before this Governor Worth had been engaged in a very heated correspondence with General Robinson, who he thought was making a deliberate effort to bring the administration of justice in the State into disrepute. Ho' Ex. Docs., No. 120, 1st Sess. 39th Cong., p. 35. Sen. Docs., No. 6, 2d Sess. 39th Cong., pp. 101-2. Ho. Ex. Docs., No. 1, 3d Sess. 40th Cong, p. 1038. Ho. Ex. Docs., No. 123, 1st Sess. 39th Cong., p. 21. Standard, December 31, 1867. * injustice; certainly in more it perpetrated injustice. The testimony of a negro, regardless of his character and often of his knowledge of the matter involved, was usually accepted as more reliable than that of white persons of the highest character and the fullest knowledge of the case. And yet ignorance and prejudice were more responsible for the conduct of the officials than bad intentions. But in many cases the power of the bureau was used by its officials for the purpose of humiliating white citizens and thereby giving the negroes a most vivid and popular manifestation of that power. That the influence of the bureau courts upon the negroes was bad is testified to by many competent and qualified to judge. Nor was its influence good upon the white people, for it tended to bring about a condition of utter insubordination and contempt for all courts.† Another activity of the bureau was the apprenticing of orphan negro children and watching the county courts to see that no such negro children were illegally bound out. Under the action of March 10, 1866, former masters were given the preference in securing apprentices, and this was held by the bureau to be a discrimination, working injustice to the negro and smacking too strongly of slavery. Consequently it was overruled at once. Colonel Whittlesey thought the whole *An instance of this may be seen in the following case: W. R. Pool, of Wake, in 1867 had a cotton gin burned and fifteen of his hogs stolen. Some of these were killed near by and the blood and tracks were traced to the house of a freedman named Hinton, where a quantity of fresh pork was found concealed in a bed. He was indicted and at once complained to the bureau. The following letter was the result: "BUREAU OF Freedmen, REFUGEES AND ABANDONED LAND, OFFICE OF AGENT SUB-DISTRICT OF RALEIGH, RALEIGH, N. C., Dec. 4, 1867. W. R. POOL: Albert Hinton complains that you charge him with stealing meat. Mr. Pool, things have come to a strange pass if a colored man cannot buy meat from a wagon in the road without incurring the charge of stealing. You had better look further than this man's house. Perhaps your olfactories will enable you to get on the right scent. You might come to market and seize every piece of meat you find on the stand, on the same principle on which you charge him of stealing. You will call at this office and explain this matter. These men shall be protected in what is just. Yours respectfully, H. C. VOGELL, Agt. B. R. F. & A. L." This letter is to be found in the Sentinel, Dec. 19, 1867. †A. S. Merrimon to Jonathan Worth, Aug. 9, 1867. Worth, I., p. 555. Executive Letters, |