Explanation:
General: In accordance with the request embodied in your “Circular Letter” of the 16th. ult.,1 I have the honor to tender the following report of the organization and operations of the Special Commission on Contracts with Freedmen, at Orangeburg, S.C.
Upon the occupation of this District by the U.S. troops, affairs were found to be in a very unsettled state. The “scouts” who had latterly enforced local order and preserved discipline upon the plantations, were disbanded; no civil magistrates had power to act; the planters, uncertain as to the wishes of the United States authorities, were afraid even to defend themselves against aggression and robbery;–while the negro laborers, who in this neighborhood outnumber the whites five to one, already excited by the prospect of freedom, were urged to lawlessness and acts of violence by the advice of many of the colored soldiers. Not only was there every prospect that the crops would be neglected, but it also seemed probable that the negroes would revenge themselves, by theft, insults, and violence, upon their former owners. To avert disorder and starvation, officers detailed for the purpose were sent into the country to explain to white and black alike their condition under the new state of affairs, and to induce the laborers, if possible, to resume work upon the crops,–which are now in the most critical stage. It was soon found, however, that uniformity was needed in these operations; and during the last week in May, Brevet Brigadier General Hartwell, commanding the Brigade, appointed a Special Commission to have charge over all the relations between proprietor and laborer; to supervise contracts, made under Brig. Gen'l. Hatch's orders,2 and to act also as Provost Judges in cases of disorder or crime upon the plantations. The commission originally consisted of four members; afterwards of five; and this number is at present reduced to two by the establishment of an auxiliary board in Columbia, S.C. The limits of jurisdiction are indefinite, and cases are frequently brought to our notice from remote districts of the State.
