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certain large real estate transactions in and near the city of Washington. Dissatisfaction at length found a mouth-piece and sponsor in the person of a distinguished member of Congress from New-York-Fernando Wood. On the 6th of April, 1870, Mr. Wood rose in his place in the House and offered a resolution charging, "on information and belief," that Gen. O. O. Howard, Commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, had been guilty of malversation and dereliction of duty, and calling for an investigation.

The allegations against General Howard were formulated under twelve distinct heads. The most important of them were: that he had, improperly, and without authority of law, used more than $500,000 of the funds of the bureau for the purchase of lands and the erection of buildings for the Howard University; that portions of such lands had been disposed of improperly to persons of his own family and officers of his own staff; that bonds of the First Congregational Church, of Washington, had been received by him in payment for a portion of these lands so disposed of,—which bonds had not been redeemed or paid; that the buildings had been erected of unfit material, furnished by the American Building Block Company, in which company himself, his brother, and other officers of the bureau were interested as stockholders; that the contracts for the construction of these buildings required this material to be used, thus preventing competition; that the material was so unsuitable and worthless that parts of the building had fallen down in consequence of its use, and that other parts had been repaired and rebuilt, at an expense of several thousand dollars; that lumber belonging to the government had been dishonestly used and appropriated by this patent brick company; that the commissioner had paid from the funds. of the bureau over $40,000 in aid of the construction of the First Presbyterian (Congregational) Church in Washington, taking the church bonds in return, which bonds he had either returned in his accounts as cash on hand, or had sent South for the purposes of the bureau; that he had, also, advanced a large sum from the funds of the bureau to the Young Men's Christian Association, of Washington, taking the bonds of that association in payment, which bonds had been sent to Tennessee to help the freedmen's schools in that state; that he had been interested in the purchase of a farm of over three hundred acres, near the insane asylum, for which the public funds and other property had been used; that buildings were constructed thereon of lumber belonging to the government, which buildings were then let or sold to freedmen at exorbitant prices; and that himself and his brother, Charles Howard, were personally interested in the transaction as a private business speculation; that he had exercised his office with extravagance and negligence, and in the interest of his family and intimate friends; and finally, that he was one of a "ring," known as the "Freedmen's Bureau Ring," which, through connections and influences with the freedmen's savings

banks, and freedmen's schools of the South, favored the political machinery of a party in the Southern States; and that the official authority and power of his bureau had been exercised for personal and political profit.

Mr. Wood's original proposition was, that the investigation of the charges made by him should be carried on by the Committee on Freedmen's Affairs. This was composed wholly of Republican members; but it was thought more appropriate to refer the matter to the Committee on Education and Labor. It accordingly took that direction. This committee was composed of eight Republicans and two Democrats, its chairman being Samuel M. Newell, of Tennessee. The magnitude of the investigation to be entered upon was manifest from the fact that the latest annual report of the bureau showed the total expenditure from its organization down to that date (August, 1879), to have been, in cash, over eleven million dollars; or, including subsistence and stores, over thirteen and a half millions. This was exclusive of the value of abandoned lands and houses used by the bureau. It was also exclusive of some three million acres of public lands.

The investigation occupied several months. It attracted the attention of the press and country to an unusual degree. Both sides were represented by counsel. It was claimed on the part of the prosecution that, through the partisan rulings of the majority of the committee, much relevant and important testimony was excluded. Nevertheless, a sufficient array of admitted or incontrovertible facts was brought forward to enable the minority of the committee to claim that many, if not all, of the charges brought forward by Mr. Wood were fully substantiated by the testimony. The report of the majority of the committee, on the other hand, was a complete exculpation of the commissioner, and a eulogy of himself and his associates. The testimony, however, has gone into the permanent records of the country. It will, in the days to come, confirm the objection made by the author and others in Congress, to such an agency as was created by the Freedmen's Bureau. It furnishes valuable materials for the student, or historian, of the reconstruction period of American history; and to the philosopher, it will illustrate the unfitness of the Federal Government, or its officers, to become the administrators of an eleemosynary fund. It will show that under a written organic law, of granted powers with strict construction, the last place for charitable trusts, is our Federal system and its agencies. It is not within the scope of this work to enter into the minute details developed in this investigation. A brief glance at some of the more salient points will show the good sense, and good law which inspired President Johnson's veto. The first charge that of using half a million dollars of the funds of the bureau for purchasing the lands and erecting the buildings of the Howard University—was not disputed; but the act itself was justified and commended by the majority of the committee. And yet, it was certainly an expenditure of very questionable propriety. It was made at a time when the most imperative needs of the

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homeless and naked freedmen demanded shelter and plain, warm clothing, and when their children could not obtain even the first rudiments of education. The Freedmen's Bureau was created for the avowed purpose of providing for the wants of the more destitute freedmen and refugees. It was a gross and palpable misapplication of its fund to apply any portion of it, and particularly so large a portion, to the erection of pretentious university buildings. No such provision had ever been made by the United States Government for the education of other classes of citizens, except in the case of army and navy officers. The misapplication of the freedmen's fund to this use was as gross as would be that of any other charity fund, when applied to the erection of palatial school buildings.

The purchase of several squares of land in the city of Washington by General Howard, Senator Pomeroy, of Kansas, and John R. Evans, of Washington, trustees of the Educational fund, which was a branch of the Freedmen's Bureau, and the erection thereon of seventy-six tenement-houses for occupation by colored families, was another rather unfortunate exercise of judgment in the use of the fund The aggregate cost of this enterprise was about $124,000 The reason assigned for it was, that there were 33,000 destitute freedmen in the city who were about to be turned out of the old condemned barracks and other temporary buildings which they had been occupying; but the accommodations thus provided would only furnish shelter to some 1,300 persons. The remainder of the 33,000 persons were literally left "out in the cold." Besides, the bureau had at its disposal 3,000,000 acres of the public lands. On these it should have settled the freedmen. Ample funds to transport them were at their disposal. Would not that have been a wiser course than trying to establish these poor colored people at Washington? It was, therefore, quite natural that the minority of the committee, at least, should regard the real estate speculation with some suspicion. The majority of the committee, however, failed to see anything in it that was not proper and prudent.

Another real estate transaction of much larger proportions, is of still more questionable propriety. It received attention. This was the purchase of what was known as the Barry Farm. This farm was a tract of about three hundred and seventy-five acres adjacent to the government insane asylum. It was within a mile from the city limits. The motive assigned for the acquirement and settlement of this property was a philanthropic one. The plan was, that the farm might be cut up into small homesteads for colored families, which they could acquire in ownership on the installment principle. It was accordingly mapped out into small holdings. These were sold on a graduated scale of prices, ranging from $125 to $300 per acre. These prices were made so as to cover, as it was said, the original cost, which was $52,000. The chief quartermaster of the bureau furnished to the acquirer of each of these lots, lumber to the value of $70, for the construction of a dwelling-house.

They

were, like the houses in Sir Thomas More's Utopia, to be built in all their appointments according to a uniform plan. Thus the little colony was started. For a year or two the plan promised to be a moderate success; but the negroes soon became discouraged. The land consisted for the most part of gravelly, precipitous hill-sides, of no possible value for farming or gardening purposes. Employment at fair wages was hard to be got in the city or neighborhood. The payment of the installments became irregular, and when it ceased, the payments already made were forfeited. The dwellings began to fall into dilapidation and abandonment; and up to the present day, the progress of decay, poverty, and ruin in this ill-fated negro colony has been regular and uninterrupted. It was this enterprise on the part of General Howard and his associates that was the subject of the most unfavorable comments by the public at large. It was very severely condemned by the minority of the committee; but the majority of the committee saw in it nothing deserving of censure or disapproval.

The operations of the bureau and its officials in the Southern States were not examined, in this investigation. If they had been, the developments might have been even more disgraceful than those which were actually brought to light. The impression made on the public mind by the exposure of these facts was unfavorable to the bureau, its management, and its officers. Soon afterwards General Howard was assigned to army duties. The Freedmen's Bureau ceased to exist. The failure of the Freedmen's Bank, in which the same loose business methods were practiced, and in the management of which many of the officials of the bureau were more or less connected, gave the coup-de-gráce to this politico-philanthropic scheme. It had its origin chiefly in sectional bitterness and pseudo humanity. Its main motive was a desire to perpetuate the existence of the Republican party; and its close was appropriately attended by an ignominious failure of its political designs, and by the spoliation of the poor, industrious colored people of the South and of the District of Columbia, whose hoardings, to the amount of several million dollars, had been entrusted to the Freedmen's Savings Bank, and its branches in the Southern States.

CHAPTER XXV.

KU-KLUX OUTRAGES.

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RESISTANCE TO RECONSTRUCTION MEASURES—INTIMIDATION AND TERRORISM IN THE SOUTH PREVALENCE OF LAWLESSNESS SECRET SOCIETIES - THE KU-KLUX KLAN-VIRGINIA AN EXCEPTION-GENERAL FORREST'S TESTIMONY -STRENGTH OF THE KU-KLUX ORGANIZATION-ITS MODE OF OPERATIONSHISTORY OF OUTRAGES IN NORTH CAROLINA—THE KIRK-BERGEN REBELLION - DISREGARD OF WRITS OF HABEAS CORPUS-IMPEACHMENT OF GOVERNOR HOLDEN-PARTISAN AND INCOMPETENT JUDGES - INCENDIARY ADDRESS OF REPUBLICAN MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE-CAUSES OF THE LAWLESS

NESS.

C

NE of the capital offenses of the Republican party during the first few years after the war, consisted in the attempt to rule the South and their elections by the military power. They forgot the teaching of Mirabeau, that bayonets are too often the only remedy applied to the convulsions of the oppressed, and that they never establish anything except the peace of terror and the silence of despotism. Those who have no faith in the discriminating judgment of the people naturally regard them as the furious herd to be held in check. They forget that they are always quiet and moderate when free, and violent and unruly only under those governments which systematically debase them, in order to have a pretext to despise them. This teaching of Mirabeau, among other civil lessons, had no place in the ethics of Congress. There was nothing of wisdom spoken to justify the obnoxious and forceful laws which kindled anew the coals of contention. Even members of Congress, after the war was over, cried out for an army again, to march against the vanquished Southern people. Philippics were hurled, based upon thousand-tongued rumor, against secret organizations in the South. The Ku-Klux secrecy was the pretext for these cries. No one undertook or undertakes to justify the Ku-Klux system of repression. There are reasons higher than ordinary reasons why efforts should have been made to remove the causes or the occasion of such secret associations rather than to remove their effect. The conduct of the oppressed Southern people aroused the spirit of retaliation in the minds of those who