Page:Report of the minority of the Select Committee on Emancipation, relative to the bill to establish a Bureau of Freedmen's Affairs.djvu/2

2 desired? May not results directly opposite from those anticipated by its friends flow from it, and a new system of vassalage, only differing in its appellation with the one hitherto existing between the freedmen and their masters, be inaugurated? 4th. Should not the bureau, if established, be under the control and direction of tho Department of the Interior, instead of the War Department? Your committee are of opinion that Congress has no legal power to carry into effect all the provisions of the contemplated bill. A plea of humanity, policy, or war necessity, may be urged in favor of assuming the power, and a forced construction placed upon the plain letter of the Constitution to sanction the act. But a great stretch of power, and an unwarranted perversion of the language of the fundamental law, will have to be resorted to in this instance to attain this end. A proposition to establish a bureau of Irishmen's affairs, a bureau of Dutchmen's affairs, or one for the affairs of those of Caucasian descent generally, who are incapable of properly managing or taking care of their own interests by reason of a neglected or deficient education, would, in the opinion of your committee, be looked upon as the vagary of a diseased brain. No one would, for a moment, suppose that it would receive the serious consideration of any Congress; yet, equally strong claims, upon the score of humanity and philanthropy, might be urged with great force in their behalf. Why the freedmen of African descent should become these marked objects of special legislation, to the detriment of the unfortunate whites, your committee fail to comprehend. The freedmen when under the control of their former masters were taught to till the soil, to act as teamsters, boatmen, cooks; and many of them learned the mechanical branches of trade, rendering them not only capable of earning a livelihood, but becoming a source of revenue to their masters. The propriety of incurring an expenditure of money for the sole benefit of the freedmen, and laying a tax upon the labor of the poor and, perhaps, less favored white men to defray it, is very questionable, and, in the opinion of your committee, unwise and unjust, even admitting it to be lawful. The establishing a bureau on Indian affairs cannot be cited as a precedent for the introduction of the bill on freedmen's affairs. Our relations with the Indians, which caused the establishing of a bureau, differed widely from those now existing between the United States and the freedmen of African descent. The necessity to see that the numerous treaties made with the various Indian tribes were faithfully adhered to, and to facilitate our business relations with them, were among the motives which prompted government to establish a bureau for the purpose, under the provisions of the Constitution. Your committee know of no instance where Congress has undertaken to legislate for the exclusive benefit of the Indians, or of any other class of people. The bill under consideration proposes to make the bureau subordinate to the War Department, and place it under the control of its Secretary. Its purpose is declared to be the adjustment and determination of all questions arising under any present or future law relative to the general superintendence, disposition, and direction of all persons of African descent becoming free by virtue of any proclamation, military rule or order, or by act of the State governments, with power to establish and enforce regulations such as may be deemed proper for the judicious treatment and disposition of freedmen; to assign to them lands for cultivation, to organize and direct their labor, adjust their wages, and receive all returns arising therefrom. The indefiniteness of the bill leaves youyour [sic] committee somewhat at a loss as to the subjects of its jurisdiction, or the method of its operation, but so far as its purposes are foreshadowed by the very general expressions used in the language of the bill, it seems to them liable to very great objections. It is well worthy of consideration whether legislation which is of vital importance to the existence of the nation should be interrupted to give place for the discussion and perfection of such crude and immature plans. No