may at first be imagined.
He is in a portion of the country where his labor can not well be
spared. Competition for his services from planters, from those who
are constructing or repairing railroads, and from capitalists in his
vicinage or from other States will enable him to command almost his own
terms. He also possesses a perfect right to change his place of abode,
and if, therefore, he does not find in one community or State a mode of
life suited to his desires or proper remuneration for his labor, he can
move to another where that labor is more esteemed and better rewarded.
In truth, however, each State, induced by its own wants and interests,
will do what is necessary and proper to retain within its borders all
the labor that is needed for the development of its resources. The laws
that regulate supply and demand will maintain their force, and the wages
of the laborer will be regulated thereby. There is no danger that the
exceedingly great demand for labor will not operate in favor of the
laborer.

Neither is sufficient consideration given to the ability of the freedmen
to protect and take care of themselves. It is no more than justice to
them to believe that as they have received their freedom with moderation
and forbearance, so they will distinguish themselves by their industry
and thrift, and soon show the world that in a condition of freedom they
are self-sustaining, capable of selecting their own employment and
their own places of abode, of insisting for themselves on a proper
remuneration, and of establishing and maintaining their own asylums and
schools. It is earnestly hoped that instead of wasting away they will by
their own efforts establish for themselves a condition of respectability
and prosperity. It is certain that they can attain to that condition
only through their own merits and exertions.

In this connection the query presents itself whether the system proposed
by the bill will not, when put into complete operation, practically
transfer the entire care, support, and control of 4,000,000 emancipated
slaves to agents, overseers, or taskmasters, who, appointed at
Washington, are to be located in every county and parish throughout the
United States containing freedmen and refugees. Such a system would
inevitably tend to a concentration of power in the Executive which would
enable him, if so disposed, to control the action of this numerous class
and use them for the attainment of his own political e