s.
The Service of Supply solved the problem so far as the ignorant were
concerned; all could serve in that branch.

The officer stated that the trouble with the War Department and with
too many other people, is the tendency to treat Negroes as a homogeneous
whole, which cannot be done. Some are densely ignorant and some are
highly intelligent and well educated. In this officer's opinion, there
is as much difference between different types of Negroes as there is
between the educated white people and the uneducated mountaineers and
poor whites of the South; or between the best whites of this and other
countries and the totally ignorant peasants from the most oppressed
nations of Europe.

In the early stages of the war, there was a great scarcity of
non-commissioned officers--sergeants and corporals, those generals in
embryo, upon whom so much depends in waging successful war. It was a
great mistake in the opinion of this informant, and he stated that the
view was shared by many other officers, to take men from white units to
act as non-commissioned officers in Negro regiments, when there were
available so many intelligent, capable Negroes serving in the ranks, who
understood their people and would have delighted in filling the
non-commissioned grades. He also thought the same criticism applied to
selections for commissioned grades.

It is agreeable to note that such views rapidly gained ground. The
excellent service of the old 8th Illinois demonstrated that colored
officers are capable and trustworthy. An action and expression that will
go far in furthering the view is that of Colonel William Hayward of the
old 15th New York, who resigned command of the regiment which he
organized and led to victory, soon after his return from the war. Like
the great magnanimous, fair-minded man which he is and which helped to
make him such a successful officer, he said that he could not remain at
the head of the organization when there were so many capable Negroes who
could and were entitled to fill its personnel of officers from colonel
down. Colonel Hayward has been laboring to have the organization made a
permanent one composed entirely of men of the Negro race. A portion of
his expression on the subject follows:

"I earnestly hope that the state and city will not allow this
splendid organization to pass entirely out of existence, but will
rebuild around the nucleus of these men and their flags from which
hang