Report of the Joint select committee appointed to inquire into the condition of affairs in the late insurrectionary states, so far as regards the execution of laws, and the safety of the lives and property of the citizens of the United States and Testimony taken.

ALABAMA — SUB-COMMITTEE. 1713
Answer. The first one I ever heard-I do not remember who it was-but I heard a
Mr. Coon-I believe he was a senator-announce that sentiment in the upper room in
this court-house, in an address he made.
Question. Did you hear that address?
Answer. I did.
Question. What were the terms of his proposition?
Answer. He announced this general proposition, n in speaking of their condition and
their past condition, and as to their claims or the mortgage they held on this country,
in consideration of what they had done for it, that the land of the leading rebels-I
think he qualified it by saying the leading ones-should be confiscated and apportioned
among those who had lived on them, and amassed these lands and the wealth by which
they had been secured.
Question. There was considerable talk of confiscation, after the war, of leading rebels' property?
Answer. Yes, sir; that was where they first heard of it. I again heard another
speech on that subject, in which they were told honestly what they had to expect in
that direction. I want to qualify that with reference to Senator Coon. I did not say
he told them such would be the case, but he referred to the promise that such would be
the case; neither did he tell them it would not be the case. At another meeting,
however, at which Dr. Blackford, Mr. Doster, and Mr. Keffer, who was at the time, I
think, at the head of the Bureau in this State, made addresses, and Mr. Keffer, in his
address, disabused their minds upon that point; told them not to look forward to that;
that it would not be done; and gave them some very wholesome advice, reminding
them that the rolling-stone gathered no moss. I remember that illustration he used.
But that was for a long time a prevailing idea among the negroes here-that they were
to get something from the Government.
By Mr. RICE:
Question. That was prior to the reconstruction, though, and soon after the war, when
that idea prevailed?
Answer. No; it was not until their attention was turned to politics-about that
time.
By the CHAIRMAN:
Question. Did you ever hear that any general officer, or officer of the Union Army,
about the close of the war, in haranguing the soldiers under his command, had advocated it as the duty of the Government to confiscate the property of the leading rebels, and to divide that property among the soldiers who had aided in putting down
the rebellion?
Answer. I do not remember now; I may have heard of it. It strikes me, upon reflection, that there was something of the kind, but I do not remember who it was now,
or the circumstances. It has passed from my recollection. But now I am inclined to
think there was something of the kind.
Question. So that the idea originated then in the Army, and among the officers of the
Army, did it, toward the close of the war?
Answer. I cannot say that.
Question. You say that the colored people here had been deceived by the promises
made to them by their leaders, that the land of the rebels would be apportioned among
them; that they were to have the lands and the offices; what leaders ever made such.
declarations to the colored people?
Answver. By this I refer to their local leaders here.
Question. Did you hear any such declarations?
Answer. Yes, sir; -I have heard declarations to that purport, and learned from negroes
that they had been made to them. I remember on one occasion some land agent had
some bills stuck up about town giving directions in reference to the pre-emption of
homesteads, and the word got out that his business was to apportion land among the
negroes on a certain day. The notice was that the agent would be here on a certain
day, and quite a number of negroes came to town on that day, apparently without any
special business, looking around; and inquiry was made, and they said they had come
to get their lands; they had understood the man was to be here on that day, and they
had come to get them. Who started that rumor I do not know; but it goes to show
the credulity of the negro, and that such things had been talked of to him.
Question. Do you know, or have you heard, that any efforts have been made to prevent persons who had been the victims of violence, or who knew of such outrages, from
coming before this committee in Livingston?
Answer. I do not.
Question. You are not cognizant of any effort made in any direction or in any way to
prevent witnesses from coming here?
AnUswer. None in the world.
Question. Have you heard an instance of a witness who was on his way from Choc108 A