PREFATORY NOTICE.
It is but reasonable that the people of the North, who have so liberally supplied the means of alleviating the sufferings of the negroes made free by the war, should be permitted to receive full and official statements respecting this peculiar interest, from those who have been entrusted with its management.
It is to gratify their wishes, and at the same time to extend more widely the knowledge of these people's wants and condition, that this document is presented to the public. Believing it to be a matter of no particular importance whether the facts are given in the form of a direct address to the reader, or in the form of a Report, heretofore made to the Department Commander, the latter mode is selected, presuming that it will be more generally satisfactory. The results thus far attained have been reached by sheer experience. We had no precedents. But it is hoped that the record of these labors may be deemed a contribution, of some trifling value, to the history of a great movement, and be made of use to other workers in the same field.
H. J.
