:;Stii C\i.\(.;ki:s;., J HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. I Report
1*/ Hess ion. \ { Xo. :i.
BUREAU OF EREEDMKN'S AITAIRS.
[To accompany bill II. K. 1.]
11E P 0 K T
nr the
MINORITY OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE OX EMANCIPATION
liKLATIVK TO Till'.
Bill to estahlish a Bit rain, of Fro'dwcii's Affairs.
Jam-art :>o, I-t>4.—( h.lei-od to lie printed.
Tlio minority of the Solcct Committee ou Emancipation suliiniltocl tlieir views.
To the ItonoraJiJc the House of Ripntaitntnrs:
riic undersigned, a minority of the Select Committee on Emancipation, to whom
was recommitted the bill ''to establish a bureau of freedmen's affairs," beg
leave respectfully to
R E P () R T :
That a careful examination of the provisions ol' the bill under consideration
has convinced your committee that it not only involves grave and important
questions, hut likewise a task of groat magnitude to overcome the legal and ap¬
parently just objections which arise upon a fair scrutiny of its contents. Hu¬
manity maybe pleaded in fayor of the passage of the bill, but groat caution will
have to be exercised, not only that the plea be well founded, but that no unin¬
tentional injustice be perpetrated thereby
Anion"-the many questions that arise, and which should, in the opinion of
your committee, be satisfactorily disposed of before the bill is suffered to become
a law, are the following:
1st. Has Congress the legal power to establish a bureau for the purposes con¬
templated in the bill; and are the matters intended to be legislated upon, within
the province of and of a character to make them proper subjects for national
legislation ?
2d. lias Congress the constitutional power to impose a tax upon the citizens
o.f one Slate to support the indigent freedmen of another State, no matter how
humane and charitable the motive prompting the act I
-S'd. AVill the passage of the bill in question produce the effect intended or
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