863 and 1864 directed them to take charge of and
lease abandoned lands for periods not exceeding twelve months, and to
"provide in such leases, or otherwise, for the employment and general
welfare" of the freedmen. Most of the army officers greeted this as a
welcome relief from perplexing "Negro affairs," and Secretary
Fessenden, July 29, 1864, issued an excellent system of regulations,
which were afterward closely followed by General Howard. Under
Treasury agents, large quantities of land were leased in the
Mississippi Valley, and many Negroes were employed; but in August,
1864, the new regulations were suspended for reasons of "public
policy," and the army was again in control.

Meanwhile Congress had turned its attention to the subject; and in
March the House passed a bill by a majority of two establishing a
Bureau for Freedmen in the War Department. Charles Sumner, who had
charge of the bill in the Senate, argued that freedmen and abandoned
lands ought to be under the same department, and reported a substitute
for the House bill attaching the Bureau to the Treasury Department.
This bill passed, but too late for action by the House. The debates
wandered over the whole policy of the administration and the general
question of slavery, without touching very closely the specific merits
of the measure in hand. Then the national election took place; and the
administration, with a vote of renewed confidence from the country,
addressed itself to the matter more seriously. A conference between
the two branches of Congress agreed upon a carefully drawn measure
which contained the chief provisions of Sumner's bill, but made the
proposed organization a department independent of both the War and the
Treasury officials. The bill was conservative, giving the new
department "general superintendence of all freedmen." Its purpose was
to "establish regulations" for them, protect them, lease them lands,
adjust their wages, and appear in civil and military courts as their
"next friend." There were many limitations attached to the powers thus
granted, and the organization was made permanent. Nevertheless, the
Senate defeated the bill, and a new conference committee was appointed.
This committee reported a new bill, February 28, which was whirled
through just as the session closed, and became the act of 1865
establishing in the War Department a "Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and
Abandoned Lands."

This last compromise was a hast