cember, 1862, to consider the subject of sequester property and estates, it is ordered:

I. No further seizures of property will be made, except upon claims for debts due the Government, without orders from these headquarters.

II. The commission will sell at public auction all property in its possession that has not been or may not be claimed or released, except such as may be required for the use of the army, and turn over the proceeds thereof to the chief quartermaster subject to further orders.

The commission will cause to be sold as it may deem best the crops of any plantations worked under permits from the Government and pay over to the parties working them a part of the proceeds, not exceeding one-fourth until after the commission is satisfied that their contracts have been properly carried out, and take such other measures in regard to such plantations as may be necessary not involving the Government in any expense beyond its interest in the crops.

III. Persons working plantations under orders from the Government will account to the commission herein named for the whole crop, and the proceeds to which the Government is entitled, when realized by the commission, are to be added to the fund in the hands of the quartermaster.

IV. All supplies in the hands of commercial agencies in the city or country will be sold as speedily as practicable the receipts to be applied to the payment of salaries of agents, who will be discharged and paid, and the balance placed in the hands of the quartermaster. Claims of the Government upon crops for supplies advanced to planters and other parties will be collected forthwith, and all unsettled claims will be placed in the hands of the chief quartermaster for collection.

V. Abandoned estates may be placed in the charge of overseer or other persons upon such terms and conditions as to profits and labor as may be deemed just and expedient by the commission upon full consideration of the rights of the Government and all other parties in interest.

VI. All property real or personal liable to confiscation under the acts of Congress, will, upon proper representation and complaint, as provided by law, be adjudicated and disposed of by the order of the district court provisionally established by the President in pursuance of the acts of Congress.

VII. All products of the country sent to the city of New Orleans in good faith may be sold at market prices by the proprietors or their factors for legal currency of the United States, without restriction or confiscation. Planters will find it for their interest to forward their crops to New Orleans rather than to dispose of them on the plantations.

VIII. Plantation supplies and other articles not contraband of war, necessary to the working of estates or the support of loyal persons, may be purchased in open market by planters or agents in quantities not inconsistent with the interest and safety of the Government for consumption within the lines of the army, upon the approval and order of the commission herein named. This privilege is accorded to well-disposed persons as a measure of relief. Its execution will be closely scrutinized and its abuse will be summarily punished with the most rigorous severity known to military law. Officers of the army are directed and naval and civil officers are requested to assist in enforcing the faithful observance of this order.

IX. Col. E. G. Beckwith, chief commissary; Lieutenant Col. D. H. Strother,* aide-de-camp, and Captain W. Sturgis Hooper,+ aide-de-camp, are charged

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*Substituted for Major Bell, December 25, 1862.

+Substituted for Colonel Kinsman, December 25, 1862

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