results accomplished. The accounts of the office prior to the time when I assumed charge having been imperfectly kept, I shall be unable to furnish a perfect statement, though I hope to render one very nearly so.

NUMBER SUPPORTED BY GOVERNMENT.

The number of freedmen now in my charge who are supported by the Government is as follows, viz:

Colored orphan asylum in this city . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Employment depot, Algiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Infirm farm, Donaldsonville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

Home farm, Baton Rouge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 694

Rost Colony, parish of Saint Charles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

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Total number of freedmen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,416

Average number in my hands who were supported by

Government during the year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,000

EXPENSE OF SUPPORT.

Rations.

Number of rations issued during the year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366,000

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Value of rations estimated at present prices . . . . . . . . $66,026. 40

Clothing.

Value of clothing issued, estimated at $3 per month

each, for the year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36,000. 00

Medicines.

Medicine and medical attendance, estimated at $50 per

month, for the year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600. 00

Fuel.

Fuel, estimated at $100 per month, for the year . . . . . 1,200. 00

Salaries.

Average cost of services of officers and clerks, estimated

at $800 per month, for the year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,600. 00

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Total yearly cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113,426. 40

Number of freedmen on the plantations in the department

who were managed by the bureau during the year . . . . . . . . . . 50,000

Number of plantations under cultivation by military

orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,500

I have gathered the above estimates from the books kept by me since I assumed charge of the duties of this office in August, 1864, and from the closest possible search of the imperfect records kept by Colonel Hanks in the early pat of the year, which, as you will see by his own returns,* herewith inclosed, marked A, B, and C, do not give prices or value of supplies drawn by him, excepting those of medicine. His letter to me, also inclosed herewith, affects to give his reasons for the imperfection of his records, as well as to be his answer to the requirements of Special Orders, Numbers 297, extract 3, headquarters Department of the Gulf, dated New Orleans, November 2, 1864, a copy of which I also inclose, marked D. * I believe, however, that my figures are as nearly correct as it is possible to have them, and that the total yearly cost of the care of freedmen in charge of this bureau is very nearly that above set forth.

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*Omitted.

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