"
Some half-hearted steps were taken to accomplish this, in
part, by putting the whole matter again in charge of the
special Treasury agents. Laws of 1863 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 em-
ployed; 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.
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