WAR DEPARTMENT,
Washington, March 16, 1863.
ROBERT DALE OWEN,
JAMES MCKAYE,
SAMUEL G. HOWE,
Commissioners:
GENTLEMEN: The order, of which the following is a copy, sets forth in
general terms the functions and duties with which you are charged by this
Department:
Ordered, That Robert Dale
Owen, of Indiana; Col. James McKaye, of New York, and Samuel G. Howe, of
Boston, Mass., be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners to investigate
the condition of the colored population emancipated by acts of Congress and the
President's proclamation of January 1, 1863, and to report what measures will
best contribute to their protection and improvement, so that they may defend
and support themselves; and also, how they can be most usefully employed in the
service of the Government for the suppression of the rebellion.
The great and constantly increasing colored population thrown upon the
care of this Department in the progress of the war, in the absence of any
legislative provision for their protection and disposal, renders it highly
proper that it should have not [only] the most authentic and accurate
information as to their present condition and as to the experiences of other
communities in like crises, but that such practical measures for placing them
in a state of self-support and self-defense, with the least possible
disturbance to the great industrial interest of the country and of rendering
their services efficient in the present war, should be carefully and maturely
considered and reported.
With these purposes in view, you will repair to such places as you may
deem necessary, in order to obtain on the spot such authentic information as
will enable you thoroughly to understand the matters hereby submitted to your
investigation. Every aid and facility from Government officials in such places
will be scoured to you, at your request, by letters addressed to them from the
proper Department.
You will be allowed a secretary, and, if you should find it necessary,
a corresponding secretary and messenger, and such further aid, stenographic or
other, as you may deem essential to carry out the objects of the commission.
You are authorized to procure for the use of the commission such
official documents, publications, and other writings (ultimately to be placed
in the library of the War Department) as may be necessary in the course of your
investigations and in making out your report.
Your compensation will be a per diem of $8, together with quarters,
fuel, and subsistence at the rates allowed to a colonel of cavalry; and you
will be allowed actual traveling and office expenses on vouchers specifying
such expenses, duly certified by the commission.
While from the nature of the duties assigned to you a precise limit
cannot be affixed for their termination, and while it is very desirable that
they should be prosecuted with all proper assiduity and completed at as early a
day as is consistent with their due performance, you are expected to continue
your labors until you shall be able fully to complete the investigations and
researches herewith committed to your charge, and report the same to the
Department.
You may make to me from time to time, as you see fit, preliminary
reports during your progress, and your final report will be accompanied by such
official or authentic documents as may best substantiate the information and
the recommendations it shall contain.
EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.
SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of
the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series III, Volume
3 (Serial No. 124), p. 73-4
