district commander, for assistance. General Gillem believed
that the relief asked for would be an actual injury, and so
he declined to advance provisions to either. He urged
the farmers to plant extensively, and the freedmen to enter
into contracts for the following year, assuring both races
that each would be held to a strict compliance with their
agreements. Finding that they would receive no aid from
the government, all went to work, and an abundant crop
was made, the first since 1860. The system of labor so de-
ranged at the close of the war, had, in a measure, adjusted
itself to the changed conditions. The whites had become
convinced that free negro labor could be made profitable;
the negroes, on the other hand, had come to believe that
there was no desire on the part of the whites to reënslave
them or cheat them out of their earnings. General Gillem
reported that there were few complaints during his adminis-
tration from either laborers or employers.

There was also an improvement in the political condition
of the state, and a relaxation of the rigors of military rule.
Gillem's first official act was to restore to the civil courts
jurisdiction in cases of horse stealing, and, in fact, of all
cases whatsoever, except in a few instances, where, from
excitement or prejudice on account of race, politics, or
"local animosities" it was believed that justice could not be
secured. In such cases the military tribunals were to con-
tinue to have jurisdiction. Certain of his predecessor's
orders giving to the military tribunals jurisdiction of cases
involving disputes over the division of crops among employ-
ers and employees, and of cases between debtors and creditors
were revoked, except where the Freedmen's Bureau had juris-
diction by act of Congress. These cases were now to be cog-
nizable by the civil courts. He also used his pardoning power
rather freely to relieve from imprisonment many persons con-
victed of crime by General Ord's military commissions. The
cases of all persons who were in confinement awaiting trial on
the charge of horse stealing were directed to be investigated
at once by post commanders, and reports made of those cases
which, in their judgment, would receive impartial justice at
the hands of the civil authorities. Such cases were to be
turned over to the civil courts "with the least possible
delay." General Ord's order requiring licenses to sell coun-
try produce after sunset was revoked, and so were his orders
imprisoning several Vicksburg editors for libel against one
another. A number of General Ord's appointments were
also revoked.

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