_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
Herewith I lay before you a letter addressed to myself by a committee of
gentlemen representing the freedmen's aid societies in Boston, New York,
Philadelphia, and Cincinnati. The subject of the letter, as indicated
above, is one of great magnitude and importance, and one which these
gentlemen, of known ability and high character, seem to have considered
with great attention and care. Not having the time to form a mature
judgment of my own as to whether the plan they suggest is the best, I
submit the whole subject to Congress, deeming that their attention
thereto is almost imperatively demanded.