WASHINGTON, _December 20, 1865_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In reply to the resolution of the Senate of the 19th instant, requesting
that the President, if not inconsistent with the public service,
communicate to the Senate the "report of General Howard of his
observations of the condition of the seceded States and the operation of
the Freedmen's Bureau therein," I have to state that the report of the
Commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands
was yesterday transmitted to both Houses of Congress, as required by the
third section of the act approved March 3, 1865.