Letter from William McBurney in Charleston to Thomas B. Ferguson at Dean Hall Plantation concerning the hiring of freedmen. McBurney writes that after a survey of other Cooper River plantation owners he finds that most are offering a share of the crop instead of monthly pay "whether from a want of ability to pay wages or because they believed an interest in the crop would secure a more steady course of labor and prevent stealage." McBurney informs Ferguson that he has written up a contract and submitted it to General Scott at the Freedmen's Bureau for acceptance. He fears the general will alter his submitted contract in favor of the former slaves and writes that officials in the bureau think the "freedman and the white northern laborer" are the same. 2p. February 1, 1866.
