35 THE FREEDMEN’S SAVINGS BANK
sidered it essential to the welfare of the ex-slaves.
The Negroes were given to understand that the
institution was absolutely safe, since it was under
the guarantee of Congress and had its funds invested
 in United States securities which were
good as long as the government should last. The
fact was also emphasized that it was a benevolent
 scheme solely for the benefit of those who
had once been slaves. The profits, they were
told, would be returned to the depositors as interest,
 or would be expended for Negro education.
The Douglas Report (1876) criticized severely
the methods of the promoters, charging, among
other things: “In regard to this bank the grossest
deception was practiced upon the Negroes. They
were told that it was a government institution
and its solvency and safety guaranteed by the
United States. Missionaries, of whom the chief
was Alvord, perambulated the South, mixing
religion, politics and education, and teaching the
blacks how to ‘toil and save’ and then trust their
hard earned savings to Alvord and his associates
to invest them, not until, however, they had
levied toll for their services in bestowing such
inestimable benefits and for their disinterested
labors and sacrifices.”
The Freedmen’s Bureau was soon more closely
associated with the bank. George W. Balloch,
then chief disbursing officer of the Bureau, later
a trustee of the bank, gave material aid by allowing
 the offices of the Bureau agents throughout
the South to be used rent-free by the branch
banks; and often the agents acted without charge
1 To. Report No. 502, 44 Cong., 1 Sess.

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