All freedmen, free negroes, and mulattoes shall have the right to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, in all the different and various courts of this State, to the same extent that white persons now have by law. And they shall be competent to testify only in open court, and only in cases in which freedmen, free negroes, and mulattoes are parties, either plaintiff or defendant. . . .

The following persons are vagrants, in addition to those already declared to be vagrants by law. . . . A stubborn or refractory servant; a laborer or servant who loiters away his time, or refuses to comply with any contract for any term of service without just cause. . . .

When any person shall be convicted of vagrancy as provided for in this act, the justice of the peace may, at his discretion, either commit such person to jail, to the house of correction, or hire such person to any person who will hire the same for a period not longer than six months for cash; and the proceeds of such hiring, after paying all costs and charges, shall be paid into the county treasury for the benefit of the helpless in the poor house. . . . 

It shall be the duty of the sheriffs, justices of the peace, and other civil officers of the several counties in this State to report to the probate courts all minors under the age of eighteen years, who are orphans, without visible means of support, or whose parent or parents have not the means, or who refuse to provide for and support said minors, and thereupon it shall be the duty of said probate court to apprentice said minor to some suitable and competent person. If said minor be a child of a freedman, the former owner of said minor shall have the preference, when proof shall be made that he or she shall be a suitable person for that purpose.

It shall not be lawful for any person to interfere with, hire, employ, or entice away, or induce to leave the service of another, any laborer or servant, who shall have stipulated or contracted in writing to serve for any given number of days, weeks or months.

Source: “Laws in Relation to Freedmen,” 39 Cong., 2 Sess., Senate Exec. Doc. 6, Freedman’s Affairs, 170-72.