, 1865-06-23
EMANCIPATION IN FLORIDA.
Temper of Planters and Freedmen.
The situation Summed Up,

The situation summed Up.
Correspondence Ne1 York Tnbune.l
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., June Il, 1855.
31aj Gen. Gillmorc's emancipation o1dc.
no. M was issued at HiIton Head, May il,
md about the 25th of the same month Il ha4
rained general circulation throughout the
Ustrfct Of Florida. Thepecp1e had for soGe
weeks been anticipating something OF the
Lind, ard no one was taken BY surprise. Il
should be stated to the credit Of the planter
and shareholders generally, that = - soon ~ ss /,
their slaYes together, read to them the 0f:
der. and told lnem thst they were flee-free
as themeslrcs--a1d could 70 and do Us they
rlrased. In d fcE instances the freedmen
were. with threats aud fmprecatioEs, ordered
Of the plantations, and told tb1- death
! would be their fate II they ever returned A
and children, and carried them to the. near
est military post or railroad statlon, ftr. the
purpose OF getting rid Of the useless burdens
forever, and retained as hi,ea 1abofers the
able .bCuied hands Another class, snsI' In
number, proposed to their people TO retEsin
clothing as thess had formerly done, receiving
in a>l respects the same fare and usagc as
io11tesly, or 1eEe the place.. Should Any go
away, they Horld not be permitted to re-
turn: Bnt BY far the larger part OF all the
slnve-oVDeIs propofed to their hands to re-
main On the place, mature the crop, harvest
il, snd promised that about Christmas theS
eh0u;l be ps!d fair wages for their labor.
se1ne entered Into written agreement with
their people aud had the same Witnessed by
III officer Of the artpy.
The freedmen hardly knew what to do with
themselves or with the ooen Of liberty. The
first ard general anxiety was TO do sone-
TfttrF tf7ni 1YEB1 rt-& TEr%+ ~71.3
think Of nothing better than to 90 somewhere
without asking lave or having pass.
Though Jacksonville Is at Least sixty miles
fttm the s'areholdfpg district, set within n
ltw days not less than q Thousand Of the
dirty, 1ag.el, Jolly fellows came into the
| those living In tlat vicinity. The sane took
place At GAINESVILLE, Madison and other towns
| in the State, All sosts ofide9s occupied the
| minds o; tht freedmen. Some supposed their
| labors were all ovcr, but had no ldea Of the
| others thought: the lands Of the planters
| were to be divided among thin. But within
q fw days nearly all were back on their old
! p1a7taticns again, hard nt work on the suf-
| Icing crop. The military took the case in
| hand as far as possible, end the cStrcm. con-
| il,:ion wns Of Ehort duration. But the chaos
| eI.s1avc hns as c1ear q conception OF his sit
| nation as many Of the cx.master5 have Of
| ttcirs. Thss 1,1cw not how to brivg any
influence to bear urcn the negro but ausho-
ri1y and coercion. But US the rule Of the
lash was over. and the power Of reason, mo.
tive and interest tfas unknown, the influence
OF the master WAS quite limited. 4 few in
| Stances If violence occurred i; there E'as Goa.
| s1eIautc rowing Lbuut, md on tl.: whole,
matte,s were quite unsettled. Large mum.
bers were still arriving daily In jacksonville,
and Colonel Nemple. Commandant Of ths
Post, suggested the idea Of sending coul.
| mission INTO the intcEier for the purpose o
adjusting the relation between the two par
lies. 90 is that both would be benelttcd
and tcat the present crop might not be per
nisted 10 srt!er. Brigaaier-Geueral VoGde:
asstuttd to the proposition, and Cssaplaiu
Mccre. Rev. 0sles, and E. 8. 8tetson, Esq.
were selected for that purpose.
Chaplain Moore, who had charge OF the
commission, furnishes the following account
OF lis operations In the Interior; At Bald
viii he met large crowd, just arrived OF
TIE cars, bound for Jacksonville. They wc1s
collected together. aud after brief address,
they concluded to return to thelr tormel
d1esstd large Audience, composed Of Rhou
au equal number Of white and black, Al
Lake Ci'y. EearIy MI the prominent citi
z.us Of the place were present ard manifest
ed the deepest interest in all that WIS sail
and done. The colored people realized thu
recognized as au element Of society, mi
were highly gratifed. From this point tn
commission went North. into the Euwauet
rires country, In the nelghboshood q
White 5Mtnss. visiting plantations BY da1
and holding meetings ut night. They ex
linc, and then returned to thc railroad i
Mtlburn. Fscua this place to Tallahassrs
ill the prominent places wero visited, pub
lie meetings held, and addresses delivered