The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-06-08
Anafrs I'm Florida

The correspondent of the New
York Herald travelling with Generals
steedman and Fullerton, writes as
follows: y. ) e
Notwithstanding the fair appear
ance of things on the surface, there
ia some danger at Fernandina, and
You need hardly be surprised to heal.
of a repetition of the Memphis and
Newbern nlassaeres in this depart
ment of the South. The danger
arises out of II matter which does n OF.
at first sight, seem to bear any rela-
ton to the position of the>whites and
negroes, viz: the sale of rebel pro
perty in the South by the tax com
mlssioners. A special commissioner
has been sent by the President to in
vestigate those proceedings here, and
also at' Augustine and Beaufort. I
have reason to believe his inquiry
will disclose o succession of gigantic
frauds pervading these sales from be-
ginning to end. Instances have been
mentioned to me Of property worth
$3, 600 being disposed of for hess than
S20; of numerous lots being bound
In, aud of illegalities of the most
palpahle character being committed
all round. Under those circumstances.
it is evident that the titles Of much Of
this confiscated property are very
shaky, and much nl-feeling naturally
prevails between the Northern pur-
chasers and the Southern former
owners. UnscrupuIous men from the
North have taken advantage of this
excited state of the public mind to
urge the negroes to arm against the
Id rebels, who, they teH them,
are going to turn them out of their
little lands. 1 am assured, on au-
thority I can hardly doubt, that the
negroes thus melted held meetings
for drill, and are armed with muskets
to the number of several hundreds,
and an accident or an injudicious act
may bring about q serious outbreak
At Jacksonville, whence l despatch
this letter, similar excitement pre-
walls. Threats, it would seem, have
been made use of by few white
rowdies that they wonld XIII the mig
gers when the troops were withdrawn,
and these fears thus excited have been
turned to such iu-purpose that, on
Friday night last, armed bands of
both negroes and whites passed along
the streets, eaci. expecting attack
from the other side. Happily, no
breach of the peace has yet occurred,
and the military commander is doing
his best to persuade both sides TINT
their fears were groundless.
A delegation of citizens had an in
terview with General Steedman last
evening, and assured him of their
desire to act fairly and Justly to the
freedmen; but, so far as / have seen,
public sentiment is-not by any means
so satisfactory here as at other points
we have visited, nor are the decisions
of the civil courts so just as they
ought to be to the freedmen.
SAVANNAH, GA, May &c, 1866. A
tedious ride from Fernandina to
Jacksonville, thence to Tallahassee,
has enabled us to complete the cir
cult of tho State of Florida. We
have found the Bureau here carefully
and honestly administered by Brevet
Brigadier- General Osborne; the freed
men working at high wages; crop
prospects fairly good, though some
what impaired by heavy rains, and
the people generally we'll disposed to
the Government and to the freedmen,
with the exception l have noted in a
previons letter. Gov Walker and
Gen. Foster, the courteous COM
mander of the department, have
started for Fernandina, to allay the
excitement prevailing there, and to
avoid, if possible, the outbreak which
the injudicious and culpable machi-
nations of Northern agents have rem
dered imminent
onght to mention that one of the
largest purchasers of the property
which has been so questionably dis
posed of in this locality by tho tax
commissioners is United States Sc
nator, Senator Sprague.) This gen.
tleman is actually employing ex-rebel
generals to manage extensive saw
mills he owns in Florida, while sit
ting in the Senate and voting once s.
week that the cx-rebels are virtually
little better than cut-throats, and not
to be trusted
SOUTHERN RELIEF. excursion,
under the auspices of the Ladies' of
the Southern Relief ASSOcintiOn Was