The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1880-07-20

talking pATsne1b my deny thu, but the bo8ic q
facts win demonstrate Il Il yoa please. why
does NOS Leon coanty thsiys; snd Mhy 60 nos
Of the pleasantest and most lovely towns to Be-
found anywhere and still II h asquiet as grave
yard, except In cotton picking time. Northern
Immigrants do not 60 there, and the place only
illustrates the inspiration and the genus and the
siunted or dwaried policy that viii characterize
Mr. Boloxham's reign, IL elected.-Ssa oad Pness
The reason that settlers do not 60 70 Leon
county in droves il very plain-there are too
many Republican voters there. Those who stand
anu vote with Bloxham number q little over one
thousand, while those who stand and vote with
Conover number over three thousand This
is Mr.. Conover's own county, and his party Is in
. majority of over Two thousand. II the ascend
ancy Of Republication l. 90 attractive to North
ern immigrants, surely Mr.. Conover's own county
ought TO be q very paradise. But Leon county,
with its two thousand Republican majority re-
polling immigration, we are told " illustrates the
inspiration and genius, and the stunted and
dwarted policy that win characterize Mr. Blox-
hams reign, If elected" Wonderful logic How
profound must be the mind that from such prem
ises can draw such conclusions Union
Well retorted but the Union might
have added q few "facts of history"
which would go further to show "why"
settlers do not ego there in droves."
The great preponderance of blacks
over whites is one strong reason for,
however much the Northern man may
howl over the imaginary wrongs of the
negro at distance, it is noticeable that
he will not settle if he can help it in a
community where the blacks largely out
number bis own race. The reasons for
this repugnanoe are manifold: ~ There
is the prejudice Of color, which is very
strong among those not accustomed to
negroes. (2.) The supposed greater prev
alence of crime in such communities,
which renders property, to say nothing
of life, less secure than in sections where
the whites predominant, for it is fact
that wherethe Republican party in Florida
is strongest, there, as ageneral thing, will
be found the greatest insecurity to person
al property and the greatest decline in the
value of all property. (s) The disorders
and violence charged by " outrage manu-
facturers as existing in black counties,
which scares immigrants away, for these
" outrages " are almost invariably located
in the "black belt,'s and no doubt pur-
posely so.
These are some of the reasons why set
tiers do not come into Leon county "in
droves;" but there are other causes
which doubtless have their influence. One
of these is the outrageous financial mis-
government under so-called Republican
rule by which the county was saddled
with debts which make taxation onerous.
For three years and more Democratic Off
Gals have struggled with the burdens left
by their predecessors, and though they
have been reduced they are still sufficient
ly large to make them grievous to tax
payers and render present settlers dissat-
isted, and of course discourage new ones.
1t will not be out of place just here to
present few striking facts to illustrate
the reckless management of former years
in comparison with that under the new
rule which commenced in January, 1877.
The figures are from the official records
and entirely reliable:
County scrip outstanding Jan. l, y. $ss s67 81
Reduction in three years. $1O,SSe.7
For the four years Immediately preced
ing the turning over of the county gov
eminent to the Democrats in 1877, with
this immense load of outstanding scrip
(1e73, 4, IS and '6,) the taxes County tax
proper assessed to pay ordinary expenses
amounted in gross to 5S,ls2.l9, or an
average of &lS,S7o.55 year, and not
withstanding this heavy taxation, when
the corruptionists were forced to surren.
der their abused power they left the
county, as we have seen, burdened with q
mass of unredeemed scrip, (some $500 Of
which it has since been proved was fraud
ulently issued,) which has crippled the
finances of the county and will continue
to cripple them for years to come; while
on the other hand, during the three years
the county has been under Democratic
control, (s77, g and '9O the aggregate
amount of "county tax proper assessed
has amounted to only &26,645.5S, or an
average of 3s,ss4.s4 year, with which
comparatively moderate assessment all
ordinary expenses have been met and
&1O,33s.74 of the old outstanding scrip
paid and cancelled; and yet, one wonld
infer that the Sun and Press is deluded
with the idea that if Republican rule
could be restored settlers would flock into
Leon " in drovesl''
But the Republicans not only left the
county almost irretrievably ruined, finan
cially considered, but the school interest
was left in like terrible condition, as the
following shows:
School Indebtedness January 1, 1877, $10.1676s
January l, 1880, 2,76O.0(
School debt paid. ............. 8 7,467. %
by the way, Joseph Bowes, who stuffed
the little jokers" into the ballot-box at
precinct IS in 1875, was the Superintend
emit of Schoola in Leon when the nnost n,