The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1881-05-03

cratic msjoriiies and elected the DemocfAticcan-
didaies. and one (Monroe) gave 4 small Republican
majority, werc moi received or counted by the
Returning Board
II would be waste of time TO refer 10 the
election Of 1876. The Republicans never made
such efforts as they did in that election. They
had the whole election machinery in their hands
and voted any and every body-minors, dead men.
non residents convicts and even Jail birds They
attempted 10 deprive whole counties from voting,
as in the case of Manalee; they stuffed ballot
boxes with "jokers" suppressed and altered re-
turns, as in the cases of Leon and Archer No. .
in Alachua. These frauds have since been con-
fessed, while the perpetrators OF them were re
warded by the man who was made President by
their villiany. The Supreme Court Of the State
undid their work so far as State officers were
concerned and the Electoral Commission, by q
vote of s to 2, robbed Tilden of The vote to
which il is now almost universally admitted he
was rightfully entitled.
The election last year was settled before vote
was cast. Hundreds of Republican property
holders and many who were not voted with the
Democrats. They resented the " machine meth.
DDS" adopted by such men as Osborn, whose
notorious use Of "the party" was only for the
purpose Of personal ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, and refused
to cooperate with LEADERS " who had involved
the State by extravaganza and fraud in debt and
made high taxes q necessity. Even Sawyer,
about the only so-called Republican editor left in
the State, who had voted with the Democrats in
1875, refused 10 run up the Republican ticket at
the head of his paper until report said ''he was
paid for it, while scores of prominent Republi-
cans all through the East were outspoken for
the Democratic ticket and contributed TO its
success in more ways than one. Osborn's cry of
= fraud is the wall of defeated "aspirator
with great solictudes" He bosts of being 1.-The
greatest political strategist south of Mason and
Dixon'sY and his late TRADE is intended to COM
mend him to the " powers that be-" His ambi.
ton first sought cabinet appointment; but he
will not now object to anything, even pair of
Garfield's old brecches. He is not voter in
Florida and the little interest he has in the State,
either as property holder or as taxpayer, does
not enitle him TO speak for his own party or TO
any consideration from any source.
One more reference TO the Report and we
will dismiss it for the present Speaking of"tax-
alton without representation" he says: Fully
" ehalf of all the taxable property in the
" State is owned by Republicans" Undoubtedly,
as in Duval and one or two other counties this
is true, but as 10 the bulk of the counties ii is
false. In Leon, for example, where the Repub-
lcans are stronger than in any other county, the
tax books for 1890 show that OF a return of 81
656,8O2 OF taxable property the Republicans
return $137 55S, and less ratio will probably be
found TO exist in Jefferson, Madison Gadsden,
Aachua, Marion, jackson and Escambia. In
Leon property and intelligence have no "repre-
sentalion We are literally excluded from any
voice in shaping the laws which govern us. One
more reference and we will positively stop. He
says, speaking Of dissatisfied Democrats"
from 1877 to 1881, the hostility TO the Governor
Drew and the leaders of the party became very
marked and outspoken," &c. He gives as
reason for this hostility a supposed "unfortu-
nate and imprudent selection of officers" 1.-THE
almost complete humiliation of the school sys-
tenn" "the increase of taxation on the poorer
people, &c A portion Of these so called reasons
for alleged" hostility" remind us very much OF
what the people have so recently been RECALLED
with. 1t came from heads" in 1877 and
is echoed by the same disappointed class in 1881.
And yet nothing is clearer than that the govern
ment under Drew was better conducted, taxes
were less, not only on the poorer but on all
classes, and schools prospered greater than
under Radical government-and what was better
than all, The people feel greater sense of sccu-
rity in person and property which af1er all il is
| the business of government TO secure. AS to
the public schools" they have increased from
Hicks fabulous boast of 200" when he
went out of Office in 1877 to ,237 at this time
and were in November 1871 at the close of
| 1879 while taxes under Drew were less by
$4,000 year than they had been for The pre-
vious years while Radicalism dominated the
| State.