The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1881-08-02

1t is the "provises" and outgeneraling
that stick and sting, Brother Dyke If the pro-
visos mean nothing, then Disston was outgen-
eraled " but, if otherwise, the Internal Improve
ment Board was "outgeneraled" Moreover, the
showing that all the Internal Improvement land
and more than all, had been granted away before
the Disston purchase, glaringly discloses the
fact that some OF the companies will have to
give up their claims to satisfy him. Which OF
them will have to contribute their lands TO make
good his right 10 four million acres will be known
BY the first Of January next--ALaohud advocate.
The "proyisos" in the contract of sale are
all in the interest of. the State. They provide
that if but one payment is made-(and that pay
ment has been received and ordered to be dis
tributed by the I. S. Court among the cred
itors)--the purchaser is TO take land selected in
bodies OF 10000 acres. al the schedule price; and
so on after the second and third payments, the
purchaser takes as anybody does and is therefore
in no better position than any other buyer. 1t
is only when the million of dollars is paid that
he gets land at reduced price. If he fails in
any one payment, that ends the contract and the
money prev ously paid is TO be applied to land
at the price per acre that anybody else would be
required TO pay. We do not see, therefore, how
contract more carefully guarded, to secure the
end in view, could have been drawn. The " out
generating, if either side was overreached, it is
quite plain was not in favor of the purchaser
The fact that the Legislature had voted away
in subsidies several million acres more than the
State owned adds emphasis, in our judgment,
to the propriety and wisdom of the sale Not
single acre given as subsidy was available until
the obligations resting on the lands were paid.
In fact, the subsidies were given subject to the
rights of creditors and it is 80 nominated in
the bond" Will the AdOocate tell US how these
obligations were to be discharged otherwise than
by sale to some syndicate? Were the railroad
corporations TO contribute among themselves and
make the million of dollars necessary and there
upon become thensiOes the owners of the
claims as well as the lands, Suppose this
done, how were seventeen millions of acres voted
as subsidies to be divided among the railroads
when the utOle land fund was not more than
twelve and half millions of acres Answer
me that. Pilgarlicr' We will be pardoned for
doubling whether any of those who condemn
the sale have properly diagnosed the situation.
With clamor for railroads, and Legislatures
ready TO vote all sorts of subsidies for all sorts
Vi sCneneSt Wllu-c3t anu OtnerNlSe ana q IunO
limited in amount and hampered with debts,
what else could those who control the lands do
than to sell enough to pay the debts and leave
the balance free 70 be appropriated for improve
ments? l. the answer that the Trustees should
have waitedf But they have been doing this
waiting for years, while the railroad clamor
for immediate results has been pressing, and the
debt constantly increasing. One company,
when it thought it had control of the Vose
Judgment got the authority of the court for
purchasing 100000 Of acres at twenty cents
To this the Trustees wisely refused to assent
though they might have been forced by the
court, perhaps, to have made titles at that figure
The sale they finally made, with "provisos :"
carefully guarding It, was five cents per acre
higher than the court was willing sale should
be made At while all that other parties who re-
ally control the " Vose judgment" offered was
twenty cents. Their after offer of twenty-six
cents was only made when the sale TO Disston
ct twenty-five cents had been agreed to and
conditional payment of $780, 900 made. For our
selves, we do not hesitate 10 say that the pur-
chasers above agreed TO pay enough for their
land Vast quantities Of their purchase are
utterly Worthless without an immense expendi-
ture, which no private parties would have
incurred, for no private parties would buy them.