The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1881-04-19
COMPARISON OF STATE TAX IN MONROE

Here is gan To the people of Monroe in three
years of ocer one hundred per cent As compared
with Radical taxation, to put il practically. the
people OF that county will not be required 10
pay in SIR gears under Democratic rule what
carget bag government exacted in Mreet And
what is true of Monroe is equally true as TO all
the other counties in the State In Leon. for ex
ample, the gain to the people during the wears
mentioned has been 47,477 81 this being the
difference between the taxes assessed during the
last three years of Radical domination and dur
ing the last three years under Democratic rule
and taking the whole State together we find that
the clear gain TO the people at large has been
within forty thousand dollars of two years taxes
even at eight mills! During 1874, rs and &c,
Radical taxation aggregated for the whole State
$1,217,O47.l7, or $4O56S2 year, while for the
last three years the gross assessment has been
but $3.50, 637 "a or $457 400 CO less, thus showing
that the people have gained by the snbsttu-
ton of what the Rty calls +" Bourbon" for
"Carpet-bag" rule, 1852 703 annually
But is this all that has been "ganed ?" The
Democratic cry of reform not only gave
promise of reduction in taxation, which we see
has been secured, but included "be,ter govern
ment" as well. Tax reduction has not been as
great as was desirable, for the reason that taxa
bic resources have not apparently kept pace
with increase in population, and the debts left
by the old regime which must either be paid or
repudiated, require a large rate to provide the
interest, but who will say that there has not been
a vast Improvement IN tie goreynment itself? In
no part of the State is this improvement more
manifest than in the so-called black belt"
where the difference between n0,c and then is as
great as between daylight and darkness People
now feel sense of security, both in person and
property, to which they were entire strangers
while the Radicals bore sway, and hope has
taken the place of anxiety and gloom In the
nine black counties of Alachua, Duval, Gadsden,
Jackson, Jefferson, Leon, Marion, Madison and
Nassau, which counties pay within a fraction of
one.hali dhe taxes of the whole State and in
which there has been a gain of $24O, $50 in taxes
in The last three years as compared with Radical
taxation during the last three years of their con-
trOl-(with Escambia and Monroe added, the
gain has been 1911 50S) the laws are better exc
cuted, crime has diminished, official accounta-
biliy better assured, properiy-lolders better sat-
is6ed and property ITSELF especially personal
increased, because better protected. Is it too
much TO say that this more favorable state of
affairs is the legitimate result of change of
rules Does not everybody know that 1t is?
But we need not continue the subject further
The restoration of Radical rule in Florida would
prove an unmiligated evil. 1t would restore the
sway Of ignorance and imbeciliy and plunge a
large portion of the State again into the sen of
anxiety and uncertainty from which The people
SO recently emerged, and this is known of all
men who have the good of the State at heart.