The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1882-08-15


1879 will attract attention. The article
in the Commercial which called for notice
from General Barnes contained what that
gentleman mildly calls "many inaccura-
cies" with respect to himself, but what
will be bluntly called .faLsehoods By and
as to others, and notably SO with respect
to the editor of the FLoRIDIAN. The
Commercial says that pending action by
the caucus on the resolution to which
General Barnes refers
-"the friends of Convention, members of
the two Houses, were continually annoyed 10y
the persistent interference in the business by
men who were not members OF either House, or
properly entitled Ia be heard in the caucus. Con-
spicuous among these Was Dyke, the editor OF
the FLORIDIAN, who not only butt0n-holed The
members outside, but came into the caucus where
he had no right Ia be, took the position of a
leader in the opposition 10 Constitutional Con-
vention, and made in The caucus al least two set
speeches against il. And to show the animus, du-
plicty and brazen effrontery OF the man, we de-
sire to call particular attention to OF the res
olutions offered by him mot u member OF the
caucus, and an intruder. lie proposed it as
compromise substitute for a Constitutional
Convention, and rs solution OF The whole diff
Gully. This proposition was in substance, this
90 Let the Constitution be amended as 10
permit the people 10 elect their local officers in
The different counties, but leave it TO the discre-
ton OF the Governor To commission the elected
officers or appoint Others
=" Now, let the reader stop for moment at this
point aud ask is there not right here an unmis
taxable carr mark by which We can infallibly de-
lermine the paternity of the resolution afterwards
offered and adopted in the Gainesville COnven-
tiOn in order a slave off and SmoOthe over nv
a false pretence, this very question OF COnven
lion, by allowing partial vote of the people,
subject 10 the discretion OF the Governor? The
same trick and the same trickster. He did not
succeed in Tallahassee, IN 1879, but he did sue
coed in Gainesville
{" In this movement in the caucus of 1879 Dyke
was supported aided aud abelled by The Gov
ernOr and nearly his whole Cabinet, and with
their separate personal and united official inf1u-
ence, in face of the patent fact that fully four
fifths of the Democratic members of the Legls-
lature of 1879 were in favor of Convention,
and that some were finally induced to vote
against il by official influence"
This is mass of unblushing false
hoods from beginning to end, with but
one solitary grain of truth in the whole
batch.
In the first place, the editor of the
FLoRIDIAN never button-holed MEM
bers of the Legislature on the Convention
question or any other. In the second
place, the caucus invited persons at the
Capital from counties not represented in
the Legislature to visit their meetings,
and under this invitation Judge Hilton
appeared and spoke and subsequently the
editor Of this paper did the same thing
He made but one speech and was present
on that one occasion only. He suggested
several amendments as desirable to be
made, one of which was the doing away
with the life-tenure in the office of Justice
of the Supreme Court, another provided
for the election of the Governors cabinet
by the people, and another provided for
the election of county officers, with a re-
servation of power in the Legislature to
r. ID ~. .hs appnintmont of these Off
GERS in counties where the public interest
would be best subserved thereby. Judge
Hilton subsequently embraced this view
as to county officers, except that he en-
larged it and made it cumbersome) These
with other amendments were suggested
as advisable to have on the way towards
adoption in the event the question of a
Convention should be submitted and be
voted down by the people; and the sug
gestion was judicious and worthy of con-
sideration. Had the Legislature in 1877
and again in 1879 adopted this course
with reference to amendments, important
changes would have been effected ere this
or been on the eve of ratification by the
people and all this Improbable discussion
avoided. Furthermore, it is false that
Sin this movement in the caucus, Dyke
"was supported, aided and abetted by
"the Governor and nearly his whole
"Cabinet." We have no doubt that all
those composing that administration,
from the Governor down, would, if called
upon, stamp the Commercials statements
as tissue of fabrications The views
expressed by the editor of this paper
were HIS OWN Anu no Que was FespO0sIDlo
for them but himself. The Commercial
lies again when it says: " The statement
"was made at this period by Dyke and
"others of that ilk that if this measure
"was carried certain prominent Democrats
Gin and about Tallahassee would spend
"$5, 900 to defeat the Democratic party !"
No such statement was ever made, no
such idea ever entertained. 1t is an I'M
mitigated falsehood, originating in mind
naturally inclined to untruth. We are
told that " four-fitths of the Democratic
members of the Legislature of 1879 were
in favor of Constitutional Convention
This is very likely true but four-ffths
were not in favor of calling a Convention
outside of the prescribed forms. There
were IS Democrats in the Legislature of
that year-25 in the Senate and il in the
Assembly. In caucus where there were
SO present, A voted for Convention and
% against, so it is said, leaving 10 not
heard from. Two thirds of 76 is 81, so
that if all the absentees were to be con-
sidered as opposed, instead of -four
fifths being in favor of going outside Of
the Constitution in calling Convention
there were not two-thirds favorable tn