The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1883-01-30
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Eassr Fievidns Insalhsding - tho Als q
The estate Of the has JoAa p. Branch In Leon
county, he Onage coanty npstr has shs bito Of
vsnom u Ging q Middle Florida
-Thia, too. lying near TIA Capital Of the 6tate.
In region which boosts q the gupofi0rfty q u.
resources - and which b the traditional
center in.slligencs wealth culture and pSnca.
or twelve miles north Of Orlando. would have
readily brought twenty-five 70 any dollars Per
acre The very tact that choice lands In Middle
Florida are selling at &2.10 Per aero b the best
evidence that thai portion Of the State = not
sustaining it, traditional claims - the center o.
wealth and intelligence Il b at the Same time
: powerful argument In favor Of thGldivisioa Of
the State heretofore advocated BY The RPorsr and
which il inevitable The two sections have
nothing In common except the present Constitu-
tional abomination and the State House ct Tai
lshassee, and q South Florida does not desire TO
wress either from the crystaiixed section lot "a
be peaceably and speedily divorced"
The above article from the Reporter, while 1t
displays an envious and malignant temper,
seems entirely unconscious of the falsity Of its
claims for Orange county. The bald statement
that land lying ten miles from Orlando readily
brings gas to $50 per acre. Is certainly calculated
to create the impression abroad that such fig
ures represent the ordinary price Of lands in
Orange county. Now the same issue Of the
Reporter has nearly one whole page devoted to
the advertisement of lands TO be sold for the col
lection of taxes due thereon; the list contains
the names of 491 real estate owners In Orange
county. One of them is a gentleman who
moved a few years ago from Leon to that county,
and twelve months ago the writer heard this
same man Dragging about the prosperity in Or
ange behold his 100 acres Of land now adver-
tised for q tax of $1444 Another party in that
list has 1760 acres of land advertised for tax Of
$14O0, and so on throughout the list in fact IL
seems that nearly all ofthe county, except the por-
fered at $1.25 per acre, is advertised for taxes
due in pitiful amounts of money.
We are thus furnished with positive refuta-
ton of the Reporter's statement of the value of
lands in Orange county, else the assessor OF
that county is false to The obligations of his Office
and should be removed at once, fer his assess
ments carry no such value as claimed by the Re
porter for lands in that county.
Aside from this, the Disston sale has been con-
ceded by many thinking minds to have been a
mastery stroke on the part Of Governor Biloxi
ham. Now the sand hills and palmetto fats of
Orange county, not very remote either from the
home Of the Reporter, constitute goodly portion
of this purchase, which was actually made at
tsoenty flee cents per acre, and which appears now
to be about the only land in the county able to
pay its taxes.
1t must stand as an example of surprising gen.
erosity on the part of DisstOn, to offer these
lands for 81 .25 Der acre, when he could so "read-
lily" obtain $25 10 $50 per acre for them.
No man in Middle Florida desires to injure
Orange county or its inhabitants, on the con-
trary, it has been rather a matter of qualification
to this section to see other portions of the State
opening up to immigration and Improvements.
As 10 whatever advantage of beauty in natural
scenery and richness of soil Middle Florida may
possess, has been the gift of the Creator who
used his own wisdom, when one flower was
adorned with more fragrance and beauty than
another and one tree caused to overshadow with
its graceful foliage the underground of its less
favored kind.
If Middle Florida is the traditional center"
of wealth, intelligence, culture and political pow
er,we have every reason to be thankful to the
Oliver of all good for the means and incentive
by which her daughters have been reared to a
superior degree of culture and refinement, nor
is it any matter Of regret, that her SONS have de-
veloped sufficient political power" and genius
to guide Florida from the darkness of almost
hopeless despair, even when her political sun
seem to have set forever behind the clouds of
revolution and civil anarchy. If the people of
the State have seen proper to select from this
section their standard bearers in the late politi-
cal struggles, it was because they deemed them
more especially fitted for that task and subse-
quent events confirmed the correctness of their
Judgement
Who could have better accomplished the work
of retaining the State Government and trans
ferring it to the rightful and natural owners.
than Geo. F. Drew?
What more rapid strides could the State make
towards prosperity than she has done under the
administration of the present incumbent?
As to your prayer for q speedy divorce from
Middle Florida, we Of this section, while in no
way desiring such a result, would suggest for
your reflection, the fact that Middle Florida has
borne the brunt of State taxation, and South
Florida has occupied to her about the same re-
lation that Canada occupies to Great Britain,
that of an expense
There may be some disappointment to mind
so sensitive over the sale of land in Orange
county at twenty five cents an acre, as comprised
ia the Disston sale, but there will be ample con-
ISOLATION in the knowledge that the burden of the
491 shortly to he placed under the hammer if
not altogether relieved was thereby greatly
lightened. In recognizing this great benefit to
your section, remember, if capable of such an
emotion, that your thanks are due TO a son of
Middle Florida REFLEX
A Leading Ohio Editor On the Pros.
poets Of Florida.