The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1883-02-13
fAes~L n8ofi- FtoFuAf! .
Encouraging Immigration.

The bill establishing Bureau # Agriculture
and immigration has passed one house Il til
State Legislature aud seems likely to pa. tie
other and thus become a iAH. IL pss9age %
far a. the general advantage of tie SAFE j. c.,l
cernesi, will result in both loss and 4 GAIN
The gain will come To the farmer ana planting
class 10 securing an inspector off-r1lizers. sboze
work, If efficiently done, will ensure that ~n8s
ever commodity IL offered 10 be sold as a ie:il.-
izer shall az uaIly contain he constituents that
II PROCESSES 10 e@ntain and That alone render Il
valuable. This, ia TACT, j. all that the bill
does secure ~iih certainty. NJ appropriation
being provided for or contemplated the aork to
be done is made 10 depend solely upon the
amount received as fee. from inspection. Il
these fees exceed the cost II The inspection
bureau, the surplus will bc available ior The
work Of the immigration department OF the
Bureau lfthere BE 40 surplu,-and il is not 4,
all certain thai there = i'll be-;hen she work Of
encouraging immigration, 80 far as the Stat. j.
concerned, will b. suspended.
H. This action Of The Legislature seems 10 Us le
clear case Of subordinaiiDg the more important
10 the less important. II will he valuable aid
to farmers and frui,-growers, doubt, 10 pro
iect them from being swindled by sham or i'm
properly constituted fertilizers. This is espe-
ciAlly imporian, 10 State like ours where the
fertility If the sOil can he maintained only by
returning 10 il in some form whatever is taken
out Of il in The shape Of products. Bot il is
very narrow vicw OF public poliiy that would
give this work precedence over the work of
bringing thi,her that population upon which
more than upon anything else the prosperity Of
a commonwealth depends
Ii is generally understood that the abolition Of
the Bureau Of Immigration Is due TO dissa,isiac
ton with the work which it has accomplished
We do not share " hat appears to BE- the Legis-
laiive estimate Of that work Whatever defects
there may have been in its practical WORKING
and no doubt too large proportion of The total
appropriation has been expended in salaries and
Office expeDscs-we think that no candid and
wellinformed person will deny that the results
which ii has achieved have been worth far
more To the State than the extremely modest
sum that they have cost. 1t is true that the
pamphlets have not been models of their kind
but the worst Of them has been far better than
no pamphlet at all People viii not come To our
'~s~ Ns-S'~|O Ss@~y ~<st' 50 INV COuGEtfc I'D
be practical aud trustworthy Information in re-
gard to IL; and private individuals cannot be ex.
pected 10 furnish that Information in the shape
in which iDquirers ". Mt il, and in which alone
IL viii influence them. We know something Of
the work done in the Office Of the Bureaus agent
here in jacksonville, and we do not hesitate TO
say thai that work alone ia worth at least half
the amount heretofore appropriated for the SUD-
port OF the Bureau.
The thing for the Legislature TO do, as II seems
10 as, Il not 10 abolish the immigration Bureau.
OF to subordinate il to less important work. bui
to render Il more efficient, and to provide !, with
means more adequate 10 the great work which
Il Is expected 10 achieve. Not less than $4,000
should be appropriated TO the uses OF the 3D.
rcau during the next TWO years; and this being
secured the Governor should place al its bead
vigoFous. enssgstic, clear headed business man
who = intimately familiar with Florida and mot
destitute 81 knowledge Of the world Outside. and
who would hmiliarizc himself at once with tho
marysously effective immigration work a. The
ereaa WestesA States Ike Kansas
n ioe that one Of The iirs, steDs such
- ta1e would be 70 establisl. : ,brerrh
d aksN York with similar msn = Duslh
tS<t[