The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1886-07-15

people OF FLORIDA, the subject cannot be
ignored. The letter of the editor of the
Times Union to President Cleveland has
been widely published, and should be
placed before the readers of the FLoRID-
IAN, with comment for the information Of
those in other States who might other
wise accept its statements. Pity tits that
it was written, but written it was, and
eventually it found its place among execu.
tive documents to which many official
persons have access. Some one copied
it, and parts of it being printed in the
Jacksonville Herald, the Times Union
charges that the extracts were garbled
and prints the following which it says is
a verbatim copy of the original:
JACKSONVILLE, FLA, April 81, 1885
Hon. Grocer Geueland, Washington d. c.
DEAR SIR-Under date of August 4th last l
received q letter from you expressing your
friendly appreciation of the work was doing in
the campaign. That letter is my excuse for
writing now. l have not written before, nor
sought q personal interview, because l knew
that during the opening weeks of the Admins
tration your attention would necessarily be fully
occupied by large questions of State
l will reassure you by saying at once that l
am not after any Office either for myself or for
any relative, friend, or henchman. l am Civil
Service Reformer IN the most literal sense of the
term and not only profess it but conform my
practice to it. write simply to ask that when
you reach Florida appointments you will con-
slider one or two points which l will now briefly
submit.
In Florida as in other Southern States-but
rty1 Az, do thon IN, l>o
cause of the large infusion of Northern imm-
gration-there is a division and struggle be-
tween the old timer" and the new corners"
This division is not political; nearly all the
whitesl are Democrats, no matter where they
came from. 1t is the last retreat of sectional
| feeling. The old tuners " consider themselves
lords of the soil, and as having divine right to
rule, and are arrogant, proscriptve, reactionary,
| and unprOgressve. They are willing to share
the prosperity caused by the infusion Of new
blood and outside capital, but there is tacit un-
| derstanding among them that no " new conner
shall have any political place or preferment and
on this they stand together as one man.
| Here in Florida this element was opposed to
| your nomination Senator Bayard was their ia
| vorite chiefly because he was Southern man,
and resented our success in having Florida's dele
| gates instructed for you. They would have de-
feated it, indeed, had we not out unanswered
| them at the Convention. Yet as soon as victory
| crowned our efforts, they at once prepared to ap
| propriate the spoils, and to-day they have their
| men named for every Federal Office in the State
| and for everything that can be claimed in the
| Departments at Washington. And they have
| this great advantage, that our Senators and Rep
| resentatives are of their way OF thlnking-are
| their creatures in fact-and will in Substantially
| every instance endorse and recommend their Sc
| lectiOns.
need hardly say that in some instances these
selections are grotesquely unfit For example,
k<-o T,1Ir H.: sl,n
most important in the State, and should be adj
mnistered on strictly business principles. Yet
the man who will be most strongly urged upon
you for appointment, is Ito put ii rery mildly Ut
terly disqualified for the position.
respectfully ask that when the question OF
filling this office is reached may be heard, for
have much more at stake in the proper admins
tration of the postof1ce here than all the polite
| ians in the State.
have written with considerable degree OF
frankness, but it would be mistake to infer that
| | am partisan of either faction. l train with
neither, and use the influence ofmy paper to har-
moniZe both. l have solemn conviction, how
ever, that the use of the appointing power by a
Democratic Federal Executive is a matter of Sc
rious import for the South, especially if it be used
without clear knowledge of the forces at work
have the honor to be yours most respectfully
| G. H. JONES, Ed. Times Union.
The letter writer says that because OF
the large infusion of Northern immigra-
tion there is a division and struggle be-
tween the 'old timers and the new
comers.'" Let us see as to the large
infusion of Northern immigration y" the
last U. S. Census showed the white popu-
lation of Florida to be 1884, s2, and OF
these only $3.50 were natives of North
ern States, and of course many Of them
were not "new comers," and some OF
them were valued citizens even before
the war, and therefore are old timers
When this vast disparity between the
q. c. and the o. t. is considered, President
Cleveland will have realizing sense OF
the sad division" and desperate strug.
gle" that exists Small as is the North
ern element of our population it has had
representation in official positions largely
out of proportion to its number since the
State has been under Democratic control
and they have been very excellent Of
6cials. This does not look as il
Florida ais the last retreat of sectional
feeling" but as if the great majority Of
about ninety-two per cent. was so little
sectional" in feeling as to be nobly
magnanimous toward the eight pei
cent. minority. Yet the President is in
formed that we of the majority care ar
rogant, proscriptive, reactionary and un
progressive" and "stand together as one
man to prevent others obtaining "any
political place or preferment.
The President is further informed that
this majority, this ninety-two per cent
element of the population, was op
posed to his nomination and Presented
our success in having Florida's delegates
instructed for YOU" but we out-maneu
vered them at the Convention !" The
skillful maker of questionable history ii
certainly entitled to much credit if he SC
Unanswered his eight per centers as t.
carry the following resolution through
against the wishes of the others
~. ResoIced, That In the withdrawal from
public life of that illustrious statesman and pa
triot, Samuel j. Tilden, the Democratic party
| has lost its most honored and trusted leader, bu
in the Hon. Grover Cleveland, Governor 0
New YOSk, we recognize a worthy successor