The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1889-09-24
SWAMP LAND SELECTIONS.

in con,ec,;on 7c;,h the Land Office at Gainesville
in the appro, ration OF the public lands Tor me
| benz fiji of the SPECTATORS ana thaI no luIlher
approval by the department shat he mace OF OF
selections from the State uh'i' N"h3''NN S''ouI'
meet" and said the State has or :42l years
been deprived of lands to which her title is abso-
Lutte, because of this letter" And comment,
suppose the United States officers at Gaines
vile are e. had been-in November, 1850,
practicing an extensive and organized system OF
fraud and improperly appropratlng tne Oni'eo
| States lands :" with affectaton OF interest in
the people of the State, and asks what reason
was there for keeping the State out OF her ands?"
"Can any intelligent mind see any connection
between the two?"
We extract the above from commu
nication in the Wakulla Times, of Sep
TENDER 18th, over the signature Of" Mas
cotte." It is strange how ignorant
Senator Call and his defenders are, or
pretend to be, upon the public land sys-
TEN. Senator Call wrote the Interior
Department at Washington, on Novem-
Der 10, 1885, that he had reason to
believe that extensive frauds were being
practiced in connection with United
States Lands at the Gainesville Land Of
fee, and asked that, on that account, no
more Swamp Lands be patented to the
State.
A copy of Senator Calls letter was
furnished Governor Perry, and the Gov
ernor at once wrote to Senator Call to
ascertain what connection frauds ut any
exsted) by the United States officials in
the Gainesville Land Office had
with the States right to the Swamp
Lands given her by the act of Congress
Of September IS, 1850 Senator CAL
neccr anscered that question. Why? Be
cause anyone who is i'll the least familiar
with the selection of Swamp Lands
knows that the United States officers at
the Gainesville Land Office have nothing
whatever to do with it, They have 10
more to do with the selection and APPROX
al Of Florida's swamp Lands than they
have with those of Louisiana, California,
or anv other State. In the communica-
ton addressed by Governor Perry, Comp
troler Barnes, Commissioner Mitchell,
Treasurer Grill and Acknowledgement
Cooper, to the United States Senate
Committee, which 50 fully and forcibly
demonstrated the absurdity Of Senator
Calls position, they state that the Gov
ernor has never, IN response to his letter
10 Senator Cal, been furnished with any
& ,..I .<,Jt
he supposed to erlS Lefwce,e tra,teIs in tie
TMited STATES Lond ONce at GaineSriIe
and the oP"orol Of S~a"p Lands TO tie
.>tate, or achot tie one ~as Supposed 10
hare TO do ,rih tie oMer."
We again assert that Senator Calls
letter, requesting suspension of patents
of the States lands, because he believed
fraud was prac,iced in connection with
the Gainesville Land Office, is an absurd
ity, and demonstrates his want Of inform
alton upon a question he has never I'M
derstood.
But "Mascotte rushes in where his
master dare not tread, and simply adds
another to the many absurd theories that
are invented to obscure popular judg-
mcnt from the untcnable positions and
spread eagle utterances of Senator Call.
If the unbroken line of decisions Of
every Commissioner OF Lands and every
Secretary Of the Interior from Thomas A.
Hendricks down to Villas are given-if
the unanimous report of the United States
Senate Committee is furnished-if the
Judgment of the United States SUI
preme Court, the highest author
itv known to our form of Gov
eminent, is invoked, and the action
of every State Administration referred
to-all overwhelmingly showing that
Senator Calls position is absurd, the only
answer we get is that the homes of the
people" are at stake.
No one goes further than the FLoRID-
IAN in defense Of the people. Wearing
the collar of no power, we believe that all
legislation should look to the welfare of
the masses. We feel that none should be
promoted to position save those who
have an honest and sincere desire to de-
fend the liberties, protect the rights and
promote the material benefit Of the peo-
pie. Being one Of the people, we shall
always be found battling for their rights.
But to raise false cry and endeavor
| Al. l.