The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-01-09
FLORIDA SWAMP LANDS.
inaccuracies in the General Land
Office Report

ODASc nSpOAt~
TALLAHASSEE, FLA, Jan. s-The annual
report Of the commissio ner of The general
land Office for the year 1859, signed by
Acting Commissioner W. ". Stone, con-
tains 50 many mac curacies. and such grave
charges against the state of Florida. rela-
tive 70 swamp land selections that the
trustees OF the Internal Improvement fund
have addressed long letter to the Secre-
tary of the Interior on the subject This
report, the trust es in their letter saw,
&C ntains such charges of fraud agan
The state Of Florida in the matter Of the
sele ton # swamp lands. based upon state
ments so at variance with the iacts, that We
deem il our duty to bring the matter 70
your attention IN the hope such erroneous
statements ami the unjust impu ations of
fraud upon this state may be cJrrec.ed and
justice done
DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND.
The trustees thel q .o,e at length from
the acting commissioners report. Con-
tinuiag, they say: 1T IS difficult to under
stand how high official of the government,
with the records If his Office accessible to
him, could make the statement, 81 at
variance wi b the facts, that no lis 5 have
yet been fled for lands in that part of the
state mos motor, usly swampy in character,
viz, the Everglades The ia IS are tlat long
anterior to the date Of such report lists
embracing the whole Of the Everglades,
and n vast area of swamp and overlooked
lands contiguous thereto, and within what
is known as the Okeechobee drainage sys-
tenn the submerged lands contracted 10 be
drained by the Atlantic and Gulf Coast
and Okeecho ee Land Company had Teen
filed in the general land Office"
THE SELECTIONS.
The trustees then quote figures, and sub
nit plats to show that 9,3l7, AIS acres have
been selected IN tie Everglade region.
In his charge Of fraud against the state
of Florida continue the trustees, "a Id the
statement that there can be no doubt that
large quantities of land amour ing to mill
ions of acres have been patented to this
state enormously as being swamp, when, in
fact, they were and are good agricultural
lands the acting commissioner appears to
have ignored the fact that there had been
selected up to March 3, 1857, II, $50, 27l 81
acres, which were confirmed to the state by
act of congress of That date, and patents
directed to be made therefor Ia but small
portion of which have been patented),
which was, in effect, special grant to the
state Of such lands, eliminating therefrom
any question of their swampy character.
WHAT REMAINS.
'''his would leave of the patented lands
confirmed by the act of 1857, of which ,S1S,-
465 acres lie With the said Every iade
drainage district. There remains therefore,
only about 6S1, 535 acres of the patented
lands to be accounted for GU side of the
grant of 1857, and the subm rged lands of
the Everglade region and drainage system.
And we respectfully submit there is no
reason to believe that those remaining lands
are not swamp as claimed"
Several more typewriter pages are de
voted to showing up the errors OF the acting
commissioner, and the attention of Secre-
taty Noble is directed to the fact that
Senate committee of the Fifteth congress
made an exhaustive examination of the
charge of fraudulent conveyances of public
lands to Florida, in which no such frauds
were established. The report of id COM
mittee, No 22S8, IN its entirety, is also re-
ferred to the secretary for his attention and
consideration.
The members of the board of trustees of
the internal improvement fund are Gov.
f. p Fleming, Controller w. d. Barnes,
Treasurer F. J. Pons, Attor ey General w.
Is. Lamar, and Commissioner of Agriculture
l.. Is. Wombwell.