The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1894-03-23
GENERAL BULLo0K'S SPEECH.


Persons not hearing General Bull
locks speech. and reading the New
Cap:tol's comments upon it, are likely
to labor under the conviction that the
General attempted to convert purely
business organization into a political
caucus, and as he attempted no such
performance. we feel it a duty to at
tempt to give a brief outline of his
remarks.
He said he felt discouraged when he
looked around him and saw what lit
tie interest the fruit aud vegetable
growers manifested in the organiza-
ton of union which promised so
much good to them. He said special
pains had been taken to have large
gathering in Ocala. The date and OBJ
ject Of the meeting had been adver-
tised in the newspapers, and large
number of those supposed to be inter-
ested had been notified of the meet
ing by private correspondence in
which correspondence the objects Of
the meeting had been fully set forth.
In answer TO these appeals to find only
empty seats was somewhat disheart-
ening to him and his co-laborers; but
there were even worse features than
empty seats to- discourage them. 1t
had been broadly intimated that he
4.
get up combination of the growers be-
cause they had private ''axes to grind. y
Mr.. Buffum, he said, had shown that
in the shipment of his 10000 boxes OF
fruit, if the organization could be eff
fected, he would be able to make a
clear saving of $1,000. This was the
.'axe'' Mr.. Buffum had ''to grind" he
had similar axe to sharpen and
every man who had box of oranges
to ship had the same kind of an axe
and all could put their axes on the
grind-stone and have them sharpened
together. He said the organization
was not political and no politics back
of it. He was sorry that neighbors
were so suspicious of one another. He
said that he felt an abiding interest in
the welfare of the people of Marion
county. Pointing to an old dead oak
tree near by where he stood, he said
he could remember when it was but
twig. He had now been citizen of
the county full fifty years. The
people had honored him, perhaps, far
beyond his deserts aud he felt kindly
to them for it, and seeing the great
distress here and elsewhere filled him
with alarm and apprehension, and
feeling that high and discriminating
tariff rates were partly the cause of
this distress. which could be corrected
by just and equitable railroad COM
mission, and this without injury to the
railroads, he had permitted his name to
be appended to an address directed to
The members of the party to which he
belonged, and until he did so he did
not know just what mean and bitter
tAlASo t1AC ACWSpA PCAS NOOAA % dOOut
their fellow-citizens. For advocating
a railroad commission, to which the
party was committed, he was called
TRAITOR to the party" ''marplot,"
on the ''scent for Office" that S'for the
past thirty-five years when Bullock
wasn't holding office he was in the
hands of his friends" and SO on and
80, forth. He said these remarks were
copied approvingly in one of the Ocala
papers, the New Capitol, which he
described as being sheet 10xl2 and
edited by man 12x1. He said not
withstanding the unfavorable COM
ments of these little corporation
mouthpieces, the fight would be made
along these lines. That, quoting lie
language of one of these newspapers,
the ..dogs of war" were ''unchainedn
and it would be a fight 10 the finish,
because the languishing industries of
The country made imperative.