The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-11-17
THAT FLORIDA SURPLUS.
a sTATEaEyT THAT MR. ". :. JEN-
SING's Is RIGHT ABOUT 1T.

What the Report of the state Trea-
surer shows-Nr. NcNamee Not in
PoIitics-He f. In the Newspaper
Business TO stsy-other Florida
Matters of Interest.
Jacksonville. Fla. Nov. ls-It has been
said Of Florida mat il has more politics
20 the square foot than any Other state
10 the Union. This may be correct but
some Of the reports upon the political sit
usti0n recently sent out from the state
are TOO grossly incorrect 70 pass without
comment
Il is now some weeks ago that Judge ".
s. Jennings Of HernandO county. one OF
the leading gu5ernat9riaI candidates in
Florida was interviewed BY the Tampa
Herald in a manner that attracted wide
spread attention throughout the state.
In this interview Judge Jennings made
the following reply 70 an inquiry as to
-the constant surplus in the treasury Of
several hundred thousand dollars" report
q by the state treasurer.
some Of these funds are trust funds.
but outside Of those I do not favor any
surplus in the treasury. I think the cal
culation should be carefully made to keep
the warrants a. par. and no surplus. We
are carrying about 3310.G5o all the time.
when q much smaller sum would be suf-
hcient to pay all demands as they &C
crue"
This plain statement Of an established
fact has been commented upon by a cor
respondent in the following manner:
great surplus Of $1,000 constantly car
ried In the state treasury. he only made
a public exposition OF his lack Of reliable
Information upon that particular subject"
The correspondent in question then goes
On 10 describe the various funds" into
which the revenues Of the state are di-
verted for certain specific purposes, in
Guiding THE general revenue fund" from
which alone can be drawn such monies
as are necessary 70 defray the cost OF
carrying on the state government. The
conclusion ct which the correspondent ar
riyes Is that the alleged surplus is simply
myth" ana that Judge Jennings IL
talking Of something Of which he knows
nothing.
Such. however. is not the case Mr..
Jennings, K VIII be observed, did not as
sert IN his Tampa interview that the az
/ legged surplus was 70 be found IN the gen.
eTal reserve fund" he simply asserted that
the state was carrying about S2j0.O00''-
an assertion fully substantiated BY the
following data, drawn directly from State
Treasurer Whitheld's own report
In October. 1898, the total surplus car
RED by the state in the various funds
was s258, 0l.79; November. SSil, Ills. De-
cember. 1897. si7 50; January 1896 gsfg :
fR a. EfchrIerv %.
lsl45; April, f3lso53o3; May. s3osgo0. 81:
June. S347, 70; July, 1926. 508 50; August.
$5z8sl4-9zs Septembe $40 13477
II these figures do not clearly prove the
truth OF Judge Jennings assertion-if they
do not fully establish the fact that the
state is to-day carrying a surplus largely
IN excess Of Its needs. they prove nothing:
and il Is more than probable that the tax
ridden people Of Florida will be sornew ha {
/ interested to learn that a sum so large IS
| either lying Idle in Tallahassee or Is loan
| ed out al rate Of interest much lower
than that at which reputable merchant
| can secure advances, even upon the best
security.
The name Of Hon. Robert McNarnee.
| editor-in-chief Of JacksonviIe's new "a
| per, the Evening Can. has also been
| banded about by several correspondents
| In a mannetr that to say the least is some
what irreverent and irresponsible. Mr..
a prominent candidate for Congress in the
| Second district, but as an aspirant for
| gubernatoral honors. These political fam
| cies may find an abiding place in the IN
| tutored imagnatons OF those who know
as little Of prevailing conditions here as
| Of Mr.. McNamee. II the talented Young
| speaker Of the Florida House Of Represen-
| tatives has any aspirations, they are sim
| ply such as befit q man who has in all
| seriousness turned from politics and the
| law 10 journalism. He is out Of poll les
| He is in the newspaper business TO stay;
| and he has already made OF the Call a
| success that warrants the belief that he
| viii in the next campaign wield an iufiu-
| ence In favor Of new blood and new mel n
/ DDS as potent as that which he exercised
| during the last session Of the LEGISLATURE
in behalf Of the strongest and ablest man
| Florida has in many long day sent u the
| front in Wasnington-Senato James p.
| Taliaferro.