The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1904-06-03

elected. I cannot conceive Il more rena
able proposition than that board of trus
tees. the creature of legislative enact
ment. is superior to its creator. and thai
the internal Improvement act established in
Florida imperium in imperiO. As mlt
ter of fact, | am Of the opinion that the
Legislature has the power TO repeal thar
act Just as it had the power to enact Il.
SIurs the Legislature.
LAS I stated at the beginning Of tn =,
ter, l am not in politics. and [ am not aid
ing in electing or defeating candidates:
but | utterly dissent from Mr.. Browtrl's
position. and cannot but call attention tc
the extraordinary slur he casts upon TIC
Legislature of this State IL expressing tha|
opinion thot the Legislature OF Florida i.
not to be trusted, and also MS re;narka5!,
proposition that the Governor is the Bolrd
of Trustees of the Internal Improvement
Fund. and that he can control the votes
Of the other members who, under the IN
ternal Improvement act, are vested Will
identiCally the same power that the Gov
eTn0r has 1t is true that the Governor clE
I'LL vacancies In the board buc he cannot
create vacancies. / am certainly sorry that
Mr. BrOward has taken the position he E1s.
because | consider Ii untenable. / further
consider It a direct attack upon the q Oh
faith and integrity of every one Of us who
inaugurated and carried out the policy OF
granting these lands TO railroads, ana
which has resulted to the enormous ad-
vantage of the State. If Mr.. BrOward is
correct, then /, and every one of those wh,
helped to make these land grants. have beer
guilty of stealing the lands of the State
to give to railroad corporations. and ii has
taken a period of more than twenty years
to produce the one honest man who has
had the courage to expose the theft and
pilIory the thieves.
VIII BrOward Defy COurtsF
Another proposition which astOnished me
Is this: Mr.. Davis says he proposes to leave
the disposal OF the lands to the Legislature
and the courts Mr.. BrOward says he is not
willing to trust the Legislature, but re-
mains silent as to the courts. Now II the
courts hold that these land grants are le-
gal, and II Mr. BrOward is Governor. will
he refuse to obey the mandate OF the
courts? 1t must be remembered that our
courts construe the law, and If the con-
struction of our Supreme Courts is in con-
fict with Mr.. Broward's construction OF II,
l would like TO know what he would do II
Governor? / would further like TO know
what more Mr.. Davis could be required TIC
do than to obey the laws passed ~ the
Legislature as construed by the COURT
Il had always supposed that when tn
Governor took his oath Of office he SWore
to obey and enforce the laws OF the state
] do not know that Mr.. Davis deserves any
praise for saying that he would do that
which ii is his duty to do, but am some
what puzzled to imagine how Mr.. Brow
ard would act If he should be elected Gov
error and the Supreme Court OF the State,
following its previous construction OF the
Internal improvement act and the decision
Of the Supreme Court OF the United States,
should decide that the Legislature did have
the power to dispose of these lands. 1t
would be interesting to know what course
Mr.. Broward would pursue in such event.
Menace to Prosperity.
There is another reason why I roget
the raising Of this question. Millions OF
acres Of these lands have been sold to in
dividual owners, thousands Of families now
reside upon them and earn their livelihood |
from them. If Mr. BrOward's position be |
correct, then not one Of these persons has a |
good title to the land he has purchased in |
gOOd faith. Primarily the land belongs to |
the State; no statute Of limitations can
bar a re-entry by the sovereign. Hence II |
the Legislature had no more power to dis
pose Of these lands than any other 100 men |
In the State, every railroad land grant Is |
Illegal, and the State is entitled to recover |
svery acre of land decided to the railroad |
companies under these grants Will Mr.. |
BrOWard, If elected Governor, proceed to |
turn from their homes the thousands who |
have acquired their lands from the rail- |
road companies? To be consistent he must /
do this. and in trying TO do so plunge thou /
sands of persons into litigation. and infiict |
upon the people of the State of Florida |
greater injury than was inflicted upon them /
during the horrible period Of Republican |
misrule in this State.
ALEX. ST. CLAIR-4BRAMS"