The weekly true Democrat. (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1905-1912, 1906-03-09
THE EVERGLADES
\ INJUNCTION SUIT.
State Lands Not ncluded-UntuSt to
Other Land Owners.
From the TimeS-UniOn Still


From the Times-U Union Still
Few cases Of greater interest to the
people of Florida have ever been tried
in any court than the Everglades in
junction suit recently argued before
Judge Locke, sitting as United States
Circuit Judge, and in which the injunc-
ton was ordered continued by that
learned court. The Everglades belong
TO the State, and the interest of the
immense business proposition in which
the entire people of the State haYe a
direct personal interest.
In his special message to the last
Legislature, Governor Broward, who
will undoubtedly go down in history as
the Everglades Governor" recon-
mended the appointment of Drainage
Commission for the purpose of draining
the Everglades, an immense tract of
State property covering about three
million acres. In accordance with this
recommendation, the Legislature passed
an act constituting the members of the
trustees of the Internal Improvement
Fund, Board of Drainage Commission
ers, with powerful lay off drainage dis
tricts and to levy a special assessment
on all the alluvial and swamp and over
flowed lands within such districts of ten
cents per acre annually for an unlimited
period of years, for the purpose of re-
claiming and draining and irrigating
such alluvial and swamp and overlooked
lands by The construction of dykes,
levees, drains, bitches and commercial
canals, it being expressly stated in the
act that these commercial canals would
insure to the benefit of the people of
the State of Florida.
- EXTENT OF DRAINAGE DISTRICT.
Immediately after the adjournment
Of the Legislature the drainage commits
sion organized and laid off the bound
aries of the Everglades Drainage Dis
trict. These boundaries extend from
Avon Park in DeSoto county east along
the north side of DeSoto county through
the counties of Osceola and St. Lucie to
the Atlantic, and south from Avon Park
to old Fort Foster in Lee county, where
the line extends west, taking in another
township, and thence south to the Gulf.
The drainage district is about IT'S miles
long, and averages about 80 miles wide,
containing about 1000, 900 square acres,
including all of Dade county, all of Mon
roe county on the main land, most
of Lee county, the southern end of
Osceola county, the east half of De
Soto county, and nearly all of the new
county of st, Lucie.
Having laid off the Everglades Drain
age District, the drainage commission
ers proceeded to procure for themselves,
as the trustees Of the Internal Improve
ment Fund, lists of all the lands within
the district that were originally included
+ Al H. kAI tnN
under the Federal Swamp and Overflow
ed Land Act of 1850, and thereupon lev
led a special drainage tax of five cents
per acre for the year 1905 on all Of these
lands Il at had been conveyed by the
State of Florida.
SPECIAL DRAINAGE TAX.
Copies of special assessment roll were
Immediately sent to the tax assessors of
these counties, and subsequently when
the tax book opened in November, the
tax collectors were instructed to issue
no receipts for taxes unless the special
drainage taxes were paid in addition to
ordinary county and State taxes. 1t
was then found that on every section OF
land, there was in addition to the Ordi-
drainage tax amounting to $32. 90 per
section. In other words, take for in
stance q valuation or $l.00 per acre on
wild fat woods lands in Lee county
when the county and State millage in "a
mills for 1906, including sub-school dis |
trict tax, the ordinary taxes on such a
section amounted to 1885, and added
TO this was $32 90, making q total tax
on a section of ordinary wild lands,
S47.3
II was further discovered that none
of the State lands owned by the trus-
tees of the Internal Improvement Fund |
or by the Board of Education were |
taxed with the special drainage tax, al |
though they were also included in the |
United States patents under the Swamp |
and Overlooked Land Act of 1850.
COMPLAINTS POURED IN.
Complaints soon began to pour in from |
the owners Of cypress timber and of |
wild muck lands, and of high pine lands, |
againt being drained in this summary |
manner. The cypress timber owners |
complained that when the water was
taken of their timber, the timber would /
be seriously injured, not only by lack Of |
water. but also by fire. The owners Of
muck land also complained that II these |
Wild lands were drained without proper |
teoyision being made for irrigation, the |
6nual fires would destroy these rich |
muck deposits, and the owners Of high
pine Kinds could not imagine W hat bene-