The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1906-05-11
.ver ne rendered SIS for one.

StS W eAiC NOSN VI Tie IGt1lfOdu tOIllllllS
5 sion 10 the people OF Florida, showinj
, that the members were paid from diff
r ferent funds, principally from license
from fire. life and other companies
: land that the amount derived from tn,
) tax payer was so infihitesimal as no
to be felt.)
| My distinguished friend. the edito
of the Banner. states in his paper tina
the has interviewed the merchants ant
vegetable shippers and that he has We
to find a single man who says thai
freight rates have been reduced | dt
mot know how much of search was
Imade to ascertain if rates have beer
ireduced, but | do know that the rail
trOad commission of this state has Sc
lcured reductions in freight rates; and
the saving secured 10 the people of the
state will amount each year to many
times the cost of maintaining a rail-
road commission. The dissemination
of any statements to the contrary is a
misrepresentation of the facts, and
does great injustice to a department
of the state government and those al
the head of it.
| (Mr. Burr then gave hong list of
things on which he said there had been
reductions in rates, to-wit: cents on
flour between Ocala and all points
within a radius of ten miles, and 3
cents over ten miles; 1 cent per 100
pounds on meat, lard and hay: cents
on corn and meal; 4 cents on canned
meats and vegetables and other things
in proportion.)
| If l knew how many barrels of flour
are shipped into Marion county each
year. / could tell you how much the
railroad commission has benefited the
people of this county on that one arti-
Gle. You have here in Marion county
| a population of over $4,000 people.
That means there are about five thou
sand families. Each family of five
persons will consume probably two
and a half barrels of flour each year.
| This would require that 1880 barrels
be shipped into the county each year.
! The reduction in the rate on flour per
barrel to stations in Marion county
Iamounts to more than cents per bar
rel on an average, but counting the
reduction at cents per barrel. it
means that the commission has saved
the eople of this county $500 per an
mum on flour alone The reduction in
rates on that one item in this state
would probably pay the expenses Of
l,Oaintaipiuc tho commission and +bic
reduction is a mere bagatelle COM
ipared 10 all the reduction in rats
secured by the railroad commission
Yet there are few friends of the
railroads in this state like Mr. Harris
who think they can deceive the people
railroad commission is costly lux
ury. With such reductions secured as
II have mentioned. can you blame such
gentlemen as Mr.. Harris and other
friends of the railroads from wanting
the commission abolished? Can you
wonder that they are frantic in their
efforts to defeat q man for reelection
as a member of the commission who
assisted in getting these reductions in
freight rates?
The above figures show in part
what has been done by the commits
Giles and commodities mentioned be-
cause they are of almost daily use.
These illustrations might be carried
on, however. on all of the hundreds
of articles which move in all the
classes.
Editor Harris says the railroad COM
mission has driven men out of the
fruit and vegetable industry in this
section Of the state by the rates which
they have established or approved.
Now, let US see how near correct this
statement is: The rates from various
lower east coast points range from 25c
to 33c per standard crate on fruits
and vegetables TO the base point
jacksonville far beyond, and IL viii
be seen that these rates are from twice
to three times as great TO the base
point as from points in this section
to the same point.
They are raising hundreds of thou
sands of boxes of fruits and vegeta
bles at these east coast points: but
the commission has put growers out
OF business in this section.
Men have gone from this section to
these east coast points broken. and
lare today successfully growing vege
tables and fruits Notwithstanding the
fact that Editor Harris says that the
commission has put them out of bust
ness here. One man ! recall. who was
reared in this county, and nearly al
his life grew vegetables in this sec
ton, is u. G. Eichelberger. and Dug
Eichelberger came Ia Dade county With
an old blind mule and oue-horSe
wagon. broken down in fortune. and
has made money growing vegetables
there. Still, Editor Harris says We are
putting growers out Of business in this
territory.
(He cited instances of men leaving
sumter county and going 10 the east
coast section and making large money
lin growing and shipping ve"etabies.)
Editor HarriS's vivid imagination