The sun. (Jacksonville, Fla.) 1905-1908, 1906-08-25
CONTINUED from Page one.)

State were deceived, by people who were paid to
deceive them. but they had been unable to cor
rupt or to deceive either one OF the two newspa-
pers In Pensacola because the editors OF these pa
pers could not be corrupted and had not allowed
themselves to be deceived
Taking up the question of practicability OF
draining the Everglades the Governor said that
II was entirely practical and that the abundance
of profies and maps Of the region In possession
OF the Trustees convinced them that It was not
only entirely feasible but that II could be done at
comparatively small cost. Referring to the
richness Of the land when drained the Govern0r
said that two head OF cattle could be raised on
acre Of II and that all the sugar used In the Uni
ted States could be produced In a portion OF the
Everglades so insignificant In size that one would
have to ride around all day to find the patch.
He said that the first thing the people of the
State Of Florida did was to put ON foot the plan
to reclaim the rich lands OF the Everglades pro-
ducing the original document known as Resolu
ton No. l, asking for a survey, passed by the
Legislature which convened the year that the
State was admitted into the Union, to back up his
statement. The very next Legislature, he said,
passed a resolution asking the National Govern.
ment to grant the swamp and overfowed land to
the State so that It might be reclaimed He then
read the Act OF Congress OF 1850, known as the
Swamp and Overlooked Lands Act, which granted
to Arkansas and to other States, including Flor
Ida, the swamp and overfowed lands He next
referred to. and read In part. the Act of 1855.
passed by the Legislature Of Florida, creating the
Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement
Fund and vesting In them irrevocably the title to
the lands, which were to be used, as far as neces
sary for the purposes OF drainage and recama
ton and the residue to be used for the purpose
of education "This Is the authority" he said
under which the Trustees are acting now"
The Governor then said that he would antic
pate somewhat the argument that Mr. Beard
would make, because of the quotation made from
advance the question Mr. Beard would probably
raise as to the granting OF too much power to the
Trustees. His answer to this argument was that
the drainage law and the proposed Constitutional
Amendment would not give the Drainage Commits
sioners any more power than that given to the
Tax Assessors In every county and to every town
council In the State and II anything that the pre-
ponderance of power lay with the Tax Assessors
and Town Councils, because they could not only
collect the tax. but they could fix the assessment
OF the land, while the power of the Trustees was
limited to the imposition OF tax not exceeding
10 cents per acre on the lands to be drained
Directing his attention to the proposed COnsti.
tutional Amendment the Governor said that II
this amendment were adopted 1t would settle the
cases now In Court, being prosecuted by the syn
dictated land owners In order to escape the pay
nlent of the drainage tax; that the Trustees did
not need this tax In order to carry on their work
of drainage and reclamation; that they could
drain by selling piece Of land and draining an.
other piece and selling that and SO on; but that
It was the desire OF the Trustees to make the peo-
pie who received the benefits pay for the drain
age, and that as the land syndicates owned more
land than the people, the Trustees thought II a
fair proposition that the land syndicates should
pay as much as the people did for reclaiming the
lands.
AS to the fear that the railroad companies who
have legislative grants for more land than there
Ia land left would get the balance OF the land
when drained the Governor said that the decision
OF the courts was so strongly in favor OF the
tention Of the Trustees that the railroads and
other corporations claiming them would never get
them. In support OF this position he pointed out
the fact that the claimants were not pushing the
suits they had against the Trustees; that Judge
Malone had decided on two occasions in favor of
the Trustees, and the claimants In this case were
compelled to amend their BILL that there was
now suit pending In Judge Swaynes court
which was not being pushed. In view of these
facts the Governor gave It as his opinion that the
claimants to the land were afraid of the issue,
that they were lodging It, and that they consid.