The St. Lucie County tribune. (Fort Pierce, St. Lucie County, Fla.) 1905-1920, 1906-03-30
THE STATE IS
B0UNDBY ACT
Law Giving Everglades to Florida
Require its Drainage.
USE PROCEEDS OF SALE
Instead Florida has Otherwise Appropriated
Money and now Assesses Cost to
Purchasers of Lands.

So much has appeared in the press of
late regarding the drainage of the
Everglades that it would appear that
very little more can be said on either
side of the subject, but the main, under
lying principle for the whole discussion
seems to have been lost sight of in the
effort to prove that the territory Is
or is not capable Of draining, or
whether the decision of Judge Locke in
declaring the law authorizing the levy
ing the special drainage tax to be void
will stand approved by the supreme
court
THE TRIBUNE will not attempt to
play the part of dictator on either of
these points, for neither question in
volved is of material Importance, since
the whole matter was settled by a
higher law years ago.
In 1880 the congress of the United
States gave to the State of Florida
twenty million acres of overfiowed
lands, the great bulk of this lying in
the Everglades, and the conditions of
the gift were that "the proceeds of
said lands, whether by sale or direct
appropriation, shall be applied, ex-
clusively, as far as necessary, to the
purpose of reclaiming said lands by
means of drains"
Florida accepted the gift of this vast
area on the condition that the state
would expend all that she received from
the sale of the land to retaining, las
far as necessary
In 1899 the state of Florida sold to
one Henry T.. Dsston, four million
acres of land thus obtained for 81,
DOC, 900; since that time an equal
amount has been received by the state
from the sale of the land thus secured,
to private individuals, in small quanti-
ties.
Thus it can be seen that the State of
Florida has received two million dollars
from the sale of lands that were given
the state on condition that the pro-
ceeds of the sale of the same should be
applied, exclusively, to "reclaimlng
the lands by drains" Why tax the
property holders to raise the money to
"reclaim the lands" when the general
government presented to the state the
means to accomplish that end, and that
end "exclusively?'
In declaring the law creating the
drainage tax void on account OF the
delegation of legislative authority to a
board of executive officers, Judge Locke
acted mildly. He should have declared
the whole law fraud, on account OF
the state attempting to assess against
the surrounding property owners the
expense of making the drains which
the state obligated itself to do when it
accepted the gift from the United
States government.
The two million dollars the state has
received from the sale of the lands
donated to it on condition that the pro-
ceeds would be used, exclusively, for
the purpose of constructing drains,
would construct canal from the st.
Iucie river to Lake OkeechObee, an
other from Fort Pierce to the lake,
possibly another from the lake south
TO the Miami river; these with the canal
built by Mr.. Disston from the lake to
tbe Caloosahatchee river would amply
drain the entire area of the Everglades
and all surrounding territory.
Besides accomplishing the object OF
draining this valuable territory, the
construction of these canals would open
an inland waterway across the state
which besides being saving of many
miles would allow vessels to avoid the
treacherous coast off the southern par,
Of Florida. This is not an idle dream
for once the canal is constructed ant
admits only the smaller vessels, thus
becoming a Manageable stream, the gen
eral government would fit it to admit
Of the large ocean going ships. This
would create new ocean port on tn
Atlantic, at Stuart, which would be
great saving to the shippers OF phos
nhate, lumber and naval stores, VIII