The weekly true Democrat. (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1905-1912, 1906-05-18
LIZ ON MERIT. THEN!

lndL IN return LOT the appointment 40
| Attorney General by Gov. Jennings he
gave an official opinion against the
WALES claim, has been vigorously de-
MED by Judge Whitfield in the Pensa-
cola papers. Whatever the facts may
have heen the incident is now ''ancient
history" and the Wales claim will be
disposed Of on its merits by the Legis-
lature. st. Augustine Record.
If the Wales claim is disposed of on
its merits, then the State Of Florida
will be placed in its right position be-
fore the world, and the stain cast upon
its good name by the acts Of Jennings
will have been removed, for it has been
charged, and publicly, that the opera
house in this city was secured and
sufficient number Of members Of the
Legislature lObbied into a meeting there
~ HgTee 10 rctuse topdyh. They finally
passed an act appropriating only a small
amount a. due COL Wales, which in it.
self was an admission Of the justice Of
the claim, although much less than it
cost him 70 work the case up To collec-
ton, which Col WALES and Mrs Beard
very properly refused TO accept; thus
mdkiHgth the State Of Florida a repudidtor
Of just debt. Some day the people of
Florida will see all the ms and outs Of
the many funny things that happened
during the regime of Mr.. Jennings, and
they will no doubt be startled; and
there be some Of US who think we see
his fine Italian hand in public affairs
still After all that has been shownu up
in public affairs, does it not seem re-
markably strange that his services and
fellowship should be so much priced by
the powers that be. Surely, nowadays
we see many things TO shoot at when
we have no gun.
Since the above was put in type we
find the following in the St Augustine
Meteur, edited by Senator Tim;
Althogh claim for $163, 900 has been
passed upon adversely by the two last
sessions Of the Florida Legislature, it is
now evident that it will come up again
for consideration 1T the next sitting of
the State lawmakers, and that, too, at
cost Of thousands of dollars to the
taxpayers. This conclusion is drawn
from charge, made in the Pensacola
Journal by Hon. John S. Beard to the
effect that that purest Of pure men,
Judge j. b. Whitfield had entered into
compact with Gov Jennings to the
effect that, in consideration Of his APP
pointment as Attorney General, he
would render an adverse opinion af-
fectng the validity Of the Wales Beard
claim. AS Mr. Beard will be the next
State Senator from Escambia, having
no opponent, we would not be surprised
10 hear the gentleman charge, with
equal effrontery, that Senators who
voted against allowing the claim had
entered into a conspiracy with their
constituents to faithfully and honestly
protect the State Treasury. And he
would be correct in this latter charge.
st. Augustine Meteor.
Wonderful production the above, but
we do not propose TO go into details of
it. We just wish TO remind the editor
Senator that "many wrongs" do not
make a right; that piles and stacks Of
evidence given by many of the pure' t
and best men of Florida recognized and
admitted the claim as honest and just
up to the time the money came into
Jennings hands as Governor, and that
he generated the scheme through TO a
finish that made the State Of Florida a
repudiator pure and simple, that fact
has rot and cannot be rubbed out. We,
like all good citizens of Florida, do not
wish to see one cent Of the people s
money Incorporated. But we be-
lieve our States good name should be
defended, we believe the Wales claim
is an honest and a just one, and we
kHow that the jennings administration
is responsible for the manner in which
it was handled; and we believe they
hoodwinked enough supporters to sue
cessfully play the regulatory act. A
nice example for our rulers to set the
citizens
Truth crushed t. earth will rise
again, and many things. we believe,
some day will rise up in might enough
to crush those scheming for the plum
derlug and robbing of the people,
whether 1t be scheming against Wales
or in some more recent schemes which
have been put on foot, among which is
the drainage scheme,
Judpp Crn y Ranpy and far,ilv Of