The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1906-02-23
TAMPERING WITH THE sPlGoT
WITH THE euNG HOLE OPEN.


The railroad cmmissioners OF Flor
have recently fined the Seaboard
Air Line railway for not posting a
notice on the bulletin board at Lake
city stating that one of the passenger
trains was thirty minutes late.
II is now citing the East Coast rail-
way to appear before it on a certain
date to show cause why certain inn
movements have not been made on the
depot at little place called Duroln
somewhere on. its line.
some of the newspapers hail with
pleasure the fact that the railroad
commission is getting busy.
1t seems to us, however, that these
are merely attempts to stop the spigot
while the bung hole is left wide open
and is bringing disaster TO the people
who are unfortunate enough to live
/ in the interior of Florida.
The Easterlings, the largest vegeta-
BILE growers perhaps in the United
States, who operated largely at Mar
tin, very rich section in this coun-
ty, have pulled up stakes and moved
away.
large number of growers at An
thony have restricted their acreage
and some have been forced to quit al
together.
party of gentlemen from Vincen-'
mes. Indiana, purchased large tract
of land near Ocala and planted the
same in vegetables. They said that
their object was not to get rich quick,
but they wanted to do a steady, legit-
innate business.
After three years trial they have
pulled up stakes and returned TO their
Indiana home.
The gentlemen composing this par
" said that the climate of Florida. is
all right, they liked it immensely;
it porduces finely. and that the
that the soil is alright; that
people here are clever and hospitable.
They, in a word, had no fault to find
with any of the climatic conditions.
No fault to find with the soil; nor
with the people.
indeed, they found :. the soil more
productive than they had anticipated.
1t produces abundantly and they got
good prices for their products. but
they said that it is a matter of i'm
possibility to succeed in growing veSe
tables in the interior of Florida and
pay the freight rates assessed against
them. =
So these. gentlemen, like numbers of
others, who have tested it, have had
to pull up stakes and quit.
f the freight rates had been such
as to have allowed them a reasonable
margin of profit they would have re-
manned in Florida and others would
have followed them.
1t is not extravagant to say that if
the freight rate conditions had been
different every acre of the rich lands
of this section would now be under
cultivation, and the railroads would
be kept busy hauling their truck to
the markets, but as ii is, these fertile
lands are being abandoned and are
lying idle and will continue more and
more To do SO.
In the face of this condition of af-
fairs it looks extremely ridiculous to
us that the railroad commission of
Florida will busy itself in finding one
of these great railroad systems for ne
glecting, to bulletin a beiated train and
cite another one to appear for neglect
ing to put certain improvements at an
obscure station.
Why don't the railroad commission
of Florida do something?
Why is it permitting seven hundred
miles Of territory to become idle and
abandoned?
Were it not for the turpentine. phos-
phate and lumber industries-which
'are Godsends-the whole interior of
Florida would become almost an aban-
dOned waste.