The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1906-05-08

ward will carry out without the ASSIST
ance and in spite of the opposition OF
any legislature He was elected on a
platform pledging himself to drain
the Everglades and he is carrying out
his pledge. for which no one can
blame him.
Gov. Broward is not dependent on
any legislature for funds to drain the
Everglades. He can do It another way
and is doing it. The funds which
are at present vailable-created by
act of congress and not by the legisla-
I ture-and those funds which can be
secured by the sale of lands, added to-
gether, will be sufficient to drain the
Everglades. And the work will go on
and will be prosecuted to a successful
conclusion, without the assistance of
the next legislature or the collection
Of the drainage tax.
Again we must disagree with Mr..
Carlton in his view that the cent per
acre tax is the best method to raise
money to drain the Everglades. The
law providing for this tax has been
tested before the United States court
and declared to be in violation of the
Constitution to which all our laws
must conform. This court has declar-
ed it 10 be an unjust and unequal tax.
And yet again. we must take issue
with Mr.. Carlton in his statement that
most of this tax will be paid by the
large land companies. In our opin-
ion most of the tax, if paid, will be
paid by the settler and small land own.
er. The Florida Land and Improve
ment company, which owns more of
i this land than any other corporation,
has already been relieved by iniunc-
ton from the payment of this tax and
any other company owning a sufficient
Z ly large acreage to warrant them in
g doing so can obtain the same relief
from payment of this tax by applying
to the United States court. This will
leave the burden of the tax upon the
small land owner who would not be
justified by the amount involved in
seeking relief in the courts. Surely
the small land owner should not be
compelled to pay a tax which the Flor
ida Land and Improvement company
has already escaped and all other
large companies will escape.
But even if the law were consti.
tutional and the large land COM
panies could not avoid the tax, is it
just? When the Everglades are
drained, as we firmly believe they
will be, where will the money 60 THAI
will be derived from the sale of these
rich lands? Into the State Treasury.
Where will the money collected on
Everglade lands after they are drain
ed, sold and placed on the tax books
so? Into the State Treasury. Not
one dollar Of it will go to the man
who pays cents per acre on his land
to drain the Everglades more than
will go to the man who lives in the
other end of the state and derives
equal benefit from the FUNDS in the
State Treasury. Why, then should a
few be compelled to pay for something
the benifits of which all will enjoy?
If the entire state is to receive the
money derived from the sale of Ever
glade lands and from taxes collected
thereon shouldn't the entire state pay
for the drainage?
That is our opinion but it is worth
no more than the opinion Of Mr. Carl
ton or any other well informed citi-
zen
We believe the Everglades will be
drained with the funds now in the
hands of the drainage commission and
those derived from the sale Of lands,
and that the legislature cannot pre-
vent it if it so desired. Therefore, wa
contend that Everglade drainage is
not an issue in the legislative cam
paign.