The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-04-01

is that there is not one, if inAssA there pc any of the present State house or ncials who has any considefahle eccu- mutation of worldly geods. The most of them arc in financial straits. and this speaks much for the honesty of them. for there are but fsw of them who could not line their pockets if they would permit themselves to be corrupted.
 The opportunity for that modern utility of ready and unutilixsd coin known as graft Is always on qui vive in Florida.
 There has been much graft in the past. but the present Governor is one these Andy Jackson statesmen who believes in honesty somehow, and he has an extreme distaste to grafting. In his message he will have some very strong sentences to project on this subject, and he will take severe meas ures to break up the lobby at Talla- hassee during the coming session.
 The lobby is we'll established iu- stitutton of the nebuious lines at Tal- lahassee.
 Fight On Lobbyists.
 Everybody knows that 1t exists yet 1t Is difhcult to obtain evidence against 1t. There are certain persons in Flor ida who do nothing else for a livelf- NcVS~' ny AANO AtVm 8coSlOu tO 8CU- sion without any other apparent means of livelihood. Some of these have al- ready appeared at Tallahassee and will remain here during the session. The Governor does not think that the in- fluence they have on legislation Is or can be good, and he has determined to break up the practice which has been So time honored that 1t were sacrilege to say aught against It
 Yet this Governor of Florida has a way of breaking into time honored GUS toms, and 1t is safe to predict that the utterances in his message do not convey the length and breadth and reaches of his efforts to break up the lobby.
 In this connection Is suggested the news that Florida will be the first Southern State to have and maintain Peoples Lobby. Some of the New England States have organized such a lobby. In every instance the object of the peoples lobby has been to direct legislation toward remedial measures and against bad legislation. In Flor ida the Peoples Lobby has not been organized. as 1t has been in some States. but its objects will conform to the rule in this respect. This depar- ture has been undertaken by The Sun, a state paper of cartoon and comment, which will be issued daily during the session. The State of Florida has no library or librarian, and there is a real need for members to seek and obtain information elsewhere than at the capitol, for no facilities are supplied them there.
 The Peoples Lobby in Florida will be largely an information bureau where members may seek and be fur nished with information on various measures and questions of importance It is stated to be the purpose of the lobby to get and furnish information no matter upon what subject It is predicted that the experiment will be watched with interest.
 An interesting item of news which may be of more than State wide in- terest was the reorganization this week of the Governors Guard as a military body. For some years the capital of Florida has been without military organization of any char acter. Through the encouragement of the Adjutant General and the military advisor to the Governor the State of- ficials and others have become inter ested in the movement to have a mili- tary company. and the same was or ganized Friday night.
 The military officers alluded to have volunteered to give their time and at- tention unstintedly to the new com pany. and if this is done the Governor Guard will probably be the crack com pany of the State.