The Palatka news. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1905-1908, 1907-07-05
ONLY The TRUTH WANTED

pOluIs 10 illt IcCtlll dCllOL Ol LH6
board of county commissioners trans
ferring to the Road Fund ALL THE
SURPLUS money in the Fine and
Forfeiture Fund, amounting to FIVE
THOU SAND DOLLARS.
In Alachua county this same law
was invoked last month for the trans
fer of the money in the same
fund and NO ONE QUESTIONED
the legality of the act.
The legislature of 1905 enacted a
LOCAL LAW for an Alachua coun-
ty transfer of this fund. The legali-
ty of the act was questioned and the
matter hung in the courts until
March of this year, when the Su-
preme Court declared the Alachua
county LOCAL ACT unconstitut-
ional. Alachua county had a sur
plus of $4,000 in its Fine and For
fixture Fund, and the money was
badly needed for other funds, but
owing to CARELESS LEGISLA-
TION it was tied mp IN the bank for
over TWO YEARS.
The Grill law released this money
in Alachua as well as in Putnam
county, and what it has done for
these counties it will do for other
counties of the state.
Senator Grill drafted this bill only
after a most searching investigation
and with the purpose of making a
LAW THAT WOULD STICK. At
personal expense he secured copy
of the recent unpublished decision of
the Supreme Court in the Alachua
county case for the purpose of avoid
ing in his own bill the pitfalls of the
dead LOCAL MEASURE. When
his bill was finally perfected, ALL
THREE of the Putnam county dele.
gates, at a conference in the Senate
chamber, expressed themselves as
satisfied that it met the require
meuts of this county and AGREED
TO STAND By IT.
Hon. sgd L. Carter, representative
from Alachua county, than whom
there are few if any ADLER lawyers in
this part of the state, had already in
troduced q bill to meet the require
ments of Alachua county--require-
ments that had been pressing for two
years. When the Grill bill came up in
the House, Mr.. Carter acknowledged
its superiority by withdrawing his
own and substituting the Grill bill,
and which then and there passed the
House under his guidance.
There were several other repre-
sentatives and senators who had the
GOOD SENSE to withdraw local
measures of this kind in favor of the
Grill bill.
There were SOME SMALL
SOULS, however, in the legislature,
who, in their anxiety to make a
reputation at home, declined to do
So
Two weeks ago the News did Mr..
Mckenzie unintentional wrong bv
stating that his bill was reported
"unfavOrabiy" by the House COM
mittee. We did not have the CAL
endar by and relied upon memory.
1t was reported without recommen-
dation." Such a report does not
mean committee approval.
The News had nothing to say con-
corning its passage by the House.
1t did pass that body unanimously
and the editor of the News voted for
it, All LOCAL BILLS that are
brought up for action and urged for
passage by a member representing
the county to be affected by a bill,
are passed unanimously in the
branch of the Legislature where the
introducing member is sitting. That
was the case with the Mckenzie bill
The editor of the News voted for
the bill as matter of courtesy to his
colleague, knowing it to be uncon-
stitutional, Mr.. Mckenzie possessed
the same knowledge AT THAT
TIME.
One other possible mistake was
made by the News UNINTEN-
TIONALLY. We stated that the
bill was reported "unfavorably" bv
the Senate judiciary committee. We
don't know as a matter of fact. which
of the senate committees it went be-
fore. But we do know ONETHING.
1t did not 90 before any committee
with which Senator Grill was sitting
and he had nothing to do with its
defeat
The editor Of the News does not
relish controversy with his late col
league in the House of Representa-
lives, And he does not believe that
Mr. Mckenzie, OF HIS OWN VO.
LITION, would start such contro-
versy.
But this one was started in his
paper. A false impression was Gre
ated which the News, in simple las
tice to the man attacked, sought to
correct. In so doing we made some /
lnintentional errors of statement.
But they were not german to the
'eal issue, lie
That the Grill bill HAS ACCOM- t
the work for which it
vas enacted, and that =
The Mckenzie bill would not have I
one so for the reason that it was un-