Live Oak daily Democrat. (Live Oak, Fla.) 190?-190?, 1907-04-04
SPECIAL MESSAGE.

and House to investigate the Internal
Improvement Fund, the Senate re.
ceiyed the following special message
from the Governor:
Gentlemen of the Senate and
House of Representatives:
Certain persons have. through
newspapers and other publications,
circulated many falsehoOdS against
the present Trustees of the Internal
Improvement Funt, which may de-
ceive the people as to the honor, in
tegrity and ability of those State Of
flcials. By innuendo and otherwise,
they have attempted to traduce not
only your Trustees, but to create in
the minds of the people, even beyond
the confines. of the State, the belief
that the, Trustees were. guilty of mis-
management of the Internal Improve
ment Fund. Those officials are COM
posed, as you know, of the Governor,
Comptroller, Attorney General, Treas
urer and Commissioner of Agriculture.
1t is charged by these certain in
dividuals that the Trustees have vio-
lated the laws, which laws they are
sworn to uphold, by diverting public
funds, charging that your present
Trustees have used school funds to
build dredges and do drainage work;
that they have used money apprOpri-
ated to the purpose of good roads
from that purpose to the purpose of
building dredgeS and draining lands;
that they have also diverted money
from the State Treasury, derived
from taxation, to the purpose of
building dredgcs and retaining
lands and paying unwarranted at
torneg's fees. ETC., and it is safe to
assume that these papers and litera-
tdre bearing these charges have
reached you, and it would be a mir
acle If one hundred men can be
gathered here, whose confidence has
not been affected more or less harm
fully by the charges against the pre-
sent Trustees. who are composed of !
the highest State officers, and feel
ng that nothing should estrange the !
relationship that should exist be-
tween the Legislature and the |
Trustees as servants and representa-
ives of the people; therefore, / |
recOmend that a numerical |
~ strong committee. equipped with /
sufficient technical knowledge to |
make a searching investigation. be
appointed at once; composed of men,
Ders of each House, to investigate |
he charges and innuendoes intended |
% reflect upon the present Trustees,
and make report of their findings at |
he earliest possible date, and | ask
hat the committee be given power to
summon persons and administer
'aths in swearing witnesses, and to
equire them also to bring books, &C
counts, newspapers, circulars, litera-
ure and hand-books, bearing upon
his matter in any way that the COM
nittee may deem best and neces-
airy.
This recommendation is not made
" me on account of any lack on nv
art of confidence in the innocence
I the present Trustees, as | know
hem to be innocent ofethe innuen-
oeS and false accusations. and !
lrther know that they are patriotic,
able and industrious
tate officials, and that they are
ntitled to the utmost confidence of {
ne people; but | feel that it is my {
uty to you and to the Trustees and i
all the honest people of the State,
lat a full investigation be had, and I
lat report be made of the actual /
ndings, that the Legislature and |
lie people of Florida and the people I
other States may not longer be t
by any question of the in i
gritty of the highest officials in a t
State.
i further recommend that the | 2
riterS on the seven newspapers re-
FRED to by me in my message of b
lis morning, be summoned, and also S
le writer's on the newspapers re- p
FRED to in that message under the v
lad of two or three Others" one i:
which is the DeLand Record. L
I'VE learned that the ownership or o
anagement, or both, OF the other n
70 newspapers, the Lakeland Sun t,
Id the Fernandina Star, have r
o., i |