The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1909-06-11
MR.. BURR AND THE NEWSPA.
PERS

ever appeared in the state press is
finding a place in some of the newspa-
pers now, and the following from the
Miami Record is fair sample Of It:
State papers will probably have
something to say next year to Mr..
| Railroad Commissioner Burr, should
he again be a candidate for the posi-
j ton he now holds. There was a bill
before the legislature permitting
newspapers to exchange advertising
| space for railroad transportation.
| Burr, it is said, appeared before the
legislature and argued against the
passage of the bill, and it is probable
that his influence defeated it. The
newspapers of the state are amply
able to take care Of themselves and
Burr'S attempt to regulate their bust
ness will be properly resented when
the time comes. There will be no
more pot metal campaigns for Mr..
Burr"
So, because Mr.. Burr does not be-
lieve in the railroad pass system, and
so told the legislative committee when
the matter was up for discussion, the
pass-users are to down him in the pri-
maries, are they?
This will be interesting information
to the great mass of voters, ninety
per cent. of whom have never had the
exquisite pleasure of handling a rail-
road pass, and who never could see
any reason why the other ten per cent.
should be favored with that privilege.
We think it highly probable (nit) that
this ninety per cent. will soak Mr..
Burr because he insists that the rail
roads shall hereafter require passen-
gers to pay their fares in the same
way.
The truth of the matter is that an
anti-pass bill was before the legisla-
ture. 1t was all right-a good thing
for the rest of the public, but a few
newspapers thought they were emit
tied to a special privilege, and they
wanted to be specially exempted from
the provisions of the bill. Mr.. Burr,
no doubt, failed to see why a newspa-
per man was any more entitled to a
railroad pass than anyone else, and
he therefore told the committee that
he was opposed to any change in the
bill.
We hold no brief for Mr.. Burr
There may be other men in the state
and probably are-who are just as
abundantly qualified to serve on the
railroad commission as he. But if
his newspaper enemies think to get
rid of him on the ground that he is
opposed to the class legislation and
class discrimination which would al
low the railroads to issue passes to
certain specified few while the great
bulk of the public are paying their
fare in coin of the realm. they will be
sadly disappointed.
The way to kill off Mr.. Burr-if he
is to be killed Offs to attack him at
some vulnerable point and in a more
careful way where the animus is not
so apparent..-Pensacola Journal.
Really, the Journal gives the people
of Florida important information when
it AYERS that there may be men other
than Mr.. Burr qualified to serve on
the railroad commission of this state.
Truly, this is a gracious concession
for the Journal to make, and after
such men as McWhirter served on
that commission, too!
Mr.. Commissioner Burr has occu-
pied a place on this board for a num-
Der of years. Are there less complaints
now of excessive freight charges and
freight determinations than there
were before Mr.. Burr was discovered?
Does there not continue to be calls
and still further calls for more dras-
tic legislation against the railroads of
our state?
Does not every interior city contin-
ue to pay tribute to every seaport
city? Is it possible to do a wholesale
business in the seven hundred miles
of territory between Pensacola and
Miami, because of excessive freight
determinations in favor of the sea-
port cities?
And when did barter and trade be.
come a crime?
Since the very dawn of civilization,
in peace and in war, barter and trade
have been recognized as legitimate
and proper until Mr.. r. Hudson Burr
occupied a place on the railroad com.
mission of Florida, when he and the
Pensacola Journal discovers in it the
seeds of criminality and corruption.