The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1912-04-28
MILTON TALKS
WITH VOTERS
Of ESCAMBIA
CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR
MAKES TWO TALKS DURING
pAY-ExPLAINs PLAN TO BUILD
ROADS AND REDUCE TAXES
BRIGHT PROSPECTS.

| canoloaleS MI. Milton did not have
| time to discuss his candidacy thor
| oughly, but he went far enough to ex-
plain his opposition to taking the con-
victs and putting them on the roads.
| thereby increasing the taxes of the
property owners from seven and a half
! mills to fifteen or twenty mills, He
| said he was glad to meet the people of
Escamoia county and told of his first
| political work in 1886 when as a mem
| Der Of convention he placed in nomi-
| nation the name of Stephen r. NAL
| lory for congress and supported him
every time afterward when he was a
car'idate. In 1897 he probably was
| responsible for naming him senator.
/ and other sons of Escambia he had
| supported were Judge A. E. and z. c.
Maxwell. His work for these men he
| said made him feel close to Escambia
| people and he felt he could depend
upon them to give him favorable con-
sideration.
His official life he said was limited
to being member of the legislature
| twenty-three years ago. surveyor gen
eral 1904-7. and serving for nearly a
year as United States senator when he
| was appointed by Governor Broward
but he has taken part in every cam
paign, espousing the cause of well
known champions of the people who
| believed in progressive Democracy.
1
| have progressive platforms, he said,
| but all of them advocate the building
| of public roads with convicts. Mr..
| Milton says he Is opposed to this plan
| for many reasons, first because the
! loss of revenues and the cost of main
tenance of the convicts' to work upon
| the roads would increase the taxes of
| the property owners to a point where
| 1t would be a great burden. He is
| opposed to it for the additional reason
| that he wants to abolish the lease sys-
! tenn and putting them on the roads
| would from a humanitarian standpoint
| place them in a worse position than
they are now in, and that he believes
| 1t to be for the best interests of the
| state and for the convicts to place
| them on state prison farm. He would
| pu portion of the convicts on the
| put portion Of the convicts on the
produce food for all of the convicts
and 500 Of them on an 5000 acres sugar
| farm in the Everglades. This farm be
| says Will net the state $50 per acre or
$720,000 year, which he would advo-
cate the state distributing among the
| counties to be used for road building,
| the counties to divide it between the
commissioners districts to build roads
leading to the county seat and to con-
| rect with the highways of the adjoin-
| ing counties to complete a system Of
state highways.
In explaining to his audience why Il
would be too expensive for the taxpay-
! ers to put the convicts on the public
! roads he said s366,O00 is now derived
! from the lease system which would lie
| lost If they were put on the roads and
| an additional 100000 would be re
| quired for maintenance of the convicts
| and the road equipment added to this
| would increase the taxes approximate
| ly IL mills or from 1-2 to between y
and 20 mills. He said Mr.. Trammell
| says ii will not increase the taxes 20
| put the conviCts on the roads. but he
| explained that the state derives its
| revenues from but two sources. taxa
| ton and convict lease, and to abolish
| the latter will naturally make the
| taxes higher.
Mr. Milton Interviewed.
s After Mr.. Milton returned from the
! two places in the county where he
| made speeches he was seen by a rep
| resentative of The Journal and talked
| enthusiastically of his campaign, and
| also gave an outline of the things he
is making the campaign on.
Mr.. Trammell, he says, has attacked
| his Everglades proposition saying he
| does not know whether the Everglades
| will grow cane and If it will whether
| it will produce sugar. Mr.. Milton says
! If during the three years Trammell has
| been in the Office of attorney general
! he had not had his mind on political
things he would know that cane can
| be grown and that 1t will produce
| sugar, but Mr.. Milton says he has
| referred him to DR.. Harvey w. Wiley,
! the pure food expert, who says he has
| made a personal examination OF the
| Everglades and finds that cane may he
| produced more cheaply there than in
| Cuba. DR.. r. z. Rose, state chemist,
| has grown cane in the Everglades and
| t1oly rYeTrlilIr1 in u-ir n
| cane grown in Louisiana, Mexico and
! Cuba In the Everglades is the DistOn
| farm which has grown cane with the
| crops averaging II IL tons Per acre
| so per cent more than is the aveEase
in / ouisiana DR.. Wiley has made al
! ANALYSIS Of the cane and it yields from
zoo 10 204 pounds Of sugar per ton
| which is SO 1-3 per cent more than the
! o1isiana cane yields. DR.. Wiley also
saws the cane is the richest in sugar
production of any specimens Analysed
in WASHINGTON. D.. ". c. Studs. for
mer state chemist OF louisiana, the
/ n eatesI authority in America On sugar,
made an analysis OF 81 specimens from
! northern Florida which Yielded Is
and So leo pouTcs FER ton while the
average in Louisiana is from I4o to ] 81
rounds FER ton. The reason why the
EVERGLADES grown cane has q greater
yield is because Il has longer TO ma
| tuTe.
| AS I stated" continued Mr.. Milton.
! the taxation question IS q difficult one.
and il would not be possible 10 deal
| with II in al It's ramiications in 20
litical platform. For this reason l Of
fer for your consideration this one
concrete suggestion. namely: II the
county governn ents were supported
by direct taxation Of the property
| within the county, and the state gov
| eminent by indirect taxation, such AS
taxes on franchises. inheritances, rail-
roads. telegraph lines, express COM
panies, sleeping car companies, licenses.
etc, the objection pointed out would
certainly be removed. Realizing, as !
DO. the complexity of the question, and
realizing also that its proper solution
/ will require an extended investigation