The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1913-03-14
REcoMMENDATIO BY THE Gov
ERNOR

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give out from time to time for the in
formation of the public and Of mem
bers of the legislature certain of the
recommendation which he will sub
nit to the legislature when it meets
in Tallahassee in April, has given
out the following recommendations
which he will make:
The Right to Vote When Absent From
Home
Many travelling men and also a con-
siderable number of railroad employees
and others, who are qualified voters
of this state, are often deprived OF
the privilege of voting on account Of
their absence from the county in
which they are registered upon the
date of the primary or election, such
absense being due to the fact that
their employment requires them to be
away from home a great deal of the
time. That they may be allowed TO
vote when absent from their home
county, | recommend the enactment
of a law providing that a travelling
man or railroad employe, or other vot-
er who is required to be absent from
his home, upon presenting his regis
tration certificate, his poll tax re-
ceipts. and satisfying the election Of
fcers as to his identity, and that he
has not voted in his home county or
any other county or precinct, and Will
not be able to do so, shall be allowed
to vote for national and state officers
that his vote shall be restricted to
such officers, the law should provide
that he shall be furnished with only
that portion Of the ticket covering
national and state officers. Such law
to provide suitable penalties for any
effort to vote or for voting at more
than one place.
State Institutions Should Be inspect
ed Prior to Meeting of Legislature
Heretofore it has been the policy of
the legislature to designate commit
tees composed of a considerable num-
Der of the house and the senate to
visit the institutions for higher educa-
ton, the hospital for the insane the
school for the deaf and the blind, the
convict camps, the state reform
school and the drainage operations
during the session of the legislature.
and report thereon while the body is
in session. This plan for having
these institutions inspected by COM
mittees from the legislature takes a
number of the members
away from the daily sessions; and,
also, on account of the desire of the
members of the committees to return
to the regular legislative work, gives
but limited time for their inspections.
1t is my opinion that ONE plan
should be devised whereby these COM
mittees could be designated prior to
the converting of the legislature, so
that they may make their visits and
prior to the session, and
be ready to submit their reports when
the legislature meets.
Advertise Granting of Franchises
City franchises are often very val
liable, and for the protection of the
interests of the towns and cities, /
would suggest the passage of a law re-
curing that when an application for
a franchise is presented to a city or
town council, the said council, if it is
desired to consider the application,
shall give public notice through the
press of the application for at least
three weeks before acting upon it, in
order that others may also make ap-
plication, and that the citizens may be
The law should further pro-
vide for a referendum vote upon all
grants Of a franchise when requested
by a certain number of voters.
Graded Corporation Tax
The privilege given to a corpora
ton by the state are valuable to the
incorporators, and give them rights
and exemptions from liabilities that
individuals do not enjoy. 1t is for the
purpose Of exercising these privileges
that persons form corporations.
Many states impose an annual tax on
all corporations, and l would suggest
the enactment of a law imposing a
small annual license tax on corpora
tons doing business in this state-say
from s. to $50 based upon capital
stock
Equalization of Taxation
Tax assessment laws that do not
apply in equal terms to all are not i'm
partial and just laws. The Florida
tax laws governing assessments re-
quire that all properties shall be as
essed at their full acsh value excepting
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