The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1913-11-21
THE RAILROADS AND A PUBLIC
ITY CAMPAIGN

A recent issue of the st. Petersburg
Times contained almost column ar
ticle on the above subject. 1t says
that Mr.. L. d. Jones. the active and
efficient general manager OF the Flor
ida Fruit Exchange, addressed to the
railroad ompanies-whose tracks
network the surface of Florida
communication appealing to them to
cooperate with the Fruit Exchange
in advertising the state. Mr.. Jones
suggests that the railroad companies
expend at least the sum of $4,000 a
year in making known its advantages
and larger SUM would be still more
advantageous, and for the railroad
companies it would be like bread
cast upon the waters
Then the ST. Petersburg Times
says:
There is another particular in
which the same movement. if the rail
roads are really behind it, seems I'M
worthy of such influential and finan-
cially able institutions, and that is in
the fact that the people of the country
are called upon to support it by their
monetary contributions, while the
railroads stand ready to receive the
resulting benefits accruing to them. "
This has reference to the Southern
Settlement and Development move
ment.
The Times ends its editorial as fol
lows:
THE question is repeated with
constantly increasing frequency. Why
do not the southern railroads, those
running into Florida, advertise the
state in manner at least common
surate with the business they derive
from it?' .
Why, dear Times, if the railroads
of this state tomorrow were to make
a contract with the Times for one
thousand dollars for the purpose OF
extending it's circulation, and thereby
giving a greater publicity to the re-
sources of PineIlas county, and were
to enter into a similar contract with
the Ocala Banner. and another con-
tract with the Tampa Tribune, and so
on with other newspapers throughout
the state, in the sum of twenty thou
sand or fifty thousand dollars annual
ly for the purposes contained in the
editorial of the Times, a mighty cry
would go out in the land that the
railroads were attempting to buy up
these newspapers for some Interior
purpose, to the hurt and injury of the
| farmers of the state, and those re-
| formers" hot on the trail of office,
would not want a better stepping
stone to the gateway of public prefer
ment
The cry would be hurled in our
teeth that the newspapers had been
bought with a price. and were under
1.-THE domination and control of the
railroads of the state.
/ Why. when some of the newspapers
| of this state exchanged their adver-
Using space with the railroads for
mileage books and went from place
| to place throughout the state, writing
up their beauties and their splendors
and laying bare their limitless re-
sources to the world, those editors.
though paying their hotel bills and
other incidental expenses out of their
own pockets. were looked upon by the
army of office seekers as little better
than criminals, and a great cry went
up to Tallahassee that the newspa-
pers of the state had been bought
body and breeches," THAT was one
of the terms used) by the railroads,
and something had to be done to pre-
vent the newspapers of the state from
venally and criminally selling them
selves to these greedy and devouring
octopuses.
Mr.. Jones, the active and efficient
manager of the Florida Citrus Elk
change, may be and no doubt is a
very genial and clever gentleman,
but he is densely ignorant of the lit
erature and vernacular and general
implements of warfare of the Florida
reformer when he is hot on the trail
of office.
Mr.. Jones proposition won't do at
all
It would hriuc ancueationc aoo;nrt
the newspapers that would be more
intolerable to bear than the punish
ment that was inflicted upon Cain for
Staying Abel.
THE LATEST MILLIONAIRE MAT.