The Ocala evening star., 1915-10-07
ANSWER TO ANDERSON

ANSN Xix III ANDERSON
The letter OF Mr.. c. I. Anderson. 4
IN yesterdays Star, in regard 70 post F.
ponement Of work on the union sta !
ton, was inaccurate and inconsider- (
ate. II was inaccurate because it ac- T.
cUsed the Star and certain citizens Of /.
doing things they didn't do. Mr.. An I
derson accused them of doing these .
things because they didn't do things
he thought they should do.
II was inconsiderate because il was
calculated to give the outside world
the impression that our town il so
hard up that the postponement of the
erection Of a $4,000 building will
bankrupt the city, and that Ocala is
so destitute of promise that our
young men are leaving in shoals.
Going somewhere else to build
home and make a fortune is an
American trait. All the older men in
this town, and many of the younger
ones, came here from somewhere else.
The writer has been here almost
twenty-three years, and no year of
that time has passed without some Of
our young men going away. From
| Miami to Nome, from the Rio Grande
to the St. Croix, are scattered men
who were born in Ocala or vicinity.
On the other hand, so far as the Star
knows, there is not a single promi-
nent business man in Ocala who was
born in the city.
Some of our young men have gone
away in the past year. Other young
city of young men in Ocala. Every
where you look, you see them; and
few of them are idle.
| There were no "self-elected repre-
sentatives of the city" at the meet
ing of Sept. %. Those present not
body but themselves, but they gave
warning they did not. What they did
was open and above board. There
were at least a hundred invited to at
tend, and if only twenty-five were
present, it wasn't their fault the
ers was the oldest man present, and
it was the natural and proper thing
to invite him to preside. The. Star
didn't take any hand in running the
meeting. The editor of the Star went
simply and solely because he wanted
to tell the railroad men of certain of
their shortcomings and derelictions
toward the public. He did so in plain
language, suggested the remedies and
the railroads promised the troubles
should be abated.
1t was not necessary for Mr.. An
derson to try to inform the public
that such abuses as rough and un-
safe crossings could be corrected by
the city government. The Star has
frequently told the council that it
, had the power and it was it's duty to
: attend to these matters. But the
: council has done nothing.
What agency in this city has fought
railroad oppression as steadily and
as successfully as the Star?
We suppose all the readers of this
( paper understand its position on the
2 union station question. The Star ha:
: always advocated an union station fol
, Ocala. 1t never has wanted a station
/ at the crossing, which it considers the
E most unsafe and inconvenient and one
t of the ugliest locations in town. We
will cheerfully corroborate Mr.. An
derson by saying we will wait no
j only a year, but two, if we can OBJ
i tain better location. To our pos
t tive knowledge, a considerable mum
e Der of our citizens agree with US OF
j this issue.
r However, we congratulate Mr.. An
s derson on one thing. He may no
: shoot straight, but he comes out il
the open to shoot. He doesn't sign
: fictitious name to his criticisms o
4 the Star and then send it to anothe
paper. And we hope he is one of tn
! young men who will stay in Ocala
\ We would miss him if he went away.