The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1917-03-23
DRAIN EVERGLADES
SAY LEGISLATORS
All Agree Great Area Must
Be Reclaimed

A party OF flfty-five members Of
the Florida Legislature. accompanied
Iy William Jennings Bryan and about
twenty editors ANA representatives OF
leading newspapers of the state, re-
Gently spent four days IN ali inSpec-
t;cn tour of the Everglades and Lake
Okeechobce The visiting statesmen
were the guests of the people OF Dade,
Broward and Palm Beach counties,
and the expenses OF the trip were
betrayed by popular subscription in
the three counties named.
Only two of the members of the leg
islative party had ever before seen the
Everglades. Following are some OF
the things that the visitors said, at
the conclusion of the trip, as quoted
from Miami and Fort Lauder,lalc
newspapers:
Double Tax Wealth.
William Jennings Bryan: "The
drainage of the Everglades is such an
enormous propcsi).c4 li.A, 81.
to make anybody understand it uEtii
he has actually been over the groand.
l am sure the trip will result in great
good to this section of the state. and
that means great good to the state as
a whole, because the taxable wealth of
the state will be more than doubled
by the reclamation of the Ever
glades."
Senator ]. .. King, of Citrus cOun-
ty: Il believe the Everglades is the
richest large tract of land in the
worlH but it is worthless until il is
drained What the Glades owners
and the people of the southern part
of the state are asking, is only a
square deal, and | am in favor of Civ
ing it to them"
Representative c. A. Stevens, of
Hamilton county: Il am ready to sup
port any Legislative. program that will
give real drainage to this rich en-.
pre-
FlOrida's Biggest Asset.
Representative y. j. Wicker, of
Sumter county: The Everglades is
Florida's biggest asset. When drain
ed, ii will be the richest farming
country in the United States. The
state must drain these lands. if every
foot of state land has to be mort
gagged or sold to 10 the job"
Representative John \. ScruggS of
Leon county: Il favor practical legis-
latiOn to bring about real drainage of
the Everglades. If the drainage work
can be taken out of politics, it should
be done"
Representative W. j. Roebuck. Of
Columbia county: "EversladeS drain
age is n mighty big project but I be
Iclv Florida is bis enough to brinc
1t about There is no reason why the
state lands should not be used as Sc.
curity for financing the drainage and
this should be done"
Representative David Sholtz. Of YO-
lusia county: Il have lived quite mean
the Everglades for years. hut have
never before realized their breadth
scope and possibilities"
Representative c. r. Mathis, OF
Holmes county: THE Everglades pro.
ject is ten times bigger ana hundred
times better than | had supposed The
land is too valuable to be allowed &c
lie unused. | favor putting every
acre of state lands back of the pro
ject if ii is necessary"
Representative F. W. Perry. of Lee
county: at will probably cost 800
100000 to $4O.0OO.O00 to drain the
Everglades. and l favor making
cOmDletp iOh nf if -
Representative w. ]. Epperson. OF
Levy county: There is a great flu
ture for the Everglades. and they
should be drained as speedily as pos
sible. The state lands should be put
back of drainage bonds at once The
people Of the Everglades section are
not asking anything unreasonable
and they should get what they want"
Representative Cary A. Hardee. of
Suwannee county: THE measure
which will most speedily reclaim this
fertile area is the measure that should
be adopted
Glades Must Be Drained.
Representative A. H. Williams. OF
Leon county: "The Everglades must
be drained and the legislature must
do whatever is necessary to insure
drainage"
Representative A. S. Crews. OF
Bradford county: The only question
Is how it may best be done, for the
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