The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1917-04-27
A FLORIDA "CRAcKER7 ON FREE
TEXT BOOKS

Hon. John A. Scruggs. one of the
members of the legislature from Leon
county, as typical FLORIDA cracker"
| She says that he looks as if he had
always subsisted on branch water;
that when he arose to speak on the
question of free school books the gal
leries looked bored, as much interest
was being manifested and the vote
on the. question was being anNioasiy
awaited.
Several speakers had preceded the
cracker legislator. and as so much
had been said pro and con on the
proposition it was thought that very
little could be added to what had al
ready been said, with a good deal OF
perfervid flow of eloquence, but the
con member mad proceeded but a
few sentences before he had the un-
divided attention OF the floor and gal
leries.
Mir. Scruggs sa:I in part
Nr. Speaker and Fellow Members:
We foresaw with regret that the ne
gro would be injected into the argu-
ments on this question on the floor
But, fellow members, in all fairness
eliminate this matter as far as posi-
bic from your minds. 10 man here
perhaps is so situated as to realize. or
realizes their condition and their ef-
feet upon your country more clearly
than | do A native OF the black belt
myself. on a plantation where twelve
| families OF these negroes are employ
ed by me. where | am absolutely lord
| of all survey" and where my word
| is law unto itself | know and real
| ize that the white race shall domi-
nate these people so long as they are
| in our midst. and, fellow members.
rest assured they will handle this
| book measure even as they have al
ready the teachers and school houses.
These are facts. and indisputable
ones, but | submit to you that we
should render the negro his Just dues
We have him in our midst, and direct
| ly or indirectly he is taxed and sup
ports our measures and institutions,
because he has no voice in our poll
tics. in our policies and the admins
tration of our government. We should
be disposed to render unto him what
soever may be his dues
The gentleman from Jefferson tells
You that the negro pays no taxes or
practically so and that the white race
should not be taxed to furnish the ne
gro books. Are these facts? | do
not think so. We have two forms OK
taxation, direct and indirect, the in
direct being by far the greater; di-
rectly the negro pays little. as he has
bat small property interests. but in
directly he is a most liberal tax pay.
er 1t is known to all that his trade
is the most profitable, he is and can
he charged a larger profit on his pur-
chases than the more intelligent white
purchaser, therefore | submit that he
is a great factor in the upbuilding of
our commercial interests. and while
they directly pay these taxes they are
charged up to the negro the same as
to you. myself or any other customer.
When you tax my property directly,
do you believe that ultimately those
taxes come from my pockets? In all
fairness, | answer you no. AS a mat
ter of business principle | charge
these expenditures to those employed
and utilizing my lands in order that
| may have my legitimate profit and
income from my investments, and you
know that every other business man
follows the same policy.
We now furnish the buildings. we
now furnish the teachers. why not in
all fairness, the books? 1t is an abso-
lutte necessity if we would reap the
full benefit of the appropriations that
we already make. There is, perhaps,
no greater handicap in the way of the
teacher today than the matter Of
books for the pupils. The work Of
many pupils is delayed for many days,
weeks and sometimes months for the
lack of proper books to carry on their
work. This matter disarranges the
entire work of the teacher, demoraliz-
es the class work, and is a great in.
justice to every child in the class.
Again, many children are forced to re-
main at home because of the lack of
book, which his parent is unable or
is not willing in many instances to
supply.
We are at a period in our history