The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1918-06-20
PURELY A BUSINESS
PROPOSITION


The advertisement of Mr.. r. G.
Camp in the Star, giving cost for the
first two weeks Of June of operating
the city light and water plant, can
mean but one thing, and that is that
he intends to make. the city pro-
position to furnish it power.
The Star advised Mr. Camp some
months ago to make the city an offer.
He has, of course, perfect right TO
make an offer. whether it be good,
bad or Indifferent. No matter what
sort of an offer he makes, it should
be considered, and If it is a good one
it should be accepted.
Some of our friends accuse the Star
of changing sides on this question.
We have not changed bit. We OPP
posed Mr.. Camps advances to the
city three years ago for two reasons.
One was that to ACCEPT it would
have imperiled municipal ownership.
The other was that we didn't like
some of Mr.. Camps methods.
AS we view the matter now, the
city can take current from Mr..
Camps company without endanger-
ing the loss of its business and pro-
perty. We hope Mr.. Camp will not
repeat some of his former tactics. If
he does, we shall oppose him again.
This is purely a business PROPOSE
ton. Let rs discuss it from bust
ness standpoint and in neighborly
spirit. This is a good time for us to
stand by each other and help each
other
Let US keep the matter away from
the fuel administration, the legisla-
ture and the courts. There is no use
of the fuel administration mixing into
it. Ocala is using very little fuel
that the government can use. The
cost of building a line twenty three
miles long will probably Offset the
saving for the time of the war and
longer and that is the time It will
be most needed. The opposition to
Mr.. Camp is greatly owing to the
fact that he took his case to the leg
islature and the courts and cost the
overtaxed people of this town great
deal of money that they need mighty
badly However, there is no use in
trying to grind corn with the water
that has passed the mill. If Mr.. Camp
will make his fellow citizens an offer
that will enable them to save money
/ for FIVE years or ten, or longer, and
they accept it, he will atone for the
trouble and expense he made for
them in the past.
/ So let him act like a travelling
salesman offering goods to merch-
ant. IL he has good goods at good
prices, let the city buy. If the city
decides not to buy, let him pack his
samples and go away cheerful1y,
leaving only good feeling on both
/ sides.
The two elements the Star has been
considering are, first: The city is
finding it more and more troublesome
and expensive to obtain fuel. The
other is that Mr.. Camps company
has power enough going to waste to
supply half dozen towns the size
of Ocala. 1t is obviously to the in
terest of both parties to get together
if they can. Also, if the city con-
htinues to make it's power, its plant
will wear, and under present condi-
tions, or worse, may wear out before
it is paid for. On the other hand If
the city takes power from the Camps,
it can use it and keep the plant in
fairly good order also.
i These are the business aspects of
the case Those of our citizens who
are against taking current from the
Florida Power Company have num-
4 Der of objections that are talked
about among the people but have never
i been fully set forth in print. Some
of these objections have come up in
the past few months. lie the matter
goes further-if Mr.. Camp submits a
proposition and the council considers
1t, we shall state these objections
plainly but without rancor. If Mr.
Camp can explain them or remove
them, we can go on to the next chap
ter. There is no getting around the
fact that among the people who have
/ defeated Mr.. Camps power propo-
sition, and had the new plant built
are majority of the most progress
sive citizens and leading taxpayers
of Ocala. It's all nonsense to talk
about their taxing the town IN order
to maintain the plant, for they pay q
much larger proportion of taxes than
the people on the other side of the
J question. We have known them long
enough to know they sincerely and
| honestly want to do what is best fol
Ocala. We believe that if Mr.. Camp
! can show them that he can help the
city they viii aid instead of oppose
; him. If he can't, it will be best tx
abide by their judgment.