The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1919-05-19

moved to some other town than their
own.
We can only judge of the future
by the past. Nineteen years ago-Mr.
Chazal was not taking interest in pub
lie affairs then-Ocala was candi-
date for the capital location, and she
was abused and slandered by nearly
every newspaper and ruling faction
of nearly every town in South Florida.
The leading papers of the state have
come to our exchange table this week,
and we see very little evidence in
them that the old spirit has abated,
and two of them at least have rankly
misrepresented the. city.
Why should the Star sit still and
allow its town to be misrepresented?
If majority of the members of the
legislature have good reason for de-
string the capital to be removed to
Ocala, they are going to vote that
way, and it is rather childish in any
person to say that the Stars edi-
torial of Friday would cause them to
change their minds. In the course
of the said editorial we said Ocala
would like to have the capital and do
anything honorable to obtain it. Mr..
Chazal's criticism would lead an out
slider to think that Ocala was or
would be perfectly crazy to obtain the
capital and would do anything hon.
orable or dishonorable to have it 10.
Gated here. Of course, We know he
meant nothing of the sort, but if we
applied to him the same sort of crit
icism that he applies to US, that would
be the deduction that we would think
We could logically make.
In the course of Fridays editorial
we said:
"But this town is the most indie
pendent in Florida. 1t is dependent on
nothing but its own territory. 1t has
got along very well for three-quarters
of a century without any state or fed
eral government graft, and without
Yankee philanthropists to give it a
handout, and it can continue the per-
Torrance"
Now this is a sentiment that we
have expressed several times before,
and it has always found favor here,
and few years ago one of the lead
ing newspapers of the state congrat-
ulated Ocala because she has fought
her own battle and worked her own
way. Unless we greatly mistake. Mr..
Chazal has read our sentiments be-
fore, but they never went against his
grain until last week. He expresses
his disapproval in the following par
agraph:
- nAnlr
mistake, for any community to take
the position that it is independent of
the rest of the world. In this day and
time any city that thinks it can pro-
gress without the aid of others is
harboring a delusion. The cities that
are going forward are the cities that
are being built by outsiders and with
outside capital To put it another
way, they are going forward because
of new citizens and new capital"
Mr.. Chazal makes the great mis-.
take of thinking the words "inde-
pendent" and isolated" are synono-
nous. No individual, community or
nation can live isolated. But any in
dividual, community or nation that
makes its own living is independent.
We have repeatedly Dragged on Mar
ion county making its own living, and
our people, knowing it was true, have
approved of the boast The Star from
the day it started has tried, and in
many instances succeeded, to induce
outsiders and outside capital to come
to Marion county. 1t has always be-
lieved that the best inducement it
could offer was to tell people that this
was an Independent and self-sustain-
ing county. Does Mr.. Chazal want
US to reverse this policy?
Mr.. Chazal further says:
what is wrong with a Yankee :?
What is the objection to a philan-
thropist? What is the objection to
giving to a city? Why associate these
IT. the same sentence with graft :?
Why associate the capital removal
with graft"
There is nothing wrong with a
Yankee, except that Mr.. Chazal
hasn't got over considering the name
term of reproach. We have. We
got over it thirty years ago. In the
article Mr.. Chazal refers to, we used
it as a geographical expression. If
we had said "northerner," he might
have made the same objection to il.
At one time we claimed one "Yankee
neutrality-suspicious. B. Stetson-as
a personal friend. He was a good
friend, too, and if one like him came
along and offered to found a million
dollar school in Ocala. we would be
among the first to welcome him. We
never said such men shouldn't come
here. We said they hadn't. And they
haven't. Every dollar for Ocala's i'm
provements has been dug out OF
Ocala's pockets. Nobody ever found
fault with US for saying so before.
There is no objection to giving to a
city, provided the gift is made in the
proper spirit, and we have never said
there was. We said Ocala had never
been given anything. We should like
/ for Mr.. ChaZal to COMPUTE our state.