The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1919-11-27
TINE TO GET TOGETHER


Editor Star: What is the greatest
asset of a county, state or country?
IS it fertile soil. great forests, rich
mineral deposits and undeveloped
wealth of all kinds that bounteous
nature can give? If it is, then un-
doubtedly Marion county should be
the leading county in the state. Thirty
years ago Marion county's assessed
valuation was over $8,000,00O; today
it is less than that by several hundred
thousand dollars. Thirty years ago
Marion county had a population of
$4,000; today it has a population of
38,000-a gain of only one thousand
every ten years. Twenty years ago
Polk county had an assessed valua-
ton of $3,000,000; today her assessed
valuation is 9,OO0.0O0-a gain of
$16,000,000 in twenty years.
AS we rode through Polk county in
the recent motorcade and saw what
had been wrought by the hand of man,
we asked Ourself the question that
heads this article. what is the great
est asset of county, state or coun-
tly?" We begun to study the natural
only phosphate, lakes. sandhills and
climate. And yet with all of Marion
county's natural wealth, Polk county
has an assessed valuation of more
than two and half times that of
Marion.
Thirty years ago Marion county had
an assessed valuation of almost three
times that of Polk. Thirty years ago
Marion was third in point of assessed
valuation and population of all the
counties in the state; today she stands
eleventh. Why is that? A man would
be foolish to say that good roads are
altogether responsible for the great
strides in advancement that some
other counties have made and the lack
OF good roads is the sole reason why
Marion has stood still.
According to the government report
Of 1917 the total valuation of farm
products and live stock in Marion
county had a grand total of over
$6,000,000. Today there are 1900 au-
tomobiles in Marion county, whose
first cost would average $1,000 each.
We see by this that in the last four or
FIVE years the citizens of Marion coun-
ty have invested $1.50O,0OO in auto
mobiles for pleasure or profit. The
strange part of this is that some of
the owners of these truck and cars are
now opposed to an investment of ST.
100000 in good roads on which to run
this $1,500,000 worth of cars and
tlucks.
1t reminds me of a story / once
heard of city man who moved to the
country. He and his wife agreed that
in order to be sure enough country
people they must keep cow and at
once began an exhaustive study of the
care and feed of milch cows. They
called in the carpenter, plumber and
brickmason and had a $500 cow
house built. After the house was built
at such great cost. they decided that
they must economize on the purchase
of the COW. So they bought a scrub
cow to put in their $500 cowhouse.
We have invested 81 100000 in motor
cars and now we must economiZe on
good roads. AS we said, good roads
is not the sole reason why some coun-
ties have advanced and the lack of
good roads not the sole reason why
Marion has stood still. Is it then be-
cause our schools are not so good as
in some other counties? Not alto
gether. Why then the reason. Simply
this: The lack of cooperation in the
people of Marion county. The greatest
asset of any county, state or country
is the spirit of cooperation, the spirit
of boosting, the spirit of getting to,
gether and working for a common
purpose We are now at the dividing
OF the ways. the forks of the road. We
can either vote for bonds as an evi.
dence of our faith in the future great
ness of our county and the first steI
in our ultimate greatness. or we car
vote against bonds and die of dry rot
c. B. Howell.