The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1919-05-28
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LEGISLATORS AND =
LEGISLATION =.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
BY JOHN c. rRrcE.

Tallahassee, May 26.-Representa-
tive Whyte, of St. Lucie county, has
been at Panacea Springs for a day or
two recuperating from his strenuous
Tight for the passage OF his local tisn
DILL Though one might get the idea
from attending the local sessions OF
either branch of the legislature, 1T was
only necessary for q member to pro-
pose a bill in order to get 1t through.
1t was not SO with this bill 1t had
the strongest opposition of any meas
ure that has passed this sesSion-an
oppoition tire1ess, relentless and tre-
mendously resourcefuL But the bill
now becomes q law in spite of the
veto of the governor. This OF itself
is enough to make the st. Iueie MEM
ber's bill famous, because it is dis
tinction seldom enjoyed by bills that
come under thA disapproval of the
chief executive but this one has other
scores to it's credit. 1t only lacked
four votes of getting unanimous APP
prevail over thu veto in the house, and
1t was unanimously passed over the
veto In the senate.
1t is said by many legislators and
others at the capital that the Glades
account of too much executive office
tinkering. 1t is pretty generally con-
ceded, too, that it is a pity that a
really meritorious proposition should
meet such a fate
The newspaper men of the state
would no doubt have felt flattered
could they have been present in the
house Friday afternoon and heard
some of the members trying to cut
down their legal advertising rates.
Mr. Futch, of Alachua, went SO far as
to try to get posting substituted for
newspaper advertising in all matters
relating to the sale of lands for de-
hnquent taxes. Subsequently he
claimed it was only joke aimed at
Mckenzie. of Putnam.
The new members of the house
think they have been working hard
for the past week. and they really
have. but they have something more
to learn about hard work Three
session a day from now on will make
them think they have been playing
in comparison since the session com
menced 1t is a good thing the smok-
ers are permitted to keep their nerves
braced up by unrestricted smoking
else there might be some breaks in
decorum.
The next great problem before the
house is the license tax law. 1t is
always used as a drag net to bring
in the funds for meeting the con-
stantly increasing appropriations. To
do this it has gotten to show a won
derful disregard for persons or sta
tions in life. It has just got to get
EN- coming and going, and the only
way to escape it is to kick off" on
the long journey into the unknown
before the collector comes around
1t is freely predicted here the reve-
nue. bill passed by the house yester-
day. if 1t gets by the senate and be-
comes law, will be more unpopular
than the suffrage amendment to the
federal constitution was just after the
Civil War. One thing is certain If
it will operate like Mr.. Weaver thinks
it will, there is no question that 1t
will fill the Golfers of the state and
the counties with tax money. If, on
the other hand, 1t operates like Mr.
Futch, OF Lake county, says it will,
there will be more land magnates and