The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1921-02-19
NO-FENCE LEAGUE BUSY WITH PLANS
FOR SECURING FAVORABLE LEGISLATION

Ddyi lOW' N0PCGldAy
Shall scrawny. tick-ridden cattle take
precedence over well-kept, healthy
animals of both native and nurer
breeds?
Shall the ra2or-back hog be looked
upon with greater respect than the
proft-bringng offspring of prize-win-
ners at state. national and interna-
tonal livestock shows?
Shall either be allowed to overrun
and devastate farms, groves. gardens.
highways and hOmeyards in which
millions OF dollars have been invested?
Shall the progress of Florida, the
farm and grove output of which alone
is. more than one hundred and fifteen
million dollars annually-aggrega
value of which is more than a billion
BE retarded in behalf of Open-range
cattle men. who constitute not more
than l per cent of the states popu-
/ lation. who ton a so per cent basis)
! have their cattle assessed at only thir-
| ty millions, and who bring in from
the sale of such cattle only about five
millions annually?
Shall Florida's failure as a stock
raising center be blighted in behalf
3
/ to fight against progress and justice
in spite Of the fact that Louisiana, the
/ last state to accept Florda's tickey
/ cattle. closed her ports to such cattle
ON February 1st--who fight against
their own good as we'll as that of their
fellows who are engaged in other in
dustrieS?
"FlOrida'S Greatest Fight
These are few of the questions
that are being fired at trade boards.
woman's clubs. newspapers and other
organizations and individuals by the
| Florida No-Fence League, headquar-
tiers of which are in Barlow. and the
answers that are coming in from ali
4 sections OF the state constitute a rouS-
1 ing mo- No organizations have re-
I fused to endorse the program of the
I No-Ferce League. which proposes that
\ the coming legislature submit the
l proposition to vote of the people at
the next general election in November
and its only avowcd opponents are
either those who are directly inter
ested in open-range breeding, or who
ale personal ard political friends of
such breeders.
The No-NencC Leagues campaign
las been editorially described as
FLORIDA greatest fight" but officers
Of the League say they expect no such
hattie as was necessary to inaugurate
the road building era in Florida, to
force cattle breeders to abide by tick
dip laws. or to project growers Of
Florida citrus fruits in the nation 5
markets They claim to find progress
siye men and women thoroughly
awake 10 this great need in its every
phase, and that those people will be
solidly behind the movement when the
legislature convcnes in April.
Interest in the movement is shown
byb the fact that the program has
been unanimously endorsed by both
Florida State Press Association and
I South Florida. Press Association, by
trade bodies and clubs of all kinds,
and at every meeting so far addressed
by A. L. Brown. an authority OH the
subject and other speakers. Every
section of Florida will be reached by
speakers before the campaign closes
and equal enthusiasm is expected in
the most remote sections.
Must Abolish Open Range
That the cattle tick must be eradi-
Gated is shown by the action of Louis
iana-and that the pest cannot be
done away with unless the open mad
free range is abolished is the conten-
ton Of officers and members of the
No-FCnce League, who are up In arms
against fence cutting and other dep
relations that have in the past been
committed against people WHO are en-
deavoring to develop the States re-
sources i'll. many lines. In more than
one instance, il is claimed, progress
sive people have been driven away
from big undertakings on their prop
erty by threats, and the newspapers
have more than once recorded in
stances of fatal shooting ARRAYS re-
sulting from the fence and no-fence
contention.
They and their forefathcrs having
used the wild ranges without charge
| for generations, many cattle men.
League officers claim. labor under the
delusion that these ranges are theirs
by divine right" regardless of who
purchases or wishes to develop these
lands, and to date every law on the
statute books CT Florida protects them
in that belief Therefore, the No
Fence League is appealing to the leg
slators, not to change the law them
selves. but to permit the people to do
so by vote.
Platform Principles
The desire of the League members