The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1921-09-06
is THE STAR WRONG

According to Editor Benjamin no
rubber tire factories should be at Ak
ron, Ohio, the largest rubber city in
the world. Then, too. Tampa the
largest cigar manufacturing city in
the world, should also have remained
a village. Jacksonville should not
manufacture nacaroni, brooms. etc.,
because Florida does not raise the raw
products. The Hanson Six" should
not be in Atlanta nor Ford in Detroit.
The truth of the matter is Florida can
manufacture many products cheaper
here than elsewhere and then secure
all the raw material from somewhere
else. Ocala certainly needs factories,
but it will never be anything except
what it is if the people share the view
as expressed b. Editor Benjamin. The
biggest factories in all the world get
their raw materials elsewhere, al
though some industries can work
more economically by having the ma
terial produced just around them.
The policy as expressed by the Star
would make the South the pauper sec
ton of the world. Then too it is
cheaper to pay transportation charges
on raw material than the finished pro-
duct. The largest farm machinery
concern in the world is in Chicago.
Florida has big candy factories-no
sugar is made in the state. Everyone
of the biggest money making concerns
in Florida get their raw products from
elsewhere. The biggest soap factory
in the world is in Cincinnati and its
raw material mostly comes from
Florida. Jacksonville has iron works
which have made a fortune. No,
Brother Ben." you are wrong. very
wrong Jacksonville Observer.
The article in the Star which derw
the foregoing remarks from the OBJ
server must have inadvertently
knocked some of the shingles off of
one of Charlie Jones' playhouses, and
he should have informed himself a
little better.
The Star did not say anything
about rubber. Most of the rubber
used in the United States comes from
Brazil, and by the time it is landed
at an American port it makes little
difference what American town it is
worked up in for commercial pur-
poses. 1t, however, requires vast,
complicated and extremely expensive
machinery to put the gum in shape for
any use Rubber is very expensive
part of any auto, but it amounts to
little in weight or bulk, and if a man
had machinery and material for all
other parts of car in Florida, the
rubber could be supplied at compar-
atively low expense.
The point which the Star made, and
which the Observer can't dodge, bend
or get around is this: 1T is safe
proposition that anything into the
making of which iron ore and coal en-
tiers very largely can't be successfully
Elade in Florida"
line ODS6TNGT SnOulu KNOW lItSfS Il
plenty of iron and coal near Atlanta
There is foundry a short distance
north of that city where cannon were
forged for the Confederacy. There
are foundries, blast furnaces. rolling
mills, coal mines, iron mines anC
coke furnaces by the score in les:
than 200 miles of Atlanta Detroit
Cleveland and all other big lake towns
are the most favorably situated in tbs
world for obtaining coal and iron
big ships bringing the ore from mine:
all around our inland seas and dump
ing it at the very doors of the fac
tories
ANY comparatively ignorant person
can estimate the expense OF. hauling
steel billets, bars. rods and plates
and brass, tin and other metals, ant
the coal necessary to fuse and welt
them, to Florida. and figure what sor
of a chance a man would have to kni
them into coherent machinery and sci
them at profit.
There are iron works, not only II
Jacksonville, but in other towns il
Florida, including ocala, that ar