The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1926-05-05
Peter @. Knight Claims
Conservatism Main Factor
In FlOrida'S Prosperity
PROMINENT ATTORNEY
MAKES STATEMENT I'm
ADDRESS DELIVERED
In ATLANTA, GA.
tBy hssoelatea PressD

~ LAIN ~ 0a.s iHdy os-A iof-
ida is enjoying extraordinary
prosperity aot because of its
climate, its soil. it's natural re-
sources and advantages, but be-
cause of the "conservatism of
Florida's citizens" Peter o.
knight, general counsel of the
Southern Hardware Jobbers' As
ISOLATION told the representatives
of that organization here last
night.
"While the rest of the country
for many years has been engaged
in trying to pass laws to make
water run uphill" he said. ITO
make the unnatural, to enable the
fool to compete with the smart
man, to enable the little fish to
eat the big fish ;. !. the people
of Florida have believed in the
law of the survival of the fittest
and that you could not, by man
made laws, change God-made
laws"
"We believe that the principal
function of a government is to Sc
cure man in the enjoyment and
ownership of his property after
he thas acaaired tie speaNer
declared. "And SO we have no
franchise tax, no severance tax,
no corporation tax, no corporation
stock-transfer tax, no tax on in
tangiblcs, no income tax and no
inheritance tax. !.
eve have always had such an
economical administration of our
state affairs as that, although we
have none of this sort of. taxes,
and only raise our revenue for
state purposes by an occupational
tax, a gasoline tax and an ad
valorem tax on real and personal
property, and although the prop
erty of Florida is conservatively
estimated to be worth six billions
of dollars all of the property of
the state-real, personal, utilities
tf all kinds for taxation purposes
is only assessed at the insignificant
sum of six hundred and twenty
million of dollars !"
Refers To Prohibition
Referring to the prohibition in
the state constitution against the
levying of any state income or in
heritance tax. Mr.. Knight eharac-
terized these forms of taxation as
"communistic, anarchistie, bolshe-
vistic and socialistic.
eve criticize the French" he
said, because they are about to
make capital levy. Yet we do
worse than that in this country.
They propose to take part of
mans estate when he is alive,
while we in this country permit a
man to work hard. to accumulate
something for his loved ones, and
then we take it away from him
after he is dead. the very time
the estate of all times needs his
guiding hand and head"
Further criticizing the action Of
congress in passing the Inheritance
tax law, the speaker declared that
''no more uu-American piece of
legislation has ever been enacted,
and congress ought to be heartily
ashamed of ITSELF"
Each state, the speaker con-
tinued. under the constitution is
a republican form Of
free from civil
tyranny and ecclesiastical domina-
ton :"
"And yet." he said. here We
have the spectacle of the federal
imposing taxes which
It comedies and admits that the
federal government does not need.
for the purpose of coercing a
sovereign state to pass legislation
in a matter Of purely local con-
cern against not only the wishes
Of the people Of that state. bur its
constitution solemnly adopted by
its people.
Refers To Meeting