298 



FLORIDA. 



School, Seminary, and Internal Improvement Funds 

 of the State, $303.045.08 for moneys absorbed during 

 the rebellion and since. "We will suppose all this 

 debt funded in V per cent, bonds, and we have 



Due to State Creditors $708,711 12 



Due State Trust Funds 303,045 08 



Total $1,011,756 20 



The interest on this debt would be $70,822 23 



The new constitution requires that an annual tax 

 sufficient to defray the current expenses of the gov- 

 ernment, and pay the interest upon the public debt, 

 shall be levied. Before, the assessed value of prop- 

 erty, including slaves, was, according to my recol- 

 lection, about $110.000,000. Under the old law the 

 property-owner valued his own property, and after 

 the war the people generally returned their real es- 

 tate at less than a quarter of its value, and hundreds 

 of thousands of acres of lands held by foreigners and 

 non-residents were not returned at all, so that the 

 aggregate valuation was only about $25,000,000. Un- 

 der the new constitution and laws, all the property 

 is required to be assessed by sworn assessors, ap- 

 pointed by the Governor and Senate, and not subject 

 to the caprice of unwilling tax-payers. 



Under a proper assessment, such as will now be 

 made, it is safe to place the valuation at $50,000,000. 

 The law specifies that one-half of one per cent, shall 

 be levied as a State tax. This will yield $250,000, in 

 addition to the revenue from specific taxes for polls, 

 licenses, etc., which will amount to from $30,000 to 

 $50,000 more. This will afford ample revenue, with- 

 out any increase of the rate of taxation, to defray the 

 current expenses of the government, pay the annual 

 interest, and allow a liberal amount to the sinking 

 fund for the ultimate payment of the State debt. 



I have shown that the immediate resources of the 

 State are sufficient to meet all its obligations. In ad- 

 dition to this, we have 400 miles of railroad in opera- 

 tion, which, under existing laws, pay no tax ; 1,000 

 miles of telegraph paying no revenue ; oyster-beds 

 and fisheries along 1,000 miles of coast, and equal to 

 the best in the world, yielding no State revenue ; for- 

 eign corporations doing business in the State, insur- 

 ance companies, steamship companies, etc., pay no 

 tribute. When these and other resources, now latent, 

 are brought into requisition, as in other States, the 

 State can carry ten times her present public debt 

 without additional burden to the people in the rate 

 of taxation. About $150,000 of our floating debt is 

 receivable for public lands, of which the State has 

 about eleven millions of acres already, and when the 

 public surveys are completed will be entitled under 

 existing laws to receive over five .millions more. In 

 addition to this, the State of Florida has a valid un- 

 liquidated claim against the Federal Government for 

 expenditures in the Seminole War of $100,000 or 



The railroad policy is the same as that of the States 

 of Georgia and Alabama. To complete her system 

 as projected, it will require about 400 miles more of 

 road, and the Legislature, at its late session, author- 

 ized, by a nearly unanimous vote, the loaning the 

 State credit in aid of the railroad companies to the 

 amount variously of $8,000, $14,000, and $16,000 per 

 mile, to be issued as the works are completed, in sec- 

 tions of 20 miles, upon securing the State by first- 

 mortgage liens conditional upon the payment by the 

 company of principal and interest. In no case is aid 

 promised in advance of the work, and the falsehoods 

 which have been so widely circulated, of loose legis- 

 lation and lavish issue of bonds, have no further 

 basis than the malice and vindictive hatred of disap- 

 pointed corruptionists, who h'ave in vain sought to 

 fasten themselves upon the financial and railroad 

 systems of Florida for purposes of personal aggran- 

 dizement at the expense of the State. Having failed 

 to rule, they seek now to ruin the credit of the State. 



Under the new system of government, Florida is 

 entering a career of prosperity hitherto unknown in 



her history. Her slave population, as freemen and 

 citizens, are worth fourfold m< re to the State in en- 

 hancing its wealth and prosperity than as slaves. 

 Immigration and capital from the North are rapidly 

 developing the resources of the eastern portion of 

 the State, while the opening of the railroad to Pen- 

 eacola from the North is commanding for that beau- 

 tiful city unparalleled prosperity. No State in the 

 South has less obstacles to overcome than Florida, 

 and there is no substantial reason why her bonds 

 should not be as valuable as those of South Carolina, 

 Georgia, and Alabama. I am sir, with high respect, 

 your obedient servant, 



HARRISON KEED, Governor of Florida. 



A peculiar feature of the financial system of 

 Florida seems to be, that the medium most 

 used in making payments by the State, as well 

 as by the people of all classes and for all pur- 

 poses, consists in Treasury certificates, or scrip 

 of various descriptions valued at seventy-five 

 cents, or less, on the dollar. This circulating 

 medium is made an object of speculation itself, 

 in which, as in all other transactions wherein 

 it is employed, the loss generally falls more or 

 less heavily on him who sells the scrip, or buys 

 any thing else with it. In an official docu- 

 ment, dated June 10, 1870, the Governor avers: 

 " The State is now paying on all, save the sala- 

 ries fixed by law, at least twenty -five per cent, 

 more than would be required if money were 

 realized, and the Treasury replenished." An- 

 other circulating medium in Florida is " rail- 

 road money." 



During the regular session of the Legisla- 

 ture, which commenced on January 4th, and 

 closed on February 19th, a bill was introduced, 

 and, notwithstanding opposition, passed both 

 Houses, providing for the emission of State 

 scrip bearing interest, and divided into a great- 

 er variety of denominations than that then cur- 

 rent. Under the circumstances, people looked 

 upon the measure with favor as an improve- 

 ment, regarding the division of the scrip into 

 divers sums as more convenient to the holders 

 for use, and the accruing interest as some com- 

 pensation for the loss on the principal. But, 

 the bill not having been regularly enrolled, 

 the act was deprived of its practical operation. 

 The non-enrolment was attributed to the 

 agency of such members as were opposed to 

 the measure. 



Other bills relating to the State's finances 

 were passed at that session, but were not, for 

 various reasons, carried into effect. One of 

 them was the Tax Bill, the amendments to 

 which the Legislature failed to pass, whereas 

 the benefit that should have been derived from 

 the bill depended on its amendments. 



Among the acts of that session having refer- 

 ence to works of internal improvement may 

 be mentioned the bill in behalf of the "Su- 

 wanee and Inland Railroad Company," and 

 that " relating to certain privileges to be grant- 

 ed to the Florida Railroad," giving it State aid 

 by indorsement of its bonds at the rate of 

 $1 6,000 per mile. These two measures passed, 

 not without great opposition, especially the 

 latter, on the ground that the words of the 



