312 



FLOEIDA. 



means of support for their families and employes 

 for the ensuing year. * * * The delegates fur- 

 ther submit that, in their opinion, formed from a 

 careful consideration of former expenditures, the State 

 government cau be administered efficiently, and all 

 its necessary functions performed, for a sum not ex- 

 ceeding one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.^ 

 That to establish the government upon this basis of 

 expenditure, many of its present superfluous offices 

 will have to be abolished, and its legion of office- 

 holders dismissed. They respectfully submit that 

 this necessary measure of reform may perhaps re- 

 quire amendments to the constitution at the hands 

 of the people. 



The "grievances which oppress the people " 

 are summarily stated as follows: 



1. A law which places the immense power of tax- 

 ation in the hands of a few men unacquainted with 

 the character and value of property except in their 

 own immediate locality. 



2. A rate of taxation imposed upon an assumed 

 valuation of property which is without a parallel in 

 any other State, and which cannot be borne without 

 great distress and peril to the best interests of the 

 people. 



3. Forcing the people to pay taxes to meet appro- 

 priations which are not necessary, and may be dis- 

 pensed with without injury to the public service. 



4. Paying out to the people two descriptions of 

 obligations or scrip, one character of which is re- 

 ceived by the State, while the other is repudiated for 

 public dues, thus making a large class of the paper 

 of the Commonwealth, based upon, the property of 

 all, worthless for the only purpose for which it can 

 have any value to the tax-payer. 



5. In leaving nothing exempt from sale for taxes, 

 neither the agricultural implements, nor the horse of 

 the laboring-man, nor the bed upon which his family 

 rest after their day's toil, nor the food on which 

 they make their daily meal. 



6. In the provision of the law which permits the 

 collection of the entire tax from the personal proper- 

 ty of the citizen. 



7. In exacting this large amount of tax at a time 

 when it is unnecessary for the due administration of 

 the State government, and when it can serve no 

 other purpose than to enrich the officers of the gov- 

 ernment and those charged with its collection. 



It is then resolved 



That the Governor be requested to suspend the 

 collection of the taxes, both State and county, until 

 the meeting of the next General Assembly ; but if in 

 his opinion it is beyond his constitutional power 

 so to do, then that he convene the Legislature in 

 special session first, to repeal the act equalizing 

 taxation, approved January 27, 1871 ; second, to so 

 modify the act of February 18, 1870, as to authorize 

 the receipt of every description of State scrip for 

 public dues; third, to reduce the taxes, State and 

 county, and limit them to such an amount as is with- 

 in the reasonable ability of the people to pay. 



After this convention had adjourned, action 

 of a similar nature was taken in some of the 

 counties, and the discussions were more ex- 

 cited than ever. Finally, on the 6th of No- 

 vember, the Governor issued the following 

 proclamation : 



Whereas, It is evident that agitators in the State 

 are imperilling the public peace through their evil 

 counsellings. and that men of high standing and in- 

 fluence in the estimation of certain classes of the 

 people are seeking to bring the laws into contempt, 

 thereby inciting to a disturbance of the tranquillity 

 of society and to civil commotions, under the con- 

 stitutional obligations resting upon me "to see that 

 the laws aro faithfully executed," it becomes my 



duty to take special notice of these dangerous pro- 

 ceedings and seductive artifices with which the pub- 

 lic mind is assailed, and to warn citizens against the 

 bitter consequences in which they may thus become 

 involved, violating the laws, subverting order, and 

 convulsing society. 



The immediate occasion seized upon by those dis- 

 affected toward the government and seeking to en- 

 gender agitation, disquieting the public mind, is as- 

 sociated with the enforcement of the collection of the 

 taxes, under the "Equalization Act," passed by the 

 Legislature of the State at its last session, in accord- 

 ance with the imperative requirements of the con- 

 stitution. Taking advantage of the diminution in 

 the cotton crop and other products of the soil, by 

 reason of the unfavorable seasons, causing a more 

 than usual monetary pressure, and rendering the 

 burden of the taxes under the Equalization Act ap- 

 parently oppressive, and seeing the opportunity 

 thus presented for stirring up opposition to the ad- 

 ministration of the laws and encouraging seditious 

 sentiments toward the governmentj it is pretended 

 that certain constitutional formalities were not ob- 

 served by your representatives in the Legislature in 

 the passage of the Equalization Act, and therefore 

 that the act itself is null and void, and cannot be 

 rightfully enforced, leaving citizens to infer that 

 there is really no obligation upon them, under the 

 law, to pay their taxes. To this it is only necessary 

 to say that, were the fact as alleged, the taxes must, 

 still oe paid ; for an act of the Legislature, approved 

 by the Executive, as this act has been, and recorded 

 in the State Department among the archives of the 

 Government, is absolute law, binding upon every 

 citizen, and is not to be infracted or opposed in its 

 execution with impunity, nor will it be while I hold 



tional, or until repealed by the law-making power 

 itself. * * * Until citizens shall forego the rancor 

 and hate associated with the past, and agree by gen- 

 eral consent to unite for the public good, yielding 

 up, on the altar of the country, old prejudices, there 

 can be no redemption from the woes that afflict 

 society and jeopard the public security, while sup- 

 pressing the prosperity and happiness of the people. 

 It is my duty to enjoin upon all this course, so ele- 

 vating to the heart of man and commendable in the 

 light of Christianity. 



Now, therefore, I, Harrison Reed, Governor of 

 Florida, under and by virtue of the constitution of 

 the State, and the laws made in pursuance thereof, 

 do solemnly command all citizens to abstain from 

 the infraction of the laws, and from all and every 

 act whatsoever that through opposition to the laws, 

 or otherwise, tends to a breach of the public peace ; 

 and I imperatively enjoin it upon every one duly to 

 pay to the proper collectors, when called upon, the 

 taxes imposed and levied upon them under appro- 

 priations made by the Legislature for the current 

 year, and as assessed against them through the force 

 of the provisions of the act of January 27, A. D. 1871, 

 styled the " Equalization Act." 



Done at the city of Tallahassee, this sixth day of 



November, in the year of our Lord eighteen 



hundred and seventy-one, and of the In- 



[SEAL.] dependence of the United States of America 



the ninety-sixth. 



HARRISON REED, Governor. 



By the Governor : Attest, 



JONATHAN C. GIBBS, Secretary of State. 



The finances of the State, according to the 

 official reports of January, 1872, are gradually 

 becoming settled upon a satisfactory basis. 

 The liabilities and resources on the 31st of 

 December, as stated by the Governor, were 

 as follows : 



