FLORIDA. 



amount that may bo collected between Novi-m- 

 l>rr and hi-cfinher of the tax assessment of the 

 In l*7s t lii-n.' were only $9,195 collected 

 of tlu- asM's>mi-iit of that year, and u like sum 

 may In- i-olK-i-ted in 1879 from the assessment 

 of 1879. There was a balance in the Treasury 

 on the 1st of January of the present year of 

 $-_M.14!, wh'u-h will enter into the available 

 means for 1879. 



These estimates left a deficiency of $25,000, 

 on a basis of taxation of five mills. But as the 

 Legislature was providing revenue for the two 

 years, 1879 and 1880, similar estimates applied 

 to the latter year showed that there would be 

 a (K-ticiency at its termination of $70,962. No 

 other resource was left but to advance the rate 

 of taxation to seven mills. Of this tax, one 

 mill as provided in the Constitution goes to the 

 schools; three mills are required to pay the 

 interest on the State debt without the sinking 

 fund, which leaves three mills for the State ex- 

 penses. The valuation of taxable property in 

 the State is abont $30,000,000. 



A change was also made in the law so as to 

 secure a fairer valuation. It required every 

 person to render to the assessor, between the 

 first days of March and August in each year, 

 a list of the taxable property of every kind 

 owned by him or which he should return for 

 taxation, and such list shall contain a descrip- 

 tion thereof, and a statement of the value of 

 each parcel of land and of the different kinds 

 of property, and the same shall be made under 

 affidavit that the same is just and correct, 

 which shall be made before the assessor, or 

 any officer authorized to administer oaths. Any 

 person who shall fail to render such list, or 

 when it shall be demanded by the assessor, 

 hall be liable to a double tax, and his property 

 shall be assessed by the assessor at double the 

 usual rates ; and any person failing to render 

 such list shall not be permitted to reduce, or 

 have reduced, the valuation made of his prop- 

 erty by such assessor. 



An extensive system of railroads was de- 

 vised after the close of the war, and it was 

 contemplated that their construction should be 

 aided by donations of State lands. Some lines 

 have been in part built, public lands have been 

 lost to the State, and many roads sold by the 

 courts. In the Senate the Committee on Rail- 

 roads were instructed to investigate the cause, 

 manner, and legality of the sales of the roads 

 constructed under the provisions of the In- 

 ternal Improvement act of January 6, 1855', 

 and all matters connected therewith, and to 

 recommend such action as may be necessary 

 for the interest and protection of the Internal 

 Improvement Fund. 



They reported that the sales of the Florida, 

 the Pensacola and Georgia, and the Florida, At- 

 lantic, and Gulf roads were unconstitutional, 

 and recommended the pas?ago of bills by 

 which legal proceedings could be instituted by 

 the present Board of Trustees to recover and 

 reestablish the rights of the Improvement 



Fund in all of these roads. Bills were accord- 

 ingly passed for this object, but the Govern- 

 or vetoed them on the ground that the com- 

 panies had for twelve years acquiesced in the 

 s.iK-s, and also that the trustees were not pre- 

 l> ir.-d to meet the expenditures they would en- 

 counter, and that the measures would prove 

 injurious to the fund and the State. 



Three other bills were also vetoed by the 

 Governor, but these were intended to aid in the 

 construction of railroads. One was entitled 

 " An act to grant certain lands to the Tampa, 

 Pease Creek, and St. John's Railway Com- 

 pany " ; the second, " An act to grant certain 

 lands to the Gainesville, Ocala, and Charlotte 

 Harbor Railroad Company " ; and the third, 

 " An act to incorporate the Chattahoocbee and 

 Pensacola Railroad Company." The first pro- 

 posed to grant to the railroad named the alter- 

 nate sections of the swamp and overflowed 

 lands granted to the State by the act of Con- 

 gress of September 28, 1850, lying along and 

 adjacent to its projected line of railway from 

 Tampa to the St. John's River, a distance of 

 about one hundred and ten miles, to the ex- 

 tent or quantity of ten thousand acres per run- 

 ning mile, and further provided that if any of 

 such lands were sold before a survey of the 

 route was tiled in the office of the Secretary of 

 State, then that the quantity so sold should be 

 made up from the even-numbered sections of 

 such laud or any State lands lying nearest the 

 line. The second proposed to grant to the rail- 

 road named the alternate sections of swamp and 

 overflowed lands for fifteen miles on either side 

 of its projected road, including its branches, to 

 the amount or quantity of eight thousand acres 

 per mile. The length of this line, including 

 branches, is at least four hundred miles. The 

 third bill proposed to grant to the railroad 

 named, being two hundred and seventy- five 

 miles in length, the aid provided for in the In- 

 ternal Improvement act and its amendments, 

 including those which may be passed at this 

 session, and also the swamp and overflowed 

 lands lying along and adjacent to said line, its 

 extension and branches, to the amount of ten 

 thousand acres per lineal mile. The amount 

 of land which these bills proposed to donate is 

 seven millions of acres. The Governor in stat- 

 ing his objections presented a distinct view of 

 the claims on these lands!. He says that the 

 lands hereby to be appropriated are those 

 granted to the State by the United States by 

 the act of September 28, 1850, and are com- 

 monly known as the " swamp and overflowed 

 lands." These lands, and the five hundred 

 thousand acres of internal improvement lands 

 grantad to the State by the act of Congress of 

 September 4, 1841, were, by the act of the 

 Legislature entitled " An act to establish a lib- 

 eral system of internal improvement in this 

 State," approved January 6, 1855, vested in 

 the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improve- 

 ment Fund of the State. To this Board was 

 given power to make arrangements for reclaim 



