FLORIDA. 



331 



FLORIDA. State Government. The following 

 were the State officers during the year : Gov- 

 ernor, William D. Bloxham, Democrat; Lieu- 

 tenant-Governor, L. W. Bethel ; Secretary of 

 State, John L. Crawford; Treasurer, Henry A. 

 L. Engle; Comptroller, William D. Barnes; 

 Attorney-General, George P. Raney ; Superin- 

 tendent of Public Instruction, Albert J. Rus- 

 sell ; Commissioner of Lands and Immigration, 

 P. W. White. Judiciary, Supreme Court : Chief- 

 Justice, Edwin M. Randall ; Associates, James 

 D. Westcott, Jr., and R. B. Van Valkenburgh. 



Finances. The Governor, in his message to 

 the Legislature of 1885, presenting the financial 

 condition of the State, says : 



Florida has never occupied the high position 

 that she does to-day in the financial world. Her 

 Comptroller's warrants pass current in the banking 

 institutions and moneyed marts of the country, the 

 small amount of bonds she has outstanding in the 

 hands of individuals are at a high premium, she has 

 no floating debt, and cash in the treasury to meet all 

 legitimate expenses. The total amount of warrants 

 issued for 1883 was $251,075.85, and for 1884 $195,- 

 923.85, including $13,174 for the Deaf, Dumb, and 

 Blind Asylum. The bonded- debt of the State is as 

 follows : 



Seven per cent, bonds of 1871 $350,000 



Six per cent, bonds of 1873 925,000 



Convention bonds 1,500 



$1,276,500 



Deduct bonds of 1371 in sinking fund. . . $66,000 

 Deduct bonds of 1S73 in sinking fund. .. 100,000 



166,000 



Bonds of 1871 and 1873 ... ... $1,110,500 



Of which the school fund holds $325,300 



Sinking fund holds 90,400 



Agricultural College fund holds 155,800 



571,500 



Leaving in the hands of individuals $539,000 



Showing a decrease of amount in hands of indi- 

 viduals during the past two years of $50,800. 

 In addition to bonds of 1373 in sinking fund, the 

 sinking fund for these bonds held in United States 

 4 per cent . bonds, market value 84,800 



Leaving practically an outstanding bonded 

 debt of $524,200 



The balance in the treasury Jan. 1, 1884, 

 was $89,033.20; receipts during the year, $328,- 

 894.38; total, $417,927.58; payments, $274,- 

 950.38; balance, Jan. 1, 1885, $142,977.20. 



In accordance with the suggestions made in my 

 message of January, 1883 (says the Governor), the 

 Legislature reduced the State tax to four mills for that 

 year, and authorized me, if the aggregate assessment 

 of the property of the State would permit, to reduce 

 the same to three mills for 1884. The " aggregate as- 

 sessment of the property of the State" shoVing a 

 large increase, the State tax was reduced to three mills 

 for 1884. The taxable values for 1880, and several 

 years prior, averaged about $31,000,000. Since 1880 

 these values have annually swollen, until 1884 they 

 show an assessment of over $60,000,000. 



It is not the State tax that burdens the people. 

 Unfortunately, some of the counties have outstanding 

 obligations, some running back prior to the war, 

 which have to be met by alieavy county tax. These, 

 however, are gradually meeting their obligations, and 

 in a few years, it is hoped, will be relieved. 



The State tax in 1884 for general purposes 

 was $204,896.72 ; for the school fund, $60,- 

 100.18 ; licenses, $113,317.61 ; county tax prop- 

 er, $213,233.69; county school-tax, $200,342.- 



91; county special tax, $168,963.04; total 

 county tax, $582,539.64; net State tax, after 

 deducting insolvencies, etc., $238,498.26. 



The State now has 1,504 schools in opera- 

 tion, with an attendance of pupils of 58,311, 

 an increase in each of 100 per cent, in the 

 past eight years. The average daily attend- 

 ance is 35,881 ; number of children between 

 six and twenty-one years old, three counties 

 missing, 66,798. The principal of the school 

 fund, derived chiefly from the sale of lands 

 known as the " sixteenth section," has in- 

 creased in an unprecedented manner during 

 the past four years. In his last message the 

 Governor placed the school fund on hand Jan. 

 1, 1881, at $246,900. There were $9,000 of 

 railroad bonds in the fund at that time, but as 

 their validity or value had been questioned 

 they were not included in the estimate. Since 

 that period their value has been settled, and 

 being added to the fund makes $255,900 as 

 the principal of the school fund, which had 

 slowly accumulated from 1845 up to Jan. 1, 

 1881. The increase in the past four years has 

 been $220,284.20. This makes the total com- 

 mon-school fund $476,184.25, yielding an in- 

 come of $27,314 annually, which is appor- 

 tioned to the counties yearly. 



Under the Agricultural College grant of Con- 

 gress, Florida received 90,000 acres of land, 

 which were sold for $81,000, and the pro- 

 'ceeds of the sale were invested in $100,000 of 

 Florida bonds. The interest has been invested, 

 and the principal now amounts to $155,800, 

 which produces an annual income of $9,227, 

 The trustees of the fund located the college at 

 Lake City. The building has been completed, 

 and the college is now in operation. 



The last Legislature passed an act to "pro- 

 vide an Institute for the Blind and Deaf and 

 Dumb in this State," and designated the mem- 

 bers of the State Board of Education and the 

 Governor as a board of managers, who were 

 directed to secure suitable grounds and build- 

 ings. The city of St. Augustine gave five 

 acres of land, and $1,000 in money, to have the 

 Institute located at that point. The location 

 is admirably suited for such an asylum, and is 

 healthful and accessible. The buildings, which 

 are commodious and of handsome architectu- 

 ral design, are completed and ready for use. 



The two seminaries, one at Gainesville and 

 the other at Tallahassee, are in a prosperous 

 condition, and are annually increasing the num- 

 ber of their pupils. They have now a fund of 

 $91,400, producing an income of $5,568, which 

 is divided semi-annually between the two. 



A university has also been established at Tal- 

 lahassee by the energy and liberality of Chan- 

 cellor J. Kost ; but it is still in its infancy. 



In this connection [remarks the Governor) I can 

 but repeat what I said in a former message, that 

 while popular education is a duty belonging to the 

 respective States, and a matter of local policy which 

 should be under the management of local government, 

 yet, owing to the peculiar condition of the South, oui 

 resources are insufficient to furnish all the assistance 



