FLORIDA. 



301 



year 1800 the sum of $395,080.30 wax derived 



s, and $r>o.l l!i.!U fr<>m license fees, 

 ipenditures from the fund for tin- former 

 included * 1 ',".'. ;>::>' for jurors and wit- 

 neaseo, $-l!Mlii.i;i for criminal prosecution-, 

 on the State debt, $27,- 

 1 !".: | i isions, $67.255.61 for expenses of 



xi^l'inve session, $42,031.67 for mainte- 

 of lunalics, $'J < J,.V>s.::; for e\peii-M .-, of col- 



. eniie, $20,930.30 for salario of the 



department, ami $29,412 for sal- 



..f tin- judicial department. For the lat- 



ar I he leading expenses were as follow: 



l.s!) for jurors and witnesses, $88,073.86 



for criminal pro-rent ions, $65.026 for interest 



on tlu- State debt, $36,669.05 for pensions, 



.'.HI for maintenance of lunatics, $53,- 



for expenses of collecting revenue, $21,- 



r salaries of the executive department, 

 '-'.72 for salaries of the judicial depart- 

 ment, and $11,177.34 for expenses of the btate 

 Hoard of Health. Since the adoption of the 

 Constitution of 1885, the State expenses have 



I) increased from several causes, the most 

 important being the constitutional provision 

 that the State, instead of the counties, shall 

 bear the. cxpen.-e of criminal prosecutions. This 

 provision was presumably made with the hope 

 that county taxation would be to that extent 

 reduced. But such a result has never been 

 realized, as the average rate of county taxation 

 was less in 1884, when the counties paid the ex- 

 pi MIX'S of their own criminal prosecutions, than 

 in 1890, when the State bore the burden. Fur- 

 ther causes of increase are the laws of recent 

 enactment pensioning Confederate soldiers, es- 

 tablishing a State board of health, and increas- 

 ing the pay of jurors from $1.25 to $2.00 a day. 

 The last-mentioned law added about $40,000 to 

 the State expenses for 1890. As a result of these 

 increased demands upon the State treasury, it 

 was found necessary early in 1889 to borrow 

 $100,000. 



On Jan. 1. 1891, the bonded State debt, (de- 

 ducting bonds held in the State sinking fund) 

 amounted to $1,032,500, of which $673,500 is 

 held by the various State educational funds, leav- 

 ing only $359,000 in the hands of individuals. 



Valuations. The assessed valuation of prop- 

 erty in the State for 1890 is as follows : Value 

 of town and city lots, including improvements, 

 $21,423,885 ; value of other land and improve- 

 ments, $39,350,931; value of animals, $5,245,- 

 311 ; value of other personal property, $10,906,- 

 811; value of railroads, $14,877,014; value of 

 telegraph lines, $179,514; total valuation, $91,- 

 !*:;. MO. Included in the assessment are 23,866,- 

 484 acres of land, 43,558 horses and mules, 463,- 

 667 meat cattle, 107,842 sheep and goats, and 

 198,132 swine. The State tax assessed in 1890 

 upon this valuation was as follows: General 

 revenue, 4$ mills, $414,137.06; school tax, 1 

 mill. $92,03"8.01 ; immigration tax, i mill, $11,- 

 <iu:,..-,7: Board of Health tax, i mill, $43,301.59; 

 total, $561,082.23. For 1891 the State tax rate 

 is as follows : General revenue, 4 mills ; schools, 

 1 mill ; Board of Health, | mill ; total, 5J mills. 



Legislative Session. The regular biennial 

 session of the Legislature began on April 7 and 

 ended on June 5. A bitter and prolonged con- 

 test over the choice of a successor to United 



State:, Senator Wilkinson Call marked the pro- 

 ceedings of the session and M-noii-ly ii. 

 the \\ork of legislation. The mo.-t important 

 measures passed relate to State Jinan- 

 revenue law was enacted, modifying in numer- 

 ous details the method of a.-ses>ingand collecting 

 taxes and changing the amount of licen.-es to !* 

 levied on various occupations, so as to secure a 

 greater revenue, but leaving the subjects of tax- 

 ation practically unchanged. The license fee 

 of liquor dealers was fixed at $500 a year for 

 each place of business, and for distillers and 

 brewers at $100 a year. Retrenchment was ef- 

 fected in State expenses by the abolition of 

 the Bureau of Immigration and by the repeal of 

 the law creating the Board of Railroad Commis- 

 sioners. A new source of revenue was found in 

 the phosphate deposits in the navigable waters 

 of the State. By an act approved June 9 all 

 persons or companies mining or removing phos- 

 phates from such waters are now required to pay 

 the following royalties to the State : Fifty cents 

 a ton for all phosphate deposits mined or re- 

 moved analyzing 55 per cent, or less of bone 

 phosphate of lime ; 75 cents a ton for all depos- 

 its analyzing over 55 and not over 60 per cent, 

 bone phosphate of lime : and $1 a ton for all de- 

 posits analyzing over 60 per cent. The interests 

 of the State in its phosphate deposits are placed 

 under the control of a board of phosphate com- 

 missioners, consisting of the Governor, the Comp- 

 troller, and the Attorney-General. This board 

 has authority to grant, for a term not exceeding 

 five years, the exclusive right to remove phos- 

 phate rock from the navigable waters of the 

 State, on certain conditions stated in the act. 



The State tax for general purposes, to be 

 levied in each of the years 1891 and 1892, was 

 reduced from 4 to 4 mills, and the Governor 

 was authorized to reduce the rate still further, 

 if the revenue from other sources should be large 

 enough to justify such reduction. 



The Governor, the Treasurer, and the Comp- 

 troller were authorized to borrow not over 

 $200,000, to pay the outstanding obligation of 

 the State for $100,000 borrowed under the act 

 of 1889, and to pay any debts incurred under 

 appropriations of this or former sessions. 



One hundred acres of State land were granted 

 to the Old Confederate Soldiers' and Sailors' 

 Home Association, as a site for a proposed home 

 for ex-Confederates, and a further grant of 50,- 

 000 acres was made for the purpose of providing 

 a fund for the support and maintenance of the 

 institution, after suitable buildings have been 

 constructed. 



A' new road law was passed, regulating the 

 maintenance and repair of public roads and 

 bridges. 



The revision of the public statutes, prepared 

 by a commission appointed pursuant to an act 

 of the- last Legislature, was submitted at this ses- 

 sion and adopted as the law of the State. 



No appropriation was made for the World's 

 Fair in 1893. Other acts of the session were as 

 follow : 



Declaring all rates of interest above 10 per cent to 



be usurious. 



I'roliiliit'uiK pool-selling, except that associations 

 for driving <>r racing may sell j*>ls between the tirst 

 day of November and tl'ie 11 rat day of May, provided 



