FLORIDA 



2218 



FLORIDA 



Charity. There are thirty-three charitable 

 institutions in the state, among them being 

 schools for the deaf, dumb and blind, the Con- 

 federate Soldiers' Home, hospitals and indus- 

 trial homes. There are also state asylums for 

 the insane, and almshouses. Each county pro- 

 vides its own poor relief. 



Government. Florida is governed under a 

 constitution which dates from 1886. The legis- 

 lature consists of a Senate with thirty-two 

 members chosen for four years, and a House 

 of Representatives of seventy-five members 

 chosen for two years. The Senate is changed 

 by the election of one-half its membership 

 every two years. Sessions are held every other 

 year and are limited to sixty days. 



The governor is elected for four years and 

 is not eligible to succeed himself. A secretary 

 of state, an attorney-general, a comptroller, a 

 superintendent of public instruction and a 

 commissioner of agriculture are the other state 

 officers. Each serves for four years. A su- 

 preme court with five justices serving for six 

 years, circuit courts and courts of inferior 

 jurisdiction administer justice. For local gov- 

 ernment the state is divided into forty-eight 

 counties, each with five commissioners and a 

 sheriff, who, with other county officers, serve 

 for two years. 



Payment of poll taxes is a qualification for 

 voting. In 1913 the direct primary was 

 adopted by the state. The legal holidays of 

 Florida are New Year's Day, Robert E. Lee's 

 and Washington's birthdays, Memorial Day, 

 Jefferson Davis's birthday, Independence, 

 Labor and general election days, Thanksgiv- 

 ing and Christmas. Shrove Tuesday is a legal 

 holiday in cities and towns where carnival 

 associations are organized for celebrating that 

 day. 



History. From the landing of the Spanish 

 adventurer, Ponce de Leon, at Saint Augus- 

 tine, April 2, 1513, in search of the fountain 

 of perpetual youth, until 1819, the history of 

 Florida is chiefly one of Spanish exploration 

 and possession. During those 306 years numer- 

 ous Spanish exploration expeditions met with 

 hardship and failure. The expedition of Nar- 

 vaez, about 1528, is of interest because only 

 four of his band, headed by Cabeza de Vaca, 

 succeeded in reaching Mexico; that of De Soto, 

 eleven years later, because it resulted in the 

 discovery of the Mississippi River. 



In 1562' and 1564 Huguenots (Protestants 

 from France) attempted settlements in Flor- 

 ida on the Saint John's River, but the Span- 



iards erected a fort at Saint Augustine and 

 massacred the colonists. In 1586, Sir Francis 

 Drake, on one of his plundering expeditions, 

 burned Saint Augustine, but the Spaniards re- 

 tained their hold on the country and founded 

 Pensacola about 1699. Then English colonists 

 from Carolina and Georgia commenced to 

 enter the territory which Spain regarded as its 

 own, and disputes continued until, by the 

 Treaty of Paris in 1763, which ended the 

 French and Indian War, East and West Flor- 

 ida were ceded to England. (West Florida 

 lay west of the Apalachicola River and in- 

 cluded parts of present Alabama and Missis- 

 sippi.) Twenty years later this territory again 

 became the possession of Spain. After that 

 time conditions in Florida menaced the peace 

 of the southern borders of the United States. 

 It was the refuge of runaway negroes, plun- 

 dering Indians and dangerous adventurers. 

 Disputes and battles ensued, and in 1819 the 

 United States obtained possession of Florida 

 by treaty. For seven years war was waged 

 with the Seminole Indians, after which they 

 were given lands west of the Mississippi. In 

 1845 Florida was admitted to the Union as 

 the twenty-sixth state. 



In 1861 the state seceded from the Union 

 and joined the Confederacy, but Federal 

 forces easily captured coast towns. In 1864 it 

 was again lost to the Union, but the next year 

 the ordinance of secession was repealed, and 

 in 1868 a new constitution was framed, under 

 which the state was readmitted to the Union. 

 The part played by the state in the Presiden- 

 tial election of 1876 was important, and re- 

 sulted in the election of Rutherford B. Hayes 

 (see ELECTORAL COMMISSION). Since that time 

 Florida has been generally Democratic. 



The reclamation of swamp lands, the discov- 

 ery of phosphate deposits and the growth of 

 fruit-growing industries have aided the devel- 

 opment of Florida and have brought Northern 

 capital and population to the state. The to- 

 bacco industry has called people from Cuba. 

 The most notable disasters were the frosts 

 of 1894, 1895, 1899, 1906 and 1917, which de- 

 stroyed millions of dollars worth of fruit, and 

 the hurricane at Key West in October, 1909, 

 which destroyed property and injured many 

 people. E.D.F. 



Other Items of Interest. Sidney Lanier 

 wrote a delightful sketch called From Morn 

 Till Night on a Florida River, which describes 

 a trip on the Ocklawaha and makes very real 

 the charm of Florida scenery. 



