FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
125 
Though Florida had probably a greater 
acreage of State lands than any other 
State, except Texas, some twenty-seven 
million acres, more or less, practically 
five-sevenths of all the land in the State— 
less than twenty-five years ago, she to¬ 
day is practically bankrupt in her landed 
possessions, and has claims against her 
for millions of acres more than she has 
to meet the claims with. 
At a recent convention held in the 
Southern part of the State, the statement 
was made by several gentlemen; men 
well-informed and familiar with condi¬ 
tions; that one of the principal reasons 
why young men were flocking to the cit¬ 
ies, was that lands for homes could not 
be purchased. This was not denied, 
though repeated by several members, and 
in the presence of representatives of sev¬ 
eral of the larger Land Syndicates. 
Our public domain—once the boast of 
our State and Nation—has dwindled until 
now it is difficult for a young American 
to find 160 acres to homestead. We have 
parted with our heritage, our vast 
domain of productive soil—our own chil¬ 
dren—to say nothing of the foreign im¬ 
migrant—are left without homes, to be¬ 
come the ‘‘bond servants” or “tenant far¬ 
mer” of land syndicates, corporations or 
trust magnates. 
Do we need immigrants? Yes; Ameri¬ 
can immigrants; particularly from the 
Southeastern State—men who will own 
their own homes; maintain the true 
American spirit, a love of liberty, and per¬ 
sonal independence. Such men as were 
recently alluded to by Judge Emory 
Spear—in charging a jury in a noted 
criminal case that has commanded inter¬ 
national attention during the past seven 
years—in charging, the Judge said, “I 
am told that is has been cynically said by 
a famous New Yorker that no man who 
has a million dollars can be convicted of 
crime in America. The verdict of this 
jury of plain, clear-sighted, honest Ameri¬ 
cans has falsified such a pessimism. Of 
that jury it may be said that there is per-- 
haps not a man who cannot trace his an¬ 
cestry to a patriot of the Revolution which 
established American independence. It 
is true, as I have often declared, that to 
the homogeneous Americanism of these 
Southern States when they are plainly 
shown their duty, our country may ever 
look with confidence for the enforcement 
of its laws and for the maintenance of its 
institutions.” 
True they will have to purchase their 
lands—and pay several thousand per cent, 
profit to the present owners; and in a 
few years, find it difficult if not impos¬ 
sible, to obtain a free hold, by purchase 
or otherwise. 
Doubtless, some of my auditors will 
consider me an alarmist, and believe my 
picture overdrawn; let me assure them 
such is not the case. When but a few 
years ago—less than twenty—the foreign 
emigrant, or the native born young 
American—had tens of thousands of 
homesteads, from which to select his one 
hundred and sixty acres; he has today but 
few to choose from, they-are remote, 
scattered and not desirable, having but 
little agricultural value. 
While our public domain has to a large 
extent disappeared, foreign immigration 
has increased until it has attracted the 
serious attention of thoughtful Ameri¬ 
cans. I quote a recent editorial from the 
“Miami Metropolis,” one of the most 
conservative of our Florida newspapers: 
“Foreign immigrants are pouring into 
Eastern ports in such large numbers the 
Department of Labor and Commerce has 
