Were a mere modicum of the vast sums now worse than wasted in pauperizing the unemployed; a tithe of the money squandered on building palaces for our numberless, ever-begging colleges, devoted to settling the poor upon the unimproved lands in Florida, the dangerous flood of ever-increasing crime, and physical and mental suffering which now threatens the very existence of our republic, would soon vanish from our cities, and thousands of the dangerous classes would become self-supporting, self-respecting, independent men and women.

Were a tithe of the vast sums lavished by our millionaires upon the pictured walls, gorgeously embellished ceilings, overcrowded book shelves of our numerous libraries, and upon the unchristlike towers of unfrequented cathedrals, be even loaned to those who would gladly cultivate the thousands of acres of untilled soil in fair Florida, all the suffering hangers-on for jobs would become successful agriculturists, owning their own farms, buying their own books, and sufficiently educating their own children.

If the money spent every winter in pauperizing the unemployed by giving them free soup, could be devoted to settling colonies upon our uncultivated lands, the vexing problems and contests between labor and capital would be easily solved and obliterated; the unskilled poor would be at once enabled to respond to the call of the poet—­

  “Come back to your mother, ye children, for shame,
  Who have wandered like truants for riches or fame! 
  With a smile on her face, and a sprig in her cap,
  She calls you to feast from her beautiful lap.

  Come out from your alleys, your courts and your lanes,
  And breathe like your eagles, the air of our plains! 
  Take a whiff from our fields, and your excellent wives
  Will declare it all nonsense insuring your lives.”

CHAPTER XXIII.

MONARCH OF ALL HE SURVEYED:  THEN DEPOSED.

Here on elevated lands around a pretty clearwater lake, directly on the Florida Central and Peninsula Railroad, and near a famous grotto extending deep into the earth, at the bottom of which, like a well, was an abundance of water containing peculiar fish, near the noted Eichelburger cave, and vast forests of gigantic trees with sloping hills around, we founded the town of B——.

I was elected general manager, and went north to sell the $100,000 of capital stock, convertible at the option of the holder into our lands at schedule price, leaving a Mr. B——­ as superintendent to cut avenues, build a hotel, and conduct the general affairs in my absence.

For several years I devoted all my energies very successfully to selling the stock and organizing colonies of settlers.  I paid ten per cent. dividend on the stock while I was manager, besides furnishing thousands of dollars to defray expenses of building a handsome railway station, a fine commodious schoolhouse and town hall, a good hotel, and providing good roads.