CHAPTER XXL

opportunities for LxVbor and capital.

The first and greatest need of Florida is population. It
is beyond all other regions of America the most favored
for poor people with little capital but of industrious disposi¬
tion, able and willing to work. Capital and wealth are al¬
ways welcome everywhere, but it is an established fact that,
wherever labor leads, capital always quickly follows. Look
at the history of all our* Western States. It was always
the case that the poor pioneer emigrant with a rifle, and an
axe or spade, hewed the first pathway. It was the " wheel¬
barrow " emigrant that opened up the great mining regions
of the Rocky Mountains ; then came the small storekeepers,
then the wholesale dealers, then the bankers—the real capi¬
talists—railroads, and telegraphs : and thus were States
founded and solid prosperity established.

By all means let the poor people come to Florida, for
nowhere can they live so cheaply, and so quickly " earn a
living " ; while, if they are at all industrious and possessed
of common good judgment, they can soon accumulate a
competency. If they can bring a little money, sufficient to
obtain a few acres of land at cheapest rates or to take up a
homestead on the public lands, to build a cheap cottage,
an(J to subsist for six months, so much the better ; they are
then sure to succeed and gradually better their condition.
But even if empty-handed, let them come, for employment
can surely be found to preserve life and give the new¬
comer time to look about for a better chance.