Page "editorial" Paragraph 168

If the would-be joiner asks these questions he is not likely to be duped by extremists who are seeking to capitalize on the confusions and the patriotic apprehensions of Americans in a troubled time.

Falling somewhere in a category between Einstein's theory and sand fleas -- difficult to see but undeniably there, nevertheless -- is the tropical green `` city '' of Islandia, a string of offshore islands that has almost no residents, limited access and an unlimited future.

The latter is what concerns us all.

Whatever land you can see here, from the North tip end of Elliott Key looking southward, belongs to someone -- people who have title to the land.

And what you can't see, the land underneath the water, belongs to someone, too.

The public.

The only real problem is to devise a plan whereby the owners of the above-water land can develop their property without the public losing its underwater land and the right to its development for public use and enjoyment.

In the fairly brief but hectic history of Florida, the developers of waterfront land have too often wound up with both their land and ours.

In this instance, happily, insistence is being made that our share is protected.

And until this protection is at least as concrete as, say, the row of hotels that bars us from our own sands at Miami Beach, those who represent us all should agree to nothing.