THE FARMERS' ALLIANCE: LINCOLN, NEB., SATURDAY, JAN. 11, 1890.
THE ALLIANCE. ,
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY HORNING.
BY THE
ALLIANCE PUBLISHING CO.
BOHANNAN BLOCK,
Lincoln, - - - Nebraska.
J. BURROWS, :
J, M. THOMPSON,
: . Editor.
Associate Editor.
All communications for the paper should
fie addressed to THE ALLIANCE PUBLISH
ING CO., aud all matters pertaining to the
Farmers' Alliance, includitg subscriptions to
the pape to the Secretary.
EDITORIAL.
THE STATE MEETING.
A Notable Gathering of Noble
Men.
Thursday, Jan. 9, 1890. We have
just returned from the Annual Meeting
of the State Alliance held at Grand Is
land. Fatigued , with hard work and
want of rest for the past three daj's, we
can only briefly allude to the meeting
this week, having delayed our forms for
the purpose. While we knew from the
deluge of credentials which had been
pouring into the Secretary's office that
there was to be a large meeting, we
were surprised to see the large number
of delegates in excess of our calculations.
The Knights of Pythias Hall had been
engaged for the meeting; but it was
found soon after the hour of opening
that it would be entirely too small, and
the afternoon session of the first day
was opened in the opera house, which
had seating capacity for one thousand
persons. Every train brought new ac
cessions until the number of delegates
reached about eight hundred. We have
not yet examined the list of counties re
presented, but we believe now there was
not a single county unrepresented. If
there were counties without delegates
thev were very few.
As to the meeting, there has never
been in the State of Nebraska a more or
derly, earnest, intelligent, and business
like one. Its dispatch of business, its
size considered, was simply marvelous.
All who were present, and will think of
the amount of work which was accom
plished, will concede this. This was
partly owing to the ability of Bro. Pow
ers as a presiding officer, and also very
largely to the fact that every man pre
sent was earnest in the work. The har
mony of the gathering was also phe
nomenal. Not a jar occurred. In sev
eral days' sessions of a meeting of this
size it is very rare that there is not some
wrangling. But there was none here.
...Every subject was treated fairly, and
every question settled without excite
ment or feeling, though enthusiasm rose
high on several occasions.
All members of the Alliance have oc
casion to feel jubilant over this meeting,
and the grand results it promises.
The officers elected for the ensuing
year are as follows:
President, John II. Poweks, of Hitch
cock county.
Vice-President, V. Honx, of Hamil
ton county.
Secretary-Treasurer, J. M. Thomp
son, of Lancaster county.
Executive Committee, J. Bukkows,
ChVn; John W. Williams, of Gage Co.;
B. F. Allen, of Cass Co.; Young,
of Custer Co., and Dickinson, of Co.
We shall give as complete a report of
the proceedings in our next issue as our
space will premit.
Which Shall Wc Confiscate, Land or
Franchises?
The leading propositions of Mr. George
in the advocacy of the single land tax
are, as we understand them, 1st, that
the land belongs to the state or com
munity, and cannot properly be alien
ated; 2nd, that land values are the cre
ation of the community through the
growth of population, and not of indi
viduals, and that such values properly
belong to the community instead of in
dividuals. The first proposition is unquestiona
bly true, and the community still re
tains control of land throusrh the right
of eminent domain. The second propo
sition seems to be logically deduced
from the first, and it is not necessary to
discuss the abstract right involved in
it. If the community can take land for
public uses, it can take rent, or annual
accretions of land values, for public
uses. This much granted, the question
is narrowed to one of policy, and to a
-consideration of the actual results that
would be accomplished by the confisca
tion of land values. We do not pro
pose to discuss this branch of the ques
tion at this time. There would be one
result from it, however, which must bo
conceded. It would destroy the funda
mental idea which underlies the crea
. lion of a home. This is the idea of
ownership. Mr. George proposes to
open the possession of land, or natural
opportunity, to competition. It is per
fectly evident that under competition
the creation of a home which might be
Iransmitted from generation to genera
tion, and around which ftight be clus
tered the family memories and associa
tions of decades and centuries, would
i)d utterly impossible. This idea of a
home of the absolute ownership of one
spot of earth against all the world is
deeply grounded in human nature. It
is an institution m the broadest sense of
the word. The single tax would de
stroy it.
Granting, for the sake of argument,
that the single tax would accomplish in
other respects all that Mr. George
claims for it, is there not some other
source of wealth which is as entirely
created by the community as land val
ueswhich is not so deeply grounded in
the prejudices and usages "of mankind,
and the confiscation of which would ac
complish all the beneficent things
which the confiscation of rent would ac
complish without its apparent evils, and
without the destruction of the institu
tion of the ownership of land? We
think there is.
There is no value which owes its or
igin so absolutely to the growth of pop
ulation as the value of franchises. In
addition to this, franchises in their ma
tereal expression or personification, are
the creation of law. They are first
made possible by the growth of popula
tion and the formation of community,
and they are then called into existence
by the joint act of the community. They
are created and exist by the consent and
tolerance of the community, and may
be terminated at any time by the will of
the power that created them. They
are not in any sense natural rights, and
are the farthest possible from being the
creation of God. Besides all this they
are, more than all other things which
have had their origin in the associa
tion of men, used by the few who ob
tain them to oppress and despoil those
who have them not. Their confiscation
by the state, or diverting their revenues
to the use of those who created them,
would interfere with no supposed natur
al right, and would destroy no sacred
institution. In fact, there need be no
confiscation whatever. Under, the
present practice franchises are given
away with comparatively little benefit
to the community. In addition to the
gift of the franchise, which are always
of great value, corporations have fre
quently extorted from the people other
values, such as lands and bonds, to an
enormous amount. The possession of
valuable city franchises almost always
imply more or less corruption. Let the
people retain these franchises, and use
them for their own benefit, and the
need for taxation would soon cease.
The street railway and light ami Avater
franchises alone would pay the total
municipal expenses. Now we vote
bonds and hire corporations to build
these conveniences, and throw the fran
chise in.
The Farmer a Skilled Laborer.
Viewed from the lofty standpoint of the
New York hodearriers' union, considered
froia the hall of the Philadelphia bill posters'
protective association, the prairie farmer is
simply a clodhopper. He is a man who de
cides to have corn, wheat and potatoes, in
stead of wild grass, grow on a certain piece of
laud, and plants the seed that will produce
them. In point of fact, more knowledge and
skill are requisite for prosecuting this craft
than that of any city artisan. It requires
more skill to handle a plow than a trowel. It
is much more difficult to manage a reaping
machine than a machine that turns out brick.
Greater knowledge is needed to sow grain
than to move switches in a freight yard.
Much more information, experience and
skill are needed to raise tobacco plants, to
cultivate them, ai properly to cure the
leaves, than to make them into cigars. Lay
ing drain tile is a more difficult art than lay
ing brick. Properly to remove a fleece from
a sheep demands as great dexterity as to
shave the beard from a face. The successful
farmer is necessarily a skilled laborer. He is
master, not of one trade, but of many, and a
long time is required to learn each of them.
He is also a merchant, and to be prosperous,
he must be a judge of the quality of many
things, and know how to buy and sell them
to the best advantage. Kodney Welch in Jan
uary Forum,
The above is all very true, and much
more might be added. The self-binder
is one of the most complicated of ma
chines, and the most difficult of opera
tion. But the successful farmer must
know all its intricacies, and be able to
take it apart and repair it. In addition
to the mechanical knowledge required,
the farmer must understand the adapta
tion of crops to markets as well as crops
to soils and climates; the economy of
fertility, and how to restore it at least
expense, as well as the economy of ani
mal food. In short, it takes more gen
uine ability and business tact to suc
cessfully operate a section farm than
any merchandising business of the city.
Farmers, magnify your occupation.
A Gleam of Sense.
The following glimmer of sense ap
pears on the editorial page of the Sun
day Journal, and we hasten to make a
note of it. It shines on the page like
the night reflection of a square cut
cigarette on a darkey's nose:
"The usual amount of nonsense is b'ing
printed these days about the sin and shame of
burning corn tor fuel on the farms of the
west. Now the principle is as plain as a pike
staff, and every farmer knows it. It is that
when you cannot get more than a bushel of
coal for a bushel of corn, you save labor
by burning your "corn, instead of shelling it
out, hitching up your team and hauling it to
the market and haulintr vour coal back. Two
bushels of corn in the ear are equivalent to a
bushel of coal for heating purposes.
A farmer generally has sense enough to
know whether it pays him to burn corn or
coal. There is no more "sin" in burninsr corn
that might be eaten by stock, or ground into
meal for johnny-cake, than there is is burn
ing a stick of wood that might be whittled
into a hoe handle or turned into a table leg.
It is simply a matter of "cold cash."
One important point escapes our eru
dite contemporary. Corn generally
brings from 30 to 40 per cent more in
the spring than in the fall. We remem
ber one old farmer now not far from
this sanctum who made the above fig
uies, and logicallj1" burned 200 bushels
of corn; and in the spring found him
self out of pocket forty dollars. There's
two sides to every question, sometimes
three.
Gone to Australia.
Prof. E. M. Sheli on, of the Kansas
Agricultural College, started for Aus
tralia on Jan. 4, to take charge of the
Agricultural Departmept of the Pro
vince of Queensland.- Prof. Shelton
will occupy the same position in the
gov ernment of Queensland that Secre
tary Rusk occupies in this country. It
is quite flattering to know that when
these outlying British provinces want
distinguished talent they come not only
to this country, but to the western part
of it, to find it. Prof. Shelton is a broth
er of Mr. Shelton of the firm of Shelton
& Smith, furniture dealers, of this city.
In answering advertisements always
mention The Alliance.
THE BEEF PACKING PROJECT.
A Small Meeting Satorday Afternoon
About $8,000 Subscribed so Far.
A meeting of the farmers to discuss beef
Qv) aiid to materialize vert
argely yesterday afternoon, P"y on ac
count of a misunderstanding in regard to the
Mr" Aisdorf. superintendent of the Nebras
ka stock yards, stated to a reporter yesterday
evening that in his opinion the packing house
would be built, but that the matter of raising:
funds would finally devolve upon a few per
sons. He said that about $8,000 had already
been subscribed, but that the soliciting- com
mittee was too large to make a success. A
few good rustlers, he thought, would bring
the desired result in a short time. Journal.
It appears from the above that stock
subscriptions to the ' packing house
scheme come in slow. Certainly a beef
slaughtering and packing house at Lin
coln will be a good thing, as furnishing
business and employment for labor.
But as a competitor of the Armours,
and as a relief for the farmers in their
home market for cattle, it would be of
no value whatever. The Armours could
compete such a slaughtering house out
of existence, or depress its stock and
buy it, just as easy as it could compete
a local individual slaughterer out of the
business. There are only two ways inu
which the Armour competition can be
met. One is to destroy it by law. The
other is to neutralize it by a universal
agreement of all citizens of Lincoln not
to buy, sell or use the Armour meat.
The logic of these facts cannot be es
caped. Our restaurants and hotels are
now buying dressed sides at 3 cts per
pound. Figuring a shrink of about 45
to .50 per cent on what is called butch
ers' stock, and it will be seen that this
brings the farmers' beef to a point lower
than it can be produced for.
Alliance Stores and Agencies.
Oxford, Neb., Dec. 31, 1889.
Editor Alliance: I find that merchants
and other parties, who oppose ohr Alliance
are loud in their condemnation of the princi
ples set forth in our constitution, alleging
that it is a cunningly devised scheme whereby
the State and National Alliance expect to es
tablish commercial and manufacturing com
panies, and then bind Subordinate Alliances
to deal exclusively with firms that are con
trolled by the State or National Alliance. In
proof of this they refer us to the provision in
Article IV Section 1 of the constitution,
claiming that our local purchasing agent has
a right to purchase wherever he pleases, un
less the State Alliance is engaged in manu
facturing and dealing in produce; and if so,
that local buying and selling agents, or Sub
ordinate Alliances, are under obligations to
purchase of these establishments.
By such arguments the opposers of the Al
liance are succeeding in keeping some of the
farmers in this vicinity out of the Alliance,
and may possibly discourage some of the less
hopeful that are now members. Having
great faith in the Alliance, and believing that
its originators must have had the interest of
the farmer at heart when they effected its or
ganization, I of course am a hard stick for
them to di-aw over the coals. But for the
satisfaction of the doubting ones we would
be pleased to hayo a communication from
you giving the original purport of the pro
vision in the Article and Section alluded to,
so that we may have it f 0 use as a weapon
against our adversaries.
J. A. Riddle,
Sec. of Hardscrabble Alliance.
Article IV, Sec. 1, of the State Alli
ance constitution, alluded to by our
correspondent, is as follows:
The State Alliance and each County and
Subordinate Alliance may appoint purchas
ing and selling agents and establish relations
with dealers and manufacturers for the pur
pose of securing merchandise, machinery,
etc., of first hands, and of selling products di
rect to consumers, thus saving coirmissions
and unnecessary middle-men's profits; pro
vided, that the State Alliance shall not en
gage directly in manufacturing in dealing in
any products. ,,
The above seems to be plain, and can
not be misconstrued, except for pur
poses of mischief. It prohibits the State
Alliance from engaging directly in man
ufacturing or dealing in any products.
So whatever the State Alliance does in
these directions must be done through
agents, or through a separate busine.'.s
associatian.
As far as the obligation of members
to deal with Alliance agencies is con
cerned, there is certainly none imposed
by the above section. While Ave think
such an obligation exists, it is entirely
of a moral character. First, as a rule
self-interest will impel members to buy
of the co-operative store or agency.
They are established for the very pur
pose of "saving commissions and un
necessary middle-men's profits." But
it often happens, when these agencies
or co-operative stores are established
that competing dealers will sell some
lines of goods at less than cost, in order
to throw discredit on the Alliance store.
In such cases as these members should
not lose their heads, and desert their
friends; but on the contrary they should
stand by their own store or agent. If
they do not the little gain they make by
deserting will be taken away from them
ten times over when their own store is
closed. On the other hand, .when its
competitors offer goods for less than
they can be bought at wholesale, the
Alliance store should have enough cap
ital to take them, and save transporta
tion. In any event perfect harmony
between all members interested in the
Alliance store should be had, and favor
able circumstances taken advantage of
as they arise. Our article of last week,
entitled "Co-operation," is very miu'h
in point on this subject.
What is a Mugwump.
Chicago Herald.
A subscriber asks for the definition of
mugwump, as used in political circles.
It depends a good deal on who is defin
ing the woid. In republican political
circles it means a traitor to his party; a
man that has the mistaken idea that he
can bolt a party nomination and stab
his party in the back by voting against
the nominee; a self-assertive ignoramus
that thinks his conscience belongs to
himself; an idiot that foolishly thinks
he belongs to himself instead of to party
bosses; a holier-than-thou Pharisee that
dares to think for himself and vote as
he pleases. .
That is the Jim Blaine republican
definition of a mugwump. But the
true definition of a mugwump is: A
man that votes in accordance with his
conscience instead of at the dictation of
a party boss; a man that exercises his
right as a free man to vote as he xdeases
for the candidate he thinks is the best
man; a political freeman, as opposed to
a political slave.- Shch a man is the no
blest work of God.
The word was borrowed from the In
dians by the New England pioneers. It
meant chief, head of all, in the Indian
tongue, and came to be used humorous
ly by the pioneers.
THE ALLIANCE UNION.
V By N. B. Ashdv, National Lecturer.
4
rv ni,i:.ih ii atment fmmS
W e publish below a statement tioral
Bro. Ashby in regard to the Alliance
Union, w ritten and sent to us by the re
quest of our National Secretary; Bro.
Post. We do this in order that all may
fairly understand the facts of this mat
ter; and we shall not again allude to
the subject unless forced to do so. The
National Alliances and the Knights of
Labor have agreed upon a joint decla
ration of principles which we can all
advocate; we have formed a business
union of state agents embracing nearly
all the states; and the industrial masses
of the country have eliminated all sec
tional feeling from their hearts and
their councils. They have all deter
mined to leave sectionalism hereafter
to the politicians. It now only remains
for us to go forward like brothers, each
in his place, to do the w ork assigned
us. Nebraska, at its meeting this week,
has set a noble example. Let all the
rest follow it, or surpass it if they can.
Des Moines. Iowa, Dec. 30, 1889.
Ed. Farmers' Alliance: In re
sponse to a reqaest from the National
Secretary, I seud you for publication
the following statement as to the rela-
tions of the National Farmers' Alli
ance and the Farmers' Alliance and
Industrial Union (as the Southern Alli
ance has been christened). First, a seem
ing error needs to be clearly set before
the states forming the National Farm
ers' Alliance. The impression has
gone out, and interested parties are do
ing all in their power to spread that
impression and make it a conviction:
1st. That an agreement for organic
union was reached between the Na
tional Farmers' Alliance and the South
ern organization. 2nd.
That .the or-
ganic union will
take place at j ust as
early a date as two-thirds of the states
comprising the National Farmers' Al
liance shall have ratified the terms of
organic union. Nothing can be more
false and hurtful than this impression.
The hasty, ill timed and illegal action
of a part of the delegates from South
Dakota has given color to the idea that
organic union only awaits the action of
each state, and that when a majority, ot
states have ratified, the National or
ganization of the Farmers' Alliance
ceases to exist. According to the
Dakota idea each state evidently
can ratify and enter the consoli
dation at its pleasure. This simply
means that the various State Alliances
are free to act for themselves, and that
the National organization has no power
to bind a state to the National organi
zation, nor should any sense of duty or
moral obligation bind. This may ap
pear strange, but it is the exact ground
upon which South Dakota acted, and
it is the ground that each state belong
ing to the National Farmers' Alliance
must take if it votes to consolidate
with the south, for, strange as it mav
appear, there is no proposition before
the National Farmers Alii mcen for an
organic union; no agreement by which
the National Farmers' Alliance can be
joined with the Southern Alliance by
proclamation. iThe only terms upon
which union can be effected is for the
National Farmers' Alliance to disband,
and be absorbed state by state upon
such terms as the Southern organiza
tion may offer. Every day of the con
ference at St. Louis made, more clear
this fact, that the Southern farm or
ganization neither wanted nor would
accept terms of consolidation with the
National Farmers' alliance short of ab
sorption upon terms dictated by them
selves. These are the propositions
which were before the organization at
St. Louis, and which were adopted:
First, That a joint committee of five on the
part of the National Farmers Alliance and a
like ru m ber on the part of the National Farm
ers ana L,aDorers Union be appointed with
authority to formulate a plan for a confeder
ation of said organizations and of other
known agricultural and industrial organiza
tions in the United States, to the end that im
mediate and practical co-operation may be se
cured for the accomplishment of all objects
common to an.
Second, that the autonomy of said oi-ganiza-tion
be preserved intact until such time as
the way may be found clear to effect organic
union if the same should hereafter be found
necessary.
Mr. President: Your Committee on Con
ference would respectfully report as follows:
That a committee of five be appointed by the
National Farmers' and Laborers' Union to
meet with the present committee from the
National Farmers' Alliance, to prepare a con
stitution of organic union, to be submitted to
the Farmers' and Laborers Union and to the
states composing the National Farmers Alli
ance, and when the same shall have been rati
fied by the Farmers' and Laborers' Union and
by three fourths of the states composing the
National Farmers' Alliance, thePresident of
each of above named organizations shall, by
joint proclamation, declare the consolidation
completed, and shall appoint the time and
place for a National meeting for the purpose
of electing officers and putting into effect the
Frovisions of the consolidated organization,
n the meantime the present State and Nation
al organizations shall continue in force.
The plan of federation was drawn up
nd was agreed to by the committee
rom each organization- The plan was
as follows:
ARTICLES OF FEDERATION.
Article I.
1. This Federation shall be known as the
Federated Farmers' Alliance and Industrial
Union of America.
2. It shall be composed of ten delegates
from each National body composing this Fed
eration, choosen at the annual meeting of each
National organization for the term of one
year. The President of each National organ
ization shall be members ex-officio.
3. Its officers shall consist of a President,
Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer from
its members, to be elected for the term of one
yea.r
4. The duties of said officers shall be the
same as those usually pertaining to said offi
cers respectively.
5. The first meeting shall be on the 6th lust.,
at the Planter's House, in St. Louis, Missouri.
The time and place of its next annual meet
ing shall be fixed by the Federation at this
meeting.
0. The President and Secretary of this Fed
eration and the President of each National
body composing this Federation shall consti
tute its Executive Board.
7. The Executive Board shall call special
meetings whenever they deem it necessary.
8. The Federation shall have power to adopt
rules and regulations for its government.
9. This Federation shall continue until such
time as the National organizations composing
it may unite in an organic union.
Article II.
1. The objects of this Federation shall be to
unify and carry into practical effect the prin
ciples which may be adopted b the National
bodies composing this Federation, and to se
cure legislation in the interest of these princi
ples. 2. Its special duty shall be to secure practi
cal reform in the interests of the producers of
the country iu money, land and transporta
tion. ''....- .
Article III.
1. Each National body composing this Fed
eration shall defray the expenses of its dele
gates to the meetings of federation, and shall,
by annual appropriation, by the Executive
Board, contribute its equal share of the gen
eral expenses of the Federation.
2. The Executive Board shall report to the
annual meeting of the Federation a full state
ment of all expenditures during the past year
and for what purpose expended, and shall
submit their estimate of the expenses for the
coming year for approval by the Federation.
It failed to pass the Farmers' and
Laborers' Union. r But the more inter
esting feature of the convention centers
about tQ second resolution. Coupled
with the resolution was t!ie proviso
"that a committee of five be appointed
to meet a like committee on part of the
National Farmers' Alliance to prepare
a constitution and plan of eonsolida-
tion for said organizations." No such
mrnUfillA waQ nt hv tho hretlv-
committee was appointed by the breth
ren from the south. No plan of con
solidation was formulated or presented.
The Farmers' and Laborers'Union of
fered us their constitution to adfpt or
nothing. The craze for organic union
had driven some of the delegates so far
beyond reason that finally the commit
tee from the JSational Farmers' Alli
ance secured the constitution from the
Southern organization and laid it be
fore the National Farmers' Alliance.
When it was known that this was the
last resort, the National Alliance con
sidered their constitution paragraph by
paragraph and agreed to most of its
provisions. Some ' features could not
be approved, and an attempt was made
to compromise with tne &outnern
brethren. The final answer of the
Farmers' and Laborers' Union to these
compromise offers on the part of the
National Alliance was: . We do not
have time to longer consider terms of
consolidation, but we shall be glad to
receive. you as accessions. v This was
the fiaal answer. This is the proposi
tion before the states of the National
Farmers' Alliance. This is what Da
kota accepted. Not to be received as
equals as belonging to a national or
ganization, but to disband the National
Farmers' Alliance and come in as ac
cessions. I say we cannot afford to
surrender our National organization in
any su.:h a way for the untried benefits
of something we wot not of. The Na
tional Farmers' Alliance has been, and
is, a much greater factor in national
leforms than has been its Southern sis
ter. We are stronger to-day for all
good works than is the new Farmers'
Alliance and Industrial Union. In all
that is of material benefit to the two
sections, we are agreed. We are in
harmony upon the land, transportation
and money questions. We can co-operate
for these ends to better advan
tage than we can work to them with
consolidation. The Southern Alliance
refused organic union to us as an equal
body. Do we wish to seek it as sup
pliants? Do we wish to disband a strong
and useful organization to be absorbed
into a weaker organization t . This is
the question Defore the states of the
National Farmers' Alliance. The of
ficers of the National Farmers' Alli
ance are not empowered to act iu pro
claiming a consolidation. Each state
can secede, if it so wishes, and then go
thundering at the doors of the south
for admission. But does .not every
state prefer to remain in the National
organization until consolidation can be
effected upon equal terms? It seems
to me that we do not wish to give up
all our national strength for an untried
experiment.
Length of this article prevents my
discussion of the constitution of the
Farmers' Alliance and Industri..l Un
ion and some of the fatal defects of the
organization. I reserve those for a
later issue. B. Ashby,
National Lecturer.
The Public Cash.
Rural
The cash in the treasury of the United
States at the bf ginning of last monh was
still a "likely" sum. Here is the state
ment of the condition of the treasury as
taken from the Treasurer's monthly re
port: Gold Coin and Bullion . $310,979,791
Silver Dollars and Bullion 209,340,095
Fractional Silver and Minor Coins. 22,23.82tt
Trade Dollars 6,083,537
tfotal Coin
Coin Certificates held in Cash. . .
$629,633,849
33,697,264
24,959,022
47,372,(568
Legal Tender Notes
Deposits in National Banks
National Bank Notes
Fractional Currency, U. S. Bonds
and Coupons
Funds for Redeeming National
Bank Notes Failed, etc....
National Bank Notes in Process of
redemption
Post Office Department Account. . .
Disbursing Office Balance
Undistributed Assets Failed Nation
al Banks
Currency and Minor Coin Redemp
tion Account
Fractional Silver Coin Redemption
Account
Redemption and Exchange Account
Treasurer's Transfer Checks and
Drafts Outstanding
Treasury Agent U. S. for Paying
Interest D. C. Bonds
Interest on D. C. Bonds paid
591,891
75,282,948
4.026,241
3.490,702
36,304,815
1,162,940
540
2.360
732,985
6,055,431
265,526
' 10,088
$863,021,003
It is well enough in this connection,
however, to call attention to our respon
sibility. The Rural knows that there is
much that ought not to be, for the exis
tence of which we are in no way respon
sible. But if we are responsible for any
thing, it is far better for us to frankly ac
knowledge it. This great surplus in the
tieasury originates only in one way: as
the result of our expenditures for foreign
productions and from our use of tobacco
and liquor. The most of it comes from
the former expenditures. It is not our
intention to advocate self-denial of im
ported products. That is a matter for
every one to settle for himself. But we
do contend that this country should not
buy from foreign producers anything it
can successfully produce itself. The
nearer a people can reach the point of
being self sustaining, the more indepen
dent they are. We are sending immense
amounts out of the country for the
sweets that we use, when every pound
of sugar we need could be produced at
home, if the government and the indi
vidual would make the efiort to do it.
It is possible that we might produce
other things which we are now import
ing, and paving a duty upon. If the
convention of farmers' societies that is
proposed is held, such questions as these
home production and cutting down
the surplus in the treasury will be liva
questions, and if a confederation is ac
complished, it will be within its province
to practically solve such problems.
A National Banker's Testimony.
John Thompson, of New York, at the
silver convention said:
The demonetizing of silver has been
and is a wicked preference given to the
creditor over the debtor classes of our
entire population, and it is this prefer
ence that is driving the middle classes
into poverty and enabling our million
aires to multiply their millions. Noth
ing, in my opinion, will save o.ur peo
ple f rum a bloody revolution so surely
as the full remonetization of silver, and
giving it all the advantages now given
to gold, both in tax and iu ruling of the
treasury department. The mono-gold
standard is the stepping stone to an
archy nay, it is more it is a flight of
stairs leading to the chamber of horrors,
bankruptcies, panics, suicides, repudia
tion, agrarianism and universal poverty
among all real wealth producers for
whose welfare the best men, the "best
statesmanship and the best representa
tives of all legitimate business interests
should ever be enlisted.
At the State Meeting. Any short
comings of our paper this week must
be attributed to attendance at the state
meeting by both of our editors,
will try to make it up in the future.
We
A
'A
A Century of Dishonor.
Western Rural.
Manv of our readers have read Helen
Hunt Jackson's book published a few
years ago entitled a "Century of Dis
honor." It was a startling arraignment
of the government for its treatment of
the Indian. Pretty soon that same title
will be appropriate as the title of a
work in which the government shall be
arraigned for its unjust treatment of
the producer. If the government dur
ing the last quarter of a century, had
openly professed its intention to favor
a few reckless, greedy absorbers of
wealth at the expense of our farmers, it
could scarcely have done more in that
direction than it has done. It has in
that time permitted railroad corpora
tions to gobble immense tracts of the
best land we have; it has permitted kid
gloved capitalists to stock the public
lands with cattle and sheep to compete
with like products upon our farms; it
has allowed Wall street to shape the
financial policy of the government in
its own interests; it has sold the na
tional securities to capitalists at a dis
count, took pay for them in depreciated
paper, and agreed to pay them in higti
priced gold; it has permitted railroad
corporations to rob the farmer to their
heart's content; it has permitted rings
and trusts and combines to fleece him
also; it has loaded him with taxation
and permitted the rich tax shirker to
go comparatively free; it has loaned
money and its credit to bankers and
railroads, and refused the slightest en
couragement to the producer in the
way of assistance; it has winked at
food adulteration; permitted reckless
defalcations in high places, the corrup
tion of the ballot box and of legislation,
through which the farmer has been de
ceived and swindled.
Talk of dishonor! It has been years
of unceasing dishonor, and the wrong
has been inflicted upon the most pa
tient, the most useful, the most reliable
and most patriotic class of American
citizens. It has been inflicted upon a
class that the country cannot do with
out, and that because of its importance
to the prosperity of the nation, deserves
first consideration by the government.
If the infliction of such injustice had
been under old monarchical forms of
government, with the people educated
to believe that the few owned the earth
and the fullness thereof, it would not
be a matter of wonder, but when the
fact is considered that all this wrong
has been perpetrated under a flag that?
proclaims equality of rights, and with a
century's education of the people that,
there are to be no favored classes, the
dishonor of which government in Amer
ica has been guilty is as black as mid
night. Dog Eat Dog.
Chicago Herald.
Lyons, Iowa., Dec. 28. Editor of The
Herald: For the benefit of the western farm
er would it not be good policy for this gov
ernment to place an export duty on the pro
ducts of the farmers to prevent the sale of
euch products in foreign markets? Under
such a policy the foreigners could not estab
lish the price for our farmers for that which
is consumed in this country, and production
iu this direction would be limited to the
needs of our own people the same that it is
now with manufactured goods. Having thus
practically nothing to export, we could not,
after a short time, imioi t anything, and our
market would be entirely at home. The
home market is represented by some parties
as being so much better place to dispose of
our goods, we should increase in wealth as a
nation very rapidly by adopting this policy.
D.
This is an .idea which seems to have
escaped Jim' Blaine and tlie other
"greatest statesmen that the world has
ever seen." Perhaps they are "saving
it" with the intention of springing it on
the country in V&Yi. It is quite equal
to some of their previous efforts in the
line of finance and economy, and is al
most as grotesque as Mr. Blaine's prize
proposition in idiocy that the federal
government should continue to raise
$100,003,000 per annum more than it
needed, but that the amount should be
regularly refunded to the states.
No, Mr. D., a tariff on exports is even
more wicked and unjust than a tariff on
imports. The farmer pays them both.
Both are devices of monopoly, both op
press the great mass of the people for
the benefit of the few, and both prevail
only where trickery and craft have
triumphed over the honesty and intelli
gence of the people.
Workingmen can Control Legislation.
Chicago Xeics.
Mr. Powderly's late address to the
workingmen of Pennsylvania on the
value of the ballot intelligently and hon
estly used is another example of the
wise and honorable methods by which
he aims to improve the condition of or
ganized wage-workers. He tells the
vast army of laborers in that state that
they must cease being partisans in or
der to be freemen. Fie urges them to
ignore all party bosses ami work to
gether for a secret ballot so that they
may vote henceforth absolutely as they
choose, without any fear of coercion.
Then they can compel the powerful cor
porations of Pennsylvania at least to re
spect existing laws.
The workingman in this country can
alvrars r-nntiTil lmr'cl-it li-n in t lw intor.
ests of the people if he will make the
best use possible of his vote. Thr doc
trines of the anarchists and of other
perfidious agitators tend to make him
look on the ballot with contempt There
lies his great error. Mr. Powderly's ad
vice on this subject is the best he can
hope to receive.
The Cass County Bond Case.
The foMowing line from Cass county
is from a member of the farmer com
mittee which contested the $80,000 court
house bonds which were voted iny Cass
eminty. The ground of contest was
fraudulent voting. Italian laborers and
others were hired to vote for the bonds.
The court house was to have been built
in Plattsmouth, which is in one corner
of the county, which was probably an
other reason for opposition to the
bonds. We have not seen the decision
alluded to by our correspondent. It is
said the case will be appealed, but it is
hardly likely Judge Broady's decision
will be reversed:
Union, Dec. SI, 1889.
Editor Alliance: The great court house
bond case of Cass county has been tried
and decided by Judge Broady, and as I
believe, in accordance with law, justice and
common sense. The day of wholesale fraud
in this county will be likely to como to an
end. Plattsmouth went up like a kite and
came down like a stick. The showing made
by the documents and records as well as all
the evidence produced by the plaintiff proved
that the city trebled her vote between April
and June, and that she shrunk back to her
old figures and poll list with the same old
names that they enjoyed previous to the June
bond election. Please print the decision as
handed down by Judge Broady.
Yours, Old Max Cass.
A Mine Disaster.
Dknveb, Jan. 8 A telegram from the
Victor coal mine, near Trinidad, says a
cave in occurred this morning and five
men were buried beneath the rook and
earth. Tt Is 'pr-f7 th r-irers will ba d.ud
bf.re th j can be rt tcutd..
A RADICAL WRONU.
A Tryant Which Civilization Has En
throned. Great West.
There has been a development of lattj
years in newspaper history, which de
mands the immediate attention of every
honest citizen and of the law making
powers. It will brook no delay nor pal
liation. ;
We write of an evil, which has grown
up with journalism, so powerful, so won
derfulso despotic that no dream of a
tyrant ever equaled it in a traneendant
subtlety, or comprehensive consequen
ces. This is no exageration if in any
degree we cxagerate it is is because an
overpowering sense of danger blinds us
to the simple truth. The editor of the
Great West has been on the D.ulj' Press,
and is familiar with the unseen ami sim
ple mechanism whereof we are to speak.
Revolutions have arisen and kincr."
doms been overthrown in the determi
nation of the people to maintain a free
press. No tryanny so potent as on
built upon a trammeled press. A visible
censorship of the press would cause a
bloody overthrow of the instigators
without even time to consider immediate
consequences.
And yet, men of America we do not
belie the actual, absolute, unexageratod,
Jositive facts when we state, from a
knowledge in which belief has no influ
ence, there is a simple organism in this
country by which the press is more abso
lutely" controlled than in any other coun
try in the world. In explaining this
matter we beg our country friends to
open their hearts to the full truth. Do
not endanger our institutions nor your
rights by equivocating or denying unless
you know our streight forward statement
is either false or grossly exagerated.
Be sure our statement is not fully true
before j ou hesitate to strike sit an enemy
so potent for evil, so simple in construc
tion, so" thoroughly entrenched.
Every one knows that the telegraphic
agencies are in the hands of the pluto
cratic element that is, it is wholly in
the hands of capitalistic classes which
own both parties. Out of the vast tele
graphic system has grown an organiza
tion, consisting of at least three branch
es, known as the
ASSOCIATED PRESS.
This organization at least that branch
which wholly contracts for the news of
the morning papers, and practically con
trols every other branch, is not a union
of newspapers, as its name implies. It
is a combination of men of the capitalis
tic class who have united to furnish the
news from every part of the country
and even the whole world !o daily pa
pers. The country press relies wholly
upon the city papers for its news ami
thus whoever furnishes the news,
the sentiments, the ideas, for the news
columns of the dailj' papers, educates
the world and if it chooses, leaves the
world in ignorance.
There is no escape from this thrall
dom. Several times have powerful
daily papers sought to shake it off but
ignobly failed.
Why failed
Because a rich organization with its
agents on high saleries in every city of
consequence, and subagencies, can, of
course, secure news on all general topics
vastly better than any single newspaper
plant. This organization issues ' fran
chises" to papers at so many thousand
dollars a year. It has control of all the
wires during certain hours, especially
after eleven o'clock at night. It has
cheap rates based upon an enormous
business. It hits exclusive wires.
The Associated Press often gets into
trouble with the two great parties, but
as both parties hare agreed with the Na
tional Bankers' Association, and with
the National Brewers' Congress on all
great monetary issues and temporary
issues, these quarrels have only pertained
to reports of local matters, and have
been easily adjusted.
No movement of the masses of this
country can be put upon the wires ex
cept as cut, mangled or colored by
the financial agencies of the great ruling
parties or the manipulation of paid cen
sors! -
We cai'e not who denies this. We
Inoir it Is true. It is as true as human
knowledge can make it. As to whether
the free citizens of the Republic will
lieve this and act upon it is the question,
but the truth of this statement is abso
lute. -
The most powerful exposure of this
could be connected with the Third Party
movement. But is not necessary to call
up political testimony. It is not neces
sary even to call witnesses from the
great dalies which have sought to evade
the tryant censorship! Nor those papers
like the New York Herald which put
their own wires across the Atlantic to
avoid it! Nor the ineffectual struggles
to use independant wires of new tele
graph companies!
The only witnesses necessary are the
daily transpirations in which only that
news is scattered about which bends the
facts to the policies and sympathies of
the capitalistic and party despots, no
matter what the actual burden of the
facts may be,
I-et some great railway acemeni occm
the facts only get out when "corres
pondents" get upon the ground, and
then some papers in the combine ring,
suppress one-half the truth. Let some
monster meeting of the people strike
for righteous laws in some great move
ment, and an insignificant ten-liner re
lates it as a mere bubble, while baseball
and theatricals fill columns upon col
umns. Elections where the pcoide succeed iu
rising above party dwindle to nothing
under the palsying touch of this organi
zation. When the Iowa Alliance elect Railroad
Commissioners of judgment and honesty
the fact was heraldeu as a crime. When
the railroads sued the state under its de
cision partisan reports were hurried
over the wires. When the Alliance tri
umphed, and the railroads dismissed
their suits at their own cost ami promis
ed to behave if the Governor would let
them down easily, the great Associated
Press discolored the reports, and even
squelched the matter altogether.
The crreatestcnemv the poor man has.
is the servile tool of the capitalist thu
News Columns of the daily press.
(Juite Right, Brother Jlel'ormlck.
American Potters1 Journal.
Many of the papers that w ere in the
habit of talking about the Knights of
Labor as an institution that had run its
course, and would soon be swallowed
up by some other labor organization,
have suddenly changed their tune. Tim
fact that the farmers have forme I an
alliance with the Knights of Labor is
rightfully looked upon as an admission
that there is more vitality in the Knights
of Labor than in any other labor organ
ization. It follows that the two united
form a body of earnest workers ami
thinkers that is almost irresistible for
any good work.
Flour Contract
Washington, Jan. 5. Four hundred and
forty thousand pounds f tl jux for the
wessern Indian reservations la to be fur.
Dished by 0. II. Searing- of Arkansas Cltv,
BNk.h .r m J 1.4f to 14 0 vr loo cuud-,
aucor i ij w itid (l.Od ui delivery.