THE FARMERS' ALLIANCE: LINCOLN, NEB.,' SATURDAY, FEB. 15, 1890.
. THE ALLIANCE.
. PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY WORKING.
' BY THE
ALLIANCE PUBLISHING CO.
BOHANNAN BLOCK, .
Lincoln, - - Nebraska.
J. BURROWS, : : : Editor.
J. M; THOMPSON, Business Manager.
E33ITORIAILi
The U. P. Railroad Petition.
We publish this week the form of a
petition to congress against the exten
sion of the U.'P. debt. It is likely that
the bill for the extension of this debi
may soon be acted upon. It is there
fore important that these petitions be
filled out and sent in at once. Cut out
this form and paste it on a sheet of
foolscap, and get it filled with names
and FORWARD TO TillS OFFICE AT
once, and we will place them where
they will do the most good.
If action on the bill is delayed we
may send out regular forms but DO
NOT WAIT.
No Ruins!
"You have no ruins," once com
plained an English traveler to an Amer
ican friend. He should have seen Rail
road Commissidners Benton, Steen and
Cowdry two days after their attempt to
raise the price of corn by a ten per cent
reduction in corn rates. No ruins!
We should smile.
A supposed Keaucuon 01 Kates.
x Gov. Thayer and a portion of the
State Board of Transportation have
been in a race to see which could first
secure from the roads a reduction of
the corn rate. Our readers are well
posted as to the humiliating attitude
taken by the governor in his appeal to
II -i l .1 11 lir j. T.-
Association. But it availed him noth
ing. A portion of the board went to
Chicago and interviewed the railroad
men, and secured a reduction on the
corn rate of 10 per cent. They have
got the governor's scalp stolen his
thunder. But the capture is infinitesi
mally small. It will not raise the price of
corn, and will afford no relief to the farm
ers of the state. Gov. Thayer himself
admits this, in an interview with a Bee
reporter last Friday. His proposition
of 5 cents per 100 would not have been
much better.
We thought we knew something about
railroad men; but the paternal and
tender solicitude of the western freight
agents for the welfare of Nebraska
farmers is a surxrise to us. They as
sume the benevolent attitude of our
guardians, and are actually holding up
rates for fear the price of corn will be
further depressed. In the face of this
tender revelation the Alliance can dis
band, and we need have no further ap
prehension that we will not be well
taken care of in the matter of rates.
The following is the preamble and res
olution reducing the rate, which was
passed by the interested lines. The
italics are ours:
Whereas, A careful consideration of the sit
uation shows that the market price of corn
has been seriously depressed by the deliver
ies of the past few months- from the larg-e
crop of 1889, much of which is stiil to come
forward, and that any stimulation of the
movement would probably result in a fur-1
her depression of the price; and
whereas. The duty of the roads to the
public along their lines would require them
to oppose any measure the tendency of
which will be to further depress the market
price of corn; and,
Whereas, A reduction of the rates is now
requested upon a falling market and in the
presence of a visible supply largely in excess
of immediate demands, which request the
roads believe to be in opposition to . the true
interest of the producers, but under circum
stances which relieve the carriers from re
sponsibility for results, aQd which lead them
to accept the situation in the hope that the
arrangement may to some extent benefit the
farmers of Nebraska;
Resolved, That the Nebraska roads will
unite in a reduction of the tariff rates on corn
from points in Nebraska to Chicago of 10 per
cent from the present figures, subject to a
minimum of 20 cents and a maximum of 25
cents per hundred,, with the established dif
ferentialsat other points: in adjusting the
tariff s, rates to lie made even cents and half
ents, the new tariffs to become operative
February 15.
These gentlemen acknowledge a "du
ty to the public along their lines," and
that duty impels them to hold up rates.
An amazing conception of duty, cer
tainly. The difficulty with these fel
lows has always been that they were
managing every business in the com
munity, instead of attending solely to
the business of transportation. When
offered freight, instead of taking it at a
fair price for carriage, they ask, "What
is it worth, and what are you going to
do with it" and adjust rates accord
ingly. They have carried out this
principle until it has led them to invade
, every store and factory and workshop
in the laud, and inspect the books and
private business of every man. The
banded farmers of this country will de
mand that this shall cease, and they
will finally enforce this demand by
giving the government full control of
this transportation business.
The Chicago Herald says Commission
ers Steen, Benton and Cowdry were at
Chicago "ou a fool's errand." It ac
cepts the railroad view that, lower rates
would increase shipments and depress
prices, and then adds: "Not only so,
but the statistics for a number of years
past show that as fast as the railroads
reduce corn rates the ocean carriers in
crease them." So we are literally "be
tween the devil and the deep sea.'
Only the Herald forgets that very little
i tne corn mat , leaves JNeorasKa is
actually exported.
Who Are Producers?
The editor of the Wahoo Wasp seems
to have peculiar views as to who are
producers. , One of his correspondents
signs himself "One of the Producing
Class." -; The editor denies that the gen
tleman belongs to tnat, class, but says
he "belodgs to the class of the artisan."
We would say to the editor of the Wasp
that any person who creates wealth by
labor belongs to the producing class
J. his class is not by any means con
fined to those who produce wealth from
the soil.
AN APPEAL
To All Officers of Alliances, and all
Friends of This Paper.
By a formal resolution of the State
Meeting at Grand Island The Alli
ance was made the official organ of the
Nebraska State Alliance. ' But this res
olution, while it gave the paper the ap
proval and moral support of the State
Alliance, carried with it no patronage
except such as the members of the Alli
ance voluntarily give it. It was not
even ordered that at least one copy of
the state organ should be sent to each
Alliance. While such an order would
undoubtedly have been adopted had it
been proposed, the editors of the paper
preferred that it should depend for its
support upon the good will, confidence
and voluntaryaid of the Alliance men
of the state. We intend to make the
paper fully worthy of such confidence
and support. We have no complaint to
make of the past. We believe the pa
per has gained patronage quite as rap
idly as new papers ever do. But to
put it on the plane of excellence we
think it should reach we need much
more support. Independent of the in
tellectual ability to make an able pa
per, the elements of its cost are staple
articles. These are white paper and
labor, and call for the cash weekly as
imperatively as , do flour, fuel, or any
other staple articles of living. This is
in addition to the plant or material
which every well-regulated office irfust
have. The material of The Alliance
was entirely inadequate when we took
the office, and we have been constantly
adding to it as we have been able to do
so without debt. For ourselves we
have asked and taken nothing, being
satisfied in the start if we could pay
weekly bills for labor and stock, and
looking forward to the time when a
large list would enable us to secure
paying advertising. But the needs for
this added material come faster than
the means to secure it. We are now
greatly embarrassed by the need for a
press. We are paying out monthly
twice as much for press work as it
would cost if we had a press of our
own. Besides, we would derive a reve
nue from a press in addition to our own
press work. A press and engine will
cost us at least $3,000. .We have not
this money. But if each one of our
present subscribers will send us one or
two additional names at once, we could
buy the press, and place TnE Alli
ance on a sure foundation. Gentle
men, will you do it? Give us one day, or
pa.t of one day, to safely and surely es
tablish this paper. Every member of the
Alliance ought to taJce the state organ. It
is your papers-it is devoted to the Alli
ance, and to your interests. , Its columns
are open to you, and it will never de
sert you so long as its present man
agers are at the helm. Devotion to our
Society, as well as to your own inter
ests, ought to impel you to give us your
best support.
We hope every member of the Alliance
will consider this a personal appeal to him
self, and will consider that his personal in
terests demand that he should comply with
our request.
There are many Avho are and have
been acting upon the above principle.
To them we are indebted for the list we
now have, and we give them our sin
cere thanks. But if all wrould aid us in
this way how much greater the result
would be.
We hope our friends will remember
that when they induce a neighbor to
take an honest, fearless, outspoken Al-
iance paper, in the place of the parti
san sheets which truckle to the money
ower, and are printed and controlled
by a monopoly associated press, they
are doing grand work for a
cause.
grand
"The Cranks Always Win."
The cranks are those who do not ac
cept the existing order of things, and
propose to change them. The existing
order of things is always accepted bv
the majority, therefore the cranks are
always in the minority. They are al
ways progressive thinkers and always
in advance of their time, and they al
ways win. Called fanatics and fools at
first, they are sometimes persecuted
and abused. But their reforms are
generally righteous, , and time, reason
and argument bring men to their side.
Abused and ridiculed, then tolerated,
then respectfully given a hearing, then
supported. This has been the gauntlet
that all irreat reforms and reformers
have run, from Gallileo to John Brown.
Boston is a nice puritanical town, claim
ing to be the Athens of America. But
within the memory of all middle-aged
Americans Wendell Phillips, one of the
finest orators America has produced,
was mobbed in its streets for preaching
the universal brotherhood of man, and,
notable fact, every preacher in Boston
who alluded to it denounced Wendell
Phillips. John Burns was taken from
thence into slavery under the sacred
segis of the American flag.
Our memory goes still further back,
when in a little country town in west
ern New York an abolitionist could get
no room in which to speak, and was
met with gibes and jeers when denounc
ing the enormities of chattel slavery
from a dry goods box in the street. In
that same little town the Reading dea
con in the leading church had a dis
tillery down the lane. While he was
invoking the Divine Spirit to save men's
souls the demon spirit that cursed their
bodies and souls was always trickling
from his still. The abolition cranks
set the ball in motion that removed the
disgrace of slavery from the land. We
lift our hats to them with respect and
veneration. The temperance cranks
have removed the decanters from the
side-boards of respectable citizens, and
have made it impossible for men in this
region to be at the same time deacons
and distillers. .
The cranks are the real stayers. . Ac
tuated by high moral impulses, they
work for the hereafter, llarely seeing
the fruitions or receiving the rewards
of their own labors, they believe in the
triumph of the right and the apprecia
of the future. The puerile motives and
the unprincipled vacillations of the pol
itician are unknown to them. Devoted
to truth and principle, they are stead
fast in their faith, and become martyrs
when occasion requires.
; Lift up your hearts! O! ye workers!
Some day the world will wonder that
men were allowed to coin gold out of
the blood of their fellow-men will
wonder that men could take the shoes
from the feet of the children and the
dress from the backs of the wives of
their brothers for the drink that mde
them brutes. The day will come when
the money cranks will be respected and
admired. The day will come when the
railroad reformers will be known to
be in advance of their times. Remem
ber, brothers, "the cranks always win."
"A Fair Field and No Favors."
Says a correspondant in the New
York Gazette and Farmers' Journal:
"All the farmer needs is a fair field and
no favors."
He has at this writing no fair field
and no favors. Mr. Quay is in the sad
dle. Behind him, in the speaker's chair,
is an autocrat who is prepared at any
cost to carry out the behests of the na
tional committee. It is safe to say that
no Pennsylvanian, and no man repre
senting the New England manufactur
ers, will consent to the tariff reform
demanded by the west, and which will
afford relief to our over-burdened farm
ers. Gloomy indeed is the present out
look. Four years must elapse, appar
ently we must so through another
congressional and presidential election
before we can reach anything like
the tariff reduction demanded by the
resolution of our State Alliance. Four
years! With the margin of profit en
tirely destroyed by low prices caused
by either excessive tariff taxation, con
traction of the currency, or high freight
rates, how many farmers can carry
their burden of debt and retain posses
sion of their farms four years longer?
It is evident they cannot wait four
years for relief. Relief must come in
less time than that, and from some oth
er quarter, or universal bankruptcy
will result.
There is another most deplorable as
pect of the case. Americanized farm
ers men who have learned to prize
some of the better things of life, who
demand civilized homes containing
some semblance of cultur and art and
beauty, who value education and see
in the college and university possibili
ties of a higher lifefor their children,
wnicn wras denied to tnem tnese men
will not go backward. Rather than re
sign these possibilities which have
dawned before them they will abandon
the farm and seek in other walks the
opportunities for culture which it will
fail to give. In this case their places
will be taken by a lower class of men
by a class of un-Americanized farmers,
tenant farmers who will become mere
serfs, and who will raise their children
always under the shadow of dependence
and humiliation. This will be an in
conceivable blow to; our free institu
tions, for an industrious, free and in
dependent agricultural population is
the only sound basis of a pure repub
lican government and an enduring
civilization.
While relief must be sought in some
other quarter than the present congress,
and while it may be slow in coming,
we say to all owners of farms, hold
your lands. Economize, get out of
debt, stand from under the fearful bur
den of interest as soon as possible, but
hold your lands: The farmer can endure
hard times without failure better than
any other man. The darkest hour is
always just before the break of day.
There must be a turning not far ahead.
The day will surely come, if we are
true to ourselves, when a "fair field"
will be ours.
The Silver Question.
We publish this week in a Supple
ment the Memorial Address of the Spe
cial Committee appointed by the Na
tional Silver Convention held at St.
Louis in November last. The money
question in its different aspects is in
our opinion the most important ques
tion before the people of this country.
The demonetization of silver and the
limitation of its coinage were measures
solely in the interest of the fixed in
come or monied classes, and opposed to
the interests of all other classes, inr
eluding all producers of all kinds.
These measures have contributed large
ly to the shrinkage of values and the
lowering, of prices to the stagnation
of- business and the lowered wages or
non-employment of labor, which cause
the present and all other periods of de
pression. We publish this address, at a
large expense, for the information and
education of our readers and the mem
bers of the Alliance on this money ques
tion. , The silver question is an impor
tant branch of the money question. Be
fore we can use our influence intelli
gently through the agency of the ballot
we must study these questions in all
their bearings, and must ourselves
make up our own minds, as to what we
actually want. If we have no policy or
opinions ourselves, we will have no in
fluence upon the policy or opinions of
ofthers. So we must educate and in
form ourselves. The great mass of vo
ters have been too long taking their
policies and opinions at second hand
from interested politicians.
We send out fifteen thousand copies
of this Supplement, at a very great
cost. , Of this we do not get a dime
back, except through the benefit we
may derive, from our friends placing
it in the hands of those who do not
now get The Alliance. We ask our
friends to give us as much of this bene
fit as possible. Extend our circulation
and we will issue valuable educational
supplements as often as weare able.
C-The Farmers' Alliance is the
best advertising medium in the west.
"A Fool's Paradise." j
The ; Chicago Tribune criticises Mr.
Bellamy's book, and calls its idea a
"Fool's Paradise." It alludes to what
Prof. Harris called "Mr. Bellamy's fun
damental mistake of making the state
and not the individual the unit of soci
ety." In relation to this point it quotes
Prof. Harris as follows:
"The aire in whioh we no live is pro
claimed to be an acre of individualism and
personal freedom- We have demanded that
eacn citizen shall have nis cnance xor a ca
reer, and that each shall be allowed to shape
for himself the niche that he is to AIL We
have insisted that the slave shall be declared
a free man and permitted to choose his voca
tion, make contracts with employers, or work
for himself if he prefers or refrain from
work altogether, provided that he can render
un equivalent ror wnat ne rweiveu irom nis
fellowmen. The highest individualism is the
ideal of our civilization."
Now it occurs to us that the tendency
of the present time is towards centrali
zation and opposed to individualism.
In the first place associations, either
voluntary or created by the -state, are
exercising state functions, and are con
centrating wealth and political power
in their hands. As far as the indi
vidual is concerned this centraliza
tion might just as well be by the state
as by corporations. In fact it might
better be by the state, because officers
of the state are more directly responsi
ble to the people, and use as a conse
quence more conscience and less tyran
ny in their dealings with the people.
But there is no doubt whatever that in
dividualism is disappearing in the mael
strom of combination. Industrially,
politically, socially, the individual units
of society are being absorbed and amal
gamated in the company, the political
ring, the social set. In our factories
persons are becoming simply automatic
machines. In our politics the commit
tee has centralized its functions in one
head which is inspired at the national
center. The demoralization resulting
from this could not possibly be equalled
by the results of Mr. Bellamy's indus
trial army. In industrial pursuits in
genuity is suppressed and endeavor
limited to a single narrow channel
Each person does only one thing, that
forming only a single limited part of
any finished product. Politically, What
thousands have lost their individuality
and surrendered their consciences to
the political boss, and are marched to
the polls like cattle, or led up in "blocks
of five." A "fool's paradise," in which
the state is substituted for the individ
ual, may not be better, but it could
hardly be worse. There is no doubt
whatever, illogical as it may seem, that
the tendency of the present order of
things to destroy individualism to neu
tralize individual effort and absorb in
dividual reward is driving thousands
to seek a remedy in some of the various
forms of socialism.
In asserting that individualism is en
tirely destroyed by Mr. Bellamy's plan
his critics forget the great relief he pro
poses for the workers through the thor
ough organization of his industrial
army. With the early part of life de
voted to education and intellectual
drill, with only five or six hours of la
bor each day." needed to luxuriously
supply all the needs of existence, with
a full release from labor at forty-five if
one so chooses, would not men have a
a hundred fold more of opportunity to
develop and exercise their individual
tastes and ambitions than in our pres
ent slavish condition? '
Mr. H.-W. Yates Ignorant or Wicked
Which?
In his reply to Bro. Kellogg's ques
tion in the Bee of Jan. 11, Mr. H. W.
Yates, national banker, says:
""By a decision of the national eupreire
court, delivered many years ago, the stock
holders of national banks pay taxes upon
their government bonds the same as any oth
property." Mr. Yates' information as to facts
seems to be about on a par with his
knowledge of general financial princi
ples. United States bonds are not tax
able by law, no matter in whose posses
sion they may be. The circulation of
national banks is taxed at one per cent.
The stock of stockholders of national
banks is taxable the samaras any other
property. There is no similarity be
tween taxing stocks and taxing bonds.
The stock of a bank is a hxed quantity.
Its circulation, tor which bonds are de
posited, may vary from day to day..
"An example wiU better illustrate these
operations. In January and February, 1875,
a certain bank reduced its circulation from
$308,490 to f 45,000 by deposits of legal tender
notes. Between September 26, 1876, and May
26, 1877, and before that deposit was exhaust
ed it increased its circulation to $450,000. Be
tween August 14 and September 10, 1877, it
again reduced its cirdulation to $45,000. On
September 19, 1777, nine days after complet
ing the deposits for its reduction, it again be
gan to take out additional circulation, al
though $402,550 of prior deposits remained in
the treasury, and by tne 2bth of that month
its circulation had again been increased to
$450,000. July 22, 1878, it, for the third time,
reduced its circulation to $45,000, and in Au
gust and September, 1879. again increased it
to $450,000."
The above illustrates our point, as
well as the mischevious facility with
which a national bank can expand and
contract the currency at will. We'll
lend Mr. Yates a financial catechism, if
he wishes.
Free Trade With Canada.
Hon. Ben Butterworth is a distin
guished light of the republican-high-tariff
- protection - to - infant - industries
party, as Sam Randall is of the derno-cratic-free-trade-high-tariff
- protection -to-your-particular-district
party. Mr.
Butterworth has the monumental gall
to .demand free trade with Canada.
This proposition from such a source
will send a shiver dowrn the spine of the
New England manufacturers and the
Chicago lumber barons. That our
farmers along the border should be
allowed to swap their pork for boards
in the Canada lumber camps would be
a demoralizing infraction of tariff doc
trine. . But why shouldn't they? Can
anybody tell? And why shouldn't all
the products of Canada and the U. S.
be swapped without charging an ad
mittance fee to either? If the Michigan
farmer wants to trade with the Indiana,
Wisconsin or Minnesota ' farmer, he
does so without let or hindrance; but if
he wants to trade with the Canada
farmer he or somebody has to pay for
the privilege, and the pay is added to
the price of somebody's goods. Now
the figures show that the U. S. people
and the Canada people pay just about
an equal amount of this added price, so
this is a stand-off. But the people of
both sides pay the expense of maintain
ing a line of custom houses and an
army of custom officers, and this ex
pense is a dead loss to all parties, and a
gain to nobody except the politicians
who sell the offices for votes and the
bummers and leeches they put into
them. r
If trade with Canada was free would
it not still be voluntary and for profit
the same as now? And if it was not
profitable it would not take place, would
it? With no embargo on emigration,
and laborers at liberty to walk over the
border any hour they please, does any
. 1 . 1
one suppose that labor conditions do
not adjust themselves naturally for the
best interests of the laborer?
Some people think the annexation of
Canada is desirable. We do not think
so. Nations become amalgamated and
their, people homogenious through fa
vorable trade conditions. Remove the
barriers between Canada and the U. S.
charge the people of neither side an
admission fee on their goods into the
territory of the other and at the same
time admit commissioners from Canada
into our congress and from the U. S
into their parliament, with a voice and
vote upon international questions, and
the amalgamation of the countries
would be effected, and home rule, jhome
taxation and the management of their
home-debt left undisturbed to each.' All
questions would then be adjusted as
they arose, and the two countries would
go forward to an era of prosperity and
progress only . equaled by that of the
states, which has been caused by the
same trade relations.
But no! This policy, if carried out,
would be such an eye-opener to the
American people as to endanger the
whole protection theory, and the mil
lionaires who are nursing our infant in
dustries, and the Chicago lumber bar
ons, who tax the boards for every prai
rie shanty $2 to $3 per thousand, will
oppose it to the extent of their power.
"Confirmation Strong as Proofs of Holy
Writ.
We have been criticised somewhat se
verely for our statement that the action
of Governor Thayer and certain mem
bers of the Board of transportation was
caused solely by a desire to make politi
cal capital instead of anxiety for the
welfare of the people. The following
dispatches sent from Chicago by Wm
H. Poore to the Kearney Enterprise, fully
confirm every word we have said about
the matter.. A ten per cent reduction in
rates is followed by a cent fall per bu
in corn, brought about by the railroad
elevator men and corn operators, as
shown by a Chicago correspondent in
this paper. The following, are the dis
patches:
"Let me quote the remarks made by one of
the Nebraska commissioners to a prminent
newspaper manager in tms city, tie eaia :
'We know there has been an overproduction
of corn in our state, but at tne same time uov
ernor Thayer'B action in writing to the trans
Missouri association in his competition with
Leese for the anti-monoply vote of the state,
has aroused a storm in Nebraska before which
no politician or party dares to stand. We
know that the demand we make is not abso
lutely fair to the railroad companies (that was
the first demand of 30 per cent reduction), but
at the same time, if we fail to carry out the
wishes or our constituents tney win ta&e tne
matter into their own hands at the next elec
tion and work even greater injustice to the
companies than win result in securing a re
duction at the present time; and if we were to
allow the people s demand to be pigeon-holed
we might as well retire from public life right
now."
The above shows a commendable zeal
to protect the railroads from the people.
As to their rivalry for the political capi
tal part, the last paragraph is of interest.
Here it is.
"Last Tuesday morning, thiee men from Ne
braska reached Chicago. They were Secretary
of State Cowdry, Land Commissioner Steen
and state Auditor isenton, composing a ma
jority of the state board of transportation.
Shortly after their arrival they stood at the
registering desk in the Palmer House. 'Is
Thayer here? was the first question asked by
Tom Benton. The clerk replied in the nega
tive. 'Then, thank God, we are ahead of him,"
was the remark at once made by Secretary
of State Cowdry."
How Nebraska Congressmen Vote.
Members of the house of representa
tives made the Sargeant-at-Arms. their
private banker. They authorized him
to draw their salaries, and checked
against his office just as they would a
bank. His clerk absconded with $75,
000 of the members' money. The gov
ernment had nothing whatever to do
with this matter any more than it would
a loss from any private bank; and the
attempt to saddle the loss upon the
people by a vote of the house was a
contemptible outrage. But one hun
dred and twenty -six members voted for
it, and among them were Messrs. Con
nell, Laws and Dorsey of Nebraska.
We shall try to keep our readers posted
as to the votes of our members on these
little steals.
The Long and Short Haul Clause.
The Lincoln Journal of the 13th, with
the accustomed gall of a railroad mouth
piece, warns the citizens of Nebraska
against any attempt to save the 4th sec
tion of the interstate commerce law
from repeal. It wants the -long and
short haul clause abrogated so as to re
store to its pets the power to tax locali
ties to suit their will, to destroy interior
distributing centers and prevent inter
ior wholesaling and manufacturing, and
continue the injurious system of the
concentration of all business and popu
lation in a few great centers, at the ex
pense of the balance of the country.
We have no space this week for this sub
ject, but will consider it next week.
Mormonism Downed.
In the late election at Salt Lake City
the Mormons have been beaten for the
first time. We trust this is the begin
ning of the end. If popular govern
ment is to give us Mormonism, lottery
gambling, railroad domination, and the
supremacy of trusts, we may will doubt
its virtue.' '
Still Another Paper.
We have received the first number of
Our Own Opinion, published at Hastings.
It is bright, fearless and outspoken, and
will do good work in a good cause. We
wish it grand success.
. PETITION.
To the Honorable the Members of the
of the U. S., in Congress assmbled: f
We your petitioners, members of the Farmers' Alliance and citizens of
the State of Nebraska, respectfully represent
That all the bills now before your
the indebtedness of the Union Pacific,
deprive the United -States of its present ample security for the ultimite re
payment of this debt, and confer an immense additional subsidy upon a cor
poration that has repeatedly wconged the government, and continually and
grievously oppresses the communities through which its road passes.
Under Section io, U. S. Revised
the Attorney-General of the United
agement has repeatedly violated. We, your petitioners, therefore respect
fully request the enforcement of those laws with their penalties, and that
your honorable body will not extend the time for the payment of the in
debtedness of the Union Pacific Railroad to the government.
NAMES.
BUTLER CO. FARUERS PROTEST
The State Board of Transportation De
nounced In Scathing Terms Over Their Action
in the Reduction of Freight Rates.
The following resolutions were
adopted at a pnblic meeting of farmers
and others held at Ulysses, Feb. 8. It
will be observed that the positions
taken by these resolutions, as well as
those of the Wabash Alliance, are in ex
act accord with the editorial utterances
of The Alliance on the rate question.
There is no mistaking the ring of these
declarations:
Whereas, The through rates of
transportation from Nebraska to Chi
cago are from four to six cents per hun
dred higher than prior to the passage
of the interstate commerce law; and
Whekas, the farmers of Nebraska
are now paying two cents per hundred
more on corn to Chicago, a distance of
451 miles, than is charged on eastern
lines from Chicago to New York, a
distance nearly twice as great; and
Whereas, The local freight rates are
from 50 to 350 per cent higher in Ne
braska than in Iowa; therefore be it
Resolved, By the farmers and citizens
of Ulysses township, in mass meeting,
that the present high freight rates are a
travesty on justice and merit the con
demnation of every fair minded man;
and be it
Resolved, That the state board of
transportation, in its recent compro
mise with the railroad magnates in con
ference at Chicago, on a basis of 10 per
cent per 100 on through transportation,
which is equivalent to the mere pittance
of one cent and a fraction per bushel on
corn from Nebraska to Chicago, know
ingly did an unsatisfactory act; and
be it
Resolved, That this meeting endorses
the views of Attorney General Leese in
holding that nothing less than a reduc
tion of at least 10 cents per 100 should
have been accepted, and that unless it
is peaceably granted a war on local
rates, vigorously prosecuted by the
state board of transportation, should
be the alternative until just and equi
table through rates are established; and
be it further
Resolved, That we hereby give notice
that no man will receive our support
for state or legislative office who does
not pledge himself to use his best ef
forts to secure reasonable and just local
and through freight rates, and whose
past record proves him to be earnest
and fearless in the right and strong
enough to carry out such pledge.
Resolved, That a copy of these resolu
lutions be forwarded to the governor
and state board of transportation, and
to each of the Butler County papers,
The Alliance and the Lincoln Call for
publication. . H. K. Craig,
President.
W. H. Stone, Secretary.
C. H. Challis,
J. F. Burge.
W. H. H. Starbuck,
D. A. Wynegar,
James DarnelLj
Committee on resolutions.
Opposed to the Repeal of the Short-Haul
Clause.
On Tuesday last the President, Secre
tary and members of the Executive
Board of the Nebraska State Alliance
wired a message to the U. S. Senate
protesting against the repeal or modifi
cation of Sec. 4 of the interstate com
merce law, or what is known as the
long and short haul clause. It is said
that parties in Washington had been
stating in the interest of Senator Pad
dock's resolution that the Neb. Alliance
favored the repeal, hence the above dis
patch. Only the railroads, and papers
and politicians in their interest, have de
manded this repeal. As it now stands
such action would emasculate the
law. There is no doubt the law
should be amended. The commission
should not only be given power, but it
should be made mandatory upon it to
fix rates upon interstate roads, and to
base them upon the principle of a fair
compensation for service rendered and
actual capital invested, instead of the
vicious principle of what the traffic will
bear. .
Another Canaan Opened.
The President's proclamation opening
the Sioux reservation has been issued,
and settlers are rushing into the promis
ed land by thousands. I he provisions
of the homestead law are applied, in ad
dition to the payment of $1.25 per acre
Lands unsold at the end of three years
will co on the market at 75 cts. and at
the end of five years at 25cts per acre.
There are between nine and ten million
acres. The land offices are at Pierre
and Chamberlain.
THE TARIFF AND THE FARMER.
Joseph Medill, editor of the Chicago
Tribune, the leading republican organ of
the West, does not hold very different
views from his party associates, but he
is not afraid to express them. In a let
ter written for publication he says:
Where, then, is the remedv from THE
HEAVY BURDEN OF A 50 PER CENT.
TAX ON THE NECESSARIES OF
LIFE, .BOTH IMPORTED AND DO
MESTIC? There is only one element
or class able to remove it, and that
Samson is sleeping in the lap of Delilah
and will not awaken. I, of course, mean
the farmers. THE PLUNDERED, UN
PROTECTED, TWENTY-FIVE MIL
LION OF GEESE-LIKE FARMERS
WHO PERMIT THEMSELVES TO BE
PLUCKED OF ALMOST EVERY
FEATHER BY A HUNDRED THOU
SAND "PROTECTED" MONOPO
LISTS. So long as the simple-minded
bucolic class do not "kick" off the bur
dens laid upon them. Congress will
not Jisturb the war taxes and the man-
Senate and House of Representative
honorable bodies proposing to fu id
to the U. S., and extend the same,
Statutes, act of 1878, it is the duty of
States to enforce laws which the man
j NAMES.
mufacturers' corresponding bounties.
While the ploughmen act like Issacher's
ass, and crouch between the burdens,
both will be kept on their backs. Tho
fabricants live focalized in the cities,
and plot and scheme for tho promotion
of their selfish interests and bring their
united lobby influence to bear on mem
bers of Congress, whereas the farmers
live isolated and scattered, ami can't
or don't combine in defense of their in
terests. Hence they are unprotected,
unrepresented and unconscious of what
keeps them poor. They are captivated
by the specious cry of "protection to
American Industry," THO' THEY GET
NONE OF IT; and of the value of the
'protected" home market to thorn, as if
protected monopolists eat any more
than other men. Not until the verdant,
imposed-upon agriculturalists wake up
to a realization of the confidence game
being played upon them will the war
tariff be reduced or reformed; but when
will they get their eyes open and act?
In your lifetime ? Samson (the farmers)
is under the spell of Delilah (the manu
facturers), and he feels no strength to
resist. Until the protected manufactur
ers themselves ask Congress to reduce
their protection bounties in order to en
able them to cheapen the processes of
fabrication with a view to finding for
eign markets for their surplus wares,
there will be no reduction of the high
tariff and no relief from THE HEAVY
BURDEN IT 1MPOSSES ON THE
FOOL FARMERS AND OITRESSKU
CONSUMERS. But when will that be?
Yours Truly,
J. Medill.
How Other People Sec It.
We copy the following from a Chica
go daily to show our readers how somo
people who are not farmers look at tho
farmer in his relations to the surround
ing industrial conditions. Who can
say he is not at least half right?
blindness of the fa km Kit
What truth is there in mythology!
Midas, the Phrygian, prayed that every
thing he touched would become gold,
and the god granted his wish. But when
even his food was transformed into gold
he implored Bacchus to take back tho
fatal privilege. It was this same Midas
who misjudged the celestial music tones;
wrho insulted Apollo and the gods, aud
who was punished with a pair of ass
ears. Are our great wealth producers
similarly accursed? Witness tho farmer.
He tills the land and it yields its fruit
with abundant bounty, ellow harvests
bend before the breeze; there is sup
ply of every kind for human want. Yet
in the midst of plethoric plenty he stand
poverty stricken. On every side is
wealth produced by his diligent hand,
but it profiteth him nothing. Where
fore are these things? The f armer stag
gers along under the load because ho is
not wise enough. He produces the
wealth, but it does not bless him u
make him happier. He curses the bale
ful influences which prevent him from
enjoying the fruits of his labor, but his
every energy is directed toward strength-.
ening the powers that produce the par
alysis. He has got Midas' ears. Ho
curses the unprincipled tariff robbers,
the greedy gods of monopoty, ami elec
tion day he casts a ballot that helps his
enemies toward place" aud power.
What wonder that he is accursed?
II. G. F.
Bank-Wrecking and Creed.
Society bestowing upon tho possessor
of wealth the highest social honors
regardless of the means by which the
wealth was obtained, is the fertile cause
of the crime which greed causes. The
following just comments upon the re
cent bank-wrecking episode in New
York City is clipped from the standard
of Feb. 5:
The wrecking of the Sixth national
bank by a gang of conspirators, whom
everybody professes to regard now as
disreputable, but who certainly had ac
cess to men in prominent business, and
some sort of financial standing, indi
cates the singular condition into which
"business" has fallen In this metropolis.
The truth seems to be that gambling
forms so large an element in most busi
ness operations that success seems to
justify any means resorted to to attain
it, and that therefore all moral stan
dards in relation to business are gradu
ally fading away. If the cashier of the
Sixth national bank had not exposed
the operations of the men who had
planned to buy the stock of the ma
jority stockholders with funds eighty
per cent of which belonged to the mi
nority, the conspirators might have put
through the scheme. Had they done so
and brought enough business to the
bank to make it. successful they would
have become excellent financiers, and
their names would have figured inside
of ten j'ears on the lists of directors of
numerous companies. They were found
out, and public sentiment says they
ought to be sent to jail for it. Tho mail
rush for wealth that characterizes
modern society, and which is increas
ing in velocity from dav to day, cannot
fail to utterly destroy all moral sense in
the business community, and we doubt
if it can be checked by anything short
of the radical measure that alone can
remove the fear of want, which is the
mother of- avarice and greed.
Not Any in Mine.
A farmer correspondent of the St.
Paul Press scores Gov. Thayer for his
insipid supplication to the railroads.
He says:
I, as a fanner, of the great state of Nebras
ka, feel that such a weak and insipid supplt
cation.from the governor of our great Mate
la an Insult to every farmer within her bor
ders. Are we so weak that we have lost all
self-respect for our manhood? Are we cry
ing1 Buppliants at the feet of these moguls?
We are not. We will not supplicate. Wo
have the remedy and we are going: to apply it.
Now come, governor, be a man. Never
again supplicate in our behalf. All we want
is equal justice. That we are going to have,
and. too. without sunDlication. Kverv rpfnrm
that has been presented to tho people for the
pasi iwenty-nve years na- oeen slapped in
the face with the bloody shirt. It hii h,i
about the same effect in the hands of the pol
itician that the red Hag has in the Spanish
bull tight while the bunko has the nag in
the bull's face he plies the dagger to his
heart and this kind of rot has come to bo
binicBuiuusuip.