THE ALLIANCE.
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY MORNING.
BY TIIE
ALLIANCE PUBLISHING CO.
Lincoln, - - - NeDiaska.
J. BURROWS, : : : Editor.
J, M. THOMPSON, Business Manager.
" In the beauty f the lillies
Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in his bosom
That transfigures you and me.
As He strove to make men holy
Let us strive to make men free,
Since God is marching on."
Julia Ward Howe.
Laurel crowns cleave to deserts,
And power to him who power exerts."
A ruddy drop of manly blood
The surging sea outweighs."
Emerson.
He who cannot reason is a fool,
He who will not reason is a coward,
He who dare not reason is a slave."
EDITORIAL.
Important Ruling of Pres't Powers.
Neb. State Farmers' Alliance,
Secretary's Office,
Lincoln, Ai 3, 1890.
Iuasmuch as unauthorized persons are
engaged in organizing Alliances and
sending applications for charters, and
uch Alliances in many instances are
organized in a manner contrary to the
constitution of the State Alliance, and
subsversivc of the rules of the Order;
We hereby notify all whom it may con
cern, that hereafter applications for
charters will not be granted unless ac
companied by a certificate of a com
missioned deputy or his certified assist
ant, or one of the officers of the State
Alliance, as directed by the amended
constitution. And also, that if any Sub.
Alliance shall persist in receiving into
the Order persons who are not eligible
to membership by the constitution, and
refuse after due notification and a rea
sonable time to expel such persons, their
charters will be revoked. And it is
hereby made the duty of the several
county deputies to report to this office
nil such cases that may come to their
knowledge.
J. li. Towers, Fres.
J. M. Thompson, Sec.
J. Burrows, Chn' Ex. Com.
The Teaching of History in Relation to
Money.
At the Christian era the metallic
money of the Roman empire amounted
to $1,800,000,000. By the end of the fif
teenth century it had shrunk to less
than $200, 000,000. During this period a
most extraordinary and baleful change
:took place in the condition of the world.
J?opulatien dwindled, and commerce,
arts, wealth and freedom all disap
peared. The people were reduced by
poverty and misery to the most de
graded conditions of serfdom and sla
very. The disintegration of society
vas almost complete. The conditions
vf life were so hard that individual sel
xfishness was the only thing consistent
-with self-preservation. All public
; spirit, all generous emotions, all the uo-
ble aspirations of man shrivelled and
disappeared as the volume of money
shrunk ank prices fell.
We learn the above from the report
tf the silver commission of 1876, one of
tthe ablest reports ever made by a con
gressional committee. All history
.teaches the same sad lesson. When
darkness settled over Egypt and she
lost her place among the great nations
of earth, 3 per cent of her population
owned 1)7 per cent of her wealth. When
Jiabylon went down two per cent of her
population owned all her wealth. When
Persia bowed her head one per cent of
iicr population owned all her land.
When the sun of Rome set in black de
spair eighteen hundred men owned and
controlled all the then known world.
But we do not have to go to history
o see the baleful effects of the
contraction of money in proportion to
wealth and population. We have only
to look around its to see the decadence
of freedom, the growing domination of
wealth, the demoralization of our poli
tics, and the advance of despotism and
-tyranny. Men are no longer repre
sented in our senate, but dollars in
stead. For the last thirty years the
United States has moved rapidly along
the path followed by these old nations.
In 1850 our capitalists owned 37i per
cent of the nation's wealth. In 1870,
only twenty years later, they owned 63
per cent, having almost doubled their
accumulations. They have more than
kept up this ratio since 1870, and prob--ably
hold fully 80 per cent of the wealth
of the country v The proportion of the
population which holds this wealth does
not probably exceed 10 or 15 per cent
of the 65,000,000 of our people; and
this small proportion is using its omni
potent power in every department of
business and government in the form
ing and prosecution of schemes for
making the irich richer and the poor
poorer.
It is of vital importance that all men
should carefully study the causes of
different economic conditions. Tt is nn
important fact that overproduction,
which is the favorite explanation of
-hard times by all those men who are in
terested in maintaining present finan
cial conditions, is never complained of
only when the money volume is rela
tively decreasing and ,priees falling.
.And it is another notable fact, that
when there is said to be an overproduc
tion, and prices are 'the lowest, the la
borer is -the -most. distressed and the
.poor man most impoverished. The in
fluence of money is subtle and silent,
but none the less potent. We hail with
unalloyed joy the day when public at
tention is generally fixed upon this sub
ject, and when the monopoly press are
. .compelled to discuss it, and we ask all
our readers to make at their leading
-tudy.
THE
A CROP OF LEGISLATORS WANTED.
Some Old Fields to be Raked up and
Burned Over.
A Lot of Trash to be Plowed Under.
Spread the Work.
Spring work is going rapidly forward.
Of course our attention for a while
must be given to sowing and planting,
and getting ready for another harvest.
But while doing this do not forget
there is to be two harvests next fall.
We must harvest a crop of FARMER
LEGISLATORS. They are sadly need
ed to clear out the vile crops that have
been sown by the railroad capper farm
ers and usury farmers who have infest
ed our legislative halls so long.
For that crop of legislators we must
be sowing the seed now, even while we
are sowing our small grain and plant
ing our corn.
So keep up your school house meet
ings keep up a rattle of musketry all
along the line.
If we are to harvest that crop of legis
lators, FIFTY THOUSAND FARMERS
should be reading this paper be
fore NOVEMBER. Let EVERY ONE of
our present subscribers send us ONE
MORE NAME in the next two weeks.
This is the way to spread the light and
spread the worTc..
The important thing is to reach new
men. It is for our readers who are on
the right track to help us reach those
who are not. is the only way we can
get at them.
This paper is being boycotted by Lin
coln business men because it advocates
the organization of farmers and because
its publishers have assisted to organize
an Alliance Business Agency. Farmers
and Alliance men you are our only re
source for support. We are confident
you will not fail us.
Mr. J. H. Burt on Money in the Omaha
Bee.
"In all of the discussions of the day upon
hardtimea and concerning the agricultural de
pression the statement is made that with the
circulating medium of the country increased
the people of these depressed sections would
be greatly benefited. Can anything but his
labor or its product bring him one cent of this
money, and does he not now receive cash
for his grain, cattle and labor to the full
amount of its market value? There seems to
be money enough, for when government,
state or city bonds are ottered for sale they
are quickly taken at a good premium and
cash paid therefor."
Mr. Burt is a banker correspondent
of the Bee, and that paper heartily ap
proves his position. We will say to Mr.
Burt that the law of supply and de
mand finds its fair expression in the ef
fect of the relation of money and other
things. If the volume of money is rel
atively small or decreasing prices will
be low or falling and rice versa, the law
of supply and demand first controlling
the price of money. Low prices enable
a small amount of money to control or
purchase a large amount of the product
of labor. So the less the volume of
money the more wealth a given sum
will purchase. Now, if there were no
debt and no interest this would not
make so much difference. But this
very principle compels debts. As
prices are lowered the burden of inter
est is increased, as interest payers buy
money with products of labor with
which to pay interest. But even with
out debts low prices would make hard
times by destroying the margin above
subsistence which producers use as new
or added capital. If the margin is de
stroyed new material cannot be pur
chased and enterprise and improvement
is interfered with and trade stagnated.
But the secret Mr. Burt does not know
is that prices are primarily made by
the supply of money relative to ex
changeable wealth, that is, the law of
supply and demand applied to money.
"There seems to be money enough,'"
says Mr. Burt. Yes, in hard times with
low prices every interest bearing se
curity that is good is eagerly taken.
Why? First, because money turned
out of use by stagnated enterprise
caused by low prices is accumulated at
centers seeking investment, and unin
cumbered realty on which to secure
loans is very scarce. Second, because
in times of low prices interest is more
remunerative. To illustrate, with in
terest at ten per cent and wheat $1 per
bushel the interest on $1,000 buvs 100
bushels of wheat, but with interest at
ten per cent and wheat at 50 cents per
bushel the interest on $1,000 buys 200
bushels of wheat. It will be seen in
this case that the burden of interest has
been doubled though the rate remains
the same. It is the price of wheat that
has changed. This is equally applicable
to the prices of all products. Cannot
Mr. Burt and the Bee which endorses
him see these points?
The Omaha Bee and the Money Question.
The Bee has heretofore gained some
reputation as an advocate of the peo
ples' rights in the matter of railroad
freights and railroad domination in the
politics of Nebraska. But the money
question is of far more importance to
the people than any question of rates.
On this question the Bee boldly takes
the side of Wall street, the single stan
dard men and the shylocks. In several
leading editorials of late, and in com
ments upon correspondence, it ridi
cules and denounces Senator Stanford's
proposition, and puts down all those
who . believe in , financial reform as
greenback lunatics.
Is the Bee absolutely certain that a
financial system that brings 'periodical
depressions .and hard times, and steadi
ly accumulates the wages of labor in
the hands of a few men in all times, is
the best that might exist? Have there
been so few changes in modern times
from prescriptive usages and old tradi
tions, that it is certain this old system
of money might not be profitably
changed? Of . one thing there is no
manner of doubt the present system is
in the interest of the few instead of the
many, of the wage-eater instead of the
wage-earner, of the capitalist . instead
of the producer and laborer; and when
FAKMERS' ALLIANCE: LINCOLN, NEB.,
the Bee arrays itself on the side of the
money cohorts it is against the people.
In a late article the Bee saes:
"If 50 a head would make better times, 5
per capita would make them still better, and
$500 per head would make everybody pretty
comfortable. If the circulating medmm can
be increased at pleasure it is just as easy for
Uncle Sam to print thousand dollar bills as to
print Ave dollar bills. If Yealth JLl ? cr
ated by act of congress it is a great crime to
keep millions of people with their noses on
the grindstone."
Now let us reverse this argument. If
increase of currency does not affect the
times then the amount of it makes no
difference; its decrease does not
make hard times, and five dollars per
capita is just as good as fifty. This is
true if the Bee's argument is sound. Is
it true? We would have to look but
little to find in the Bee's late files com
plaints of financial pressure by reason
of a withdrawal of national bank notes,
and a demand for legislation that would
restore them or their equivalent. The
Bee says "if the circulating medium
can be increased at pleasure," etc.
Well, can it not be increased at pleas
ure? What is the circalating medium?
It is comprised of certain kinds of to
kens, metallic or paper, provided how?
Why, by act. of congress. Are they
provided in any other way? If they
are we are not aware of it. They are
provided in certain ways and in certain
quantities by law their amount is spe
cifically regulated and limited by law,
and the trouble is that these limits and
regulations are fixed in the interest of
certain limited classes instead of in the
interest of the whole people.
Let us ask the Bee what makes hard
times? It is a scarcity of corn, perhaps,
or cotton, or wool, or beet, or pork, or
wheat. Which is it? The Bee very
well kuows it is neither of these, but
that it is a scarcity of money. It can
not honestly answer the question in any
other way, and at the same time scoffs
at the idea that more money would im
prove the times. The Bee knows, if
it knows anything, that the relative de
crease of money compared with the nu
merous products has lowered prices
while debt and interest have increased,
and that the burden of debt and inter
est to-day absorb all the surplus of the
producer, so that not only is his family
in distress, but the goods of merchants
and artisans remain unsold because he
has no means with which to buy them.
And it knows that a relative increase of
money would remedy this condition.
"If wealth can be created by act of
congress," says the Bee. Any tyro in
political economy can inform the Bee
that money is not wealth. It is only a
representative and exchanger of
wealth. Is the Bee blind to the teach
ing of history on this point of the vol
ume of money? There is no doubt that
excessive issues will produce injury.
To conserve the just rights of all class
es, to protect producers from the ra
pacity of usurers, a certain equable re
lation between exchangeable wealth
and the volume of money should be
preserved. It is a great injustice to the
producer and the laboring man when
this volume falls to a point where mon
ey becomes the great controller of all
things when prices fall so low that in
terest absorbs by far the greatest share
of produced wealth, as at present. The
Bee knows that this relation has
been changing for the past twenty
years, and that wealth has been in
creasing and the instrument with which
wealth is exchanged has been decreas
ing; and that co-extensive with this
change distress among all industrial
classes has been growing.
The articles published in the Bee
show either profound ignorance of
financial questions or an absolute sub
servience and devotion to the money
power. '
The Indebtedness of Saline County.
In our issue of March 29 we pub
lished the following table of the mort
gage and other indebtedness of Saline
county:
Real estate mortgages, unsatisfied of rec
ord: Lands $1,816,388.23
Town lots 370,963.33
Total real estate mortgages $2,187,351.46
Bonded debt schools and cities 97,759.65
Bank loans and discounts 1,418,951.41
Chattel mortgages held by pri-)
vate parties ( banks not incl
:luded) !
unreleased filed since January f
333,584.44
1, 18S9. J
Total $4,036,646.96
Against this indebtedness the assessed val
uation of property for last year is as follows:
Lands $1,234,958.00
Lots 435,773.00
Personality 808,266.00
$3,468,997.00
The democratic county central com
mittee of Saline county caused the
above figures to be taken from the offi
cial records of the county and the books
of the banks, and the figures are there
fore reliable.
Saline is an old settled county lying
in the very finest portion of the state.
If the farmers of any county should be
reasonably free from debt they would
be the farmers of Saline. Supposing
there are fifty counties that would aver
age the same as Saline, their mort
gage indebtedness on realty would
be $109,227,573. This leaves fifty coun
ties to hear from. The indebtedness of
these would certainly amount to half as
much. This would make the amount
named by the Alliance Memorial, about
which so much has been said. When
the truth is accurately learned it will
be found that the Memorial put the fig
ure too low.
Will the money organs which abused
Mr. Burrows so mendaciously forninst
the Alliance Memorial give their views
on these figures from Saline county?
Proposed Amendment to the State Con
stitution. In reply to John Scott, of Westerville,
we would say that two amendments are
to be submitted next fall in regard to
supreme court and district judges. One
proposes to increase the number of su
preme judges from three to five, and
the other proposes to increase the sala
ries of those judges from $3,000 to
$3,500, and the salaries of district judges
from $2,500 to $3,000.
. It is also proposed to make the terms
of the supreme judges five instead of six
years.
Conversation Between Legislative Inves
tigating Committee and Railroad
President.
Chairman Mr. President, you issue
free passes to your friends, do you?
President Well, y-e-s, in some eases.
Chairman What is the particular ob
ject of such passes?
President O, they are mere courte
sies. -
Chairman To what class of men are
they generally issued?
President Well, to our friends, as
mere courtesies.
Chairman Do you issue them to any
classes of public officials?
President Well, y-e-s.
Chairman To what classes?
President Well, to members of con
gress, to members of the legislature, to
judges of the county, district and su
preme court, sometimes to assessors,
and to men who are large shippers.
Chairman Are there any others?
President Well, y-e-s. The officers
of the company have their friends to
whom they extend courtesies.
Chairman Do you keep a pass ac
count?
President Yes, sir.
Chairman Is there any particular
season of the year when more passes
are used than at other times?
President W-e-1-1, y-e-s, there are
rather more about election time than at
other seasons.
Chairman The company never tries
to influence elections by means of pass
es, does it?
President O, no! Passes are always
merely personal favors.
Chairman If that is the case, how is
it that they are o distributed more to of
ficials and shippers and political friends,
than to the general public?
President O, that is mere custom.
Chairman What proportion of travel
is on free passes?
President Well, our auditor don't
report on that point; but it probably
runs from one-tenth to one-fifth.
Chairman Does this free travel cost
your company anything?
President Well, probably it does.
But when we are hitched up and going
his way it seems a little churlish to re
fuse to let our friends ride.
Chairman Mr. President, wouldn't
that rule apply to a poor farmer or poor
laborer, as well as to a poor judge or
poor member of congress?
President Laughing Well, per
haps it would.
Chairman Exactly. Well, Mr. Pres
ident, our committee will report to the
legislature in favor of a reduction in
general fares of one-half cent a a mile.
If free passes are continued we will
then report in favor of another reduc
tion of same amount, and so on ad libi
tum, until that "courtesy" business is
stopped, and all people are on an equal
ity in the use of our public highways.
That will do.
An Important Ruling.
We invite attention to an important
ruling by President Powers which will
be found in this paper. There are
many instances where persons not eligi
ble to membership have been admitted,
not only as charter members, but by
ballot after organization. Every case
of this kind sets a precedent which may
be cited afterward.
Some County Alliances have initiated
members at county meetings. This is
entirely unconstitutional and unjustifia
ble. The County Alliance is judge of
the qualifications of its own members
within the limits of the constitution.
But no one can be a member of the
County Alliance except a delegate sent
by a Subordinate Alliance who is a
member of such Alliance. The admis
sion of members by the County Alli
ance would establish a class of mem
bers who would have no connection
with any Subordinate Alliance, and in
fact no standing anywhere; as, if the
constitution should be properly enforced
at the next meeting of the County Alli
ance they could not be admitted unless
they appeared as delegates.
The anxiety of all kinds of politicians
and political wire-pullers to join the
Alliance not only causes these irregu
larities, but also makes it necessary
that the law should be adhered to.
Reckless Statement About Silver.
In its anxiety to ridicule the demands
of the farmers for more money the
Omaha Bee becomes reckless. It says:
"Our mints have coined two millions
of silver dollars every month for the
past ten years. 230,000,000 of these
silver dollars are now lying dead in the
vaults of the U. S. treasury."
The facts are that the total number
of standard silver dollars coined uj to
date is less than 550,000,000, and the
total number of silver certificates in
circulation is about $285,000,000. This
leaves only 65,000,000 silver dollars not
doing duty as money in the form of
certificates. Of this amount a small
portion is in the treasury and the bal
ance in the channels of trade.
It is sufficiently amazing for the Bee
to take the side of the gold-bugs in this
fight, without resorting to such glaring
misstatements as we have quoted.
Money on Land Security.
The proposition of Mr. Stanford to
issue money on land security has struck
a responsive chord all over the country,
as well as given prominence to the
money question which it has not as
sumed for many years. Men are be
ginning to realize that it is the great
question of the day. They are begin
ning to see that it involves the labor
question, the land question and -the
transportation question. Do what we
please with any of these and leave our
present financial system in operation,
with a restricted money volume to be
manipulated in the interest of corpora
tions, and with a rate of interest far in
excess of the increase of wealth in any
industry, and the rich will grow richer
and the poor poorer, labor be robbed
of its just reward, periods of depression
ever recur, and the wealth of the na
SATURDAY, APRIL 12,
tion be periodically scooped by the shy
locks and money lenders.
"More money" is the universal cry.
Business men are waking up to the con
dition of affairs. Many of them are be
ginning to see that a change in the
financial situation is a vital necessity.
But it is a notable fact that the farm
ers have led in this financial agitation
that it has been the thinking men on
the farms who have first . and most
clearly seen the true situation, and de
manded the true remedy. It is a fact
to-day that the farmers have more in
telligence and more information on im
portant economic questions than any
other class of men in the country.
The Iowa Tribune has the following in
relation to Senator Stanford's proposi
tion. We heartily endorse every word
of it:
"If Senator Stanford's
:d's (Greenback)
legalized, there
proposition could be
would be no more shirts made in the U
S. at fifty cents a dozen, no more homes
occupied by. the grace of usurers, no
more suicides of honest men and wo
men because they cannot secure bread.
No more starvation under the shadow
of millions of bushels of .wheat and
corn. Debts would be paid and life
would take to itself new charms every
where. Hail the day, Oh, toilers! We sug
gest that the readers of this paper in
vest a postal card apiece. Tell Senator
Stanford over your own names that he
has introduced the most important pro
position into the United States senate
that was ever made there, a proposi
tion to free a race from bondage. Ask
him to crowd it to a vote, and never to
let up until success crowns his efforts.
Do not put it off a day. The bankers
have telegraphed him long messages to
tell him of the ruin to their skinflint
business which would result. Let the
people write him of the general pros
perity which would follow United
States loans upon farms."
Wrecked Industries.
Says the Daily Bee of April 4: "The
farther Henry George ' plunges into the
antipodes, the more enthusiastic he be
comes in favor of breaking down every
vestige of the protective system, and
permitting the cheap labor nations to
wreck the industries of the United
States."
The gall of the above is certainly
monumental. With our greatest indus
try, agriculture, prostrate, and with
2,000,000 workmen idle with protected
trusts and interest-absorbing money
loaning the only "industries" which are
prosperous it is a good time to pitch
into Henry George on the score of his
free-trade theories especially as he is
in Australia. In "view of the brilliant
success of the Harrison administration,
and the unexampled wave of "prosper
ity" which has followed it, it is an un
usually favorable time to advocate
"home market" and high tariff. Whoop
'er up, Mr. Bee.
An Abject Spectacle.
The Bee denounces the effort of pub
lic men to find some means to alleviate
the distress of the working men and pro
ducers of the country as an "abject
spectacle." The devotion of the Bee,
the old time advocate of the rights of
the people, to the moloch of Wall Street
is a more abject spectacle still, and one
that will be quite apt to make a lasting
impression upon the farmers of this
state. Candidates may "tumble over
each other" without any serious incon
venience; but a great newspaper can
not humble itself in the dust before a
power that is squeezing the heart's
blood out of the people without a disas
trous reaction on its interests before
long.
The Bee is not satisfied with the ac
tion of the republican legislature of
Iowa in refusing to repeal the prohibi
tion law, and 'says that body "cannot
adjourn too soon to suit the tax-payers."
What would the Bee do if the re
publican state convention of Nebraska
should endorse prohibition? Such ac
tion is quite possible. As a measure for
getting rid of Rosewater it might be a
pronounced success.
Farmer Howe.
Al Fairbrother, over his own signa
ture in the World-Herald, writes up
Church Howe. Not long ago, in the
daily Call he was engaged in writing
down Senator Van Wyck. Comment
needless.
In this connection we will just add
that the statements in some of the
western newspapers that Howe is a
member of the Alliance, are not true
Farmer Howe is not eligible to be a
member.
"Tumbling Over Each Other."
The Omaha papers seem to be "turn
bling over each other," in their efforts
to make the farmers believe each is the
only original simon-pure anti-monop.
The Herald and Republican say the
Bee is hired out to Mr. Rothschild, a
Jew old-clo' man, and the Bee says
Hitchcock is a fraud. The farmers will
do well not to trust any of the outfit to
any great extent.
"All Things Come to him who Waits."
To Bro. A. L. Burke, President of Bur
rows Alliance 745, we would say, be not
over hasty, possess your soul in patience.
"The work" is going on. Continue to
gather strangers into the fold.
Change in Prices.
I desire to call the attention of all
Alliance members to the fact that con
stant changes are taking place in prices
of Groceries. Just now dried fruits,
apples, prunes and peaches have ad
vanced, in some instances, three cents
per pound. Remember we cannot guar
antee prices, but can only agree to fill
orders at the price on the day the order
is recieved. Clover seed is very firm at
$3.75 per bushel. Can fill orders at
that figure. J. W. Hartley,
State. Ag't.
The Farmers' Alliance will only
cost you $1.00 a year, or in clubs of five
80 cents a year. You cannot afford to
do without it. An important election
is coming on. j
1890.
' OATH-BOUND REPUBLICANISM!
The Grand Old Party in the Shackles
of
a Railroad Attorney.
What John M. Thurston is Doing.
The national republican league is a
society of representative republicans.
It has had the official recognition of the
president of the U. S. Its president,
John M. Thurston, albeit a railroad
capper and attornej is one of the most
trusted republicans, a man who laid
claim to a cabinet position in case one
was awarded to Nebraska. We give
below- a sample of his work, and a
specimen of the low straits the g. o. p.
is reduced to. To gain access to the
inner temple of republicanism no ques
tion of honesty, competency, and fideli
ty to the constitution, people and prin
ciples of freedom, is raised but only
will you obey the orders of the constituted
authorities The dark-lantern is substi
tuted for day-light the midnight cabal
for the caucus, (and God knows the cau
cus was bad enough) the oath-bound
compact for the platform a conclave
of slaves subject to the "behests of a
commander" for an assembly of Ameri
can freeman! And John M. Thurston
is the "commander!" Republicans, how
do you like it? Here is the oath:
"And furthermore, do I most solemn
ly and sincerely promise and swear that
I will steadfastly support the constitu
tion and principles of the league, and im
plicitly obey the behests and the order of
its commander; that I will not upon any
consideration whatsoever vote for or
work in favor of the nomination of any
candidate other than the one whom the
only constituted authorities of this league
hare named. Furthermore, do T most
solemnlv and sincerely promise and
swear that I will quickly recognize and
implicitly obey in the league room, on the
floor of a convention hall or in any room or
street adjacent thereto, any order, sign
or summons given, handed, sent or
thrown to me by the commander, or sent
through the hands of a fellow member of
the league."
John M. Thurston is the organizer of
this league a man who aspired to pre
side at the last republican national con
vention a man whose ambition over
tops the mountains, and whose instru
mentalities take their color from the
pit.
Will the friend who ordered two
dozen plow shoes write his address to
the state agent.
Australian System Adopted.
The state of Washington has adopted
the Australian system. The governor
has just signed the bill.
Wholesale Evictions, Quite Irish -Like,
Doncher-Know
LWorld-Herald.l
Two hundred farmers in one New Jersey
county have been sold out under mortgages
within the last week, and promptly evicted
from their holdings. One was driven crazy
by his misfortunes and burned his house, per
ishing in the flames. If some remedy is not
speedily found for agricultural distresses,
there will be trouble in the land
The Farmers are notDecieved.
Weeping Water Republican.
Senator Paddock has shown to congress that
there are but $19 per capita in circulation in
the United States, while in France, one of the
most prosperous nations on the globe, there
is $57. The Omaha Bee says the amount of cir
culation makes no difference with the farmers.
The farmer will not readily believe this, for
he can certainly more easily get hold of a few
dollars when it is plenty than when it is sel
dom seen. Give us more money.
Helping the Farmer.
Philadelphia Record.
How finely the western farmer will feel who
shall save $1 on the hides he has to sell be
cause of the tariff, and pay $10 extra on the
boots, shoes and harness he buys because of
the tariff 1 The tax on hides would put money
in the pockets of the great beef monopolists
and take money out of the pockets of every'
body else.
Well, Which la It?
LOmahaBee
It is plain that the depression s not due to
a reduced movement of products but to the
low prices which leave no margin of profit to
me producers. umana uee.
Tne low prices are caused by either a de
creased demand, or by speculator's rings
the decreased demand by a stagnation in bus
iness and a stagnation in business by a flnan
cial scare and depression started by a con
traction of the currency.
An Essay on Money.
The idea prevails quite generally that
none but greenback cranks entertain
the views expressed in the following
essay. The . views are greatly at vari
ance with most modern financial au
thorities, but they are sound. Dr. Ben
jamin Franklin, formerly of Fhiladel
rhia, is the author of the essay:
"lhere is a certain proportionate
quantity of money requisite to carry on
the traae oi a country more than
which would be of no advantage, and
less, ii mucn, exceedingly detrimental to
"This leads to the following general
conclusion:
lirst A scarcity of monej' makes
land and other property bear low prices
l.rtn r,v fn,,r Ml 1 . . I
ucdusu lew muu win iay out meirmon
a i i .
ey in property wnen iney can make as
much or greater profit by lending it
upon interest. And much less will men
be inclined to venture their money at
sea when they can, without risk or haz
ard, have a great and certain profit by
Keeping it at nome tnus trade is dis
couraged. On the contrary a plentiful
currency will occasion interest to be
low, and this will be an inducement to
lay out their money in productive in
dustry rather than put it to use, by
which means lands and property will
begin to rise in value, and bear a better
r j m. ii a? ;ii . i
price anu at me same ume l wm iena
to enliven trade exceedingly, because
people will find more profit in employ
ing their money that way than in
usury.
Secondly Want of money in a coun
try reduces the price of that part of its
produce which is used in trade; because,
trade being discouraged by it as above,
there is much less demand for t hat pro
duce. On the contrary a plentiful currency
will occassion the trading produce (sur
plus)to bear a good price; because, trade
being encouraged and advanced by it,
there will be a much greater demand
for that produce, which will be a great
encouragement to husbandry ana til
lage anil consequently make land more
valuable.
Thirdlv Want of money in a country
discourages laboring and handicraft
men, who are tne cniei sirengiu auu
support of a people. For what can be
more disheartening to an industrious
laboring man than this, that alter he
hath earned his bread by the sweat of
his brow, he must spend as much time
and have near as much fatigue In getting
it as he had to earn it; for nothing makes
more bad paymasters than a general
scarcity of money.
"On the contrary, a plentiful currency
encourage great quantities of laboring
and handicraft meu to settle in a coun
try by the same reason that a want of
it will drive them out.
Many who, in the time of scarcity of
money, practice usury, will sensibly en
liven business by employing brick-makers,
bricklayers, masons, carpenters,
joiners, glaziers and several other
trades, and likewise the farmers, brew
ers, bakers, shoemakers, shopkeepers
and in fact almost everyone that they
lay their money out with."
"The foregoing, well-considered, will
naturally lead to inquiry who or what
class oppose a plentiful currency "
"1. Those who lack courage. to go
into trade and practice lending money
on security at exorbitant interest,
which in a scarcity of money can be
done, notwithstanding the law.
All those who are possessed of
large sums of money and are disposed
to purchase real estate which is attended
with great and sure advantages in a
new and growing country.
"I say the interest of all such men
will encline them to oppose a large ad
dition to our money, because their w ealt h
will enable them to purchase much
more at a low price than at a high price,
and in the meantime, all trade being
discouraged, not only those who borrow
of them, but the common people in gen
eral will be impoverished, and conse
quently obliged to sell more land for
less money.
"3. Lawyers and others concerned
in court business will be inclined to op
pose a plentiful currency, because peo
ple in that case will have less occasion
to run in debt, and consequently less
occassion to go to lav and sue one an
other for debts.
"4. All those who are in any way
dependent upon such persons as are
above mentioned, whether holding ollico
as tenants or debtors, must at least ap
pear to bo against large additions, be
cause, if they aro not, they must sensi
bly feel the present interest hurt."
American House of Lords.
Thirty-five or forty years ago the sen
ate was composed mainly of brainy
poor men, and its leaders were Clay,
Webster, Calhoun, Sumner, Benton,
Ewing, Corwin, Douglas, Trumbull,
Fessenden, Wade, Chase and the like.
Now the senate has no leaders aud a
large proportion of its members are
millionaires who by their elections
from their state legislatures for t ho mir
pose of acting as the attorneys of some
sinister interest.or of crowning the edi
fice of their huge possessions by the
glory of a seat in the American house
of lords. Once great men went to the
senate to work for their principles and
ideas; now rich men go there to work
for their interests or to add to their
purses. The room which once rang
with the periods of Webster and
Sumner, Clay and Calhouu, and Chase
and Douglas, is now stupificd by
the predatory aud platitudinous essays
of defenders of monopoly land grants,
monopoly taxes, monopoly opposition
to all reform and investigation.
It results from the plutocratic char
acter of the majority of the senators
that the senate is becoming, like the
English house of lords, a merelj' ob
structive branch of the government.
The English house of lords is the bul
wark of one monopoly that of the
land but the American senate has as
many monopolies entrenched within
its lines sis it has members.
At the present rate at which pluto
crats are buying their way into the sen
ate it will not be many years before the
common people will nave no represen
tation in it whatever. We will have a
house of lords worse than the English
house of lords, as the pride of purse is
more ignoble and more despotic than
the pride of blood and rank. Industrial
West.
Some Sound Advice From President
Loucks.
We clip the following by President
Loucks from the Dakota A'uralisl. Its
views on usury and money are ab
solutely sound:
We regret very much the failure of
our legislature to pass an ironclad us
ury law. We wanted it made as
strong and stringent as it was possible
to frame it. We were satisfied, how
ever, that no such law would be passed
when the vote for United States senator
was taken. The legislature in that
most important duty showing plainly
that they wore the monopoly collar.
We were therefore not at all surprised
when the session closed without a
usury bill or any restrictions on rail
road discriminations and extortions.
Wo are anxious for two reasons:
First, we believe that all crime should
be punished, and if a law could be
framed to mete out adequate punish
ment to these despoilers of Dakota w e
wanted it passed. Usury has caused
more misery to Dakotans than bliz
zards, drouth and whisky combined
and punishment should be meted out
accordingly.
Second, we wanted the most strin
gent possible usury law enaced to dem
onstrate of what little use such laws are
in abating usury and direct attention
more forcibly to; the only practical
means of curing the evil, viz: That the
government, the only authorized source
for the coinage or issue of money
should regulate the rate of inter
est for the use thereof. This can
be done without interfering with
private or individual rights by the
government fixing the rate of interest
for which they will loan to the people
direct. This is the only solution of the
usury question and can only be effected
tlr.-ough national legislation. Hence
the folly of those who try to limit our
efforts at reform to state issues where
so little comparatively can be accom
plished. We cannot too often impress
on our readers that the two great issues
necessary to restore nrosneritv to our
agricultural interests are cheap money
and cheap transportation. There is no
reason why in workiner for the lesser
we should neglect the greater. There
is no reason wny when we resolve that
we must have the next legislature that
we should not also resolve to have the
state officers, the congressmen aud the
United States senators. If we have the
numbers to sccuro one we have to se
cure all. lie sure monopoly will con
test every step with us. They never
concede anything to us until we dem
onstrate our ability to take it. If we
are ever to win we must ficht all alontr
the line. We must refuse to vote for
any man for any representative posi
tion whatever who is not thoroughly
sound on our platform of principles
state and national. II. L. Loucks.
Special Meeting of the Furnas County
Farmers' Alliance
In compliance with the petitions from sub
ordinate Alliances I hereby call a special
meeting of the f urn as County Farmers' Alli
ance to convene at Deaver City Saturday, the
3d. day of May 1890,at 10 o'clock a. in. A full
attendance is solicited as business of Impor
tance is to be transacted.
The county organizer Invites the presence
at that meeting of presidents of Subordinate
Alliances, s that they may be instructed In
the new secret work. - - -
A. D'AtXHMAND President.
V
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