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About The farmers' alliance. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 1889-1892 | View Entire Issue (May 24, 1890)
THE ALLIANCE. FUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY MORfiiKB. BY THE ALLIANCE PUBLISHING CO. Lincoln, - - - ftcDtaska. 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. " Sign the Declaration. "Ve republish the Declaration of Prin ciples and call for an Independent Peo ple's Convention this week. There will be many who will not receive the print ed form for signatures. Such can cut out this form from the paper, paste it on a foolscap sheet, and circulate for signatures. These Declarations began to come in to the state secretary almost by return mail, filled with names. This is the movement that will at tract to itself all the minor movements. Alliance men will very generally sup port this movement almost to a man, and that alone will give, it great power. In about two weeks from the time they were sent out the declarations will be gin to return by the thousands, filled with the names of the sterling yeomanry" jqI Nebraska. SIGN THE DECLARATION ! -Let every man who was indignant at the rape of the convention that defeated lleese, sign let every man who is op posed to railroad domination, sign; let every man who has felt outraged by the low down tactics of professional politici ans, sign; let every man who believes in a government of the people, by the people, for the people, sign. Let all anti-monopoly republicans who want to reform the republican party, sign as the only way to reform a party is to whip it. Let every man who wants to see Ne braska redeemed picked up out of the cess-pool of party politics, and set high upon a pedestal of purity, honesty and .reform, sign, and give his name and voice for an Independent People's Con vention. But it must be distinctly understood iihat signing this declaration is no test -of fealty to the Alliance. The Alliance - as a society has nothing to do with it, and no member is under the least obli gation to sign unless he wants to. His ; signing or not does not affect his stand ing in the Alliance a particle, and dif ierences of opinion in regard to it need not make the least division in any Sub ordinate Alliance. The Omaha Dailies Ignore the Call. The Omaha World-Herald, Bee and llepublican have been paying a great deal of attention to the Alliance of late. They have given it a great deal of ful some advice. They have all admitted, directly and indirectly, that it consti tuted an important factor in the poli tics of this state. The World-Herald of fered to sell out the democratic party to it, and the Bee has made a specially organized effort to obtain information as to its strength, the views of its mem bers, aud its political intentions. The efforts of each of these papers have been directed solely to the end of influ encing the Alliance in the interest of ats party or itself. If any one imagines j that any of them have felt any disinter ested anxiety in behalf of the welfare of the farmers or their society, he may undeceive himself at once. Their utter silence as to a call that will receive the united support of the Alliances of the tate is evidence enough of this. These editors have all expected that the Alli ance would some way shape so as to benefit their parties. The Declaration and Call opens their eyes. This move ment promises to result in a grand u Tisincr of the people, in which all of these partisan papers will be ignored which will destroy their occupation and leave them without a party. So they have no use for it. They ignore it. They say, in effect, if you people can not go our way if you intend to nomi nate candidates on your own hook, and cut loose from the politicians, you can't -expect any encouragement from us. This is well and good. The quicker the people cut loose from those papers, as -well as the politicians, the better it will be for them. t Since the above wras in type the Om aha Bee has come out with a column litori:i! on the Declaration and Call, which we may reply to next week. zz-zzz 'rTy" "m The Bee Correspondents. The Bee. in its efforts to obtain cor Tespondence adverse to the Alliance and its officers, is now tilling its col umns with a lot of slush combined with insults to President Powers and others, from a fellow in Merrick county who was bounced from the position of County Organizer on the recommenda tion o Merrick County Alliance, aud who has. probably entirely severed his connection with the Alliance since that time. The Bee isn't improving its Alli ance connection in Merrick county by giving its editorial page to spread slan ders against President rowers' Read advertisement of of Caesar's Col umn in this issue. THE Pledge Your Candidates. Those super-sensitive, highly honor able and chivalrous sentlemen who think their dignity is insulted when they are asked to make certain specific pledges to their constituents, had better not come to the next legislature. It is likely to have quite a number of horny handed farmers in it. It is not likely to be a very congenial place for those delicate and sensitive gentlemen. A frank, honorable manwho expects to keep his word, will not hesitate an instant to make the strongest kind of a pledge to do those things which he in tends to do, and thinks ought to be done. The man who is too lofty to make a pledge is likely to be the very man who is lookiner for a trade, and who has got a price. Let it be under stood now, at the start, that we will not talk with any candidate who will not make pledges, and whom we do not think will keep them. The ' following leading questions should be asked of every man who is, or expects to be, a candidate for the legislature, and affirmative answers de manded: Will you work and vote for a law es tablishing the Australian ballot system in Nebraska? Will you work and vote for a law fix ing a schedule of freight rates in Ne braska no higher than those in force in Iowa? Will you work and vote for a law re ducing the rate of interest to seven per cent, and making usury in any form a penal offense with forfeiture of princi pal and interest? Will you work and vote for a reduc tion of taxation and appropriations to the lowest amount consistent with an economic administration of the state government? Will you favor the abolition of land monopoly in all its forms, and the amendment of our alien land law so that it will be efficient? Will you work and vote for a memo rial to congress in favor of the free and unlimited coinage of silver, and the in crease of our currency to $50 per capita, the paper portion of the same to be treasury notes full legal tender for all debts public and private? Will you pledge your honor not to subordinate your official action to, or be bound by any vote of any part of the legislature, either in regular session or separate meeting, less than a clear majority of the whole body in the af firmative? Make this last question a special test, and accept no man who will not an swer it unequivocally and squarely. The Alliance Trouble in Texas. Of course our readers will not fail to see the sensational dispatches that are going the rounds of the press in rela tion to the Alliance troubles in Texas, and equally of course they will not fail to see that the associated press state ments as to these troubles are greatly exaggerated. "Robbed of over a mil lion!" is simply a sensational head line. It is very likely that the total amount of money ever handled by the Texas Alliance Exchange did not exceed one hundred thousand dollars. It is likely that when the subject is investigated in the courts it will . be found that there has been no criminali ty in the matter but there has been a large amount of kite flying in ill-advised business schemes promoted by in experienced men. The Texas Exchange was founded solely on credit. The in dividual notes of rfcs members were used as a substitute for money capital. Any business man will see at once that an enterprise on such a basis would be handicapped to start with. The em barrassments of borrowing money on such notes, and the burden of interest, would be disadvantages which few good business men would be willing to cope with. There is no doubt "that the known embarrassed condition of Alliance af fairs in Texas, and the kite-flying pro clivities of the man who was leading the Southern Alliance, had much to do with the unwillingness of the delegates from Minnesota and Iowa to form an organic union ot the two Alliances at St. Louis. Naturally such experience as this in Texas tends to destroy confidence in the management of large associations, and deters many from joining them. The experience of the grange of this state under Church Howe was of the same character. The organizers of the Alliance in Nebraska had these facts in view, and incorporated in its constitu tion a provision that it should never engage in any manufacturing enter prise. This provision has been strictly adhered to, and the state officers have also abstained from engaging in any commercial or mercantile enterprise, except on the agency plan. In fact, since the organization of the Alliance in the winter of 1880-1 its money affairs have been carefully and conservatively managed, and no irregularity to the extent of even one dollar has occurred. The same careful management is con tinued now, and the fiduciary officers of the Alliance are able to properly ac count for or produce every dollar tnat has come into their hands. As one who has all the time been in a position to control the finances of the Alliance the editor of this paper takes special pride in these facts. His honor is bound up in the continued integrity and ability of this management. The First White Boy Born in Lincoln. We had a pleasant call from M. R. Merrill, of St. Paul, Howard county. Mr. Merrill wras the first white boy born in Lincoln. This interesting event occurred in 1866. There were then only two or'thrco sod houses on the site where now is the finest city in the state. Mr. Merrill is now publishing the St. Paul Enterprise, the organ of the How ard. County Alliance, in which we wish him the most unbounded success. .FARMERS' ALLIANCE: LINCOLN, NEB., Coming by Hundreds, The declarations, filled with names, are coming in rapidly. Business men as well as farmers are signing it. One cames from Broken Bow with one hun dred and twenty names, including, as we are told, every merchant in the city. This movement promises to be more generally accepted by the people than any other since 1861. The Situation in the Third District. We wish to invite the attention of our friends in the third congressional dis trict who are so very anxious to rush things to certain stubborn facts. 1st. Geo. W. E. Dorsey is a candidate for re-election. He is entirely acceptable to the railroad interests ot the state, and consequently will have its support in money, passes and gravel trains. It will not be politic to underestimate this power. 2nd. He has the tecleral pat ronage of the district at his disposal. This means another large interest and more railroad passes. 3d. He is chair man of the house committee on bank ing and currency. As such chairman he has been the obsequeous tool of Wall street. He has made no proposition in congress tnat did not meet the approval of Wall street and the single gold stan dard men. He has got quite an amount of money in his own right, and will un doubtedly use it 'for his own benefit. But if he wants more he can go into Wall street and get a hat full to secure his return to congress. The gold bugs think they have a right to depend upon eastern men; but when they find a wes tern one who is willing to trample upon the interests of his constituents at the beck of the money power, they are willing to pay for him. This is the force which the people of the third district have to meet. That Mr. Dorsey will receive the republican nomination for a fourth term is a fore gone conclusion. In 1884 he received 20,000 votes against Mr. Neville's 20, 600. In 1886 he received 28,700 against Mr. Webster's 21,000. In 1888 he re ceived 42,000 votes against Mr. Weath erby's 31,000. The U. L. vote in 1888 was only 3,000. The total vote in the district in 1888 was 77,788. If there are three candidates in the field this year, it will take 28,000 votes to elect. If there are only two besides the prohib., 37,000 votes will probably elect. We ask our precipitate friends in the third district if they have any idea where they are going to get these votes. It takes votes to carry elections. Wind don't do it. In the third district a un ion of all the people who are opposed to Dorseyism Avill be necessary to defeat Dorsey. Now if our friends in the third district propose to go ahead with out making any effort to secure such a union, and simply "stand up and be counted," it is all right. But for our part wre are tired of simply being couni ed. We want results. If the chairman of the committee of banking and cur rency favored free coinage of silver, that fight would have been won before this. The people of the third district lave the duty of displacing Mr. Dorsey from that committee, and substituting in his place a man who will represent them. The men who are originating a peoples' movement in that district have the grave responsibility of seeing this accomplished. The people who are ac tually opposed to Dorseyism, machine politics and railroad rule are in a large majority in that district. The man in whom they all have confidence will form the political solvent that will unite these people. Find him, and find him quick. And when he is found don't let any little petty jealousy, any old partisan bitterness, any idiotic "chronic office-seeker" idea, prevent his acceptance. Hard sense is what is wanted in the third district. Elmwood Blevator Case. Supreme Court of Nebraska issued a mandamus to the M. P. R. R. Co. to with the order of the board of The having comp comply transportation for elevator privileges for the Elmwood Alliance, the M. P. Co. has appealed the case to the Supreme Court of the U. S. This course was expected. This case has already become cele brated. It now bids fair to become one of the most important cases ever taken to the supreme court. It is remarkable that there can be any ground to carry such a case to the U. S. courts. The only authority through which a rail road can obtain a right of way, or any power to construct a road in or through a state, is by grant of the state. State law provides for the condemnation of right of way and the method of doing it. The state can change this method, or revoke it altogether. The constitu tion of the United States expressly pro vides that all powers not specifically granted to the congress remains with the state. Nowhere has the state grant ed to congress any authority whatever in this matter. The late original pack age decision of the United States su preme court is a gross usurpation of power, nowhere warranted by the con stitution. This Elmwood case may open the door for another decission of the same character. A webb of judi cial law law never enacted by the law making power, but inferred by tyrani cal judicial power is being woven in this country which bids fair to fatally entangle the liberties of the people. Six Caesars sit at Washington, enthroned for life, empowered to declare what is law, and from whose decisions there is no appeal except to the bullet. And the meshes of this web are being woven by the corporate power which by the magic of its influence in high places moulds decisions and warps precedents. The supreme court needs watching. Mr. J. H. Powers, president of the Nebraska Farmers' Alliance, addressed the Phelps County Alliance at the court house on last Saturday. The at tendance was very large so that all the available room was occupied, and those who heard Mr. Powers think him a strong and capable man, and thorough ly conversant with the subject at hand. Holdredge Nugget. Alliance Badges. We have received a few samples of the badge which is being made in Chi cago for the Nebraska Alliances. It is a very pretty thing, in the form of a scarf or bosom pin. Its color is gold and red, Avhite and blue. At the top are the letters "N. F. A." in gold on the red ground. Below this is an upright sheaf in gold on white ground, and below this is a plow in gold on blue ground. It is about half an inch wide and six eighths of an inch long, and is a very neat and ornamental pin. Secretary Thompson will furnish this badge to Alliances at the rate of $17.50 per 100. Single samples, sent by mail, 20 cts each. There has been a great call for a badge. One County Alliance ordered one thousand. , We think this pin will fill the bill. The Railroad Campaign Opened. The railroad campaign is opened. The railroad gang propose again to debauch the convention of its favorite party, and through that agency control the suffra ges of the people. The out post of their army is on the corner of 10th and P streets. From this point comes an irregular fusillade of squibs about the happy condition of the Nebraska far mers, the low price of machinery, the great reduction in rates voluntarily made by the roads, low Iowa rates at the same time being a pure delusion and juggle of classification, the low in terest on farm loans, the injustice of railroad assessments, etc., etc. Then follows the resolutions of the immortal three on the board of transportation, inviting a railroad seance, at which managers and attorneys can exhibit crookeij. statistics to show that the roads are on the verge of bankruptcy. Then the immortal three rush into print via the interview line and treat the public to a rehash of their viewrs. Mr. Benton says, "I shall not rush madly forward to reduce freight rates, whatever the outcome may be." Mr. Steen says, "It is manifest to me that the public does not understand the rate question, and that light is needed for their intelligent judgment." Mr. Cowdery says, "A lit tle investigation leads me to believe that the profits on the actual capital in vested in railroads is less than 6 per cent, and if this be true I shall be loth to vote for a schedule of rates on the Iowa basis." These gen tlemen think the attacks of the press on the board are due to "Misapprehen sion of our powers and prerogatives," and '-misjudgment of our knowledge of railroad work, and the rights of cor porations." These gentlemen are get ting ready, when they shall be re-nominated, to pose as martyrs and appeal to the sympathies of the people. One thing we can say for them they are stayers in the cause they undertook to serve. If the people could get as faithful serv ants as the railroads do, their business would be better done. All these signs point to a vigorous campaign. The railroad crowd have got the traditional nine points. They have also got the money, the passes, the gravel trains, the most unscrupu lous henchmen, and the impudence and cheek of the devil. The people have got the votes and a good cause. If they will mass the for mer in support of the latter, victory will perch upon their banners. B. & M. Journal Lying. We clip the following from the lying sheet issued by the B. &M. Railroad Co., on the corner of 10th and P streets. It is headed "Mortgage Misrepresenta tion." "Official inofrmation has reached these headquarters that in sundry counties, not far west of us, the mortgage census men are moving in a way that is peculiar and vain. They are taking' down from the clerk's or register's mortgage record, every mortgage that has been put on file since the organiza tion of the respective counties, and making no account of releases. It is said that some farms that have been mortgaged several titles and the mortgages paid off on the ma turity of the notes, and cancelled, will appear on the returns of these statistical geniuses as sunk under the burden of all these several mortgages." The above is a palpable lie on the face of it. How could any one know beforehand that persons who are inves tigating the records are doing or would do any such thing? Would these indi viduals blason a fraud they intended to perpetrate? The statement is as shal low as the paper that invented it is low down and dishonest. If the B. $ M. Journal is willing to give correct information about this mortgage business, why don't it publish the official figures of Saline county? Caesar's Column. We have received from the publishers a letter from Julian Hawthorne, review ing this remarkable book. We have not space for the whole letter, but will give a few sentences: "It is exceedingly interesting as a narrative, and is writ ten by a man of thought, learning and imagination. I consider it the best work of its class prophetic forecasts of the future of civilized society that has appeared since Bulwer's 'Coming Race.'" "I was impressed with the power of the book the vividness and strength with which the tragic incidents of the tale are described and developed. The plot is absorbing, ana yet nothing in it seems forced; and the conception of the column is as original as its treat ment is vigorous." See advt. for clubbing terms with this paper. Loans on Land. The monopolists who are crying out in every key of the gamut against gov ernment loans on land appear not to observe that a. conservative ministry in England, led by Balfour, is now push ing a bill in Parliament to lend one hundred and tixty million pounds on lands in Ireland for the purpose of es tabishing an occupying ownership in that country. These eastern fellows are generally ready to copy anything that is "English doncher know;" but it does make a difference whose ox is gored. SATURDAY, MAY 24, CONSISTENCY THOU ART A JEWEL. Editor Rosewater has a column in his Bee of Wednesday condemning the ac tion of the gentlemen who issued the declaration of principles which will re sult in a call tor a people's independent convention. And yet Mr. Rosewater comes down to Lincoln and places him self at the head of a revolting faction of the republican party, which proposes to accomplish simply one of many reforms aimed at by the people's movement, and which justifies its action by the exact state of facts which the people complain of, viz: the domination of the railroad power and its control and debauchment of the political parties. But the people do not alone complain of the railroad power. There are other issues they con sider quite as important and other over shadowing influences they consider quite as dangerous. One of these is the money power. The Rosewater-Leese faction ignore this and all other issues except the little one of local rates. The people don't. There are other differences quite as radical. Mr. Rosewater addresses his appeal to republican farmers, and his great anxiety is to save the party, tempered no doubt by his personal am bition to lead a successful revolt. But Mr. Rosewater knows full well that if the state is to be rescued from the power that has it by the throat, not only must all minor factions be united, but large numbers from the two leading parties must join in the movement. For years Mr. Rosewater, with all his ability, with a great paper at his command and with a great following in the state, has been contesting the ground with this railroad power, and day by day and year by year it has driven him to the wall, de feated and humiliated; and he now pro poses to open a new conflict with it with a mere faction of his former army, demoralized as it will be by fac tional discord. The bolt has com too late. The men who sat tamely by and saw Van Wyck slaughtered by the cor porations, and made no bolt when their convention was raped a year and a half ago, need not come before the people now with a song the pathos of which is nine-tenths for the party and one-tenth for the people. Mr. Rosewater's personal allusions to Mr. Burrows, and his little fling at Mr. Powers, are unworthy of him. We shall reply to them next wreek. We have set this in great haste without manuscript, just as our forms are closing, and of course have not said near all we Avould like to. Church Howe and Some Political Pointers. Church Howe is a slick one. Amini dab Sleek is no comparison to him. He has been quite unwary of late in regard to reporters; and these gentlemen have trapped him into some quite accidental and unprepared for interviews. His utterances in these interviews are sur prisingly adjusted to just those reforms which the people are now demanding, all of course by the purest accident. This is what the papers term "a remark able coincidence." Another remarka ble thing is that, while Mr. H. has been so long before the public, the people have not before learned by his daily walk that his- inclinations were so hap pily pat with their .desires. This arises from one of Mr. Howe's constitutional defects, viz : his niodesty. If it had not been for his extreme modesty in con cealing his real sympathies, his brass band campaign of '86 might have had a very different ending. His last effusion, extorted by an en terprising reporter greatly against his wishes, is on the money question. He is in favor of the free and unlimited coinage of silver, and an increase of circulation until it reaches at least $40 per capita. He is also down on the usurers. He thinks two to four per cent a month is too much, and favors a stringent usury law with a penalty for feiting principal and interest. This is all admirable. And wrhile Church has been allowing these things to slumber in his mind, and to be just forced out of him by the reporters, cov ering his down' cheek with reluctant blushes, he has somehow managed to inspire Grandma Thayer w ith the con tingent congressman mania. Of course there is no possible connection between Mr. Howe's private chats with a re porter and his contingent candidacy for congress.. O no! But such vile sus picions will obtrude themselves. This is one of the weaknesses of our poor frail human nature. Mr. Howe is a phenomenon. In his ambition he is an insatiate stayer in his cunning he is satanic in his meth ods and his utter lack of moral princi ple he is the very devil himself. It would be a mighty fine thing to see him running for congressman-at-large es pecially fine "when the votes were counted. Seriously, we would like to have a man of Mr. Howe's ability in congress from the first district. Such a man could be of great benefit to the people. But the difficulty in his case is that he could not be depended upon. He is not the kind of a man that makes square pledges. He is one of those "juggling fiends" that "palter with us in a double sense; that keep the word of promise to our ear and break it to our hope." Like the other historical fellow on the mount, "all this will I give Thee;" but when he was elected he" would serve Church Howe, and no one else except the railroads, whose faithful and sworn servant he is. No! no! "Get thee be hind me, Satan," is the only reply the people can make to Church Howe's blandishments. We want honor, mor ality and decency in politics as well as business. We want no more brass-band railroad campaigns in Nebraska. We would like sharp men, and able men, and all that; but we trust we will not have to select them from a class whose political principles are those of a black leg, and whose political methods are those of a fifth ward repeater. If we do we had better apply to the board of pardons and get one at first hands. 1890. The Leese Republican Conference. The conference of anti-monopoly re publicans called by Gen. Leese and others, convened on time last Tuesday evening at Bohanan hall. The -delegates qualified as members by signing a pledge which had been prepared. The meeting was not large, and the granger element of the party was not represent ed. It was composed for the most part of politicians and editors. The notable figures present were Rosewater, Har lan, Keckley, Leese, Reese, Bushnell, and some others. The railroad ele ment was in attendance in full force in the lobby a passage across the hall separated the spectators from the dele gates and there were quite marked ex pressions of its sympathies. Church Howe was a close and interested ob server, but did not offer to participate. The meeting was called to order by Mr. Leese. Mr. Harlan was appointed temporary chairman, and Dan Nettle ton permanent chairman. There was no enthusiasm. It was a funeral in its melancholy. Mr. Leese's speech was less than three minutes long Mr. Harlan's not longer, and Nettleton took only half a minute to accept the chairmanship. This by the way, was an honor not sought, and it was put up on Nettleton by other men who did not want it. A committee on resolutions was ap pointed, and was out about half an hour considering some resolutions that that had been previously drawn. There was a hitch here, however, because a minority report was handed in. The majority report glorified the grand old party, denounced railroad domination, demanded the passage of a maximumm rate bill, recommended the appointment of a committee to pre pare an address to the republican vot ers, and to demand of the republican state committee that it should call a state convention as early as July 8th, and if it failed to do as directed the committee to call one at once. The majority report was adopted. This meeting, small in numbers though it was, marks an epoch in Ne braska politics. The railroad element will not knuckle to it. Strong in the possession of the machine, the money, the passes and the gravel train, it will only yield its power to superior force. The men who have threatened to bolt if their demands are not complied with will stand firm for their enforcement, and the g. o. p. in Nebraska will be rent in twain in fact it now is. This meeting simply accentuates and emphasises the grand movement of the people that has begun. This will gather strength and win an overwhelming vic tor'' next fall. The narrow gauge of the Leese crowd is the most notable thing about them. The extent of their demands covers lo cal rates, an early convention, no prox ies. This is a mere moiety of what the people demand. Like Mrs. Partington, they propose to stop the Atlantic with a broom. There was not a prominent man in the crowd-who did not care more for the party than he did for re form with some few exceptions. The prevailing idea was, "now be careful boys: let's fix things up but don't hurt the party. Mr. Keckley made the most manly kick of any man present. Mr. Rose water overestimates his powers. He hopes to swing the railroad crowd and make everything lovely. But he at the same time realizes more than any other man the significance of the people's movement which has begun. Genuine Political Independence. The most intense partisanship we have seen is that exhibited by some of the men who claim to be non-partisan. These men hate the two old parties, and quite justly, too. They propose to be guided in their selection of candidates by personal reasons. They propose to select their men on grounds of fitness and honesty alone, forgetting or not asking to what old political party they have belonged." But proposing to do this, they at once proceed to an exhibi tion of the most intense partisan feeling by declaring that they will not vote for any man who will accept a nomination from either of the old iparties. Bitter partisanship is manifested as much in hatred as in love. The one is a comple ment of the other. Applied to a party each are equally unreasonable. They have their orign in a wrong apprehen sion of the nature of a political party. It is common for men to elevate a party into a sort of impersonal diety, to per sonify it like a good spirit or an actual being which is entitled to their blind adherence and allegiance. This is the fatal mistake which has made the peo ple so long the blind and willing tools of the politicians. What is a political party in reality? and what is the rational view we should take of it? It is simply an agency to carry into effect certain principles or measures. It is an organization or in strument formed to accomplish certain ends. It is no more entitled to allegi ance and blind adherence, than is a horse, a wagon or a plow. It should be used as an instrument to do our work as a horse to carry our burdens or a plow to till our soil. If it can be used to accomplish our purpose, well and good. If not, like a useless horse, or a useless plow, we reject it. The idea of an American citizen subordinating him self to an agency which is instituted simply to carry into effect his views and wishes, is a sad perversion of the pro per uses of a party. It is this very sub ordination this blind attachment to an intangible idea this misapprehension of the nature and uses of a part', which has been and is being used by the poli ticians to control the people, to hold the offices, to tax production, to build up an oligarchy of wealth on the ruins of a republic. No single thing has done so much to enslave the voters of this na tion as this false idea of allegiance to a party. To idolize a party on account of its past achievements is nbo entirely irra tional. The men who vrtre on the poli tieal stage from 1800 to 1805 accom plished a magnificent work. They did it with the agency of the republican party. We revere and honor those men. We would justly bo indignant if we were told that it was not the men of that time that we honor, but simply the agency they used, viz: the party. Aud yet that is just the position blind party allegiance drive us to. A few years af ter the era named we fiud the men who were using the republican party as their agency engaged in a credit mobilier fraud and a back salary steal. Now must our condemnation bo visited ou the intangible instrument or upon the men? The party was only an agency in each case, and as unworthy our reverence as our condemnation. It is right one year and wrong the next, as the men who are using it are right or f wrong; just as a horse driven by a good f driver may be safe and useful, or by a bad one may be dangerous and destruc tive. J A political convention is simply a sub-agent of the party, which is itself a tool or agent. We go into a convention j to accomplish a certain purpose. Fail ing to accomplish that purpose, we are no more bound by the action of that convention than we would bo bound to accept a fraudulent deed for a just one. or counterfit money from a bank in stead of genuine. The men who teach otherwise teach a false morality. The men who for the past twenty years have been preaching this doctrine of party allegiance are the very men who have organized the credit mobiliers and the back salary steals. The an the defaulting treasurers, the Bo Tweeds, the Canada birds, the thieves. These are the men who have alway s cried "stick to your party." MORAL. Select your men. lie sure that thty are reliable, honest, incorruptible. Having selected such men use the best agency at hand to elect them. But surroitT no MAN WHO WILL NOT PLEDGE HIMsKI.l NOT TO GO INTO A PAIiTY CAUCUS. Something About Proxies. In its laudable efforts to defend tin railroad gang laudable because it is on the railroad pay l-oll the B.& M. Jour nal published last Tuesday what pur ported to be the "ollioial record" of the convention which misrepresented the people by the nomination ofNorval. This official record was prepared by WaltSeelyat the request of the Journal. In its editorial notice of the matter the Journal says: "It is the first time by the way that it was ever published. The roll of that convention icas not called except for a fcic of the first names, and no reporter ever got a chance to copy it." Just so. Exactly. That has often hap pened with official records that got into railroad republican hands. It was probably quite an oversight of the Jour nal in being so frank about it. The re port made by Mr. Seeley only partly exonerates the. railroads; aud that's a little strange. He might just as well have made a complete vindication while he was about it. But it was a brilliant idea to fix up a record fer a convention that never had a roll-call. The B. k M. ought to raise your wages, Mr. Gere. Unscrupulous Lying. The editor of the B. if .V. Journal is the most unscrupulous liar ever allowed to go unmuzzled. It its issue of the i 20th he says, "J. Burrows and Head Cen- - r ter Powers have called a conferenc e." etc. This is a lie from whole cloth, as these gentlemen have called no confer ence, nor any meeting of any kind. It then says, "The Omaha Bee charges that the bloody railroads have engi neered this call, and that they are high ly delighted with the programme." This is another unscrupulous lie. The Bee, up to this writing, has not alluded to the Declaration of Principles which the Journal pleases to term a "call." If the editor of the Journal continues to improve in mendacious lying, he will soon cease to be of any value as a rail road toady, and his monthly stipend will be cut off. Even these low-down corporation employers expect their tools to have the confidence of an occa sional man or so in the community. New Arrangements About Ship ments of Live Stock. The American Live Stock Commis sion Co. has now been in existence about one year. It is a co-operative corporation for the purpose of selling the lire stock of its members in the most economic manner. The Nebraska State Alliance, and the Kansas Alli ance Exchange Co. are stock-holders in the new company, aud every meniler of the Alliance in these states is entitled to its advantages. No tone can be a stock-holder unless he is a bona-fide owner of stock, and no member can hold more than twenty-five shares. This is a combination of the genuine cattle owners, and should result in these men taking control of the cattle busi ness, and controling it in the interest of the cattle raisers. Every Alliance man should ship to this company, and take a share of stock, if necessary. The company should be made strong enough to pack its own cattle, if that should lxHomo necessary to break up the monopoly of this busiues. Shares are $','5 each. All live stock should be shipped to Allen Root, care of American Live Stock Commission Co., South Omaha, and reports of all shipments made to State Agent Hartly, Lincoln. Another New Alliance Paper. No. 1, Vol. 1, of the Sherman County llliance is ou our table. It is bright, and its introductory shows that its ed itor is earnest. It is the duty of Sher man county Alliance men to support this paper. ) A v i. w i