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About The farmers' alliance. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 1889-1892 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 24, 1891)
Gljc Jormrro' Alliance, Pub 11x4 Iwy Murd? by Tint AtuAxat IVbusiiixo Ca Our. lit end M pu-- Lincoln, Kab. 3. Rrwaowa .... J.lLllll- Editor Bus! nee Manager . In the beauty of the fillies Christ waa born aTo the sea, Kith a glory la his bosom That transfigure you and mo. - Aa he strove to make men holy Let at strive to make them free. Since God is marching on." Julia Ward Howe. "Laurel crown cleave to desert, And power to him who power exerts." A ruddy drop ef manly blood The surging sea outweighs." Emerson. "He who cannot reason b a fool. He who will not reason is a coward. He who dare not reason U a slave." N. II l A. , TO CORRESPONDENTS. Addraas aii buSs ecsisssnieatiosa to SZ W pub.lo.Uon to Editor Farm' Alljanoe. Mjk mmm Article imui on oom ii- anot be used. Tery lonf oommunlcaUona, THE FARilERS' ALLIANCE published wiutr at CORNER 11TH AND M STREETS, ! LINCOLN, NEBRASKA. J. BURROWS. Editor. -f. M. THOMPSON. Business Ma'gr. The final Alliaaet Wstkty sad tha Lisilng Intftptsdtnt Paper ol tha Statt. SEVEN COLUMN QUARTO. It will always be feund on the aid of the people and wholly devoted te the advocacy of laforta prlnelplat in state and nation. IT IS YOUR PAPER. COMPLETE IN EVERY DEPARTMENT. Subscription, 11.00 per annum, Invariably la ad ran on. Fire annual subscriptions 14.00. OUR BOOK LIST. The belt reform literature obtainable can fee bad by ordering any of these books. The Ballwajr Problem (new) 8tlokney....$ W leaking Backward, Bellamy 60 Jr. assist. aeir) SssseUr.-.-..-.v.-r: Oaasars Column, " BO A Kentucky COlonol, Rod 60 Driven from Sea to Sea, Pott, B0 A Tramp la Society, Cowdrey ' 60 Richard's Crewn, Weaver 60 rest Red Drajron, Wool folk 60 Briee'a Financial Catechism, Brloe...... 60 Honey Monopoly, Baker...., ' 86 Labor and Capital, Kellofrg t6 Ftssrroand John Sherman, Mrs, Todd... 88 Seven Plnanelal Conspiracies. ...lOotaO ' The Hasxard Circular, Heath. ...10" ti ablet and Bread, Houser 10 " J Our Republican Monarchy, Voldo 23 The Coming Climax In the Distlnles of America by Lester 0. Hubbard BO Alliance and Labor Songster 10c, pcrdos 1 10 Mew Music eaTn, paper cover JOo. , " 100 - - board " So. " 180 TMtAHMBBg'ALUAaoa one year and any Oct. book on our list for 11.86. . Same and any 25ct. book on our list for f 1. 10. Address all orders and make all rrmltt- i payable to THJB ALLIANCE PUBLISHING CO. Lincoln, Nebraska, Call for Annual Meeting of the Neb. Farmers' Alliance. The next regular annual meeting of the Nebraska Farmers' Alliauce will bo held in Bohanan'a hall, Lincoln, Ne braska, on Tuesday, January I!, 1893. All Subordinate Alliances having dues fully paid to State Alliance for quarter ending September 80th will be entitled to representation, and should elect their delegate at the first regular meet ing in December or as soon thereafter as convenient. Representation will be one delegate lor each Subordinate Alliance, who will cast the full vote to which the Alliance may be entitled. Liberal hotel rates have been secured for delegates and reduced rates of fare will bo arranged for on all railroads. J. H. Powers, Pres. J. M. Thompson. Sec'y. Meeting of the National Farm ers' Alliance. The annual convention of the Nation &1 Farmers' Alliance will be held in the City of Chicago, Illinois, Wednesday, January 27th, 18S2, at 9 o'clock a. m.. for the purpose of electing oftlcers for the ensuing year, aud the transaction of such business as may come before the convention. By order of the executive committee. J. H. Powers, Fres Augcst Post, Secy. P0WEB OF WEALTH. The accumulated wealth of the nation is estimated at tl.OOO per head of the population, or' $5,000 to each family of five. But wealth under our present "grab-all, " self-seeking system is seized by the few, and poverty is the portion of the many. Averages made on paper only exasperate, The 31.000 who lay claim to and control 136,250,000,000, over half of our wealth, have reduced to penury, wage slavery and graduated serfdom more than half of our people Each owner of a million dollars has power to tax the producing class an Average of $80,000 a year, and ho does it. This tax paid to these 31,000 private individuals by the toiling class aggro gates about $3,480,000,000 each year, How long with "abstinence" will it take at this rate for the millionaires to have money enough and buy title deeds and stock certificates of all the land and property in the nation? A Valued Endorsement Resolved, That we the members of Westbrook Farmers' Alliance No. 1569, hereby extend our support to our State Organ, and in consideration of the good work done, we hereby send ia five sub scriptions to friends ontside cf the order, and we suggest to other Alliances to do tbe same, Alex Like, Pres. A. Harrsch, See'y. THE AELTLT TO THE CENTURY M00A ZISL BV J. Bl'BKOWI. We publish below in full the article in the Century for December, te which we will reply, the reply to be in this and one or two succeeding numbers of Thic Alliance. Preserve this paper for reference in reading the articles that may follow: The "Per Capita" Delusion. (1) The per capita argument has al ways been a favorite method for sus taining a demand for cheap money. Such demands invariably arise when times are hard, that Is, when money is scarce. The cheap-money advocates, acting on the knowledge that a great many people are wishing that they bad more money ii their pockets, come for ward with tbe explanation that the real cause of the trouble is tbe small nesa of the monetary circulation, tbe volume of currency not being adequate for the de mands of tbe business oi tne country. They point to other countries, like England, Germany and France, sayiog thai they have a much larger per capita circulation than tne United states, ana claim that everybody in this country would have more money in bis pocket if a great addition of some form oi cheap money either irredeemable pa Der. or depreciated silver, orsub-treas ury notes were made to the currency. (2) The fundamental detect in tne ar gument is that it confounds small circu lation with small distribution. The trouble is not that the circulation is small, but that so many people fail to get much of it. If tbe circulation were to be doubled, or trebled, or quad rupled, what reason is there for believ ing that the people who have least at present would have any more? now would I At t no to work to set tome of the increase into their pockets? This, as we said many months ago in one of our earlier articles in this cheap-money series, is tbe crucial Question in all schemes for making money cheap and plentiful. How can a man who wants some of it obtain it except he give labor or goods in return for it? If he have labor or goods to sell, does it mace any difference to him whether the volume of currency be large or small? is it not always largo enough to furnish pay ment tor what tie hits to sell? And if be has anything to sell, would not he rather receive his payment in dear; money than in cheap money? Was there ever ttuan yet who am notue- sire to be paid for his wares in the soundest and best money obtainable? Who are the men who nope, in some mysterious manner, to get money into their ockets through a great issue of cheap money by the government? Are they not, almost lnvananiy, men wno have nothing to sell in exchange for it? (ti) it is dtiriouit to seo wny me per , vapua ia;uujeut auuuiu luuutulo "v I one wtio thinks about it careiuny. When we sav that the wealth of the country, if divided equally among all its In Habitants, would do so many col lars per capita, njbody is seriously dis turbed by the fact. Nobody says that there Is not wealth enough in the coun try. The most usual observation is that it is a pity it cannot be more evenlv distributed. But when the statement is made that the circulation is only $33 per capita, many people are inclined to think that this isnot enough, and that if we had more everybody would bo in mere comfortable circum stances. But would everybody get some of the increase in his pocket? If not, what would be the advantage? If the wealth of the country were to be doubled, where would the increase go? The greater part of it ' would go to the millionaires and other rich people who have most at present, while the people who have least would get little or none of it. So it would be with an increase of circulating medium. It the per capita were to be doubled, the ratio of the present division would be main tained. The people who had the most before would get the most of the in crease, while those who had none be fore would get none now. ihe great want of the people who have none is not an increaso in the volume of cur rency, but the discovery of a now mahod by which they can get some of the currency already in circulation into their pockets. (4) Statistics published lately by the treasury department demonstrate con clusively the fallacy of the por capita argument. These give the per capita circulation for each year from 18G0 down to the preseut time, and show thatthero has been a steady rise from $17.50 in 1870 to $33.45 in 181)1 It pros perity is determined by per capita, this country ought to be vastly better off in ISSW-ui man it was in ibiu; out, as a matter of fact, 1870 was one of the most rosperous years the country has ever nown. while 1800 and 1SU1 will be known in history as years of almost un equaled financial and industrial de pression. All through the years since 1878 we hare been swelling the volume of currency by coining silver and gold to the amount oi U4o,ouu,oou, ana nave been issuincr many millions more of silver notes and gold notes, till we have now a circulation ol over $l,(Kiu,ooo,i)UO against only a little more than $055,000,- 000 in 1870. (5) Those persons who were com plaining a few mouths ago, when money was scarce, inai even this immense vol ume of currency was insufficient for t he business needs of the country, and that if we had a larger circulation per capita there would be no such scarcity, were laboring under a misapprehension. They were confounding contraction of the currency with contraction of credit. N inety-two per eent of all the business of the country is done on credit, and only eight per cent with actual cur rency. When, therefore, credit is un settled, as It was by the impending peril of free silver coinage, which would have lowered the standard of value as well as destroyed its stability, instantly a serious monetary contraction was felt throughout all the avenues of trade. instead of the trouble being one which an issue of cheap money would have remedied, it was one which owed its ex istence entirely to the mere threat of such issue. As soon as the threatened danger was averted, the stringency dis appeared, and there has been no com plaint heard since about a scarcity of money, either for "moving the crops" or for anything else. (0) Sup'pose now that free coinage of silver were to be authorized, what would be the effect upon the circula tion? It is estimated that $13,000,000 would be the extreme amount that it could add to the circulation. If the in crease of nearly a billion since 1870 has net helped us, would twelve millions do it? And if we were to have free coinage, into whose pockets would the increaso m? Not Into those of the neonle. but tnto these of the men who sold the silver to the government at a price greater than it would be worth as money after being coined. Those men would not fut it into the pockets of the people, ut would add it to their own wealth. and the only benefit the people would derive would be the opportunity to pay off their debts in a cheaoer monev than that in which they were incurred, pro vided they were able to get some of it in return for labor or goods. (7) Per capita arguments from foreign countries are all misleading. Nobody FAHM Kits' ALLIANCE, LINCOLN, XEH.. can tll what tb twr wtpita Hrwilatloa I of (icrminr. France and England U, txraue thow! countries have a metallic circulation of large and unknown vol ume. with no small bank note like ours. The vu-rus in all these coun trin are so different from ours that in teUigib.e comparison is out of tbe ques tion. (8) If size of per capita circulation determines prottwrity. how does it hap nn that .he Argentine Republic, with a per capita of over one hundred dollars, l in such financial, commercial, and in-d-jstrial collaDse? How did it happen that repeated additions to its volume of currency dul not ohecK nsuownwara march to ruin? The delusion behind the per capita are anient is the same one that is behind all cheap money panaceas. It is a be lief, not always e'early defined, that a large issue of money by the govern ment will carry with it in some myste rious way an instrumentality for gettir g some of that money into the pockets of the people without the peoole giving anything in return for it. It is based on the idea that tbe povercment can 'maw money, and is a perfectly logical deduction from that idea, for if the government can create meney, there is no reason why it should not distribute it freely among the people. In fact, if the government can create money, and by its own edict maintain it in circula tion as good as any other money, why should the governnet leiy taxes? This question has been asked before, but we have never seen or heard an answer to it. If the government can take 75 cents' worth o( silver, and by declaring it to be a dollar make it worth 100 cents, why should it not do the same with 00 cents' worth, or 10 cents' worth, or with a piece of paper? And having done this, having by its fiat made a piece of paper worth a dollar, why, we ask again, should it not abolish taxation and support itself with the money of its own creation? If it were to do that it would give us a per capita escalation greater than, any the world has yet seen. . MB. BURHOW8 REPLT. In the Century Magazine lor December is an editorial article under the caption of "The per capita Delusion, " ono of a series on the money question, but more particularly devoted to unreasoning denunciations of those who believe financial reform essent'.al to renewed prosperity. Those articles havo been characterized by loose statements in the place of facts, baseless assumptions in the place of reasons and arguments, and the unfairest misrepresentations of the aims of the money reformers. The Century h&a a largo circulation, and good reputation. These articles are therefore calculated to do much harm. I propose to reply to the artiola in the December number, with the hope of counteracting to some extent its per- mlclous influence. I have numbered the paragraphs of the Century article, which is published in full herewith, for ease of reference. In paragraph 1, the Century at tempts to belittle the importance of the volume of money, but adduces no ar gument to show that It is not important. It also illustrates its loose method of writing by using the term cheap as ap plied to money, as it relates to the material of which money is composed. This Idea pervades the entire article, as it has the former articles of the series. In fact, all the advocates of contraction and the singlo standard are absurd aud reckless in their assumptions on this subject. The term cheap, as applied to money, relates alone to prices, not to the material of money. The dear dollar would be the ono it tooe two bushels ol wheat, or ten bushels of corn to buy. The cheap dollar would be the one that could be b.itight with one bushel of wheat or three bushels of corn. In the first sentence of paragraph two the writer says ' the fundamental defect of the argument (viz: per capita argument) is that it confounds small circulation with Email distribution." Alter this sentence to read "unjust dis tribution," and is it not true that it is synominous with "small circulation," and that tho confounding of the two conditions is perfectly proper? Money, being the medium of excuaneo, is tho prime factor of distribution, if money ib a distributor of wealth Is it not cer tain that its volume must bear some fixed scientific relation to the amount of wealth to be distributed? If the wealth to be distributed increases enormously through a long series of years, and the volume of money by which it is distributed remains station ary or actually decreases during the same term of years, is it not apparent that the conditions of distribution would be greatly disturbed? Now if it eot'ld be shown that this disturbance caused injustice and enabled a few persons to accumulate a largo sbaro of produced wealth, while it deprived the producers of the fruits of their labor, could we not assume that tho volume of circulation was very important? Let us look at a fundamental law In connection with volume of money. The prices of products determine the mar gin of profit to the producer. Prices may be so low that all profit is wiped out, or so low that thore is an actual loss in production, and the creation of a debt made imperative. Prices are determined, on the average, by the law of supply and demand. The words "on the average" are important in this con nection. By scarcity or abundance, particular commodities may vary in certain years from the arerage. The law cf supply and demand means the supply and demand of products relative to money. In other words, the latr of supply and demand finds its first ex pression in tbe relation of produced wealth to money. If tbe supply of money diminishes prices fall. If it in creases prices rise. The fact of a suf- hciency of the volume oi money may be determined by the average of prices. This statement answers the "crucial question" which the Century asks in paragrapn 2. if the circulation were to be doubled, trebled or quadrupled, the producer of wealth would obtain his increased share of it by an increased price of the produced wealth. liut, it win at once be asked, how would this eq ualize distribution between classes, or give the producer of wealth a larger proportionate share than he receives with a small per capita of cir culation? This fs as important ques tion, and I desire to answer it fairly. and have it fairly understood. There are two classes whose in terests are involved and natur ally antagonistic in this matter, the producers of wealth on the one hand, and the receivers of fixed incomes from interest in its various forms on the other. I class as producers all persons and classes the livelihood of which Is obtained by labor in any form. In the other class are only tho holders of inter est-paying securities and the lenders of money. Now it must be apparent to all that the lower prices are the more wealth a given sum of interest will com mand. For instance, the lender -of money wishes to invest his interest in wheat. At fifty cents per bushel the lntret on nn fhnnsand dollars at ten per ceat (vi: 1100) will corn rnand two hundred tuahels of wheat. At one do'. lar pr biiwhel the same ittrrett wi'I com mand only one huadred bushels of wheal. It is apparent here that the price of wheat if tbe vital point to both parties. The interest is the same in each case. This rule applies not only to the producers of wheat, but to all who sell the product of labor, in any form, whether professional, commercial or mechanical. Is it not apparent, from this illustration, that inequality of distribution result from low prices, which are caused by contracted money volume, or small per capita circulation? There is no delusion ia this. Small circulation lowers prioe. As price is lowered the relative proportion of wealth going to interest is increased Ergo, tbe handlers of money capital, are interested in having low prices; hence their anxiety for the continued demonetization of silver, and the limita tion of the money quality to gold coin alone. The secret of the great effort for these things by the money handling class may be found in the plain illustra tion given aoove. increase prices Dy an increased per capita circulation, and the people will "get into their pockets" a geometrically increased proportion of produced wealth. 1 may as well answer right here the fallacious argument that the Century editor and other shallow writers will make to tbe proposition that price is vital to the producers. Such people immediately say that this argument works both wavs that if the producer sells cheap he also buys cheap, and that fact equalizes the matter. The Century makes this argument in one of its questions in paragraph 2, viz: "And if he has anything to sell, would he not rather receive his payment in dear money than in cheap money?" Now, if there were no debt there would bo some force to this argument. It would still be fallacious, because low prices may totally destroy the margin of profit in production. But debt is universal. Good authorities estimate the debt of this nation at $30,000,000,.00, Debt is o.r normal condition forced upon us, as I contend, by an unparalleled con- j traction of our money volume propor- tioned to our produced wealth. The Century writer, in paragraph five, makes my case in this particular, when he says "Ninety-two per cent of all the business of the country is done on credit, and only eight per cent with actual money." This enormous volume of credit does not exist by ehoice, but by necessity. It is the incubus placed upon the commerce of the nation by a false monetary system. It is the agency through which the small class who hold the f undod securities and lend the money extort from all the balance of the people the enormeus sum of eighteen hundred milion per annum, a compulsory payment wmcn must be made before they can buy a cradle for the baby or a new cress lor tr.e wife, it takes the first fruits all around. Into its maw goes the best colt, the fattened calf. The merchant pays it to the banker. The professional man and the poor workman striving to pay for a home, pay It to the mortgagee. It is the source of the revenue which the indus trious producer pays to support the wealthy idler. (lo be continued.) ANOTHER TEEE PASS MARE'S NEST, The 3. f M. Journal and some papers in Saunders county have run into another free pass mare's nest, in which, as usual, they try to smirch the editor of this paper, Our knowledge of the comments of these papers is entirely hearsay. But tho facts are, that the independent state committee bought mileage transportation for the speakers it sent out in the campaign. Mr. Bur rows was furnished with a thousand mile book on the U. P. road, by the committee. On bis return thore were about 700 miles of the book unused. He then returned tha book to Secretary Pirtle for his use. A conductor on the U. P. found the book in Mr. Pirtle's hands, and took it up. The Wahoo Democrat said the book was an editorial one, and was lost by Mr. Burrows. This is a pure fabrication. It is a question whether the U. P. or any other road has the right to confis cate transportation which it ha9 sold, and is being used by the person who bought it, notwithstanding it was issued in the name of some other person. The book was issued in Mr. Burrows' name, but it was bought by the committee for Mr. B., and he had nothing to do with it except to uso it in his campaign trip, and return t!ie unused part to the committee. It is possible a suit may be brought to test the point. It certainly makes no diflerence who rides on a ticket which is sold by the company unless it hopes to confiscate parts of tickets by such quibbling. The Car Famine Fraud. Editor Alliance: Karly in the fall mere appeared a notice in me papers that it was feared there would be a scarcity of cars to move the immense western crop of this year. That pro phecy ii now being fulfilled, or rather that plan is being used to justify the low price of 23 cents per bushel for corn at Pleasantdale, and 25 cents at Ger mantown, T. Lowry buying at both places, while corn in Chicago is worth 51i cents. Let us see how near statistics will justify this enormous steal from tho producer without the consumer being benenteo. According to the report of the secre tary of the Chicago board ef trade the visible supply of corn was: D S .5 "3 ? s One fourth less corn in sight thisvear man in isu. x et there was no dearth of cars then. And less than double the visible supply of last year, when proba blv not 10 ner cent of the farmers had corn to sell. Since 1886 the increase of railroad business should give an in crease of cars. The case is so bare faced, so (.nameless, that I forbear to comment. Alliance 812. B. SERIOUS FOR BOSTON. Minneapolis Journal: Prof. Chandler of Boston, claims to have discovered that the earth is wobbling on its axis. There has been a suspicion in Boston for some time that all was not well with the "Hub" of the universe. Can we deprive the earth of all its buoyant material, like natural gas, as they are doing in Ohio and Indiana, and not cause it te wabble? In fact the whole universe may be deranged. This matter should be looked into; THURSDAY DEC. ,2t SORGHUM TEESUS BEETS. Just at this time, when the beet sugar Industry Is agitating the entire state. and the question, whether beets can be raised at prices which manufacturers will pay. is the principal and unsettled question, the news that by a new pro cess sugar can be manufactured from sorghum at 4awhat it costs made from beets is exceedingly important, and of special and very great interest. In the Scientific American of Nov. 28 is an editorial article entitled "Impor tant Improvements in Sorghum Sugar Manufacture," tbe substance of which we give below. By the alcohol process recently intro duced in the manufacture of sugar from sorghum the industry takes on a new aspect and promises soon to rival, if it does not surpass in volume, the cane and the beet root products, says tbe editor. H. W. Wiiey, director of the government sorghum sugar station at Medicine Lodge, Kansas, reports the yield of first sugar to be 150 pounds per ton of the plant, which latter costs i to $2.50 per ton against $4 to $5 per ton for beets or cane, yielding the same amount of first sugar. The process uutil the syrup is ready for the strike pan is the same as in the ord in ary sorghum mill. A f ter the juice has been evaporated to a semi-syrup, ready for straining, it is drawn off into large tanks and mixed with an equal volume of alcohol. A pipe at the bottom of the tank conveys a current of air through I he mixture, and the syrup and the alcohol are thoroughly united. This stands twelve hours. The alcohol in this time oombines with the impur ities and precipitates a mass of gummy substances to the bottom. The clean mixture of syrup and alcohol is then drawn iato the distillery column and the alcohol recovered. The syrup freed from the gummy impurities is then con veyed to the strike pan. The loss of al cohol is less lhan one per cent, and the syrup is swung through the centrifugals and converted into sugar in two minutes. The great difficulty bas been that the gummy substances could not be removed and the syrup could not be converted into sugar. Chemicals failed to remove them and mechanical means failed. But no w by a simple process the gummy substances are converted into alcohol and the alcohol separates the gummy substances. So the juice clarifies the juice, tbe impurities remove the im purities. Can the above statements be disputed? The Scientific American is good authority in matters of fact, aud if these state ments are true the less money is invested in expensive beet sugar factories the better. If sugar can bo mado from sorghum at half what it costs to make it frsm beets, beets are out of the ques tion entirely. It is wise to go slow in tho sugar industry. IS A PASS A BEIBE? We invite a careful reading of the communication of Bro. Konkel, under the above caption. It is a recital of actual experience, and covers and illus trates the question exactly. One of the ablest senators of our last legislature says, in a private letter: "With me it is a question which is the greatest evil in politics, the saloon or rai'road . pass. l)f the two the most insidious and debusing is tho railroad pass, because in secret it is sapping the foundations of manhood. The Great Law Giver said, ' a gift blind eth the eyes of the wise and preventeth judg ment. So far as I can see, the question is bound to be a test one in the future for those who would be above reproach or ask public confidence. The opposition know that if we can be broken down on this if we can be charged with incon sistencyno matter how good our principles are, we must fail for it has been said ' it is not so much what we sav as what we do." All of which is as true as the truest preaching. BRO. COX ON SUGAR BEETS. Tho address of our editorial brother S. D. Cox, at the opening of the beet sugar convention, was sound, practical, and full of good sense. He named tho objective points of the gathering ex actly as they should have been, not ex actly as they were. He advised that the bounty question be ignored, and that the discussions be conhned to the practical subjects of raising beets and making sugar from the same. Br. Cox was ignorant of the fact that the convention was the first step of an or ganized conspiracy to restore the state bounty, and was sincere in his advice. The question to be now considered is. what proportion of tbe cost of making beet sugar is covered by the national Bounty oi two cents a pound? THE SUGAR CONVENTION. The Beet Sugar convention was held in Lincoln last week. It was widely advertised and largely attended. Men from all quarters of the state were here eager to talk and ready to listen. Ques tions in great numbers were asked of those who had acquired information and what knowledge they had was made common property Prof. Nicholson's paper gave the re sults of his scientific experiments. which demonstrate that the soil and climate of Nebraska are well adapted to the production of sugar boets, the rainfall, sunshine and temperature mak ing conditions superior to those of snr rounding states. But the great question remained, can the farmers raise beets with profit at the priceB which are of fered by the factories? The experience given by those wno had been raising beets, did not prove the affirmation of this question, and a large part of the time of the convention was wasted either mildly deprecating' or violently denouncing the action of the last legis lature In abolishing the state bounty Gov. Thayer called it an .act of bad faith, and Judge Scott of Omaha spent about an hour piling up abusive epithets and viciously snarling against the rep resentatives oi the people who carried uui uieir win jasi winter. Church Howe, replying to Scott, in formed hiiu that there were only eleven votes against tbe repeal ol the bounty, 1S9L and that It was folly to sty that snrh a majority did not represent the will of tbe people. Other speaker also ridi culed the doctrine that aa act of a legislature may not be repealed for what appeals to th-m as sound reasons by a succeeding legislature. Tbe bounty was all given to the manufacturer. The national bounty also goiag to him was more than enough. It was a bounty that largely exceeded the price he pays tbe farmer for the beets. Undoubtedly the majority of farmers in the state are opposed to a state bounty. It puts an additional unjust tax upon the farmers who raise corn, a tax which brings no immediate or cer tain return to those not engaged in growing beets. No li, ht was thrown upon the ques tion of the manufacturing cost of beet sugar. No one knew whether the price offered for teetsis as much as the busi ness wiil stand. The manufacturers of course did not volunteer the informa tion, and they alone know. But all signs indicated that it was a convention in tbe interest of tbecapitalists- If it had been in the interest of all the peo ple information from the capital side would have been forthcoming, and the poo pie of the state would then have been able to estimate the individual and aggregate profits of the business, and see whether beets would be more profit able than tbe present products of Ne braska farms Wo advise the fanners of Nebraska to go slow and not get excited. Land Loans. Editor Alliance: To illustrate the fallacy of the stock arguments against government loans upon land, I will give your readers a little experience I had last winter while in Iowa with one of that class of objectors with whom I had an argument on the subject. His main objection was that the gov ernment would lose money on farm loans because a farmer who had a po litical "pull" on the party in power would get the official who had the duty of passing on the security to over-value it, and consequently he would get more on his land than it was worth. The gentleman lived in Indiana, and as I had lived there a number of years and had some knowledge ef the matter of the shool fund in that state, I came back at him as follows: Dropping the subject for a few min utes so as to throw bim off his guard, I began to praise Indiana. "Yes," said he, "she is a grand old state, and I am proud of her." "She has a very large school fund, has she not?" I asked. "Yes, Indiana has the largest school fund of any state in the union, about 10,000,000," was his reply. 'How is this money invested?" was my next question. "We loan it on improved farms," was his answer. "How long have you resided in the county where you live?" I asked. "About tweuty-eight years." "Who passes upon the security of these loans?" I asked. "The county commissioners with the county auditor,' was his reply. 'How much of this fund is loaned in your county on the average;" was my next question. "About $125,600, I should judge," said he. 'During these twenty-eight years you have lived there have you ever known of one dollar being lost to the school fund by reason of bad loans on over valuation of the security?" was my question at this stage. "No," said he; "I do not, but the rate is lower than ordinary loans are made, and there are always a number oi hrst class applications on hand, so that the commissioners have the very choicest loans to select from." 'Is h not a fact that four or five times as much money could be placed on equally as good security if avail able?" was my last question. "i. expect it could be," was his hnal answer. I give the above conversation lust as it occurred for the purpose of showing that an ounce of fact is worth a pound of theory. As a matter of fact. Iowa also loans its school fund on farm lands in the same way, and during the past twenty years or since values have be come steady, no money has been lost on this class of loans, even although placed by county officials whose every interest would be to make Aemselves solid with the farmer politician with a "pull." W. S. Wynn. SHYL0CK IN OKLAHOMA Tho Oklahoma pioneers are falling iDto the jaws of the money sharks, just the new settlers iu Nebraska, Kansas and every otner new state were taken in. Enormous prices, yielding 200 to 300 per cent profit, are charged by the merchants and machinery men. They are left at the mercy of money loaneis and implement dealers who sell at high prices and charge enslaving rates of in terest. Banks and loancrs on chattels charge five per cent a month ou good security, and the mortgage companies loan money on commuted lands at ten per cent. And the farmers must sell their crops not at their own price, but at a prioe fixed by the railroads, gam blers and profit-seeking middlemen. The consequence is that the ones who make all tbe wealth must labor long years, as a slave labors, for those who "prey upon them, and with many chances thkt they will never become indepen dent citizens. The AU-Around Boodler, Steve Elkins, for Seoretary of War. The appointment of Steve Elkins to be secretary of war in the place of Mr Procter, resigned, ought to be a shock to the country but it don't seem to be. Elkins won his reputation by sharp oolitical scheming and wire-pulling. That he is a good convention manager there is no doubt; but he has never occuuied a position or performed an act that entitled him to rank as a states man. He has long been known as Jim Blaine's man Friday. His appointment is undoubtedly an effort on the part of Mr. Harrison to trade Blaine out of a sharp henchman. Thus, are honors and great positions mado the shuttle cocks of ambitious politicians, and the people look on bewildered and helpless ZW The Bee says that "the election of Speaker Crisp was largely due to the fact that be is strongly in favor of the free and unlimited coinage of silver. but it is said he is now disposed te drop that question for the present." wen, the people are not disposed to drop it. and will not be until it is favorably settled. "Patronize home industry" con tinues to be the cry of the Orcabogs. Their common council and school board seem to havo been doing it. SENATOR PLUNE DEAD. Sunday moraing last. Senator Pres ton B. Plumb, of Kansas, was stricken with appoplexy in his apartments in Washington, and died shortly after, not regaining consciousness after the first stroke. As far as tbe limitations of his party and his prejudices would allowSenator Piumb was a man of tbe people. His impulses were good, he was a tireless worker, and acheived some good re sults. We copy the tribute Chancellor Can field, who knew htm well says to bis chracter. It is a tribute of a friend. and all the better for that: "He was the best type of tho Droduct of this century and country in all-around man ly character and in general clluiency in the public service. He hated shams and he hated affectation and he hated luke-warmness. He was ever in the center of the strife, and he wanted it to be constant and feat. 'It is a great country and a great century' he said to me once and there is much to be done We must work hard and fast. Better to die in the harness than not to seo things move.' He has had his wish. He has made things move and seen them move, and he has died in the har ness. His life has been given for his constituency and for the country as truly as though he had died on the field of battle. He has lived a long life al readyfar logner than that of most men in what he has accomolished. i doubt not that he is content, though we may not be so. All men are soon forgot ten and new men are ever ready to ta!:e the places of men who go. This seems bard, but it is best, and we ought not to complain. But it will be long before Kansas will find a man who will in all respects make good this sudden loss." DR. FRANK BILLINGS AND THE AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT. Dr. Billings, of the Nebraska State University, seems to be more than a match for Dr. Salmon, with Uncle Jer ry Rusk thrown in. Dr. B. some years ago discovered the hog cholera germ. Ha demostratcd the truth of his discov ery by producing the germ, and produc. ing genuine hog cholera by inoculation with it. lie demonstrated its value in innumerable instances by Inoculating herds of hogs with the most successful results in preventing the disease. Jeal ousy of an able and successful investi gator who is not in thfl tmnlnra nflho a w wHgivj v fUV department, and whose researches and uiscuvenes cannot be made to contri bute laurels to a superior oilier, is what is the matter of th Wnshi nfftnn an. thorities. Jealousy that an outsider should make this great discovery is "iu" rauiues in tne nreast oi ur. sal mon. ThfiV firafr. rirlinilla ta ilaa a hog cholera germ; but when Dr. Bil- uugs uttuiuusiraieu it to ue an estab lished font I hfiV nlajlvlAri If aa thaif .tict. covery. The department at Washington seems now to be using the public funds to tight Dr. Billings. It will be an un successful fight. Dr. Billings' work will speak for itself, and the farmers ofNe- orasKa will stand by him. THE WESTERN RURAL. A correspondent has sent us an article clipped from the If extern Rural, headed "Government Loans," with the request that we comment on the same. The article amounts to nothing, takes no stand for or against government loans, or for or aga'nst anything else. The Western Rural editor can print nore words and say nothing than any editor iu the country. As a factor in the fight now going on against the organized money power the IT. R. is nil. It simply rants. It urges the farmers to stand together. It means on the If". R. subseriotion list. It opposes a new party, and opposes every other prac tical plan for overthrowing the money power. lt-frasTbrgot ten the origin of the republican party. History teaches it no lesson. The reason for all this is that the W. R. is edited by a Chicago republican politician. Milton George is a feeble man, and this editor dominates and tyranuizes him. The result is that his paper has not a particle of political in iluence, and takes no dceided position on any political question. The Bee umps on Church Howe about the national committee scrap in Washington a while ago. If Church should claim some recognition by and by as a Nebraska republican does the Bee intend te read him out of the party? And how about Tom Majors and Doc Mercer? Things have got to be har monized or the air will be full of splin ters. How would this programme do? Rosey, high muek-a-muck, editor of the state organ and postmaster general. Doc Mercer Governor.' Tom Majors U. S. Senator. Church Howe weil, that leaves no place for Church, so he will turn independent and upset the whole shooting match. There's scads of harmony ahead of us. TO ADVERTISERS. To our city patrons we wish to say that Mr. Geo. H. Gibson has taken the position of local editor and advertising solicitor on The Alliance. Mr. Gib son is a gentleman and scholar capable of first class literary work in almost any field. We commend him to our adver tising patrons, and ask all to assist him 'in adding to the local interest of our columns. COUNTY ALLIANCE PROGRAMME. We wero requested to publish a coun ty Alliance program no last week, and of course agreed to do so. But the chairman of the committee failed to furnish us the copy until our forms were closed. As it has now been furnished to all the Alliances, and is old matter, we do not care to publish it to the exclusion of current matter. PLUMB'S SUCCESSOR. The governor of Kansas will appoint a successor to Senator Plumb for the vacancy. Senator Is galls may be the man. It would be a strange turn of the wheel of fortune that would put him in the senate in this way. Reports of Pensions. In response to request by some of our patrons we shall hereafter publish re ports of pensions allowed to Nobraskaos. tW Men are called "agitators," the word being used as a term of reproach. Just imagine the condition of a com munity or a nation in which there was no agitation.