JANUARY 21, 1904.
THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT
Or
i -i .
5
united action, such men as C. B. Hoff
man of Enterprise, Kas.; Prof. Vin
cent and others, have devoted a great
deal of time to building up the Farm
'ers' Co-operative Shipping association,
fhich began business Juiy 8, 1903, and
by December 1 "of that year was oper
ating 31 stations in Oklahoma, Kansas
and Nebraska, and had handled over a
million bushels of grain.
In view of the fact that in Nebraska
especially there are a large number of
independent farmers' elevators, whose
members refuse to become members
of the Farmers' Co-operative Snipping
association, it is probable that Messrs.
, Vincent, Hoffman, and their co-laborers
have at times felt discouraged be
cause their project has not grown as'
' rapidly as conditions would seem to
warrant. But The Independent be
lieves that this apparent slow growth
is rather encouraging than otherwise.
It is undoubtedly a fact. that if ev
ery farmer in Nebraska, or in the
middle west, or in the entiie United
States, were a stockholder in one giant
co-operative association, designed not
only for marketing grain, but also
for selling other farm products and
purchasing supplies needed upon the
farm, that it would be of immense
advantage to agriculturists. But the
very nature of agriculture, and the in
dividualistic lives led by farmers, ren
der the building up of such a co-operative
institution a task requiring much
time and an indefinite amount of hard
work.
As 'The Independent views the sit
uation, there is not the compelling
necessity for co-operative action by
farmers such as has brought about the
rapid concentration in other lines. Be
sides, there are no "special privileges"
in the way of legislation and favor
itism from the great transportation
companies, to aid in the farmers'
movement toward co-operation and
these tend to retard the work of or
ganization. But all of these independent farm
ers' elevators are schools teaching co
operation. They . are the "awkward
squads" in the great army which will
doubtless ultimately be formed in
line of battle. Even if it were possi
ble today to make every farmer in the
United States a stockholder in a
farmers' trust, it would likely break
down before a year, because a great
majority of farmers are yet untrained
and unfitted for co-operation. Farm
life has developed strong individual
ism in the farmer, but has tended to
make him a sort of Ishmaelite. He is
inclined to be unduly suspicious of his
fellowmen not because of anything
inherent in his nature, but because
his environment makes it easy for him
to be suspicious. And until he can by
actual experience learn to have a lit
tle more confidence in his fellows, the
ultimate farmers' trust must still be
a long way off.
The organization and successful op
eration of local, independent, co-operative
concerns, however, by drilling the
"awkward squads" into soldiers
trained to the manual of co-operation,
must finally make it easier to build
up the bigger organizations. After
another year 'has elapsed, and the
Farmers' Co-operative Shipping asso
ciation has demonstrated its ability
to render the fanners better servko
than a local co-operative concern
could do, thero should be liltle dlill
culty In adding to it a large number
of the- present independent concerns.
Tlio home concern te.nhey the farmer
that co-operation a u benefit to-him,
wear off the sharp cornets of hU ln
ilivUlunlLntn, and r.lvea him more con
tidoneo In hh fellow men. When that
l.i atcomplhhml, ln will lx flpo fur
tho greater co-operation.
A cni;.. lo fur "dollar km" .m brj
ftUrted by tho Lincoln Now a, b'lt up
ta dato ha-i not attuned startling pro
portion!, i to v t vt r, TU ndt-e r.dtut
wish- It num-M. With f ir.0,(cu vtotth
ct actual property, tho pan t-orictatlon
U jtyUi Intmet cu over a mllllou of
bonded debt and trvinc to squeeze out
dividends on two and a half millions
of stock. The News says: "The re
suit of this crusade will be, either
Hhat the gas company must reduce
its rates or there will be municipal
ownership, with its various draw
backs. . The public prefers to deal
with private corporations because it
is too busy to . go into the business
itself, but it must insist that the pri
vate romorations deal fairly. The
Lincoln company has .not. done so. It
must do so or suffer the couse
quences."
MB. BRYAN'S BANQUET SPEECH
The personality of Mr. Bryan has
always given him a warm corner in
the hearts of Nebraska populists.
Many of them do not believe that he
takes sufficiently advanced grounds on
the questions of money and transpor
tation, and some of them have thought
that he clings too tenaciously to the
name "democrat" and to the fetich of
party regularity but they love and
honor him nevertheless because of his
undoubted sincerity, courage and hon
esty of purpose.
Accordingly, it was to be expected
that the banquet, given Monday night
in honor of his home-coming, should
be attended by a goodly number of
populists from over the state. His
speech was especially pleasing to pop
ulists, who had felt that his action
"and editorial utterances relative to the
recent campaigns in Iowa' and Ohio
portended that his regard for party
regularity would induce him to sub
mit to a compromise platform and
candidate for the sake of harmony.
He spoke in no uncertain tones regard
ing the impossibility of "harmony"
with the plutocratic element of his
party. "We want the trust magnates
against us, not for us," he declared,
continuing that no reform is possible
with the money-changers in charge of
the party. If he could have his way,
the St. Louis convention would fust
of all reaffirm every plank of the Kan
sas City platform, and then add
planks to cover present needs. There
must be no going back and no.apol-
ogies.
Bishop L. B. Heller, Belmar, N. J.:
"Best thing in your paper is Bigelow's
sermon. I am sick of politics."
The Independent has been favored
by the Hearst Syndicate, 15 Spruce
street, Now York, with a copy of Rep
resentative Hearst's address, "sent in
reply to various invitations to attend
Jackson day celebrations," and re
grets that lack of space prevents its
reproduction entire. Mr. Hearst in
sists that "the criminal trusts must
be destroyed, because they menace
prosperity," but is rather indefinite as
to the method 'of destroying them. If
the proposed destruction is to be ac
complished by a shifting of tariff sche
dules and criminal prosecutions only,
and no resort is had to government
ownership and control of the two
great factors in the distribution of
wealth money and transportation
then The Independent hasn't much
faith in it. Mr. Hearst's attitude on
the question of transportation, as evi
denced by lib newspapers, would, in
dicate that he would use also the
weapon of government ownership to
wipe out tho "criminal trusts." But
there h still the quehtlon of absolute
control by government of the amount
of money to be coined and Issued, and
upon this Mr. Ileara'a attitude not
so ch nr.
Former Attorney General Smyth
said .Monday ufM at the Bryan, ban
qua io , aid: in; fu Ion: "it may bo
that It l.J at tui end l:auxe hurra tie
able, but t o nuu wSf contributed to
It.i creation and nUtcd In ita main
tenance cm tr amht but a scne f
riUlu that he wiu p rmUt4 to !i t."
Thai U a tuiislblo way to look at It.
Our j"pulUt brethren w ho llvo In
late where corporation tUmoaati
FREE
In order to still more widely and quickly introduce our
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Don't miss this offer. Kead again and writo today. Catalog alone sent on receipt of
postal.
Grtswold
to
149 So. 10th,
are in the saddle, have never under
stood the situation in Nebraska, where
for the past eight or ten years the
moving spirits in the democratic paity
men like Mr. Smyth, have been better
exponents of real populism than many
who called themselves populists. There
need be no recriminations or regrets
over the past in Nebraska on the part
of either populists or democrats. Nor
need the past dictate future action.
Wm. Randolph Hearst has male
a public statement of his position on
national Issues. He favors "organiza
tion and combination whenever the
people are allowed to participate ful
ly in the economies and advantages
which result rom combination,"
which is consistent with his attitude
toward the labor unions. He believes
"the tariff is more important today
than ever, because of its Vital influ
ence upon the industrial combina
tion," quoting Havmeyer's statement
that the "tariff is the mother of
trusts." "The distribution of wealth,"
says Mr. Hearst, "is just as important
as its creation. Prosperity does not
meanexcessive wealth for a few, com
bined with poverty of the masses. The
labor union in enforcing a high scale
of "wages brings about the distribu:
tion of wealth throughout the entire
community."
Republican papers call attention to
the fact that Chairman Jones of the
democratic national committee, in his
call for the St. Louis convention, "dif
fers in a marked degree" from the call
he made four years ago. "This one,"
they aver, "is a straight appeal to the
regular democracy of the country. It
does not include an invitation to (.he
'conservative reform element,' as did
the call four year3 ago. In other
words, the democratic national com
mittee has shaken out the populists."
These papers overlook the fact" that
Chairman Jones probably reads the
papers and knew something about the
conference which met at Denver last"
July, where the populists declared for
independent national political action.
They are not in the least worried at
the "shaking out."
THEY NEVER THINK
How Thrt l)0n VU Street MaguaUi
Cavern mmil Make HO.OOn.OOO t'u
pl Tblr 8rrut
New York. Jan. 13. 1901. (Editorial
Correspondence.) The wagons which
carry the supplies of groceries aud
vegetables to trie? people lure have
their most Attractive signs painted on
the top of the wagon covers. It Is a
wltfo provision, for tho cliff dwellers,
peering out of their caves hUh tip In
the air, tan look down and read Uem
and male their flnah ordering the
commissary mppllea for tho day.
Many thousand more jH-ople rco the
bUna painted cm th roof of the wa
fcoiisi than t . o Ihut are disp layed en
the hide.
The live of nil of tn who live, mon
tho broad plain an 1 wide- reuetien of
th middle end far went are tontrulted
In a l.tv.o m a iiiro by the popb who
Jfe ut": a few tenure1 mile tf terri
tory Mirroupillnnj thl point. Here u
thu rrnl peat of political tower. Hire
It hiM n for the Ut fort y- mi
and will continue for n m time.
SflPHB fffCSKS fpk Vb
Seed
Lincoln, Neb.
What a few men want,, whose offices
are all to be found within one-iiaif
mile square of territory on the lower
point of Manhattan island, the gov
ernment does. The po-ver tha't these
men exercise comes frcm the obedient .
compliance with their wjshes of 'the
million or so of voters crowded to
gether here.
These voters live in miserable caves
called "flats," high upon the cliffs
along the canons misnamed "streets,"
in many of which the sunlight never
penetrates. They go through a daily
routine that never varies, with per-.,
haps a few days off In mid-summer
AND TIIEY NEVER THINK. A teach
er of English gave, as a theme for his
pupils to write upon, a description of
the storm that occurred some time ago
when the wind blew at the rate of 100,
miles an hour. When the papers were
turned in they were the conventional
description of a storm such as the pu
pils had read in books, such as "A
dark cloud rose slowly above the hori
zon, grew blacker and blacker as it
spread out over the earth, the light
nings flashed, peals of thunder foK
lowd each other in quick repetition,"
etc. ,
Now, the truth was that there was ,
little or no thunder and to a pupil ;
walking along the canons, with inhab
ited cliffs from 50 to 400 feet high on
either side of him, the hori.on is al
most overhead. These, pupils were
like their" fathers and mothers. They
could neither see things as they are
nor think.' They follow the trail as a
mule does the tow path along the
bank of a canal.
This shows that even the school
boys travel along in tlftir intellectual
life at the bottom of deep canons
where there is no view to be obtained
except of a little line of light over
head and the granite blocks beneath
them which have been worn smooth
and glassy by the feet of the millions
who have passed and repassed aiong
the same way. They, in youth, follow
the well-worn path over the granite
blocks to and from school and in later
life to and from the place of business
and NEVER THINK. Of tie multi
tudes rushing along the streets not
one in ten thousand has a Hue of
thought upon his face. There is a
similarity a sameness about them
all a sort of a doughy, putty face that
never shows a gleam of intelligence or
interest in anything except when the
dollar is in sight. The horses upon
the streets that never hear the roar
of the elevated trains, pay no atten
tion to the rusning by of the clanging
electric cars or the horns of the auto
mobilists, have exactly the same kind
of an expression, and live practically
the same kind of life in its different
grades The over-burdened dray
horse beaten and undo fed, the de-formed-docked
-slicked up carriage
horse with the liveried footman aud
coachman, the racers In the mat hie
stables are exact representations of
the grades of people who throng the
Ptreeta of New York and do about
the same amount of "thinking" as
their brother human toilers.
Managing thi? million or so voters
who never thltiu are about thrco dozen
great intellects practicing tho Marx
ian theory of "economic determinism."
With them thero h no "ought" or
"ought not." it Is ttim ply a dilve to
anumubito mldlotn, and they haiuUa
tl l.i trillion of voter a 'the duvera
do the bun. on the tUrccU. Hurt
died of thousand, of them they over
work, underfeed and brat and alnwti
funn year to vear. A tVw tnor aro
Upt fbek and fat and utilt lew mora
live In "marbled halN." They rnnc
from tho nwratshop to the mn f
i-norm oud rtl ul hired to uutug tho
Krtt iorpormion.
th" upper rrlt d thinking alonssr
certain lint, u (lf which are nldrl
by the principle that the aete.muki
tion of dollar U the Anal Alia ol llf.
All this U not to .iy that thero art
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