New-York tribune., 1873-12-25

| brother whether no Ue III h"nso -
we know that Christ is born day al.cr oay
into tho world, and hear again Ills cry:
"Hsve been so long with YOU anu ye' h"S'
| " thou not known me, PhillpT
ryr y,rJy0Is FARMERS CONVENTION.
Tbo State Farmers Association OF ILLINOIS,
- a,.,,, cIosed it's annual convention
ot Decatur. must not be cohlo"",u
order of Patrons of Husbandry' o"iA' '"o
latter organization it Is an avo"v"! 90 C
| aggressiyely political body. Nhi,e 'no o'anSo
in its corporate capacity mas kcp. ".,0'y
aloof from party politics, anu uc'o'ou i''0.,
entirely to the intellectual improvement. anu
immediate material interests OF the asricui,"Ia, a.
classes the Farmers Association mas pus'eu i'Sci
with the caucus, and endeavored 10 pIilis i'S
whole strength to bear at the polls IL was
tbe Farmers Association which 1ouSht the
bittor fight against Judge Lawrence on account
of an Interpretation OF CONSTITUTIONAL law
which he was enormously supposed to nave
given in the Supreme Court, and 1t was the
Farmers' Association which made such havoc
with tho calculations of the party leaders at
the last election. 1t is true. however, that
great many, perhaps n majority, OF Its mem
bers are members of the oranges also, and Its
action forms an integral part OF the Farmers
Movement which seems destined to exert so
powerful an influence over the future of the
Western States.
The sentiment of the assemblage at Decatur
was EXPRESSED in no doubtful terms. In its
denunciaton of the back pay scandal, the gen.
eral increase of salaries, the prostitution OF
the Civil Service, the abuses OF the land grant
system, and the extravaganza OF Government
expenditures, it neither minced words nor
tolerated halfway measures. 1t included the
President by name in its censure OF the salary
erabbers il insisted not only that official
emOluments should be reduced, but that the
hack nav grabn was a mere vulgar theft,
for which the law must enforce restitution.
The debates and resolutions showed that the
delegates were not only thoroughly III eaSnest'
but thoroughly angry. Their language was
that of men who nave had no experience IN
the ordinary partisan conventions, and their
suggestions were often crude and sometimes
impracticable But nearly all the speeches had
flavor of honesty, and the platform hnaiiy
adopted, in spite of its defects. was distinct
and strong. The demands for revenue
tariff for the repeal of the National BANKING
law, for Government currency interchange
able with bonds bearing a low rate OF interest,
we do not regard as highly important. These
were expressions of the immediate wishes OF
body of men who are still cropping in the
dark for a way out of the Farmers difficult
ties; there il no evidence that such demands
are sustained by any large number OF voters,
and there is no assurance that they may not
any time be modified or reversed when new
light is thrown upon the causes and the prob
able cure of the present anomalous state
of things in the grain regions. The
significance of the Convention hes III
its emphatic reputation of party ties,
coupled with its declaration of the duty OF
every farmer to make himself an active
politician. "The preservation OF our national
"lifer says the first resolution" imperatively
demands that every American voter shall
"attend with care all primary nominations
"and elections, so as to secure the election OF
competent and honest men," "Tbe recent
"record of the old political parties of this
Country" says the second, els such as to
"forfeit the confidence and respect of the
"peope, and we are therefore absOlyed from
"all allegiance to them.' Indeed we believe
the Farmers Movement will do more good by
bringing conscience and independence into
politics than by iany of the specific remedies
towards which it seems TO be tend
ing. Free trade will only spoil the
farmers market. An inflated currency will
lessen the purchasing power of his grain An
assault upon the courts will be repulsed with
disaster for law in this country always must
be supreme But when "a community has
brought itself to acknowledge that party pro-
fessions are. as nothing in comparison with
personal honesty, that good citizen owes
duty to the State as well AS to hls family, and
that he can no more afford TO vote for an IN
competent or unworthy official than to lntrust
his farm to "a lazy servant or his money TO .
thievish clerk, reform is not far distant. The
best way to keep the railroad agents out of the
Legislature is to withstand them at the door
of the caucus ROOM The surest way to pre-
vent bribery in the Capitol is to mete out to
every officer of the people his just deserts,
without regard to his political orthodoxy.
TIE EEW-JERSEY LEGISLATURE.
The Legislature which meets at Trenton on
fhe second Tuesday i'm January will assemble