New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-09-08
THE GRANGE MOVEMENT.

VIEWS OF SECRETARY s. NJ. SMITH.
AN ELABORATE SPEECH AT CARRoLLToN-THE WIN
CHESTER SPEECH NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. WEALTH
or GREAT CoRPoRATIoNs-How 1T Is so SUD
DENLY AcCUMUIATED-THE WAY COMBINATIONS
ARE FoRMED-HOw THE FARMERS ARE MADE 10
SELL cHEAPLY.
tBr TELEGRAPH TO TIE TRIBUNE.l
CHICAGO. Sept. THE Tribune tomorrow pun
fishes for the first time the very elaborate speech
made on Wednesday by s. NJ. Smith, Secretary Oh
the Farmers State Association of Illinois, TO the
farmers at Carrollton. This address is IN
tended to supersede the speech Mr. suiith
made at Winchester, some time ago, which
was imperfectly reported, and has Decn
somewhat misunderstood, and is designed as a
studied and deliberate exposition of MIR. smith
own views and of the bearings OF the Farmers
Movement as he understands 1t. Ii Is temperate
in tone but some of its suggestions for the INDUS
trial organization and political action of farmers are
strongly put. In regard to his winchester 'peecn'
he said:
For purpose evident enough. the report OF my VIII
chestes speech Of Aug. has been published III every
paper which does not happen to agree with me poHt
cally especially all this State and the state Vi
Iowa. have hundreds Of copies OF papers sent 10
me with marked articles crtcisng this socaied report
of nv Winchester speech Allow me TO say that the words
did MT say would take my boys and go to the state
capita and help ride the villains out rail- although
believe they deserved IT, IL / had mentioned IL,
wouldn't have said more than that peHe'eu
they deserved 1t, but did not say IT,
1 did say, and this ia my very language-anu marx
now for want to be particularly honest, what my re-
marks wereI said in referring to the manner In Whlch
our legislators had betrayed trust and sold out our
rights and interests again and again. that they were
elected to carry out certain purposes, and had
failed to do 50 over and over again. ana that
the interests OF the labOring and producing
classes whole country not merely OF this State but
of the the United States had been sold out over
and over again monoposs OF every sort and charac
ter and added there is law statute books by
which We can reach them and punish them
for that crime OF betraying the laboring
people Of the country. / said was very
much inclined to adopt a punishment suggested by an
indignant friend mine when legislators adjourned
last Winter after voting to COME back and spend hOher
Winter and take another half million out OF our
pockets which we had TO pay in corn at 20
GEMS bushel, which punishment was to
treat the members TO coat Of tar and feathers ana rue
them out Of their counties on rail. Now see now you
can make speech read when you take expressions that
were uttered at least an hour apart and put
them into a sentence What l said about my
boys was something like this: Speaking OF
the magnitude OF this movement, how chronic the
wrong was we suffered FROM and how this eyilthat We
had no voice III fixing price upon labor-had come
down to us from teuda ages, said did not expect
10 live to see The full fruition OF my hopes
in this country, but that would De-
dueath the fight TO my boys with the llDunctlon
that they should leave II until all their rights un-
der our Constitution aud laws guaranteed to them
and they had seemed the dearest Of all rights to an
American freeman-that of fixing the price upon their
own labor That is the connection in which mentioned
my boys, and no other. / did say that when was
a boy we used 10 shoot and hang them
up on pole in the cornhed as terror to eyil-doers
llaughter and said perhaps the time might come
when il every other remedy failed might hang some
men about the country in that same way as terror
TO evlldoers; but 1 believed the remedy FOR
all the evils of which complained was the
peaceful remedy OF the bal0trbO1. mat
is the language which has been tortured and this is
enough on point. have. however, this comforting
reflection regard ali that has been said and all the
filings at me in relation to that speech that you want
to find where best apples 20 into the orchard
and look the under which will find the mosI
clubs There is no mistake about that rule.
Whence comes this wrongthe fact that, 0twithsanu
ing all this production OF all the necessarles oil
human life, farms still under mortgage Take
another aud put il with this one-that careful esl
mate made in 1906 when we were nearer out
Of debt have been in the history OF TINS
country since the high prices Of the enabled us to
pay of more mortgages and personal debts
than during any previous period OF our ex
istence The personal debt OF the United States
was sleOOOOoOOO Three-quarters of that, about
81 5OOOOOcOO was borne by the agricuturIsts OF the
United States When you consider that this latter sum
has to carried average OF per cent per
annun, is 1t any wonder that poOri Couple
with this another fact, that the annual increase
OF the wealth " the United States for any
decade during the very best period Of our
existence exceeded 81 per that Is, the
agrcuursts are actually carrying o. 500 10000 at 10
per cent while the products Of industry nowhere taking
1t all through, have exceeded 81 per Is IL then
any you poor, and that with each year the
whole agricultural population Of the United States Is
growing poorer and poorer while those who handle the
products Of our labor growing richer and richeri
Take Commodore Vanderbilt, for example, and suppose
that 70 years he worth sO0OOO and that to-day
he Is worth ,sOOOOOOO how has he accumulated tOoocO
In 20 years Mark it, he never earned dollar IN ms
life aud yet he has gotten into his hands
s6OOCOCOO in 20 years. 1 might stop nSet
here and not say another word on the
subject for here sufficient proof that there Is some
thing wrong in this business owing 10 which this man
has accumulated so much How did he do It Has he
rendered equivalent in the service he has perforheu
for us In transporting our productions 20 market
or has he mott That il the question. II he
has not then we have been vronged OF just 80 mnch
money. For everything beyond fair and reasonable
equivalent for the service rendered is Just as much
stolen from us as II he held pistol at your head ana
said "Your money your life ;" taking II because
you had no pistol aud he WAS the stronger.
IL is useless TO try 10 dodge this proposition TOT F"
can't he done. When a who has earned nothing
by productive industry but who mas simply handled Inc