St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-06-07
FARMERSDECLAREWAR
No Railroad Officer or lobbyist, No Agent
of the Wheat Ring Infamy, No
Plunderer
Or 0ppressor of the People Shall be
Elected to Any Office in
Minnesota.
The Alliance, 10000 Strong, Called
Upon to Overthrow Monopoly
Governments.
How to Capture the County Offices,
the Legislature and the Con-
greSSmen.
A Stirring Appeal.

A Stirring Appeal.
The executive committee OF the Farmers
Alliance of Minnesota has just issued the
following address:
AS the time is approaching when you will
be called upon to exercise the right of free
citizens i'll the selection of officers, the under
signed, the executive committee OF the State
Farmers alliance, beg leave to submit to
your consideration the following suggestions
The difference between free men and slaves
is that the former govern themselves, and the
latter are governed by some one. The ballot
box, lntelllgently used, can alone save the
free men from becoming slaves. Three
fourths OF all the ills suffered by men arise
from misgovernment. 1t follows, as matter
of course, that whatever class rules this coun-
try, Will rule it for its own advantages. IL
the people rule, the people will prospect; if
those who live on the people rule they will
as certainly grow rich at the expense of the
rest OF the population. You should there
fore, devote all your leisure time and thought
to the great questions OF the governments;
that is to say. your own prosperity. OF
what avail IS it TO economic and toll if some
cunning knaVe who tolls not is to reap the
fruits of your industry? The most reliable
crop you can raise on the farm is brains. If
the brains are not inside the fence, tl.ey will
be outside of it, and wherever they are, the
crop will belong to them. To-day the machine
OF government is Ill thG
HANDS OF OUR ENEMIES.
They have employed its great power of tax
alton to fill their own pockets under swinding
tariff laws, by railroad overcharges by ruin
ous interest and by ring robberies. They
manipulate and control the newspapers, the
mouth pieces of public opinion. They elect
or corrupt our legislatures and congress. Our
highest body, the United States senate has
become the entrenched camp of monopoly, q
house of lords, a home of millionaires, a
+l,a,. r,,f,
attorneys, and the birelines of every iniquty
which Expresses the people. Our political
parties SIMPLY carry out the orders of the
barons of ROBBERY, while the people are fed
on fair words. Misgovernnent has gone on
in this land. experimenting the oppression
which existed in the Old world through kings,
emperors and aristocrats, until great num-
bers of our people are reduced to misery
discomfort and turbulence. To break down
the price of labor at home the enemies of
mankind have filled the country with importa-
tionS OF hordeS of
FOREIGN LABORERs
from the most oppressed portions of Europe;
and these men, taught all their lives to regard
any kind OF government as tyranny and all
property as robbery, have broken out in
bloody instructions which have shocked and
alarmed the whole country. For the first
time in free America a considerable part of
our population is to-day held in subsection
only by rifles and cannon. The men who by
their Unsuitable rapacity have brought about
this state Of things. are clamoring for q
strong government, that is to say, Il despot-
ism. The farmer should never forget that in
all despotisms the tiler of the soil is serf in
fact, ii not in name. Our agricultural class
has, therefore, the highest interest in pre-
serving the liberties of the whole country
Our foreign-born farmers cannot desire to see
this land go back TO the condition of Europe
and he is indeed blind who does not perceive
Al. 4, ,l...1.. .l.st&
direction. What is our duty in the premises?
THE ALLIANCE NUMBERS
to-day in this state 80, 600 votes 1t is increas-
ing rapidly. By the Sd day of November it
will probably contain 10000 votes. This is a
force of earnest, honest men. They are pro-
ducerS; they seek to Cypress no one; no tears
or cries of suffering follow their footsteps:
they are the salt of the earth. This OF eat
force wisely welded is sufficient to control
the coming election. We trust YOU will Law
down one platform of action: Declare that no
railroad officer or tool or lobbyist, no agent of
the wheat-ring infamy, no plunderer or CD
pressor of the people, shall be elected to any
office in or by this state. The men who rob
the people ought not to ask to represent them.
Let the people govern themselves. Let this be
as good old Abraham Lincoln SAID, "a govern
ment OF the people, by the people and for the
people. And there was never greaternecessity
for throwing the emphasis on that word .for''
than now. Too long has it been government
OF the people and by the people for the bene-
fit of every knave who was cunning enough
to rob the people. In one respect we confess
we know not what to do We do not desire to
organize political party. We hope that one
party or the other will present set of candI-
dates that we can indorse. But the signs are
not lacking that
THE RINGMASTERS
propose to capture both political conventions
and thus, whether Republicans or Democrats
win, monopoly shall triumph. We still hope
for the best, but we should prepare ourselves
for the worst. We would say to you: Devote
your thoughts especially to the legislative
question. The influence of the alliance has
already achieved great results. The laws
passed by the last legislature, though far from
being all we could ask, have already broken
the back of that great wrong, the Millers'
association. 1t has, we are told discharged
large part of its force, and is now about to
dissolve. 1t is claimed by some, however
that this is only a feInt to disarm the opposi-
ton until after the legislature is elected Let
US see to it that such legislature is elected
as will utterly stamp out this infamy and will
make it a criminal offense hereafter for any
such conspiracy to deprive the people of a
free market The people have demanded q
reduction of the rates of freIghts on railroads
in this state 1t is well known that ten rail
roads of the Northwest have watered their
capitalization Gy the issue of S274, 465, O34 80
of stock, which does not represent one dollar
of cash paid but is simply plumber IJpon
this vast sum there is collected annually SI9,-
100000 of interest, every dollar of which is
wrung from the toll and sweat of
AN ENSLAvED PEOPLE.
Minnesota pays a large share of this great
sum, SIS, 327, 067.97, annually. Besides this,
while the roads did not cost, as the railroad
commissioners assure US, to exceed $40, 900
per mile to build and equip them, they are
stocked at from S31.0 600 to $4,000 per mile,
and the people are taxed by excessive rates
to pay for millions more of water" You
will be told that you shall not Interfere in
politics, and candidates of the different par
ties will assure you that they will support
your principles. We have heard that for
twenty years, and there have been twenty
years of oppression and injustice. We have
been unable to rectify single wrong The
machinery of the party in this state is in the
hands of the wealthy classes. They have
hundreds of the ablest men of both parties
in their pay. They stamp out any man who
cannot be controlled by them. Their object
is plain. They govern the people to rob the
people. The people have their votes. and
must use them i'll body to override their
cunning and their money. To do this, elect
your own men to the legislature. You should
move early and select your candidates for
the legislature, and then see which party will
accept your candidates. and with that party
you should cooperate as to the
COUNTY OFFICERS
If both parties accept them, you can divide
according to your political preferences. In