The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1886-02-26
FARMERS ALLIANCE.
The Deciples of the Soil and the State
Railroad Commissioners Hold an
Interesting Conference.

Farmers Alliance held meeting at Good |
On Saturday, the goth inst, for the
of general business, and To confer |
with the Board Of Railroad Commissioners,
who had accepted an invitation To he present.
a representative NJ The FREE Press took
the early train I'm company with several 9th
ers. arriving at the village of Aborigine ap-
pelation shortly after eight O'clock, and
sought out that reputable hostlcry, the Hotel
de Graham, i'm the hall of which building the
meeting was tn he held. During the evening
before, Mr.. Graham had received dispatch
from inspector Haight, ut st. Paul, announc
ing that the Commissioners could not arrive
at Good Thunder before noon on the day ap.
pointed. a. they had to come 10y special train.
This sufced to dspel thoughts OF immediate
action from the mipds of those present, and
NIL sought other means of diversion tn while
away the hours A goodly force of ncwsp iper
men, county commits toner's, Legislators, and
past, present and future politicians took ad-
vantage OF the interim To visit the stock farm
of l.. Houk, Esq, and spent some time i'm
"scizing up" that gentlcman's large herd
Others took tn the corner groceries, 'samplc
rooms" and hotel. to pass away the spell in
incidental chat after the style often described
10y Bob Burdettc, or We fear, in some instanc-
es, after the manner of the inhabitants of tn"
Kentucky roads, IF which =. v. Nasty fro
qucntly makes mention.
Farmers continued To arrive. and by ten
o'clock upwards OF II hundred were I'm the vii
lagc, and after consultation among the officers
ard members Of the organization il was de.
cided To call to order and hold n short session
before noon. Between fifty and scvcnty-hvc
assembled in the hall, and Peter MEG rath,
Esq. of Lyra, President of the Alliance, raped
the meeting To orHcr. ON motion of John
Diamond, VIM. Webb of Sterling was chosen
| tn act as secretary pro tempore I'm the alb
| sence at Geo. w. Haight. Mr. Diamond in.
quired il II were the sense of the meeting Ia
/ have committee on credentials appointed t.
ascertain who were regularly authorized dele
gates. or To hold n sort of "free for all" ses
| sion. Ii was finally decided To dispense with
the formality of examining credentials, and
| the president announced to that effect The
question of proceeding to elect new officer.
was raised, but il was deemed advisable to per
NIT the old ones To act until the close of tn,
| session. Col b. + Smith, OF Rapidan, an
nounced the fact that the special train bear
ing the State officials would arrive mt IL NJ. an,
moved that the chair appoint committee o
live To meet hem ut the depot To- act as escor
10 the hail. The presiding officer named a,
such committee Col Smith. Henry Dyer, OF
LyIa e. II. Piper, of Garden CITY. John Dia
mond, of Mankato, and VIM. Webb. of Stcr
ling.
At this juncture MIR. Diamond requested tina
Hon. f. 5. Warner, Secretary Of the Board o
Commissioners, who was present, explain
why tho Commissioners were not present Mr.
. Hal IA lao
the Board were engaged in similar capacit,
at Wiimar on the day previous and that it wa
pr.ba the meeting had been prolonged t
an hour which prevented their taking Il regu
lar train in season To connect with trains run
ming to Good Thunder that morning. Thi
necessitated their coming by special whic
fact deferred their arrival until noon. He al
so stated that the Commissioners uld com
fully prepared to answer any and all inquire
So far as practicable, AMI would be oyer-pleas
ed to hear complaints from nyone concern
ing wrongs ar abuses inflicted by the railwa
companies.
II was suggested bv the President that
would he well for all those present who ha
complaints TO enter or questions To ask, {
formulate and present the sam before the al
rival of the Commits ioners, as il would ten
To expedite the work OF the afternoon, by en-
abling the Board to consider them in prope
order, thereby avoiding conflict.
| Mr.. Diamond asked if IL would be out of on
der at that stage of the meeting to choose
delegate Ia represent the Alliance at the Stat
meeting in Minneapolis on the 2Ith inst. |
was decided thar such a step W onld be in or
der. Mr.. l.. Cook. of Garden City, declared
that il would not be the height of prOpriety t
ask anyone u go t. the State Alliance meet
ing and bear his own eXpen SEES, and suggest6
that before such delegate We re elected, IL b,
asc"rtaincd whether or not sufficient fund
could be raised to defray the expense of sucl
a trip. He moved that committee Of three
be appointed to mike Il canvass for such pur
pose. which was carried.
! MIR. Cook hum DrOusly requested that Coun
~ Commissioners Piper and Diamond be ap
pointed aS two of sad committee. for Mr.. i
had just IN Idc IL big sale of cattle. The chat
| complied and asked if Mr.. Cook would act a
third man, and he stated that he would. SO ia
as To watch the other two. Mr.. Diam md re-
joiced at this for Mr.. c. had just dis posed of
large roOst of turkeys. Mr.. Warner though
the passing OF the hat should he deferred unit
the afternoon IA To receive the benefit q
an increased crowd. Mr.. Cook, who was TIT
formed the chair that the committee wonl'
take itS time AM not fail to call upon Stat
officials.
On motion President McGrath was electe,
to attend the meeting ut Minneapolis, and oI
motion OF Mr.. Cook, ID. w. Evans, of Judson
was selected as alterna te.
At this time motion to adjourn until %
p III. was offered but owing to a desire on tn
hAa.
good Of the order II was Withdrawn. TIT
chair requested those who han anything 4
offer To proceed to speak, and Mr.. DIAMOND
said that for the purpose of starting discus
sion he would ask-'.what is the best kind o
wheat to raise p Mr. c. II. Piper expresse'
the opinion that 1t is best to raise no wheat
The chair coelesced and thought Mr. P.'s hea'
level. Mr. Cook though that in that case w
would have to fall lack on johnny Cake,
and as that was a frontier luxury which man!
present did not care to return 10 Mr. Piper
counsel was wrong. Mr. Piper said that h
believes in eating beef Mr.. Diamond inform
ed the gentlemen that they had wandered iron
the question, and stated that he raised In
question to have opinions expressed as t
which OF the several varieties of wheat is hes
to raise for milling purposes. He cOnsidere
|
some one variety should he adopted by tn
farmers.
Col. Smith said that his experience had heel
very peculiar In this respect. He said tina
when he raised Scotch Fife wheat that he on
got No. l Northern. He considers two grade
} of No. wheat a nuisance. as it is all grade
alike anyway, and we can not get highe
grade than No. Northern at best. Ii was hi
| ,ha, tbo L.,
furious. He had sown three acres of tn
Saskatchewan variety and threshed ninet!
bushels therefrom, while the Scotch Fife onl
yielded twenty -tw o to twenty-five bushels pc
acre at the same time. He sold the forlne
kind for the same price that his Fife whea
brings him, and got far more per acre. III
did not know but this would warrant a farme
In dispensing with the hard vaIiety. The mil
lers profess that they want hard wheat, bu
don't pay any more than for the soft He I'm
clines 10 the opinion that the Saskatchewan d
the most profitable kind to raise, although h,
is at n stand to know just which he will SOW
II is probable, though, that he will adhere I,
the saskatchewan. MIR. Smith was listened I,
with much interest, and being a farmer o
many years experience his opinion was favor
ably received.
Mr.. Warner stated that such opinions al
those being rendered were just what the Com
missioners wished to hear, and as Chief Grair
Inspector Burdick would be present, he nigh
be able to give the farmers considerable lgh
on the subject, If the discussion could be post
poned until the afternoon. Mr. Diamond
thought that the farmers could canvass. tn,
topic then with much benefit, and favored con
iInuing the subject. Mr. George May, OF Nc
Pherson said that he has faith I'm the Blu,
Stem wheat. and raises that variety mostly
Mr.. Cook remarked that he felt confident tn,