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.

me Declples OF the soil ana the STATE
Railroad Commissioners Hold an
Interesting Conference.
Pursuant tn cali, the Blue Earth County
Farmers Allia nee held meeting at Good
Thunder on Saturday, the 2oth inst, for the
transaction OF general business, and to confer
with the Board of Railroad Commissioners,
who had accepted an invitation To he present.
a representative of THE FREE Press took |
the early train I'm company with several 9th
ers, arriving at the village of Aborigine ap
pellation shortly after eight O'clock, and
sought out that reputable hosiery, the Hotel
de Graham, i'm the hall of which building the
meeting was To he held. During the evening
before, Mr.. Graham had received a dispatch
from inspector Haight, at st. Paul, announc-
inv that the Commissioners could not arrive
nj Good Thunder before noon on the day ap.
pointed. a they bud to come 10y special train.
This sufliccd TO dispel thoughts OF Immediate
action from the mipds OF those present and
NIL sought other means of diversion tn while
away the hours. goodly force Of newsp ,pcr
men, county commits toner's, Legislators, and
past, present and future politicians took ad-
vantage at the interim To visit the stock farm
Of Il l.. Houk, Esq, and spent some time in
"scizng up that gentleman's large herd
Others took To the corner groceries, .'samplC
rooms" and hotel, to pass away the spell in
incidental chat after the style often described
10y Bob Burdette, or we fear, in some instanc-
90, after the manner of the inhabitants of tn"
Kentucky Y roads. of which =. V. Nasty fro
qucntly makes mention.
Farmers continued To- arrive. and by ten
o'clock upwards of u hundred were i'm the vii
Iagc, and after consultation among the officers
ard members of the organization IL was de.
cided Ia call to order and hold n short session
before no n, Between fifty and scvcnty-Hvc
| assembled in the hall, and Peter McGrath
ESQ, of Lyra, President of the Alliance, trapped
/ the meeting In orSer. on motion of John
Diamond, VIM. Webb of Sterling was chosen
tn net as secretary pro tempore In the alb
sence of Geo. w. Haight Mr.. Diamond in
quirrd il IL were the sense of the meeting to
have committee on credentials appointed To
ascertain who were regularly authorized dele.
gates. or tn hold a sort of free for all ses-
sion. 1t 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 officers
was raised. but IL was deemed advisable to per
nit the old ones to act until the close of the
session. Col b, Smith, OF Rapidan an.
!nounced the fact that the special train bear.
ing the State officials would arrive at IL NJ. and
moved that the chair appoint committee of
five To meet hem ut the depot IL act as escor,
10 the hall. The presiding officer named as
such committee Col Smith. Henry Dyer, of
Lyia C. H. Piper, OF Garden City. John Dia
| mond, Of Mankato, and VIM. Webb, of Stcr
ling.
AT this juucture Mr. Diamond requested thai
Hon. 4. ;. Warner. Secretary Of the Board OF
Commissioners, who was present, explain
why tho Commissioners were not present Mr.
w. responded 10 the request, and stated thai
the Board were engaged III a similar capacity
at Wiimar on the day previous and that il wa,
pr. bable the meeting had been prolonged {,
an hour which prevented their taking a regu
lar train in season To connect with trains run
ming to Good Thunder that morning ThI,
necessitated their coming by special which
fact deferred their arrival until noon He al
so stated that the Commissioners W ud com,
fully prepared to answer any and all Inquirer
80 far rs practicable, AMI would he oyer-pleas
cd to hear complaints from nyone concern
ing wrongs ar abuses inflicted by the raiwa,
companies.
IL was suggested bv the PrcsIden that i
would he well for all those present who ha,
complaints TO enter or questions To ask &
formulate and present the sam before the mr.
rival of the Commissioners, AS il would tenC
To expedite the work OF the afternoon, by en-
ablng the Board to consider them in prope
order, thereby avoiding conflict
Mr.. Diamond asked if IL would be out of or
der at that stage of the meeting TO choose
delegate Ia represent the Alliance ut the Stat,
meeting in Minneapolis on the 2ith inst. L
was decided that such a step W Onld be in or
der. Mr. l.. Cook. of Garden City, declared
that il would not be the height of proprety Il
ask anyone u go t. the State Alliance meet
ing and bear his own expenses, and suggestt {
that before such delegate We re elected, IL bt
asc'rtained whether or not sufficient funds
could be raised To defray the expense of sucr
trip. He moved that Il committee of three
be appointed to Ike canvass for such pur.
pose, which was carried.
MIR. Cook hum Drously requested that Coun
ty Commissioners Piper and Diamond be ap.
pointed aS two Of sad committee, for Mr.. =
had just IN ldc II big sale of cattle. The chaii
complied and asked if Mr.. Cook would act "a.
third man, and he stated that he would. so fan
as To watch the other two. Mr. Dium md re
joced at this for Mr.. c. had just dis posed of d
the passing o: the hat should he deferred unit
the afternoon So IA Ia receive the benefit al
an increased crowd. Mr.. Cook, who was In,
acknowledged Sol Smith Russell of the day in
formed the chair that the committee woult
take i'll time AM not fail to- call upon Stat,
officials.
On motion President McGrath was elected
to attend the meeting at Minneapolis, and on
| nj Mr. nf an
was selected as alterna te.
At this time "A motion to adjourn until 81
p. III. was offered but owing to a desire on the
part of some present to hear rema rks for the
good Of the order il was withdrawn. The
chair requested those who han anything t.
offer 10 proceed to speak, and Mr.. Diamond
said that for the purpose OF starting II discus
sion he would ask-"What is the best kind u
wheat to raise 2" Mr.. c. II. Piper expressed
the opinion that IL is best to raise no wheat
The chair coelesced and thought Mr.. P.s head
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 many
present did not care to return TO Mr.. Piper,
counsel was wrong. Mr. Piper said that hi
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 consdere,
Scotch Fife tn be the best, and thought tina
J some one variety should he adopted by the
} farmers.
Col. Smith said that his experience had beer
very peculiar I'm this respect. He said tina
when he raised Scotch Fife wheat that he onl,
got No. | Northern. He considers two grade,
} OF No. I wheat n nuisance, as IL is all grade,
alike anyway, and we can not get higher
grade than No. Northern at best. Ii was his
opinion that the new system of grades IL In
furious. He had sown three acres of In,
Saskatchewan variety and threshed ninety
bushels therefrom, while the Scotch Fife onl,
yielded twenty two to tw enty-fve bushels pei
acre al the same time. He sold the former
kind for the same price that his Fife wheat
brings him, and got far more per acre. liz
did not know but this would warrant a farmer
in dispensing with the hard variety. The mil
lers profess that they want hard wheat, but
don't pay any more than for the soft He I'm
clnes TO the opinion that the Saskatchewan II
the most profitable kind to raise, although he
is at a stand TO know just which he will SOW
II is probable, though, that he will adhere tC
the Saskatchewan. Mr. Smith was listened tC
with much interest, and being a farmer o
many years experience his opinion was favor
ably received.
Mr.. Warner stated that such opinions as
those being rendered were just what the Com
missioners wished to hear, and as Chief Grain
Inspector Burdick would be present, he might
be able to give the farmers considerable light
on the subject, II the discussion could be post
poned until the afternoon. Mr.. Diamond
{ thought that the farmers could canvass the