The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1888-04-24
A UNION co. BROTHER VEN
TURES A WORD.
TRINITY SUB-ALLIANcE, No. 26S,
Union Co. N &.

Col. L.. L. PoLK.-Dear Sir and
Brother With your permission and
the strong solicitation of the members
of my Club, I thought I would pen
you a few lines for the consideration
of our brethren who may have the
pleasure Of reading our valuable paper,
The PROGRESSIVE FARMER, though I
am not in the habit Of writing for the
press. This is my first, and it may
find it's way to the waste basket; if so,
it is all right. a
q do not think that there is any
danger of our 'overrating or overesti-
mating the important part which we
are now acting in human affairs. It
should not fatter our personal -self-re-
spect but it should reanimate our
patriotic victims, and inspire us with
deeper and more solemn sense, both
of our privileges and of our duties.
We cannot wish better for our coun
try, nor for the world, than that the
same spirit which influenced Wash
ington may influence us and all who
succeed him, and that the same bless
ing from above which attended his
efforts may also attend ours.
Brethren, the world at this moment
is regarding US with a willing, but
something of fearful admiration, and
our great, our high duty is to show in
our own examples that the Alliance
is an order of health, as we'll, as an
order of power; that it's benignity is
as great as it's strength and it's object
is to secure individual rights, social
relations, and moral order; and when
we reflect on what has been and is,
how is it possible not to feel a pro-
found sense of the responsibilities of
this organization to all future ages.
What brilliant prospects invite our
enthusiasm What vast motives press
upon us for lofty efforts What
solemn warnings at once demands our
vigilance, and moderate our conf
dence and here let me address a
word to my own State: Go on with
what you have begun and never rest
until you have opened every facility
to every part of our State. Give our
inhabitants chance among the rest
of the States, and you will not hear so
much about Alabama or Arkansas
Texas or Georgia. Do not become
discouraged; remember that Rome
was not built in a single day.
North Carolina is one Of the most
beautiful States in the Union, and
the soil is highly fertile and well calcu-
lated for cotton and grain, and within
our own territory stretching through
many degrees of latitude and longitude
we have the choice Of many products
and many means Of independence. So
let every Alliance man feel the re-
sponsibilities of his position with
determination that the hopes of the
members shall not be disappointed;
nor let him mistake the nature of his
duties.
Many men recognize our evils
and our dangers, but they do not seek
for the remedy. But thank God, the
age has caught the spirit of our ALI
ance. It has already ascended the
Alleghaneys and snuffed the breezes
of both scenes; it has infused itself
into the Iife-blood of Texas, and
warmed the sunny plains and low
lands of Georgia; it has touched the
philosophy of North Carolina and is
moving on southwark. So you see
salvation is all around, and now [ call
upon you, my brothers, by the shades
of your ancestors, by the dear ashes
which repose in this precious soil, by
all you are, and all you hope to be, re-
sist every project of disunion.
Ignorance may misinterpret 1t, am
b;+;o, NOV oeeo;l and faction seek to