Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1888-06-16
ADDRESS TO THE CHANGERS.
BY H. N. TURNER.
d n Ms O1s<N1x'
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CONTINUED FROM 4TH PAGE.
wheat to-day at eighty cents per bushei
as he did for two dollars and half per
bushel; yet unprotected by proper laws
his sugar is adulterated and large ma
iority of his purchases impure or made
cheap to sell cheap. Not long since the
United States government refused to re-
deem the trade dollar at its par value,
and that coin for while would only
pass at our stores for eighty cents. Up
ON hearing the complaints of the people
a lew wishing to attract attention and
draw trade said to his boy, Shaky, you
mark up efry tollars wort of goods,
phust dwenty wife cents, und den by
dunder, puts oud a sign, drade toiiars
daken here at one hundred cents. !" So
it is with the conference.-the resorts
to the tricks of trade and makes goods
25 per cent. less in value, in order that
he may sell them ~ per cent. less In
price.
have said the grange was organized
to secure protection to the farmer-first
we should demand national protection,
and secondly we should demand state
protection we should be protected from
trusts. by enactment of laws Furnishing
those who form them. The same law
that Furnishes the highway robber for de-
handing your money or your life, should
punish those who rob the public, by ex-
tortionate charges for the necessaries OF
life. The same law that imprisons the
man who counterfeits money should inn
prison the man or men engaged in coun-
terfeiting or adulterating any article of
merchandise.
We should be protected from paying
more than our share of the money re-
quired for the support of the national
government and should demand that no
more money in the shape of protective
tariff be exacted from the people, than
is necessary to defray the expenses of
the government administered with the
same economy as that practiced upon
the farm. In our state we should be
protected by our state laws. We need
an active state chemist, whose business it
should be to analyze phosphate, test SUI
CARS, examine teas. or any other article
if it is found to be adulterated, and pun
ish if possible, those who have placed
it upon the market : we should make it
our business as an organization to see
that our state government is administer
ed judiciously and economically, that no
| more money is appropriated or expended
| by our legislators than is abso lutely nee
essary to defray the state expenses, and
every means be employed to reduce the
present enormous tax. with which the
| people are now burdened. That the bur-
den of taxation may be equally distribut-
| ed, we should require the passage of
| laws that will tax bonds of every descrIp-
ton the same as land or any other prop
erty we should have laws to exempt
| from taxation, that portion of the farm
or that amount of property which is
inortgaged or which represents borrow
ed money. on which the farmer is al
ready paying high rate of interest. For
example, let us take farm worth $4,000.
A farmer buys it and pays $4,000 down,
the balance is secured by deed of trust
and the seller holds the purchaser 8
bonds for $4,000 on which he pays the
legal rate of interest. The assessor
comes around and exempts the mer-
chants borrowed capital; taxes this
farmer, not only on the $4,000 which is
his but on the $4,000 which is his indebt-
edness to the man of whom he bought
the farm. This makes the borrowers
money cost him perhaps over seven per
cent, which is usury in West Virginia
and not allowed by the state law. The
man who holds the bonds, if he is honest
gives the amount to the assessor, and
pays his taxes upon them but if dis
honest, he can put the bonds in his pock-
ct and say nothing about their existence
and dodge his taxes every year. / do
not like to offer advice to men who are
much older and wiser than myself; but
remembering that the sturdy oak from
the modest acorn grows and that good
ideas sometimes spring from humble
minds, let us suppose our legislature was
to require a tax receipt for every years
taxes to be attached to every bond to
make it good for collection; little receipt
the size of a postage stamp would do; it
| is plain to be seen that this would make
every bond holder honest whether he
wanted to be or not and would make the
right party pay the right taxes.
| There are many other things for which
the farmer IS suffering and for which he
needs legislation. If we want relief
| from the measles, we must send for a
doctor and take the right sort of medi-
cine, 80 if the farmer wants relief from
the disease from which he is suffering,
namely over taxation, &C., we must send
farmers to our legislature to doctor farm
ers affairs and not send lawyers to make
the last state of the man worse than the
first; we know that the average politician
| of the legal profession, will tell us about
1 election time, of the great love he has
for the farmer and his interests.
But when he gets our votes and is
elected, he turns out to be like an Irish
man once heard of. This Irishman was
a good fellow, but sometimes would get
drunk and occasionally amuse himself
by giving Biddy his wife a thrashing
So one morning while he was engaged
IN the pleasant occupation of thrashing
| h hrO t1or low
upon the scene and Pat was forced to ex-
plain, he told his brother-in-law that it
wasn't his ''dislike" for Biddy that
made him thrash her, but that he want
ed to make her dutiful wife y and
1t was his great love and affection that
sometimes made him chastise her Bid
dy dried her eyes and replied" faith
its meself that knows ye love me Paddy
and l never have doubted your affection;
but what I object to, its yourself that
has such devil of queer way showing
it," So it is with the average politician
he has very queer way of showing his
affections for and interest in the farm
/ err.
In conclusion let me say, that by COM
bining for the election of good, honest.
substantial men to Office, much of the
evil now existing would be remedied
and it is granger's duty to throw off the
binding shackles of political prejudice
and strive for principle and not for
party in order that the agriculturist
may be freed from the slavery into
which he has unconsciously drifted.
When these things or any part of them are
accomplished, the grange will have full
filled its mission and will show forth
its benefits to its members; we may not
get what we want to-day but if we
stick together in the brotherhood of our
order, we will accomplish some to- NOR
row, we may not right every wrong this
year, but if we hold together. in the
year to come we will undoubtedly lie