The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-02-13
THE FARMERS ALLIANCE.
is THERE NOT DANGER OF THAT ORGAN
IzATIoN DRAWING ATTENTION
FROM THE REAL ISSUES.
Practical Common Sense, and the En-
erSetic Application of Business
Methods on the Farm, Will Accom-
plish Thousand Times More
Than Resolutions of Wind.

Elsewhere in these columns may be found q
letter from I NJ G of North
peal to the prejudices and ignorances Of the
impecunious and thriftless farmers Of Abbe.
vile county. From that letter we are led to
infer that the chief object OF the Alliance is to
stir up feelings Of animoslty from the debtor
portion Of the people towards the merchants,
who supply them with the provisions or stock
which they themselves should produce on
| their own farms.
Before anybody charges the "Farmer's ALI.
ance" with being O political organization, he
puts in plea of denial But doesn't every
paragraph Of the letter urge the com bination
OF farmers, as he alleges. for "the purpose OF
discussing questions pertai ming to the farm 2?
Then he Immediately talks OF the merchant
the guano agent, the cotton buyer. weak lar
mers" and cliques among the merchants
Even for the millionth time. he asks why
thousands of farmers, with their varied inter
ests, cannot combine as do half dozen men
with o single interest at stake. AS any man
with sufficient intelligence to be allowed 10
stereotyped, old, worn out, foolish question
| 1t would be useless to answer 1t here.
| After proceeding with his letter J. NJ. IT,
Of syy of Atty Is rem reea each doWn
business now.) After n while he says that the
Alliance elected two competent men TO Wdtch
he cotton market" We presume these men
| who "watch tho cotton market" have prof
liable situation at the expense Of the gud
geons composing the Alliance. The farmers
OF the North Carolina Alliance are surely full
grown men, and do not need guardian &c
| take charge Of them when they go TO town
with their cotton. The farmers OF Abbeville
county, we believe, do not need such survell
| lance.
political org eanization, the chief end OF which
Is to promote to profitable office some of the
leaders In the movement, why Is 1t that notn
ing is ever said at their meetings, or In theil
letters, about raising mule colt or sowing
1 Ia hot n r1raRttaQl nnpSttOT
relative to farm work is ever discussed
Why do we not hear something about pasture
fencesH What Alliance has ever said wore
about the profit Of keeping oeesI las hsIaS any
tpatch? Has any man called attention 10 tht
fact that early planted upland corn Will more
often yield a satisfactory return than whet
planted late? Has any man anne made a Speech ecr.
any Farmers Alliance about the pront OF ar
orchard, In which were given any practlca
hints as to the best or most suitable lrults u
be grown? Has any man ever stated @ at ~ 4
meeting of the Alliance that farmers can SOW
oats in october, November and February fo
less cost than they can haul hay from town II
March, April and May, even If the hay wa
given to them?
The debtor portion of the farmers are nt
doubt dissatisfied with poor success; IL II
reasonable and right that they should be DIS
i satisfied. It Is hopeful sign TO see people
wake up to the fact that they are not prosper
Into the causes of their failure each man To-
himself will discover the particular cause
his failure and will apply the remedy as eacf
need pasture fence All who are compelled
to buy mule will ask themselves why tneS
did not raise it. Nine out Of ten farmers car
raise mule at cost Of say SS0 TO S40-all tole
~ they haue good pastures. We know where
OF we Speak, and we assert that we believe ne
home-raised mule need cost $40. 10 keep !
the two first winters of its life costs but TIL
fe. When 1t Is twenty months or Two year:
old, 1t can do sufficient work to pay the ex
pense of It's keep Any man having gooo
pasture can raise hundred
! dollar mule at less cost than ne can raise sl2
hundred pounds Of lint cotton: When mar
comes to town and leads off by eottor
string, a mule for which he has obligated MIN
self to pay $50, and which he could have rails
ed at cost of $780, is eminently qualified U
talk about merchants, cliques & ana arson gua1S iS
hire somebody ITO watch the cotton marKe
for him." :,
better to hire some one to tell hlm 70 pulC
pasture fences and raise mule colt -, ~,
| or all men on the face OF the earth, Lne
thrifty farmer is the most independent: Ht
need have no jealousies Of the merchant, the
suano agent. the cotton markell OF Anything
Then let not the farmers Alliance demon
aliZe our people. There Is no royal roau te
wealth. Practical business methods must oe
applied in individual cases. Then energy ano
eoonomy will bring them victorious over al
their troubles.
Instead of paying fifty cents to some one tc
swatch the cotton market" pay one dollar &c
the "Southern Cultivator,' Atlanta. Ga, ano
get that publication for "A year. 1t Is issued 10
the interests Of farmers In this latitude, ano
no man who hopes to succeed at farming can
well afford TO do without it. This is no adver
tisement Of that paper. We get our copy o.
| II. lust as any reader of the Press and Bdnne'
may get it-by paying the subscription price
| for 1t.