The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-03-06
81. M. O." RUsHEs TO THE DEFENSE OF
THE ALLIANCE.

He Thinks the Scheme of Raising
Mule is n RuinOus Experiments
An Article Which Needs No AM
swer.
see YOU have Ind the short notice which I
sent YOU, concerning the Alliance In North
Carolina published. and 1t seems that IL has
to a degree agiiated the Press and Banner.
Now, had nothing OF this In view. | merely
meant TO give some idea Of what the order
designed TO do and what progress had been
made. What more than two thonsand Iar-
mers and some of them very Intelligent,
have deemed grand move for the amel1ora-
tion of their poverty stricken condition. the
Press and Banner has deemed resolutions OF
wind" OF course man hn NV VINO vGs ny and sS no
only that but he ought to, II possible, make
up for the quality in quantity. But let every
man have his own opinion and especially II
he has sufficient intelligence to be allowed 10
90 at large. The Press and Banner has under
taken a very hard task If he expects to over
take the wind on n thirty dollar mule The
presumption drawn from my arLlcie was, was uI,
and ignorances Of the impecunions and thrift,
less farmers of Abbeville County" ! am OF
the opinion that the farmers OF AobeVille
County are not deserving of any such cpl
thets rs the above, If they are l hope they
may soon awake and shake off their dull
sloth and think for themselves: learn to de-
fend themselves and farm for themselves. -,
stated that the Alliance aimed at no polit-
icaI scheme. and that 1t Intended to create no
luminosity between the farmers ana mer-
chant It may create such but that eant n be
the whole country by merely DEFENDING their
own principles and property. The OBJECT OF
the Alliance Is not to create trouble. but 10 rs,
sst farmers of all classes and grades who Will
ally themselves In producing with as little
expense as possible those articles which they
have been and are always In neeu oil, ana the
purchasing Of which has caused the FARMERS
to be denominated the "debtor portion OF tne
people," ~ -,
the farmers Of any county then, can they "a 40
more when divided than when united? The
Press and Banner may call this question all
the "pet' names he may see mt, yet If our iar'
mers would give IL earnest and sober fought,
on the side of union, and dare say there
would be fewer "threadbare" farmers in our
country II they were all ALLIANCE men.
The Press and Banner either did not know
or feIgned triumphant Ignorance OF what the
Alliance is when he asked the question,
I"Why is 1t that O practical question relative
to farm work is discussed ~ I will answer
Why WI Is It that the sun does not shine on Q.
clear day? The answers TO these questions
would be Of the same kind. After asking this
profound question, ne suggesIted - some so6 toPlcs S
how to build pasture fence. how to keep bees,
and would 1t pay farmer TO haul hay from
town during spring months, In case the mer.
cQRQU STOulQ give INc udJ W VI "Ou" ~
not be better for him to sow oats2 / will sug-
gest another Of equal weight. Should q man
sow lightning bugs In his thin land and raise
toads? Most farmers know now 10 bulld
fences, and that they must not eat onions
|just before they 60 to rob bees and as TO the
last question lie asked with reference to the
hay, there is an If In 1t.
The next thing suggested Is the mule, very
touchous subject indeed, without you are
aware that It's religion is In the front end.
Stock raising in u stock country is a slow way
to make money. but stock raising In cotton
country is the greatest OF folly, especially
would 1t be so with the average farmer. Take
the average farmer and let him have one nun
dred acres of land, and this fear Is too much
living or support, for that is about as much as
he can do. Then must he go to raising
mules? Can he not, II he can procure the
necessary supplies at fair price, those l
mean which be cannot produce on O. cotton
farm, and then get q fair price for his crop,
make more money than he could any other
way? 1t trequires some degree Of wealth to
be able to raise stock successfully. The Press
and Banner knows about as much about
farming as the great agriculturist OF whom /
once heard. He was ever and anon sending
&c. And 1t happened that the agricuturist
wanted 10 buy cow, so Il farmer sold him
one, and what do you suppose was the result?
The farmer was sued for selling cow that
had no teeth In the front part OF her upper
Jaw. ~
can unite and assist each other In pi oduclng
It and then sell 1t at their own price, the far
mers will be the rulers. to O degree, az we'll as
the producers. But II Is not necessary to say
more about what this country is adapted 10
the growth Of or whether 1t will pay to raise
mules.
,, "Watching the cotton market let us talk
about that little now can honest man does
not care for being watched and rascal ought
to be watched" The farmer Is watched when
he places q bale Of cotton on the platform, the
susrector bores 1t to the centre. What for I?
Just for fun? No, there are farmers who
would sell sticks, dirt and water at ten cents
per pound II they were not watched, ana
there are farmers who are as honest as they
can be. So you see we have to watch the hon.
} est man In order to catch the rascal, and treat
all alike. All will say that when this exam
lining Is made necessary, 1t ought to be done,
then claim that dishonesty Is not peculiar
to farmers. The farmer has as much ground
for suspecting the merchant as the merchant
the farmer. have sal Id that the farmers pro-
duce is To be examined and its the business
the merchant 10 examine It, Now In what
way Is the merchant to be watched? With
reference to the price he pays for the produce
| will illustrate this by an example which
actually happened In our mark last fall
A young man took eight bales of cotton to
market He tried the market and was by the
CLIQUE offered $40 per hundred. He went to
the Alliance men, those placed there by the
Alliance to watch the market, and they
} bought his cotton ut 1895 per hundred. This
Is no fancy example, 1t happened IN our mar
ganization OF the Alliance we had no market
really, and farmers took their cotton to other
. markets, when IL was in the least convenient
Does this not persuade us that there Is more
, money in defending our rights than in single
handed labor?
II seems that the Press and Banner is out
and out opposed 10 the organization of the
farmers. will not say he Is an enemy TO the
. farmer. but will say that that Is the largest
gun any man can fire at class for whom he
hos no love. The argument is "divided we
, stand, united we fall" Yes, the merchant Is
, should meet and say what cotton Is going to
fore there is q cracked pod In the field. But
the farmer must not say anything; that would
be wrong; let them stay ut home and attend
to their own business. The organization has
as q whole sent up resolution that the men,
bers " i'll not use any guano this year unless
they con get 1t as cheaply as any agent, and
!, he who falls to quote prices to Alliance men
, as to other agents may keep his guano.
Therefore you see that "middleman" must
come down and out, unless the farmer puts
him up, and when they put him up he must
be in sympathy with the Alliance and an eX-
perienced farmer. Let the farmers stick to.
topics as how TO prepare the soil for II crop,
how to seed that crop and cultivate the same,
and how to gather II, and then be careful how
they market IL or the whole thing Will be lost
in the end. Last but not least, beware OF
those who are opposed to the organization:
; ]. NJ. 6.
Garrison's, N. c., Feb. %, 1850.
Mortgages.
The following, from Capt. r. B. Gaddy, in
tho POlktOn News Ia to the DOiut and SHOULD d