The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1889-04-16

the combinations he has a way O
forming are rather tyranical in then
operations. His case is admirably
illustrated in one of Hsop's inimitablt
fables. It is the story of the frog:
who, getting tired of their old hum
drum ruler, King Log, decided that
they would have a new and spirited
sovereign, and so selected the Stor1
to be their king; who, as O as he
got fairly over them, proceeded most
theoretically to eat them up. The
American farmers have not only one,
but many, King Storks, in the trusts
and other monopol1es which their
favorite tariff policy has set over them,
and which are ~devouring them with a
gusto that proves them to be possessed
of most royal stomachs.
Our tar~iff-favored class is no longer
a humble petitioner; it has set up to
be a dictator. 1t no longer talks about
Temporary aid for infant industries, u
Henry Clay's favorite EXPRESSION
but about its "rights and preroga-
tives under the law Of the land" The
stronger and richer the monopoly,
the larger is the subsidy it demands.
And no wonder The "protected "
manufacturer is to-day in the political
saddle. He is on the farmers back;
and while the rider may continue to
use soft phrases when they will serve
his purpose, he is equipped with a
strong spur and a long whip, and he
will not hesitate to employ both if
necessary to maintain his seat. He is
not to be overthrow without a desper-
ate struggle. The fact is that we are
now entering upon one of the great,
if not the greatest, contests that are
to mark our progress as a nation.
Like those that have preceded it, it is
to be a battle for freedom-in this in
stance, a battle for industrial freedom.
No n has sc great a stake in it's issue
as the farmer; for it's result is to de-
termine for long years, if not forever,
both his business and his social posi-
ton. In one event, he must continue
to sink toward that condition of hope
less, spiritless dependence which has
been the most m lot of the till
ers of the soil the world over in all
ages; and from which there is seldom
relief except through those volcanic
movements from below--as in the days
of the Revolution in France and the
Magma Charta in England-when the
masses rebel against ~intolerable wrong.
In the other event, we shall witness a
revival among the common people
"the plain people," as Lincoln called
them-which will restore to the land
owners and the land-Workers, as the
most important element among us,
much of the prestige and authority
they had m those days when the
farmer thought he was as good as
anybody else, and sometimes a little
better.
In the impending or rather pend
ing confict-for it is already on-the
issue involved is not a new one. 1t
is the old question of taxation! It is
the question that precipitated the
Revolution. 1t is the question that
has entered into and dominated nearly
every contest between freedom and OPP
preston. Equal taxation always means
freedom; unequal taxation always
means oppression. Under a republic
there may be as severe oppression as
under a despotism. 1t all depends on
the placing of the burdens. One in
terest may be uplifted, and another
may be crushed. That is the precise
condition among us to-day, and the
question to be fought over and de-
is, whether we are to have equal
or unequal taxes.
In that contest the party principally
interested on one side must, by reason
of his position and numbers, be the
farmer; while on the other will be the
trusts and the privileged classes that
are fattened at his expense. Which
will win Which should win?
J. r. H.