The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1889-07-02
THE ALLIANCE AND THE To-
BACcO QUESTION.

EDITOR PROGRESSIVE FARMER =
Feeling under many obligations othe
editor of the tobacco department of
the Durham Plant, not only for in
structions as to what kind Of tobacco
to plant, how to plant, ho7, to cult.
vate, cure and market the weed; and
for his good opinions of the Alliance
and for his many kind suggestions as
to how the order should be conducted.
IN the goodness of our heart-out of
pure gratitude for past favors-we
feel inclined to try and help him by
a few suggestions, how to get out of
his fog In reference to the ends and
aims Of the Alliance. 1t is simplv Ia
go and hear Bro. Harry Tracy speak.
and, If at the conclusion of his speech
he can't come to a conclusion as to its
aims, then I'm mistaken in Bro.
Walkers mental acumen The bur.
den of Bro. Walkers complaint is:
"That the Alliance tries to pump
everything out of you they can and
not a word will they tell" Now, I
offer him another suggestion: eco
out to some crossroads store" and
hear the class of men who were "born
tired" discuss important Alliance mat.
tiers; or some very important question
that will likely come up at the next
meeting of the Alliance. Doubtless
that class of Alliance men will give
him the information after which he is
grasping in the dark. olive and let
live is a good motto for any philan-
thropist's album; but, alas !! brother
Walker, it is too seldom acted up to.
When one tries to act up to it, too
often his act is not re~ciprocated; the
other party takes the cake and walks
off. Case in point: An Alliance man,
a stakeholder in the Durham Alliance
Warehouse, took a couple Of loads of
his best curings to market and sold in
another house. Live and let live was
his motto when he left home; he got
a low price. Since then the burden
of his song has been: "This is an un-
grateful world; all that most of them
care for you is for what they can get
out of you"
You are right, brother Walker,
when you say the Alliance is a good
thing; and we hope, as a philanthro.
pist, you will help to throw all the
safeguards you can around our erring
brethren, for the paths of this life
are crooked and stumpy, and it is a
difficult task to walk them straight.
AS for Ray Alliance, we are thankful
that we are not composed of the
"born-tired class. | can safely say
that | have spent less time at cross
road stores, lettering or lounging,
within the past twenty-five years than
| have seen tobacco buyers spend in
one trip to market. For, how often
do we see this useful and worthy class
of citizens sit around the warehouses,
On piles of unsold tobacco, picking it
to pieces and sometimes pressing it till
it has the appearance Of having been
under hydraulic pressure; but perhaps
some of them also have been born
tired. We are very thankful for the
suggestion, that one order can't run
everything. AS for ourselves, we feel
very much like we have run enough.
We have took in a cropper but
we had to run him. This year | had
to run several, and it has run my corn
crib low. [ feel like not doing it any
more. AS for merchants running the
farmers and furnishing them supplies,
L vote to stop that. AS for farmers run
ming warehouses and tobacco facto-
ries, we do not approve of that: Pro
vided warehousemen will sell for rea-
sonable commissions and manufactu-
rers give a fair price for u tobacco.
B. F. WHITE.