Sturgis advertiser. (Sturgis, Dakota [S.D.]) 1887-1???, 1889-06-05
DOLLARS AND THE ALLIANCE.
SPRING VALLEY, May 80.

EIGHTY DOLLARS AND THE ALLIANCE.
SpRING VALLEY, May 80.
To the Editor of the Advertiser:
Ny attention has been called to an
item purporting to be copied from the
Whitewood Sentinel, which reads as fol-
lows.
Captain Gardner passed through town yester-
day en- route home from Butte county. where he
has been insuring crops against hail in the ALI
with farmers is evidenced by the fact that the
captains commission amounted to nearly $50 in
ten days.
Now, have faith to believe that you
will give both sides to this question in
justice and fairness to your readers, a
large portion of whom are farmers and
many of them members of the alliance,
as well as in justice to myself. Now, to
prove that editors, like other people, are
not infallible, will state that I have
never taken one dollars worth Of insur-
ance in Butte county. Second, I hereby
authorize any one of your readers to
write to s. ID. Cooley, secretary of the
alliance insurance company, at Huron,
and get sworn statement from him of
all commissions have earned in any ten
days since I have been agent for the
company, and if they amount to one
third of $50 I will agree to donate $50
to any laudable charity the editor of the
ADVERTISER may suggest. will further
agree to be to all expense of procuring
the necessary proof Of this statement
Now, as the alliance has no ssorgan,"'
will the ADVERTISERS be kind enough to
let me use its columns to make plain
some things, and what the alliance has
done and is trying to do for the farmers,
and the tradesmen as we'll, of the Black
Hills
First as to insurance. Last year a
company known as the F. M. P. A. did
business in the Hills on a plan similar
to the alliance hail company. To be-
come member of that company cost
each farmer $40. This year the alliance
is organized, and it's membership fee is
So. The F. M. P. A. Immediately re-
duces it's membership fee to the same
price. Suppose they insure 200 farmers
this year, there will be saving of ST.
600.
Again, if we had been able to have
procured insurance against hail at as
reasonable rates as we can today, during
the last five years, a good many farmers
in Bare Butte valley would have been
saved from being sold under mortgage
and good many debts would have been
paid that never will be.
Again, no intelligent man doubts but
WI I,nf tyyy<N mo- he f1,c into
ton of the twine trust to make prices 25
cents pound in New York and Chicago
under the plea of scarcity of raw ma
terial." A million of organized farmers,
through their executive committees and
by resolutions, said they would not buy
at those figures.
Result: Instead of paying 26i cents
pound today, farmers can buy Of their
local dealers all they want at 16!t, saving
thereby 10 cents a pound. Now, it is
estimated that all the Black Hills coup-
ties will use less than 100000 pounds of
twine this year. Ten cents a pound
means $4,000 saved. Add not less than
81 600 saved on insurance and we have
the snug little sum of $11.60O saved
for what? Not to put in bank, but to
buy groceries, boots and shoes, dry
goods, pay for newspapers and other
necessaries which we would have been
to go without or buy on credit
but for this same much-abused and mis-
farmers organization.
Our object is not to tear down, but to
build up every legitimate trade and in
dustry by preventing this systematic
robbery through combinations, whereby
a few grow immensely rich at the ex-
pense Of the many. If the farmer is
is not the tradesmen and
nearly all classes of non producers? If
we are in distress as class, financially,
are not the great mass of non producers
likewise effected? If we can improve
our condition by organization, as think
have already proven that we can, is it
not only wisdom on our part, but is it
not wisdom and good financial policy on
the part of all unprejudiced and fair
minded people to encourage our efforts
In that direction?
With malice toward none let us strive
to build up the waste places, and pro-
mote the prosperity of the masses as
against the grasping greed Of combina-
tons and trusts.
CIV. GARDNER.