davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-08-29
The Issue in Pennsylvania,

The issue which confronts the farm
ers of Pennsylvania in the pending polit-
ical campaign is the equalization of
taxation, and on this issue alone must
the battle be waged. There is danger
that in the heat and excitement of the
political fight raging from one end of the
state to the other over who shall be the
chief executive of the commonwealth
the real issue will be obscured or lost
sight of altogether.
The whole question of our success now
hinges on this: "Can the farmers of the
commonwealth of Pennsylvania so break
away from party ties as to be able to
unite on men for the legislature who
will stand up first, last and all the time
in support of the enactment of such a
revenue law as they should in Justice
have?'
We must make this question the one
issue of the campaign. and bend all our
energies to the accomplishment of this
purpose. If the candidate of the party
with which you have always acted re-
fuses or neglects to openly pledge him
self to labor for the passage of fair and
equitable revenue law erase his name
from your ticket and insert in it's place
the name of candidate who stands
pledged to do the work, no matter which
political party has placed him in nomina-
ton. The time has come when the
farmers Of this state must take care of
themselves, and to do this they must
stand together, and vote together and
go into this fight contending for but one
principle-the principle of equal taxa
Notwithstanding Grange Advocate.
The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-08-29
of Course It's Robbery.


There is an increasing number of writ
ers and speakers who unhesitatingIy de-
clare that the farmer has been syste-
matically, persistently and outrageously
robbed. We need not go so far as this,
not SO much because the statement is I'M
true as because it has hard, disagreea-
BILE sound, and seems so extravaganza in
it's nature as to repel many candid peo-
pie from calm investigation of the
facts in the case. If the granary of a
single farmer be entered in the night.
and one-third of the contents stolen, the
act would be termed theft and the actor
a thief, and if caught he would pun
ished as one.
If the granaries of all farmers had suf-
fered the same treatment it would be the
most gigantic robbery on record, but a
crime of what we may call the unpun-
ishable size. If it should appear that in
stead of this last supposition, by means
of the skillful manipulation of legisla-
ton, one-third of the selling price of the
contents of all the farmers granaries lad
been kept out of the hands Of the lawful
owners, would not the farmers be just as
badly off in this as in the other case
when we called it robbery? What mat
tiers it to the farmer whether the Just re-
ward of his labor is taken from him or
kept out of his reach?-E. M. Burchard
in National View.
The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-08-29
for us farmers to sell FIXTURE wheat
than for the gamblers.
Let me know through your paper
what you think of it.
J. r. REISNAES.
HOW THEY FEEL ABOUT 1T.

HOW IdE1 ADOO1
A prominent alliance official, OF
Goodhue Co., writes as follows:
"The gross carelessness, arrant
rascality, or contemplate meanness
of our State Secretary and ex-State
Secretary, have made me more trou-
BILE than all other things combined.
But this treatment of me is nothing
to their treatment of the Alliance.
However, we must remember that
Christianity survived all it's trials
and prosecutions, even the perfdy
of Judas could not kill so good q
cause. The American Revolution
came through the terrible ordeal of
fire and blood; neither the power of
British Empire, nor the tomahawks
and scalping knives of warlike saw
ages, not the treason of Benedict
Arnold, could stop it. The Farmers
Alliance movement is too good q
cause to be killed by the dirty deeds
and treachery of a gang of scoun-
drelS."
The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-08-29
When to Trim Apple Trees.

At one of the New York Farmers in
stitutes the question when is the best
time to trim apple trees:" was replied to
as follows:
Col Curtis-Opinions vary. Some say
when the tree is growing the fastest;
others say this will injure the tree.
believe it will
Mr.. Hoyt, Of Connecticut-W do the
most of our pruning the latter part of
winter and in early spring.
Secretary Woodward prune for
fruit in winter, and in the early spring
for wood, when the trees are in leaf.
Mr.. Powell-There is really no dor
mant condition of any tree. A constant
change is going on. prefer to trim my
trees just before they come in leaf.
Mr. Fenner-I begin in the autumn
and trim all winter.
The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-08-29

After the ground is all plowed and
crops are all in it is sometimes a ques-
ton with the farmer how he shall man
age the manure which working animals
and mich COWS are all the time making.
The best thing that can be done with it
is to throw in small heaps under cover,
and place over it a covering of one or
two inches of dry earth. There will be
fermentation, but what the heap loses in
bulk will be gained in increased strength
and availability. The earth will absorb
the gases, and when the piles are drawn
out in the fall this will be as rich as any.
Scrapings from the henhouse thrown on
the pile of horse or COW manure will not
breed hen lice, as the dust from dry
earth will destroy them as fast as they
hatch. The floors under the roosts
should be kept covered with earth, and
the droppings removed at least once q
week, and daily would be still better
American Ga ivator.
The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-08-29
Questionable Aid for Farmers.

Mr.. Ewart, the representative in con-
gress from this district, where the
farmers are very poor, so much so that
scores of them live through the winter
on corn purchased in the spring and
summer on borrowed money at dollar
or more a bushel, has introduced a bill
In the house of representatives having
for its purpose the lending of money by
the government on mortgage of the
farms at 2 per cent. per annum, but by
a strange inconsistency he exempts from
the proposed privilege all farmers whose
land is not worth $500.
If this proposed bill is for the benefit
of the poor farmers of the district repre-
sented by Mr.. Ewart, the majority of
whom are not worth $500, of what ad-
vantage will it be to them? Money is
borrowed by these poor farmers often to
buy food until their crops mature at
most usurious rates; a hundred dollar
loan or less is often made at 8 per cent.
interest and a discount of Is per cent,
both on the gross amount, SO that the
borrower of $50 gets no more than $31 so,
for which he returns in six months (the
whole of the interest is exacte6 the $50
for which he has given a mortgage.
Where Mr.. Ewart's philanthropy for the
poor farmer comes in it is hard to per-
ceive; but it is easy to see how it may
be turned to the advantage of the rich
ones. A farmer who can borrow 81, 900
may lend it out to his poor neighbors on
the terms mentioned and make profit
of just $500, getting $500 for the loans
and paying $40 only to the government
for the interest. He can thus live very
comfortably on the proceeds of other
mems labor.-Asheville On. CO. Tele-
gram.
The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-08-29
Tho Farmer at School.

If this farmers organization should &C
complish nothing more it has proved to
be one of the greatest schools of political
economy ever known, and is doing more
to set people to thinking for themselves
instead of allowing others to think for
them than any other society in existence
Go where you may you will find the
masses talking intelligently upon sub
jects that few years ago they were
wholly ignorant of. They no longer look
to party bosses for their opinions, but
study for themselves
The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-08-29
The Ontario Farmer,

It is not a sign of general or of great
prosperity or happiness when we see
farmers SONS and daughters dissatisfied
with their calling or position, and dis
couraged by the gloominess Of the future,
leaving their country, their homes and
all nearest and dearest to them-by hun
dreds and thousands-to seek living
elsewhere. Nor is the enormous increase
in the general Indebtedness of farmers
during the last ten years-taken in con-
nection with the depreciation which has
simultaneously occurred in the value of
their farms-an indication of prosperity,
as some would like us to believe.
The farmers of Ontario have hitherto,
with comparatively few exceptions, been
the owners of the land which they have
cultivated. In 1881 there were FOG, 1899
occupiers of land, Of whom 1853, 140 were
owners, $500 tenants and 1859 en-
ployes or owners stewards. The proper
ties, or holdings, were not large, but
amply sufficient under favorable condi-
tons to maintain the owners in COM
fort. Only 1853 persons owned more
than 200 acres each. And of these prob
ably not more than 100 or 200 owned as
much as 1000 acres of farming land.
am fully persuaded when the next
census is taken we will find a marked
increase in the number of tenants and
employees or stewards as compared with
the number of owners occupying and
cultivating their own land. If my sur
mise proves correct land we shall soon
know cannot but regard this also as
an unfavorable sign indicative Of an
other step in the downward career of
the farmer-that is, descent from the
proud and Independent position of Gown
er and occupier," or that of peasant pro-
prietor, to that Of tenant only. Thus on
every hand the greatest and most i'm
portant industry of the Dominion shows
symptoms of distress. Toronto
Globe
The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-08-29
Government Loans to Farmers.

The government has extended pecuni-
airy aid to railroads, bankers, etc. Now
let it give aid to farmers; but the loans
should be limited.
That every farmer may have a home
let the government loan him money at /
per cent. on only eighty acres and ex-
empt that much land from taxation.
When man dies it is hard for a
widow to run a farm that may be mort
gagged at per cent, make living and
pay interest.
The homes are the safety of the ma
ton, and we are in favor of loaning mo-
ney to farmers that they may clear a
home of eighty acres. The farmer would
have to work his farm to pay the per
cent. and make a living, but the govern
ment paid interest to bankers and loaned
them the money virtually for nothing.
It would be dangerous policy to loan
any more money to farmers than to
clear homestead, because if the loans
were unlimited the righteousness of
some would control too much land. The
government should loan money only to
parties who occupy the land as home
stead.
This government loan should extend
to homesteads in towns and cities, only
to those who occupy the homes. No
money should be loaned to landlords
who lease houses or lands. When
produce is sold for less than cost of pro-
duction it will bankrupt any farmer,
and the best remedy for farmers is to
have personal property and eighty acres
homestead exempt from taxation, and
tax all incomes from every source of
every kind.-W. 81. Hoffman in Grange
Bulletin.
The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-08-29
Calls by Harness.

When the harness rubs the skin it
should be softened by good soaking
with hot water and then we'll oiled with
castor oil. A piece of sheepskin with
the wool Oh it should be fastened on the
tugs where they press on the skin. The
gals may be busted with calomel, which
is the best application that can be made.
1t may be applied by means of puff
made of cotton batting. Collar gals
may be prevented by softening the collar
as above suggested, and by washing the
horses neck every evening with salt
water. Pads are Objectionable, as they
produce sweating. which causes the skin
TO be chafed
The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-08-29
10 THE PRESS.
An Editor who Thinks That the News.
papers Ought to Do Right.

An Editor who Thinks That the News
papers Ought to Do Right.
Gentlemen of the press, we wish q
friendly word with you. You have seen
glowing statements of the wealth and
prosperity Of this nation. Long columns
Of figures have shown Us that as nation
we have outstripped the nations Of the
world in the accumulation of wealth.
But you know the masses of our people
are not prosperous. You know agricult-
ure is on the verge of ruin, that prod
ucts are selling at less than cost and that
the hand Of general industry is paralyzed.
You know that the cry Of hard times
that we would gladly stife through our
pride of home is more than an empty
cry-that it is terrible reality. Your
own business, your own subscription
list would teach you this if your obser-
walton did not.
The great wealth and prosperity rep
resented in the long columns of figures
of which we have spoken is floating
upon the surface of the sea of our ma
tional life, while beneath that is power
ty, deplorable and unnecessary. As a
part of the great masses and their inter-
mediate representative, what is your
duty? You would be glad if the people
were more prosperous; you would be
glad to see agriculture in a fiourishing
condition; you would be glad to see the
country developed.
Now what is in the way Of our all
joining in support of relief measures?
You do not want silver demonetized,
you want free coinage and so do your
readers. Why not join in one emphatic
demand for free coinage? Do your party
leaders oppose it? Who are your party
leaders, and who makes them such? Are
you afraid of their disapproval? Rather
make them afraid of your disapproval
and the peoples. The press ought to re-
fleet the sentiment of the people and
control rather than be controlled.
And there is the Stanford farm loan
bill. What do you think of that meas
ure? Have you studied it's provisions
and the principle On which it is founded?
We think you are bound to admit that
the provisions are fair and safe and the
principles just. What, then, is in the
way Of your joining us in the demand
for its adoption? It will increase our
circulation and it will increase it where
most needed. It will add prosperity to
your business, to ours and to everybody
else. Must party stand in the way of
your advocacy Of it? If it is right and
just, and needed measure, let us
unitedly demand it. There is great re-
sponsibility resting upon the press
Mt. Vernon Qlls.) Progressive Farmer.
The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-08-29
6Eglz|z|:aAIR|ISA q
LAKE PRESTON. s. Oak. $3.50

LAKE L hEoION, -. sOStk., C-lC-OO.
EDITOR GREAT WEST.
Just received two numbers OF your
paper and have read them and will
read them again and then send them
on Missionary work to the neighbors.
If we did not have the same grim
monster Centralized wealthy to
struggle against here l would be in
your state among my people (the
Scandinavians) proclaiming the aw-
Ml wrongs committed against an un-
Inspecting people and pointing out
the glad tidings in store for the COM
ing generation that will lend e help
ing hand to this new Crusade.
I see three things in your paper
that 1 want: First, The GREAT
WEST; second, Cushings Manual !;
third Caesars Column.
The Independents of S. Dakota say
'amen" to every thing in the GREAT
WEST, and to Ignatius Donnelly's
remark at your. late convention:
Knowing that we are right, we fear
no power on earth. Yours for war,
A. N. DAHLEN.
The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-08-29
Swine Growers,


The best thing see about the hog is
that he objects to being Mormon, and
when you confine him in a house Oct it
be ever so fine) with a crowd of other
hogs he will hold his head down, lose
his appetite, sicken and die. But put
him in sheep shed, where all the ma
nure is out, and allow him the run Of
the sheep shed and all the water he
will drink, and he will use up all of
the apples, potatoes and corn you will
give him, and in return for your kind
ness will give you back about four
pounds of pork day on an average,
which will sell at four and one-half and
five cents pound. He will not object
to slop made of middlings or bran, and
is very fond of lump of rock salt,
which should always be in his parlor
near his easy chair. A few bushels of
slack or charcoal is a great treat to him,
as it helps him keep his digestive organs
in good shape A pound or so of cop
peras and sulphur in one end of the
trough will keep off lice and other YER
min and also ward off disease. National
StOckman.
The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-08-29
Honest Taxation.

In the west there is growing demand
FOR a revision Of the tax laws, to the end
that personal property may be more gen.
orally taxed. This same demand has
been made in New York from year to
year at every session of the legislature,
bat every effort to revise these laws, SO
as to equalize the burdens of the people
by imposing a proper share upon per-
sonal property, is met by obstacles that
seem to be insurmountable.
Corporate influences combine with pri-
vate and political influences, and these
seem to be sufficient to control the action
of both political parties. In other states,
noticeably in Vermont and other New
England commonwealth, personal prop
erty is compelled to pay it's due share of
the public expense, and the demand for
this reform, now that it has been taken
up by the Farmers Alliances of the west
and by the labor organizations of the
east, will be made so emphatic that it
cannot be passed by or neglected.
If our tax laws mean anything they
mean that property, personal and real,
should equally contribute to the main
tenance of public interests. But it is
acknowledged that personal property in
this state too readily escapes taxation.
The legal legerdemain by which this is
done is familiar to assessors, and wealthy
men of the highest standing do not hest
tate to resort to it. It is disgrace that
the tax laws are so openly defied and
readily nullified.-Frank Leslies News
paper.
The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-08-29
Practical Politics.

A message from Princeton, KY, states
that at the recent convention of the
Farmers and Laborers' union of that
county the following resolutions were
adopted:
Resolved, That we will not support
for legislative Office, either state or ma
tional, men who will not give us a
written statement that they will vote and
labor for the enactment Of the following
demands into statute laws uninhuenced
by party caucus:
First-The abolition of national banks
and the substitution of treasury notes,
said notes to be in sufficient quantity
for the transaction of the business of the
country.
Second-The enactment of such laws
as shall efectually prevent the dealing
in futures on all agricultural and me-
chanical products.
Third-That we favor the free and un-
limited coinage Of silver.
Fourth-The enactment of laws pro-
hibiting alien ownership of lands.
Fifth-That the interstate commerce
law be maintained and strengthened I'M
til transportation shall be opened in the
interest of the people.
Sixth-That we favor the passage of
the sub-treasury bill.
Seventh-That as we are to elect a
congressman from this district this year,
and not knowing who will support our
views, we recommend that we have a
district union, composed Of three repre-
sentatives elected from each county
union in this county district, which shall
confer with the other county unions, and
meet at a time and place they may Sc
lect, and have our candidates for con-
gress pledged for the support of our
measures
The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-08-29
t.Fat Or or Shut IN"

MI pSexnCrs or presidents afford to
leaHN TN heelers tout in the cold''
IN farmer to an Office
that hs ticulariy adapted to fill
with credit TO himself and satisfaction to
the people? Such thing would revolu-
tionize politics. OF course the farmer
candidate may have voted for the in
cumbent, but that does not matter. The
farmers always do that, and always get
left when the time for appointment
comes. Is the governor or president to
be blamed for this? The farmer will
vote the ticket anyway, whether ap-
pointed or not, but the party heller is
not such a ''greeny." He must be taken
care Of or he will fight.
There is not a single farmer in the
senate of the United States and very few
in the house, simply because the farmers,
having the appointing power, refuse to
appoint one of their number. If we cam
not trust each other how do we expect
presidents or governors to do so? Betting
men say to man who is doing consid-
cradle betting, "Put up or shut up"
Should not the farmers do likewise? If
they do not wish to be ignored by the
appointing power they must initiate the
"heeler," and when they are ignored
await the opportunity and then ignore
the ''other fellow"
It will no doubt surprise the president
and governor if farmers remember the
snub when the next opportunity to vote
comes around, but it will be a surprise
that will do good. He is down at the
bottom now; and when somebody else
drops the farmer can stand on him and
reach the lower round of the ladder.-J.
II. Brigham.
The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-08-29
The Phylloxera Problem,

It is learned from the report of the
phylloxera commission that each year
has shown an increasing acreage of re-
constituted vineyards in France, mostly
bymeans of American stocks, which prove
more and more satisfactory. The efforts
to produce by hybridization phylloxera
proof varieties have so far not proved
successful, and most growers still depend
on grating GA the American stock. No
where has the combat been carried ON
more theoretically than in France. and
nowhere has so much success been
achieved against phylloxera attack.
The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-08-29
sena4sr xance,s Opinion.

Senator z. 3. Vance, Of North Can,
lima, who at the request of Col. T..
Polk, president Of the National Farmers
Alliance, introduced the sub-treasury
bill, has addressed . letter to Elias Carr.
president of the Farmers Alliance of
North Carolina, in which he expresses
his views on many things of interest to
the farmers. Among other things he
says: "The recent passage by the senate
of the bill to restore the unlimited coin
age and legal tender character of silver
was undoubtedly due to the Farmers
Alliance. The policy Of the farmers
being right is to be kept within the
right. They should demand nothing
that is illegal; ask nothing that is unreal
sonable. They should be especially care
full not to injure their friends. They
should hold their forces in hand ready to
aid those who favor them and to strike
those only who are hostile to their pur-
poses and principles. To attempt to
make political party of the Farmers
Alliance to supplant either of the great
parties that divide the American people
would be a great mistake. In the south
it could only destroy the Democratic
party and leave in undisputed control
that other party which is the author and
upholder of the evils by which the peo-
pie were afflicted. He sees indications
of that tendency, especially in South
Carolina"
In conclusion the senator says: "Let
us strive for reduction of taxation on
the necessaries of life, for reduction
in the expenditures of the government,
for an increase of the currency and the
price of farm products by the free coin
age of silver and the restoration of it's
full legal tender character, for repeal
IF the tax upon state banks, for the
regulation of transportation rates by
railroad commissions, and last but not
least let us earnestly contend against
the spirit of Capitalization which is con-
stantly threatening to absorb the local
self government of the people of the
states. Washington Post.
The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-08-29
The Sacred Latino

The sacred lotus of Egypt and India,
though coming from tropical country.
is perfectly hardy, enduring any degree
of cold short Of actual freezing. It has
been grown for many years in water on
which ice formed eight inches thick.
The leaves OF the plant are from foot
to thirty inches in diameter. Some of
them float on the water, others are borne
on stems reaching from foot to FIVE
feet above the surface. The plant will
blossom the first year it is set out, and Is
constantly in blossom from July until
frost.