The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1890-08-12
THE FARMERS ALLIANCE IN
POLITICS.

ances are attaining in the Western,
| Southern and Middle States is a phe
nomenon that demands the attention
of students of the present situation.
Undoubtedly they represent a class OF
producers that have been very much
imposes upon. From the hard earn
ings of the farmers of the country
have come chiefly the revenues~that
have enriched all the other occupa-
tions. Their industry is the basis Of
the prosperity of all the rest. Yet
they are to day hard pushed to make
both ends meet, while the benefciaries
of their bounty are rolling in wealth.
The tariff, in which the farmers &C.
quiesced originally from patriotic mo-
tIves and to encourage "infant " in
dustries, has given manufacturers such
wealth and power that they now con-
troll the government at Washington.
Every favor, however costly, the
manufacturing class demands is now
granted without scruple. The Nc
Kinley bill to destroy commerce, the
subsidy oil to promote commerce, the
silver Dill to make a market for the
product of our silver mine owners,
bills authorizing big contracts for the
construction Of an excessive number
of war ships at excessive prices, bills
to increase the salaries of some officials
and shorten the hours of labor of
others, bills to give away money
prodigally under the name Of pensions
this is a short list of measures in
tended, ia one way or another, to
benefit the element now dominant in
politics at the expense of farmers and
other unprotected producers. In
| federal affairs the farmer is at present
the forgotten a In State legisIa
lures the case is not infrequently
nearly as bad. The rich corporation,
the rich lawyer, the grasping con-
tractor is too often the recipient of
favors for which, in the end, the
farmer must help to pay. He is him
self, no doubt, often to blan ne for
sending to the State capital and TO
Washington legislators who are plainly
not faithful to the common interest.
Under stress of party spirit farmers
often vote for men who are incompe
tent to deal wisely with their interests.
They do not ask questions enough of
their would-be representatives. Gen
erous, kindly and patriotic, they in
dulge in sentimental politics before
election, to find afterwards that they
have sent to Congress men who are
the attorneys Of special Interests and
wholly incapable of proper public
spirit. Hence the disposition of the
Iatter-day farmer to organize with a
view to taking care of himself. The
Farmers Alliances are an expression
of the sentiment among agricultur1sts
that in union there is strength. Pri-
marily the Alliance movement is not
a political movement. 1t gives trouble
to Republicans in Republican States
and to the Democrats in Democratic
States, but its main object is not po
litical. The main object of some of
its leaders is, no doubt, to use it to
get office, but the aim of the organiza
ton as a whole is economic rather
than political, From this fact it re-
suits that it makes the most stir and
attains it's greatest successes in Demo
cratic States. The Democratic party,
having economic reforms tor the prin-
cipal plank in it's platform, is naturally
disposed to cooperate with the ALI
ance in most Of its undertakings. In
Tennessee, for example, an Alliance
man was recently nominated by the
Democrats for Governor. In Georgia
and other States where the Democrats
are strongest there has been developed
the strongest disposition to accept
Alliance men as candidates for Con
gress. Where there are contests it is
rather between individuals than be,
tween the Alliance and the Democratic
party. In Republican States like
Ohio the cas- is somewhat different.
The Republican party does not so
readily coalesce with the Alliance. In
such States the movement tends, it is
thought, to array the farmers against
the protective tariff and the policy of
extravaganza to which the exigencies
of protection have given rise. 1t is
a good sign, of course, that the farm
ers are awakening to their interests,
as their interests coincide for the most
part with those of the masses of the
people. Their plans for relief are at
present a trihe crude, perhaps, as first
plans usually are. Time will correct
this, ard it is not unlikely that they
will ultimately conclude that tariff
reform ballot and civil service reform
are the three columns upon which the
structure of our future prosperity will
have to be erected.-BaHimOre Sun,
July "a.