The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1890-10-14
THE ALLIANCE AND THE SECU-
LAR PRESS.

NH, 10 6u1SluS 6uN
also instructive to look on and see
with what avidity and eagerness The
antagonistic press of tn s country pub
| sh all items, news and endorsements
which tend to bring the Farmers Ali
ance into bad repute. No stone is
left unturned. The shark pursues his
victim with no less ferocity, the
bloodhound has no keener a scent,
nor is Hindoo thug more persistent
than those parasitical barnacles and
professional mud singers who cling to
the enormou Juggernauth of nam
mon which brushes under its wheels
the honest and hard working pro
ducers. But when from amidst our
own ranks we hear our co workers
and brother Alliance men, socalled
forsooth, ~uttering words of discourage
ment, belittling u aims, making
small of u demands, and under the
plea of free thought, free speech and
free discussion, cloak the smallness OF
their nature, their ~littleness of soul or
their mental incapacity which is I'm
able to take in or cope with the mo
mentous questions of the hour, what
can we say? While we may severely
condemn a suborn8d and prejudiced
press, words cannot be found to ex
press our establishment or am lzement
when brethren, contrary to all good
judgment and their own immediate
surroundings, oppose almost every
thing they demanded by the best
talent and brains an the Alliance as
we'll as on the outside. We can con
sole ourselves when we know that
every movement made to better and
improve the condition of the toiler,
from the very beginning to the pres
ent, has been met with persecution,
calumny and often by martyrdOm;
but, having right on VI side, the
efforts of external and internal enc
mics and all diverse combinations will
in the end prove futile if we are only
determined and act as a unGt.
The Constitution is o~verridden
roughshod, our landmarks efaced,
laws abrogated, partyism a unit when
the money power would cave it so,
when the poor farmer, laborer and
mechanic unite in an effort to obtain
relief, derisive lords are raised from
Maine to the Gulf and from the At
lantic to the Pacific, and even the
very idea of the serfs of the money
barons should combine is ridiculed,
the sleeping giant aroused; his good
nature has been abused, his confidence
betrayed and learning to depend only
OF themselves, they, the t~oilers, know
that, by organization, they are irresis
tible, and r going to make good use
of the fact. They are going to have
a grand time. Already the conflict
has commenced. The h~ayseeders are
marshalling their cohorts, their slogan
resOunds owe valley and vale, politl
cal corpses strew the field, the ballot
will finish the work. Shoulder to
should r they advance, the Augean
stables of politics will be cleansed Of
the rotten promises, false representa-
tions, trickerIes and denominations
which pOlIutes it, and all trusts, tariffs,
banking corporations and every asso-
citation which tend to Cypress the
toiler must go. Revolutions never 90
backwards. A new era will be inau
gurated. Already the handwriting is
on the wall. The unrest which ag1
tates the laboring classes is not only
confined to this country; the mon
archs of the old world slumber on
volcanoes England, Germany and
France and other countries, with their
ancient and fixed claws of political
economy, we'll tried systems" are no
exceptions. The agricultural classes
in these countries are worse off than
in ours, else why should they seek to
leave their native country, and why
should it be necessary for laws to be
made In those countries prohibiting
emigration -? The voice of these PEG
pie is heard through huge armies,
try so smother the walls of oppression
and its only a question of time the
whole world will be united in an
OAO4G w 6n1O" I'LL GudG 1blS0 social
which gives the drones, without
any exertion of their own, a right to
control and obtain the best part of
the worlds produce, and our modern
is a failure unless some
radical remedies are found that will
the burdens of the suffering
masses-sOmething original and un-
tried.
Yes, we, the mudsills of the nation,
the foundation on which all other
class hibernate, have the hardihood
and audacity to ask our great law.
makers to step down from their high
perch a little while and take in the
surroundings of the farm yard, the
corn field, the cotton field, the cattle
and poultry; see how the poor tillers
of the soil tolls and slaves from the
small hours of morn till late at night;