St. Landry democrat., 1890-08-02
ALLIANCE AND GRANGE.
Organic alton.
THE NECESSITY FOR oRGANIzAT ION AMONG
FARMERS APPARENT.

FARMERS APPARENT.
IF it is q fact that the farmer is not in
the full enjoyment of his rights, and that
| ether classes are combined to deprive him
| of the fruits of his own labor, it is evident
| that organization among farmers is an alb
solute necessity. Those who have read
these columns for the last thirteen years
have full knowledge of the details of the
various capitalistic conspiracies against the
interests agriculture. Railroad tax, pat
ent, food adulterating and trust robberies,
in all their different phases, have been
| fully exposed, the consprators have been
| held up to popular contempt, and the
| farmers have been urged to mass their
strength and influence against the system
attic efforts to rob them and to deprive
them Of their rights and, in some measure.
their liberties. The work of resisting the
| encroachments OF capital, greed and VII
| lainy upon the interests OF the producing
| classes has been crowned with consider
| able success. Indeed, but for the cease
less, determined and emphatic opposition
to the schemes and plots of the financial
plunderers of the farmer, the trusts and
monopolies in general would today be
masters Of the situation, and the people
on our farms would be hopelesslY bound
IN CHAINS. ub SpllIb VI SlCCo LOS DOCA
held in check to a wonderful extent by the
| outspoken denunciation of it's methods and
aims, and by the comparatively inefficient
organize ION that has been secured among
the producers of the country.
Still the robbery of the farmer has been
great and constituencies through all these
Years. Millions of dollars have been I'M
lawfully transferred from our farms to the
| peck ats of schemers, and the work of des-
D ,ils ton gees steadily On. Whyf We
ask the question why2 And to that ques-
ton we would like a frank answer from
| eyery farmer who reads it. 1t is not be-
| eau we have not done our duty not be-
| cause we have not stood by the farmer
| through thick and thin, and not because
most of our readers have not stood breast
to breast for the protection of themselves,
| their children and the country. But the
reason is that thousands of farmers have
not vet identified themselves with any of
the farmers orgar izations. The Alliance
and the Grange have appealed to our pro-
ducers to enlist in the work of protecting
their own rights, and yet powerful as
! these organizations are, 1t is fact that
| there are more farmers outside of them
| than there are within their ranks. Is this
as it should be3 When there is combina
tion against US, as there is upon every
hand, what must be thought of class
| that refuses to assert the authority of the
! first law of nature-self preservation, and
adopt the only practical means to save it
self There can be no successful combina
ton against a thorough organization of
farmers. Organized they can directly and
| indirectly make Congresses, Legisla-
lures, Presidents and Governors, control
commerce to greater or less extent,
| direct education, and in word be the di
rectors of all matters that periain to the
interest of our society and country. There
is not political party in existence that
they can not mold to suit them, if they
will there is not a public question that
| they can not solve in their own interest
and the interest of the whole country
They have the majority of votes they
have a recognized character for worth and
stability, and they have an aggregate
wealth that is great, and might be intiu-
entail. But unorganizad none of these
things count for any thing. The individ
ual farmer is helpless His voice is like
his complaints are ridiculed, his acknowl-
edged character as good. substantial
citizen does not count for as much in prac-
teal results as the character of the lowest
pc house politician in our cities, for he
strikes ha1 ds with his kind and with dem
agogues and thus become an actual power
Organization is the farmers only hope.
1t is through organization alone that he
can secure his rishts and preserve his liD
erty. It is through organization among
the farming classes alone that this Repub
lie can hope to endure. 1t is a startling
fact that one fourth of our population is
now in cities of over eight thousand in
habitants. 1t is still more startling fact
that the city population is continually on
the increase and the rural population is
continually on the decrease. The natural
influence of the city is bad. 1t is in the
city that hungry poverty is found, and q
hungry stomach is a menace to the peace
and safety of society it is in the city that
crime is fostered, and crime means danger
to system of government like ours; it is
in the city that anarchy thriyes !: and let it
be known and fully understood thai ia
consequence OF the rapid increase of city
population and the thievish propensities
of concentrated capital, our civilization is
approaching crisis. This Republic can
not exist under the present conditions and
their tendencies. Popular government in
cities is failure, and the best minds of
the country are engaged to-day in the
effort to solve the question of how cities
can be successfully governed, But if they
cannot govern themselves, they cannot gov
ern the nation, but they are given the
power to do it. The main spring of all
| government in the nation, outside of rural
| local government, is in the city with its
rum shops and vice and ignorance and
brutality. And there is only one solution
of the problem of how to divorce govern
ment from the influences of the political
and social degradation of the city. 1t is
for farmers to organize and counteract con-
Eliminating and vicious comb nation with
patriotic and virtuous combination. 1t is
for the sixty per cent of our voting popu-
| lation-which is on our farms-to take
control of the various political parties, old
and new, and form their policies and give
direction to their energies If we did not
believe that such organization would yet
be completely affected, we would give up
the struggle for the establishment of the
right be; ween man and man and class and
class, for we can see no other way of get
ting out of the woods.
Fortunately for our encouragement and
| the encouragement of those who have
stood by US in this long conflict there have
been constant signs of an increased awak-
ening among the masses. Organization
has gone steadily forward since we first
called the convention of farmers in Chica-
go that organized the Farmers Alliance
ten years ago. Sometimes the interest has
appeared to slacken little, but such
periods of apathy have been followed by a
greater activity than ever, and upon the
whole there has been a greater average
activity each succeeding year. Organiza-