Los Angeles herald., 1890-10-31
POLITICAL POINTS.
What Republican Rule Has
Done with Kansas Farmers.
The Silver Bill Perpetuates
Sherman's Schemes.
High Tariff and Scarce Money Holds
the Producer to the GrindstOne.
That the Programme May be Repeated
After Next Session.

An eastern paper gives the following
graphic account of Kansas farmers
brought to poverty by Republican mis-
rule:
"The discomfort among the Kansas
farmers has been growing instead of
diminishing. To ascertain the cause OF
this feeling to a certainty the state
officials of the Farmers alliance caused
to be asked series of questions of Sec
retaries of the sub-alliances, of which
there are about 2500. The principal
questions were: How many members
are renters? How many have unmort-
gagged forms? How many have mort
gagged farms?
"The answers reveal gloomy state of
affairs, from which no relief can be OBJ
tanned except by political change. The
mortgage indebtedness is found to be on
farms alone $146, 1858, ,134. This indebt-
edness is on some $4,000 farms. The
majority of these mortgageors have de-
faulted their interest, and foreclosures
are sure to follow. The remaining ones
will get through only after great hard
ship.
another fact is revealed. According
to the reports received by the alliance
officers there are 81, 200 renters, large
proportion of whom lost their homes
through foreclosure suits, having been
unable to pay the interest on loans
made when they were the owners of the
land. This was caused first by success
i've years of bad crops, and finally by
the low prices last year when large crops
had rewarded their efforts.
"Of the membership of over $4,000
farmers $500 have farms unincumbered
and the majority of these are the vic
Tins of chattel mortgages at high rates
of interest, which means they are, if
possible, in worse condition than those
who have their farms mortgaged.
'There are 10000 farms in Kansas,
according to Judge PETER, most care
full statistician, SO the alliance would ac-
count for but $4,000. The evil reaches
beyond that organization. The Far
mers' Mutual Benefit association, while
not nearly so large, will show about IT,
600 farmers in relatively the same con-
dition, and the agricultural section OF
the Union Labor party similar state of
affairs, making an aggregate of 10000.
These organizations are the only ones
that have made any effort to gather sta
tistics, and nothing but guess work re-
mains as to the condition of the Demo-
cratic and Republican farmers until the
grand aggregate can be obtained from
the United States statistics now being
compiled.
"This condition has been the cause OF
the confederation resulting in the Peo-
ple's party recently organized here.
1.-The alliances official organ today, in
giving the statistics above, says: I'VE
anticipate great howl about running
the credit of the state, but we submit
in all candor, that the people may un-
derstand how near we are to the verge
of absolute bankruptcy. In some sec
tions we have serious doubts if the prop
erty could be sold for enough to cover
the mortgages"
A local Republican paper says the
HERALD is wrong in insisting that the
Mckinley bill raises the cost of articles
of common consumption, and then de-
livers itself of this chunk OF wisdom as
to silver:
"Tnen, again, silver is not mere
commodity. Under the Republican sill
yer act, silver has become the basis of
currency; this must be true when for
domestic purposes silver certificates
have become legal tender. Indeed,
thanks to the Republican party, silver
is today on par with gold. Az to doub
ling the1 purchasing power of the mil
lionaire's wealth, we have no mathe-
matics sufficiently elastic to enable us
to figure it out in that way"
Now think of the mind that can see
things thus, or of the conscience that
will allow an intelligent man to make
such statement. Any one who knows
L ,a 4Lo
merest commodity under the present
Silver is at $1.19 today, and at
$1.09 the next. 1t is no standard
of value as it would be if it occupied
the place of precious metal but in
stead it is measured by gold just as
potatoes, wheat or muck is measured by
gold. Silver will never be on par with
gold until it can be coined into actual
money like gold, and that the Repub-
lican party refused to do at the tyran-
nical dictation of Republican presi-
dent, aided by Gear Reed, Conger of
Iowa and other traitors to the interest
of the great west and the slaves of the
Wall street clique which runs the treas
ury, the president and the Republican
party. AS to the tariff, it is like Mark
hams letter. Any one who desires to
know whether it has raised the cost of
articles of general consumption need do
no more than go to the nearest store and
ask. Wanamaker, cabinet officer un-
der Harrison, says that has been the
effect of the bill. Plumb, of Kansas, a
Republican senator, says so. The mer-
chants all say SO. 1t is SO.
The following letter is sent the
HERALD:
SANTA FE SPRINGS, Oct. 29,s $780,
Will the HERALD oblige it's readers at
this place by informing them whether
or not the Republican who was senator
some years ago, and who, Immediately
the end of his term arrived, instead of
stewardship, departed, no one knows
whittier, was not named West? And
will the HERALD also define the term
carpet bagger," and inform us whether