The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1890-11-25
. THE FARMERS ALLIANCE.

Observers of all social and political
movements wisely concluded that al,
most any agitation, kept within the
hounds of the law, is better than stag
nation. There is such a thing as be.
mo contented with conditions which
Ob0uId arouse the utmost antagonism
botb of the individual and of classes.
Take what view one may Of the
Farmers Alliance and it's effect upon
notifies there will be no question,
whether the specific ends at which it
is dilec.ed are accomplished or not,
that the result must be of advantage,
not simply to the farmers themselves,
but to the entire industrial community.
1t is seldom tina. any political move
ment compasses all of its purposes,
but it is something to fail in a great
undertaking when this mere failure
gives a propulsion to the whole of So
Getty in the right direction.
The Rev. Washin gton GLADDEN., in
a recent article in the Forum, com
meeting upon the Farmers Alliance,
says:
How long the farmers will hold to
gether in their alliances is difficult to
predict. 1t may be that the discus
gons IN which they must take part
will show them that some of the
measures of direct relief on which
they are chiefly depending are imprac-
tcable; and it is conceivable that this
discovery will tend to demorslize
them. That they can become a per
manent political force is not likely,
for parties which represent only
classes can not live in a republic.
But several results, by no means unde,
sirsble, may be looked for as the out
come of this farmers uprising.
l. They will secure a thorough dis
Cu8sion of some important economical
questions. They will force the people
to consider carefully the problem oil
the State ownership of the great pub.
lie highways. If the farmers can
stick together and stick to their text
long enough to get this business
thoroughly ventilated they will do a
good service.
II. They are ~loosening the bands
Of partisanship and opening the way
for a rational cooperation of citizens
for all desirable purposes. 1t is not
improbable that it will lead to a re.
construction of Dartias
III. They r helping to make an
end of the sectionalism which has
been a large par of the capital of a
certain class of polite ans. Scarcely
a Vestige," they say, "of the old sec.
uonal prejudice of a few years ago is
now visible within their ranks" The
South and the West are coming into
maternal relations. "The demagogue
politician who now attempts to array
sectional prejudice in order that he
may keep farmers equally divided on
important questions" is admonished
mat ne Is about to confront ga
superior intelligence thai will soon
convince him that his occupation is
gone" The farmers movement is
mol, probably, the deluge, but it will
prove TO be something of a shower
some q~uaryers, a cyclone-and it
VIII clear the atmosphere.
ms Is the view of the man who
Nay Nay oe termed a Estate Socialist"
GLADDEN. belongs to a class of
etlcal reformers who are far
lure Impractical in their aims and
E%pOses than the leaders of the
Farmers Alliance.
nat the Farmers Alliance will
saw q permanent political place, he
t5o &' Is not likely. If he means by
rst %' tne Farmers Alliance, as a sepa.
PoI'slcaI organization, will not
uart" uUe indefinitely as the Democratic
ma VI as the Republican party, he
5,oe right. But with the-spread
chou cUIL1on schools, with the increased
journaLo OF Intelligent agriculture
for nt"' with Eh7 increased facilities
We accommodation and exchange,
|bolatio5 believe that the day of the
that 5o OF farmers has passed, and
ef tho now becomes an integral part
NAV political army. At times he
md ~ ~ as an independent division,
Of tho OsnerS simply as a part of one
Geve s"o grand armies, but we be
3QeOc~a lure and more the political in.
@ust h. VI ne farmer will be felt and
oe admitted.
% 6 1as now this Farmers Alliance is
'F0y SectiOnalisn, is not yel