The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-08-25
REV. P. H. MASSEY IN FRANKLIN
COUNTY.
AUGUST 3. 1891

Mr.. EDTTOR:-On last Monday morn
ing the writer started to accompany
the Rev. 2. H. Massey on q weeks lee
turing tour through Franklin county.
1t was arranged that we should com
menCe at Franklin. 1t was a nice, fine,
bright morning plenty of sunshine,
yet not too hot. AS we got in the town
we saw a number of the brethren, and
soon learned that it was arranged that
we should speak in the open air. Maj.
Bullock, a prominent lawyer of the
town, kindly offered us the use of his
veranda for a platform. The crowd
was rather disappointing. 1t was not
alarge crowd it WaSnOta small crowd;
though mainly composed of Alliance
men; there were a few of the towns
people present. There were no seats
provided and the boys" scattered;
some seated themselves on the steps
of the building to the right, others
went to the left, others sought shell
ter from the sun under the various
trees which stood about, a few gath
cred around the vGranda. This made
the speaking difficult. An orator
tries to convey the passions and emo
tions which agitate him, to his hearers,
but how can he mOdulate his voice when
he has to shout out all the time, in Dr.
der that he may be heard by brethren
who are sitting in the shade 80 OF 40
yards away? Brethren, always get
near to the speakers.
Brother Massey is a gOOd-lOOklng,
medium sized man, about 35 years OF
age. Heruns a small farm eight miles
from Durham, doing nearly all the
work himself. He has been on the
farm from bOyhood, and is therefore
we'll qualified to speak from the farm
ers' standpoint. He began his lecture
on The Beauties of the Farmers ALI
ance" by pointing out the oppressed
condition Of the farmer; the necessity
of co operation. The farmer has been
going from bad to worse, and now his
position is so serious that something
must be done. The farmers feel that
they are Disseminated against. They
believe that these determinations
amount to over 10 per cent. All classes
of the community, except the farmers,
have organized. All classes, except
the farmers and labOrers, have had
special legislation in their favor. Some
classes have grown enormously rich.
The farmers have not only become
poor, but are deeply in debt; nine mil
lion mortgages were registered during
the last ten years, or One mortgage for
every seven persons, reckoning man,
woman and child. The farmer is poor
and in debt. The struggle for existence
is so great. 50 intense, hat the farmer
has not been able to educate his chill
dren or himself. He has fallen back
in his reading; he has fallen back in
his education AMI has thus become an
easy prey to the bankers, fnanciers,
spectators, high tariff men, trusts,
railroad corporations and mOnOpOlists
of all kinds. With such material the
Farmers Alliance goes to work, and
the first qualification they require is
that any II who joins them shall be a
moral man; hat he shall speak the
truth and act fairly to his neighbOr,
and should he fail to do these things,
there Is aCOmmittee appointed in every
Lodge whose duty it is to admonish
him. Having thus got the heart right
the next thing the Alliance proposes to
do is to develop the farmers intellect.
a man may have & good heart, and
yet not be of much account either to
himself or to his neighbOr. The mis-
sion Of the Alliance is mainly educa-
tiOnal. 1t proposes to disseminate
knowledge on political and economic
questions. So that a man with a good
heart may have the knowledge Of good
and evil. Then the Alliance proposes
to show the farmers how they may
improve their financial position. The
Lecturers idea of an Allianceman is:
man with big heart, with a developed
mind, and a pocket with sufficient
money in it to enable him to carry out
any measures which his large heart
and developed mind prompt him to
undertake.
The Alliance is political but not par
tizan in its aims. 1t demands the re-
peal Of certain laws, but does not de
mand that those laws shall be repealed
by this party or by that. The Alliance
points out that the existing state of
things, whereby a small majority are
enabled to obtain the greater part Of
the wealth, is a danger to the State;
and that the repeal of laws which
make such a state possible, is more
important than the existence of any
party.
The Lecturer then went on to discuss
the Ocala platform, and gave many
eloquent reasons why the measure adj
vOcated there should be adopted. He
described the injustice of the National
Bank Acts and gave strong and fOrcible
reasons why they should be repealed.
These acts, with other unjust acts,
have brought about the unequal dis
tribution Of wealth which is such a
danger to the country to-day. In 1866
there was S Q per capita In circulation;
to-day there is perhaps not more than
S. per head in circulation. There is
not sufficient money in the country to
do the business Of the country. If
every farmer was Well-tO-dO and could
afford to sell only one-third of his crop
stores of Wall street and the banks
would be exhausted. There would be
no money to buy the remainder of the
crop, and business would be at stand