Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1891-07-31
The Mass Meeting.


was arranged for as far as could be done at
this time.
The Mass Meeting.
The court house bell rang for the mass
meeting at half past IL o'clock, at which
hour Judge Stout gave the court house up
for it's assembly. The building was quick
ly filled by the farmers. National Lectur-
Ell, J. F. Willett of Kansas, was to have
been the chief speaker of the day, but was
unable to get here, and Mr.. Ralph Beau
mont of Washington City, the prominent
Knight of Labor advocate and editor of
the IN ational Citizens Alliance" was on
the ground to take his place. In addition
to the members Of the Legislative Council,
there were other Alliance men present from
elsewhere, including eX-Treasurer Of the
DR.. J. w. Anderson, President of the
Rockingham Alliance; Robert Beverley, of
Fauquier; J. Wissler, Treasurer of the Al
lance Manufacturing Co. at Iron Gate:
Col. Gibson, of Rockbridge, and others.
Mr.. Geo. w. Kojner called the meeting
to order and introduced Maj. Mann Page,
the President Of the Alliance, who after a
complimentary reference to the hospitality
he had experienced in Augusta in years
gone by, and to the size and character of
the meeting before him, introduced
RALPH BEAUMONT,
the speaker of the day. Mr.. Beaumont
said he was not feeling well and had Just
gotten out Of bed to come here. He did
not appear before them as a farmer, but as
a representative of the wage-earning class,
a class whose efforts to better their condi-
tion had been much ridiculed by the press.
There had been strikes among that class
but he was not there to apologize for them
they had only struck before the farmers,
because they had met the corporations first.
There were two memorable strikes last year,
one was on a great railroad which threw
80, 900 men out Of employment, and anoth-
Ell in Kansas of different sort, which
threw nine Alliance members into Congress.
WATERED STOCK.
The stock of the railroad, companies of
this country in which there has been such a
tremendous increase, is stated by official
authority to he SO per cent. watered, and so
pei cent. is held in Europe, and it is to pay
the dividends on that that all our gold is
now being shipped to Europe. The rail
roads are on top of the great pile of corpo-
rations depressing the American people.
Under them come the Banking corpora
tions: under them the Insurance corpora
tions; under them the great street railway
corporations and so on down to the local
corporations of the towns. All OF them
derive their power to exist from the legis
latures and every one is prominently repre-
scented in every law making body. MI.
Beaumont then pro ceeded to comment on
the Alliance platform adopted at st. Louis,
Of which he was the author.
PUBLIC LANDS.
The foreign ownership Of the land which
this platform demands shall be done away
with, is curse to the people of this coun-
Try, and it is the most important question
now before the American people. Foreign
owners hold 20,0O0,000 of acres in
America, as large a territory as
two States. The railroad corpora
lions hold by grant over 100,000,000
acres, which is a larger territory than the
New England States and Middle States
with one or two others thrown in. And
this one hundred million acres, held by
these corporations, is, the Land Commits
=; t1v hold Tho history of
the Union and Pacific railroads in this re-
spect is striking instance of what incor-
porated bodies may do with the property Of
the people. Geo. Francis Train and eleven
others first went to congress and got a
charter. Then they went back and got a