St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-01-01
PRESIDENTS ADDRESS.
Mr.. Hall on Alliance Statistics an,

was reported TAG Alliances as having
been organized. Since that time there
have been organized sos subordinate Al
liances, making a total of 1854 Organi-
cations at this time, provided all the
old Alliances are in good standing.
But as a number Of them have failed TO
keep up their organization. and quite q
number of them having taken out new
charters, there are probably not over
1,l00 live alliances III the state at this
time This unprecedented increase Of
sos sub-aliiances in ten months is the
fruitiOn OF years of discussion OF Alli-
ance principles by the farmers them
selves, aided and guided by such able
leaders as Hon. Ignatius Donnelly. Gen.
| II. II. Barrett, Hon. Charles Canning,
E. II. Atwood, L. G. Hodgson, ID. w.
HiXon, Han. }. j. FuTlOng, John Dia-
mond, Gen. J. II. Baker, George W.
Haigh, Seth BottOmley and hundreds Of
others from all parts of the state, and
to them credit should be given.
Manufacture Of Binding Irvine.
Among the resolutions adopted by
! the March meeting was the following
Resolved, That we are not satisfied with
the actions of the board of control of the
states prison in not introducing the manu-
| facturo of binding Irvine. We believe the
! project was and still is practicable, and that
The farmers of this state have not been fairly
! treated in the summary disposition which
! has been made of the matter.
Believing that the 200, 900 acres Of flax
fibelhraised in Minnesota, and now go
! ing to waste, could be made useful and
valuable to the farmers if market
! could be made for it, and that the eX-
orbitant price Of binding Irvine now
controlled by the Irvine trust justified
the attempt 10 introduce the manufact-
ure eff binding Irvine into the states
prison. | wrote to J. c. Todd, of Pater-
son, n. j., an engineer and mdchinist
and manufacturer OF flax and
iute and flax Irvine, sending to
| him the first report of the prison board
aud asking to review the report with
view to submitting his reply to Gov
! Merriam and asking reinveStigation
| of the matter, and demonstration was
ordered, and Gov. Merriam hOnored
your president and secretary by request.
ing them TO proceed with MeSSrS-
! O'Brien and Semple and reinveStigate
the whole matter and report TO him.
The report of that committee was a com
| plete vindicatiOn OF the position taken
| 10y the Alliance, and is herewith sub
mitted and made a part OF this report
| Here followed the report Of the time
| committee as submitted to the governor
and published in the GLOBE at the
| time.
This report was agreed to on the 10th
| of June; it was September before the
| prison board bought the machinery, and
| then, after two investigations and more
| than years time wasted the prison
| board appointed a committee OF three
| of their members to proceed East and
make purchase. Just how we'll these
servants Of the people performed their
! duties is shown by the letter written by
| j. G. Todd and published in the GLOBE
at the time.
Deenling it a little peculiar that the
committee should be
So Anxious to Know
what there was in it for them, and that
| the experiment would be failure. |
wrote Gov Merriam the following let
! ter, which was published in the GLOBE
at the time:
1t is my opinion that the Farmers AL
| lance should demand of the legislature
a thorough investigation of the peculiar
methods of the board of managers of
the Saltwater prison.
The new methods of handling fax
were referred to, and the statement
made that twice as much flax straw is
raised in Minnesota as in Ulster, Ire
| land. If this was taken care Of it could
| be turned into tWine to the immense adj
vantage of the farmers. Mr. Hall urged
| the appointment of a legislative COM
mittee that shall put a plant for the
manufacture Of Irvine into the st. Cloud
! refOrmatory next summer.
The inspection of grain at Duluth is a
matter that deserves your attention
! On Oct. so obtained from reliable per-
| sons statements and atfidavits that
! farmers and shippers are being plum
dered, and that the grain law does not
| protect the farmer or shipper when its
administration is in the hands of ineffl-
| Gent dishonest or weak men. The TAX
| ing of wheat billed as screenings from
| bonded warehouses in the night is
| fraud on its face, and when it is done
to reduce the average caused by unreal
sOnable and unjust dockage it is reason
able to suppose some one is being plum
! dered, and the farmer who is raising the
wheat is likely to be the man. The facts
and affidaSitS will be given to the legiS
lative committee for investigation. l
| believe this to be good time to renew
the demand made by the July cOnVen-
ton for the erection by the state of pub
lie warehouses where the producers
! may store their grain unmiXed in Spe-
cial bin at actual cost at Duluth and at
| tue agricultural 1dIE GROUNDS.
On the 9Th of June the executive COM
mittee met MesSrs. Lloyd and Warren,
representatives of the Alliance Loan
and Investment company, of Manches-
ter, England, and received proposition
from them 10 loan money to members
of The Alliance at per cent on farm
mortgages. Mr.. DOnnelly moved that
we indOrse the proposition provided the
rate was reduced to ~ per cent, and to
recommend this company to the men,
bers of the Alliance Messrs. Lloyd
and Warren asked for thirty days time
to submit the matter to the board of
directors in England. After waiting
sixty days, and falling to get reply, |
wrote to Mr.. Lloyd, manager OF the COM
pany at Jamestown, n. d., and was in
! formed that the board of directors hal
Refused to Accept
our proposal.
The recent combination of har-
vester and moving machine man
ufacturers, forming one great trust,
with capital said to be not less
than $50, 100000, is new danger that
should be met by the farmers by be-
coming manufacturers themselves. |
have recently received proposal from
a reliable and responsible machine COM
pany, now doing business in this state.
to form partnership with the Alliance
of this state. The company now has a
capital OF $4,000 invested in its bust
ness. 1t proposes that if the members
of the Alliance will take $50, 900 of stock
in shares of $50 each. on easy payments,
at s per cent interest, the company will
take S45, 0G0 of pald-up stock, giving
to the farmers the controlling interest
in the company. There is not
subordinate Alliance in the
state but What can take
at least one share of stock
and make money by doing it. To illus
trate: A seeder that costs $40 can be
manufactured at a cost of SCI. If sold
to the farmer at S25 the company re-
ceives profit of 81, and with freight
added it will not cost the farmer to ex-
ceed $50. The company can manufact-
ure any kind of farm machinery, and in
a short time the farmer will be indie
pendent of trusts. If this convention
should deem it advisable to appoint a
committee to investigate this matter