The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-10-06
AT NEWTON FAIR.
President Polk, Gen. Weaver and Presi-
dent Butler.
NEWTON, N. c., Sept. %.

entries in each department r greater
than ever before, and although this
was but the second day of the Fair,
the attendance was unusually large.
This was Alliance Day and the manag-
mpnt of the Fair had made arrange
mnnts for the seating of great numbers
in such a position that those who had
NOT entered the Fair Grounds might
hear the speaking as well as those who
had entered. The speakers of the day
we're Col. L. L. Polk and Gen. JAS. B.
Weaver. The high positions of these
gentlemen in the councils of the Order,
together with the laudable desire upon
thP mart of the initiated to secure
"mOre light upon the great and burn
ing questions of the day, brought to
gether a vast assemblage of apprecia-
tive listeners on this occasion.
1t was past eleven o'clock when
President Butler, of the State Alliance,
introduced to the audience Gen. Jas. b.
Weaver, of Iowa. 1t would be lmpoS-
sible for us in this article to give even
a satisfactory synopsis OF zen.
Weaver's mastery grafton. lie Iellcl-
tated himself and the audience upon
the arrival of the time when a speaker
from the North could express his n
ments in the South, and a speaker
from the South could express his sentl-
monts in the North and both be equally
sure of a courteous hearing. He then
made This statement, obvious to every
student of history and the times, that
this Republic is in the midst of n of
the greatest agitatiOns, and upon the
brink Of one of the greatest political
revolutions ever experienced by civil
cation. This mighty upheaval is an
effect. What is the cause? With
great skill he then proceeded to set
forth that the great inequality l the
distribution of wealth, arising in part
from the evils incident to financial
legislation and the recreant surrender
bY Congress of her powers to the money
kings. and in part from the assump-
ton on the part of railroad trusts and
TRANSPORTATION corporations of powers
and prerOgativeS manifestly unjust
and UBIQUITOUS, are the cause of this
social and political cOnvulsion. The
national banking system was thor
oughly aired, railroad corporations
were made to yield their just quota of
the blame, and combines and trusts
were pictured in all their defOrmity.
From these basic principles, Gen.
Weaver developed his mastery ora
ton. His analysis IS most thorough,
his presentation most fOrCeful and his
logic irresistible.
After dinner was over, Col. L. L.
Polk. President of the National Farm
ers' Alliance and Industrial Union, was
introduced to the audience, which re-
ceived him with cheers.
We trust that this report, being from
one who is outside of the Order, may
be fair and truthful-rather a rare
quality in the reports of this remark
able mans speeches, Col. Polk has
been, and still is, a much maligned
man, and our people who had been led
by unprincipled demagOgues, blind
partiSans and petty editors, to believe
that he is a man devoid Of patriotism,
reasonable to his country, and char
acterized by every vice and no virtue,
were surprised to find him apparently
enjoying the best of health and spirits
and looking every whit an honest man.
4 denial Of the malicious and SANDER
GUS report of his Kansas speech was
expected by the audience and in this
they were not disappointed. He ade
an unqualified denial of these false
charges, and added that the man who
seeks to court favor with the people
of the North by apOlOgizing for the part
he took with the armies of the COnfed-
eracy, will sadly fail, and succeed only
in disgusting item, for no true soldier
expects or desires an apology from an
equally true and devoted opponent.
The refusal of the Democratic papers
in the South, and especially in North
Carolina, to publish his denial of these
charges when first made, he boldly de
clared to be a deliberate and malicious
determination to be unjust to him.
And his audience believed him. He
paid his respects to the Democratic
editors some living examples of whom
he had on the platform with him. He
envied them one of the pleasure they |
found in their villainOus attacks upon
him, and Ionged for the day when JUS
tice. truth and fairness should be sub |
stituted for misrepresentation, villifica-
ton and abuse. If Col. Polk is nothing
more, he is a man of admirable courage. |
But he ismOre. He is a man of remark
able and commanding influence, His
power over an audience is something
wonderful. He made several tenta-
tive efforts to discover thu sense of
his audience upon points and policies
outlined by him and insisted upon by
the Alliance and in each case was re-
WardeQ by Jn6 unanimous assent OF the |
Alliancemen Present. But he is more
than this. He is a man Of unfinching
devotion to principles and of integrity
of purpose, and this l take to be the
secret of his power and influence. He |
stated the determination of himself
and his Order to stand by the Ocala
platform so long as it remains the
official utterance of the Alliance, and
by this to stand or fall, if need be.
He uttered no uncertain sound as to
his confidence in the ultimate and
speedy success of his cause. The Sub
Treasury plan was discussed at length
and the Third Party scare was given a
naSSIn@ NOTICE On this n0int he said