Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-03-04

! all this. The shoemaker has given way
to the shoe factory, where thousands of men
are working each on some small part of
shoe, like machines themselves, work
ing on machines. We remember when
the farmer needed but a few dollars, be-
cause he exchanged his produce for what he
wanted. and the few dollars they did need were
| to be found in the bureau drawer in the trout
room. You remember that bureau drawer
with its store of silver half dollars. Ii u man
was short, his neighbor was sure to be long.
/ and the small sum OF money was forthcoming
| when needed without interest, without, as they
used to say, a scratch on paper.
PROGRESS OF FOUR GREAT INDUSTRIES
The farmers then did for themselves. Now
they sell their wheat and buy flour; sell their
hogs and buy their pork; sell their cattle and
! bought beef.
He illustrated the progress of the four grea.
industries of the country-farming, manufac-
! turing. banking and railroading. According to
his description farming was at the foot Of the
scale, while railroading was in the lead. This
! order of things was to be remedied by the
/ Farmers Alliance. tLong continued applause.
The great question of the day was the money
question, and one of the purposes OF the ALI
anee Was to have the volume of currency in
creased. He spoke of the prosperous times ini-
I indefinitely after the war. when there was in
circulation nearly $4,000 100000 in paper
money. and then compared the present depres-
u
| cial trouble to the contraction of currency.
sHRrSKAaE OF VALUES AND CURRENCY.
Twenty years ago, he said, there we're raised
| ] 300, 900 bushels OF grain, valued at
81 ,2s4 900 600 Now 1900. 900, 900 bushels were
worth but 81, 200, 100000. He quoted more
statistics TO show the shrinkage of values and of
currency together. The progress of the cOun-
| try, he said. had been great, institutions of
| learning had grown, there were more highways.
ton: more useful inventions and machinery
more active. intelligent. capable people. But
with all this progress, the condition OF the
farmer and of the laboring man in the great
cities WAS not as good as it was fifty years ago.
He denied that the Farmers Allia nee was conf
ago Il farm could not be found morlga ged for
money borrowed In these good old days little
money required, the farmer taking every
thing almost out in barter and trade. Now
there are y.000.OOG mortgages on record, or
1852 mortgages 10 each county III the United
States. In Alabama the amount -26 to the
head of population and in Iowa Sl04. Thee
were the things that touched the homes and
caused the great uprising. Every body of
organized workers has asked for more money.
FREE COINAGE AND THE TARIFF.
He referred to the passage of the free-coinage
bill by the Senate last session and said that
when ii got to the House il was hustled into
committee room by the gentleman who rules
that body in violation of all Justice Then
there was little war to get it back and the
party whip was used and the bill defeated.
Thus the American Congress had refused the
petition of the people. had grasped the hand
OF monopoly while slapping the people with the
other hand.
He said the farmers and laboring men had
demanded a reduction of the tariff. Under the
Cleveland administration an attempt was made
by the democrats to MAKE reduction OF the
tariff They prepared measure and all it did
was TO reduce from an average of Al per cent to
an average duty of AZ per cent.
Then. he said. the republicans came into
power, had both houses Of Congress and the
executive. They promptly met the demand
for IA reduction of taxation by making an
average increase Of Is per cent. Then they
came out among us. he said, and cried: See
what We have done for you! He ridiculeG the
pretenses of the trainers OF the Mckinley bill
that the farmers we're protected by duties on
grain and eggs.
SOUTH AMERICAN BEcIPRocIrT HUMBuJ.
He spoke Of this in most cutting irony and
referring TO the proposed reciprocity with
South and Central America. Mexico and Cuba
quoted statistics to sustain his proposition that
il was fraud and humbug. as TAR as the
farmers were concerned. He said that the
reason that reciprocity with these countries
was proposed, and was not proposed with
Europe, was that in the first case the MANN
facturers got all the benefit and in the second
it would be beneficial to the farmers.
I'VE must, he said, 'be treated fairly or
We will tear out the underpinning and let the
customs houses tumble into tine sea. The pro-
tectionists.' he said, pointed with pride to
some foreign manufacturing plant being
brought to this country, and declared that it
would give work to many laborers; but they
forgot that the laborers would be imported
with the plants.
He said that the Mckinley bill would result
in the importation of foreign labor.
Turing to the question of silver, he said there
was not the difference of the turning Of a hand
on the money problem between the leaders OF
the two old parties. Grover Cleveland had, be-
fore his inauguration. declared his unuttcrable
opposition to free coinage. 1t had been re-
ported since that he had changed his views.
but among his good qualities WAS that of
honesty. and he had come out again to declare
his position on this question.
CLEVELAND NAY UNITE BOTH PARTIES IN TIE EAST.
What would you think" the speaker said,
IF Grover Cleveland should unite the demo-
cratic and the republican parties cas-; OF the Al
iegheny mountains and be their candidate
| against the united south and west? This is not
improbable. We leave our friends IN the east
TO TAX, care of themselves. They can DO 80
only by getting together. There il going to be
great storm. and our friends must hustle 10
get out of the rain" He cited the policy of the
treasury in going to the relief OF Wall stree,
last summer an evidence of the class fayorit-
| ism of which the farmers complained II that
/ was right, he said, it right for the govern
nent to come to the RELIEF of the farmers OF
| the west He drew word painting OF
| the dug-outs and sod huts, at the
| doors Of which women stood in tears watching
for the officer coming to sell them out. He said
| they we're not regulators; what the wanted
| was money enough in circulation 40 that they
could get it for the products of their labor. lie
had asked farmers in Kansas what interest they
/ paid on short time loans and they replied from
| Is TO u per cent The result Of their labors on
farm products was not over Ia or per cent.
| THE RULE OF THE PEOPLE.
| He advocated the government of the people
running railroads for public transportation, al
low rates, to cover expenses but not for profit
A new government railroad should be bull
from North Dakota to the gulf. In abou,
twenty-five years. he predicted, there would b,
| no such thing AS interest on money.
| In conclusion he said that they wanted To &c
people; cheaper the value of money ami en-
| workmen a fair share of the profits OF theil
labor.
sESAro.-ELEcr RYLEs ADDRESS.
Senator-elect Kyle, who next spoke, declared
that the people who were at the bottom Of tn,
political revolution. who were referred to b,
some as socialists and as anarchists wer,
the good. honest people who were tn,
been thinking over their condition ant
Il were de.ermiuad 70 vi0ht the urropo which the,