The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1891-12-04
/, BROKEN POLITICAL MACHINE.

Vllle, n.y., WHICH rs crsdltet no the |
Journal, of Atlanta, Ga, and is so
suggestive Of some important facts
to the Alliance and the public gen.
orally, that we give it space in our
editorial columns:
The Farmers Alliance here was organ
iaed for wise and oommendable. pur-
pose. Cooperation among the farmers
can certainly be made beneficial to them,
But, before the Farmers Alliance of
Georgia, was many months old the staid,
steady and vative Mr.. JACKSON,
who had labored, night and day to per
feet the organization, was displaced from,
its head and a crafty politician putin the
lead. Then plans were lAidto take con.
trol of the Democratic party in Georgia
and have the offices filledwith politicians
from the Alliance. Some Of the expert
eneed and trustworthy members of Con
gross from Georgia were defeated last
year for no otheB reason than that ALI
ance politicians wanted their places.
Members of the Alliance were elected
to the Georgia general assembly in such
numbers that they constituted two
thirds majority in both senate and house.
While a number of the Alliance senators
and representatives were conservative,
the reckless legislation which the late
general assembly put upon the State
books, IS left as a monument to the,po-
ltical blunders of the Alliance majority
in chat body.
No general assembly Of recent years
has made such large appropriations. and
never since the war has the tax rate been
so heavy. The people of Georgia, aGreat
majority ofwhomare farmers, .willgroan
when the tax collectors gather in their
hard-earned money to meetthese excess
i've appropriations.
Again, the business career Of; the ALI
ance leaders has been one unbroken Sc
ries Of blunders. The farmers were adj
vised by them to hold their cottonin the
fall of 1890 when it was bringing a fail
price. They were told that they would
get better prices by holdingy and were
assured that the Alliance leaders would
be able to force the price upward. They
followed this advice andsaw the price of
cotton go lower and lower untilit hardly
paid for the expense of its production.
| This experimentoostth the people millions
! ofidollars.
The farmers were advised to use cot
ton cloth in place of jute bagging after
the price of jute had been forced down,
and thus the loss of many thousands
more was entailed on the people.
! The leaders of the Alliance, either
;. through stupidity or design, put forward
the impracticable sub-treasury scheme
as q panacesfor all the ills of which the
farmers complain and succeeded in di-
verting the attention of thousands of
their followers from the prime necessity
of reducing federal taxation Most of
the'original advocates of the sub-treas-
ury scheme are crafty men who have
!, known all the while that it can, never
:. become a law, and have used it only to
!, obtain influence over those whom they
could decisive by such a glittering prom,
Use of relief.
After their blundeYs in tlie business
and their trickery in politics, it would be
7 strange if the Alliance leaders were not
losing their power over the organization
which has trusted them to blindly
And, that is just what they are doing
AS political machine, the Alliance il
fast losing whatever power it had &C
qqired. Out Of nearly million votes
= cast in Ohio, at, tho recent election. thu
A third party candidates received less thai
o 5000, instead of the 200, 600, they haC
z claimed.
l. In Kansas, where the Alliance ha,
swept the State at the last election, i
was completely showed under and it
) power as a political organization com
n pletely crushed.
= Indications are to be found in aIl,part
9 of Georgia that the honest, hard-work
ing farmers will not longer be misled b
- men who are trying tO,use them for sell
} ish ends.
The meetings oftthe sub-Alliances ar
being largely abandoned, and unless wis
II er counsels prevail. we fear the orde
5, will lose all its power for good, Geo.
D. gia farmers will hardly continue to fo
low mon who have 71sad thap, IN rid