The record-union., 1891-11-18
FARMERS ALLIANCE.
Opening Session of the Supreme
Council at Indianapolis.
THE MEETINGS so FAR A DISAP.
POINTMBNT TO ALL.
Conflicts of Opinion on Important Sub
jects Seriously Interfere With the
Work-Tho Third Party Issue Re-
suits in Drawn Battle-President
Polk Delivers His Annual Address.
Special to the RECoRD-UNIoN.

called to order at 10:40 o clock by PreSl-
! dent Force of the Indiana Alliance, with
nearly all the 100 delegates and 500 spec
/ tators in attendance. Mayor Thomas l..
! Sullivan was introduced and was re-
ceiyed with enthusiasm. In a short adj
dress he welcomed the delegates to In
dianapolis.
j. f. Tillman, Secretary Of the Alliance
Executive Committee, responded. After
thanking the people of indianapolis for
their warm welcome, and paying a trib-
ute to President Harrison, he said "It
is farming and laboring people who feed
! the world, who fought the battles Of this
country, and to whose energy and patri-
otism this great and glorious land Of ours
is indebted for its richest blessings Of lib
erty and peace. It is not our mission to
| tear down or disintegrate our honestly
| conducted Industries, but TO oppose all
| lllegltlmate combinations and mOnoDO-
! lists that tend to DESTROY the very spirit
and intent Of the Constitution. We are
| not here as politicians, seeking to disrupt
partisan political parties, or 10 promote
! the fortunes Ofany political aspirant. Nor
are we here in the interest Of any third
/ party, for, by our very organic teachings,
we have the right to vote with whatever
i'OitACSll pa " VIC DSSI Will
vance good government
! He called attention to the last "Biilion-
| Dollar Congress- and criticised its ex-
! penditureS, which, he said, were more
than those spent by all the Congresses in
/ the first seventy years Of the history of
! this Government. This, he said, ''was
moro than S. for every man, woman and
child in the United States to support the
National Government, not including
other taxes levied" IIe then said :
How long would they endure it if col
! lected directly from them, instead Of in
| directly, as it Is now collected? Now.
about our tariff. Say what you please
about the tariff, but it must and shall
come down to reasonable basis of taxa
ton, and these reckless expenditures by
! Congress must be stopped, or we will
! continue to change the personnel of every
! Congress. Yet, this is not all nor is it at
the bottom Of that which brought about
the uprising Of the people in all parts OF
! this great country. J. can best illustrate
it by the use Of three words -Transporta-
ton, Tariff and Trust Here is the
trouble, and there are three C's, which
are the first letters of the three words,
crush, change and control. There is the
unwritten and iron-bound oath our
| friendly political newspapers abuse us so
much about. L will now tell you what
! this oath is. 1t is to crush trusts, to
change the tariff and control transporta-
! tion.''
He thanked God for the Farmers Ali
ance and all kindred organizations, and
| then proceeded: I'VE are going TO sue
! ceed III our efforts to OBTAIN a large circu-
Iating medium. We must have more
currency, and we Will have it, The
| farmers North, who wore the blue, have
reached the South and have taken the
Southern farmer, who wore the gray, by
! the hand and said to him, we have never
asked you to surrender to king monopoly
! and partial legislation, but only to pre-
| serve the Union alike good for alr; and
no brave Southern farmer ever surren-
! dered to such circumstances. Though
! defeated it was but to save the Union,
and the chivalry of the entire South to-
day is determined to preserve the Union
and the Constitution at all hazards, and
| the result is that sectional strife and par
! tisan prejudice are buried face downward.
! The Farmers Alliance means the great
est good for the greatest number, and it is;
/ determined to have exact justice for all
! and especial fayors for none. 1t numbers
! in corporation nearly 400,0 600, and it has
come to stay and viii be held intact as a
non-partisan organization. The mem
! bers of all political parties may Join the
! organization and il will never become a
third political party. There is big politi-
| cal significance in it, but not party or DO
| litical significance, because that would
mean hopeless ruin" Tillman's refer
| ence to the non-partisan nature of the
Alliance caused something of a sensation,
| and was received with about equal evil
dence Of approval and disapproval
General j. b. Weaver of Iowa was
! called for and made speech on the gen
/ erai situation, which was received with
! enthusiasm. He was followed by Con-
gresham jerry Simpson of Kansas in the
same strain.
President Willets of the Kansas ALI
ance spoke briefly and the meeting ad-
! iourned.
At o'clock the Alliance went into ex-
! ecutive session at the Board of Trade and
the National f. NJ. B. A. at the Court
| house. Both are discussing the third
party movement.
The open meetings to-day were a dis
| appointment to Alliance leaders, and
particularly the third party men. The
attendance has not been as large as ex-
pected, nor the enthusiasm so great.
! Conflicts OF opinion have arisen on i'm
portant subjects which created serious
/ interference with the work While the
attendance was small. the fight for and
against the third party movement was
none the less bitter.
! The session of the Farmers Mutual
! Benevolent Association and Alliance
/ this afternoon was secret, but it is UNDER
! stood that the issue was met squarely in
! each, anu TIC IGSUlb III GttCL case Il drawn
/ battle. Nothing but final vote can de-
termine the relative strength of the fac
! tions.
AT the opening meeting tonight the at
/ tendance was less than a thousand.
| President Polk delivered the annual ad-
! dress.
Mr.. Polk reminded the representatives
that upon no body has greater response
bilitieS rested than on this since the Con-
| tinental Congress. The demand of the
! latter for equal rights were no more just
! than theirs to-day against the ineduali-
! ties which threaten to undermine the
liberties of the people. What are the
| alleged grievances OF the farmers? From
| 1850 to 1860 farm values increased I0I per
cent, and from 1870 to 1880 only 9 per
! cent. The aggregate wealth of the coun-
] try increased from 1870 to 1850 over 45 per
/ cent. The crops of 1856 brought less than
/ 2 per cent. more than the crops in 1866.
! The crops OF 1867, though less than half
as large of those OF 1887, brought the
4 farmer SIS, ,500, coo more.
Two-thirds OF the country's wealth is
! not assessed for taxation, yet the farmer,
/ possessing only y per cent. of it, pays
I 50 per cent. OF the taxes. With modern
! facilities Of transportation and improved
machinery, the farmer finds himself COM
! PEELED to sell his produce at prices barely
covering cost. Farm mortgages are
/ frightfully large. In Iowa the mortgage
/ Indebtedness is 5l04 per capita, in Kansas
SI55, in Illinois Sl00, and everywhere the
farmer is overburdened with debt.
! Therefore the farmer, now appealing to