The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-10-31
THE COMMON VEAL THREATENED.

THE COMMON VEAL THREATENED.
The Alliance people who endorse and
have gone into the proposed $40, 900, 600
cooperative store scheme no doubt
fancy that they are going to get rich of
of their savings in the prices of the
goods they will buy. But they should
bear in mind that that is only one side
of the question, and that side is not half
covered. The plain logic of the scheme
is to boycott all merchants and local
mercantile interests, the effect of which
would be to break up the urban COM
munities, and with them would go the
only markets the farmers have for a
large and valuable portion of their pro-
ducts. Under the present order of things
the true principles of reciprocity are
exemplifed. The farmer goes to the
local market TO buy supplies for
his farm and family; he carries
load of garden, vineyard, orchard,
dairy or poultry products with him
which he either disposes of to the mer-
chants from whom he makes his pur-
chases, or to families in the town that
are maintained by the local trade. But
suppose the farmer carries his load of
produce to the local market, demands
the cash and then goes off to the CO.
operative store in his neighborhood to
purchase his supplies, how many such
trips does he suppose he could make be-
fore he would find no cash demand for
his surplus and he would be compelled
to take it home? He could not dispose
of it at the cooperative store. because
the bulk of the produce, such as that
mentioned, could not be handled
by the cooperative agent, for
the reason that merchants in
towns could not handle it; e, there
would be no local demand for it, and he
could not ship it to distant market be-
cause of the perisable character of much
of it, and because the same conditions
would exist in the large cities that
would in the towns and Villages. Oh,
but says the cooperative store advocate,
our stores will be supplied direct from
the manufactures who will have to take
our produce in payment for their goods.
But they will not. The manufacturer
must have money in order to keep his
establishment in operation. He cannot
pay for the raw material he uses in his
manufactures with vegetables, and
fruits and butter and eggs
and the like, nor with the wheat
and oats and corn and hogs and cattle.
OF course the employees of the manufac-
turer needs all these things, but they |
need other things as well, and if they |
were paid in produce only for their labor
what would they do for clothing and |
fuel and medicines, articles that they |
can only procure for cash!
Thus the scheme could be followed |
through the entire economic system, but |
it is not necessary. EVERYBODY can see
at o glance that the proposed system is
and to attempt to inaugurate
it would revolutionize our whole social
fabric, and could not help producing dis
order and suffering not to say chaos and
anarchy.
But this order Of things the Alliance
has formally committed itself to as an
To vote its ticket would
be an open endorsement of this paraliz-
ing and destructive theory that will be
attempted to be put into practical opera
ton if the party that proposes it shall be
successful.
These people deny that this has any
thing to do with the political features of
their organization. OF course they do
not as yet propose any legislative action
in support of that theory, but to do so
would be just as plausible and feasible
rs the land loan and sub-treasury
which are the bases of the
political part of the movement, and there
S little doubt that some pretext or ex-
,use would be found for demanding for
{ government support.
The only sure way to defeat all these
schemes and prevent their
being experimental with at the expense
If the whole people is to defeat the party
hat proposes them. This done, over
and decisively, and it will
disappear as political movement, and
With it its vagaries and wild, scatter
)rain theories. And Democrats are just
IS much interested in this matter as Re
)ublicans: whatever affects the material
interests of the community affects the
.itizen without regard to political bias.
t behooves the Democrats, therefore, to ,
i've their support to the Republican
icket next Tuesday, seeing that the con- ,
est is between the Republican and Alli-
nee candidates.