The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-05-05

voted for bills to retire generals. judges.
rich widows, like Mrs. G 1rfield, Logan
and Grant, and it is also true that our
President, Grover Cleveland, signed
several of these bills and sent a special
message to General Grant rejoicing in
being called on to sign a law retiring
him on seventeen thousand a year and
we knew these bills were all unconsti-
tuition and rife special and class laws,
but you see these people were honor
able and high in society, and it would
not do to raise the question of consti-
tuition or class laws against them.
If we had they would have
squelched us. But we amt afraid
of you old farmers, you'll vote right
anyway. We will get out in the cam
paign, raise a pow-wow and a yell and
you will vote the straight ticket-yes,
and some of you old farmers are just
that way.-AUidnce Vndicator.
Another evil from which the Kansas
farmers suffer is the monopoly of
transportation. I was told, said Mr.
Simpson, in an editorial in an evening
paper, that probably I would learn a
great deal here in New York if I were
careful and observing. That I would
find out when I came down here that
it took money to build railroads. Well,
that is a revelation to me Out in
Kansas we had made up our minds
that all it took to build a railroad was
cheek and labor. Laughter. We
have 5000 miles of railroad in Kansas,
Government, the State and the various
localities contributed in lands and
money, 800, 600, 600; more than enough
to build and equip the roads. AS soon
as these roads were built the men con-
trolling them bonded them for $50, O1O,-
900 and mertgaged the land given to
them for $500, 600, 900 more, so that
every pound of produce that we try to
send out of Kansas has to pay freight
on $500, OOO, 900 instead. Of the 800, 600, :
600 which was given to them in the
first instance. We have figured all
this out in our school house meetings.
And we have also figured out that it
is absolutely necessary to u we'll be-
ing in Kansas that the government
should take possession of and run those
roads in the interest of the people, in
stead of having them run, as now, in
the interest Of capitalists and monopo-
lists. [Great applause. ALLIANCE
Tribune, Kansas
The National Citizens Alliance,
Balph Beaumont editor, under the
head "Hew to the line" has the fol
lowing to say. Read it, We who are
weak in the faith and be strengthened
thereby: THAT must be the motto of
the members of the Citizens and Farm
ers' Alliances. The three great ques-
tions Ofland, transportation andfnance
are the questions in which the great
political battle of 1892 is to be fought
upon, and the Democratic and Repub-
lican politician must not be allowed to
hedge IL off OF to that side issue, the
tariff. The tariff has been the issue
. between the parties for eight years,
! and both have tried their hands at it
and all the time the great corporations
have been gobbling up the lines OF
transportation, re-organizing them,
J and each time the bonds of watered
stock is increased with the object OF
levying tribute upon the American
E toiler. Only last week the umo was
current, and that too well founded,
. that Gould and Huntington had pooled
, their issues and the result was that
! 40, 900 miles, or one-fourth of the whole
+ railroad sys4em of the country was tC
be put under one management. Be
hind these railroad corporations are
the great banking and syndicate liter
ests of the United States that corner
the money of the country. We insist
, that it is not the high taxes that the
people have to pay in consequence OF
the tariff that is the most pressing issue
:, at the present time. 1t is the money
to pay those taxes with. We are il
the same position as the dead broke
sailor, who said that if ships were sell
ing at a dollar apiece he did not have
money enough to buy a gangway
plank. What is wanted is morem money.
, less monopoly of land, and a scaling
E down of the water9d stock in the rail
roads. No nickle panacea in the form
of a five per cent. reduction in tariff
must be allowed to switch these aside
-AUiance VindicGtOr, Tecas.
cOrTNT OHTrAT