The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1891-02-05

more OF 1t? Oh the great staples, the
country can consume only q limited
quantity; but the country is ready to
take all sorts of fancy food products
d%elicacies, Injuries, ~gastronomic novel
tfes-and to pay good prices for them. A
few years ago Mr.. Gladstone, speaking
to the farmers in q Scotch district where
agriculture was greatly depressed, asked
them why they did not try the
production sof jam for the city mar
kets. He pointed out that the small
fruits from which this luxury could: be
compounded would grow we'll in their
always o good market. The Troy editors
laughed about Mr.. Gladstone's kitchen
economy, but the Scotch farmers took
the matter seriously and have found
profit in 1t. A large and productive in
dustry has sprung from the old states
mans suggestion. Along some such
lines as these the farmers will most
surely draw to themselves a larger share
of the surplus wealth of the country.
That surplus Is abundant, but all sorts
of people with keen wits and strenuous
energies are competing for it. Those
who have it are ready to exchange 1t for
qualification of various sorts. The prob
lem is to please them. Within the
bounds of innocent and wholesome de-
lectation there is a wide range for tho
exercise Of invention by the food pro-
ducers Of tho nation. If they confine
themselves to the business Of raising
corn and wheat and pork and beef, their
market will be narrow. They car widen
it almost indefinitely II they will devote
to their business the same kind of inge-
nuity that the manufacturers of all
classes are exercising in their efforts to
attract to their own Golfers the abund-
ance Of the land.
Such methods. however, are not those
by which the farmers now hope to better
their condition. They are organized
mainly for other purposes. They be-
lieve that miseries under which they are
suffering are largely due to political
causes and can be cured by legislation.
They have found out that Of the twenty
millions Of bread-winners they comprise
eight or nine millions, and they think
that If they stand together they can get
such legislation as they desire. The old
Grange kept pretty we'll out Of politics;
the new Farmers alliance and its afili-
ated organizations intend to work the
made to yield. Hear them:
Inc PRIME ODJoCU Oh JulS ASSOCIATION Is 10
better the condition of the farmers of
America mentally, morally and financially;
to suppress personal, sectional and national
%prejudices, all unhealthful rivalry and self
ish ambition; TO return to the principles IN
which the government was founded, by adj
herring to the doctrine OF equal rights and
equal chances to all and special privileges
to none; to educate and commingle with
those Of the same calling, to the end that
country life may become less lonely and
more social; to assist the weak with the
strength OF the strong, thereby rendering
the whole body more able to resist; and to
bequeath to posterity conditions that will
enable them, as honest, intelligent, Indus
trious producers, to cope successfully with
the exploiting class of middlemen,
For tho promotion of these objects
three methods aae named-'sooial, bust
ness and political" The social feature
is easily understood; the business meth
DDS involve various forms of cooperative
buying and selling; and the political
methods are strictly non-partisan, and
that they must ever remain so. This
seems to mean that the farmers decline
to attach themselves to either political
party, but they will try to make both
parties serve them.
All questions in political economy will be
thoroughly discussed. and, when the order
can agree on a reform as necessary, they
will demand it of the government and OF
every political party; and If the demand
goes UNDECIDED, they will find ways to en-
force it. The most essential reforms must
come from legislation, but that docs not
necessarily compel the necessity of Ghoos-
ing candidates and Of f!!t Hasggss taAs ,9{Blss 81
will not be resorted to under any other cir
cumstaEces.
This is pretty explicit, and it is begin
ming to exert a solcmnizing influence in
the councils of the politicians. The
Farmers alliance is not unconscious of
Its power. The movement Is running
like wild-flre over all our hills and
prairies, and 1t is claimed that over forty
members Of tho next congress will be
pledged to support its demands. What
will be its demands?
l. Cheap money, to begin with. The
farmers are generally debtors; they
want cheap money wherewith to pay
their debts. OF course, the cheaper the
money the less groceries and clothing
and machinery can be bought with it:
but the farmers think of their debts
more than of their necessities, and the
longing of their souls is for cheap money.
They are, therefore, in favor Of the free
coinage; but they insist that even this
would be an Intellectual remedy, since
only about $40, 600, 900 o year, at the ut
most, could thus be added to the cur
rency OF the country, and this amount,
they think, would be ridioulously in
adequate.
III, The subtreasury plan, so called,
oy which warehouses are to be built in
every county where they are demanded,
wherein the farmers may deposit cotton,
wheat, corn, oats or tobacco, receiving
IN return a treasury note for 80 per cent.
of the value OF the product so deposited,
at the current market price. These
treasury notes are to be legal tender for
debts and receivable for customs. A
warehouse receipt, also, is to be given to
the deposition, designating the amount
and grade of the product deposited and
the amount Of money advanced upon it.
and Indicating that interest upon none
thus advanced is to be paid by the de-
positor at the rate Of ! per cent. per an.
mum. These receipts are to be nego-
gotiable by Endorsement. The holder of
a receipt, by presenting it at the ware
house, returning the money advanced,
and paying interest and charges, may
obtain the product deposited; and the
money thus returned is tt be then
destroyed by the secretary of the treas
ury. This scheme for getting an ample
supply of money directly into the hands
OF the farmers. at Q nominal rate of in
%terest, appears to have the Endorsement
of the alliance. The journals Of the
organization are discussing 1t freely, and
are adducing various historical instances
to show that the principle involved in it
has been tested and found valid; hut the
verdict of most eeonomists and fnapciers
Is strongly against the measure:
III. The ownership by the government
of all the railroads, telegraphs and tele-
phones ia another plank in the platform
of the alliance. Here is q measure
which is certainly debatable; let US hope
that tho farmers will secure for It u
thorough discussion.
Nv. Tho prohibition Of gambling In
stocks and that of alien ownership of
land are propositions which will also re-
ceive considerable support outside the
alliance.
Y. The abolition Of national hanLs