The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1891-10-01
corrupt and degenerate. with

CDTfupt duh hu6Gh1A0sSs
out perceptibly realizing that
any progress has been made
either upward or downward;
therefore [ think it the duty of
every individual, or of every
organized body of individuals,
too often measure the heights
to which he may have climbed
that all the satisfaction, courage
and hope possible may Re re-
allied from ones efforts il lie
has been successful, and OIL the
other hand, il ones life has
been failure, the sooner he
begins the investigation the
sooner the fact will dawn upon
him that a change in his plans
must be had, or the next mile
post in life will find him still
further downward in the scale
of human existence.
While indulging in the above
line Of thought it occurred to
.ne that our organization, the
National Farmers Alliance and
Industrial Union, was about to
pass another mile post in its
history, and that it would, per
ilaps, be of interest to every
member il he could be brought
to a true realization OF his
present surroundings as com
pared with those of the past
and have each member to pro.
perly understand and appreciate
and know to what heights our
Order has climbed in strength
education, fraternity aud zeal
1t is my purpose here to give
the world a few plain facts as
they have transpired along the
rugged road that has been
travelled by the Farmers ALI.
ance. 1t shall be more particu
larly directed to our Order as 6
national organization, for it:
failure or success is directly
measured by the failure or sue
cess of its component parts
therefore the failure or success
Of the national will correctly
measure the standing Of the
Order, whether in State, county
Or subordinate Alliances.
The national was first organi
Zed or the DIST day Of January
1887, aud was known at thai
time as the National Farmer
Alliance and cooperative Union
of America. 1t was compos-
of two States, Texas and Louisi
ana. Its aims and objects al
that time were purely local, an6
you might say sectional for some
extent, for the upDermost idea
in those prominent in its coun
ellis seemed TO be a great unio L
of the farmers in the cottoI
growing States. Up to this time
it was confined solely to Texas
and Louisiana, and the whole
time was taken up in pushing
the work OF organization to the
exclusion of education anl
everything else, which act &C
counts to q great extent for the
narrow contracted views of on
people at that time compared
with their views now. The
farmers at this time knew tina
there Wa something wrons
somewhere or somehow, ani
they imagined that the caus,
rested III the fact that they
were paving too much for thei
dry goods and groceries. an(
they if by cooperation they
could do away with the services
iof large class of middleInel
and thereby reduce the price
Of what they had to buy al
their troubles would cease, an.
they could go on their way re
joicing.
While the above ideas obtain
ed among the great mass Of us
it is but just to say, even at tbi
early period of our history, tina
there We're quite a number o
men in the Order who undel
stood the great economic con
ditions underlying all our trou
bles.
During the years 1887 the en-
tire energies Of the nationa
officers were spent in extendin
the Order into other States, an
: when the national metal Shreve
: port, La, October, II, 1887, the
were ten States represented
showing a gain of eight State
, in that many months.
Great progress had been mad
and the report or the cOmmltte
on demands as adopted contain
, eighteen separate demands, COT
tanning all the essential propos
[ tons in the Ocala demands e.
, cept the sub treasury and Ian
loan ideas. During the yea
: 1888 negotiations between th
!; officers of the National Farmer
: Alliance and cooperative Unio
, OF America aud the Nations
| Agricultural Wheel resulted i
both of these national bodie
} meeting in Meridian, Miss, O
Q the 5th day of December of tia
year, the purpose in view bein
9 the consolidation of these tw
Q national bodies into one. Ate
: 6auaro dow If hard and ,>nrc;.