The farmers' union. (Memphis, Mo.) 1891-1895, 1891-10-01
DUTY OF THE HOUR,
There Must BE No Compromise With the
Piutocrats.

The reform movement must go on.
It may, here and there, receive back
set, but progress has come to stay.
The bandit trust plutocracy of the
nation to-day will force reform, and
therefore no treason to the cause can
destroy it, There are men in the re-
form movement, to-day, whose ideas of
| reform must themselves be reformed.
| There are men, few in number every
| where, who got into the ranks of
organized labor to direct and control
| to tell organized labor what it should
| do, j. e., elect them to Office. This will
do no good, because organized labor
| will sit down on them heavily. Organ
| lied labor will permit no fusion. 1t
wishes no fusion with eitherindividual-
| ism or plutocracy. Such course as
lately proposed by some, fusion with
the democratic party, is a social and
political death warrant. Reformers
may be defeated, they will not commit
| selfmurder. Truth crushed to earth
will rise again. We well understand
the moral effect of victory won over
principles. Men unless they have our
principles as their own convictions
also, cannot represent either US or our
principles. God knows proxvism is
bad enough in legislatures, in county
and state conventions, but when it in
vades the very principles of the people
it is worse than the very devil. When
ever q people will consent to sacrifice
of their fundamental principles under
the pretense of gaining victory, they
4 L.,
| the plutes want-whether they are
masking under the old party banner.
The knights of Labor and the
Farmers Alliance in all their
national declarations are in no
manner, in touch with either the dem
ocratic or republican parties, consid
cred both in fundamental doctrines
and party methods. Absolutely con-
sidered, man must be either a rascal
or fool to propose to mix Oil and
water. They differ in chemical COM
position and in specific gravity. The
present political machines of the old
parties are plutocratic beyond redemp-
| ton. What in common has the rank
and file of the toilers with plutocracy? :?
! Absolutely nothing. If there were
anything in common between them,
the toilers would never have revolted
against the machines and organized for
| themselves. There is not a crime
against humanity that one political
machine has committed, but the other
is equally guilty. Fusion Is the great
est victory that could be won by the
plutes. Under the guise of reform,
again the plutes will be on deck, and
placed there by the people. All! it is
enough to make BeelzehUb rejoice to
contemplate fusion with the democratic
party. An apostolate that makes an
alliance with evil is false apostolate.
Don't trust such serpents. There is q
| fusion that we would recommend-the
fusion of all plutocrats, no matter
under what name. To be consistent it
should be done by the fieecers. Our
readers know that plutes differ only in
the amount of stealings: only in the
length of the chp they take from the
producer. Such fellows might make
a splendid bandit camp. No! no fu-
sion for us. but only an honest out-and-
out fight, with no policy man at the
head of the ticket. The candidate will
not hupt the other candidates, this fall.
on the same ticket. Then let us send
pair of cowhide boots to congress
this time; let us send a workman's s
blouse to congress this time. Let us
send one who holds NOTHING in COM
mon with plutes. Let us send man
of brains and heart, a radical man. We
can do it. We are through with it;
We have finished voting for men for
victory only; for men who are neither
fish, flesh. fowl, nor good red herring.
Overheard with the half-plute hum
bugs called reformers: give us radi-
cal. but one who knows how to handle
dissecting knife with consummate
skill, and also butchers cleaver, but
not recklessly. In the meantime, let
the plutes go on with their devil dance.
The industrial workers are watching
with great interest Everything comes
at last to this: The industrial empire.
or the industrial republic. Which,
Aberdeen IS. d. Knights of Labor.