The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1891-08-13
ALLIANcE UNION PICNIC.
state and District LECTURERS Pres


OF the county, held a union picnic at Sc
coma last Thursday. State Lecturer jeff
ries, District Lecturer Kcitt and Hon. Geo.
Jolnstone, Nj. c., were present and ad-
dressed the people on the live questions of
the hour. At II a. m, about 800 people,
among them many ladies, gathered at the
stand in the grove near the church, to listen
| TO the gentlemen named above.
President O'Dcll called the meeting to or
der and announced that the exercises would
be opcpcd with with prayer by Rev. w. |
Is. Singleton, who asked the blessings of |
the AilwiSc Rulcr0n the meeting, aflerward
he delivered Il short address Of welcome.
The first speaker introduced was Hon. J. |
l.. Kcitt of Ncwbcrry, his address was prct |
~ much the same as the one delivered be- |
fore the county Alliance, here on July the
2nd which was reported in full in the Sen. |
| TINEL at the time and we will only give |
here what he said on the demands of the |
order:
The demands Of the order: We will on |
| ly consider the financial question which is
| the most important of the many demands
| of our farmers. lSt. We demand tho abo
lition of the National Banks as one of the
greatest evils foiSlcd on the aboring class
Of any country. This system has given the
capitalist Unlimited power to upprcss the
laborer and has brought on the present
|
money, this all-powcrful opprcssor? We
must have some conception of what it is
and whence it derives It's power Who
created it? These are questions on which
| the people have been kept igaOrant, but
now they arc beginning to learn something
about it. Money is Il creation Of law; none
Of the materials Of which money is made
have any intrinsic value, except the value
given it by law. Lumps of gold and silver
NncO 90 MIL
the government is placed upon it; then il
is money, that powerful king. The coin
age Of gold is unlimited, the silver and pa
per issue is limited. The Government has
the right to make money, and all statements
to the contrary are false. During the late
: war the United States issued millions of
grccnbnck legal tender notes, simply on
, tho credit of the Government and that
was good money, and is today. At that
time the circulating medium was ST. per
, capita, labor and produce was high. Now
D it is less than SO per capita, and iabOr and
produce is at u low price. If this is Il Gov.
crnmcnt of the people and for the people
IT, is the Governments duty t. furnish the
: people with Il sufficient circulating medium
with which tn do business. ThrcapitaliStS
who control the money of this country are
only six per cent. Of the population and
this six per cent representing the money
of the country controls and Expresses the
ninty-f0ur per cent. OF our population
; which belongs to- tlic lahuring class, and
this oppression has been growing worse
ever Since the war. Money has Outwcighcd
property and labor.
That the Government can make n paper
dollar rs good as gold one no one can
deny. On what iS these Government bonds
that bring such premium, based, but the
the credit of the Government? These
bonds are then made Il basis for the issn"
OF National Bank Notes, which is good
money, but we must yet ii through the
banks and pay II higher rate of interest
thcrcfOr; that's where the robbery comes in
, The intnkS get the money from TN" Govern
mrnt al about one per cent. and place ;hr
bends AS Sccurty--thcSc same bonds. mind
you, that have nothing outside of the ull;,r-
, antcc OF The Government 10 maze them
good--tllrn the banks, the only channel
through which We can get our currcnrv
lcnu THIS money to tnc farmer and IubOrinp
classes NJ from ten To- twenty per cent. If
+ that is rot robbery, what is? These same
p banks can contract the currency so that
cotton will not bring Nut three cents per
pound and and other produce accordingly
This government has lun too long in the
J. interest Of the capitalSt--thcy have con-
trollcd legislation long enough. The ALI
ancc is the way to find the relief we seek,
ana the subtrcaSury bill is the means.
: want every member To study this bill that
! the Alliance has endorsed, and | DEFY any
man to prove that ii is not a good thing for
the farmers.
AS to the bill being constitutional it is
not the business of Il Congressman To say
whether or not any bill is constitutional lei
them pass the Act. 1t is the business of
the supreme Court to pass upon it, and that
court has already said that the Government
can lend money TO CUrpDratiOliS then why
not lend II 10 thc farmers, WHO are tie
backbone Of the Government. We are ON
the right track now and wc must stand to-
Eether until the relief asked for cones as
come 1t WILL at nN distant day.
Col. Kcltt spoke for one hour and thirty
minutes, and held the closest attention Of
the audience TO the end Of his address when
a recess of one hour and fifteen minutes
was given for dinner.
After pnrlaking Of a sumptiouS dinner
prepared for the occasion by the wives of
the sturdy yocmcnry, all gathered at the
stnnd promptly at O'clock to listen to
other addresses.
Hon. }. r. Jcflrics. of Union, State Lee
, tuicr of the Alliance was introduced by
President O'Dcll and spoke as follows:
Mir. IrcSldcnt, Ladies', and Gentlemen
and Brethren Of the Alliance: need not
lcli you that am proud TO meet You here
today. am more than gralilicd by NV re-
cep'ion in this county. This morning |.
had lhe pleasure Of viewing the kingdom
OF llckcns county from the summit OF a
high mountain; whittier had been led
as was our Saviour eighteen hundred years
ago: Your county is Il fair and valuable
heritage.
l come before you today as the repre-
sentative Of the State Alliance feel proud
OF my position, having been chosen to fiji
The shoes Of an able and honorcd exponent
OF the principles Of the ORDER and oncwhosc
place will be hard to fiji. am onlya clod-
hopper and shall only be able 10 address
you ID clodhoppcr style. ! shall never be
Il stump speaker, but ] have seen lots of
stump speakers that were not fit for any
thing else but to stand on the stump
lhahk GOD for making ne codhoppcr the
vocation of farming is the grandcsi Of a;J
pre- ieSsions. 1t is through the Drawn ana
muscle OF the yocmcnry of the country Il at
all wealth is produced Ii is our business |
10 make the earth give forth its wealth. |
am here today to rcilcrGtc the old story Of
The oppression Of the farmer that has been |