The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1891-10-08
Open Letter to Hon. Jerry Simpson
BUFFALO GAP, VA, Sept. 23rd 1891
Hon JERRY SIMPSON Medicine Jndoa Ks

NJ
Dear Sir Il have an abiding faith in your
destiny of being the modern Moses that will lead
the Israelitsh hosts Of dissatisfied agricultural
lists of the South and West out of the Wilderness
of Egyptian bondage to the Money BarOns of
the East, into the Canaan OF reformation as adj
vocated by the Farmers Alliance and kindred
refrain from sending you few words of encour-
agement in the good work you have been COM
e a1 ~ yS me arge ana con
or to represent. Especially feel this incumbent
upon me when recollect the obscure station in
| life from which you have been called by the
! manifest viii of the people, and the humilating
| illusions that are being made with such I'M
What matters It now if you were, in times past.
| compelled from force Of necessity to live and
suffer in condition thfs has gssn rise to the
| you were called upon during the campaign by
| your admifing friends. and urged to tell them
| still more of wrongs unredPeSsed and the RENE
| dy that should be applied to cure their Ills and
| adjust their grievance you We're certainly am
| ply justified IN pointing to your naked and
| bleeding feet. on those occasions, as timely
| and pertinent argument that you had personal
+ grievances In common with them. You should
not be censured for contrasting in these oppor-
tune moments the marble fronts of the Kings of
Wall street to the sod shanty from which you
had just emerged, but rather regard the happy
Illustration in Its true light as On trrefqtahla ar
gument that your mission on earth, as eyinced
In the last election, was ordained from the be-
ginning to ameliorate the condition of the tillers
of the soil OF the present century. 1t has been
well said that no great crisis has arisen in the
history of the past but that some one was found |
who seemed to have been created especially for
such an emergency. The disturbed condition Of
affairs in the financial world and the contest be-
tween labor and capital and the multiplied di- |
versity of interests by which we are surrounded, |
demand a man OF peculiar gifts, wonderful in
nate acupen ana the embodiment of wisdom,
to deal with these conflicting interests in such
manner that viii crown themselves with new
lanrels and protectthe interests and satisfy the
demands OF the constituency which they repre-
an eminent degree. not even your most invet-
crate enemies deny. Your star OF destiny has
through the contending and battling elements
into the haven OF perpetual peace and proSperi-
f se the e1 aae I
ey cenJers of the East, in these periods Of your
leisure moments Your ambition on to rortfy your
tact and inspection is commendable In the high
est degree. as supplementary Indication Of
your sagacity and ability to cope with the most
difficult problem in finance that may be present
ed for your consideration. Your plan. as out
lined In one Of your public speeches at Wichita,
Kansas Of estimating the amount of gold and
silver that may lie buried in the hills and issu
ing currency to the amount OF such estimation,
is both unique and practical, and meets my
hearty approval; but allow me to suggest that
Congress. ernbodying these Views OF sound busi-
ness principles will also include iron, lead zinc
and marble as coming within the province of
the proposed legislative enactment
Allow me to make the suggestion, largely In
the interest of Arkansas, with whose people l {
have been Thu own in contact more or less the
past year, and have thus become somewhat ia
nliar with their present condition in life and
bodies Of lead and zinc buried in her hills and |
stately cliffs, and giant lodges of marble that on
ly need to come under the provisions of the pro
posed legislative enactment to cause Arkansas ;
to leap with one bound into the front rank
among the wealthy States of the Union. She has $
untold millions covered up in her hills that only
need to be estimated to make every one OF her l
natives mlionares, and transform every hut !
in the State into marble palace. Your scheme
will effect these marvellous results and at the 6
same time enable the State of Arkansas to re
deem herself from the odium Of being so impoY
efiShed that she could not make even a nominal
to represent herself at the Column
bian Exposition at Chicago in 92. This last iea-
son if for no other, think will cause you to Ia
yorably consider my suggestion. ,
| have also been doing little estimattne my
self of the iron deposits in the mOunta;is of
the Commonwealth of the Old Dominion AZ five
cents per ton and stand amazed at the STU
pendOuS sum that viii stand to the credit of old ,
Virginia, when her buried riches are estimated
according to the law you propose to enact | =
Your scheme of estimation, certainly far out
reaches the scheme Of Reciprocity. You are the !
originator of the idea and should have due cred
it for the thought This fact should inspire you
with that enthusiasm that is born only of sue $
cess. You the browning hero OF the age
the inspired instrumentality through and by s
which this beneacent theory of estimation shall
become grand realization and give to Arkan-
sas and Virginia. in particular the full fruition /
of their hopes and the people everywhere the
full measure OF their desires.
A. A. BROWN.