The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1891-11-24

-raI situation which was received with en-
.husiasm. He was followed by Congress
nan-elect Jerry Simpson, Of Kansas, in
the same strain. President Willis, OF the
Kansas Alliance, spoke briefly, and the
meeting adjourned
At 9 o'clock the Alliance went into exec
ltive session at the board of trade hall and
he National Farmers Mutual Benefit as
.ociation at the court house. both discuss
ng the third party movement
In the evening President Polk delivered
nis annual address. In opening, he said:
Assembled here as the accredited repre-
sentatives of the farmers of almost every
state in the union, you can not be unmind-
full of the weighty responsibility attach
ing TO your position Upon nobody
has greater responsibilities fallen than
upon this since the meeting Of the CONT
GENITAL congress. The demands of the lat
ter for equal rights were no more just than
are yours against the inequalities which
threaten to undermine the liberties of the
people and destroy the great agricultural
interests of the country. Diligent, earnest
research as to the causes which have
forced the American farmer to the verge
Of bankruptcy have forced upon him the
conviction that the most sacred functions
Of the government have been usurped by
a favored few to the detriment and ruin Of
the neglected millions.
what are the alleged grievances Of the
farmeri Let the record show. From 1850
to 1860 farm values increased ISL per cent;
from 1870 to 1>s0 the increase was only 9
per cent. At the same time the aggregate
wealth of the country increased from 1870
to 1850 over A per cent. The ten staple
crops of the country brought
in the year 1854 less than per
cent more than the crops in 1856 The
crops of 1S61, though less than half as
large as those of 1857. brought the farmer
$50, I'll, 900 more. During the last decade
agricultural lands have decreased in value
from 20 to 40 per cent. Two-thirds Of the
country's wealth is not assessed for taxa
ton, yet the farmer, possessing only %
per cent Of it, pays 50 per cent of the taxes.
With all the modern facilities Of transp or-
tation and improved machinery, the
farmer finds himself compelled to sell his
produce at prices barely covering the cost.
Again, the farm mortgages in the ag-
ricultural states are frightfully large. In
Iowa the mortgaged indebtedness is $104
per capita, in Kansas Sl65, in Illinois $50,
and everywhere the farmer is overbur-
dened with debt. The gross ineq ualities and
determinations against the farmer have
caused a rapid decline of agriculture, that
art of all arts, that science of all Sciences"
and that, too, in a periol of wonderful de-
velopment. 1t is therefore that the farmer
is now appealing TO the supreme tribunal
of public opinion and asks a just decision
through the ballot box.''
Mr.. Polk then took up the demands Of
the farmers, scored the national banks
and Endorsed the sub-treasury scheme and
other planks Of the Ocala conference. He
declared that it was the duty Of the ALI
auce to continue its work of educating the
people and no more potent agency existed
for the purpose than the dissemination of
literature. The recommendation was made
that a conference be had with the reform
press association to discuss the
most available means of thus
preaching the doctrines. 1t was also re-
commended that a fund be instituted to
aid in the work. The most powerful aux
Hilary force to the service Of the reform
literature was to be found in a well regu-
lated lecture system. The demand for
speakers was so great that it was impossi-
BILE to supply it
The sneaker closed VITA remarks unnn
the duty politically Of the Alliance He
said the organization must be kept
free from ENHANCEMENT with any
party, declaring: 1T would utterly
fail in its high purposes if it
should be degraded into mere party ma
chine to be manipulated by designing men.
When it shall fail to elevate its member
ship above the arrogant domination of
party mandate, the hour for its decay, dis
solution and death will have come"