The advocate., 1891-08-12

Missouri, has written q letter to the
Journal of Agriculture, in answer
to the charges Of Farmer" Wade
that the Missouri Alliance is retro
grading, and that the order in that
state has no use for the new party.
Mr.. Rogers letter has the ring of the
true metal, and we take pleasure in
presenting our readers with a few ex-
tracts from it. With reference to the
past and present of the order, he
says:
sec in the Kansas City Star that "Farmer"
Wade says, "The Farmers Alliance movement
In Missouri is retrOgrading. After climbing the
hin and lndulging In great deal Of VOclferOuS
SELF praise, is now sliding down the declivity
with acceleratlng speed. SO far as Missouri Is
concerned, there Is no hope for third party.
The Alliance in our state is Democratic affair"
Now, Mr.. Editor, suppose when Mr.. Wade
says, climbing the hill" he refers to the order
climbing the Democratic party last summer.
And when he says "retrOgrading," guess he
means that the Alliance is losing It's ability to
climb the hill at the next Democratic convention
In our state, and will be unable to make the
platform agree with him In this, for was at
the st. Joe convention, and when the members
of the order took charge OF the convention the
old ring masters were struck dumb with amaze
ment. II a thunderbOlt from clear sky had
No9 l,oN into flDaEp RS1Sf haNra
greater surprise to them. And from that time
down until now they have been lndustriOuSly at
work TO prevent the Alliance from ScOOping the
convention again next year; and 1t is now GER
tain that the order will never be allowed to
dominate another Democratic convention In
Missouri
II by "retrOgrading" he means that the
Farmers and LabOrers' Union Of Missouri is
going down and losing Its membership, he 10
sadly mistaken, for the order has never been in
as good fighting condition as 1t Is now. We are
calming members right along in nearly every
county in the state. New lodges are being Or
ganized almost daily, and old ones that had lost
interest and dlsbanded are coming back aud re-
newlng their allegiance and paying their delIn-
quent dues. From nearly every county In the
state the cheering news comes up to us with ex.
pressiOns IKE the following: "Unlted we stand"
"On with the fight, A." ''Stand like stone wall by
our demands and victory viii be ours" From
present indications think we will be able to re
port the largest paid up membership ever had
In the state.
OF the new party, Mr.. Rogers
says:
When "Farmer'' Wade said that we INDUCED
in great deal OF vOcIferOuS Self-pralse," he
simply uttered an untruth. The members Of
our order are not that kind Of people. He says,
$50 far as Missouri Is concerned, there Is no
hope for third party" We would Ike to ask
Mr.. Wade how much Wall street brokers pay
him for preaching. So far 2s "third party" Is
concerned, we care nothing about It; we want
and intend to have q FIRST PARTY-a party
that has the honesty and charity to incorporate
our demands In its platform, and stand by them
until they are enacted into laws. II Farmer"
Wade don't think that Missouri wants such
party, he win so have an opportunity Of chang
ing his thinker. The old political pOlecatS Of
Kansas said that that state did not want a new
party, but the people knew what they wanted
better than the ring masters, for the Peoples
party swept the state.
Mr.. Rogers is confident that the
political "poleCats" viii see to it that
the Alliance does not capture another
Democratic convention. This will
necessitate the affiliation of the Mis-
souri, membership with the only par
ty that incorporates the demands Of
the order in it's platform, and they
nrnr,nna kn make that NOT a third