The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1892-05-17
THE POLICY.
Something to do Until We Get the Sub
Treasury.

Mr.. EDITOR:-If l were to dictate the
line of policy to be pursued by the
farmers, | would materially alter a
part Of the tactics they now have in
practice. If an army attacks a city
and can't take it by direct assault, it
then lays seige and cuts off supplies.
1t can + always be done in q day, week
or year-it IS a slow process and some,
times takes many years-but it is the
surest plan when assaults would be
sure to be attended with great loss.
The recent vote on the silver bill by
Congress ought to demonstrate to the
most credulous that to wrest the cOun-
try from the hands of the money power
through the medium of the two old
parties is an impos~ibility at present,
unless some great unforeseen and un-
looked for change takes place in one or
both Of them. Whether either one
will fOreake it's idol and turn away
from Wall street and serve the people,
is a question that time alone can an
swer Before any great good can be
accomplished, through a political
agency, the towns will have to suffer
in common with the country, and will
have to feel the power of ShylOck and
suffer the hands of the despoiler be-
fore there will be a great political revO-
luton, and ShylOck dethroned and his
kingdom taken from him and given
back to the people. Let the farmers
commence the attack, not only at the
ballOt-b0X, but on their farms also.
While you are doing all in your power
in a political way to overthrow the
oppressor, also do all in your power to
cut off supplies from trusts, pools, syn
dicates and combines. know enough
about farming to know that a farmer
is not obliged to raise tobacco or cotton
to buy his meat with. He can raise
the meat with a great deal less trouble
and expense than he can the tobacco
and cotton. | don't know anything
about cotton, and live in a tobacco
country. But since the days of tobacco
trusts and meat syndicates l believe [
could do better raising meat to buy
tobacco with than | could raising TO-
baccO to buy meat, if had any use
for the tobacco.
I do honestly believe that tobacco is
the most ungrateful stuff that ever
grew in the world. We do the most
of our plowing on our tobacco land,
and nearly all the manure we can rake
and scrape we put on our TOBACCO land.
We impOverish ourselves to buy guanO
to go under our tobacco, and then when
the stuff comes and Is carried to mar
ket, the buyers say the reason it sells
so low is because it is a "sOrry crop
and it amt no account" Hereafter
let the farmer try his hand on a corn
patch and lot of pigs, something that
would have some gratitude about it
and be some account.
Suppose we petititiOn the Agricul-
tural Department not to send US any
more tobacco seed, but to send us some
pigs; or how would it do to get our
Congressman, A. H. A Williams to
introduce a bill to establish a pig breed
ing station somewhere in North Caro-
lima. Do you reckon that Mr.. Vance
would again arrOgate to himself the
power of the Supreme Court and say
it is unconstitutional, pig legislation
and hogemalism, or would the meat
syndicates and railroad corporations
say there is already an over -produc-
tion of pigs7 1t may be that there is
an over production of pigs, but it don't
look like there was one in North Caro-