The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1892-09-02
ALLIANCE READING.
Pre,ident Buffers Annual Message
TO the North Carolina State Alliance
in Session at Greensboro.

He In the front OF the N. 4. division c
the great national army of rcformers
1t was position of tremendous respou.
sibility and l trust felt in largo dc
gree the gravity Of the situation. 1t wa,
at time when the organization was ente,
ing the most critical period of its cxis.
tence, time when we and our principles
were to be subjected to tho suprcmcs,
crucial test, The year has been stormy
one. Every day, Sundays exclu fed,. the
lire OF the enemy has been poured upor
us with mcrciless force and in an un
scrupulous manner. The money power
has left no stone uuturned to crush the
movement and down the cry of the weak
for mercy aud the demand Of freeman fo,
ju tice.
Today we ct again. Let us see
what has been accomplished; what the
present status of the Organization is, and
what is our duty in the future. Every
reform movement has its various stages OF
growing and development. Many OF
those movements sooner or later reach
the stage of disintcgration and decay.
This has been the case when the cause
has been slight or local or temporary o,
when the people failed to find the true
cause for real wroeL and therefore
could not apply the try remedy. The
cause of the present movement is deep
rooted and wide spread 1t is one that
In large degree affects alike every lahore,
and wealth producer of the whole country
a portion of those suffering from the
blighting effects of some great inlSeencc
caused them to organize to study the
situation. They formed themselves into
a great vigilance committee to search for
the cause, q cause that made them poore,
while each worked harder created more
veal h, cause that has made poor the
people whose labor has made their coun.
try rich. Since this class of men and
this condition existed in every quartz,
OF the country, the organization soon
spread over the whole country. Fe,
years the cause or rather the causes have
been simultaneously searched for and
studied from Maine to California and
from the lakes to the gulf. The cause
or part of the causes were found. The
whole organization agreed on them. The
public generally agreed that the evil
causes existed. We then appealed ia
the law makers of the country for rem
edy. Great sympathy was expressed
for our condition, but no remedy was
offered. The organization then formul
ated its own remedies for each cause and
appealed to the law makers to give us
tt66ceyy" Trey" sfi5afa give vTheYv found fmIlt with
better. That was fair. For
if the wrongs exist, if unjust and oppres
sivc laws arc on the statute books, it is
the duty of our law makers to give US
relief, to give us our remedy or a better
one. Up to date the demands of the
people have been ignored, while every
rcqust of the monopoly corporations and
the money power has been promptly
agreed to. We have just realized that
the organization came too late for justice
to be gotten by petition.
THE RALEIGH CONFERENCE.
On April 18th l callc conference Of
the Alliance of the State through on
representative from each county. l did
it in the interests of our principles and
tho cause of reform. While at times dur
iug the year many of us Ohoush unit
in thoughD have differed in judgements
as to methods, yet today the organization
is practically unit in action as well as
thought. l believe that the guidance Of
a divine hand has turned what at times
seemed to be mistakes, into blessings.
Our seeming errors have proved to be the
essence of wis lom, for by what methods
could we have have been stronger titan
we are today? Therefore let us at all
times have that charity of opinion for
each brother, for we may honestly differ,
that we have a right to expect from each
other brother.
DEATH OF COL. POLK.
During the year the organization. Ma
tional as well us State, has suffered an ir.
reparable loss, and each member has felt
a sore bereavement by the untimcly death
of our great and beloved leader, Col l..
l.. Polk. We have never known purer
man, nor has any organization ever been
blessed with more ardent, devoted and
loyal leader, yet his charity toward those
who differed with him in opinion, and
his spirit of fairness toward those who
opposed him was almost supcrhuman
His great work and his magnificent cx-
ample lives after bin. and is to-day an
inspiration to every Icformcr to have the
courage of his convictions and to carry
on the work for humanity so grandly
and heroically begun. Let us build q
fitting monum" mt to his memory. but his
greatest monument will be the place he
holds in the hearts of his people Let
his last words c,er he the motto Of the
hour, "Do your duty"