The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1893-11-22
BINDER TWINE.
The Value of the Alliance. What
Must be Done.
THE STATE TWINE IN DANGER

A good many members of the alli-
ance say: What is the use of keeping
up the farmers alliance organiza-
tion? We have the peoples party;
that gives us mode of expressing
our political convictions. What more
do we want?
A little thing occurred the other
day that helps to answer this ques-
tiOn.
A few years ago the price of twine
in this state was eighteen cents per
pound. 1t was greviouS burden on
the farmers. In casting around for
remedy some of us perceived that it
was impossible to prevent combina
tion and pooling among manufacture
ers Of twine. They had the farmers
by the throat, and it was the most
natural thing in the world that they
should press their advantage to the
utmost. Hence gigantic trust was
formed, covering the whole United
States. The farmers alliance came
to the rescue. They said: The best
use that can be made of the convict
labor at Saltwater is to employ it if
the manufacture of twine and thus
relieve the great producing class, on
whose labor the whole state rests.
and whose taxes so largely contribute
to the support of the prison and all
our other institutions.
After a desperate battle we sue
ceeded in establishing twine facto-
ry in the penitentiary;-b for the
farmers alliance it never could have
been accomplished. The twine thus
furnished by the prisoners, broke
down the price of all the other twine
in the market, and saved the farm
ers of Minnesota hundreds of thous-
ands of dollars. But we are now
confronted with great danger
We met recently Mr.. Henry Wolfer,
the efficient warden of the peniten-
tiary, and he told us that, during the
past season, they had manufactured
a million and half pounds of twine,
but that only about one-haF of 1t had been
sold; and that the remainder is piled
up in the penitentiary, while the ma
chimes are pouring out additional sup
plies every day.
How did this happen?
There are two causes.
In the first place the outside manu-
facturers of twine united to break
down the states prison twine; aware
that if they could crush that enter
prise they could put up their price heredt-
ter to any ertent. Hence they sold
twine at very low figures; they flood
ed the market with bogus manufac-
lures; moreover. the farmers were
SO poor that they could not pay cash
for the penitentiary product, while
time was freely given on the outside
twine. Where the state authorities
did give time the collections, in con-
sequence of the bad times, have been
fearfully slow.
The result is, as we have said, one
half of last years output remains
unsold. And if no change is made in
this matter next year, the opening OF
the legislature in January, 1895, will
find two million pounds of twine
piled up in the prison at Saltwater
with no buyers. Then the twine OF
cordage trust of the United States
will hire the daily newspapers to set
up an internal clamor, and the week
lies will take up the howl, that twine.
making by the state is failure,-a
piece of communism, anarchism,
and all other kinds of ISM; and that
it must be abolished at once or the
state will be bankrupted. And they
will abolish it; and the farmers will
slip back into still greater helpless
ness, for the experiment having once
been tried and proved a failure, nc
subsequent legislature will ever dare
to repeat it and the price Of twine
will go back, probably, to eighteen
cents a pound!
NOW IL Is cvlUCuO UudO OAO pCOpICs
party can do nothing to help this
state of things. This is not a politi
cal question! Only the farmers car
do anything; and they must do it By
organized effort; and the alliance j!
the only organization that even at
tempts to help the agriculturists
Therefore to let the alliance perish
is to give up the farmers standing
army of self-defense.
Mr.. Wolfer will appear before th'
state farmers alliance at it's meeting
next January and lay the whole mat
ter before them and take counse
with them. We think he is honestl.
attempting to protect and continue
state manufacture of twine. Let th'
state alliance at that time conside
the whole subject fully. Let a stand
ocvx, too ho onroin< n