The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1893-05-23
Written expressly for PRoG E sIVE FARuER. I
THE ALLIANCE GROWING.
President Loucks Writes Encouragingly
of the Outlook Everywhere--Our Eff
forts in the Past and Suggestions
for the Future---The Alliance
Should be Rui1t I'm

SnOuIQ De Built UP.
HURON. SOUTH DAKOTA. 1898.
Mr.. EDITOR:-All reform movements
have their ups and downs, bu5 if based
on just and righteous principles each
renewed effort places the reform one
step higher. Reformers are apt to be
discouraged with slow progress. We
forget how hard it was to convince
ourselves Of the necessity for action on
our part. With prosperous times we
are content to devote ourselves to the
accumulation Of wealth or the enjoy
ment Of the present, leaving the vital
interests OF government to these who
make a business Of politics. The re
snl5 has always been disastrous to those
who neglect the duties of citizenship.
There will always be a few brave
men to sound the tOcGin Of alarm, but
the masses, as a rule, will bear the bur-
den until it becomes too heavy TO be
borne longer Twenty years ago the
old guard usually called "Greenback
er8" sounded the t0csin Of alarm, but
there was a new and extensive West to
which the overburdoned could fly to
start life anew. Ard instead Of fight
ing it out on economic lines they tried
to fight it out with muscle Vain
hope. The nemesis cf contr9c ion Of
the medium Of exchange was intsrsi
fed by the increase of products to &c
exchanged
In the old Greenback campaign the
people had not yet suffered sufficiently
to be ripe for a revolution, then the
ambition FOR office (well meant, per
haps,) caused too much fusion for the
sake of office and the result was a col
lapse. The movement slumbered for
time until the farmers began organic
ing spontaneously as il were. At first
most Of us believed the remedy 20 be
in co operative buying and selling. The
unsettled condition Of the farmers,
more especially in the newer sections,
made success difficult, but IN all sec
tions the lack Of capital to back them
up was a very great obstacle. Again
the effort to spread out caused g de
parture from the only successful plan
called the Rochdale system. We have
been too ambitious in the past. We
must in the future be content to build
up gradually. The result Of our efforts
have borne abundant fruit in directing
our attention to the study Cf political
economy in all it's phases. True this
has caused some unpleasantness for
when men begin to think for themselves
it is 0nly~a question Of time when they
will act for themselves. The men who
in the past have done the thinking for
them and voted to suit the bosses, Go
not like to loose their prestige and
power, hence they resented this indC-
pendent thought and action and tried
to destroy the Alliance, the fountain
from which it sprung.
Many friendships have thus been
severed, but we are consoled with the
thought that friendships Of that kind
are not worthy of preservation.
In 1890 the Alliance reached its zenith
in numbers. Many supposed that all
that was necessary was to elect enough
Alliancemen to Office to secure the en-
actment Of our demands into law.
We forgot, or did not realize, that
Gn their judgmenD the political party
with which they affiliated and from
whom they received their election, had
prior and stronger claims upon them.
The result was that with rare excep-
tions when we elected a man to politi-
cal Office on a platform not in harmony
with our Alliance demands, we lost
him to the Alliance, and many were
discouraged. Had the phenomenal
growth up to 1890 been based on prin
ciple5 as well defined as ours are now,
there would have been no set back.
The ebb in the tide began from the date
of well-defined, practical action. We
demanded results and the difference
Of opinion as to methods caused seri
Gus complications, division and losses 4;
back of it all was a host of earnest,
conscientious men and women anxious
for results, waiting patiently for a fair
trial of each method, loyal to our rep
resentatiVes and with wonderful char
ity for their shortcomings. In this
patient, waiting attitude the Presiden-
tial election of 1892 found us, weakened
because divided, or uncertain as to
methods.
The most encouraging feature to me
in the whole movement thus far is that
we emerged from that critical trial
with our organization intact. True we