The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1894-03-20

government because it extends special ia
vors to some. Legislation is so often for
special classes, with a sop now and then to
the great bulk of the people-the patient
agricultural masses. The halls and corrl-
doris of the capitol at Washington are being
worn smooth by the protectionists crowd
ing and clamorng for pet schemes, but the
solid tread of the ploWman is never heard
there.
1t is only when the supreme authority
that we all support turns its beneticent rays
upon a chosen few that the farmer should
raise his voice in protest outside of govern
ment interference his contest with cities Is
on an unequal plane, and if he is beaten by
cunning and compact voluntary organiza-
ton he can only blame himself for not
uniting into an industrial army. But when
his representatives are hoodwinked ana
Z s|l1boOzled by shrewd lobbyists and impos-
delegations and cooked-up petitions to
atutes that gently but mercilessly
4 his pockets the hard earnings of
y, then he has "A righteous cause of
Aton
mas made an cutlery about his mort
Cages, but their amount and number only
show his distress. Under our present So
cial and industrial system he has basis
of attack in this matter he freely
sumed those obligations under the law of
supply and demand. The holding of these
claims SO largely by eastern capitalists on
southern and western farms is unfOrt-
innate occasion for the development of n
sectional feeling.
But the farmer claims that his chief
burden comes from having to help carry
other VOcationS that the government looks
with partial eye. The establishment of
banks is peculiarly facilitated and great
power is put in their hands. The eXpen-
SiVe requirements make such a business
hopelessy beyond the reach of nearly every
farmer in the land Their control over the
Of
Is too potent for evil to be delegated to
another agency.
But it IS on the silver question that the
farmer OF the south and west is stirred
most deeply and resentfully. He knows
only too well that there has been a sad fall
in the prices of commodities since the de
monetiZation of silver by the leading ma
tons of the world. He argues that this
fall is because of the previous government
action, and no one disprove this. He
has not lost heart in his fight for free sll-
yer. He has got his second wind The re-
peal law last fall no more ended the strife
than Cleveands defeat in 1888 was the
death of tariff reform.
But the strongest counts in his Indictment
against the government are connected with
the general appropriations and the railroad
question. In the past cities have been
created by the breath of rulers st. Peters
burg has sprung out of the marshes of the
Baltic. Berlin has taken on d second
growth through lnG confederation of Ger
many. What is Washington itself but the
stroke of a Presidents pen? How much
have the vast sums voted by congress aided
In the upbuilding of New York? Then add
the millions that have been put into public
buildings, into river and harbor improve
ments. The half million people in Balti-
more have public buildings many times the
value of sucn structures in a rural comnu-
nifty of the same population down south or
out west. OF course in all wise internal
improvements the farmer Indirectly gets
the benefits but the profts-whch are
sometimes enOrmOuS-all go to urban con-
tractors and jewellers. We must have these
expenditures. but they ought to be as wide
ly distributed as possible. The congestion
of people at few points is a portentous
evil and the engine of domination sho,;Jd he
careful not to encourage this centra liza tion
In the postoffice there is much tender soil
citude to serve the city patron A carrier
brings his mail before breakfast and leens
up his kind visits all through the dav. Bur
the farmer, who at bottom pays for at
least half of this luxury, can plod throuqh
sush and snow III winter, heat and dust in
summer for one, three. five ten twenty
miles to get his mail There is some need
for an energetic Wholesale merchant to re-
ceve his letters three or four times - dax,
but no one can satisfactorily explain why
deliveries should be made oftener than once
day in the resident portions of a large
city The average friendly letter is a very
airy affair, and it is safe TO say that NOT
more than one in a million of them grows
stale by being a day older. If a country
family can wait not one day only bur one
week, or one month for such gaSsamv MOTH
ings, surely a city family ought to be salts
fled with one daily mail. The money TINS
saved could be spread for better advantages
In the farming districts.
If a farmer wants q book he must nav
hostage at the rate of cents a pound
On cheap paper-bound volumes this is a
very serious additional percentage But
people in cities have the bookstore and can
huy without cent of postage. Efforts
have been made to reduce the postage but
tbe express Hobbies have always been
strong enough to head off the farmer. For
millions of these farmers the only higher
education they get is to read good lit
erature Literature is university itself
l. public schools are free and the mails ought
tn he as near free as possible.
The farmer has absolutely 10 safe means
of sending money through the mails. At
his little neighborhood postoffice he can get