The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1895-12-17
TO ALLEANCEMEN.

lance:
The PROGRESSIVE FARMER or This
week showing cuts OF the buildings
| end statement of the Executive Com
mittee of the Farmers Alliance
brought back to me some pleasant
memories. and caused me to thank
God and take courage. Pleasant to
me are the memories because / was
there when the corner stone was laid
in the main building and many times
during the erection, when I was much
younger than I now am, and the word
"Plutocrat" was not known.
There is not a foot of ground nor a
| rock of any size upon the 40 acres OF
land that I have not seen many. many
times, before and since the houses
were built. I was not one of Col.
Tew's cadets, but was well acquainted
with him and know that he was not
the man to do shoddy work. The
buildings alone must have cost twenty
thousand dollars. In my humble Judge
ment the Executive Committee have
bought property exceedingly cheap
and have acted wisely in locating the
Alliance home there.
LIST, There is not a healthier place in
the State.
Pad, There r no more hospitable
and noble people than the people of
Orange county. God bless them. We
will never forget their kindness to us
during the war. How they opened
their houses to the refugees and vel
coined them, among which was the
family of the writer of this article.
But I have said enough along this line.
Now I want to make a suggestion as
to what I think is the best way of car
rying on the factory work ETC., and
that is the labor exchange plan as
given by DR.. Bernardo in ''Trials and
triumphs of labor" I have looked in
to the theory and have seen the prac-
tical working of it and regard it as the
most just and equitable and indeed the
best thing there is in the world to day.
| believe that the labor check will do
humanity more good than steam and
electricity both combined. What is
the foundation stone upon which all
the principles of the Farmers Alliance
rest, is it not this7 THAT all wealth be-
longs to those who produce it," The
exchange plan gives them all they pro
duce. To illustrate, it is admitted by
every one that legal tender money
per Sc cap do nothing, but it Is labor
that does all things.
Suppose you start a tannery, give
your laborers checks. When your
tannery is completed you will want
hides, give the butcher checks for
them. You will need farm produce,
give the farmer checks. Some will
send as deposits money, give them also
checks. When leather or shoes or
anything that you manufacture is
needed by any take the checks in re
turn. They have gone out and per
formed all they were intended to do
and are then concealed and cannot be
cornered by anyone. They have then
done ali that legal tender could do and
this much more, keeps the account of
the permanent wealth Of each a
But it is not the purpose Of this ar
ticle to tell you all the good there is in
the exchange system, but to get the
brethren of the Farmers Alliance to
investigate it. 1t will put the sub
treasury or the something better" in
every community.
And if the labor check com9s into use
generally throughout the world, it will
abolish poverty from the face of the
earth.
If you wish to dethrOne 'mammOn"
and place noble labor there as Car.
lyle says (not John G. } that staggering
about like a blind giant denied even
his place on the pavement. We can
not wait. There is a tide IN the affairs
of men when taken at the flood that
leads on to fortune. / am satisfied
brethren if you will adopt this plan
that in a few years every acre of land
that you have bought will have a
dwelling on it, and you will have a
''city set on a hill that cannot be hid"
have written this for the purpose
Of getting others to write about the
working of the labor exchange and
getting the brethren to enquire after it.
There is one at Pfafftown factory, this
county, that has been at work for over
two years, V. A. Wilson, the organ
izer will give you all the information.