The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-09-29
RRABsrRR VESTS LETTER.

AIN ~@A @-~
Necessity for Fusion.
Correspondence of the Progressive Farmer
Damn the farmers. One. third Of
them are died in-the-wool r 9pubilcans,
who would vote our ticket il we had
the devil for a candidate and the abo
lition Of the ten commandments for our
platform"
The foregoing words, loudly uttered,
attracted my attention in the Hotel
Raleigh one night this week, and
turned to look at the speaker. He
was dressed in asuit of very irTeproach
able broadcloth, his silk hat was tilted
on the back of his head, diamonds
glittered in his shirt front and on his
hands, and he wore ell the appearance
of a man who did not measure his
wealth by the hundreds or thousands,
but by the millions. His companion,
to whom he had made the foregoing
remarks, wore all a marks Of a pro
~fessional politician, and from his anx
ious and cringing air, it was evident
that he was trying to work the wealthy
individual for funds for the campaign
scheme. Rebuffed concerning the
farmers, he said: "Well that leaves
two-thirds of the farmers for Bryan,
and we are not sure Of the laboring
vote"
"Oh! pshaw, rejoined the man with
diamonds, I'VE can buldoz9 most OF
them, ard what we can't buldCz9 we
can buy"
That conversation is a fair index to
the manner in which the managers Of
McKinley's campaign regard the mass
of voters in this country. Although
my former letters have not been speci
fcally intended fer any particular class
Of your readers, I wish to make an
exception for once and to point out the
ann in which Hanna and his allies
propose to elect Mckinley and fasten
the single gold standard and other mo-
nopolies upon the nation. With the
immense campaign fund at their con
mand they are sending creatures, gen
orally red faced, whisky drinking, pur-
chasable men, to ell meetings of B.yan
supporters, whether they be large or
small, equipped with funds, stuffed
with sophistries, and instructed to
counterRct the influence of the poor
but honest men who advocated the
principles which Bryan and Watson
advocate. In the factories of the East,
in the coal and iron mines, the employees
are handed their pay in envelopes
upon which are printed lying state
ments to the effect that the remoneti
cation of silver will harm the wage
Garner. Into the lumber camps they
are sending m6n with Mexican silver
which they have bought at the
reduced bullion value Of silver, which
reduced value was caused by the de
mo%netization Of that metal, with in
structions to offer the lumbermen five
Mexican silver dollars for 81 Is of
United States money. The railroad
employees are forced to listen to ad
dresses from hired speakers who en-
deavor to impress upon their minds
the idea that bimetalism will cause a
reduction of their wages. All these
things are done to array the wage
Garner against the farmer, when every
wage Garner should know that il agri,
culture be destroyed there will be no
sale for the products of the factories.
no freight for railroads to haul and no
passengers on railroads, ave the rich,
which will result in throwing out
of employment millions of factory
operatives, workers and railroad
employees. When these are out
of work there will be no demand for
the product of the forest or the mine.
These facts they do not state.
Withal they profess q growing and
abiding love for the American labor.
er. How great is this love can be
judged from the fact that Mark Han
ma, the manager of McKinley's cam
paign, wrecked the Sailors Union and
the Street Car Drivers Union of Cleve
land, Ohio, drove the Union men out
of his ship yards and forced down the
wages of coal miners all over the
country over forty per cent. Now,
however, that the votes of the wage
earners are necessary to mintain the
rule of gold monopoly, trusts and syn
dictates, Hanna employs such men as
Bourke Cochran to tell the wage earn
ers how much capital lows him. It is
useless to attempt to shame Bourke
Cochran with facts or statistics prov
ing what all laboring men know that