The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1896-11-12

of the house of representatives. Inc
congress was called to order by the presi-
dent, B. f. Clayton, of Indianola, Iowa.
Mayor Taggart delivered an address of
welcome. Response was made by the
secretary, j. NJ. Stahl, of Chicago.
Governor Matthews then welcomed the
congress ON behalf of the state.
President Clayton was then introduced
and delivered his annual address, as fol-
lows:
Delegates to the Farmers National Con-
gress of the United States:
| desire to extend to you cordial wei
come to the sixteenth annual session of
your organization, and again to thank
you for the honor of presiding over the
deliberations of the representatives of
the greatest aggregation of wealth and
intelligence known to history.
Our meeting follows in quick success
sion a determined and closely contested
national political campaign. In this
campaign the interest of every farmer
and producer has been involved. The
two great political parties, one of which
has dictated the policy of the government
for nearly one hundred years, met i'll
national convention and submitted to
the American voter line of policy for
the control of our republic for the re-
mainder of the Nineteenth century.
Laying aside the bitter personal at
tacks that usually characterize national
politics, having as leaders men of the
highest personal integrity and character,
a campaign of education was inaugu-
rated and seventy millions of American
people in the sacred right cOuched in the
silent ballot rendered their verdict on
November 3, and, as a result of that
campaign, no nation so well understands
the financial system of their government
as do the American people.
While it is quite natural for large
and equally intelligent minority of our
people to keenly feel disappointed ut the
results, yet it is fair to presume that they
will join with the majority in the hope
that the verdict at the polls-the' hlgh
and supreme tribunal before which great
issues must be decided-will result in the
restoration of life and activity in our
commercial centers, and give employment
to both labor and capital.
As our country has been developed,
the inventive genius has been called into
activity, and under his inventions the
American farm hand can accomplish
the labor of nearly five men of the OLD
world, and he has so divided and di-
yersified employment as to revolutlonlze
the conditions of things.
Dotted over our vast country are to be
found the towns and cities, with the
ceaseless din of our factories and the
hurry and hustle of trade and trathc.
The quiet of every community is dis
turbed day and night by the busy wheels
of commerce as the railways sweep III
every direction over their steel trackage,
in transit to seaboard cities, ladened with
the rich products of the American farm.
In the busy marts are found the en-
ployes of national and international snip
lines. the transportation companies, the
grain elevators, and the vast force OF
labor of shipping house and factory, all
handling and reworking the raw mate
rial gathered from the forest and the
field, and from which the world must be
clothed, warmed and fed.
The natural product of the soil, aided
by intelligent and well-directed labor,
is the great creative force, the only
source from which wealth may be OBJ
tanned to meet all obligations. The street
car fare, interest on bonds, dividends on
stocks. the pension of the soldier, the
| fees of the professions, the dry goods
and the grocery bills, as well as the. cost
of conducting all the intricate machinery
of government must be paid by the rev.
enues of the soil. The product of the
gold and silver mines is only BILE
because of the commerce and wealth
| created from the farms.
One year of total failure of the product
of the earth and wreck and ruin, starva-
ton and death would be the inevitable
result. The vast army. of mechanics;
the arts, the sciences. the trades and
the professions have, no doubt, contrib
uted to higher perfection of our pro-
Il ;nl nj hif
ducers of wealth; they are consumers.
The sciences of agriculture and our Won
derful mechanical inventions have gone
hand in hand in the onward march of
this progressive age; but our basal rela-
| tons remain unchanged, and agriculture
must press her claims with even greater
| force under the new condition of things,
as the true source of wealth, and as the
solid foundation upon which rests the
beautiful and magnificent temple of our
success.
At the fourteenth annual meeting at
Parkersburg in 1894, this organization,
by a practically unanimous vote, passed
| the following resolution:
Resolved That to whatever degree
either great political party shall adopt
the policy of protection, we, as represen-
tativeS of the farming interests, demand
that equal protection be given to farm
products"
| a committee of three was appointed to
confer with the congressional committee
as to the adjustment of tariff schedules
on farm products. l regret that there
has been no report from that committee
but have been placed in possession of
the figures on farm products under The
operation of the former and the present
revenue laws, both of which are pro
tective; hence l shall give the purported
facts without fear of party criticism:
During the last fiscal year of the
operations of the former law, the agri
cultural imports ON twenty articles, he
like of which we produce north and
south amounted to $65, S04, 446; during
the first calendar year of the operations
of the present law the importation OF
the same articles amounted to S134
O6S,S6O. or an increase over the former
law of $6S, 264,3 14. In the expectation
of farm products we find the discrepancy
| still greater in twentyseven chief articles
produced on the farm. During the
fiscal year 1894 we exported farm prod
ucts to the amount of S901, 946. Do
while during the calendar year 1S9;
there were exports in the same products
to the amount of only S751 1913 .937, 6
decrease of S156, 113.00S. Adding til,
gain in imports to the loss in exports
and the American farmer loses in one
year S224,331 800. 1t may be claimed
with some show of reason that Other
conditions aside from the change il
schedules produced this effect; as, fol-
L II =