The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1898-03-29
ITO BE CONTINUED }
The POLITICAL SITUATION.
Mica, N. @.
CHAPTER /.

dissatisfaction among our people.
There may be a cause for this. i
wrote, There must De a cause for this"
The masses are prone to take things as
they come, and the prevalent wide
spread and deep seated discomfort il
proof positive that there ID something
rotten in the State of Denmark"
Before undertaking to suggest some
remedies for the ills that environ and
dangers that confront us as I promised
to try to do in my former article, it
might be we'll to try to ascertain some
Of the chief of these evils and dan,
gers. We are in the midst Of q mighty
contest-one that is destined TO exert q
great and lasting influence On our
country, and through it IN the world.
1t is no new contest, although the sur
roundings and conditions of our times
make it appear so to many. It is the
contest Of all history-:he compare
lively few striving selfshly to get an
unjust portion Of the wealth created
by the labor Of the many. In this
contest many Of the most precious
rights Of the individual and most i'm
portant principles Of government ara
at stake. l know there are many
good and intelligent people who dep
recate, or even severely condemn such
statements, but when, In all history,
did reforms fail TO meet this or far
worse treatments They Say it is wrong
to stir up strife bet Ween the classes.
"Demagogues" cannot stir up aprosper-
GUS and contented people. The discon-
t mt is, and always has been, an unfail
ing sign that there is wrong. and wrong
must be opposed. We need not cry
peace where there is no peace and
should not be until wrong is righted.
The issue that is sqlarely presentd
is: shall this country be ruled by men
or money! At present the power is
divided, the preponderance baiug de
cidedly on the eide of money, and with
its power rapidly increasing. The
enormous aggregatiors of capital in
the hands Of the few is giving to it q
tremendous power, not only in the bust
nest world, but in every important de
partment of government; but it at
times enters the church aud Yields a
balefUl ilfueUCe there. It's chief
gains at present are corruption end
bribery, bus If unchecked, it will ere
long not be necessary 10 resort to
steTner methods.
HOY r we to not siC0ply arreet, but
overthrow this mighty power. AS
Judge Clark has wisely said, the bat
tie must end IN a Waterloo to n side
or the other. Either the people viii
win and not duly overthrow the money
power and Incorporate into our organ,
law, etc., such provisions as will effect
ually prevent the recurrence Of evils, or
they will be crushed into submission
and be ruled by a monied oligarchy-
one of the most contemplate and des
potic Of all governments.
Iuremedying these evils, the first step
is to destroy the agencies by which they
have been brought about and are rap
idly being intensified so far as they are
the result of misgovernment, either
through favoritism or neglect of duty.
The two chief agencies that have been
used to bring about present conditions
and are still being used to intensity
them are an unjust financial system,
and the corrupt and oppressive use of
the railroads, u highways of com
merce, by individual and corpora
tons.
At the outset OF any discussions Of
the money question, it would be well
for us to determine. if possible what
money is. Our people are divided into
two widely divergent classes: those
who believe that a metal, or at most
two metals, alone is money, and those
who oppose this idea or the metalists
on the one hand and the fatists on the
other. The metalists are of two kinds:
the monometalists who believe that
gold only Is money and the bimetalists
who believe that gold and silver only
are m 2ney. The controlling influence
l a the Republican party with a large
percentage of its members are of this
belief and a large and Influential ele
ment IN the D5m ocratic party are of
the same belief. The silver Democrats
and silver republicans are bimetalists.
They are all of the sam9 kind, differ
ing only in degree.
Those who understand and accept
the principles of the Peoples Party
are datists. They reject the theory
that money is a product of nature.
They claim that it is a creature of law