The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1898-03-02
Address of II. II. Rahilly Before the
National Council of the +. A. & L.
u. ut Washington, ID. c.

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen Of the Con-
vention-
In presenting my views for your con-
sideraton, l desire to deal with matters,
as l find them existing in the great agri-
cultural State of Minnesota, which l have
the honor to represent and of which l
have been a citizen for the past 10 years.
We have in the State of Minnesota. one
thousand four hundred and oHe ai'iatCes,
forty-nine thousand members. l vas born
in a wheat field siXty-five years ago, and
lived there ever since Frequently
raised !, $1,000 bushels of grain an
nually. I have never approved of
the action that was taken some
years ago. declaring that the Farmers Al
lance was not a political organization.
While this is strictly true. the statement
has been used by the enemies o. the
farmers to prove that the farmer should
not use the ballot box to OBTAIN The re-
forms they demand. When farmers take
that position, they throw aside tc2 great
est power of self-defense which they
possess-the right of suffrage and permit
their enemies to have a monopoly of it.
Reform can come only by one or Two
means-the ballot box or the cartridge tox.
To avoid the use of the latter, the farmers
must employ the first. They should use
their votes to protect and advance their
personal interests and to reward their
friends and punish their enemies. The old
Farmers Alliance was started in this state
early in 1889 1t grew at a tremendous
rate so much so, that in 1880, full state
ticket was placed in the field and poled a
phenomenal vote of over ffty-five thousand
for their candidate for governor. 1t was
about this time that the matter OF eStab-
fishing the States Prison Binding TWine
plant was successfully taken up and estab-
lished The direct result of this enterprise
proved a boon to the farmers of the state
and nation. 1t broke the Binding Twine
trust throughout the entire country and
saved the farmers of America several mil
lion dollars. The condition which the
establishment of this enterprise has
brought to the farmers of the entire coun-
try can only be appreciated by the COM
parison of the prices of binding twine be-
fore the establishment Of the States
Prison plant and the prevailing prices on
twine today. In 1890 the price was 1S cents
to q cents per pound according to
quality In a brief space of one year the
price was reduced nearly One-half. Today
the price is from to cents per pound
according to quality. Thus showing saw
ing of from 2 to 8 hundred per cent to
the farmers of the United States 1t will
thus be seen what a great blessing the
Alliance has accomplished In this matter
alone and future generation will rise up
and bless the brave and patriotic men for
their unSelfiSh devotion to the cause of
humanity. These men have dared to stand
up and fight the cause of the common peO-
the united opposition of the money power,
who have sought to curse them, to close
every avenue of prosperity to them, and
have pursued them with relentless hostil-
ity, and have either driven many of them
out Of public life or reduced them to pow
erty through the many devious ways at
their command BY your actions you must
prove to the people that you enter your
protest against the courts, high or low,
which protect stock and bond holders in
their determination to secure profits by
ticticious capitalization. The state and ma
ton mean by legislation to stop ficttcious
capitalization. and If the courts will dare
to uphold their rights to profits on fic
ticious capitalization they hereby nullify
the policy of the state. If the courts will
hold that corporations must take their
chances, like individuals in business, they
will work for those things. which would
tend to promote the general welfare of
the people. Knowing your rights. If you
fail to defend them, you deserve still more
abuse than you have received at the hands
of the coporations during the past thirty
years. Remember if you don't defend your
rights, no else will. The fact that a
district judge in the State of Minnesota
has ruled that when an unsuspecting law
abiding citizen purchases a mileage book.