The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-01-23

some equity III the sharing of profits.
Ii {. our purpose To encourage All fesl'i-
! mate investment Of capital anu We nope
ALI interested in the tobacco business
| will rake lp this matter III 4 spirit Of
| nutual interest and discuss actual con-
| dr.ols. aiding us in an honest investica-
| ton and in securing n thorough Under
! standing of present depressed conui-
lions. Let Us learn the truth anu fear
leSsly face il. Harmonious working
| together Of all tobacco interests. mutual
ly dependent. should secure belenceIH
! results to both producer and manufac-
| tnrer; making certain increased legiti-
| mate profits to the producer with no
%difninution of profit 10 the manufactures.
That man is an enemy to the farmer
who attempts to u~niu>tly array him
against CAPITALISTS. and we would not be
put in Il position of being ~antagonistic
to any legitimate corporation. as that
is now the recognized node of comnler
cial progression. and has added billions
to the industrial wealth of this country
where timid individual capital would
never have yentured. We want or
ganized capital to come into u terri
tory and assist in developing our lat
ept resources and manufacturing our
raw material. Give capital absolute pro-
lection, but let it understand that it
comes TO foster. not destroy. When
a corporation becomes oppressive, the
people. especially the agricultural people
collectively. are able to control and re-
strain it. Cooperation Of capital is n
vital force and is necessary III handling
all great enterprises. Cooperation Of
agricultural interests are vitality neces-
sary and i~ntelligently and aggressively
TX l.,l .ar 80, ,rr1,
ton and industrial emancipation. Co
operation can control the acreage ana
enable us to proftably market our crop.
Cooperation can build us local factories
and enable us to share in the profits
of the manufacturers. giving us home
markets for our tobacco as we'll as 9TH
.er farm produce. 1t is stated as a
truism that purely agricultural products
will continue to decline; and we know
that the products of the farm while of
enormous value III the aggregate, now
yield very little profit to the tiller of the
soil: the thousands of pine grown fields
III North Carolina eloquentiy tell the
tale of depressed agriculture. What of
the future: Will the American farmer
whose hardy manhood and rugged in
~dividuality won and preserved our lib
critics and made this great Republic, re-
main independent. or will the value of
the products of his labor De still fur
Their reduced and he sink to the level
of the peasants OF Europe, or the poems
Of the Orient? Will he be forced to
compete with the products Of the half
breeds of the Antilles and the millions
of Monaghan coolies we have recently
purchased in the far East: But let us
consider the evils from which we al
ready suffer. 1T is often flippantly as
serted hat the key Of agricultural pros
perity is in the Investigation Of crops,
and the raising of home supplies. This
is true, intelligent husbandry, a mans
ability to feed his family, his stock, his
farm. will assure him independence if
he is free from debt and had the pre-
vision to anticipate the great shrinkage
of values that have come upon us; but
even then there must be Il margin of
profit to educate his family and secure
for them some of the comforts of life.
and when agriculture ceases to be suffi-
GENTLY rcinuneratiye for this, there is
something radically wrong with the eco
homie conditions prevailing. In the
mi1st Of the greatest volume Of trade
aid the highest commercial prosperity
the world has ever known, why should
the farmer and especially the tobacco
idtA TX HcOlti VIZ Xix
willing that capital should draw in
crease from labor's productions. but
the laborcr is worthy of his hire. and
VIC are not receiving just compensation
for our toll. The combination of wealth
properly curbed is a great blessing. but
like any other powerful force unrestrain-
ed is dangerous and destructive; and
there are umholy combinations of CAPT
tai that. like vampires, are sucking the
life blood Of the Republic. While we
would encourage legitimate corporations
we swear eternal hostility to those mo-
nopolies, those pirates or commerce.,
who rob us Of the profits Of our labor
and wiring the bloody sweat of mental
anguish and unremuneratel toll from
the brow Of the farmer aud lairor:nS
man.
Giant corporations unrestrained by
civil or moral law are forming on every
hand and are 0 capitalized in the
United States, it is said, at more than
the value of all the gold anL silver of eli
the world. Producers and consumers
must yield their tribute in paying the
interest on these enormous trusts not
representing invested wealth. not '.evol-
opcd worth, but imaginative ard tti.-
tious values. and all individual enter
prise or opposition is starved or ridden
down by these financial jugycrnaut$.
Conditions cannct remain as now: there
is great unrest i'll the minds Of the poo
pie. y great popular movement against
trusts is on all over the Union. the
slulnbering spirit of the people is arous-
cd and they have determined that tho
dangerous powers of the trusts be curb
cd and restrained. This uprising Of
the people is not in a spirit of asrarian-
ism. but a popular demand for equality
of opportunity fer all citizens Of the
Republic. Conservative men today all
over the country are embracing aHl
advocating measures that Il few years
ago they themselves characterized ~
socialistic. The remedy is in the pe;-
pie: we have only to learn from :nt
tr1lsts the lesson of ORGANIZATIONS
and close cooperation. Our trust must
be upon ourselves. 1t will be difficult 10
secure the united action OF a scattered
agricultural population of complex ia
terests and varying grades OF i1rieii-
gence. but we regard it as by no rlaIns
Il hopeless proposition, as self-preserva-
ton demands. sue Il union and viii
one day force them to combine and /