The Charles Mix new era. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1???-1911, 1909-04-30

they desired in their interest.
We do not know how much OF |
their own money thew boarded
To begin their campaign. 1t Is
safe To say 1t was very large.
They had something ike four
hundred millions of government
money on deposit. They had as
reserves from country banks.
that is banks outside Of New
York. $40, 90 900. You people
supplied u part Of that fund,
used TO cut the price of the
product OF your labor IN Two.
But wnat did tals have
to do with yon farmers. What
etf~ct dld il have on you Per
hlp> ike some ot my nelghbors
you laughed aG the wlv the
water was being squeezed out OF
the spectators stock in Watl
street, But re enember. not one
dollar representing water WIS
squeezed out Of any stock The
quoted price of the stocks was
lowered but the volume remain
ed the same. But | will tel vou
what was squeezed out. 1t was
the prospective profit on your
year 5 work. The day before
the panic was ushered in | sold
two loads of barley at 9Oc per
bushel. The day after the lest
| could get was 4ac The 50 me
was true of all other farm pro
ducts. | found out who was
squeezed and sodld you. 1t was
no laughing matter TO the farm
er To fad his pros pective profits
20 gttan me, ing. IT that barley
was wo"th 90c per buShel for
consumption the dav before the
panic, it was worth just as much
theday after and for the whole
| crop year.
"Remem ber this also. that
| what they did IN 1907 they can
Ia again in l909or 1910. or just
wnen they please Private mo-
nopoiv OF trusts have demon
,trated tDat they can and viii
violate any law with impunitv:
that they can coerce and have
coerced our national ad III iuistra-
tion and our congress To do their
| bidding, that there is no limit
TO their Unsuitable desire for
wealth. and that is why | re
peat that when you have per
fected your grain dealer 5 asso-
citation, you will find that you
are only on the threshold Of the
great trust problem. You will
have stopped onlv one Of the
smaller leaks. But you will
have demonstrated once more
that the farmer Is the only class
that can successfully grapple
with the trusts.
Time will not permit dealing
at this time, with the OILY three
cases in which the trusts have
been vanquished, and that by
the organized farmers. Instead
of wasting time in denouncing
the trusts and trust magnate 5
which neither hurts them nor
helps you. | hope you will go
out from this meeting deter
N ined to thoroughly organize
the farmers of this state and
nation. Impress upon them
the folly Of their present unwise
planless system. Provide a
fund for propaganda work. that
your lecturers may reach every
| farmer in his own country
school house. Teach him that
i'm itation is the sincerest flattery
and that to meet the trust sue
cessfuily he must adopt the
trust method of cooperation.
That like the trust. he must in
sist on interest on his invest
ment. good American wages
for himself aud the working
members Of his family. and a
reasonable profit added.
As the basic industry. on
which all others depend. the
farmer can CON mand his own
price. To do SO you must fix
the price in advance, and then
hold YOUR produce until you get
1t. You have an immense ad
vantage over any industry, and
all other industries. When the
captains OF industry now ind
they have prod duced more than
the consumptive demand. they
close their factories until the
demand catches up, and they
get their price. When the far
mers, in convention assem- bled,
haye fixed the price, all they
/ will have to do Is 70 remain at
home attending to their work.
until their customers begin to
tget hungry. Then they will