The Glenwood post., 1917-02-03
FROM BLEEDING KANSAS .Y
TO COLORADO

So much is being written in these
days in regard to the Farmers move
ment' and the manner in which ths
farmers are being held down and dts
criminated against that the Post H
glad to give space 20 the following 6r-
servations by E. Grosser and printed 4
few days ago in an issue of the Rocky
Mountain News: -.l vU. ..
Anent the efforts being made to form
a distinctively farmers party in Colo-
rado, it may be Interesting to recall q
little political history Of a neighboring
state still within the memory of men
of middle age. 0l.s aGr .t
In 1890 apostles of reform came into
Kansas and told the farmer he was
being robbed They told him that his
neighbor, the merchant, the profession
al man and the banker, were all in .
conspiracy to defraud him; that these
classes as whole were so corrupt that
they were unworthy of holding political
positions of trust, and that the safety
of the country lay in putting only
farmers on guard. Especially were the
railroads to be regulated. Also. cooper
ative stores were to be formed by farm
ers in each community, and the middle
man, who was only parasite anyhow,
would be put out of business and his
profits kept in the pockets of the pro-
ducers. The plan ir.ludel also the
government ownership of grain elevs-
| tors, government land leans and other
socialistic panacea too numerous TO
mention.
The farmer was impressed; so much
so, that in the fall election of 1890 The
Farmers Alliance swept Kansas like
wildfire. The most distinguished We
tim of the conflagration was John j.
ingalls,, United States senator and pres
ident pro TEN of the senate. Farmers'
/ Alliance cooperative stores sprang up
all over the state like mushrooms, Re-
form was in the saddle. For eight
years the so-called farmers movement,
or Populism, as il was later named pre-,
vailed in Kansas
Did interest or railroad rates come
down? Did higher standards of politt-
cal morality prevail? Was the middle
man put out of business, or did the
farmers get the officesY Well. hardlyt
OF the farmers operative stnrss,
twothirds failed within the first year.
The only railroad Legislation placed w
on the statute books was an act for
bidding conductors collecting small
excess with cash farcs-a law good.
enough in itself, but hardly of sufri-
cient importance to warrant Il general
upheaval.
The farmers candidate who succeed
ed John j. ingalls, in the United States
senate was an editor; his colleague of
like political faith elected two years.
later was a lawyer. In the lower house
of congress Kansas became famous, or
notorious, through the antics of Jerry
Simpson, the great soekless.
Strange as it may appear in sup
posedly farmers party, the farmer as
an officeholder, from United Staises
senator clear down to road overseer, was.
conspicuous by his absence. Upon
closer analysis, the anomaly reafffy
clears itself. So soon us the farmers
movement began, showing signs of vig- !.
or, discredited politicians Of, both old =
parties flocked to it. They We're on to
the ropes, understood the game, and
got the winning hands whenever per-
quisites were at stakey While ptheir- I
sway lasted they tried, to convince the
farmer that he was the most miserabbe
creature on earth Calamity was
preached at home and abroad. Senator
PETER of hirsute fame on the floor of
the United States senate declared thas
if the state of Kansas was placed upon
an auction block and sold, she would
not bring her mortgage 'ihdsbtedness.
Tt has been the opinion of good "a
many competent Judges that the eight
years of reform beginning in 1890 was
a greater blight to Kansas than all he1
droughts, gtasshoppers and sycl6nea-
Are we III fof 1 sinlilsr reform in thia
statei Will We see the formation "
q party whose principal asset ishfAs
animosity it can engender between dff-
ferent classes Of our citizensf Heygih
hoping that no political movement win
gain = foothold in Colorado that 10
ipends for its life upon Eslass hatred
Eu norf ndf r. ! Itt.r, its...sa, treyhr. tYSfl