Year: 1874

here to celebrate is necessity of the
times. From the Good Book we learn
mat God Is no respector of persons :
that the needy toiler is Just as
precious in the eyes Of our common
Father as the capitalist with his
thousands Of acres and millions of
money! Upon the Christian revela-
ton, this God-gfven equality, we plant
the cornerstone Of our grain-produc-
ing organization.


But ever since the memory Of our
oldest men we have always felt that
commercial and mechanical circles
were combined to hold up the prices
Of such things as farmers buy, and
depress the prices of what they have
to sell. And not only these, but pro-
tesslonal men and government off,
cials were in similar mutually of
understanding for the promotion of
their own interest, and directly or in
directly opposed to ours.


These men, together with corpora
tlons, have been besieging our capt.
tails and lobbying about the halls of
legislation to cheaper their own
taxes and to throw the burden oftax-
alton upon farmers. And not only
so, but when the farmer comes for
ward and fills the government treas
urles, these same men who threw its
chief burden upon us, come lobbying
around again to have untold thous-
ands thrown into their own bosoms,
for which no equivalent is given.
And the farming interests upon which
all others depend, is not only left
without subsidies; but left to bear the
burden Of taxation without any real
representation whatever!


It is true farmers vote, but their
vote fails to inure to their own bene-
fit. Their votes recoil upon them
selves misrepresented, and they return
from the poles to labor hard to fll a
new class Of hungry and greedy
officials. But our method of curing
this crying political evil belongs to
the confidential part Of our Order, and
is not proper to be dilated upon on an
occasion like this.


But to return:


While we always have felt the op-
preston of these combinations, more
recently they have drawn their cords
tighter, and so consolidated their
rings and made their expressions so
onorous that We have had to groan
by reason Of the hard bondage in
which we were made to serve!


Under such circumstances, we were
under necessity to ring against ring"
to combine for the poor, for laborers
ofall classes, and for our own protec-
ton. l say for laborers Of all classes,
for if the farming interests should
ever sink to that plane to which these
political and commercial rings would
be fain to bring us, the effect would be
to create nation Of rich nabobs and
lignorant paupers! This is not theo-
rizing- History has demonstrated its
truth over and over again. On the
eastern continent, the laboring class
es who produce all the wealth and
comforts Of life have grown abjectly
poor, while the non-laboring ring
leaders have become immensely
wealthy and tyrannically oppressive.
| The same thing has prepared itself
for like elimination among US, and
had our farmers been less Intelligent
this commercial Delilah would have
dandled our heads upon her knee,
and hummed us to sleep until, like
Samson, the locks of our strength had
been clipped one by one and we had
awakened to hear the fearful cry,
''The Philistines are upon us!'' and
poverty, degradation, and ignorance
had bound us as helpless victims of
our oppressors. But farmers saw the
evil day coming, and have hidden
themselves behind this organization,
while the foolish "pass on and are
!: punished"


But this institution differs widely
from all other "rings." While Others
are got up in favor Of the rich against
the poor, in order that the rich may
grow richer and the poor poorer, this
is intended to maintain a proper bal
ance in society. 1t is not, intended to
take from one class and give to an.
,. other-not even from the rich. But
we ask, we demand, that the humble


laborer shall have an honest equiva-
lent for his toll. We intend to see
that truth and justice are not tram.
pied under foot, to see that the rich
shall honestly Fay for what they re-
ceive, and the laborer rejoice in the
reward ofhis hands. When this is


fairly and uniformly done, the poor


will be improved in their condition
and the rich will be contented and
f happy without being destroyed by
, over much riches! One of the great,
est curses of wealth is, that tits toe


often unfairly won, and the bad con.


science of its possessor is like


''The wine


ofviper's gall-ths cup Of wrath divine.n
, So, while we seek to save the boo,
: from the rapacity of the rich, we also
seek to save the rich from the retri
, button Of his own cupidity. Gigan.
tic fortunes amassed by fraud
o wrnnchad from tho honds of%ho nooIx