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THE INDUSTRIAL AND EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OP OUR PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OF STATE POLICY.
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RALEIGH, N. 0., FEBRUARY 10, 1891
v
No. 49
rH" NATIONAL FARMERS' AL
LIANCE AND INDUSTRIAL
UNION.
p-eside"t L. L. Polk, North Carolina.
Address, 341 D. St, N. W.t Washington,
D C
Vice-President B. H. Clover, Cam-
irdee, Kansas. T
Secretary-Treasurer J. H. Turner,
Georgia. Addr-. 239 North Capitol St,
If W.. Washington, D. X
Lecturer J. H. Willetts, Kansas.
BKSOUTIVB BOARD.
0 W. Macane, Washington, D. C.
A'-nzo Wardall. Huron, South Dakota,
j T.TiiInin, Palmetto, Tennessee.
JUDICIARY.
0. Patty, Macon, Mississippi.
Issa? McCracken, Ozone, Arkansas.
H E. Cole, Fowierville, Michigan.
XATIONAL LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
The Presidents of all the State organi
eations with L. L. Polk Ex-ojfficio Chair-aaan.
OBTH JAROLIKA FARMERS' STATE ALLIANCE
Pre -i'nt Elias Carr, Old Sparta, T.C.
V.ca-President A. H. Hayes, Bird-cow-,
N. C.
Secretary E. C. Beddingfield, Raleigh,
' T.'c-asurer J. D. Allen, Falls, N. C.
c.turer Thos. B. Long, Asheville,
0.
Assistant Lecturer R. B. Hunter,
tfuntersvilli?, N. C.
n-snlainS. J. Veach. Warsaw, N C.
Do J: Keeper W. H. Tcmlinson, Fay
ette nlle, N. C. T
A distant Door Keeper H. E. Jtvmg,
Pa ;r,t. N. C.
Sigeant-at-Arms J. S. Holt, Chalk
Lev.-l, N. C.
Sta e Business Agent W. H. Worto,
Ralegh, N. C.
Trtee Business Agency Fund W. A.
Graba i, ilacbpelah, N. C.
IXECUT VK COMMITTEE OF THE NORTH CARO
LINA FARMERS' STATE ALLIANCE.
S B. Alexander, Charlotte, N. C.
Ohai - -au; J. M. Mewborne, Kinston N.
0.; J ?. Johnston. Ruffin. N. C.
STATE ALLIANCE LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE.
R. J. Powell, Raleigh, N. C; N. C.
English, Trinity College ; J. J. Young,
Polenta; H. A. Forney, Newton, N. C.
EDITORIAL NOTES.
Ax exchange says one of the Sioux
Chiefs, now in Washington, is named
Big Bead This particular Indian is
destined to furnish one side of a cranial
antithesis no; usual in the National
Capital of late years.
Representative Lawler, of Illinois
is said to have introduced a bill into
the House to simplify spelling. There
seems to be noth ng wrong with Con
jressional spelling. What Congress
den do need is a simpler grammar a
smch simpler grammar.
The Progressive Farmer is strongly
in favor of having the present legisla
ture relieve the people from the delay,
and expense, and vexation, and con
fusion, attendant upon the special
legislature so common in this S.ate.
Cannot something in this line be done
t once ?
An exchange says Judge Ptffer is a
nan of great purity and moral worth;
but his judgment has never been
praised. We infer from this, that
Judge Peffr is equal to the average
Senator plus a good moral character.
Something seems to have been gained
his election to the Senate.
Wm. Windom la:e Secretary of the
Treasury, is dead He served four
terms in the lower house of Congress,
as a conspicuous and useful member
f the Senate for a number of years,
was Secretary of the Treasury in Gar
ield's Cabinet resigning at ;he acces
ton of Arthur. He was called upon
to taie his old position in the Treasury,
Pon the incoming of the Harrison
ministration. He was an able, up
right, and patriotic man and citizen,
& has fallen in the midst of his
Tears and usefulness.
Several of our correspondents have
bitten to us demanding the repeal of
system of county government.
" are of the opinion that we should
e in the direction of this repeal
Tery Blwly. For our present system
8 devised to tecure the control of
eoaty affairs to the intelligence and
wth of the counties; and-we have
oUeen any case where the system
hardships to anyone. Our ob
servations, however, of the system have
been limited, and there may be coun.
ties and sections where the plan works
badly. We want everybody to un
derstand that our columns are open to
all those who have anything of value
to say, either for or against our sys
tern of county government, or upon
any other question of public concern.
We believe in the people in all the
people and we invite the fullest and
freest discussion of all sorts of public
questions.
We assure brother W. F. Grab3
that his letter about the pic nic was not
published because his name was not
signed to it. We could not write him
because he did not put his address up
on the first letter just as he did not put
his address on his last letter to us.
Always put your true name on any
thing you write for publication, and if
you do not want the piece to appear
over your true name, write your nom
de plume at the bottom of your piece
and your real name and address a little
lower down, or at one corner. Always
give your address.
One of the lawyers who have
spoken upon the railroad commission
before the committee expressed the
opinion that all the railroads in the
S .ate should be put upon the same foot
ing of advantage, which a single road
now enjoys, by reason of its charter.
This seems to us to be strange reason
ing. One road has been able, by hock
or by crook, to secure a charter from
the S.ate which is unfair and oppres
sive to the people; therefore every
other road should have a charter from
the State whi;h would be unfair and
oppressive to the people. We are
unable to appreciate the logical pro
cesses by which tais startling con
elusion is reached. We want to say
again, as we have said before, that we
are not in favor of oppressing the
railroads just because we are not in
favor of allowing the railroads to op
press the people. We believe in be
ing fair in our dealings with this ques
tion, to every class of interests in
volved. This is our position upon
this and upon all other public questions
which are up for settlement at the
present tune. . ' .. J, ft , Lff
We understand that the sending
back of Senator Williams' interest bill
to the committee on Judiciary was in
tended to kill it. We hope our infor
mation is incorrect. We hope the
legislature may see its way clear to
either pass the bill or vote it down.
We have been, and we are, and we
expect to be, in favor of reducing the
rate of interest. Bat wo have little
concern about the maiter, because we
know the people have power to settle
this matter; and we can wait, two
years longer for the educating effects
of Alliance agitation upon this subject.
This legislature illustrates the fact
that, upon some subjects, it is difficult
to run a wheel within a wheel. In
other words, it is hard to sesure per
feet harmony upon some questions
between the Alliance and the party in
power in North Carolina. We think
this is to be regretted, for many rec--Eons;
and we would avoid it if we
could. But we want it to be distinctly
understood that we, as Alliancemen,
do not intend to handicap our demands
upon the United States Treasury for
money at a low rate of interest,
by continuing the high rate which we
think our State now wrongfully al
lows. If our demand for money from
the National Government at a low
rate of interest is just and right, then
our demand for a low rate of interest
from our State Government is also
just and right. There is no escape
from this logic. The two demands
stand, or fall together. We want this
to be distinctly understood. If our
friends in the legislature cannot give
us the relief we ask, we shall know
how to get it from some other legisla '
ture.
ALLIANCE CORRESPONDENCE.
Resolutions adopted by Orange
County Alliance, January 9, 1891:
Resolved, That we recommend that
100 per cent, increase be made in our
public school fund.
Resolved, That we recommend to
Congress the sale of the Pacific Rail
roads that refuse to pay their indebt
edness to the government.
H. P. Jones, Sec'y.
Hattie, N. C, Jan. 3, '91.
Wbereas, We think that tax payers
should do their own voting; therefore
Resolved By Sweet Water Alliance,
No. 1,969, that we recommend such
an amendment of the election law of
North Carolina, by the present Legis
lature, as will prohibit any one from
voting who cannot show his tax re
ceipt for the year next preceeding the
election, unless he became of age be
tween tax listing and registration, or
those exempt by law.
Resolved, That a copy of these reso
lutions be sent to The Progressive
Farmer for publication.
L. C. Wilson, Sec'y.
Resolution by W. B. Yrk, adopted
by Orange County Alliance, January
9th, 1891.
Realizing the fact that the farmers
and laboring classes pay more than
their just proportion of the taxes, and
that the cardinal principle of the Alii
ance is to practice strict economy in
governmental as well a3 private af
fairs. Therefore we, the County Alii
ance of Orange county, do
KResolve, That we ask our Represen
tatives to have the statute exempting
all school property from taxation
amended so as to exclude school prop
erty owned by private individuals and
used for private gain.
Resolved, That a copy of this resolu
tion be sent to our Representative at
Raleigh and a copy to The Pbogres
sive Farmer for publication.
H. P. Jones, 3ec'y.
At a regular meeting of Gum Neck
Alliance, No. 1,824, held January 3d,
1891, the following resolutions were
unanimously adopted:
Whereas, A great many of the
partisan papers oi tnis ana otner
States have lately assailed our much
esteemed National President, Col. L.
L. Polk, both his public and private
character; and where, a gooi many
individual men hive falsely attacked
and tried to slander him for selfish
motives; therefore
Reeolved, Th it we take pleasure in
denouncing all such papers and men,
and recommend that no such papers
shall in the future be recognized by
this Alliance.
Resolved, That a copy of the above
resolution be sent to The Progressive
Farmer for puolication.
J. B Liverman, Sec'y.
North West, Va , Jan. 12, '91.
Mr. Editor: Having seen nothing
from our Aliance in your valuable
paper, The Progressive Farmer, I
take the liberty to pen you a few lines
to let the outside world know that we
are still alive and have our being.
About three years ago a few of our
neighbors succeeled in organizing our
Alliance, known as Mayock Central,
No. 1,290, with ten charter members.
Since then we have worked up our
nembership to thirty-three, of which
thirty are in good standing. To do
that we have had to work hard, for
we have several hard shells to contend
with, though we are fast breaking
through on them, and I don't think it
will be long before we cin swell our
number to 50 or 60. We buy all of
our groceries through ou agency and
realize quite a profit by so doing; also
we have decided tp build a hall, and
have all of the lumber ready to com
mence building at any time. Our
Alliance heartily endorses the course
of President Polk, also Thb Pbogbis
sive Fasmeb and National Economist
in the stand they have taken in his
defence.
Our Alliance is small in number but
is of the right grit, and you will find
us always at the helm and ready at
any time to defend the A liance prin
ciples, let the result be as it may. For
fear of worrying you, I wdl close by
saying all hail to The Progressive
Farme;.
Yours fraternally,
N. B. Powers, Sec'y.
Resolution introduced by J. V.
Hughes and adopted, October 3d,
1890, by Orange County Farmers' Alli
ance: Whereas, The public roads of our
State, as a rule, are in a wret;hed
condition and in some counties a
standing menace to our civilization,
and believing that nothing save educa
tion will add more to our material
progress and prosperity than well kept
and equipped public thoroughfares;
therefore be it
Resolved, By the Orange County
Alliance, that we most respectfully
recommend to our next General As
sembly the enactment of such a law as
will make it incumbent upon the State
to lay ou, -and keep up in first clas3
order, at the expense of the State, two
public highways in each county of the
State intersecting at the respective
county seats of the several counties;
said highways to be built by convict
labor, thereby doing a work of incal
culable benefit to the agricultural
classes as well as o:hers, and also re
moving, as far as it can possibly be
done, convict labor from competition
with fr labor.
Resolved, Tnat our Representatives
in the Senate and House of the next
Ganeral Assembly are hereby re
quested to use every effort to secure
the passage of such a law as above in
dicated. H. P. J ones, Sec'y.
Bowie's Creek, N. O,
Jan. 15, '9L
Mr. Editor: At the January meet
ing of Harnett County Farmers' Alii
ance, held in the town of LilUngton,
January 9th, 1891, the following reso
tions were unanimously adopted:
Whereas, Our National Alliance,
assembled in St. Louis in the fall of
1889, recommended the passage of the
Sub Treasury b 11 or something better
for the relief of our farming classes;
and whereas, our State Alliance at its
last meeting heartily endorsed every
demand of our National Alliance; and
whereas, the late meeting of our Na
tional Alliance, assembled in the city
of Ocala, again recommended the pas
sage of the same bill or something
better; therefore
Resolved, By this meeting of the
Harnett County Farmers' Alliance,
that we urge our Senator and Repre
sentative in the Legislature now as
sembled, to see to it that whosoever is
elected to represent us in the Senate
of the United States be instructed to
vote for the Sub-Treasury bill or
something better, and to vote for and
urge the passage of any other demand
ot the Farmers' Alliance that will not
conflict with their oath or the Consti
tution of the United States.
Resolued, That a copy of these reso
lutions be sent to our Representative
and Senator in the city of Raleigh,
and a copy to The Progressive
Farmer for publication.
W. M. Sexton, Sec'y.
Orange Co., N. C, Jan. 1, '91.
Piney Mount Alliance met January
1st, 189b Presideat C. P. Whitfield
called the house to order and stated
the object of th meeting, and on mo
tion J. W. Pemdergrats, V.ce-Preii-dent,
after a few preliminary remarks
read the first chapter of St. John.
Prayer by J. T. Wearer, after which
an opportunity was given for the
brethren to express themselves accord
ing to the dictates of their own
minds, to which man responded, be
yond the most sanguine expectation;
and while we were agreeably enter
taiaed we could realize the acquies
cence of responsive hearts by the
flowing tears and radiant counten
ances. The resolutions that were in
troduced were from the chapter read.
In the beginning was the word made
flesh, and dwelt amongst us. We
might step here and ask ourselves
many ques ions, bui time will not per
mit. One answer will suffice and that
is, Christ came to give 1 ght and that
light shown in our little meeting.
And now, brethren, if you wili follow
that light you will not walk in dark
ness. We decided to have no other
god but the God of Heaven and Jesus
Christ his son as our only siviour and
the holy spirit as the teacher and com
forter.
We want the meeting ol the first
day of January, 1891, printed with
iadellible ink so that our children's
children may celebrate with joy and
gratitude the transactions of this day.
J. T. Weaver,
W. D. Latta,
J. W. Pendergrass,
Committee.
Whereas, We are apprized of the
fact, and from satisfactory evidence,
that many of our political newspapers
are endeavoring to suppress our in
fluence as Alliance; and as we believe
with a view to the uhima;e destruc
tion of our noble institution, instead
of which, believing as we do, that a
more liberal and extended circulation
of periodicals and newspapers devoied
to the interest of the farmer and agri
cultural clisses generally be encour
aged and Circulated aiiogss tLo
homes of our farmers everywhere.
Resolved, That the members of this
Alliance endorse and recommend that
all politicians opposed in sentiment or
expression to the principle aims and
objeevs of the Farmers' Alliance, be
ignored and rejected by the brother
hood and excluded from the homes
of all members of the order.
Resolved, That the members of this
Alliance do in the most emphatic
terms denounce all attempts by Dews
papers or newspaper men to disorgan
ize the brotherhood.
Resolved, That we, the members of
Enon Alliance, No. 200, do firmly
pledge ourselves that we will support
no newspaper, no matter from where
it hails, that is not friendly and in full
sympathy with tha Alliance.
Resolved, That a copy of these reso
lutions be sent to The Progressive
Farmer and Country Homes for publi
cation. Thos. S. Woood,
G. W. Wilson,
E B. Clayton,
Committee.
Rural Hall, Jan. 14, 1891.
Mr. Editor: An increased volume
of currency is badly needed in order
to move the surplus produce of the
country, and that, too, at the earliest
possible moment. It seems to me that
it is rather a disgrace to our National
legislators that this has not been done;
we hope, however, that they will re
trieve their character immediately in
this particular. It is known that our
monopolistic National banking system
is a failure, so far as providing an
elastic currency. It is known tha ; we
have a money panic once a 3 ear, some
times more intense than others. Now
what is the remedy ?
First, the free and unlimited coin
age of silver; and next, less taxation,
fewer subsidies, fewer partisan appro
priations, and absolate economy in
the conduct of the General Govern
ment; and last, but not least, down
with all class legislation, both National
and State. What next? It seems to
me the legislature of North Carolina
shoud pass an act to issue $5,000,000
worth of State bonds to be placed in
the Treasury of the United States and
our General Government issue that
much-currency dollar for doll at, and
other States to do the same in propor
tion to their solvency and wealth of
real estate. Nov this amount of
cu-rency could be placed in the traas
ury of each State, or some other safe
place, in care of a proper custodian
of course this amount should be based
on the true value of real estate; or in
other words, better the value of lands
and for the accomodation of land
owners, the Treasurer of each State
to be (or the treasurer of this fund in
each State should be) required im
mediately to distribute to the county
treasurer for ;his purpose only the
amount ascertained -by statistical
wealth in lands and real estate in each
and every county, to be loaned to the
land owners at the iwo thirds of the
cash valuation of said lands used for
farming and other purposes of a
legitimate character; but not to real
estate speculators. This fund to be
loaned at 2 per cent, or 3 per cent,
interest per annum, on five or ten
years' time, the interest on amount of
said leans to be paid annually and a
ratable part of the principal. Tiie
treasurer for each county for this fund
may be appointed by the Governor of
each State, by ond through the advice
and consent of the State Treasurer of
this fund, who may bo appointed by
the S;ate legislators. Tais fund of
currency created for farmers and land
owners of North Carolina must be and
remain distinct from any National
banking 3ystern. The bond of each
State, to a reasonable amount, is far
better secuiity to the United States
Government than any banking securi
ties iu existence.
Further, should the General Gov
ernment fa 1 to accept of this or some
similar and equivalent plan, I hold
tha; each State may issue and float
her own bonds at par for say 3 per
:ent. interest, and this same fundi then
be loaned to the land owners for farm
ing purposes, &c. But it would be
far bet -er for the United States Gov-v
em ment to issue ;he currency and hold
the bonds as security.
Should this plan or a similar one be
adopted without material change, and
the State issue bonds according to its
solvency, it would create a safe volume
of currency to the amount of about
$220,000,000. Speaking from a nation,
ai point of view, it is surprising why
our boasted national legislators should
not see th 3, or overlook the necessity
of the business and commerce of our
country. Twenty years ago, w.th lit
tle over half the population we now
have, the amount per capita was greater
than it is now, and the volume of cur
rency greater. Give us the volume
of currency sufficient to move our pro
duce briskly, and you would soon see
a vast difference in our schools and
laborers. Then the farmer could
educate his children and pay better
wages to his laborers, and as the
farmer is the foundation that all build
upon, all would be bettered. He is
the creator of the commercial products
of the earth.
Our legislators, both State and Na
tional, should be speedily warned
against any further delay in the mat
ter of a sufficient and elastic currency.
While there is a little seeming interest
manifested by a few of our national
leg slators, it 13 mostly in the wrong
direction, that through the national
banks, through which it will never be
reached, unless it be at too great a
cost. The free coinage silver plan
will do some, bat it will not be buG
cient. In the plan of the State bond
system, ample safeguards may b
thrown around it, from which nona
will be worsted, but all be better d
A HINT.
How do you call one that is hired
all right, when you have to watch hira
and rally all of your forces and whip
him into measures and then say he it
all right ? I call him all wrong.
B. F. S.
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