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I . ' 1 i tuv l.a Anaoniatinn was held this alter-1 itaiiii LJiitt.a f OR A THE PMRISSIVI FABHER. UE3. L. L. POLK, - Pbopbietor. J. L. RAMSEY, - Editor. J. W. DENMARK, - Business MVb. Raleigh, N. C. SUBSCRIPTION Subscriber, gg? JS V.V.V.V.V. One oov7 one year free, to tht one sending Clut? C2 Ten. . , CotV-Intiarto<f " dtan4. Honey t cur rls, IJ eentby registered letter tT money ordsr. VLsass dcn't tn5 stampt. A4vertislnz lUtes Qtioted cn application. To CorruvctuUntt : Write ftll ooHimtinIctIon8, designed for pnb Saatlon, on one side of tlie pper only. We want Intelligent correspondents In every onnty in the State. We want facts of value, results accomplished of value, experiences of value, plainly and briefly told. One Bolid, temonstrated act. Is worth a thousand theories. The editor Is , net responsible for the views of correspondents. RALEIGH, N. P., JULY 27, 1897. VhU vaptr 0ntre& a tcotvl-elau nvxtter at tTw Pott Qe in Raleigh, N. C. The Progressive Farmer Is the Official Organ of the N. C. Farmers' State Alliance Do you want your paper changed to tnother office ! State the one at which you have been getting It. rrj- Our friends in writing to any of cur advertisers will favor us by men tioning the fact that they saw the advertisement in Tna Peogessstvs ITaemzq. G7"The date on your label tells you when your time is out. " J am standing now just behind the eurta in, and in full glow of the coming runset. Behind me are the shadows on the track, before me lies the dark valley nnd the river. When J mingle with its dark waters J want to cast one linger ing look upon a country whose govern ment is of the people, for the people, and by the people, L. L. Polk, July h 1890. N. R. F. A. EDITORIAL NOTES. Mr. Thoma3 E Roberts, of Orange county, in renewing his subscription, says: "I have the finest crop of wheat in this section. I sowed 30 bushels and will make 500 bushels. Expect 4 0 bushels of oats. Corn good. A fine rain on the 12 th." v Prosperity must be a very timid beast. We have been getting up some j Dkes on her for the last few weeks, but lo ! the Winston R publican punches us in the ribs. 4 'Hush ! do, please, hush P it entreated, "you'll scare the thing away." We expected prosperity was a more hardy animal than that. Major A. D, Reynolds, a North Caro linian, who has made a fortune of $500, 000 manufacturing tobscjo at Bri3tcl, Term., has decided to quit the business because he thinks it is a sin. The Ma j jr was a little late in making the discov ery, but we trust that he has time enough left to grow a pair of wings. j'Living wages," says an exchange, come only under Republican rule ad miDisiercd along protective tariff lines, and nowhere else." Of course. The thousands of coal miners who are now on a strike; the factories that are shut ting down; the mills than have discon tinued operations, and the numbers of unemployed are all evidences of this V Terence V. Powderly has secured his piece of pio the reward of his treach cry. Now h8 can enjoy himself; that is, unless ho has a conscience. We ex pected better things of Powderly. Oi all things, traitors and "sell outs" are most to bo detested. We can respect and even admire an enemy; we may prais9 his courage and zzoA, but a traitor, the very name is loathsome. England is not a very humorous country, but some of the money lords over there havo had a standing joke that they get eff every year by coming here and shipping all our surplus gold to London. But wo are about to get even with them. Not long ago some Yankees began to nose around in Alas ka, which is owned by England, and found gold in the raw state by the mil lions, and they are sending it here by the shipload-. England and Canada are raising a rucus, but it will do no good. However, E ?g!and will put on her thinking cap and get it over there afcer we get to handle it a little. X Dr. Kingsbury is a born soldier. Ha didn't get enough of war to satisfy his bloodthirsty spirit during the four years from '61 to '65, or as he calls it, ,!the late sanguinary and fratricidal struggle." Accordingly, he is on the war path again. He has tackled Dr. Kilgo, of Trinity, and from the length of his letters we have decided that he has given Dr. Kilgo the alternative: either to bo killed outright or be talked to death. We don't know which we'd choose, but as it is, we are going to stay clear of the fight. We don't care if the war-like doctor has ornaments in ni3 sanctum, but nfLnL . utav uiuauiVUO ZZ7, lhQ 6naPe o our ecalp, we re spectfully ask to be excused. A STEP FORWARD. The Railroad Commission has taken another step forward. Last week the rate on ten word telegrams inside the State was reduced from 25 to 15 cents, which is something nearer the proper mark. Railroad passenger and freight rates were not reduced, but it should have been done. However, the Com mission increased the taxable value of all the railroads in the State about $3, 000,000, which will place the roads that much nearer on an equality with other taxpayers. This, of course, means $3,( 00,000 more than the assessed value in 1896 It will be remembered that a considerable amount of railroad prop erty was placed on the tax list a few years ago that had been escaping taxa tion entirely. We believe that it would have been fair and right to have made a decided reduction in fares and freight rates at this time, but it was not dene. But, of course, wo must commend the Com mission for even a slight step in the right direction. The Porgressive Farmer made the fight for the estab lishment of the Commission almost alone. We had the satisfaction of see ing passenger fares reduced from four, five and six cents per mile to SJ for first class fare and 2 for sec :nd class. Ten word telegrams were reduced from 40 cents to 25, and now to 15. Freights of all kinds have been reduced, better depot accommodations made, more railroad property placed on the tax list, etc. In short, the Commies ion has been of great benefis to the public at large. Bat there is no reason why the Commission should not reduce passen ger and freight fares more yet. We are opposed to such reductions as would cripple the roads, but it is plain that the danger line is some distance away. The owners of railroads are no better than the owners of grist mills, and the law eaya they shall charge so much for grinding grain. If this were not true the owners of mills could "grind" the public to death. It is much easier for the few railroads to combine and do the eame. There are but few compet ing lines of railroads, and it will not begin to do to leave it to competition. The law must take a hand. Govern ment control or government ownership will always be a fact, and the corpora tions that now own the roads can only prevent government ownership by submitting to equitable government control. The purchase of members of a railroad commission, if attempted, may be successful, but the people will take a hand if that is done. DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THE MASSES. It is one step secured that the Rail road Commission in this State have re duced the rate for telegrams between any two points in this State to 15 cents for 10 words, exclusive of address and signature. We should have preferred 10 cents. The Western Union mono poly declares annually six per cent dividends on a six fold watered stock which amounts to 36 per cent on the real value of their property. We are longing for the day when this govern ment like others will iuu the telegraph and telephones as part cf the Postffioe as the electric mail. We shall then have telephones at every country post office and a uniform rate of 5 cents for telegrams throughout the Uaion. That time i3 surely coming, and not long first, but till then a reduction of telegraph and telephone rates by each State for itself is our only relief. It i3 to be regretted that the Com mission would not reduce Riilroad charges also. The Railroad property is assessed for taxation by them at ab jut one half what it is in Virginia. Upon what the Commission gays is the "true, actual value" of the property, the Railroads by their own showing are earning 15 per cent net profits out of the public. This certainly admits of largo reduction cf rates. Equalled only by the free pass evil is the Belling with the Commissioner's ap proval, of 1,000 mile tickets at 2 cents per mile while people of less means are required to pay 3 cants per mile. As R lilroad ratc3 are in the nature of tax ation, this is exactly as if a man having $1,000 was taxed only 2 percent while on9 having $100 was taxed 31 per ceat hereon. There is no justice in t iis. THISIS ADEMOCRATICMEASURE For the benefit of Col. Joseph Pie Caldwell and others, we give below an aot passed by aDomocratic legislature. Tae Caatham Ciizten has had enter prise enough to hunt it up. Section 18, chapter 303 of the laws of 1883 as an amended reads as follows: "Provided, that any male person so returned in the insolvent list not pre viously exempted by the beard of com missioners, who shall fail to pay taxes to the sheriff for six months after the return of the insolvent list to the county commissioners, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction before a court or a justice of the peace shall be fined double the value of the THE PBOSBESSIVE FABIEGB : JULY 27, 1897. taxes as i ue, not to exceed in any case fifty dollars, and the board of county commissionersof the county in which any such persons may be convicted as aforesaid, if said person be committed to prison for failure to pay the said fine, may employ such offender on the public high ways, as.d said commission eres may allow such offender a credit of so much per day on said fine and ccst as to them may seem just and reasonable. It ehall be the duty of the chairman of the board of county commissioners to act as prosecutor on the part of the county beforo such justice of the peace." Oh, euch a set of "incompetents, nincompoops, and sell outs" made up that Democratic legislature 1 Wonder why the Democratic papers didn't ad- vise tno people to leave me party Bahl The Winston Republican, notingjthe fact that Horaci Boies now considers free silver at 16 to 1 an extreme de mand, says "your uncle Horace is now on the road that leads to a dollar as g-od as gold;" that is for dollars as scarce as gold, and as great robbers as is the gold standard. Correct. When a man yields one inch to England and to her domination, he is very likly to yield a second one. Stand firm. At this time this is especially nec3esary. SOMb OBSERVATIONS ON THE EVENUE ACT. Wo do not defend the actions of any sect or party, unless we think our de fense will hasten the enactment of our principles into law, but it seems to us that some one should correct the wild rumors that have gone out concerning the law which gives delinquent tax payers a berth in the county jail. Upon reference to the Senate Journal, we find that a majority of the Demo cratic Senators these innocent and dignified members actually voted for this law. 4,Oh, well," says some one, "but there are not many of them " Of course not. Tnese harmless-looking gents couldn't do much, but they beat their tin pans, got to the front, and assisted in pushing the bill through "just like little soldiers." In the House things went differently. Here a majority of the Den ocrats voted against it. We will give them credit for that. But really do they deserve any credit for their action in the matter! It ia claimed by some who had good oppor tunities to observe the actions of the various members, that a majority of the Democrats neglected no opportuni ties opportunities that might have been improved for good purposes to add obj actionable features to bills that were likely to pass, and conceal their faults until the bills had passed or the legislature adjourned. Their party was not in power and it was to their interest to see that faults and objectionable features were not discovered while it was possible to remedy them. We hope that a ma jority of the Democrats were above such contemptible acts, but the mys tery which hangs about the revenue act serves to increase rather than to dispel our suspicions. Here is a letter from Attorney Gen eral Walser which explains itself: "Lexington, N. C-, July 10, '97. "Hon J E Bryan, Moncure, N. C: "Dear Sir: In reply to your letter of recent date, I havo heretofore given expression to an opinion that sections 52 and 53 of the Revenue Act of 1897 will bear some doubt a3 to what they apply. I have been informed by pen tlemon who were members of the Gen eral Assembly that these sec lions were, meant to apply only to privilege taxes. But bo that as it may, it is ray opinion tnat it would not bo tha duly of the sheriff to make report to the court as provided for in the law until after the day for levying and sailing had paseed. But from all I can gather those sections were not intended 10 apply to poll and personal property taxei Cut only to license or other privilege taxes. Yours truly, Zeb V. Walser, Attorney-General." But now comes the editor of the Statesvillo Mascot with the announce ment that he knew all about it; that it was thoroughly discussed. Then why on earth did not he and his Democratic colleagues herald it abroad? Why did not the three Observers order the largest "scare head" type to proclaim the fact? Why did not Col. Famous Annunciator Olds make the very air hot with burning words? But no ; they kept mum; they must make political capital out of it at the people's expense. Their party did not do it, and they must not mention it while it could be remedied, thus making themselves the servants of a sect instead of the whole people. Are such men patriots, or party iots? He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Let them answer, if they can. A merchant who had died suddenly left in his bureau a letter to one of his correspondents which he had not sealed. His clerk, seeing it necessary to send the letter, wrote at the bottom: "Since writing the above, I have died." SENATORS GET WRATHY. Senator Tillman's resolution to inves tigate the charges against several Senators who have, it is said, been en gaged in sugar and other stock specu lations, has been rejected. The report of the committee was rather acid The members of the committee say that newspaper correspondents pick up all sorts of rumors and base their charges on them without making any effort to find whether or not there is any truth behind it all. They characterize it as "indefinite allusions, insinuations, guesses and inferences." The brave, noble "dignified" Sena tors may be correct. It would be pretty hard to imagine anything that the average Washington newspaper correspondent can't imagine. But there are some cold, clammy facts that con stantly stare U3 in the face. Smart men can cover up their tracks pretty well, but still we go right along watch ing the Sugar and other trusts get all they want at the hands of Congress. If the "noble dignified" senators who help these combinations to flseee the public don't get a divide, they are not up to snuff. They are adding the vice or crime of folly to their other infirma mities. We do not mean to intimate that all the noble Senators are going hand in hand with the trusts and the Wall Street contingency, but it is plain to all that many of them a maj lrity ia fact are going that way. No won der they are goaded to desperation by the newspapers. Let them remove the evidence by representing the people awhile. Then all honest papers will defend them should they be attacked by sensational and untruthful writers. The charges will fall flit, anyhow, for the people will not believe their state ments. At present we are disposed to believe them guilty, for appearances are very much against them. SOME FACTS ABOUT THESChSoL LAW. y Those who oppose the school tax need not vote against it. If one is qualified to vote, his absence will be as effective as the hostile ballot. There are possibly in some instances good reasons why the school tax should not be voted. Aman who votes against it merely because it would benefit the children of another race, is anything but a patriot. A man who will vote against it be cause it was passed by the unaided efforts of men not of his political f anh,is too narrow minded to deserve the name of Tar Heel. The best comparison we can make is that he is deliberately rob bing the defenceless children of his na tive State because that which he steals was not given by members of his own party. As well steal bread from a starving child because it was not given by near relatives. Another molehill of which the Demo crats are trying to make a mountain is the "appointment in some counties of one negro school committeeman in each town&hip. Some of the papers even intimated that this was a step to ward mixed schools. O all the silly, unwarranted and disgusting rot which ever emanated from the morbid mind of any crazy quill driver thia takes the cake. If three or f jur white school commit teemen can't out vote one colored man, then for goodness' sake, let Governor Russell call an extra session of the legis lature and have Drs. Kingsbury and Caldwell to write a new arithmetic. If any race has any grounds for complaint in this matter, it seems to us it is the negro. ANOTHER POSTPONEMENT. You can't lose the goldbugs. They are up to date in everything. Up to thi3 time they have given six y one reasons why good times don'c come, and now the sixty-second reason bobs up a3 fresh as the first rose of summar. We have been waiting patiently for the tariff bill to pass, and, not having any thing better to believe, for it had been promised so many times, we thought prosperity would then appear in all his or her glory. But the sixty-second excuse knocks that all out and wo bo gin another season of waiting. Dan and Bradstreets say that nothing now remains in the way of prosperity ex cept the coal miners' strike. If they would get the old excuses out of the way before they formulate new ones, it would not be so razzle dazzling to the average citizen, but they go right on finding new causes for delay and never give any cause for abandoning old theories. THE MONEY TRUST NOT SATIS FIED. It seems that the great inter national (bankers) money trust is not half satis fled. It comes forth with some spark ling new reasons for the delay of pros perity, even after declaring that the success of the gold ticket last fall meant full restoration, and later on that the tariff question would settle it. A dis patch from Saratoga, N. Y says: The closiDg session of the State Bank- I ers' Association was held tnis aiier- noon. These resolutions were adopted : vVIt is the settled conviction of the members of this convention that all doubt as to our currency should be re moved. Currency is the basis of all business transactions, and unless this basis is sure and unvarying trade and commerce cannot thrive nor prosperity be assured. We are consequently in favor of the prompt removal of all ex istine causes of distrust as to the sta bility of our currency, and urgently request of our legislators to take euch action as may accomplish this end. "We recommend retirement of all government paper, and that a safe bank currency under government supervis ion be substituted. The preliminaries of such action could be prepared on sound economic lines by a commission. "Suitable action by our legislators on these lines will encourage trade to flow in its natural channels will cause the great resources of our country to be developed, and the comfort and cheer which follow upon commercial activity and which are the birthright of our people to be speedily restored. "In this expression we speak for the thousands of business men with whose wishes and conclusions we are familiar by reason of daily intercourse. We speak also for the great multitude of workers, who feel the pressure of hard times in the United S:ate3, hard times which are prolonged by inaction in the reform of the currency, and unneces sary, because simply changes in our laws whic'a would immediately remedy our condition are not brought about, thus forcing upon our population the evils of a currency created for the ex igencies of war, but concededly a men ace to stability in times cf peace, while other less favored nations of to day are reaping the rewards of a solid pros perity. "We accordingly demand action on the currency question, and solemnly warn our countrymen that safe con ditions cannot possibly reveal it." Now you have it straight from head quarters. They are not satisfied. The full and complete adoption of the gold standard falls into the capacious jaws of this trust like a small stone into the mouth of Vesuvius, and goes bounding from crag to crag. A few months ago nothing but the gold standard would do them, and that was all the country needed, they declared. Next the res toration of the old tariff rates, or higher ones, and now they drop all that and demand thorough and absolute control of the output of money. The ravings of the worst anarchist ever heard in America, or elsewhere, are mild as compared to the demands of this pomp ous gang of boodlers. H o w much more of it will take to arouse the American people, a sufficient number of them, at least, to a full sense of the danger of allowing this gouty gang of financial cutthroats to dictate further legislation in their interest, to the great detriment of nearly everybody not engaged in banking, and it is really detrimental to nearly all the small bankers, as rec ords of their numerous failures wiil show. The American people should declare that this monoy trust has gone far enough, and promptly put a check upon it. OLD COMMISSIONERS RESPONSI BLE. Some cf the Democratic papers are never so happy as when exposing Pop ulist "incompetency," and they are not disposed to look disappointed when their pretended exposures are shown to be fabrications, or else due to the man agemont or mismanagement of Demo crats who have gone out of effi iq. Recently the News and Observer reported a deficiency of $2,500 in the finances of Chatham county. This was a sweet morsel to roll under the talking valve of the silver-tonged edi- ! tor, for Chatham is the banner Popu- I list county in the State. No doubt J saveralDamocratic 'outs" looked upon this news as a sign that they would speedily be restored to a land flowing with nie and other good things. Butalas I All is not pie that glitters. Now for the iacts. wnen tne fopulist Board of Ooun- ty Commissioners took charge inDecem- ber, 1895, in Chatham county, they found a deficiency of $2 584 99 Tins was uug to cne extravagance, misman agement, or mistakes of the Demo cratic Board of County Commissions, which had held the reins for nearly thirty years. Tne only way to meet this deficiency was to levy extra special tax, and this ha3 not been done so far. We do not know why nor how the finances got into that shape, but have given the facts as we got them, Now isn't it small for the Democratic papers to talk about "Populist incompetency" under such circumstances? It always results in damage to themselves. Why do they insist on having their "expos ures" exposed? A Michigan editor received some verses not long ago with the following note of explanation: "These lines were written fifty years ago by one who has. for a long time, slept in his grave! merely ior pastime." CENT, In Australia, on government railroads, you can ride a diatom. 1,000 miles for $6 50, first-class, 2,? workingmen can ride six miles 'for t cent, twelve miles for four cenl thirty miles for ten cents, and raiW men receive from twenty five to thS per cent, more wages for eight W of labor than they are paid in S VI f.TT fill, f-ari Vir-.ltwn T T-r wB. in victoria where these rates prevail, the net k come from the roads is sufficient top? all the federal taxes, which is anoth convincing proof of the possibility I thh possibility of government witho! taxation. Ia Hungary, where State-owned, you can e roads aij ride six mn for one cent, and since the rcaa . 1 1.4. 1 4.1 , .. uuuguu uy tuo guverumeni tne wages were doubled. mes'i Belgium tells the tame story and freight rates cut down onehalf tuuu. wofioo uuuuicu. if i ine roujjj pay a yearly revenue to the govern ment of $4,0(0,000. In the United States, under private ownership, it is the other way. f have paid the railroads billions in lanj and money and are now paying them millions yearly for carrying the mail, and yet freight and passenger rates are so extortionate as to almost prohibitive, while wages paid railroad employee are degrading and almost criminal in their smallness. Surely, America has a deal to learn from its various mother countries. In Germany you can ride four milaa for one cent on the government-owned lines. Yet wages are over 125 per cent, higher than when the corporation owned them, and during the past tea years the net profits have increased 41 per cent. List year the roads paid the German government a net profit of $25,000,000. If our government owned the rail roads we could go from Boston to San Francisco for $10. Here is the proof; The United States pays $275 for the postal car from Boston to San Fran. ciec o. A passenger car will carry fifty passengers, which, at $10 each, would be $500, or a clean profit of $250 per car car, and this, too, after paying fire and one half per cent, on watered stock, which is fully one hundred per cent, on the cost of the road. These quoted figures are taken from a reliable source. Uncle Sam. CREAM OF THE PRESS. Hard Hits. Bold Sayings and Patriotic Paragraphs From Reform Papers, Has it occurred to you that congress is going ahead with it tariff bill with out waiting for the consent of anj other nation? Griffin News. That McKinley wave got stranded in Ohio, where it is expending its force. Thirty five assignments have been made in Mac's own county since the first of the year. Facts. The practical meaning of 16 to 1 un der the present gold standard is that the working people and farmers get 15 patches to 1 pair of pants. Look about you and see. Midland Journal. It is conservatively estimated that more than one hundred millions cf dol lars were spent directly and indirectly upon Qieen Victoria's jubi'e9 cer monies. At the same time 50.COO.OOO of the queen's subj ets are starving in the various districts of India. The Idaho Times Democrat. If you think railroads are not public highways, try to prevent one from building across your farm and see bo quickly the courts will tell you that they are public institutions. If J think they are public highways w that they are robbing you, take the matter before the same court and note how quickly it will tell you that they are private concerne, privileged W charge just what the please Living Issues. By the annexation of Hawaii Uncle Sam becomes possessor cf eight islands Their names are Hawaii, Maui, OM Kauai, Molokai, Lanai, Nihau, KaMOf I ewe. Of course we are not expsctea nm. f 0110 nith cnoh names, ana merely as a starter wo suggest the f lowing good old American names ftf hem: Havemeyer, Series, Spreckels, Mem: aavemeyer, cwi-ri, t-- R.-fe-Afpiw HAmPPia. Standards Polariscope and Dutchstandard. names are familiar to the peP Exchange. The combination ticket put up j DisMoines Wednesday is a daisy. headed by a silver Democrat for fF ernor, a national bank president 1 lioiifonnnf wnrArnnr an UnknOWQ for superintendent of public instrt tion, an outright gold DemocrfJJ5 supreme judge and an Arthur Ss Populist for xxTn 0jmi that we havd gall, but not enough to ask the rJP liste of Cass county to support aco nation like that much less toeuppo11 ourself. Bimetallism Allianceman, if you receive a'r. that you should send us one dollar 6 copy of this paper, it is to rem j get it one year, THEE MILES FOR
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
July 27, 1897, edition 1
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