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People . Party Paper
VOLUME I.
THE GREAT WEST SOLID.
GEN. WEAVER SPEAKS TO A VAST
THRONG IN DENVER.
Unbounded Enthusiasm for the Peo
ple’s Cause in the Silver-
Producing States.
The following dispatch to the South
ern Alliance Farmer has been kindly
furnished the People’s Party Paper:
Denver, Colorado, July 27.
The reception of General Weaver
and party in this city last night was
something wonderful. The old parties
in Colorado have practically disband
ed, and the people are solid for the
Omaha nominees.
General Weaver’s meeting at the
Coliseum was crowded almost to suffo
cation, fully 6,000 people being packed
into the building.
Every allusion to free coinage met
with rousing cheers, long and loud.
The General’s masterly argument
touching the sub-treasury plank was
cheered throughout by the entire audi
ence.
Mrs. Lease addressed the meeting
also, and in addition spoke to an over
flow meeting of fully 4,000 people.
Colorado is solid for the People’s
Party, and all the silver States will
follow her example. This brings all
the States west of the Missouri river
into our column.
V. A. Strichler,
Mem. Nat. Ex. Com.
ON THE VERGE OF STARVATION.
People of Some Counties of Texas Eat
ing Buds and Berries as Food.
Rio Grande City, Tex., July 27. —
There are no less than twelve thousand
people in the lower Rio Grand border
counties of Texas on the very verge of
starvation. The rain which fell here
four weeks ago was the first in three
years, but it was of no benefit. The in
tense heat of summer has evaporated
every particle of moisture and the suf
fering among the people for lack of
food and water is terrible to witness.
There are hundreds of Mexicans and
Americans in Starr, Zapata, and
Nueces counties who, for weeks past
have subsided wholly on the mesquite
tree beans and cactus leaves and buds.
These are the only two species of vege
tation which have been able to with
stand the terrible drought. Even the
hardy live oak trees in the Nueces bot
toms have died and the indications are
that this section, which was a few years
ago the garden spot of Texas, is to be
converted into a veritable desert. Thou
sands of head of cattle have died, and
those still living were shipped to
Indian Territory several weeks ago.
There are not over five thousand head
of cattle in these border counties. Be
fore the drought set in there were hun
dreds of thousands of head pastured
here each season. There have been
many appeals for food supplies for the
starving poor sent out from here, but
the responses have been very meager.
The people of Brownsville have joined
in a petition to Governor Hogg for as
sistance. Their petition states that
many deaths from starvation are inev
itable unless the people of Texas and
the country come to their relief.
THE GUNONA IN ERUPTION.
Hundreds of Natives Killed by Showers
of Stones.
Amsterdam, July 27. —The Hendes
blad, of this city, published a letter
from Celebes, giving the details of the
recent eruption of the volcano Gunona,
on Great Sangir island. The eruption
commenced at 6 o’clock p. m., on a day
early in June, and was unheralded by
the slightest seismic warning. Im
mense volumes of flames and smoke
and masses of stone suddenly burst
from the volcano. Stones fell all over
the island, killing hundreds of natives,
who were busy in the fields getting in
the rice crop. Those who succeeded
in reaching the supposed shelter of
their homes found no refuge, the
houses having been crushed beneath
the weight of falling stones and the
roofs having collapsed under the
weight of ashes, burying the inmates;
in many instances, whole families.
Streams of lava flowed with fright
ful rapidity down the slopes of the
burning mountain, upon which there
were situated numerous farms and vil
lages. Houses and fugitives alike
RigHbs to Special Privileges to None.”
were overwhelmed by these rivers of
molten rock.
It is estimated that over one thou
sand persons perished on the slope of
the mountain and many hundreds more
in the lowlands, but the exact loss of
life is not known.
A week after the eruption had abated
the inhabitants were still in a state of
terror and would not approach the
scene of disaster. The island is now
threatened with famine, all crops hav
ing been destroyed. The cocoa trees
are still standing, but their leaves and
fruit have been destroyed, and their
stems left bare. In many parts of the
island wells have become dry. The
Dutch authorities are doing the best
they can to alleviate the distress of the
people. A government steamer has
been placed at the disposal of the local
controller to distribute relief. Rice
and many doctors have been sent to
the island. The inhabitants, though
nearly demented with terror, are do
cile, and the authorities have met with
no disorder.
Relief for the Distressed.
New Orleans, July 27. —The relief
boat Danube has left here with a sec
ond lot of rations for the people in the
overflowed section of Red and Black
rivers and Bayou Des Glaises The
number of sufferers is 2,600, of whom
1,200 are in Ouachita, above Catahoula;
about 600 in Concordia, 200 on Bayou
Des Glaises and the remainder in
Franklin, on Boeuf river, and Pointe
Coupe, West Felicinia and Assumption.
It will be necessary to feed these peo
ple three weeks longer.
Mount Etna Still Boiling.
Catania, July 27. —The eruption of
Mount Etna is again very violent. Im
mense masses of rock are projected out
of the volcano to a great height, and
dense clouds overhang the summit of
the mountain. The subterranean rum
blings are severe enough to cause win
dows to rattle in the neighboring vil
lages. Lava streams are again ad
vancing.
Colored Alliance of Georgia.
At Americus, Wednesday, the state
trustees of the Colored Farmers’ National
Alliance of Georgia, assembled. The
counties of the state were well represent
ed. Rev. J. W. Carter, the state lecturer,
made a telling speech and was roundly
applauded. D. M. Outlaw and S. S.
Weeks, state trustees of the alliance,
made a favorable report regarding the
condition of the alliance of Georgia.
A conference between the Alabama
c olored alliance and the Georgia colored
alliance will convene at Selma, Ala., in
October. The colored alliance will meet
in Macon, Ga. the last Wednesday and
Thursday in July, 1893
Eastanollee Alliance.
At a regular meeting of Eastanollee
Alliance, No. 2151, held July 23, 1892,
the work* of the People’s Party conven
tion which met in the cito of Atlanta,
July 20, was fully and unanimously
endorsed. Every member present
seemed enthused over the State ticket,
and especially were we pleased to learn
that Col. W. L. Peek was nominated
for Governor —and will pledge them
our undivided support at the ballot
box when the time arrives, and also
the reform ticket from president to
bailiff. L. 11. Coe, Sec’y.
Call for a Mass Meeting.
The People Party of Mitchell coun
ty and all those who are in sympathy
with said party, are requested to at
tend a mass meeting at the courthouse
in Camilla, Friday, August 12, 1892, at
10 o’clock a. ra., for the purpose of se
lecting delegates to represent Mitchell
county in the Congressional conven
tion to be held at Albany, September 1.
Also to select delegates to the eighth
senatorial convention, and to attend to
other matters of importance.
C. W. Collins, Chm’n.
Note the Change.
Ths People’s Party mass meeting of
Telfair county is changed from the 6th
to the 18th of August. There will be
public discussion upon the political issues
of the day. Our Democratic friends are
cordially invited to meet us in discussion
if they desire. All are invited to come
and bring well filled baskets. The meet
ing will convene at Cobbville school
house.
J. M. Smith, Ch’m.
J. E. O'Neel, Sec’y.
Liberty County.
A mass meeting of the People's Party
is called for Monday, August Bth, to
elect delegates to the Congressional
convention at Savannah, August 10th,
and for other purposes. The Execu
tive committee will meet on adjourn
ment of the mass meeting.
A. J. Hendy, Ch’n P. P. Ex. Com.
ATLANTA, GA., FRIDAY, JULY 29, 1892.
SENATOR STEWART’S SPEECH.
His View of the Great Question Before
the People.
July 14, the Senate having under
consideration the bill to prevent deal
ing in futures, Senator Stewart is re
ported as follows :
Mr. Stewart. Mr. President, this bill
is instructive. It is evidence that there
is a great deal of unrest in the country
from some cause. It is not the first bill
that has been urged here as a panacea
for the evils under which the country
suffers. We had the interstate-com
merce bill, which it was alleged would
cure all the evils, would cheapen trans
portation and raise the price of prop
erty and farm productsand relieve the
distress. It became a law. It made
some good offices for very intelligent
gentlemen, but we are not aware of its
great beneficial results. In the last
Congress we were told that the evil
which afflicted the country was trusts,
and we labored many hours and days
in that Congress to pass a bill limiting
trusts. The bill was passed. We have
not heard from it since.
Whether it has done any good or not
nobody has ascertained. So we go on
session after session passing bills of
this nature.
Mr. Sherman. Will my friend allow
me to interrupt him ?
Mr. Stewart. Certainly.
Mr. Sherman. The bill to which the
Senator from Nevada refers, called the
trust bill, has been embodied almost in
w hole or in large part by many of the
States of the Union. It is enforced now
by the courts of at least four, and I
think several other States, and in two
or three cases with marked results, as
in the case of the Standard Oil Com
pany.
Mr. Stewart. lam not aware that it
has removed the difficulty or relieved
the people from the growing evils
which have rested upon them. On the
contrary, here is another evidence of
great dissatisfaction among the peo
ple. Here is an elaborate bill propos
ing to enter largely into the transac
tions of business, creating a large num
ber of offices and much expense, and a
measure which will be very difficult of
execution, requiring many oaths and
accounts, and all that; and those who
are honestly engaged in business will
have much inconvenience connected
with it. I agree that if any great good
can be accomplished we ought to pass
it, but I fear that it will be numbered
with the others, and that dissatisfac
tion will continue. I do not think it
aims at the real difficulty, at the real
disease. Ido not think it can remedy
that disease. I do not think it is the
medicine required. I do not think it
is the specific for the disease of falling
prices. That is the disease which it at
tempts to remedy, to prevent falling
prices in grain so that the farmer may
get better prices.
I know very well that the speculation
has worked to the advantage and the
disadvantage of the famer, Some years
ago many rich men sank their fortunes
in the attempt to corner wheat. They
tried several times to buy up all the
wheat in the country. They lost mil
lions. I think I could name $30,000,000
or $40,000,000 that were lost in that
way. The farmers who had wheat at
the time had the benefit of that in sell
ing their wheat at a high price. It is
not absolutely certain whether the far
mers lose more from the bears than
they gain from the bulls in the market.
It is a very doubtful question indeed.
Some farmers with whom I have talked
think that the bulls do them more good
than the bears do them harm.
But there appears to be a general
disposition to have this bill passed. It
is petitioned for by thousands of per
sons and urged upon the attention of
Congress. But the evil of falling prices
will continue whether we pass it or
not. I was reading this morning an
article in the Baltimore Sun, a very
conservative paper, with regard to the
falling prices of land and the vast
change in the condition of our rural
population from the independent far
mer to the tenant farmers. As it is in
point with what I am about to remark,
I ask the Secretary to read the edito
rial which is marked.
The Presiding Officer. If there be
no objection the Secretary will read as;
requested.
The Secretary read as follows:
“increase of tenant farmers.
“The Census Bureau has lately be
gun to report the result of its investi
gations into the number of persons who
own and cultivate their farms and the
number who are simply tenants on
farms owned by others. Thus far the
report covers only ten counties in Kan
sas and ten counties in Ohio. In Kan
sas in 1890 the number of farmers cul
tivating their ow n lands was 66.75 per
cent, and of tenant farmers 33.25 per
cent. Assuming that this proportion
of ow ners and tenants runs through
the entire State, it is evident that one
third of the agricultural families are
tenant farmers, A comparison with
the census of 1880 shows that in the
same counties at the end of that decade
the number of families living on hired
farms was 0n1y.13.13 per cent, and of
farms worked by their owners 86.87 per
cent. The increase, therefore, in the
number of hired farms between 1880
and 1890 was over 20 per cent. This
change for the worse may be accounted
for, at least in part, by the bad crops
of the three previous years and the
foreclosure of mortgages given by
farmers to tide them over their diffi
culties.
“But the same reasoning does not ap
ply so strongly to Ohio when ten coun
ties chosen for comparison indicate
even a greater increase of tennat farm
ers. In 1880 the number of farmers in
Ohio tilling their own lands was 75.04
per cent and of tenant farmers 24.96
per cent. In 1890 only 63 per cent of
the farmers owned the land they culti
vated, and the number of tenant farm
ers had risen to 37 per cent. To what
extent similar changes from ownership
to tenantry are goingon in other States
we are yet to learn, if the inquiry of
the Census Bureau extends to them
also, as it is to be presumed that it will.
We know, from the reports of the Mas
sachusetts and New Hampshire com
missioners, that there are in those
States a large number of farms not only
untenantecl, but classed as ‘abandoned’
by their owners, and offered for sale at
incredibly low prices. The drift of the
rural population into large cities
where, besides the attractions they
hold out, enterprising men may hope
to do better than in farming and labor
is better renumerated, has unquestion
ably induced the younger members of
farming families to abandon the old
homesteads and seek their fortunes
e‘sewhere; but underlying the several
causes we have mentioned there seems
to be some force at work that is reduc
ing the number of farmers of small
means, and is building up, as in Europe,
a race of tenant farmers.
“Intimately connected with the
changes going on from independent to
tenant farming is the decrease in the
value of farm property. We have re
ferred above to the abandoned farms
in Massachusetts and New Hampshire,
and to these may be added those of
Vermont. We now come to the inquiry
just made into the value of farms in
Connecticut by Mr. T. 8. Gold, secre
tary of the State Board of Agriculture.
His report covers replies from 107 out
of 168 towns in that State, and although
the responses only come from 309
farms, they afford, in his opinion, a
basis for computing approximately the
value of the remainder. The average
price of the farms on Mr. Gold’s list is
S2B per acre. In the census of 1880 the
average value of the farm lands of the
State was said to be $49.34 per acre.
‘Here,’ said the Providence Journal,
‘in a little more than a decade is an
apparent decrease in value of more
than s2l per acre, and though, of
course, it would not be fair to put the
average value in 1880 in comparison
with the value of land in 1892, it is dif
ficult to believe that a farm census to
day would show an average value close
to that of 1880, for it is to be remem
bered that the price asked for the farms
included in the secretary’s report is
probably much higher than could be
secured on actual sale.’ Moreover, the
report shows that in certain small
towns some 3,000 acres are offered at
an average of $8 per acre, and farms
with buildings in good repair at one
third the price that was asked for them
twelve years ago, It is complained
that one cause of the decline is the bad
condition of the roads, and a similar
complaint comes from Maine and Rhode
Island, where a like depression in the
value of farm lands exists.”
Mr. Stewart. Mr. President, this
shrinkage is not confined to farm lands.
In the report just submitted by the
Committee on Finance, who were in
structed to ascertain the market price
commodities and labor, to ascertain
whether that price was advancing or
declining since the passage of the Mc-
Kinley act, I am informed that there
has been an average shrinkage in the
price of commodities and of labor of
about 3 per cent. That was up to the
time the committee closed its labors,
which was last December, was it not ?
Mr. Carlisle. If the Senator will al
low me, I will state that the subcom
mittee undertook to ascertain the re
tail prices of two hundred and fifteen
articles at seventy different places in
the United States during the period of
two years, beginning in June, 1889, and
ending in September, 1891. The resnlt
of its labors shows that while prices of
some articles rose more than three per
cent, during part of the time after the
passage of rhe McKinley act, yet at the
end of the period the prices of the two
hundred and fifteen articles taken al
together were forty-four one-hun
dreths of one per cent, lower than they
were at the beginning.
Mr. Stewart. Notwithstanding the
McKinley act ?
Mr, Carlisle. Yes; the prices first
went up for several months after the
act was passed, and then the tendency
to a reduction began to show itself.
Mr. Stewart. That was up to Sep
tember, 1891 ?
Mr. Carlisle. Yes.
Mr. Stewart. There have been about
ten months of fall since then.
Mr. Carlisle. It has been about elev
en months.
Mr. Pasco. I wish to ask a question
of the Senator from Kentucky. Does
that include protected and unprotected
articles ?
Mr. Carlisle. The committee selected
215 representative articles, which were
supposed to enter into the common con
sumption of the country, without refer
ence to the question whether the duties
were .increased or diminished upon
those articles by the McKinley act.
Mr. Stewart. Did the committee ex
tend its investigation as to prices of
commodities in Europe during the same
period ?
Mr. Carlisle. Part of the time the
committee succeeded in getting the re
tail prices in England, but not to such
an extent as to j ustify anything like an
accurate comparison of prices.
Mr. Stewart. The fall in prices there
would be greater than here.
Mr. Carlisle. I am not able at this
moment to state what it was.
; Mr. Stewart. The fall in prices
I would be much greater in England. In
my observation, from what little inves
l gation I have been able to make, and
j from the statements of English papers,
t there has been in the last two years a
i fall of over ten per cent —some put it as
high as fifteen per cent —in the general
, range of commodities in Europe since
| the fall of 1890; and it is still going on,
and it will continue to go on
; Ido not believe that a bill of this
i kind will remedy the continual shrink-
age of prices. The statisticians tell us
that since 1875 the general decline has
been from 35 to 40 per cent. I think it
has been more than that in Europe on
account of the rapid decline recently.
But this decline must go on, notwith
standing the pending bill. It is not
going to affect the general range of
prices: and that is the evil under which
the world is laboring.
This rapid increase of tenant farming j
has a parallel. At the time of the dis- I
covery of gold and silver in Mexico j
and South America the feudal system i
was at its zenith of power and perfec- j
tion, but it so happened that in Great j
Britain land leases were for ninety
nine years. All who have studied
Blackstone remember those lease-hold
estates. They were in the habit of
allowing those long leases for ninety
nine years. Mr. Jacob, who is the best
authority of anybody who has written
upon the production of the precious
metals, and is so recognized throughout
the country, tells us that at the time of
this discovery there were 30,000 land
holders in Great Britain, and that in
one hundred years the number of land
holders increased to about 100,060.
At the end of the century there were
100,000 inhabitants of Great Britain
who owned the land they lived on and
cultivated. He attributes it solely to
the increase of the supply of money.
He said that these long leases, payable
in money, made it necessary for the
large landholders to sell their land;
that they could not live on their rents
an account of the rise of prices.
Money became cheaper and commodi
ties dearer.
These one hundred thousand land
owners in Great Britain remained for
about one hundred and fifty to two
hundred years, the number of land
owners remaining about the same.
During the Napoleonic wars the cur
rency was wonderfully inflated, and
immediately after the war the heroic
remedy of resumption was applied.
The people were doing business on a
high range of prices. They were in
debt, as our people were during our
war, doing business on inflated prices.
Contraction produced by resumption
destroyed nearly all the enterprising
men of that great nation and reduced
the number of land-owners in a few
years back to thirty thousand, where
it now remains. All this shows the
effect of contraction.
It has been stated that in this counry
the aggregate amount of mortgagesis not
increasing, but is growing less. Th s is
because the mortgages are being fore
closed. The mortagagees are taking the
property The people are becoming
tenant farmers.
AV hat has produced this ? A shrinking
in the volume of money, because it is a
law that can not bo changed that the
average range of prices is governed by
the volume of money ; I mean of real
money, money that does not have to be
redeemed. The volume of money deter
mines the price. We witnessed that a
year ago when about $75,000,000 went
out of the country. Every morning as
the gold would go out stocßs were mark
ed down. No man would until he knew
the amount of gold to be shipped. It
was the thermometer that determined the
range of prices. Every man could see
the shipments of gold marked on the
bulletin boards, and prices of commodities
were marked accordingly.
Now, as the volume of gold money,
which lies at the foundation, decreases
in comparison with properity and popu
lation, of course property must go down
and prices must go down to correspond.
It is just as difficult to keep prices up
with a shrinking volume of money as it
would be to keep two levels of the water
of the ocean. It never has been done,
and never can be done.
The volume of gold is shrinking no
only with the increase of population, but
by the power of the creditor class oper
ating upon the debtor class, compelling
them to make gold contracts. They have
even attempted to coerce Austria. Is the
Senate aware that it would have taken
6 per cent of all the gold in the world if
they had succeeded in makihg Austria
buy the two hundred midicns which it
was proposed to coerce her into buying?
That would put up gold, make gold dear,
and as the price of property is measured
in gold, therefore, when gold goes up
property must go down. That is the dis
ease, and all the nostrums you can ap
ply will effect very little.
It may be well to pass this bill not for
the good it will do, not because it will
accomplish any goo I purpose, for I pro
phesy that it will simply make trouble
and accomplish no good, but to show the
people that it is not good medicine, that
it does not reach the disease. If this bill
should pass, next winter when we meet
again the same clamor will be heard.
As long as prices, fall as long as men are
driven from their homes and become
tenant fanners, it must continue. There
can be no escape. The only good ac
complished by passing this bill will be
to show the people how inadequate it is
to remedy the evil. Perhaps the educa
tion they will get may pay us for the in
convenience of thus meddling with the
business of country.
I have been weighing this matter in
nay mind and I have not yet determin
ed how I ought to vote. I introduced
a bill the other day to reduce the sala
ries of officers, and I wish to explain
that in this connection,
The bill as introduced reads as fol
lows :
“That the salaries of all officers and
persons receiving salaries from the
United States in excess of S6OO per an
num shall, from and after the passage
of this act, be reduced 25 per cent of
such excess: Provided, That this act
shall not apply to the salary of the
President of the United States during
the present term of that office, nor to
salaries of judges of United States
courts during the terms of the present
incumbents.
I put the amount at S6OO. I think
tiiat was a mistake. On reflection I
believe that those of that grade are
NUMBER 44
simply laboring people, and a reduc
tion as to them would be unfair. Sol
propose when this bill shall come up
for consideration —for I introduced it
in good faith —to substitute $2,000 for
S6OO, and to reduce by 25 per cent the
salaries of all persons receiving any
thing in excess of $2,000 from the Gov
ernment. That will not affect the peo
ple who are doing the labor of the Gov
ernment; it will only affect those with
large fixed incomes.
My object in calling attention to this
is the fact that as prices go down we
are creating a favored class with fixed
incomes. That f avored class will fight
for contraction »he same as the bond
holder will fight for contraction to en
hance the value of his income.
When I first came to the Senate the
salaries of Members and Senators were
$3,000 a year; judges of the Supreme
Court received $6,000 a year; and the
President of the United States received
$25,000 a year. 1 remember that once
in those times I called upon the vener
able Justice Nelson, and found him in
the National Hotel with two rooms,
very small, for himself, wife, and
daughter. He had to do all his work
in those two rooms. After some talk
with him I asked him it he was able to
live on his salary—for we were talking
about that —and he said he could not
pay his bills on his salary however
economical he might be; that prices
had gone up so he could not live on his
salary. I found members of Congress
complaining that it was impossible for
them to pay their bills and live on their
salaries. Prices then were high. The
salary of the President of the United
States was very small for those times.
Ln consequence of these facts I be
came an enthusiastic advocate for in
creasing salaries. We began with the
judges of the Supreme Court. I had
an ally in the then Senator from Wis
consin, Mr. Carpenter, who espoused
the cause with great earnestness, and
we succeeded in raising their salaries,
and finally the salary of the President
of the United States was raised to $50.-
000. There was no difficulty in raising
the salaries of members of Congress.
That came first. Those salaries were
raised to correspond with the then
range of prices.
Now we find that prices have gone
below what they were in 1860, or when
these salaries were fixed, and as they
stood before Congress raised them.
The prices of commodities have gone
below those of any of this century;
and i say that it is not in good keeping
for officers who are serving the Repub
lic to maintain this high range of sala
ries while prices are being forced down
by the legislation of Congress, for they
are being forced down by the legisla
tion of Congress. In forcing the coun
i try to go to the gold standard we are
forcing prices down, and we ought not
to profit by our own wrong.
The President of the United States
is receiving a salary of $50,000 a year.
That salary is more than SIOO,OOO would
have been in 1871 when his salary was
increased. If it were put back to $25,-
000 it would have a greater purchasing
power than his salary had in 1860, I
say $25,000 would now have a greater
purchasing power than it had in 186 ft.
Congress raised all these salaries on
account of high prices. They should
now be reduced on account of low
prices. The President is interested in
maintaining the gold standard to the
extent of $50,000 a year.
Because gold is worth a hundred per
cent more than it was in 1871 we are
told all around that every President
will veto a silver bill. It will put
money in his pocket to do so. He lias
a large salary and a large interest in
the question. All good citizens hope
he will not be influenced by such con
siderations and there is no foundation
for the assertion that he would veto a
silver bill.
This comes home to the people of the
country, in view of what has occurred
in Pennsylvania. The disease at Home
stead was falling prices. The Carne
gie Company said the price of commo
dities had gone down, and therefore
they must reduce the price of labor to
correspond. If wages must be reduced
to correspond with failing prices, why
should not the compensation of high
salaried officers share the same fate, 1
ask ? If the feudal lords of wealth can
in a moment organize their armies and
make war to put down wages, and if
that war can be justified, how much
more are we called upon to surrender
our salaries if we insist that legislation
shall put prices down ?
The evil of the gold standard first
fell upon the farming community. Our
farmers were regarded as a brave and
independent portion of citizens. We
relied upon the farmers to resist en
croachments of centralized power or
any other power while they were pros
perous. But you have robbed them of
half their estate by reducing the value
of their farms. You have driven them
from their farms and made tenant far
mers of 30 or 40 per cent of them and
the process is going on. They have
lost much of their power in the budy
politic.
Who, then, will resist the eucroach
j meats of the gold king ? The labor or
ganizations of this country are at
tempting to resist. They will get out
side of the law. They will ultimately
be crushed, because nothing can with
stand the iron hand of contraction.
This resistance has been tried in other
civilizations.
But as the money disapp o ars feudal
slavery follows. These men may re
sist for a time in this country, but see
how they were treated in Germany a
month or two ago when they were as
sembled to protest against a reduction
of their wages. The imperial army
fired upon them without notice, and
they had no redress. Europe is a mil
itary camp and is controlled by the
gold kings. Labor must submit there.
The penalty of any resistance, or even
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