Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

PAGE SIX HON. TON WATSON URGES PLATFORM FOR FARMERS. Mr. Watson was greeted with gen erous applause by his home people as he arose to speak. He said: “In ‘Memoirs of General Dale,’ who was one of the officers in charge of the Indians that were being re moved from Alabama and Georgia, we are told in a most touching way of the love those red men bore this beautifub land. , “General Dale relates that not only were the women and children heart broken with grief at having to give up their homes, but that the war riors themselves were utterly unman ned. Stoical braves who would have died under torture without a groan, broke down and cried like children when the United States sol diers came to march them off to the West. General Dale says that after the Indians had been collected and started on their long journey, they would return each night to their homes, to see them once more. This was kept up until the camp was pitched forty miles away. “In all the wide world the stars of 1831 looked down upon no sight more pitiful than that of these chil dren of the forest, stealing out of camp at night to walk back twenty, thirty and forty miles, to get one last look at the humble cabins which had been their homes. “But who need wonder that the Indians loved this Southern land ? Where did the smile of God, on Cre ation’s morning, rest more radiantly than upon this marvelous clime of the green field and cloud-topped mountain, of shadowy forest and ver dant valley, of dimpled lake and rushing river? “The red men loved it —loved it with all their simple hearts. ‘ ‘ They loved it well enough to fight for it. They never gave it up until every battlefield upon which they could muster an army w r as red with their blood. “But they lost their homes, never theless —why? Because in the sub tler combat of mind against mind they were no match for the whites. The pale face deceived his red broth er, when the Indians were the strong est; and when at length the whites were the stronger, the red men had to give up their homes. Farmers Deprived of Birthright. “Brethren of the South, will you learn nothing from the past? Have you no eyes to see what is going on? Do you not realize that in the war of wits you are losing ground? Will vou never understand that national politics and laws can be so shaped as to give all the advantage to one class, or one section? Is it impossi ble for you to learn that special priv ilege always lives at the expense of the unprivileged—is a deadly para site that will sap the life of the noblest tree? “Use your eyes. Look about you. Sec things as they are. Where is the bulk of the wealth of the nation? “In that portion of it which na ture did the least so Eng land. How did bleak, barren New WATSON’S WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN. England come to be so rich? She made the laws to suit herself, and these laws took the prosperity of the South and West and gave it to the capitalists of the East and North. “Who owns your railroads? The North. Your mills? The North. Your banks? The North. Your mines? The North. There isn’t a merchant, banker, miner, manufac turer, farmer or railroader in the South that doesn’t have to depend on the North for money. Yet the most of that money was made in the South and West. The financial currents which flow West and South from New York first flowed into New York from the South and West. Practi cally none of that wealth was creat ed in New York. Burdens Imposed by Trusts. “Consider the laws which the man ufacturers of the North have made for themselves. These capitalists are protected from outside competition; they monopolize the home market, they form a trust to dictate output and price, and they sell their goods abroad cheaper than at home. ‘ “What is the result? “They are making yearly, a net profit of $2,800,000,000, which is two billions more than 8 per cent upon the money invested. “Think of it! After allowing themselves a clear income of 8 per cent upon their investment, they com pel the consumer of manufactured goods to yield to them a yearly tri bute of two thousand millions of dol lars! “Thus every man, woman and child in America is taxed about $25 e ner year to give special privilege to the manufacturer. On every family of five, this is a crushing burden of $125 per year—and it is nothing more than shameless, heartless con fiscation. “How does this national policy of special privilege affect the agricultu ral classes ? It takes everything they make, excepting anough to live on. The goose which lays the golden egg is allowed to live —not because the specially privileged love the goose, but because they are fond of golden eggs. “The same official reports, which show that the manufacturing class has been piling up fabulous wealth ever since the civil war, prove that the agricultural classes have simply made a living. Inasmuch as the South and West are mainly agricultural, these two sections feel this cruel in justice of the law more sensibly than the others. Farmer’s Taxes Equals Rockefeller’s. £ “Under this diabolical svstem of national taxation, John D. Rockefel ler, worth his $500,000,000, pays no greater sum toward the support of the national government than many a two-horse farmer pays. Under any decently fair system of taxation. Rockefeller would pay five hundred thousand times more taxes to the fed eral government than are paid by ft farmer who is worth one thousand dollars. But, under our policy, the farmer may pay more than Rockefel ler —the tax not being paid upon in come, or accumulated wealth, but upon the amount of manufactured articles consumed. “Thus the literal truth is that our national government does not tax wealth at all. It allows the rich the benefit of special privilege which not only exempts them from national taxation, but permits them to tax the unprivileged. Purpose of Ocala Platform. “Unjustly treated by the govern ment under which they live, the ag ricultural classes have repeatedly made the effort to organize for their own salvation. “Eighteen years ago the represen tatives of these people met in Flor ida and put forth what was known as ‘the Ocala platform.’ “A nobler creed has seldom been, reduced to writing. I embraced it then—l love it now. “What were its leading principles? “The income tax. The removal of tariff taxes from the necessaries of life. Direct election of United States senators by the people. Abolition of national banks. Government loans of money to the people, on good se curity, at 2 per cent. No industry to be built up at the expense of another. Governmental control of railroads; and, if that proved a failure govern mental ownership. “When the Ocala platform was first proclaimed two of its declara tions were fiercely assailed. “Thousands of honest men strong ly combatted the idea of government loans at 2 per cent. “Yet that policy not only has the sanction of continental Europe, but of Great Britain also; and we have seen such statesmen as Gladstone and Chamberlain and Campbell-Banner man doing in Ireland precisely what the farmers of America asked. “Our own government, to the amatement of the enlightened states menship of the world, not only re fused aid to its depressed agricul tural class, but shifted the burdens of taxation so that the heaviest load would bear on that class; ran up the expenses of the government to an unprecedented height; yet exacted so great a num from the unprivileged tax payers that a huge surplus was left unspent in the treasury. To get rid of this money—taxed mainly out of the farmers —our government which refused to consider the farm er’s request for loans at 2 per cent, handed over the surplus as a loan to the national bankers, at no inter est at all. “When the farmers first put forth their demand for loans at 2 per cent objections were made that the gov ernment itself could not borrow money at such a low rate of inter est. But experience has shown that the objection was groundless. The government is now floating bonds at 2 per cent. “Tn my opinion, the government could float its bond# at par, on the tax exemption alone, without any in- terest whatever. We have so many rich men ready to quit business and anxious to put their savings where they will be safe and untaxed, that gbvemmewt kng-tenn bonds could be floated at par, bearing no interest. If the plan is ever tried, fairly, the event will show tjiat I am right. Government Ownership of Railways. “The other plank in the Ocala platform which created a storm of opposition was that which declared for government ownership of rail ways in case government control proved a failure. “When we recall Mr. Roosevelt’s position, when we remember Mr. Bryan’s attitude, we can proudly say that it took such leaders as Bryan and Roosevelt eighteen years to reach the point which the farmers reached in the Ocala platform. Honor, everlasting honor, to the Farmers’ Alliance and the Ocala platform. “That grand movement was the greatest educator of the masses that this country has ever known. It made war upon partisan politics and gave it a blow from which it never ral lied. It went far toward reuniting the divided sections. It brought the western republican farmer into broth erly relations with his Southern dem ocratic brother. It shattered many a prejudice growing out of the civil war. It forever buried the bloody shirt. It ended the business of mak ing a political living of a war record. It made it necessary for the ambi tious politician to read books. It was the evangel of true Jeffersonian democracy at a time when there was none of it in either of the old par ties. “It sounded the trumpet of resur rection, and the principles of our fathers came forth from their graves, to live once more in the hearts and souls of men. God bless the old Farmers’ Alliance! L stood by its cradle, in the jute bagging fight in 1888. I shared in the glories of its zenith of power. I saw its treacher ous and venal Livingstons and Ma cunes betraying it to its death. Un able to save it, I followed its hearse, and mourned at its grave. “From that day to this, I have had a longing that in some other form, led by some other leaders, it might come again, and now —thank God— it is here! Union Successor of Alliance. “The Farmers’ Union is but the reincarnation of the Farmers’ Alli ance. The new order takes the place of the old. The prophet dies, but the word lives. The flag which one brave standard bearer drops from his dying hand, another catches up and carries on. “And so. under the blessings of the Most High, the Farmers’ .Union will march on, march on, until it plants its victorious banner on the walls which the Farmers’ Alliance was not permitted to storm. “Rome was not built in a day. ‘Try, try again’ is tbe watchword of all progress, individual or collective,