FARM AND STATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 1934, 19 March 1891, Page 6

FARM AND STATION.

FARMERS* ALLIANCES IN THE UNITED STATES. For many years an association of farmers in the United States entitled the "Grange" was supposed to represent the agricultural interests, but the community interested, finding th's organisation feeble and ineffective, and so regarded by the ruling powers, adopted vigorous tactics aud established the Farmers' Alliances. There are of these two distinct organisations, each having an immense number of branches throughout all the States of the Union, but strange to aay, that until the last Congressional election, the effective power and force of these combinations were underrated and disregarded. Unexpectedly, however, the organisation waa so perfect and complete that the vote for members of Congress, converted a Republican majority in the House of Representatives into a decided minority, and {disclosed ,a power in the hands of the rural community whioh must be reckoned with in future legislation for the States. By their votes, members of the alliances defeated M'Kinley in his own State, where his position was considered impregnable, and relegated the famous, or infamous author of the now celebrated tariff to private life. The surprise waa complete, and recent advicea convey the assurance that the alliances mean further salutory and characteristic business. Occasional items of intelligence concerning this fresh episode in the governmental affairs of the United States reach the colonies ; but as so little is here understood of the necessity for, and potency. of, combination on the part of ,the farming classes, it ia deemed desirable to compile the information obtained from various sources as to the constitution and objects of the United States Farmers' Alliances— a phase of unionism novel, though apparently impregnable. On this head it may be here well to quote from the New York correspondent of the South Australian Chronicle. He writea :— " The Farmers' Alliance are beginning to give us a taste of their quality. They are several millions of votes strong, and they mean to have what they want at all hazards. Frightened at the prospect of legislation hostile to capital, the mortgage companies have hastened to take out judgments of foreclosure before the new Legislature cau assemble. . . . The companies may now resort to the courts; but even the courts are passing into the control of judges elected by the alliance, and whatever might be their decrees tbe local sheriffs would be neither able nor willing to enforce them against the alliance. The capitalists in London and New York who have been tempter! by high" interest to invest in this sort ot security may perhaps be very glad in the near future to help the alliance people to eeeure the transfer of these mortgages to the United States Government on new bonds at 3 per cenb., and may even be content to scale tha debt down to 50 p*r cent, of the appraised valuation of the land. These agrarian troubles have so far excited, strangely, little attention, even in the United States, but only an extraordinary run of good times can prevent them from becoming very threatening. Ifc i 3 estimated that £3,500,000,000 have been invested by capitalists in we>fe-.rn mortgages, and at the Alliance Convention it was announced that reports from the local lodges showed that more than half of all the farms represented in them were hopelessly behind— that is, that the mortgage and accrued iuterest represented more than the market value of the land. In one connty alone 1700 suits of foreclosure have been brought, and the calendars of almost every western court are blocked with oases of this character. In regard to the origination, constitution, aud objects contemplated by the Farmers' Alliances in the United States, the Economist i«, a 8 is invariably the case, the best informed and most unprejudiced. OF tbe associations Hie Economist aays : — " In all the accounts of the American elections we have spp.n in English papers, the ' Farmers' Alliances ' are alluded to aa one organisation. As a matter of f&ct-, however, there are two distinct great nntional associations bearing thia nam<\ canh having several State divisions and a multitude of looal branches. They maybe distinguished aa the Northern and the Southern Alliance. The formw, which isßtjled the National Farmers' Alliance, b&s its headquarters in lowa and ia composed of 10 State Alliances, •each of which is an mcorporatioD [ of Jxundredß pf Jowl «BoeUUons{ -wri bmte i fc *»« a $&* 1

number of branches where no State alliance has yet been formed. This organisation operates chiefly in the Middle, Western, aDd Northwestern States. The other organisation is named the National Farmers' Alliance and Industrial Union. Its headquarters arc at Washington, and it h described as a secret society, whereas the Northern Alliance ia an open one, devoid of all ritual. Each of these great associations had a humble origin, and it needed tho spur of severe agricultural depression to render them as powerful as they have now beoome." In 1879 tbe New York State Farmers' Alliance waa formed, and has since claimed to be the first association bearing the name of the Farmers' Alliance. Appaiently it was the first association under that name for political purposes, although the local body in Texas.styled the Texas Farm; rs' Alliancp, was started in 1575 for the protection of the small fwmerei agii..s<t the encroachment of the " cattle kings." Tha " platform "of the New York State Alliance conKisted of four " plants," two of them relating to the proposed rectification of railway rates and charges, one to the adjustment of taxation on real and personal property, and the fourth to the election to the State Legislature of representatives of the agricultural interests. Almost immediately after several Farmers' Alliances were started in the Western States, and at a meeting . in Chicago in 1880 these associations combined to form the National Farmers' Alliance. The purpose of the National Alliance was declared to be the promotion of the welfare of the farmer, socially, financially, and politically; and the principle demands then made were for the paesing of laws to prevent the sale of adulterated food products as genuine, the adjustment of taxation in proportion to the ability of tbo citizen to pay, and the Government ownership of railways and telegraph?. Apart from its political objects, the alliance was to assist farmers, by means of co-operation, in the purchase of goods and in the sale of their products. Although this Northern Alliance attracted very little attention outside agricultural circles for many years, it appears to have made steady progress from the outset.- Three years ago there were 600 branches in Nebraska alone, and probably about as many in lowa and Kansas. How many branches there are altogether at the present timo it ia impossible to say, as the increase during the last 12 months has been enormous. At the end of last March the lowa Homestead, which appears to have acted as the unofficial organ of the association, said that its growth in the west during the past winter had surpassed that of all previous years. In lowa the new brandies formed had averaged six a day for many weeks, and about equal progress had been made in Kansas and Nebraska. * Progress in States further east, such aa Ohio and Wisconsin, waa also noticed. In Ohio it has been more recently stated that there were 500 branches and 50,000 members. At the present time there are State alliances, affiliated to the great Northern Farmers' Alliance, in 10 States — lowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, and North Dakota. Steps have been taken to incorporate five other State alliances, and it is expected that 15 State associations will be affiliated by the end of the present year. Each State alliance forms ita own constitution and list of objects, but there is not much difference iv the main purposes of the several bodies. ' The present objects of the lowa State Alliance are, in a condensed form aa follows : — First, the dissemination of agricultural instruction in various ways ; next, co-operation in buying and selling, in order to secure the exchange of commodities with the least possible tax upon it. This ia followed by a group of objects to be attained by political action, &a follows : — " To secure such representation in the State and national legislatures as the importance of the agricultural interest demands ; to secure the strict legislative control of railroads in the interest of equity and justice to the public ; to crush out monopolies in every form, whether in land, transportation, or commerce; to crush out the manufacture of and traffic in adulterated food products ; to protect the live stock interests of the country against contagious diseases ; and to protect and foster agricultural interests in every way feasible and just." These are the 'general objects given in the constitution, to which every local branch has to conform. Details are given in the resolutions passed at the annual meetings, the last of which was held on October 28. At that meeting, attended by 600 delegates, a long string of resolutions was carried, the most important of which demanded an entire revision of the system of taxation, now said to press disproportionately upon farmers; a graduated income tax; the Government ownership of railways, telegraphs, and telephone lines ; the free coinage of silver and the issue of all money by tho Government without the intervention of tho national banks ; the reduction of contract interest to 6 per cent. ; the passing of tha Conger Lard Bill to prevent the adulteration of lari with cotton seed oil and other foreign matter ; the prohibition of gambling in "options "and "futures"; the prohibition of land ownership by aliens ; and a more economical system of Government, inclnding the reduction of official salaries in proportion to incomes derivtd from the productive industries. Article 12 of the constitution declares Independence of party lines, and recommends each member to use his influtmco in th : political party of his choic* to secure tho nomination of candidates committed to Alliance principles for the State Legislature and Congress. (To be continued.)