Dakota farmers' leader., December 19, 1890, Image 1

About Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??

Image provided by: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

                
VOL NUMBER 26.
'.
ALLIANCE CONGRESS.
I The national Farmers Alliance Hold
Tin Hundred Delegates Attend
To Enplaslze Former Pleas
for Public
Polk Re-elected President and
EMTHD8IASTIC 'HAYSEEDS." IGJJI
OCALA, Fla.
Dec. 6.—Special Correspond
ence: The annual meeting of the Nation
al Farmers Alliance and Industrial Union
of America, assembled in this city last
Tuesday and was called to order by Presi
dent Polk in the afternoon. The conven
tion has about 300delegates representing
*11 but a few states of the union and at
tills writing is pronounced the most en
thusiastic and most interesting annual
meeting ever held. In addition to the
regular delegation from each state Alli
ance, there are large numbers of other
members of the order present and tit is
estimated that about 1500, Alliance men
loastant attendance at the conven
».
EMgg, anjj^siill larger number keep going
^nd do*J©g from day to day, remaining
only as long as their slender purses will
permit of the extravagant hotel rates that
are exacted from them as a tribute,
IBESIDENT POLK'S MESSAGE.
Much of the time Tuesday afternoon
•was taken up in reading the,
annual mesr
pageof President Polk, which is *ery d&-
work. Reviewing the present situa
tion of (the country, President Polks says:
The jgseat and universal depression,
under w,hich the agricultural interests of
this United States are sufferings is, in
view of our surroundings and conditions,
an anomaly to the student of industrial
progress. No country or people in all
history have been so favored and blest
with opportunity and favorable condi
tions for the successful and profitable
prosecution of agricultural industries.
With seals, climate and seasons admir
ably adapted to :the successful growth of
ailihe^reat stsgle crops, demanded by
borj^^^ee—with a people justly noted
industry, frugality, and pro
gresSKcnterprise, and characterized by
an aggressiveness in material develop
ment which has HQ parallel in history—
with transportation facilities, inland and
upon the seas, equal to the productive
power of the country—witha development
in railroad and manufacturing enterprise,
and in .the growth of villages, towns and
cities—-marvelous an its expansion—with
the rapid, accumulation of collossal for
tunes iii the hands *f the few—why, in
stead of sthe happy song of peace, eon
tentmeirt and plenty, which should bless
the homes of the farmer and laborer of
the country, should we hear tbe constant
and universal wail, of "hard times?" To
solve this significant and vital question in
the light of equity, jus tic and truth, is
the underlying principle, the holy mis
sion and inspiration of this, the greatest
industrial revolution of the ages.
This great organization, whose jurisdiction
now extends to thirty-five (35) states of
this union, and whose membership and
CO-workers number millions of American
freemen—united by a common interest—
conlruuted by common dangers—impell
ed by a common purpose—devoted to a
C^iPijB^ountry—standing for a common
"THJutffeancl guided by the dictates of an
ejBte^patriotism will, in the exercises
of conservative political action, strive to
/'equal rights for all and special privil
eges to none," and secure indeed "a gov
ernment of the people, for the people and
by the people." ggjgj, J||
No patriot can view, but with feelings
of gravest apprehension and alarm, the
growing tendency, under the fostering
care of our politico-economic systems, to
the centralization of money power and
the upbuilding of monopolies. Central
ized capital, allied to irresonpsible cor
porate power, stands today as a formida
ble menace to individual rights and popu
lar government. This power is felt in our
halls of legislation, state and national—
in our popular conventions—at the ballot
box, and in our temples of justice, and it
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arrogantly lays its unholy hand on that
greatest and most powerful lever of
modern thought and action the public
press of our country.
PROGRESS OF ORGANIZATION.
Since our last annual meeting in the
city of. St. Louis, the states of Illinois,
Michigan, North Dakota, Cali­
fornia, Colorado, West Virginia, Penn
sylvania, and Oklahoma htive been added
to the roll-call of our Supreme Council
Organizers are at work in the states of
Washington, OregoH, Ohio, New York,
New Jersey and Arizona. And in all
these states the fields are ripe
but the laborers are few.
I cannot too earnestly urge
the importance of devising means and
for the prompt occupation of
these, and other states, with competent
and active organizers. During the year
I ha^e visited officially twenty-four (24)
and every
where I found a zealous
interest and harmonious spirit among the
brotherhood. Indeed the order was
in finer spirit or more united- in
purpose than it is today.
In this connection the president urges
the question of lecturers which he regards
as the most essential to the upbuilding of
the order. He recommends the policy of
employing state lectuc&s at fixed sala
ries to be paid out of the national or state
treasuries, and in sufficient numbers to
canvass the whole field thoroughly dur-.
itig the next^year. A
TUB PRESS
'•By far the most potent and influential
power underlying this great revolution of
industrial and economic thought," says
the president "has been the reform press.
At the earliest practicable moment the
supreme council should devise a plaq
which will give to
Vevery
family in the
order a thoroughly reliable paper devoted
to the interests of the Alliafcce. SPt§=:!
REFORM LEGISLATION
President Polk further recommended
the organization of a national legislative
council whose duty it shail be to have
charge of :such legislation as may be of
interest to agriculture. His Idea is to
have this council composed of the nation
al president ot the Alliance as ex-officio
chairman, and of the presidents of all the
states represented in the supreme council
and that the legislative council should
hold its regular annual meeting at a
designated time and place,, for delibera
tion and to transmit to the membership
oi^r in^6B^t^rttn~meMum'br
bills such as they may-decide should be
enacted into law.
N4A
CITIZEN OS DOLLAR.
The message dwells .with great stress
upon the importance of the finances of the
county saying let us not be diverted
through the machinations of political in
trigue, from the great and paramount
issue now before the American people.—
Financial Btform.
Let this be the slogan and the rallying
cry 8f She people until relief shall come.
We cannot hope for relief if we accept the
finanoial policy adopied'and practiced for
a quarter of a century, by the two .great
political parties of the country.
Never in the political history of the
countay was there such universal interest
amdlig the people and such urgent de
mand on the political parties for financial
reform, arj characterized the recent cam
paign, and yet the great effort of the
leadars of each of these parties and df the
partisan press, was to give overshadow
ing prominence to questions and issues,
partaking largely of a partisan character
to the exclusion of the one great .vital,
living issue.— financial reform.
Indeed, the evasion *f this great issue
has been prominently characteristic of the
two great parties for the past twenty-ilve
years.
The great absorbing question, let ane
repeat, before the American people, is
not whether the democratic or the re
publican party, with their evident sub
serviency to the will of corporate and
money power, shall be in the ascendency,
but the question is, whether under our
republican form of government, the
citizen or the dollar shall be the soverign.
A system of finance which recognizes
and secures to every citizen of this coun
try ati tiquit&biti, fair aiid just ri^lit to
share its benefits and which will furnish
volume of circulating medium, ad-
equate to the legitimate demands of the
country, at a low rate of interest, is the
greatest and most urgent need of the
times.
With a well worded tribute to the non
Sectional proclivities of the Farmers Alli
ance, the message closes with a beautiful
and touching appeal to the)* valor and
patriotism of the membership of the
order.
SECTIONAL LINES BROKEN"!
5
After the reading of the message Presi
dent Loucks of the South Dakota Alli
ance made a short but eloquent address
touching the subject of sectionalism in
the message. Your correspondent has
seen Mr. Loucks at his best in' many a
campaign speech but never has he heard
the invincible Dakotan speak with greater
fervor. An old confederate soldier from
Indiana moved that all exsoldiers in the
hall who indorsed this sentiment express
ed by Mr. Loucks arise to their feet, and
75 or 100 arose amid great enthusiasm.—
Continued, next week.
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A Faithful LEADER In the Cause of Ec and Reform, the Defender of Truth and Justice, the Foe of Fiaud and Corruption.
BEAUMONT'S POWERFUL SPEECH,
of the Address Delivered by
Ralph Beaumont at Canton, Oeto
18,
Principles of the Knights'-of Labor
iber, with all
that labor organizations have been charg
ed with, they have yet to be accused of
being mean enough to sell the home from
the family. Yet society does that an
nually. "But," they say, "you fellows
are awful mean you will not let any one
work with you who doesn't belong to
your union." Are we the only fellows
that will not allow anyone to work, that
does not belong to the union? Let us see.
There are the lawyers, do they npt have1
a union? I think they do. Now, let me
tell you, I can go into the workshop of a
lawyer—the county courthouse—of my
county, and I can plead a better case than
nine out of ten lawyers in my county.
And I understand more common law
t^an nine out of ten of thtac fellows. Be
cause common law is based on common
sense, and there is only one in ten of
those that are possessed of any. At least
they never use it in their business, if they
have any. Let any two of you, men get
into a dispute about your line fence, and
go to a lawyer at your county seat and
ask him to give you. a little common sense
.advice to straighten you" out. Will he
give it to you? Nota bit of it. -What
will he do?' He will go to his library and
pull down a book and tell you what a
judge said two hundred years ago on a
case like that, and charge you five dol
lars apiece for it! Now let us take a case
for illustration. Supposing my neighbor
Johnson gets into a dispute with his
neighbor Jones. He comes to me and
says, Mr. Beaumont, I have got into a
disagreement with* my neighbor Jones
about apiece of land and we propose to
settle it in the county court. I would
like you to plead my case for me. I re
plied all right I will do it. The day of
the trial comes. Mr. Jones' lawyer states
hiscase and sits down. I then address the
court, saying, Your Honor, I am here in
the interest of m^ ^Uen^ Jlr. ^Johnson.,
The judge says, what lis your name. I
reply, my name is Ralph Beauihont. He:
Have you got a union card? I reply, I
do not know what you'mean, sir. Do
you belong to the lawyer's union, the bar
of this county? I reply, no, sir.1 He
then points to the court constable, saying,
remove that man from the roont he a
scab. A lawyer has a law incorporating
his unions, and -when a non-union man
goes to work in his shop he puts him out
by law. But in times past when we un
ion men have undertaken to keep non
union men out of our jobs, because they
would not pay taxes to keep up the wages,
it has been customary for the governor to
call out the military, and hold him there
at the point of the bayonet. Th^jks to
organized labor, that day has gone by.
No governor in America dares to do that
today. He knows that he could not get
elected again if he did. That is the dif
ference, my friends, between having
your union incorporated under the law
and not having in incorporated. I once
asked tone of these limbs of the law how
it wastfchat. he had his unions incorporat
ed, while he denied .the right to have
mine receive the same benefits. He re
plied that it was necessary in order to
have good lawyers. I informed him if
that wae the reason .the law was made it
was tin\e it was repealed, as it was a mis
erable failure in that respect that if there
were as many botches in the shoe trade as
there are in the law I would disown my
trade.
The next, Article VII, reads as follows:
"The enactment of laws to compel cor
porations to pay their employes weekly in
lawful money, for the labor of the pre
ceding week, and giving mechanics and
laborers a first lien upon the product of
their labor to tire extent of their full
wages."
In order to explain this section, I will
have to relate an incident that came un
der my observation some few years age.
In 18761 resided in New Jersey, and
within eighteen miles of where I resided
there were that number of glass manu
facturing establishments. The employes
in these factories only received their pay
once a year. That was when their fires
went out for the two hot months in the
year—July and August. Now, my
friends, how do you suppose the people
managed to live during the year. Well,
let me show you. If one of these men
wanted to purchase an article, he went
to the company's office, and the book
keeper gave him a printed due bill with
the figures five, ten, and so on up to fifty,
making five hundred in all, and he then
took this due bill to the company store.
And if he bought a five cent cigar be
handed the due bill to the clerk who took
it and pulled a punch out of his pocket
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CANTON, SOUTH DAKOfA, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1890. 91.00 PER ANNUM.
and punched out five cents, and if it was
ten, he punched out teu, and wheii he
had punched out the .whole thing, he had
punched thapoor fellow out of five dol-
Nowv jfellow citizens, west of the
Alleghany mountains there existed
that time aa|ther lot of glass manufac
turers who paid their help in cash: every
Saturday n&ht. These inanufactuiers
found thatf the Jersey manufacturers
into the Western
and underselling them in the
How do yotKsuppose, my friends,
were able tojclo this? Well, now, let me
show you h( they were able to do this.
These manuFacturers were selling glass
at cost with iut making'any profit. Now
you will n.ai irally ask me how they were
able to do tl is? Let me illustrate: There
is a firm em loying three hundred hands,
whose w,ige| were' $100,000 pe annum.
Under thiSjj ue bill system,, every dollar
had to be taken out in the company store
which charged them 30 per cent more
than they c|uld have bought the same
amount anjrjflrhere for cash, and ten per
cent legitimate profit outside of that,
making 830 000 per annum profit on the
store, so that they did not have to make
anything
biji
glass. We desire a law com­
pelling corporations to pay their help
every Saturday, in lawful money, so that
the help can buy the cheapest.
Now in Pittsburg and the west there
was another lot of glass manufacturers.
They belonged to the American Glass
Manufacturer's association. Their help
belonged to local assembly 300 of the
Knights of fLabor, that composed every
window glass blower in America. All at
once the western manufacturers notified
the members of our organization that one
of two things had to take place: We
either had to come down twenty percent,
in our wages or that Jersey workmen
come up twenty per cent on his—other
wise .the western manufacturers would
loose the market as the Jerseyman was
underselling them in.the market. After
they told US that, what do you suppose
we did,? I,want to' tell your workmen
who do not belong to unions, what we'
did. We/went down into our pockets and
pulled out the half dollars and twenty
five cent pieces and filled up the treasury.
Then we sent a lot of Labor agitators
down to jersey. You have seen what the
great daii^ papers .have been saying to
you aboujtjthese labor agitators for the
fiMt have been,gj
ing him out to you as a' man having
horns, with a torch in one hand and re
ceipts for. making dynamite in eVery
pocket that he had. They, have been
telling you that he was a dangerous fel
low. Now I am one of those fellows
Don't I look dangerous? Weil desire to
say right here for- the benefit of Of editors
and what small ones there may be in this
vicinity, that it is not what we have got
itf our hands and pockets that they are
afraid of, but it is what we have got in
our heads, such things as I am telling
you today.
Well we went down and talked with
those Jersey workmen and told them that
they were being robbed out of twenty per
cent, of their wages. Why, my friend
there are lots of people who: are being
robbed today and they don't know it and,
the worst thing about it is, that a major
ity of that class get mad if you tell them
of it. But we finally got them to see it.
When they inquired what they were to do
about it, we replied: "Form an organiza
tion, just as your employers have done.
Join our orders, we will- help you along.
Then they ..all joined our organization
and we used to meet with them in halls
for two or three hours one night in the
week, and they soon saw how badly they
were robbed. An$ then they got mad, and
said they would.not be robbed any more,
and they all marched down to the com
pany's office together one Saturday night,
When the book-keeper saw them coming
he made out one of the due bills and
handed it to the first fellow that come
along. When the fellow said he did not
want that, the book-keeper asked
him what he wanted, and he
replied that he wanted his pay
The book-keeper informed him
that they did not pay only once a year in
that factory. Then the workman said
that that was played out. "Why," said
the book-keeper, are you not going
work on these conditions?" The man
replied that he was not. The book
keeper retorted that he could not work at
that establishment then. "Well," repli
ed the man, "then we won't work."
Then all the capitalistic press of New
York and Philadelphia put it out in big
display type that "All those Jcioey glass
workers were on a strike." Why, capi
tal had been striking them out of twenty
cents on the dollar for ten years before
that, and there some papers had never
found it out. Welf, do you suppose that
they paid us every Saturday night? Oh
no! They sent over to Belgium and
brought a ship load of Belgian glass
workers to work in our places. What do
you suppose we did? Why, we went
down into our pockets and pulled out the
half, dollars and quarters and filled *up
the treasury again. Then we sent an
other lot of agitators down to Jersey.
They were not fellows like we, this time.
They were fellows that could talk Dutch.
Those were Dutchman that they had
brought over. Every night these agita
tors would talk Dutch to a few of them,
have their passage paid back to Germany
out of those half dollars and twenty-five
cent pieces. Finally we got them all
back to Germany, and tne bosses could
not get anyone else to work in their mills.
They then put us back and paid us every
Saturday night, and now they have got
used to it they do. not mind anything
about it.—To be Continued.
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FARM. FIELD
Selected and Original Article on
Topics of intent
tieai Men for the Vse cf,
and Farmers,
.JABS' EXPERIENCE. ,S
Seven years' experience with silosat the
Michigan Agricultural station leads to the
following conclusions: The silo should be
built of lumber, and located as near the
feeding place as possible, and on the same
level. A-silo 22 feet deep, 10 feet wide,
and 14 feet long, will be sufficient for six
months' feeding of ten cows weighing
1,000 pounds easy, which will consume
600 pounds of ensilage daily.* For the
silo the corn should not be harvested until
w&l matured. A great deal of the feeding
value has been lost in the past by cutting
while too green and succulent. Silage
corn should never be fed alone to obtain
the best result, nor in too large proportion
when combined with other fodder. Silage
and cover hay combined make a most ex
cellent,. mixture for coarse fodder.
These, with bran,: shorts, corn meal, etc.,
in proper proportions, make the most econ
omical food for young cattle and for mak
ing milk.and beef.
'If...
BAima HAT?
Some of the states have
that hay shall not be baled before Septem
ber, and with others the rule is generally
observed. Formerly less care was taken,
and the interiors of the bales were spoileQ
and the market injured. Country Genile
man says on the. subject. The fitness of
hay the for baling depends strictly on the
degree of dryness rather thau on the time.
In hot and dry weather hay will dry more
in a few days than in a much longer
when the weather is cool and damp. For
baling, hay requires more thorough dry
ing than when thrown loosely into the
bay. When made solid by baling, the
damp vapor cannot escape from the inter
ior, and it is therefore necessary to give
sufficient time for the dampness to pass
off. This period would vary with seasons
and with the ripeness of the crop, but as
a general rule, to be observed in all sea
sons, five or six
weeks are usually allowed.
In Some soils we, find a large quantity
of organic acids, to the great injury of
land. Such soils are termed 'sour," and
the presence of the acids can be told by
the character of vegetation, which is al
ways harsh and of little value. The
beneficial action of lime in such cases
arises from the lime combination with
the acids, which makes the land sou£,
and thus neutralizing them, turns them
into a condition that is harmless. The
combination' forms carbonate of, lime, or
some other salt of lime.
The effect of lime upon inorganic mat
ter, says Ohio Farmer, must not be for
gotten, for these are all important.. In
very many cases it liberate potash ana
soda from a dormant state and renders
them available to plants. The most im
portant action in this respect is the for
mation of double silicate of alumina and
soda exists in soil, and lime is added, the
silicate gives up the soda and takes up
the lime, forming silicate of alumina and
lime. If potash be added the lime
given up and the potash taken up, form
ing silicate of alumina and potash. If
ammonia comes in contact with, it the
potash is cast aside for the ammonia,
forming silicate of alumina and ammo
nia.
As clay consists very largely of silicate
of alumina, the action of lime on clay
soils is seen to be important. Applied to
clay lands, lime disintegrates, or breaks
up the hard, tenacious, "pack" charac
ter, and makes their tillage much easier
when caustic or quicklime is applied to
sandy soils it makes them more adhesive,
more compact and more retentive of mois
ture. Lime does not exhaust soils, ex
cept as it prepares unavailable plant food
so that crops can take it up. It is the
crop that exhausts, not the lime. The
latter really adds to the soil, as lime is
plant food itself.
An English authority sums up the ad
vantages of lime as follows: It encour
ages decomposition of organic matter,
neutralize injurious acids, liberates al
kaline matters, promotes the formation
of double silicates, favors the production
of nitrate of-potash, contributes food es
sential for the perfect growth of plants,
and improves the physical character of
the soil and promotes healthy growth.
MANURES FOB WHEAT.
In an experiment made by the North
Carolina experiment station a series of
plots was laid out in such manner that
one end of each plot should be on land on
which cow peas had been previously
plowed under. The whole was sown to
wheat, and kaint, acid phosphate and cot
ton seed meal were applied to the several
plots, singly and combination, two
il jSfe Sit
plots being left without any fertilizer.
The result was that on the land which
had had no fertilizer the highest increase
of any of the fertilized over' theunfertiliz
was four bushels per acre (for
cotton seed meal,) while on the
green manured land the increase from the
vines was from six bushels at the
least to fifteen bushels per acre, averaging
PUMPKINS AMD KEL0
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Trtrrta patiptimtaa MMAS
fasten and are able to resist the winter -m
frosts.
The great area of winter killed -wheat f!
might, to a very large extent^ be prevent
ed by careful plowing. The prevention
for loss in condition fs good seed sown
early. Good seed means a good stand.
Sown early it means A good sod, a wall S
tillered crop, and it means further a frost
resisting crop, ^fhese are the main'
factors in securing a good yielding crop
at harvest time. Light, poor seed means:
a defective stand, a weak plant, easily
frosted, and light, poor heads upon that/
which survives.—Southern Planter.
TEASES AND OCCUPATION.
The Youth's Companion for
give an instructive and helpf-jj seiies of£'1
papers, each-of which ^scrlbes
character of. some leading trade for boysv
or occupation for Girl^
Thpy give
formation as to ^he Apprenticeship re-'
quired to learn each, the wages expected,
the qualities'heeded in order to enter, and
the prospects of success. To new sub
scribers who send $1.75 at once the paper
will be sent "free to Jan. 1, 1891, and for
a full year from that date. Address, the
Youth's Companion, Boston Mass.
FABM NOTES.
To have as uccession ot peas and corn'
through the fintire season, plant- of each
wm
1'^'
that
Michigan Farmer tells of tests
have been made to ascertain the truth of
the belief that new and fresh seeds' of
squashes,, pumpkins and melons produce
plants which run to vines more than
those from old seeds. About 450 were
grown, all of which were ^accurately
measured and the fruit accurately weigh
ed. There was no evidence whatever
that older seeds give shorter and more
productive vines. In fact there was no
uniformity of behavior between seeds of
like ages. All the variation was evident
ly due to heredity of the individual seeds,
or to other conditions than the age of the
OP THE WHEAT 0E0P.'
A careful examination of the report of
the harvesting of the winter wheat crop
throughout the whole country leads to the
conclusion that there will be a heavy de-
ji
ficit in the crop. Not only will this be jj|
caused by a reduced area, but by a heavy
reduction in condition. This reduction
in area and condition is coincident in
many places with splendid crops greatly
above the average in condition. Inquiry
into the matter shows that to a very great
extent the reduction is to be .attributed to
poor preparation of the land and to the
sowing of bad seed. Now both these
•causes are preventible and should be
corrected.
To secure a good crop of wheat it is
necessary that the land, in good heart,
should be selected. A clover sod is the
seed bed. This should be plowed down
early, and it should be done carefully so
as to obtain a firm seed bed. Too often
the plowing is carelessly done. The sod
is not thoroughly turned and laid com
pactly. The result is an uneven bed,
partly light and partly solid. No subse
quent harrowing or working can correct
these defects. The light soil holds the
water and freezes quickly and the seed is
thrown out. Wheats perhaps, more than
anyothercereal, requires a firm seed
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at intervals of eight or ten days. A lit
tie care in t'nis way will add much to the
comfort of living on the farm.
We farm too much land for the amount
of crops we raise, and we raise too large
crops for the price we get for them.
Here's the great trouble with farming.'
Overproduction is swamping us.
Don't let that costly machinery stand'
out in the weather. It would be just as
sensible to throw a few bushels oi coru or
oats into the mud every month or to
occassionally go out and shoot -a pig, just
to save the trouble of feeding it.
Treat your hired man as a man, and
not as a slave, and you will find it will
pay. Ill nature and gruffness are not in
dications of wisdom or superiority, and
no employe who has sense enough to be
useful ever understands them as such.
See if there is not some crop you can
raise and sell to better advantage than
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the common ones. By doing this you re
duce the surplus production by so much
and at the same time are making more
money for yourself. Fertilize your fields
a little with brains.
AGRICULTURAL NOTES-
Grapevines planted in the chicken runs
and trained to the fence afford shade to
poultry and also fruit to the farmer in
autumn. The vines should be trained
high up.—American Agriculturist.
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