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s' THE ALLIANCE COMM. The National Farmers Alliance, Hold TJifiVPl Convention at ^Tm s,A \ffla, Florida. ii ':i Over Two Hundred Delegates Attend To Emphasize Former Pleasvs •i 1}£*Tf ~,a-: ,v for Public Reform /jM [continued fbom last week.] Ocala, Fla. Dec. 15—Special Cor retpondmcijik The session of Wednesay the &i}y^8 vanimated with enthusiasm *n*"*B£00d W07^ was done. A com mittee ^BFkppoin ted to investigate the charges^ireferred against President Polk, Doctor Macune and President Livingston of the Georgia Alliance. The charges have been made against these men that they have taken undue interest in the recent senatorial election in Georgia. They. are of course without foundation and the committee, in their aeport com pletely exhonorate the gentlemen. At the afternoon session Wednesday, Mr. McCallister, of the Mississippi delegation introduced the following resolution, which created quite a ripple upon the surface of the convention, but after ma ture deliberation the resolution was ad opted by a large majority: Resolved, by the National Fanners' Alliance and Industrial Union of America, that we do most solemnly protest against the passage of the Lodge bill and earnest ly petition our senators to employ all fair S*^1 means to defeat this unpatriotic re, which can result in nothing but our common and beloved .country, (evolution received considerably among the northerodeligates on theground that there is pervelant in that section a feeling that the alliance was a southern organization, and that the pass age of such a resolution would* give color to the opinion and impede the growth of the order- in the north. Among, the opponents of the. resolution were Ward: «aUvAnd Loucks.of South. Dakota.~ Dem ing and others of Pennsylvania and all of the delegations from Illinois, Wisconsin, Texas, Missouri and other states. The council also adopted strong resolutions denouncing the Louisiana lottery and favoring the idea of submitting to a vote of the people an amendment to the na tional constitution prohibiting the chart ering of lottery concerns in any .state of the union On Thursday the 6th ints., the council was visited by the National colored Farmers' Alliance, who attended the morning session in a body. During the a delegation representing jLfiitizens Alliance of Kansas attended invention. Most of them spoke in tJVr\aftjgrnoon Irt af the Farmers Alliance move nts and stated that their organization was deeply interested in the success of the farmers movement and that they could see no reason why merchants ?f all grinds should not unite in promoting this movement. They asked for a committee of conference to arrange for closer rela tions and the committee was promptly appointed. to,?* There was a good deal of indignation among the associated press cotrespon, dents, Thursday afternoon, over the fail ure of the press committee of the conven tion to give out information for publica tion. The strictest secrecy was maintain i® ed in the proceedings of the convention, gl''' and it was next to impossible to secure %X' complete accounts of the proceedings. I''"' The chief object of this was to prevent any misrepresentations of the proceedings being made by the numerous correspon ds^ nents in attendance. As a general thing the proceedings of labor organizations are •fjp£ .so badly colored and so recklessly doctor (fp ed to suit the occasion, that there is rea if, son for keeping the' official proceedings secret until they can be first published in officii! papers of the order. Thursday evening's session Wt .7 C0R6KESSMAN PICKLEK, Who has £ne$ye on the soon to be vacant Yp? senatorial'seat'in South Dakota, scored a point in his favor, by getting the ear of the convention. He made an able speach in support of the sub-treasury bill and said that it was the. key-note to the 1 prosperity of the country in the future. He advocated the free coinage of silver and spoke in favor of alliance principles on the railroad question. During the afternoon the secretary of the national alliance submitted his report which shjowed that during the year, 1,069 new charters were issued to sub-alliances as follows: West Virginia, 252 Colorado, 152 Indiana, 132: Michigan, 106 Vir ginia, 95 Illinois, 87 South Carolina, 83 Ohio, 61 Pennsylvania, 59, New Jersey, 20 Minnesota, 5 Ooregon, 1 Oklahoma. VOL. I. NUMBER 27. CANTON, SOUTH DAKOTA, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1890. 1 State charters were issued to the fol lowing states: Indiana, Illinois, Colorado, Michigan, West Virginia, and North Da kota. A resolution was adopted Thursday afternoon expressing the belief that the recent United States census returns touching farm mortgages, was grossly in correct and providing for immediate steps toward securing and publishing the cor rect figures. The resolutions were unimously adopted. & The principal feature of THE ST. LOUIS PLATFORM, teS of 1890 were also again embodied in the platform of the national alliance. The following is the platform as now rrdopted: 1. The aboltion of national banks the establishment of sub-treasuries in the sev eral states to loan money direct to the people at a rate of interest not to exceed 2 per cent, per annum, on non-perishable farm products and real estate, with proper limitations upon the quantity of land and the amountof money that the amount of circulating medium be speedily increased to not less than 950 per capita. 2. Congress shall pass, laws to effectual ly prevent dealing in futures on all agri cultural and mechanical productions, preserving astringent system of procede ure in trials to secure prompt conviction of offenders, and such penalties as shall secure the most perfect compliance with the law. 3. It condemns the silver bill recently passed and demands free and uulimited coinage of silver. 4. It demands the passage of laws pro hibiting the alien ownership of land, and that congress shall take prompt action to devise some plan to obtain all the lands now owned by the aliens and foreign syn dicates, and that all lands held by rail roads and other corporations in excess of what are actually used and needed by them, shall be reclaimed and held for actual settlers only. 5. Believing in the doctrin of equal rights to all and special privileges to none, we demand that our national legis lation be so framed in the future- as not to build up one industry at the expense of another. We further demand the re moval of the existing heavy tariff tax from the necessaries of life that the poor of our land must have. We further de mand a just and equitable system of graduated tax on incomes. We believe the money of the country should be kept as much as possible in the hands of the people, and demand that all national and state revenues be limited to the necessary expenses of the government, economically and honestly administered. 6. We demand a most rigid, honest, and just state and national control, and supervision of-means of public communi cation and transportation, and if this con trol does not remove the abuse now exist iin^wede^a'Bd^vetrimant-.owaeTBhipof such means of communication and trans po^tation. CoL Livingston, of Georgia, from the committee on organization, made a report to furnish a basis for ultimate union be tween the National Farmers' alliance and the Industrial union and Farmers' Mutual Benefli association. Under this {dan the benefit association is to still maintain its seperate organization, but will be entitled to representation in the*National alliance council. The executive committee of each organization to meet hereafter and arrange the details of the union. The re port was adopted. Dr. Macune, chairman of the national executive committee, in his report, re fered at length to the sub-treasury bill. The committee's mission with this bill, he said, was virtually ended because'the alliance had elected several congressmen who would look after pushing the bill through the national legislature. If not the report recommended the reduction of salary of all national alliance officers and the removal from Washington of the president's office, inasmuch as the reten tion of it there entails an expense not commensurate with its usefulness. The annual election of officers occured yesterday afternoon and the following officers were electee: Col. L. L. Polk, president B. H. Clover, vice-president J. H. Turner, secretary J. S. Willitts, national lecturer, H. L. Loucks, of South Dakota, is on the executive committee. A communication from the Chicago World's fair commission, granting the alliance request for co-operation in secur ing fitting exhibits for the exhibition, was received yesterday afternoon and a com mittee was appointed by the convention for that purpose. T. V. Powderly, A. W. Wright and Ralph Beaumont, mem bers of the executive committee of the knights of Labor have been among the distinguished visitors at the convention and Mr. Powderly addressd the members of the convention last night. Among other things Mr. Powderly said: "Let me say to you our, greeting is the most cordial and heartfelt. We feel we area part of your organization. Let us all agree upon your platform. If it is to agitate and do hard work upon that plat form, we are with you, and if we are to vote with you upon it we will stand by you at the polls." The convention adjourned at one o'clock this morning. The next annual meeting will take place in Washington, D. C., the first week in November, 1891. THE THIRD FAKTY MOVEMENT. During the convention a call was circul ated among the delegates and other sym pathizers in the third party movement, for [Continued on fifth page.] MJB •A Faithful LEADER in tie Cause of Economy and Reform, the Defender of Truth and Justice, the Foe of Fi'aud and Corruption III CONGRESS. TheK&w8From the^National Capita/ aa it Effects the interests of the West-,, mmmm ern Hi 'j'1. The New Approtionment Bill arid the Fed era! Elections BUI on Their Way to Qiori/. -I"*, Senator Farwell Springs a New Finance Scheme to Save the Necks of Na- tionat Banks. ', MORE BONDS AND MOBE CONGBEBBMEN. Washington, Dec. 20.—Special Crrr spondence: Senator Pettigrew today in troduced a bill in the senate making it a crime to sell to or by any means placing fire arms in the hands of Indians. Sever al other propositions of this character have already been made at the present session of congress, indicating a determi natiofe on the part of our statesmen here to put a permanent stop to the matter of Indian disturbances in the United States. There ar some doubts expressed at the prospects of passing Senator Pettigrew's bill, owing to the fact that the business of the session is very voluminous and it is, not likely that half the work that is considered of greater importance than Mr. Pettigrew's bill, will be disposed of but there is a prevailing opinion, 'espec ially among the senators, that something must be done to settle this disturdance among the Indians, and as the Pettigrew bill is looked upon with much favor among the western senators, it may pass. Senator Manderson, of Nebraska has also an aspiration to make a point in the scale of distinction, by providing the ne plus ultra in the Indian troubles, and he has introduced a resolution transfering the carej of the Indians from the Interior department and further, providing for their disarmament and beirig kept under constant military control. Representative Pickler returned, a few days ago, from Ocala, Florida, where he •went to make a speech, to the National Farmers Alliance, who held a ten day's session there, commencing Dec. 2. Pick ler was there a good deal of the time and it to believed in political circles that he was/there for political purposes. There id aneW HeUiilurio be eleeledic &}pkler'8' state next month, an incident in which the farmers will have a good deal of say, and it is the general belief here that Pick ler has his eye on the senatorial seat now held down by the attornay of the Home stake mines in the Black Hills. The lat ter does not stand very high in the esti mation of the members of -the Farmers Alliance,'and while he and his friends pre tend to be confident of his return, there is an undercurrent of appearance that betrays a good deal of lack of, confidence in consequence whereof many who are acquainted with the situation predict that when Senator Moody goes home next March, he will go home to stay. There is no one .who understands the probability 'of this better than does the Major and he knows, further, that a if republican is again returned to.the senate from Soutjh Dakota, it will have to be done by the aid of the democrats or the independents —the alliance men—a fact in which ha realizes the. necessity of talking sweet to the farmers. The republicans in the senate are still in hot water over what -is known as the "Force bill,"—or the national elections bill introduced at the last session. The .democrats are making a united and de termined effort to defeat the bill -for the reason—the republicans say that it is di rected at a pure ballot and a fair count, and for this reason tends toward prevent ing election frauds ,in the southern states. The republicans have but little opposition to this bill in the last session and the only reason it did not pass because the republicans feared the demo crats would talk it ta death. The thing is troubling them today fend they realize that the only hope there is in passing the bill is to adopt a rule by means of which the previous question can be ordered on short notice. The committee on rules are now having a scheme of this kind under consideration and it is expected that when they report next Tuesday they will make the repub lican election reformers happy with a well chosen cloture rule that will effect ually help them out of their difficulty. In view of this fact it looks as if the elec tions bill could be passed. Senator Stanford, of California, the father of the now famous Stanford bill, addressed the senate in support of his land currency bill yesterday and made many strong points in support of this measure. In the course of his speech the Senator said that land was the best possi ble security as a basis for currency, in a sufficient quantity for the needs 6f the country. He said that the rate of inter est in the bill was fixed at 2 per cent but experience would teach the government that the rate could be considerably reduc ed, The plan had been compared ta a system adopted in the Argentine Repub lic, said the senator, while there was in truth no Analogy between them. To compare tbe working of the measure of that republic, of say 3 million people, to that of our-own country, with its enlight ened 60 millions, is like comparing the methods o£some irresponsible banker to those of this Rothschilds. The bill was then refer^d to the finance committee where, it Unexpected, it will rest until the farmers, A^fio have a direct interest in the measure, learn to think enough of their welfare tootend men of their own class and kind J(| to bring it to life again. The republican congressional appro tionment. bjUl pending in the house will in all probability pass as it now stands. Its adoptfiq£ will increase the number of represent^ crease of come fros democrat war agai count, well pie dissatisfy es from 332 to 356, a net in Most of the increase will republican states and the ave promised to wage a bitter the proposition on this ac iile the republicans are very with the bill there is great lion over it among the farmers and labcipfeople here and from expres sions coning in from other parts of the cpuntry,||fcis the same everywhere. The laboringpllasses are to a man averse to anythinj^that will increase the* ex|enses of the gwernment, and as congressmen are, of geinselves, expensive pieces of furnituH| to increase their number at thistle is contrary to the expressed principle of the labor reform movement. They estimate that the average congress man ccfets the government $7,500 per year aqfrthe increase of the present num ber to 356 would work a handsome bay window, attachment to, the piesent con gressional expense bill amounting to about $1,500,000 per year and as the new apportionment will stand for ten years, the estimated increased expenditure will be in the aggregate .$15,000,000. This sum faiply makes the farmers'mouths water, and the laboring men, too, think it is worth saving, and as congress can get along very well without any addition in membership, they express themselves favorable to a decrease in the number of represeritattvesjr'.ntther than an increase. Senator Farwell, of Illinois is still on haqd with a patent finance bill with 4 a .national bank attach senator seems to part with the natio&ai Banks witjrfth usual reluctance. At the last session he was the father of a Scheme proposing to perpetuate the national banks by author izing the deposits of county, state and municipal bonds as security for their cur rency, and last week he introduced a sim ilar bill in the present session.. The plan he how proposes provides for the refund ing of the entire national debt in an issue of 2 per cent bonds running fifty years. The bonds are to be made the basis of na tional banking circulation, the same as now, the only difference being that the banks shall be permitted to issue currency for the full amount of the bonds deposited. Mr. Farwell's idea is that this must be done because, he thinks, the country can not get along without the national banks, and his proposition "to let them issue bank notes to the par value of' the bonds deposited, is done in the interest -of thei increase of the circulating medium -of the country. He also proposes to abolish all the existing sub-treasuries, with a view to let all the money collected by the treas ury department go out into circulation Mr. Farwell thinks it the sub-treasury system could be abolished, money would be more plentiful in the channels of trade and there could no longer be any com plaint of contraction of the circulating medium. The scheme is a taking one among the republicans and while they ap pear confident that no finance legislation will be enactsd at this session, there is a prospect of the new farwell bill becoming a law. Paul Habpeb. It,is the policy of our present economi cal form of government of the treasury department to buy bonds at a high prem ium, and even pay the interest on other bonds a year i% advance every time the money market ^becomes close in Wall street. Of a recent date, among the bond holders of goverment bonds to whom in terest was paid before due, were the Standard Oil Company, $20,000,000. the Bleeker Savings Bank, $9,000,OOOthe Van derbilts $26,000,000. This was getting money into circulation among the people with a vengence. Rob the treasury to fill the millionaire's pocket, and then when the toiling masses ask for this whole sale robbery to be stopped by legislation, abroad grin will come over the faces of these legislators, and they will only say," "Poor devils, what are you going to do about it." Men, men, are you blind and cannot see are you willing to bow in mute humility to these money kings as though your strong right arm had dropped par alyzed to your side, or are you going to the polls in November and show these Shylocks that by your votp what we poor devils can do about it, a strong arm and a strong vote.—Labor Tribune. y. ." Hf mi mmd BEAUMONT'S POWERFUL SPEECH, Continuation of the Address Delivered by Ralph Beaumont at Canton, Octo- SlfeHiw ber18, 1890. Detailed Explanation Of Some of the Principles of the Knights of Labor Organization. KUMBKBVI. Article IX, is as follows: "The abolition of the contract system on national, state and municipal work." We simply mean by this, that if the government has a post office to build in this city, that it shall go ahead and build it, and not let the job out to a contractor for say $100,000, and he steal $50,000 of that sum, and then ask for an appropria tion to make the same good before the building can be completed. Article X. reads as to!Iowa: "The enactment of laws providing for arbitration between employers and em ployed, and to enforce the decision of the arbitrators?" This plank we believe arises from the present method we have adopted of carry ing on our enterprises. Associated capi tal has by the aid of acts of legislation been given advantages over the rest of society. We realize that between the cost of,raw material and the manufac tured artiole there is a certain increase of value. Capital, by law and association, has been Enabled to reap the largest shar6 of this increased value', and through this fact, labor has been compelled to concen trate its forces into organized bodies in order to secure an equal division of the increase. And in the struggle of these two organized forces a conflict takes places. Sometimes it is a strike on the part of the help, and at other times a lockout on the part of capital, and in both cases heavy losses result to both the contestants. Now, in order to avoid these losses and their accompanying mis ery, we desire that whenever there is a difference of this character, that either side, as a matter of illustration, shall ap peal to the judge of the county wherein such exists for the appointment of two arbitrators, and these two shall appoint a third one, who shall examine "into the merits of the case and render their de cision and wer the members of the or «ani»atioitfapse to.abjde^ ithe decis ion of thearmtrators. 1 am^ftra SsKed "How ate you going to compel the par ties to abide by the decision of the arbi trators Thos who make this inquiry forget that this board of arbitration is appointed by the decree of court, and as such has the power of such court, and in case of failure of either side to the con troversey to abide by the decision of the tribunal, it would make them guilty of contempt of court. "XI. The prohibition by law of the employment of children under fifteen years of age in workshops, mines, and factories." That which I have just read is Article XI, and we mean bv it that when a man or women becomes grown the state exacts of them that they shall abide by and live up to the law. Now, we hold that if the state exacts this of the citizens it is the duty of the state to see that the child possessed of sufficient education so that when it grows, to manhood or woman hood it will understand the law, and not willfully violate the same. The twelfth plank is as follows: "To prohibit the hiring out of convict labor." I can best illustrate the evils of this system by alluding to a few facts. From 1876 until 1881 I worked at the shoe trade in the state of New York, and every year during that time there were employ ed at the trade in the penal institutions of that state an average of 2,600 criminals, whose average term of sentence was two years, so that there were crowded into the shoe trade of that state about 2,600 of the dregs of society." And then people wondered why shoe-makers were such mean chaps. Now, I have no objections to taking my share of the criminals in my trade, providing they will give law yers, doctors and ministers their share. And I am of the opinion that, if a the logical student served his apprenticeship hammering religion into criminals, he would be able to discount Sam Jones on a good revival when he came to do a job outside. Besides all this, the examina tion of the contract system in that state by a legislative committee during those years reached the fact that some of the contractors in five years made as high as $150,000 in profits on a capital of one-fifth of that sum invested, besides being able to undersell other manufacturers engaged in the same business. "XIV. That the importation of fore ign labor under contract be prohibited." We believe in thig plank for the reason that in numberless instances, whenever a dispute has arisen between employer and employed, the employers have sent their agents over to foreign countries and hired help in those countries, and brought them Msg 91.00 PER ANNUM. %m over here to replace their help. The re-, suit of this system is to reduce the stand ard of intelligence of American lalxp. 5^$$ And, in many instances, after these ',-Vv greedy and unscrupulous manufacturers have succeeded through starvation in compelling their American help to accept the low standard of wages they have es tablished through this competition, let the imported help go adrift to become paupers aud vagabonds in the commun ity. Hence, we say that the welfare the nation demands that'laws shall be enacted that will prohibit this heinous competition. Let me read you Article XVII. "That in connection with the postoffice, the government shall organize financial: exchanges, safe deposits and facilities for deposit of the savings of the people in in small sums." pp* '%fi II ,'tx cotton and woolen mills become directors'''i^y,* *!, in a savings bank, and they say to the bees, put your money in this savings^" „'j bank, and we will give you four per cent ,, per annum for it. TJien the directors send it out west and loan it to the west ern farmers at ten per cent. Then the western farmer raises wheat, and just be -fore he sells it he adds that ten cents to his selling price. When he has sold it he forwards that ten cents to the bank. The wheat is shippedeast and the bees eat it. and when they have done so they have eaten their own four cents and the other fellows six with it and are that much worse off than when they started in at the game. Then again, they placc one of their number to take care of. this money. They call him a "cashier," and every pnce in awhile we pick up our morning paper-and find out that one of. these fel lows has- -skipped over to, Canada with •JttbneyjnJM? Now what wo want is, that the government SftOuld"" take charge of the savings of the people in small sums, and we think that it will be an impossibility for the government to get over to Canada "between two days'* without us knowing something abojit the, moving when it is going on. I have been traveling through the states of Nebraska, Dakota, Iowa and Kansas, and I find a level section of coun try. Still you have a great many side hill farms. Perhaps you who live in this level country don't know what a side hill farm is. I live in a very hilly sec tion of country, I will tell you what a side hill farm is in my section. There was a wag in my town who was always blowing about his father's farm. He said that his father had the most pro ductive farm ther was in town. Another wag became tired of hearing Bill blow about his farther's farm, so one day he said to'him, "Bill, what is there about your father's farm that makes it so pro ductive?" "Well," said Bill, "it is aside hill farm."* "iBut," said the other man, "there is hot any thiug peculiar about a side hill farm in this section." "Well there is about this one," replied Bill, "How is that Bill '"W"ell, you see we stand it up on its edge and plant both sides." "How is that, Bill? Is there not danger of the farm- blowing over in a good strong wind?" "Oh no," said Bill. "But how is it, Bill?" "Well" "ex plained Bill. "I will tell j'ou: It is propped.np with mortgages on both sides so it can't fall!" I opine there are lots of such side hill farms out here in the west. The Bureau of Labor statistics of the State of Michigan compiled the mortgage indebtedness in ten counties in that state in 1888, but the State officials stopped him when he had gotten that far. But placing the same ratio on the whole Stat® reveals the fact that there is $123,000,000 of mortgages on tho farms of the State of Michigan. Take that open village and city property, including bank documents, and it is one hundred and twenty-eight million more, making $256,000,000 of debt on the State of Michigan. That is one million people in Michigan. That means $20 dollars in usury, annually, on every man, woman and child in the State. Michigan is a favored State. She has not been subject to the high railroad freights like Dakota, she has sevsn hun dred miles of natural water coarse to ship her produce to market. Besides that she has been drawing from the virgin forests the accumulation of a thousand years— and yet finds herself two hundred and fifty-six millions in debt. (Continued next week.) •-'-:M '/J'-, $ #818! iiiiii Those eastern capitalists are* very shrewd and wise fellows. They are off J' the same cut of cloth as those "Credit Mobilier" fellows I spoke about in the fore part of my remarks: They build woolen mills, and fill/' t/'-X"- $$ and set thes^M" lot of cotton and them up with human bees and set bees to gathering honey and they notictf' that the bees have a little surplus houey, that they do not use to feed, clothe and house them, and they say, "We might' just as well have that—the" bees don' want it." How do you suppose they go to work to get hold of that surplus honey| my friends? Let me tell you: They are|K' like those Credit Mobiliers that I referred),., to awhile ago. They organize a wheels® within a wheel. The directors in the? 4 Siiii •V' life le f: "A ?gi: :V. •v