Kansas agitator. [volume], September 29, 1891, Image 6

About Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905

Image provided by: Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, KS

                
SIMPSON AT CHICAGO.
He Speaks to Twenty Thous
and People.
The Wrights and the Wrongs of tTie Work
lnfflVoj.le Plainly Stated In Character
istic Language-TIte Money Oaent ion,
the Itailroads am) the Woinau'M
Suffrage DUcusseil.
The Honorable Jerry Simpson spoke
recently in Chicago and the occasion is
described in a local paper as follow:
Upwards of two thousand people
gathered about the speakers stand
shouting for the commencement of the
speaking. Chief Marshal James O'Con
nel called for order, and after briefly
outlining the principles of the council,
introduced "Jerry Simpson of Kan
sas." Thero were given three cheers and
and any number of tigers. Then just
as everything was settled down and ex
pectancy was to be seen in every uo
turned face, some person inquired as to
what was the matter with Jerry. This
was an opportunity not to be lost and
the speaker seized upon it.
"I am all right and have my socks
on," he said.
After the laughter which thi3 remark
had subsided. Mr. Simpson proceeded
as follows: "It gives me great pleasure
to have an opportunity to speak before
the most progressive laboring people of
the country. I came to Chicago thirty
years ago, "and after having spent many
years here I went to Kansas, where I
have, as you know, come to the front
with the alliance. I have always had
an admiration for Chicago, and partic
ularly for its laboring class, and so it is
pleasant for me to extend to you tho
right hand of fellowship on behalf of
the farmers of the country.
"Tho farmers.as a class have always
been blow to move, but at last they are
ready to grasp hands with the laboring
men of the cities to secure the rights of
both. Bv our rights I mean a part of
the great wealth we are producing. We
are in a new age. The man who works
to produce the machinery needed on a
farm is as much a farmer as ho who
holds the handles of a plow.
- Wo working men are producing
wealth beyond the dream of avarice.
Every hour of the day v;e produce $25,
000 more wealth than is consumed. In
tho face of that fact there arises one
very important question. Who gets
that wealth? Is it tho producer? No.'
It is tho man who sits in his oilico and
devises cunning schemes to rob the pro
ducer of that which is his own.
"All of this will soon bo changed. . A
wonderful revolution is now going on.
The old parties are being broken up,
and with their destruction a new era
will dawn upon this country. The in
telligent people will solve this problem,
and the producer will be given a fair
proportion of his earnings. We do not
claim to have found a panacea that will
cure all evils, but we have set our faces
toward the light.
"I saw in the procession to-day the
bone and sinew of the city.
I was moved by the thought that in
this age the man who makes no de
mand gets little. Then I appreciated
the fores tbat was beine brought out to
enforce vour demands for your rights.
The mere fact that you emphasize your
demands as you did to-day is the beet
omen that a bright era is at hand.
Nevertheless, we are suffering great
and awful wrongs now.
"During the last thirty years 25,000
men haye gained control of one-half tho
wealth of the country. Unless there is
a change tho close of tho present cen
tury will find 250.000 people in posses
sion of 80 per cent of tho country's
wealth. If this is Termitted thero will
follow the most terrific revolution ever
known.
"The earth is the creator of wealth,
It Las resources to maintian 100,000
times its present population. Now,
then, land is a storehouse, labor is a
factor, and capital is only an assistant.
Still a few men have charge of the coal
mines, and the people iu my state are
forced to burn corn because they can
not afford to buy coal. Iron lands are
the same wa. Now I propose to say to
the land-owners that they can own me
Und. but thev must pay back to the
people a fair rental in the shape of a
Ux. Then they will let go, and you
worklncmen can TO into the mines and
Mni nil t tha coal that vou desire to
use. . .
monopoly is tho railroad. The railroad
has been known to charge one-half the
farmers' crop for hauling the other, half
to market. That monopoly the gov
ernment must throttle. The carrying
of passengers and freight is a govern
mental function.
"Then there is the national bank
monopoly. A few years ago coon skins,
horses, cows and codfish were legal
tender. Because such stuff had a com
modity value it was thought to b3 in
dispensable as cash. Now imma?inea
dude going to church with a codfish in
his pocket for tho contribution plate.
There is as much sense in that as there
is in demanding that only hard money
be issued. However, if we are to have
hard money, gold and silver,let us have
enough of It. As for me, I am in favor
of the government issuing paper money
directly to the people at a low rate of
interest. If the money lenders can not
compete, let them put their cash into
legitimate business.
"Some years ago some feudal barons
built theJr castles so as to command the
roads most traveled. Then they ma.de
all who passed by pay heavy tribute.
That was the origin of the present tar
Hi' system. The barons aro to-day en
trenched bahind their castlewalls as in
the old times, and they are robbing you
just as successfully, though with more
science, as they did tho travelers. Our
object is to dislodge them, and to ac
complish this result we must elect men
to congress who will see that our in
terests aro provided.
Tho speaker then paid attention to
thf telegraphic svstems, which he
classed as monopolies, and briefly re-
foiTcd to a number of kindred sub
jects. Ho closed his , speech with a
tribute to the women.
"A man's right to vote is a woman's
right," he said. "I hope to liye to see
the day when every woman in the conn
try may express her opinion at the
polls. Now. while speaking of women,
I wish to call your attention to an action
of tho mcnigers of the Columbian ex
position. They have appointed a board
of lady managers. Thero isn't a woman
on that boart. It is a shame. I would
not give a woman for all the ladies that
ever wore silk socks. If the new party
does not rscognize the women I wiil
leave it and form another."
At the close of his speech, which was
interrupted manv times bv eheers. Mr.
Simpson seized his hat and overcoat,
and made a hasty retreat. He took the
6 o'clock train for Clay Center, Kan
sas. M
The Troublesome Alliance.
The following is from an Ohio cor
respondent to the New York Press:
Tho farmers' alliance, which tho democracy
believed would be a powerful ally in th s cam
paign, now turns out to be quite as danperous
un element to them as the republicans. This is
due to the fact that tho alliance, or as they call
it here, "the peoples party, " is crowding tne
financial question In season and out of season.
Tho half dozen women which this new organi
zation has traveling through the state lectur
ing at farmers's picnics deal almost exclusive
ly with free silver, and do not seem to see any
other question in tho fight. In fact, all their
speakers, and they have a number of th m can
vassing the state, are pressing the seductive
cry of more., money upon every audience they
address.
The Press correctly sizes up the situ
ation. Tho battle cry of the people's
party is more money;" the politicians of
Ohio are learning that they cannot cov
er up this question with tariff dust, and
there is not the least doubt that one
party would bo as glad as the other to
be rid of this new element in politics.
The Advocate.
The Warehouse Plan.
The great cry of the subsidized press
is that the sub-treasury plan is "uncon
stitutional." "impracticable," visiona
ry," etc. If you will but turn back a
few pages of our country's history, you
will find that the Pennsylvania colony
adopted a land and loan scheme, and
Virginia a tobacco warehouse system
very much similar to what we are now
advocating, which at that time was all
that saved the colonists from utter ruin.
And then turn to French history and
see how in 1S48 this same warehouse
plan saved Franca from utter destitu
tion and mado her a happy and prosper
ous nation. No measure ever offered
promises so great relief to the produc
ing millions a9 the sub-treasury, and
unless something better is proposed the
people are going to have it. By this
plan it is made possible for the producer
to realize toe advance upon nis pro
ducts instead of giving it to the kid
gloved speculator. Alliance Bulletin.
Old party papers are devoting lots of
8 pace to giving good advice to the peo
ple a party. Li ad they followed this ad
vice themselves there would have been
do people's party. It would not have
imimw TWnr TlmM .
Amusing.
It is amusing to compare the editor
ials of the democrat-republican gold
bug national bank newspapers when
speaking of Kansas at the present time
with the remarks of self-shame papers
made last fall and winter. Then they
were cursing the farmers' alliance for
every ill and prophesying the direct
calamities from the acts of the farmers'
legislature of the state. They predict
ed the withdrawal of all eastern capital
invested there and the speedy ruin and
downfall of every interest. Now they
are boasting of the good crops
of the state, telling of the
rapid cancelling of mortgages and pre
dicting a glorious future for Kansas
farmers.
And the funniest thing about all this
talk of these political bunco steerers is
the causes they give for this change in
Lho state of things. When Kansas was
suffering from a failure of crops and
her hard working farmers with blight
ed hopes saw forsaken homes staring
them in the face; when they felt tho
cold grip of the mortgage closing tight
er and tighter and wife and children
were trembling and hoping almost
against hope, they, said fanners were to
blame for this themselves; that they
did not properly plant their crops or
take care of them after they were
planted, and if they would pay more
attention to their farms and let politics
alone they would bo better off. But
now, when tho prairies of Kansas are
rich with a golden harvest planted and
being gathered by the alliance farmers
of the state, these all-wise prophets
and reasoners are willing to credit
these bright prospects to anything else
than the efforts of the farmers. j
We should think such reasoning asi
this was enough to convince any farmer1
t hat all the politician cared for him was
to use him for his own special purpose.
If drouths and floods and insects de
stroy crops, the farmer is negligent and
is to blame for the failure; yet let mere
come a season of prosperity, with rain
or sunshine just as needed, he gets no
credit, but is told that Providence is
exceedingly kind to him, and that if he
will only tend to ms larm, sue wm con
tinue to blesa him.
Such talk is indeed amusing, and eve
ry intelligent farmer should make the
most of it as a club of ridicule for the
scheming politician who is always work-
ins his own advancement, ana as u.
means of accomplishing this end is con
stantly trying to keep the farmer in the
background hy preacning 10 nun vuai
he should be satisfied with his present
social and political position and privi
leges, and that Providence naa never
intended him for further advancement.
Pennsylvania Farmer.
Deep and Shallow Cultivation of Corn.
Bulletin No. 14 of the Missouri exper
iment station (Columbia) is devoted to
a report on experiments with corn made
in 1890. In these experiments a trial of
deep and shallow tillage gaye an in
of over fourteen bushels per acre.
or 21 per cent of the entire yield, in fa
vor of shallow tillage in isy, ana near
ly thirty bushels, or 30 per cent of the
yield in 1890. The implement used for
shallow tillage was made expressly for
this experiment, and has a number of
knives running an inch or more under
the surface, loosening the soil and ef
fectually destroying the weeds in its
path, but not lifting the soil sufficiently
to cover the weeds in the bill unless
quite small.
The Illinois experiment station at
Champaign has made similar experi
ments, in which the average increase in
favor of shallow tillage was nearly eight
bushels per acre for a period of three
years.
The Ohio experiment station has con
ducted similar experiments, using acul
tivator not so weli adapted to the pur
pose as the one described, but with the
result also in favor of shallow tillage.
The old party press throughout this
section talk 4ike the fight is between
the two old parties,, whereas the real
fignt is betwoen the people and the
money power. The money power is en
trenched behind the two old parties,
and in its fight against the people it
hopes to be able to win. promising, as
it does, position and gold to its work
ers. People, this is the truth. The old
parties are simp!y tools in the hands of
the plutocrats tools to destroy the lib
erties of the people paid tools to fasten
the chains of bondage upon the toilers,
are the party leaders of the old parties.
People's Journal .(Anderson, Ind.)
JONES WIIX NOT SUBMIT.
Jfew York's Lieutenant Governor Proposes
to Fight Democratic Nominees.
Bingiiampton, N. Y.. September 22.
-In response to inquiries as to his posi-.
tion regarding the democratic ticket,
Lieutenant Governor Jones has pre
pared a statement for the Associated
Press, but he declined to specify just
what steps he proposes to take to ac
complish his declared purpose.
Mr. Jones says that his political ac
tion has always been controlled by bis
6ense of loyalty as a citizen, never" rec
ognizing conflicting party obligations.
He believes in this instance that not
only have tho interests of the people
been sacrificed, but that the existence
of the democratic party has been jeop
ardized, for behind the nominations and
in absolute control of the party are men
whose every sentiment of patriotism is
subject either to their personal ambi
tion or their selfish greed.
Continuing. Mr. Jones says: "So
complete is the power of these men,
and so dictatorial have they become,
that members of the party are but serfs
so far as political action is concerned.
Continued subservience but makes the
condition too degrading to be borne by
American citizens, 'i here is but one
way to dislodge these usurpers. The
temporary defeat of the party will bo
harmless compared with the effect of
their control. For the welfare of tho
state and in the interest of the demo
cratic party to mo my duty appears
clear, which is to oppose the election of
the nominees of the Saratoga conven
tion to such an extent as may be within
my power, and in such manner as may
seem best to accomplish that purpose."
To Handle the Fair Funds.
Topeka, Sept. 22. The World's
fair stockholders, in session here last
week selected a board of
managers of nine members to take
charge of the World's fair fund and ar
range for the Kansas City display
About $50,000 is in sight, making the
display an assured fact. The managers
elected sre as follows:
At large A. W. Smith of McPher
son. and Fred Willhouse of Fairmont.
First district Colonel W. A. Harris
of Lin wood.
Second district Captain R.W. Sparr
of Lawrence.
Third district Col. E. H. Brown of
Girard.
Fourth district Col. A. S. Johnson
of Topeka.
Fifth district W. II. Smith of
Marysville.
Sixth district William Simpson of
Norton. -
Seventh district Capt. O. B. Hil
dreth of Newton.
About half the counties in the state
have mot their first assessments. All
the railroads except the Missouri
Pacific have paid into the treasury the
amount asked from them. Jay Gould,
in a letter to the burean of promotion,
stated that it was his intention to give
an exhibition at the fair, of the states
through which his roads run and that
Kansas would be given due prominence.
The delegates are of the opinion that
the Missouri Pacific will yet be in
duced to contribute to the railroad
fund.
GLAC1KBS IN WYOMING.
An Interesting Discovery In the Teton
Range Made by Explorers.
Cheyenne. Wy., Sept. 22. W. O.
Owen, surveyor for Albany County, and
W. G. Johnson, head Government geo
logist party, report the discovery of
glaciers in northern Wyoming. The
find is high up in the Tetons, immedi
ately south of the Yellowstone National
Park. Johnson found himself on a
true glacial formation in ascending
Cloud Peak, but thirty miles from the
town of Buffalo, the objective point of
the Burlington extension. Johnson,
who is here under orders to go to tho
Pacific coast, was amazed and could not
credit appearances until he made a
critical examination. The Johnson
glazier has a lake that is frozen over
the year around and there are great
crevices in the ice fields.
Tinted By Fire.
Osage Mission, Kas., Sept 21. Two
large two-story frame livery stables,
owned by Jeff Thomson, caught fire last
evening about 8 o'clock and burned to
the ground, consuming eight head of
fine norses and 100 tons of hay. All of'
the buggies and several head of fine .
blooded horses were saved. Several
adjoining buildings caught fire, but the
bucket brigade turned out and saved
the town. The cause of the fire is not.
known. The loss is estimated at $15,
000; very small part, covered by insurance.