The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. SATURDAY, APRIL 28, 1888.

Waikato Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2465, 28 April 1888, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

SATURDAY, APRIL 28, 1888.

•. juhl nn«i i-t justico to all men, Ji A-'nauoever state or persuasion, religious or political.

« Tuk farmer's position in the colony has formed the theme, on frequent occasions;, of public discussion, and has been debated in tho columns of tlic Press from almost every point of view. To tho farmers it is not a satisfactory position, and how to improve, or thoroughly reform it, is still an unsettled question with them. I lie gre it aim of all those who have at heart the interests of our agricultural classes, has been devoted towards creating a spirit of unity amongst them. So far nearly all our efforts have failed to instil self-reliance into the minds of the community, or rouse them from that apathy and inditturentism that appears to characterise the Waikato agriculturists particularly to such an appalling degree. Cooperation has been tried and ended igiiominiously; not, however, because, of any fault in tin: system, but owing entirclv to the unpractical manner in which it was attempted to be managed, and the total departure from the universally recognised principle of co-opera-tion by which alone it succeeds. This was a great shock to the sensibilities of the farmers, generally very keenly susceptible to failures which visit them in a direct manlier. Nevertheless it is to cooperation, and that alone that farmers must look for the means by which they can overcome the difficulties that hedge them in on all

sides, Nothing but combination and organisation, pursued in the most spirited and unanimous manner, will amend their position and accomplish tho good they all pray for. Wβ ' will show our farmers how their brethren in the United States manage their own affairs, and conserve the interests of their vast industry. We have before us a copy of the Constitution 28th February, a journal published at Atlanta in Georgia, which contains a very interesting review of what is termed the " Big Combine," or an alliance amongst the agricultural classes of the States. The rise and progress of tho Farmer's Alliance \v\s been simply marvellous. The movement began in Texas about ten years ago, and made considerable headway for some years. Since ISBS its growth has been wholly unprecedented, and it now claims to be the most earnest and serious combination ever attempted by any class in any country. The membership of the Farmer's Alliance is enormous. There are a million and a half members in the West; two hundred and fifty thousand in Texas; six hundred thousand in North Carolina ; thirty thousand in Georgia, and so on in about fourteen different States. This is an emphatic illustration of the nend that existed of a purely farmers' organisation by which they can protect themselves. All other organisations amongst farmers have been absorbed by the great Alliance, because of its more comprehensive scope and grander achievements.

The evils that surrounded tho agricultural industries in the Eepublics are thus told : —

"Thfi farmer needed everything. Ho needed protection against the merchant in selling t<i him at usurious rates on credit, or high goods for cash, He needed protection in the sale of his produce. He needed a bank in which his lands would be security for money at moderate interest. In short he needed organization, because although the great producer of the country, and in a vast numerical majority, he was the helpless and defenseless prey of all trades and all classes through the lack of organization on his part. Every other class and industry was organised. The farmer saw cotton corners made by speculator.- - , which reduced the pries of his cotton when it had to puss out of his hands. lie sav syndicates organised to inflate the price of everything that he bought and reduced the price of what hesold. Thorailroads organised against him, the manufacturers organised against him, and the fanner really did not appreciate the fact that he was master of the situation if Im was only organised, but was helpless because he had not organised. The farmer produces cotton seed and soils it about to individuals. Immediately the oil mills organise n trust to handle his product and name its price. He produces sugar, and sells it from hand to mouth. The manufacturers organise a trust to dictate its price ; and so in every department. There was a pool in every trade and in every quarter organised to dictate terms to the farmer, who ignorant of his strength submitted. It has been an amazing spectacle, that ii class of men, producing the basis of our national wealth, say seven-tenths of the whole—the banking bonus of this country was without organisation, without protection, and was the helpless feast of small bands of commercial syndicates that fattened on their gains and kept them poor.

This picture applies precisely to the farmers of this and other colonies, though, at present, not to such great dimensions. But the high spirit of our American cousins refuse to tolerate or bow their necks to the yoke of such a crushing commercial tyranny ; and how do they propose to deal with it ? We give their own words :—

"By organ : sation and co-oneration. Those are the two watchwords. When we get banded together so that ten million farmers will move as one man, the details will settle themselves. The awful majesty of ten millions free meu banded together with one purpose, north, south, east and west will command attention."

The working of the Alliance has a potential influence on the finances of the farmers in protecting them from the ruinous mercantile ex- : changes with which they have been compelled, hitherto, to transact business. The great feature in the policy of the Farmers' Alliance ap- ! pears to be that each branch appoints a " trade committee," who call upon the local merchants and storekeepers to bid for the trade of the Alliance. The competing merchants oiler at a rate in advance of cash prices, and agree to submit their accounts or invoices to the trade committee to verify the correctness of their charges. These merchants are then denominated " trade houses" to the respective Alliance branches, and the members flock to those stores only, and deal for cash. One of the cornerstones of the order is cash purchases by farmers, and they save at least twenty five per cent on all they procure. At first there was great opposition on the part of the mercantile community, but that broke down and they eagerly sought to become named as " trade houses." The consequence of the system of combination has been an immense reduction in the number of credit customers, and the great benefits the farmers are now deriving from cash trade and lower cost of living. The farmers will now have nothing to do with any other but " trade j houses." The Alliance also estab-! lishes exchanges which will sell the farmers' produce, as well as furnish them with all their requirements at a cost slightly above the manufacturers' prices and freight. Membership in the Alliance is not confined to farmers, but its constitution provides for the admission of mechanics, country school teachers, doctors ,and clergy-

men. Ladies are also eligible for membership, and entitled to all the privileges of the society, without payment of fees or dues. The Alliance aims not only at the actually financial improvement of the agricultural population, but also at the social and political elevation of the class; cognizance is taken of everything in education, or in Government, that relates to the farmer and his welfare. In the concluding portion of the constitution of the Farmers' Alliance, which we quote, the farmers of America say, " we have realized that we have been helpless simply because we have been apathetic and without organization. We are coining together as comrades, and the closer we come, the more we arc convinced that our interests

are common, and that we can best work out our future by common effort, and by association and cocoperation."