Some Things The Alliance Can Do

Like all other organized bodies, there iré Borne things the Ailiance can do and lowell; there are other things it eau not do, or not so well. It can cultívate i spirit offraternity among the farmers. It can alleviate by united effort the dull Qonotony of exiatence that drives the inys trom the farms to the cities, where ;hey tnay be stranded on the rocks and shoals oí vice and dissipation. It can cultívate the study of the science of overament among its meuibers, wherey demagogogic measures and rattleDrained theories will be discarded as ibsurd, their own political platforms. tt can foster a mure scientiflc cultivaron of the soil, and cause tWO blades to irow where one grew before. Eventually it can lead t co-operation amous; the farmers, so that waste will be averted and the profita that would otheru ise go to the tniddleman eau be producer. It cannot créate a party for political purpoaea that will supersede the two great parties. Such attempta have been made time and time again, and have always failed. Two parties, one, broadly speakinj;, cunservative, and the other radical, analogous to the centrípeta] and centrifuga! forces in the realm of phvsics, are necessary to inaintaiu all governments in a state of equlibrium. The farmer, by virtue of bis occupation, is naturally conseryative. Wben he begins chasing third-party will-o'-the wisps in the garb of the radical he eventually lirinjrs up again in bis deserted camp. Third party adherents are put the strasrglers and camp-followers iu the wake of the two great contestants. In skiruiishes with detached wings of the two bodies they can gain victories. But they can not overeóme Ixitli ; and can overeóme one only by an alliance with the other. Tbus it" will be seen that there is a splendid field open to the activity of the alliance where good resolta will be obtained. Another, looking tempting to the eye, is but a cul-du-sac where disaster awaits its entrance. It is true that there is too much of frivolity in the American character and too little of earnestness, and this is reflected even in our politics. This is BOmethLngthat the farmers' alliance can work to overeóme. By uniting common sense with energj' and honesty a clearer visión will be obtained, and untenable theorics vanisli like mists before the sun. In tliis work, as in other details, the alliance can work incalculable good to themselves and confer lasting benefits on the public by the moral stamina and business activity witli politics in the future would be invested. Senator Jones, of Nevada, did not attend the Protective Tariff League banq_uet in Xew York last Friday evening, bnt sent a ringing letter, frorn wliich we clip the following: " As I view the protective system it is indispensible to the f uil develo] ment and enduring prosperity of our country, lts continuance is therefore demanded by every consideration of patriotism. I am a stanch believer in the maxirn "The American market for the American people." It is a market of unsurpassable value and importance. To preserve its advantagea for uur own people is the bigbeet duty of the nation. " Itis sometimes charged that to do tliis would be equivalent to erecting a "Chinese wall " around the country. Wliatever epithet our opponents may apply to a vigorous and eifective Tariff, it must be manifest that a nation owes its iirst duty to its own people. No foreign nation has a right to complain if tliis country chooses to adopt a policy under whicta our people shall do their own work, and no American lias a right to have his wants supplied by anv cheaper labor than American civilization attbrds. The rates of wages that should prevail in this country are those that result from the unrestricted competition of the American people among themselves, unmfiuenced by the rates prevailing in other countries. "Tlie tariff is just such a "wall" or barrier as this country needs in order to wall out the misery and squalor which characterizes the countries that complain of our protective policy, and to wall in the prosperity which gives our people independence and a plañe of hfe far better than that enjoyed by any other people."