PUBLIC POLICY AND FARMERS' ORGANIZATIONS. 33 



and further back in history when William of Normandy parceled out the Eng- 

 lisli farms to his Noriuau adherents; but these all i-iiik into insignificance when 

 compared to the gifts of lands and money made to r.iilroad cori)i>ratioMS by the 

 people of America. The ])olicy jnirsued by those corporations since receiving 

 th'>e lands has been in direct opposition to the interests of tiie farmers of this 

 country; for in order to dispose of their lands and to furnish omi)loyment for 

 their roads they have them advertised in every country in Europe, and while 

 they will chiirge \ou and I about twelve dollars a day to ride on their ro.ids, 

 they have secured rates across tlie ocean that makes it ]K)ssil)le for the poorest 

 Europeans to reach our shore. Tlie ojciiu fare for emigrants was reduced to 

 seven dollars frt)m Liverpool to New York, and tlie railroads have carried them 

 from there to Chica";o lor one dtjllar, and to this inlliix of foreigners to our 

 western territories may be charged to a great extent the present reduction iu 

 the [irice of farm products. 



Tlie evil is still more aworravatinij when wo consider that according to the 

 census of 1880 these same railroads were estimated to be worth sixteen 

 millions of dollars nu)re than thev cost, notwithstanding a great many of them 

 were built in high-priced times. They are about the only jiroperty that does not 

 show a shrinkage in value. It is conccdeil by everyone famili.ir with our form 

 of government, that a republican form of government to be successful must 

 depend u|ion the education and general intelligence of its citizens, and while 

 our ffoveriiment has been orivinn: hundreds of millions of acres of land to rail- 

 roads there has been but sixty-seven million acres given for educational 

 purposes. Yet so fearful has our government been of creating monopolies iu 

 some instances that there is a law on the statute books ])roliibiting any chari- 

 table oi'gauization from owning over liftv thousand dollars worth of real estate. 

 Further comment is unnet-essary. 



As we look about us what do we see as the result of those vicious practi- 

 ces ? We see in almost every town or city of any importance men that are 

 worth from one million dollars upward, and some that can count their wealth 

 by the hundreds of millions, the most of which has been accumulated during 

 the last twenty-five years. 



We sf^e mighty corj>orations towering above the heads of the people, intim- 

 idating their einplo\ej to vote in their interests, controlling our legisla- 

 tors, tilling public positions with creatures of their own choice, never satis- 

 fied after having acquired more wealth than they can possibly make use of, 

 but continually crying (^^ ye, give, give! Bowing before their pov/er we see a 

 great mass of humanity, unable to understand their social inequality, mur- 

 muring their discontent, and, like the slumbering volcano, ready to break 

 forth into fury. 



My friends, the picture is not overdrawn, and we turn from the sad scene 

 with but one hope of relief and that is to the farmers of this country, for I 

 tell you candidly you have a charge to keep. It is for the conservative home 

 building, home loving farmers of this country to stand arbitrators of this 

 nations' destiny, between those two contending elements I have mentioned, 

 and turn back the hand that oppresses, re-assure the discontented and pro- 

 tect the liberties of the people. The future prosperity and welfare of this 

 country depends more upon you who are owners of homes and around whose 

 firesides cluster the patriotism and private virtues of our race, than upon 

 any other class of citizens. You can accomplish those objects as successfully 

 in no other way as you can by obeying the central law of our civilization, 



5 



