THE CENTRALIA, ILLS., CONVENTION. 205 



&quot; We believe that in union there is strength, and that in union 

 alone can the necessarily isolated condition of farmers be so strength 

 ened as ,to enable them to cope, on equal terms, with men whose 

 callings are, in their very nature, a permanent and self-created com 

 bination of interests. 



&quot; We believe that system of commerce to be the best which transactg 

 the most business, with the least tax on production, and which, instead 

 of being a master, is merely a servant. 



Union there is Strength. 



&quot; We believe that good prices are as necessary to the prosperity of 

 farmers as good crops, and, in order to create such a power as to 

 insure as much uniformity in prices as in products, farmers must 

 keep out of debt ; and that, in order to keep out of debt, they must pay 

 for what they buy and exact the same from others.&quot; 



DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES. 



&quot; These truths we hold to be self-evident, that, as production both 

 precedes barter and employs more labor and capital, it is more worthy 

 the care and attention of governments and of individuals; that in the 

 honorable transaction of a legitimate business there is no necessity 

 for secret cost-marks; that, in all well-regulated communities, there 

 should be the smallest possible number of non-producers that is 

 necessary to the welfare of the human race ; that labor and capital 

 employed in agriculture should receive as much reward as labor and 

 capital employed in any other pursuit ; that, as the exchanger is 

 merely an agent between the producer and consumer, he should not 



