FARMERS' ALLIANCE, THE. 



FINANCIAL REVIEW OF 1890. 3Q1 



appraised values of railroads for taxation be fixed 

 at their bonded value; and that a law taxing 

 mortages be enacted. The Alliance of Pennsyl- 

 vania declared that the revenue or tax laws of 

 that State should be revised by the Legislature, 

 so that every species of property real, personal, 

 and mixed, lands, bonds, stocks, moneys, etc. 

 be made to bear its due proportion of the public 

 burdens, in order to relieve the owners of real 

 estate from the unjust taxation to which they 

 are now subjected. The Farmers' Alliance of 

 Indiana demanded that all county officers be 

 paid a salary in proportion to the business trans- 

 acted and the amount paid for similar services 

 in ordinary business. Among the Eastern States 

 the work of organization appears to be proceed- 

 ing the most rapidly in Pennsylvania. 



Early in 1890 the Farmer's Alliance began to 

 make itself felt as a political power. In the 

 Southern States it sided uniformly with- the 

 Democratic party, but in the Western States it 

 worked, for the most part, outside of both the 

 Republican and the Democratic party, although 

 its strength was drawn more largely from the Re- 

 publicans. At the general election in November, 

 1890, the Alliance elected governors in Georgia, 

 Tennessee, South Dakota, and South Carolina, 

 the last-named in opposition to the regular 

 Democratic candidate, who was accepted by the 

 Republicans. It carried its State ticket in Kan- 

 sas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and other States ; 

 and it also elected Congressmen in some of the 

 Southern and Western States. A total of 38 

 members of the Farmers' Alliance is claimed in 

 the Fifty-second Congress. The Alliance has 

 elected several United States Senators. (See ar- 

 ticles on the several States in this volume). 



In July, 1890, an official census of the Alliance, 

 taken by the secretary, showed the membership 

 for each of 22 States and 1 Territory as fol- 

 lows : Alabama, 75,000 ; Arkansas, 100,000 ; Colo- 

 rado, 5,000; Florida, 20,000; Georgia, 100,000; 

 Illinois, 2,000; Indiana, 5,000: Kansas, 100,000; 

 Kentucky, 80,000 ; Louisiana, 20,000 ; Maryland, 

 5,000; Mississippi, 60,000; Missouri, 150,000; 

 New Mexico, 5.000; North Carolina, 100,000; 

 North Dakota, 40,000 ; Pennsylvania, 500 ; South 

 Carolina, 50,000 ; South Dakota, 50,000 ; Tennes- 

 see, 100,000 ; Texas, 150,000 : Virginia, 50,000 ; 

 West Virginia. 2,000. Total, 1,269,500. At that 

 time the Alliances in California, New Jersey, 

 New York, and Ohio were not fully organized, 

 but their membership was roughly estimated as 

 follows: California, 1,000; New Jersey, 500; 

 New York, 500; and Ohio, 300. In New York, 

 New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ohio the Farm- 

 ers' League and the Patrons of Industry have 

 probably more members than the Farmers' Al- 

 liance proper, and in Indiana and Illinois the 

 Patrons of Industry, the Grange, and the Farm- 

 er's Mutual Benefit Association have altogether 

 probably at least ten times as many members as 

 the Alliance. Since Aug. 1, 1890, when these 

 figures were compiled, the growth of the order 

 has been large in nearly all the States, and the 

 claim that the Alliance contains 3,000,000 mem- 

 bers is perhaps correct. 



In the Southern States there is a Colored Alli- 

 ance, with more than 1,000,000 members. The 

 color line is drawn in both, the one admitting no 

 negroes and the other no whites to membership, 



though both are working for the same end. See 

 " The Riddle of the Sphinx," by N. B. Ashby, 

 lecturer of the National Farmers' Alliance (Des 

 Moines, 1890). 



FINANCIAL REYIEW OF 1890. The 

 dominating influence upon the markets this year 

 was the financial situation in London. With 

 more or less tension existing there it was natu- 

 ral that every monetary center should be affected. 

 The cause for this abnormal condition can be 

 distinctly traced to reckless speculation, which 

 had extended over a period of more than two 

 years. In this interval there had been two crises 

 in France, one resulting from the failure of the 

 Panama Canal scheme and the other from the 

 collapse of the copper syndicate and the suspen- 

 sion of the Comptoir d'Escompte. The former 

 inflicted severe losses upon the masses of the 

 P^ench people, and the latter, to a great extent, 

 temporarily crippled the banking interests of 

 Paris, while both taught lessons which were not 

 forgotten during the year 1890. In 1888 Eng- 

 land began to pour into the Argentine Republic 

 vast sums of money which then promised remu- 

 nerative returns. *The speculation in securities 

 of the Republic was encouraged to the fullest 

 extent in the following year, when about 120,- 

 000,000 of bond property was absorbed by the 

 British public on the recommendation of the 

 Barings. At the end of that year it was evident 

 that the Argentine financial situation was be- 

 coming severely strained, but, despite repeated 

 warnings, new securities were brought out and 

 many of them placed. In addition to the Ar- 

 gentines there were company-promoting syndi- 

 cates or trusts, foreign brewery concerns. Afri- 

 can gold mines, and various other enterprises 

 continually applying for capital until the British 

 investing and speculating public became gorged 

 and unable or unwilling to take any more se- 

 curities. The extent to which these new prop- 

 erties were floated is shown by the capital appli- 

 cations. In 1888 these amounted to 160,149,- 

 000, or over 60,000,000 in excess of 1887. In 

 1889 the amount was 189,436,000. During the 

 first half of 1890 it was 89.753,000, making a 

 total in two years and a half of 439.338,000. 

 When it was apparent that no more Argentines 

 could be sold, the Barings and other houses, 

 which had commitments to that Republic, really 

 became embarrassed, but such was their finan- 

 cial strength, and in such high esteem were they 

 held by the British public, that the thought of 

 serious trouble was not entertained, and it was 

 not until November that the crisis came and the 

 fact was revealed that the house which had stood 

 firmly through the financial perils of a century 

 was at last brought to the verge of bankruptcy. 

 The inability of the Barings longer to float any 

 more Argentines could not be concealed after 

 midsummer, and then followed liquidation in 

 other securities, including American, which af- 

 fected our market and indeed the Continental 

 bourses to a greater or less degree. The indica- 

 tions at the close of the year were that the liqui- 

 dation was at an end, but after so severe a shock 

 and such enormous losses recuperation must in- 

 evitably be slow. 



The Bank of England held on Jan. 2 only 17,- 

 782,374 bullion, and this low condition was the 

 result of movements of gold during the last half 



