FARMERS' CONGRESS. 



331 



5 It shall be the duty of the president to preside 

 over the deliberations of the Congress, communicate 

 with the same in regard to the objects in view, and^ 

 advise with the vice-presidents and Bother officers ot 

 the organization so as to assist them in their duties. 



6. It shall be the duty of the vice-presidents to 

 appoint all necessary committee-men in the congres- 

 sional districts in the respective States so as to per- 

 fect a thorough organization of the agricultural inter- 

 est provide necessary means to collect a sufficiency 

 of money to defray the expenses of delegates to the 

 Congress ; see that all money collected is paid to the 

 treasurer, and to fully do and perform all duties in 

 his State that may advance the interest of the agri- 

 cultural classes. 



7. It shall be the duty of the treasurer to take 

 charge of all money paid to him, to keep a true and 

 perfect account of the same, and in no case to pay the 

 expenses of any delegate until such delegate files a 

 stated account of such expenses, and in no case use 

 any money furnished by a congressional district to 

 defray the expenses of a different district ; and the 

 treasurer shall report to the Congress whenever re- 

 quired. 



8. The Governors of the different States and Terri- 

 tories are requested to appoint the delegates hereto- 

 fore provided for, and also to appoint alternates ; and, 

 in case they should fail so to dp, then the vice-presi- 

 dents of the respective States, in conjunction with the 

 Commissioner of Agriculture or Bureau of Agriculture, 

 shall make such appointment of delegates and alter- 

 nates, and in case the regular delegates fail to attend 

 and the alternates do, the latter snail have all the 

 rights and privileges of the regular delegates. 



9. The secretary shall keep a full and perfect min- 

 ute of the proceedings of the Congress, keep all pa- 

 pers belonging to the same ? and furnish copies when 

 required to do so by the president and vice-presidents. 

 The assistant secretaries shall assist the secretary in 

 the discharge of his duties. 



10. No delegate shall be entitled to any compensa- 

 tion ? except his actual expenses, while in the discharge 

 of his duties. 



11. Each delegate shall hold his office for the period 

 of twelve months from the date of his appointment. 



12. The Congress of Farmers shall assemble annu- 

 ally, and have full power to discuss, advise, and per- 

 form other duties that may, in their judgment, _ad- 

 vance the interests of the agriculturists of the United 

 States. The Congress in open session, by a majority 

 vote, shall designate the time and place of its next 

 meeting. 



13. The constitution is subject to be amended by a 

 majority of the delegates. 



The most interesting session of the body was 

 that at St. Paul, Minn., Aug. 25-27, 1886, in 

 which twenty- seven States were represented. 



Governor Hubbard, in his address of wel- 

 come, said: 



We recognize the fact that agriculture is the basis 

 of -wealth. It is the independence of the masses. It 

 keeps our industries in motion, and is the great re- 

 source of the commerce of the world. The country 

 prospers as the farmer develops the soil ; and so vast 

 an interest should command the protection of every 

 agency. It should receive legislative and executive 

 recognition, national and State. Its voice should be 

 heard through such organizations as the Farmers' 

 Congress, demanding protection and relief from the 

 unnatural burdens of monopolistic exaction. It is 

 the purpose of this convention to consider questions 

 of tnis character, and from your deliberations I hope 

 much practical good will result. 



Secretary Clayton, being called out, said : 

 This Northwest is becoming a giant. It is but a 

 few years since your beautiful' city was but a military 

 outpost, and you had no means of transportation save 



the uncertain channels of the Mississippi river. Your 

 energy in developing the great Northwest, with its 

 mighty resources, is the wonder of the world. The 

 marvelous growth of these twin cities convinces me 

 that behind all this display is the hand of the sturdy 

 farmer of the Northwest, without whose labor you 

 could not prosper. 



President Beverly, in his annual address, 

 said : 



It becomes my duty for the fourth time to address 

 you. Since our last meeting all industries have been 

 passing through a period of depression such as has 

 not been experienced by this generation. A pressing 

 necessity demands some definite plan of organization. 

 The resolutions adopted at your last meeting were 

 submitted by your committee to the Congress of the 

 United States, and were favorably reported by their 

 committees to each house, where they sank out of 

 sight beneath the dark seas of personal and party 

 politics, with no friend to call them up for considera- 

 tion. The President of the United States did venture 

 to recommend to Congress the suggestion that it might 

 be well to inquire whether any legislation might be 

 considered in the interest of the agriculture of the 

 country. Seeing that this business embraces a ma- 

 jority of the voters, this act on his part has been 

 mentioned by his friends as one of peculiar boldness 

 and originality. If our public servants feel themselves 

 incapable of dealing with these questions, they must 

 be discharged, and those who are capable must be em- 

 ployed in their places. .If existing political parties 

 are incapable of meeting the issues of the hour, we 

 must organize ourselves as a committee of safety. If 

 it be a question of whether the politician or the coun- 

 try must go to the bad, the politician must go. If 

 agriculture is properly fostered, there is before this 

 country a destiny great and marvelous, which may 

 be easily blasted by unfriendly legislation discrimi- 

 nating in favor of an exacting and merciless monopoly. 

 This pernicious policy of working the forces of the 

 Government in the service of monopolies and moneyed 

 men has so oppressed and degraded American la'bor 

 that it is everywhere in a state of angry irritation and 

 revolt ; and from every hamlet the outlook is shroud- 

 ed in darkness. The present Department of Agricult- 

 ure, so called, is universally known to be incapable. 

 It is a half-equipped experimental station, run as a 

 part of the political spoils system, which some men 

 believe has been supported by so-called civil-service 

 reform, which, up to this time, is the greatest failure, 

 farce, and fraud of the nineteenth century, and is ut- 

 terly worthless to anybody other than those few per- 

 sons kept in its pay. This unfairness on the part of 

 our officials must cease, or revolution will be the re- 

 sult. Agriculture is the great conservative power of 

 the nation, standing in the breach between labor and 

 capital ; the friend of peace, of law, and of order, but 

 eternally demanding such legislative recognition as 

 will place our occupation and calling upon the high- 

 est social plane. Those measures recommended by. 

 you are essential to the well-being of all the people ; 

 and let us still urge their passage, untrammeled by 

 party or political feeling. As long as we go home 

 prepared to deliver our suffrages at the ballot-box on 

 demand, so long we bow the knee to a privileged class. 

 Organize, I beseech you ; not to-morrow, but to-day ! 

 Combine, and stand together as one man in defense 

 of your interests ! 



The " Farmer in Politics " was presented by 

 Mr. Wallance, of Iowa, showing to what ex- 

 tent the agricultural classes of the country are 

 duped by the modern politician, and suggested 

 remedies. 



An address by Mr. Conner, of Indiana, on 

 "Commercial and Social Statics," was re- 

 ceived with universal approval, as was that of 

 Mr. McGinnis, of Minnesota, on the extension 



