CHAPTER IV 



Come shoulder to shoulder, 



Ere earth grows older ! 

 The cause spreads over land and sea. 



Now the earth shaketh, 



And fear awaketh, 

 But joy at last for you and me. 



— William Morris. 



But why, it may be asked, should the speculators 

 and the moneyed men, the bankers, manufactur- 

 ers, railroad people, etc., object to the organiza- 

 tion of the farmers ? There are many reasons, each 

 one of which, however, is an argument in favor of 

 the organization when considered from the farmer's 

 point of view. Suppose some fall Mr. Hill or Mr. 

 Leeds were to back his cars up into the wheat coun- 

 try, after having made every arrangement to trans- 

 port the crop, and should find that there was no 

 wheat to carry; and suppose the railroad president 

 should find that the farmers had all resolved that 

 they would not let go of their wheat for less than 

 a dollar a bushel. If this resolution were backed 

 by a national organization, the consequences for the 

 railroad and the consumers would not be pleasant. 

 The effect on stocks would be disastrous, and a 



36 



