UNIVERSITY 



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NATIONAL ALLIANCE. 185 



of the farmers of America to-day with that twenty to twenty- 

 five years ago, will forcibly illustrate the fact that there is at 

 this time a depressed condition of agriculture. In spite of the 

 fact that it has been an era of great productiveness and prosper- 

 ity, farmers, on the average, are much poorer now than they 

 were twenty years ago. Improved machinery has added to our 

 power to produce, and the railways have brought the markets 

 of the world to our very doors, and yet we have gone down in 

 the scale of financial prosperity, until it is common to hear men 

 say they would not farm if they could make a living any other 

 way. Think of that ! The noblest calling on earth made the 

 least desirable of any ! It is time we examined carefully into 

 the causes for this condition, and having found them, stand 

 shoulder to shoulder as a unit in demanding conditions that 

 shall reverse this order of things. 



Production, distribution, consumption, and accumulation con- 

 stitute the four great factors in business. The one governing 

 factor is distribution. Production will take care of itself. It is 

 simply an expression of human nature through a common desire 

 to do something to promote personal gain or pleasure. Natural 

 wants or fancied comforts, together with human frailties, will 

 furnish ample ways and means for consumption. The real dan- 

 ger to be avoided is an excessive accumulation of wealth in the 

 hands of a few people, through an unfair distribution of the 

 products of labor. 



" We demand equal rights for all, and special favors to none," 

 says the great agricultural and labor organization of America. 

 Such a demand implies the non-existence of these conditions. 

 Equal rights mean an equal chance in the struggle of life ; that 

 no one may be compelled to bear the burden of his neighbor in 

 addition to his own, thereby endangering success and jeopard- 

 izing escape from poverty and dependence. President Lincoln 

 said : " I am here to make of myself the best intellectual, moral, 

 and physical being possible. To do it, I am entitled to generous 

 food, generous clothing, and comfortable shelter, and if any per- 

 son or set of persons lays upon me a burden whereby I am 

 required to use more than reasonable effort to feed, clothe, and 

 shelter myself, the person or set of persons so unreasonably 

 burdening me is an enemy of God, and my murderer." 



