206 HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL. 



And I would most earnestly enjoin upon you the necessity, regardless 

 of what party you may belong to, of sending more farmers to your legis- 

 lative halls, as their interests are your interests. 



In conclusion, I would recommend some changes in our organic law. 



Considerable important business was transacted at this meet- 

 ing. The constitution was amended, the Wheel perfected, and 

 the national machinery in a general way prepared for active 

 work. Considerable attention was paid to the question of busi- 

 ness agencies, and the whole field of aggressive work and sure 

 defence was carefully and candidly considered. The National 

 Farmers' Alliance and Co-operative Union had held its annual 

 meeting at Shreveport, Louisiana, in October, just a month 

 previous, at which meeting delegates from the different State 

 Wheels were present. Consultation among the delegates of the 

 two organizations showed that their aims and purposes were the 

 same, and that their methods were almost identical. The neces- 

 sity for a union impressed every one, and steps were taken look- 

 ing toward that end. The Alliance system of co-operative trade 

 was examined and approved, and shortly afterward adopted. 

 The report of these delegates was received by the National 

 Wheel with much favor, and after due consideration and con- 

 siderable discussion a resolution was passed, "calling the next 

 annual meeting at Meridian, Mississippi, for the purpose of 

 meeting with the Farmers' Alliance and Co-operative Union of 

 America, with a view to consolidation. This project was ob- 

 jected to by some, but the great bulk of the members heartily 

 approved of it. 



The following demands were adopted by the meeting: 



We, the members of the National Agricultural Wheel, in convention 

 assembled, at McKenzie, Tennessee, November, 1887, do hereby demand 

 of our national government such legislation as shall secure to our people 

 freedom from the shameful abuses that the farmers and mechanics are 

 now suffering at the hands of arrogant capitalists, powerful corporations, 

 and the seemingly insatiable greed of Shylocks. We demand : 



i. That the public land, the heritage of the people, be reserved for 

 actual settlers only, not another acre to railroads or speculators, 

 and that all lands now held for speculative purposes shall be taxed at 

 their full value. 



