CHAPTER III. 



KINDRED ORGANIZATIONS Continued. 



The Northwestern Alliance. The Northwestern Alliance, 

 so called to distinguish it from the Alliance which originated in 

 the South, was the result of considerable agitation among the 

 farmers of that section regarding the depressed condition of 

 agriculture. This agitation was forced upon the people by the 

 teachings of the Greenback party, then in its prime, and the 

 hard times which followed specie resumption and the contrac- 

 tion of the currency. This feeling of unrest among the farmers 

 rapidly intensified during the years succeeding 1876, and hast- 

 ened the formation of the organization which is the subject of 

 this paper. The first Alliance in the West was organized in 

 the office of the Western Rural, Chicago, Illinois, April 15, 1880, 

 and named Cook County Alliance, No. i, with G. A. Hauf, Pres- 

 ident ; C. E. Tuerk, Vice-President ; James W. Wilson, Secre- 

 tary ; and Milton George, Treasurer. 



The national meeting at St. Louis in 1882 was not a success, 

 and the one held in Chicago the year following was almost a 

 failure. At this meeting it was determined that the officers 

 elected should hold their positions until their successors were 

 elected, and that the board of officers be empowered to act in 

 the place of the National Alliance, according to its best judg- 

 ment. In 1884 an attempt was made to hold a national meeting, 

 but it failed. In 1885 no effort was made ; but in November, 

 1886, a meeting was called at Chicago, which was fairly well 

 attended. Hon. A. J. Streeter was elected President; J. J. 

 Burrows, Vice-President ; Milton George, Secretary ; A. A. 

 Arnold, Treasurer. Minneapolis was selected as the next place 

 of meeting. Strong resolutions were adopted and the meeting 

 adjourned. 



The seventh annual meeting convened at Minneapolis, Min- 

 nesota, October, 1887. Six States were represented. Although 

 the attendance was small, a feeling obtained that important 



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