Convention— discussion. 
121 
Hon. Matt. Anderson did not aorree with President Bascom in 
O 
reference to legislation. Farmers had been robbed by class legis¬ 
lation. The entire legislation of the country had always been in 
favor of manufacturers, and directly and entirely against the inter¬ 
ests of the producing classes, and he denounced it as class legisla¬ 
tion, tending to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. 
President Bascom corrected the speaker, and said he was in fa¬ 
vor of equal legislation for all. 
Secretary Field thought the address did lean a little too much 
toward capital. Labor and capital ought to go hand in hand, but 
capital was able to take care of itself, while labor needed protec¬ 
tion. Capital was taking the lion’s share of the profits of produc¬ 
tion, and leaving a beggarly subsistan(-e to labor, and such had al¬ 
ways been the case. Capital demanded unquestionable security 
for its investments, and left all the risks and losses to labor. 
Senator Arnold said many of the farmers were capitalists, and 
the inevitable tendency of capital was toward centralization. Cap¬ 
italists would take advantage of legislation when they could, but 
as the farmers were in the majority, they were themselves respon¬ 
sible for any shortcomings against their own interests. 
On motion of Secretary Field, a vote of thanks was unanimously 
tendered President Bascom for his interesting and instructive ad- 
dress. 
Adjourned to 9 A. M., Wednesday. 
Wednesday, 9 A. M. 
Convention met in the State Agricultural Rooms. President 
Stilson called to order and made brief remarks in relation to im¬ 
proved methods in general farming, and the increased facilities af¬ 
forded the farmer in the production of his crops by improved ma¬ 
chinery. 
The attendance upon the convention was very large, nearly every 
county in the state being represented, and a large number of the 
district and county societies, associations, granges, farmers’ clubs 
and other industrial organizations of the state were specially rep¬ 
resented bv elective delegates. 
