Addresses— u the Farmers' Movement ” 431 
provements. The war closed, and thousands on thousands came 
back to the farms, immigrants flowed in as never before, the cur¬ 
rency approached its normal condition, prices nominally fell 1 
greatly on this account, and really because of full production ; 
while the debts, contracted in the time of high prices, remained 
unpaid, and in our own state there was added to all this, three 
years of unusual drought, with other serious injury to the crops. 
This recital is given to show how powerless any one remedy will 
be to relieve all evils. Fortunately, in the nature of things, some 
of these causes of depression will disappear as a more diversified 
system of agriculture is introduced and centers of trade and man¬ 
ufacture are established in the west. 
RELIANCE ON POLITICAL ACTION. 
There is, on the part of many, too much dependence on some 
undefined political action as a means of bringing prosperity to 
farmers. It is not the privilege, but the duty of every farmer to 
be, in its true sense, a politician; to inform himself carefully on 
questions affecting the prosperity of the country and of his busi¬ 
ness, and by voice and vote to do all in his power to establish the 
supremacy of right principles, and secure the election of honest, 
faithful officers. But the farmer should ever remember he is also 
a citizen, and that those laws which will be for the permanent 
best good for the whole people are those which will be for the 
permanent best good of the farmers. 
SPECIAL LEGISLATION. 
A curse to our country has been special legislation for the ben¬ 
efit of classes. We want such legislation stopped and undone, 
and not added to by that which it may seem would be of tempo¬ 
rary advantage to the farmers. The legislation we need is that 
which will impose the fewest possible restrictions on the prosecu¬ 
tion of any honorable business. For this reason we want no dis¬ 
tinctive Farmers’ Party, named as such and seeking only the 
farmers’ special interest, thus arraying other classes in opposition. 
We want no political, business nor social action to increase class 
feeling and prejudice farmers against other men engaged in other 
equally honorable callings. 
