Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 October 1891 — ATTEMPTED SALE OF THE FARMERS’ ALLIANCE. [ARTICLE]

ATTEMPTED SALE OF THE FARMERS’ ALLIANCE.

Indianapolis Sentinel: For some time there have been rumors that the republicans would try to buy up the farmers' al liance leaders through Lelaud Stanford, the California millionaire. The scheme is to abandon the tariff issue, which was having a most disastrous effect among republican farmers, and to force the greenback and sub-treasury issues, which were supposed lo be drawing democrats from their party to the alliance. The evidence is very strong that some headway was made with this project ut the state convention held in this oity last week. The resolutions do not mention the tariff ini quity exceiit in the following section: We demand equal and fair distribution of the necessary business of taxation on all forms of wealth to be listed at actual value less actual indebtedness. This is a most extraordinary utteranoe. The “necessary business of taxation* is of course the assessment and collection of taxes, and this the alliance propos st 0 distribute equally and fairly. The only way in which this oan be done is the ancient mode of “farming" taxes, under which the right to collect taxes was sold to the highest bidder, who then proceeded to extort his levies from the people. Nothing could be worse than a return to this odiious system, whioh has been abandon ed by every civilized country on the earth. It is declared also that taxation is not only to be retained on the articles now on the dutiable list, but also te be imposed on all forms of wealth. In other words, every article now on the free list must be put on the dutiable list. This is worse than the republican declaration of 1888 in favor of the repeal of the whisky and tobacco taxes rather than the surrender of any part of the tariff taxes. It is the most monstrous proposition ever übmittedto the Amerioan people. It remains to be seen whether men who entered this movement in good faith can thus be sold and delivered by the alliance leaders.