People's Pilot, Volume 6, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 May 1897 — Questions Answered. [ARTICLE]

Questions Answered.

What are the Objects of Archery? How are Its Objects Accomplished?

An Inquiry, and the Reply. Mb. W. P. Smith, Dear Sir:—l have received the first copy of the Archer, and am much pleased with it. You have struck at the chief stronghold of the banking system, the clearance house, and if such a system can be adopted by the masses it must bring about a great change. I have become very much interested in the Labor Exchange movement, but find it very hard to get enough interested in it to make a start. If your order can dD what it claims it ought to have a rapid growth, but it does seem strange that it is so small after twenty years of incorporation. Yours Truly, Beverly, Mass. E. S. Prentiss, You wonder why, after twenty years, Archery is 90 small(?). Let me explain: In 1873, my business went down with J. Cook & Co. It took me but a few months to figure out what was the matter, after I had directed my thoughts to the subject. After I had discovered what was the matter, the next problem was the remedy. Having figured out the true cause of panics, the remedy became apparent. Then to show the remedy was thought, at first sufficient. Salaries, rents, taxes, interest, freight, dividends, profits, insurance and speculation. Socialists were found fighting the wage system, salaries. Trades unions fighting their bosses for a larger share of the

joint product of capital *nd labor; farmers fighting the railroads and bucket shops; the prohibitionists fighting the liquor traffic; single tjtxers fighting to shift the burden of tajation off from one shoulder onto the otler. All these factions arrayed with tae common enemy against each of the others. That is to

say, each faction shod single and alone, led by its chosen /nief, whose individual interests and peribnal ambition, promoted him to keep Ms following from be.bg swallowed up 0/ merged into a while, where he wou* be lost .to sight. 7 To grow umbrough this wildernes of discordant eWments, without the /id of any single ijpividual has been the Struggle of a lif/ No money to assist me, no friends b aid me, every mank hand against me and the most powa’ful and wiley foe,me money power, wjth all its

intriguea/to meet, and all its legal obstacles t| overcome, I found my only safety, ai|er repe/ted betrayals, lay, in surrounding thV sacred cause with a body guar L thafcould be absolutely depended Tcdo this an entire force had to be sducfed from their youth up. Children hat pre one and two years old when Arcqry was incorporated in 1876, are (nen fid women now, wit# a full concsptioif the great work we have before us, hing undergone twenty years schoolir in the mysteries of Archery. The for< which we can muster at this time is al lutely impervious to external influen. Ino longer fear betrayals or dii desertions. With the United suppo rt many zealous friendß and their con tions, we have enlisted in the cause t valuable aid of Henry Vincent. who< bility as a reform editor

is unquestioi, and whose acquaintance with lab tnd financial reformers and the needi the movement is broad as the nation Ve have also, Mr. F. D. Craig, (witlrl :omplete steam printing plant) whose j and ceaseless struggle against plut* :y has schooled him to the fact thattoething practical must be found to It the business needs of this land of sty, where princes and paupers, mhaires and mendicants, dwell side bje; where all the blessings nature jin store for man crumble into curses sb touch. I have tabhe liberty to enclose you some literatwhich will throw some further ligh an the subject, and let me impresion your mind the fact that Arches a plain business enterprise, bai lpon the facts of human life, so d in human nature, but not depenc upon the unreasonable assumption - nature must be changed before ms can be instituted. “The wisdo man is foolishness with God, for he th the wise in their own craftiness.” W. P S ttt

A Stoc eder Wants to Know. Mr. W. 1 iTH— Dear Sir:—l have received a of the Archer, but must say that I nabie to see how I, as a farmer anc stock breeder, could be benefitted coming a member. Provisions ha l >n made whereby persons who deßire pay their initiation in their work e products of their labor. This souu( 1, but what kind of products will ien, and at what prices? Will they ten at a price that would pay for p tion? Would any product be ta rat the applicant had to dispose olaw could a person dispose of an 11 things he wished to by barter by a member? Can I not dispo eof hing bj barter just as profitably prickly without being a member a it? If I can what sense is there ii sizing a barter society? These are a few questions that I would lik ive a full and clear answer to. (Here 1 id definition;-, and legal opinions j ie nature of money with

which the author of Archery was familiar years ago.) If the above was taught as it should be in our common schools it would be of more benefit to this country in four years than an Archer club in each school district in twenty-four. If the Coxey plan is all right why do reformers deviate from it, and if it is not all right why haß not some one pointed out its weakness? I have known several people to sneer at it but that was all the argument that I ever knew to be offered against it. In conclusion, I will say that if you can make it clear that I will be benefited by becoming a member of your organization 1 will try to do soots missionary work. Resp’y, W. McAdams, Jr. Rushfivania, 0., Mar. 27.

REPLY. Dear Sir:—A farmer and raiser would b* benefitted in hiß business, if everybody else was benefitted in their business. If your customers were enabed to buy more, your chances to sell vepuld be Increased, so you see your in- 1 terest is involved in the business of othejs. ArcjLery will make your business better, by increasing the facilities of jpur customers to effect exchanges while yaiting the wished for financial reform, fcroughjthe acts of Congress and a billon dollar Senate. (The expense of the Recruiting officer 1 lust in all cases be provided for in ad- f ition tp the charter fee by the parties I who petition for a charter. The propo-1 si tion jo refund the initiation fee, refers to members who apply to a Temple already/chartered and instituted, and not to charter members.

Previsions for paying fees and dues In worWor products, are made for men who canflbt pay in money. The reasons for thi^ provision are found in the nature of thq' workings of the order, which is no< learned outside of the Temple. Cu- - tomary prices are, unfortunately under our present financial system, not meas- j ured by “cost of production.” I have no doubt you could “barter” your products as well and as profitably outside of the order as in it. I have no experience in I the barter business, other than the savage and costly system force! upon us by

our infamous barter money. I can conceive of no more expensive or idiotic system of barter than that which cornj P e,s us t° bad gold, mould and stamp it ( iut P specific shapes, and barter it in this shape, which totally unfits it for any j possible use, for the things we need to eat and wear, and shelter us from rain and storm, and implements to work with. This fgj'ces us to barter our labor and products for the very thing in all of nature’s wide domain, the most difficult to find and the harcest to procure. Any other system of ‘barter’ would beat that. But barter of any nature whatever is so foreign to the civilized plan of exchange in operation in Archery that we are not prepared to advise you as to how you would succeed outside of the brder, and any proposition to establish a barter business in the order would be too ab- ] surd to even provoke a smile.

The bankers have taught us a lesson which beats ‘barter’ all ‘holier’ and Archery has learneiTit, and applied it to the other industries. There is nothing in your definition of money or Coxey’s plan, with which, we are quite familiar, to interfere with the work of Archery. The legal authority referred to in your letter, as to money, is not new to us, and we feel sanguine that forty minutes in

Archery would make a more lasting impression upon the mind than all the works on political economy in existence as to the frightful power the present money system gives to those who control it, over labor and products. We endorse Coxey’s measures. The original editor of “Sound Money” is the editor of the Archer. This should Convince you that Archery is not antagonistic to Coxey. But while we are working a great deal for Coxey’s plan, we are obliged to work some for ourselves, and we are anxious to learn from Archery how to make that some go as far as pos- j si6le and be the most effective. There are some people that Archery is not calculated to help. Hero is one feature that may strike you as of possible advantage to you. Upon our classified rolls are the names of— Farmers, millers, bakers, butchers, confectioners, fishermen, cooks and wait-

ers; spinners, weavers, tailors, hatters, tanners, shoemakers, seamstresses, garment makers, carpenters, brickmakers, brick and stone masons, saw mill men, lumbermen, lath, lime and tile makers; blacksmiths, wagon makers, machinists, silver, gold, copper and tin smiths, glass blowers, dry goods merchants, grocers, clothing, hat and shoe stores; livery and sale stables, coal, iron and lumber dealers; provision, seed and feed stores, canning and bottling houses; furniture, carpet and wall paper dealers; barbere, ministers, teachers, musicians and printers. some of these men do not want something you have, you have a bad lot

of stuff on your hands, and If you do not want something some of these men have, malte, or do, you are already supplied with everything that want demands or reason can desire. Archery is not de- } signed for such. * We effect exchange with greater ease, less cost, and more satisfactorily than by any method ever devised before. We do not*presume to tell how we perform this feat to anyone outside of the order. Your closing paragraph: “These are only a few of the questions that I would like to have a full and clear answer to,” leads us to infer that yon either are curious to know more about Archery than you can learn outside of the order, or imagine you have presented'some insur- [ mountable difficulties which stand in the way of the success of Archery.

Do not imagine that you are the first I man that has ever presented these same difficulties, all growing out of the aasumjed conclusion that any exchange made without money must be, by barter, Let me tell you, in confidence, this is not coV* rect. Car loads of coal, barrels of pickels, tons of fruit, butters or jellies, do*, •ns overalls, cases of canned goods, boxes [ of oranges, have been exchanged through the Archer clearance house, without violation of law, without the semblance of barter and without money. You need not ask how this was ' accomplished. You have but to enter our ranks, enlist in our cause, and learn from actual observation. Read the paper carefully. You may get a false impression from the .articles therein contained, asyou evidently have, from the criticisms you make. Resp’y yours, Wm. P. Smith.

From an Affiance President. My Dear Sir:— l have received the first number of the “Archer.” It is a very interesting number and I desire to know more about the working of tl|6 “Plato’s Archers.” Please fflve me information all you can. If I can see that it will help my people I would be glad to take hold of it. Can it be worked in connection with our Alliance Organization? It seems to me it could. If so theie is a chance to get every member * nto I®* Yours truly, Hillsboro, N. C. W. S. Barnes,

Is President of a Labor Exchange. JfsiEND Vincent:— l was pleased to receive a copy of “The Archer,” this week, and am glad to see that you have substituted co-operation for political agitathe,,o“rth Page 1* comprehensive and conclusive. lam rapidly drifting to the conclusion that practical co-operation or practical revolution are ‘the only gate-ways left open to the American people, unless they wish to retrograde, lam president of the Labor Exchange branch here and am consequently interested in your co-operative movement, j We organized here about 18 menths ago, have had all kinds of luck except good l uck, and have acquired some valuable experience. We tried various branches of industry, only to find that unless we couid get improved machinery of the latest kinds that we could not compete I with the capitalist. We have not given up ail hopes. It is true that our sails

are furled, but they will not always remain so. Our money is all in the bank, drawing interest from those who toil. I opme that the system of co-operation you advocate is similar to the labor exchange, so far as labor checks or ceiti□cates of deposit are concerned. The labor exchange is spreading very rapidly. There are over 200 branches organized and many of them are in a flourishing condition. I think there is something about the soil or climate which renders reform movements in Toledo unsuccessful. I have tried every kind of society, and they won’t thrive no • matter what The populist club is as good as dead, the Single Tax club is ready to go out of business, the “Patriots of America was still born, and a few days ago a number of us instituted a Tax Reform Hub, Jt may live the regulation three months. Toledo, Ohio. H, V. Caton,

Wm. Adams, Wilmerding, P.:—lnclosed r lease find application. I have the required names to organize a lodge. Send me necessary ic formation and blanks for we are ready to throw off the yoke of capitalism.

. G - A. Sanford, Editor. St. Helens, Ore,: 1 learn that you are again in the harness laboring for the goou of humanity. If y°u have anything that will help a poor deluded devil out of this wilderness of woe, please divide up. Anything that W \L- , ?™y hffht on our tangled political situation will be very acceptable just at this time.

The peacemakers (?) calm us into silence by blandly urging us to be more economical, we consume too much, we have wasted our substance in riotous living: produce more and consume less! Old Shylock says: “Economy? cheap food for fools: the more [they who create wealth do feed on that, the more is left for interest to srather up to me. The master of the chattel slave compelled his property to eat cheap food, that he, the master, might appropriate the best. Then I, to profit by examples set by him must talk economy to mine, and flaunt the flag,of freedom in the face of slaves, and hold the ‘law’ up to their wondering gaze, while I appropriate the fruits frugality has left.”

Borrowing money to’ get rich on is like sticking your finger in a bucket of water and hunting for the hole. Tennessee Centenial ted International Exposition May Ist to Oct., 81st, 1897, at Ifashville, Tenn., fare for the rqund trip from Rensselaer only fib. Tickets on sale daily. |

W. H. BEAM,

Agent.