Rensselaer Republican, Volume 24, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 October 1891 — AN ALLIANCE DEAL. [ARTICLE]

AN ALLIANCE DEAL.

The Kansas Farmers’ Alliance Forms an Important Union. They Will Become a Part of the Union Company of New York. ' I The Kansas Farmers’ Alliance will become a part of the National Union Company, of New York, which has a capital stock of 820,000,000, and is organized for the purpose of monopolizing everything in| sight. The committee appointed to inves-j tigate and report upon the scheme re- : ported unfavorably, but the report was not accepted by the convention. ’ It was adopted by an overwhelming vote on the 23d. The insurance features were taken up, and in this, too, co-operation was decided upon. All the branches of insurance will be confirmed and an insurance commission will be elected by the ox-; ecutive council. r G. W. Sandusky, secretary of the Alliance Exchange Company, which does five million dollars’ worth of business a year in this State, says it will be an easy thing to throw all this business into the new organization. In addition to this the Alliance is in a position to control absolutely the grain business of the State. The plan is to make Mr. Sandusky general manager of all the co-operative stores in the State. Kansas City will be the distributing point aud all goods will be purchased direct from the manufacturers. In every county w’here the Alliance will pledge Its support to a store a manager will be appointed and goods supplied by the National Union Company for a share in the profits. The National Union Company is an outgrowth of the Ocala convention. The scheme was sprung then and approved by President Polk. Three months later a meeting of capitalists was held in New York city,and the company was formed, and 83,000,000 of capital stock was subscribed. It is probable that the work of appointing agents will begin immediately,and the first stores will be established the Ist of next January. Everything was fixed In caucus before the convention proceeded to the election of officers. The various candidates and leaders met at noon to arrange a slate. President McGrath stated that he desired an indorsement of his official acts and acquittal of the various charges of corruption which had been made at the time of the Kansas Senatorial election, and whieh arose out of the letter received by him, and alleged to have been written by Congressman Turner, proposing the latter’s election, to succeed Mr. Ingalls. He gave the caucus to understand that he had enough delegates in the convention to vote for an indorsement and vindication and secure ids election. He did not wish, however, to be the cause, of discord in the parhe would withdraw in favor of W. H. Utley, State lecturer. The other candidates agreed te this compromise. When the caucus adjourned and went into the convention it was supposed that all the convention would have to do would be to cast its vote for the slate. The program miscarried, however, as far as the election of the president was concerned. Spme member who had not been admitted to the caucus proposed that no nominating speeches be made, and that an informal ballotbe taken. The motion prevailed, and it was found that Utley, W.H, Biddle and P. B. Maxon led. while seven others received a few votes. Each candidate was required to address the convention and to swear to support the Cincinnati platform, the sub-treasury and the co-operative schemes. Voting was then renewed, and after several ballots the contest narrowed down to Biddle, Utley and Maxon. Then McGrath gave the word for Maxon to withdraw in Utley’s favor, but all of the Maxon men did not or would not understand the order, and enough of them cast their votes for Biddle to elect him aud l defeat Utley. The result was a great surprise, especially to McGrath, who could not see iu it any indorsement or vindica tion. Dr, McLalHn, of Topeka, however, smoothed things over by proposing a resolution expressing unqualified confidence in the retiring president. The resolution was unanimously adopted. President Biddle is forty-five years old, was a soldier in the Union army, and is now a stock raiser from Butler county. He is practically unknown in the politics of the State. Mrs. Fannie K. Vickery was chosen to succeed herself as Vice President, and J B. French was elected secretary,