Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1890-11-27
Gordon and the Alliance,

during the past lew months, the NE
FLECTOR has had frequent occasion to
remark upon the oneness of the peoples
party and the democratic party
throughout the south. We have stat
ed in substance that the leaders of the
political end of the farmers alliance
were democrats and working solely
with the end in view of promoting the
interests of the democratic party. The
action of the alliance members of the
Georgia legislature on last Tuesday is
so conclusive upon this proposition that
we wish to call our readers attention to
the circumstances of the election of
Gov. Gordon to the U. S. senate from
that state.
No member of the peoples party will
question the democracy of Gov. Cor
don. He is 'mossback" of the old
style. He never professed to be any
thing else. He has publicly within
the three months last past denounced
the financial and subtreasury schemes
of the southern alliance in language
that cannot be misunderstood. Up to
the day of the nomination of officers
by the democratic conventions in that
state be openly opposed every man
that the alliance favored.
The joint legislature of Georgia is
composed of 219 members. Leaving
out all doubtful ones, the alliance had
a clear majority of 30 on joint ballot.
Mr.. L. L. Polk and other southern gen.
tleman who came up here to tell Kan
sas republicans how to vote, have given
out the impression in the north that
the alliance candidate in Georgia fol
u. S. senator was one Patrick Calhoun,
To carry the deception little further
the alliance members of the legislature
held caucus and apparently agreed
upon Mr.. Calhoun as their candidate.
But the farce of pretending to be OPP
posed to the regular democratic candi-
date for u. S. senator could not be car
ried any further thar the caucus.
Votes in the legislature were irrevoca-
BILE. This man Calhoun is lawyer by
profession. For ten years he has been
the notorious legal counselor for over
5000 miles of railroad, yet this man
| Dill IL ;,oo - ho1,o rct dico0uorad this
well known fact after the alliance
members of the legislature had held
their caucus and agreed upon Calhoun
for senator. After making this impor-
tant discovery at this late but opportune
moment, what did these anti-demo-
cratic peoples party fellows of the
democratic state of Georgia do? Did
they Immediately cast about for some
other gentleman who was in sympathy
with The people,? Did they look fol
an alliance man to send down to Wash
ington? No, the dispatch from the
scene of action simply says: sit was
suggested that sudden concentration
of the of the alliance strength on Cor
don was the best thing under the Cir
cumstances." And the alliance mem
bers fairly tumbled over each other 20
have their names recorded for that
grand old bourbon democrat, Gen.
John B. Gordon.
The pretended perfdy of two or
three members of the alliance party
furnishes no excuse whatever for the
balance of the entire gang fiocking in a
body over into the camp of the ''moss-
backs" There must be number of
good men in Georgia who sympathiZe
with the alliance since that organlZa-
| ton seems to have named two-thirds
of the members of the legislature.
Had the alliance members OF that body
been disposed to curtail the influence
of bourbon democracy in the U. S. SEN
ate they would not have sent such a
man as J. B. Gordon to represent them.
But the order of Mr.. Polk that ''sud-
den concentration of the alliance
strength on Gordon was the best thing
under the circumstances" was an order
that could not be disobeyed, and thus
another link in the chain that is ulti-
mately to bind the republicans OF the
alliance in Kansas to the m0ssback
democracy of the south has been
forged and welded by the selection of
Gov. Gordon to represent the peoples
party of Georgia in the United States
senate. Mr.. Polk is able to accom-
plish that which he undertakes-in the
uoufb