Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1890-11-20
We Question Your "If.".


We Question Your If.
If the democratic voters of this state
had refused to support the Robinson
Banta-re a-repub-resub-dem farce, the
republican ticket would have been
beaten by at least 20, 900 votes. Rob-
inson's hypocrisy before the peoples
convention at Topeka was enough to
cause his defeat. The peoples party was
straight Independent move for the
rights of both the republican and DEM
ocratic laboring people, and its success
was bound to dethrone plutocracy and
the tyranical parties, and give ''equal
rights 10 all and special privileges to
none" No gang of leaders could man
age the peoples delegation and no boss
ism nominated the ticket. The result
of the election clearly proves that the
industrial elements can easily control
the whole Uuited States, and when they
fairly understand each other they can
and will nominate and elect suitable
men from their own ranks, men who
| will represent their constituents and not
have to be scared to death before they
will act.-Beacon.
Our brother of the Beacon in the
! above editorial, takes it upon himself
to make an assertion without the least
| foundation in fact. or without any proof
whatever to back it up. If the dem
ocratic voters of this state had not had
a principle to fight for; if they had
been, like the republican party of the
state, domiueered by party bosses and
managed by select few who had the
spoils of office more at heart than
party pride or party principle, they
| would have taken a course that would
have made it utterly impossible for the
third party movement to have gained
| any thing whatever in the recent fight.
Instead of this they looked forward
to the general good of the state, nomi-
mated a ticket and made campaign
that brought out, to a great extent. tie
sentiment of the people on a question
that is of vital Importance to the entire
state and one that the peoples party
legislators will not dare to ignore at
their coming session. In Charles Rob-
inson they had no "hypocrit,' as the
Beacon would imply, but a man who
was everything he pretended to be, and
who received and merited the respect
and admiration of all just men, the
editor of the Beacon to the contrary
Notwithstanding. When he says that
mo gang of leaders could manage the
peoples delegations ETC., he probably
thinks he is correct; but at the same
time it cannot be successfully denied
that Charles Robinson did not get the
nomination for governor at the hands
of the peoples party, not because he
was not the choice of the majority
of the delegates who went there, but
because the republican ring of schemers
at Topeka filed some of them full of
''democratic scheme, - manipulation. -
and all that; and listening to the whis-
perings of that ''gang of leaders, the
delegates dropped the man who would
have led them to glorious victory and
took up just what the gang of lead
ers" wanted them to, a weaker man.
The last part of the above quotation
referring to what the result of the cleo
ton proves, we can endorse; but we
believe tie gentleman is making mis-
take in presuming that had the
democrats taken any other course
than the one they did the peO-
pies party would have been strength
ened.
We would like, in this connection, to
ask the Beacon editor how many con-
gressmen they would have elected had
the democrats placed in nomination a
man in every district? We do not
claim TIE election of a single congress
man in Kausas this fall as a demo
| cratic victory; but we do claim that, had
not the peoples movement been along
J the same lines, practically, as those OF
democracy; had not the st. Louis plat.
form been almost entirely a reproduc
| ton of the former.platfOrms and .tenets
of the democratic party; and had not
/ the demands of the peoples platform
been for the good of the masses of the
+ people, there would have been a three
cOrnered fight in every congressional
7 district in the state, and the repub
: lican candidates would have beer
: elected in the entire seven. instead vi
but two districts. Again, John n
1 Ives would not have been elected al
e attorney general had he not been will
I ing to trust the judgement of the peo
4 pie by resubmitting to them the pro
> hibitory question. Even as good al
0 officer as Will Bunting would hay'
e been beaten in this county had not tn,
\ democrats considered the interests o
i | the people of more Importance thar
0 local party organization.