The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1890-12-19

ocrats. 1t did better. 1t made Q
square out fight of Its own, and aided
the Democrats by Gripping the Re
publicdns.
Take, for instance, the State of Kan
sas, where the Republicans had ma.
jority of $4,000, larger than that OF
Pennsylvania. 1t was to oppose ana
overcome this tremendous majority
that the Alliance was organised IN
that State. 1t could not join the DEM
ocrats, for then tho old sectional cry
would have been raised. but 1t Went
into the State with platform practic-
ally Democratic In its origin and ptir-
pose. and in q very short time revolu-
tionised the Republican party. This
result can only be appreciated at its
full worth by the people Of the South.
1t is a noteworthy fact that the Re-
publican farmers of Kansas, as soon az
thew had imbibed the Democratic prin-
cipies of the Alliance, became exceed
ipgly bitter against their old party,
and have managed to demoralize 1t.
Thus the Alliance has accomplished
In Kansas in q campaign Of thirty
DAYS what the Democrats could not
have accomplished in a campaign OF
thirty years. To the Republican farm
ers of Kansas the very name Demo
craft has been for more than twenty.
five years the synonym of rebel
"traitorn and "copperhead." 1t has
been the key to unlock the storehouse
of their sectional prejudices. 1t Is q
pity that this should be SO, and yet,
In discussing results, 1t constitutes q
fundamental fact that cannot be ignor-
ed.
The Alliance movements, however,
has served to divert these Republican
fdrlnersfrom their war memories and
their sectional prejudices, and they
have at last discovered, which is the
basis and strength of the alliance plat
form. is better suited to their condi-
ton, their hopes and their aspirations
than the bitterness and strife of Re
publican craftsmanship. Their point of
view was so changed that when Col.
Livingstone of Georgia, and Col. Polk
of North Carolina, Democratic Alliance
men, went into Kansas and took part
in the campaign, their speeches were
cheered to the echo, by audiences that
had for twenty-five years or more been
voting the Republican ticket straight
out and without deviation. The can
vass made by Messrs. Polk and Liv-
ingstone was necessarily brief, but
they crowded a good deal Of effective
work into the space Of few days, and
there can be no doubt that the speech
es they made did a great deal of good.
We have alluded to the amazing re-
suits in Kansas merely to show the
nature and extent of the Alliance
movement among the Republican
farmers In the West and North west.
1t shows beyond question that the
Alliance has q political m,issiOn In that
region. Its mission, and one that 1t is
carrying out with success that has no
parallel In the history of our politics,
Is to teach the Republican farmers to
think for themselves and to discuss
politics freely, fairly and unbiased by
sectional prejudices.
Some of our Democratic friends In
Georgia and elsewhere deem 1t to be
their duty to antagonize the Alliance
movement. 1t would be better for the
whole country, In our opinion, IL all
Democrats, especially Southern Demo
Gratis, would work in harmony with
the Alliance, and thus aid In redeem
ing the Republican farmers of the West
and Northwest from the evil effects of
a narrow and binding spirit of section
alism.