The farmers' union., 1891-04-09
ABOUT A THIRD PARTY.
The Tendency of the Army of Unhappy
Citizens Is to Get Together.

No intelligent reader can follow the
drift Of the political news without being
impressed with the vitality of that sec
ton of organizers. loosely called the
third party. 1t is without common lead
crShip, but not without a common dis
urlietude as to the Industrial and eco
monte situation.
The organizations are many and ban
nerS variegated, but the heart and mind
of these mon are in unison upon the
essentials. The time that is to try
mems souls is again coming upon u.s.
not in the sense, however. spoken of by
the author of the famous ''CriSis," who
put that phrase in vogue century and
more ago. The appeal is not to arms
The battlefield is the convention hail,
the chamber of the legislature and the
hustings.
The leaders among the old particss- ee
that old issues are passing away, and
that the country is being sacrificed to
the privateering of selfish politicians
Time was when citizens went to the
polls to vote as they prayed, and fight as
they voted. Nowadays the rich sit in
their windows and review battalions of
workmen in uniforms bought with the
party campaign fluids.
Politics now largely means Il combina-
tion of voters pledged to protect certain
private interests. Patriotism is dying
at the seat of power. EX-Mayor Hart,
of Boston, is bold enough to see what all
this logically leads to. He exclaimed. at
recent gathering of republicans: 1--WE
need little bit of good old-fashioned
Methodist revival"
We need more; we need some kind of
political economy that will restore the
state of democracy in which the great
body of the people were well-to-do-
This must come, however, not as a
restoration, but as a reformation upon a
doctrine of economics and ethics that
makes the busines of the state the busi-
ness of the people, and the business Of
the people the business of the state.
In more states than one this reforma-
ton is taking form. special dispatch
from Washington contains some mutter-
ings from the great vest
The two foremost leaders of the Kan
sas Farmers alliance, Senator PETER
and Congressman Simpson are both in
favor of the organization of new po-
ltcal party under the auspices of the
alliance. 1t is important that this fact
should be duly considered, and also the
other points, that the two Kansas femi-
nine boomers of the alliance, Mrs. Lease
and Mrs. briggs, take the same ground.
The influence of these four leaders is
very great.
Senator Kyle, of South Dakota, has
taken ground in favor of the new party.
81 stand" he says, ''upon the triple
plank platform adopted at ST. Louis by
the alliance and the labor organizations,
| and shall uphold the course that is taken
in Cincinnati"
President Gompers, of the Federation
of Labor. says: The Federation favors
| measures, not parties. We are in poll
| ties only upon measures. We are not
committed to party movements, but we
favor all aggressive measures and sup
port those who support our measures. y
These leaders and many others look
upon the naturalization of natural mon
opoles as the ultimate outcome Of the
present situation in this Countrywide
Ne,r Nation.
FREE coinage of silver was in practice
in this country from 1893 to 1873, and
there was never word uttered against
the silver dollar until the money power
began to feel that it was greater and
stronger than the government, when it
commenced to attack and did succeed in
demonetizing it. Ii the government
should again get into the control of the
people, and every mothers son of these
conspirators should be incontinently
| kicked out of power and all their repre-
sentatives squclched, it would no longer
rear its crest of cffrontery to try to
| manipulate everything to make the rich
richer and the poor poorer Atgta,na
alliance Herald,