The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1891-07-10

at which the whole subject of adopting
an active, independent political policy
should be considered. Master Workman
Powderly and all the members of the
executive board of the Knights of Labor
went to Ocala to urge the Alliance to CO
operate in the matter.
The independent movement received
enthusiastic support from the delegates tc
! the Colored Alliance convention, which
was in session in Ocala the same week
| that the white Alliance convened there
The colored and white Alliances mel
one evening in open session, and the
leaders of both parties made speeches al
most exclusively on political subjects.
The meeting developed into red hot
third party rally. The negroes en-.
Enthusiastically prophesied that in the
spring of 1898 an Alliance president
would be installed in the White House.
They declaimed in most sanguine terms
about the overwhelming sweep of the
Alliance party, which they were sure
was going to carry everything before it
In 1892. The responses of the white
Alliance men were in the same line.
Every speaker seemed to regard it as a
foregone conclusion that new party
would be in the field within year.
Democratic and Republican politicians
were impartially denounced.
Delegate Barbee, o veteran Virginian.
declared that the blacks and whites of
the south had been told for twenty-five
years that hens could be made to Law
boiled eggs by pouring hot water down
their throats, and it was time to learn
that the politicians were selfish liars.
Ralph Beaumont. for the Knights of
Labor, made an emphatic third party
speech. Congressman Horr, he said, had
told the people of Michigan that they
ought to raise more corn and less hell.
but when he (Beaumont) reached Kan
sas in October and found corn selling at
fourteen cents a bushel, he advised the
people to raise more hell and less corn.
The Kansas delegation shouted in re-
sponse that they had faithfully followed
the advice.
Colonel L. F. Livingston, of Georgia,
was the mainstay of the opposition to
the third party movement, and he is a
host in himself. His position represents
that of many of his southern associates.
He said:
eve believe in the south that when
the existing parties find out our real
strength they will, yield our demands
without fight No, grant l cannot
imagine situation in which the Repub-
ican party could win the southern ALI
ance vote. can understand how the
Democratic party, with it's policy of low
taxes and the adoption of our principles
in other respects, could get our support.
The Democratic party has been changing
rapidly in regard to the issue which we
bring forward. The Fifty-second con-
gress will be much nearer to us than the
one now sitting. The Democratic party
will be on trial in that congress. AS far
as the Alliance is concerned we stand
just where Jefferson and Webster and
Calhoun and Lincoln and Seward stood.
Lincoln was as much opposed to monopo-
lies as the Alliance is today. We do not
hope to break down either party, but we
do hope that one or both parties will see
the necessity of coming to our relief, I
believe the Democratic platform of 1899
will contain all that is in our st. Louis
platform"
The attitude of some of the southern
delegates showed that they were still
Democrats first and Alliance men after
ward. They were emphatically opposed
to committing the Alliance to q third
party movement, but they had. no OBJ
jections to the organization of q third
party in the Republican northwest.
There was some mighty shrewd politics
in their analysis of the situation. One
frank Mississippian said to me toward
the close of the conventions:
'Yes, if our Republican Alliance
brothers in the northwest want to form
a third party at Cincinnati we have no
objections. We shall be glad to see them
do it, but it will not be supported by the
white Alliance men of the south. We
shall go to Cincinnati to see what hap
pens there, but we shall not send dele
gates from the southern state Alliances.
That would be carrying it too far. If we
should do that we might start whirl-
wind that we couldn't ride.
"If the northwest organizes a third
party the Republican party will never be
able to reclaim the deserters. 1t is al
ways the history of such movements that
party has no enemies SO bitter as those
who have just left its ranks. Take Gen
erai Rice's speech in denunciation of the
Republican party before this convention
the other day. never heard anything
so fierce. If we succeed by third party
movement in smashing the Republican
party in few of its strongholds there
can be no doubt about the election of a
Democratic president in 1892. Perhaps
he would be elected by the house of rep
resentatives, but even in that case there
would be no possibility of Republican
success"
On the other hand, the third party
leaders were quite as shrewd in holding
the southerners up to the most radical
provisions of the Alliance platform in
order to prevent any concessions which
might lead to coalition with the Demo-
cratic party. There is no Disgusting the
fact that third party sentiment grew
stronger every day at Ocala. When
finally convinced that it would be un-
wise to try to commit either the white
or the colored Alliance to the movement
the leaders decided to issue call for a
third party convention, which should be
signed by delegates as individuals from
all the organizations represented at Oc-
ala. The call was prepared by General
]. II. Rice, of Kansas, and @. A. Power,
of Indiana, representing the Citizens
TnA. u