Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1891-06-24
The PeODIe'S Party.

AS to this third party, christened at Gin
cinnati with impressive ceremony The Peo-
pie's Party, newspaper comments have
been very amusing. Our contemporaries
seem to be in doubt whether the youngling
is boy or girl OR an hermaphrodite;
whether it will die before it cuts its teeth,
or is destined to grow strong and to raise
havoc with existing political organizations;
whether it means good deal Or nothing at
all.
Well, The peoples party is not made up
of craDks, but of fair-minded citizens who
feel discontinued with the present order OF
things, and who have, therefore, as good a
right to speak as the rest or the best of us.
II any class in the community think they
are being crowded to the wall by current
legislation, or that they suffer unnecessary
hardships, or that for any reason they are
not permitted to sha.e in the general pros
perity Of the country, it is their privilege
and duty to appeal to either CT the great
political organizations, or to both of them,
and demand their assistance to straighten
out whatever is crooked.
We are not SO much interested in wb. Il
the peoples party may be able practical 7
to accomplish during the coming campaian,
or in what they will try to do, or, better
still, in what they think ought to be done.
II it be true that the laws passed by Con
gress are unduly favorable to any one class
or that they bear with undue severity on
any other class, it is a very serious matter,
and those who are bearing this burden
very properly raise clamor and call the
attention of the public to the facts.
For example, if the farmer is convinced
that under the present regime he is forced
to buy at high price and sell for what he
can get; if he sees that Congress has
thrown the cherry to the capitalist and the
pit to the tiller of the soil; that it en-
coursges the one to make a million and
compels the other to mortgage his holding,
we cannot blame him for kicking. Under
like circumstances we also should kick and
as vigorously as our muscles permitted. Or
i the l..boriDg man WIEN he pays Biz bl'ls
on Saturday night discovs that the
charges are higher than ever before, but
that he has only the same amount of money
to buy with, it is natural that he should in.
quire the reason therefor. And when he
learns that he must work little harder or
little longer to support his family in order
that the extra price msyfall into the Golfers
of syndicate or monopoly he, too, is justi
fed IN kicking. This is the laborer's
country. He helps to support the govern
ment and is expected to die on the field of
battle whenever the flag is in danger. If
he is called upon in war should he not be
protected in peace? Why should he grow
poorer while a few are growing richer?
Why shouldn't our laws be impartial and
offer equal advantages to all?
Without doubt some of the schemes of
the peoples party are impractical and i'm
practicable. We may 60 further than that
and say that they are unwise and wild: not
at all in accordance with sound political
economy. But all these things will right
themselves in time. The members will
learn by and by that the best way to do a
good DAYS work is to do one thing at a
time. They have made their protest, and
made it vigorously, as though they were i'll
earnest. All right; we can trust men who
are in earnest.
The first thing to be done is to decide
whether We can stand this high tariff