The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1892-04-14
THE THIRD PARTY.
CONGRESSMAN MOSES ON THE ST.
LOUIS CONVENTION.

WAsIIINGTON, j.. G., March so, 1892.
Editor SO1tthcIh INjunrc TurMcr:
a great many Ai:iauCc,nrn in Gcor-
gia have requested me, ,,s one OF the
delegates, 10 make 4 report o. what was
done at the 81. LOUIS cO!iC,euCc. The
other two members Of the delegation,
Messrs. Wilson and Pa!uicl. also asked
me to make 'tut2mcnt. Please allow
me TO comply Wj!h thcsc requests,
through She columns - thcir eli .iai
organ.
AS ia !hiui rcNrcscula'i live, il is my
duty to make y tIuc slatcl'>u; Of tAe
facts, ard thcrc my responsibility. ends,
and that Of The people be2iGG.
No one, / trust, will deem it NY duty
i'll this conncctlun to notice The brutal
attacks that have hecn made upon Inc,
malciously or through iynor;tt &C.
was elected a delegate to s.. Louis
without my knon edge. Before agree
Ing 10 accept the commission, | was as
sured by tic officials of the State ALL
ance that the conference would have no
authority to formulate platform or to
take any political action that would
be binding upon The Alliance. The
original guarantee made TO every men,
Der joining the order was that the ALI
ance was not political party. and
would not undertake to control any
MEMBERS political or religious opinions.
When the "ieform Irress" BEGAN TO as.
sert that the organization would be COM
mi,ttd to a political party at the con-
ference, The presidents Of the several
State Alliances met as IN advisory COM
mittee IN Washington and denied the
tu Ni 1 ,frn
action.
When VIC arrived IN st. Louis We
learned th1t the rCprcae natives of the
Peoples Party had been on the ground
two days working and plotting to cap
, tule the conference. Post, Branch and
Ellington were there representing Eeor-
gia. 1t was apparent to one circhlat-
ing among the delegates az tho hotels
that the Third parIyites had but little
oppositiols except from the Southern
Alliances 1',tnd the Southern delegates
did finally force them TO adjourn the
conference without directly endorsing
the Peoplc's Party. | listened to the
dlscussicEs among the delegates at the
various hotels. The thought upper
most in tic minds Of these "non-partl-
sans" seemed to be how to DESTROY the
Democratic party, ald how TO build ~
the so-callcd Peoples Party. 10 do
this, 1t was conceded d that the solid South
must be olien. Georgia WAS regarded
as the strategic point. One enth;:sia
IL delegate expressed il in this way:
1--WE have an entering wedge in Gcor-
gia, we Will break The back of the damn
Democracy i'll that State, and other
States will follow" We shall sec how
this plot to stitlc the voice of Georgia
was carrie Il out.
The conference met at the appointed
hour. IL WAS composed Of about six
hundred men and womcn; 1t had been
arranged by the "n.ana%ersn that the
llrst thln% On thc program " )u!d be
Ihlrd parly speeches from Po,k, Pow
derly and DonncllY. These speeches
were delivered and wildly applaudcd.
"A temporary chairman Wa3 Gle tied and
Committee on Credentials appointed.
This committee consisted of three from
each organization. Conference adjourn
ca 10 give commitllc time to report.
TUESDAY morning the committee
brought III the following report, placing
the representation as follows:
N. +. A. and L. u. PIC; +. NJ. y. A.,
So; knights OF Labor. 50; National
Farmers Alliance, 10; National Citi-
zens' Alliance, rs; Cclorcd Farmers
Alhance, 81; National Citizens Indus
trial Alliance, 25; Patrons Of Industry,
70; Patrons Of Uusbandry, 25; Reform
Press, rs; Michigan Union Conference,
rs; Order OF Anti-Monopolists, IS; AS
eociatlon of MachDists, 25; Intcrnation-
al Wlrcworkers, %; Nine Workers of
Ohio, 25; various minor organizations.
SO; total number votes, $50,
The committee reported that there
was contest over the delegation from
Georgia, upon wl,:ch they would report
later. Alter considerable delay we
were ailo" cd 70 30 before this commit
tee.
Ellington, Of tic Clhzens' Alliance,
alGt9 ss%TfelGGQI il. TO cur surprise,
we WefoNmentlt there was 20 contest
over our s,sOd a.N office, however, that
we had not beemIsl!owed to participate
in the election Of officers because Of q
contest. Messrs. Post and kemn
claiming TO represent Congressional dis
trlcts, asked TO be allowed to Gll The
!"o vacancies caused by the absence Of
Messrs. Calvin and Bell, the accredited
delegates. We agreed in The commit
tee TO this arrangement, with the under
standing that they should be bound by
the instructions given TO The absent
members, to vote "as q unit.n They
were seated without such instructions.
AS finally determined, tie rcprescr-
tation of Georgia was as folIowa:
Colored Farmers Alliance, rcprc-
sented by j. l.. Gilmore, II votes; Cit
lzens, Alliance, represented by Eilinr.
ton, Branch and Parker, 3 votes; Tpor-
Ola Farmers Alliance, represented bv
Wilson, Palmer, Moses, post and
Kemp, 5 votes; $ atc.at.lar.c. Prcsi.
dent LhVlngs one, vote.
This delegation met aud elected G..
Z. tost a member Of the pja, form com.
mlttee Tor Georgia. We entered om
protest On the ground that the represcn.
laton was unfair, and served notice on
the majority of The delegation. that
while we would makeno further liybt N
the convention, we would not hold our-
selves as bound by any action taken.
Whlle tho convention wa. waiting for
tho report OF the committee on platform.
motion was made and carried that tbo