The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-06-04
THE THIRD PARTY in THE
SADDLE.

Senator PETER of Kansas, who declares
that be is a modern Moses, created for the
purpose of leading the American people
out of the house of bondage, informs the
public that the party to which he belongs
is furnishing its amor ana sharpening its
weapons for the Presidential contest of
1896. The Senator says that as the new
political baby was born in Kansas, 1t be-
longs to Kansas to chrisfen it, and as he
disapproveS of she name Pnpulist, he pro-
poses to baptZa the interesting little
stranger by the name of National. That
is very good name and sounds well in
the mouth. Twice before politicians have
recognized its merits by adopting it as a
second name. For two or three genera
tons the Democra called themselves
National Democrats and the Republicans
still adhere to the title of National Repub-
licans.
But the adage about the rose will re-
mind the Senator that political parties owe
less to their name than to their fragrance
1t Is not the name they go by, but the
principles they profess which attract or
repel voting constituencies, and the Sena
tor and his friends ale strangely silent on
the subject of their principles. The only
for the leadership If the new party is
Governor Lewel!yn of Kansas. He laid
down the platform of his party in these
words:
The struggle for supremacy to-day is be-
tween The masses and The classes. Business,
home and personal integrity are trembling 10
the face of possible want In the family. Our
hearts have ached because of evictions under
the Irish tenant laws, but hundreds of out own
families are made homeless every year by the
foreclosure laws Of Kansas; and thus the power
which freed the African is forcing into the same
crucble the sons and daughters OF our own
blood.
This is very fine. quite impressive; but
what does it amount 10 when it is boiled
down, skinned and set out to cool?
Everybody is or pretends to be in favor of
The masses and against the classes. No
body ever asks constituency to elect him
because he represents the classes. What
everybody wants to know is how the power
of the classes can be circumscrl bed, and on
that, it will be noted, Governor Lewellyn
throws no light. His only allu sion to every
day matters is denuneiaton of the fore
closure laws of Kansas, which enable
creditors to collect money from their
debtors. This sugge stion has too strong
flavor of Jack Cade about it to commend
itself to the support OF mercantile people
The trouble with the third pariy-be it
called Populist or National-is that it has
no well-deined principles. II has never
set forth platform On which a reasonable
man could stand. Some OF Its planks,
which arraign the existing parties for
errors of omission or commission, are COM
mendabie enough, but political party
cannot stand on string of negatives. 1t
must have some positive policy of its own
which IL can in vlte the people to support.
Thus far the Populists have proclaimed
no such policy.
1t cannot be assumed that they will
never have one. We have not reached
finality in political science, Reforms
which are only dreamed of by few will
presently come to the surface and become
living issues. on which people will divide
according to their intelligence. But the
evolution of such novelties in opinion is
slow. The mass of mankind Is conserya-
tive, averse to change. distrustful of ex-
pertinent. A third party seeking to obtain
control of the Government will have to ad-
dress very powerful arguments indeed to
tempt voters to desert their present party
affiliations. 1t certainly will be in no
condition 10 do so in 1896. For the present
Senator PETER had better ouench his
appetite for the Presidency and devote his
time TO delivering that famous lecture of
his on the coming millennium at $50 lee
ture