People's party paper. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1891-1898, 1893-12-15
PEOPLES PARTY PLATFORM.
Adopted at The Omaha Conference Of
LabOring People, July 1, 1892.

Assembled upon the one hundred and
sixteenth anniversary of the declaration
of independence, the Peoples party of
America, in their first national conven-
ton, invoking upon their action the
blessing of Almighty God, puts forth in
the name and on behalf of the people of
this country, the following preamble and
declaration of principles
The conditions which surround us best
justify our cooperation. We meet in
the midst Of nation brought to the
verge of moral, political and material
ruin. Corruption dominates the ballot
box, the legislatures, the congress, and
touches even the ermine of the bench
The people are demoralized. Most of
the States have been compelled to isolate
the voters at the polling places to pre-
vent universal intimidation or Lribery
The newspapers are largely subsidized or
muzzled, public opinion silenced, bust
ness FRUSTRATED our homes covered with
mortgages, labor Impoverished, and the
land concentrating III the hands of the
capitalists, The urban workmen are de-
MED the right of organization for self
protection imported pauperized labor
beats down their wages hireling
standing army, unrecognizad by our
laws, is established to shoot them down,
| and they are rapidly degeEerating into
European conditions. The fruits of the
toll of millions are boldly stolen to build
up colossal fortunes for few, unprece-
| denied in the history of mankind and
the possessors of these, Ill turn, despise
the republic and endanger liberty. From
the same prolific mode of governmental
injustice we breed the two great cla5-
ses-tramps and millionaires.
The national power to create money is
appropriated to enrich bondholders. A
vast public debt payable in legal tender
| bearing bonds, thereby adding millions
to the burdens of the people.
THE OLD PARTIES ARRAIGNED.
Silver which has been accepted as
coin since the dawn of history, has been
demonetized to add to the purchasing
| power of gold by decreasing the value OF
all forms of property, as well as human
| labor, and the supply of currency is pur-
| posely abridged to fatten usurers, bank
rupt enterprises and enslave industry. A
! vast conspiracy against mankind has
| been organized on two continents and is
rapidly taking possession of the world.
! If not met and overthrown at once it
! forebodes terrible social commissions, the
| destruction OF civilization, or the estab-
llshment of an absolute desDotism.
| We have witnessed for more than a
century the struggles Of the two great
political parties for power and plumber,
while grievous wrongs have been in
fiicted upon the suffering people. We
! charge that the controlling influences
dominating both these parties have per-
mitted the exisiug dreadful conditions to
develop without serious effort to prevent
or restrain them. Neither do they now
| promise lis any substantial reform. They
have agreed together to ignore in the
coming campaign every issue but one.
| They propose to drown the outories OF
| piundered people with the uproar of a
sham battle over the trriff, so that CAPT.
| tahsts, corporations, national banks
| rings, trusts, watered stock, the demone
! tization of silver and the expressions Of
| the usurers may all be lost sight of
They propose to sacrifice our homes
wives and children on the altar of Nam
mon; to destroy the multitude in order
to secure corruption fuads from the mil
| h0naires.
Assembled on the anniversary of the
birthday of the nation. and filed with
the spirit of the grand generation who
established our independence, we seek tc
restore the government of the republic
to the hands of ''the plain people, with
which class it originated.
| THE WAR TS QNEp