The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1893-07-27
'NON-PARTISAN''
4 DEF NiTjON--THE DUTY or ALLIANCE.
MEN.
The PARTISAN SAYS, my PARTT
RIGHT OR WRONG"
The N"n-Partisan Says Amy Party fos
the Right

from the Virginia Sun. Let ever,
man who is or ever has been "A mem
Der Of the Alliance read it:
| This article contains a valuable
suggestion for the State Farmers
Alliance, and it is hoped that the
members Of that body will give il
their careful consideration. 1t is
| offered with the intention of restor-
ing the Alliance to that condition
Of usefulness and self-respect which
| mlsconceptlOn Of its possibilities
has largely forfeited Now. what
was the Farmers Alliance organ
lzed for? Quoting from the Decla-
ration of Purposes. the answer is:
10 bring about unity Of action
on the part of the laooring classes
| by educating them ''in the science
OF economic government in a strict
ly nonpartlsan spirit" Here are
two things, a nonpartisan education
and then united action. 1t was felt
that the interests of the people had
been neglected and trampled under
foot SIMPLY because the people were
blind and ignorant partisans, and
| therefore they must first be educated
| as to their true interests and then
urged TO united action, irrespective
| Of what this or that party might do
or say.
The programme was carried out.
The education in the science of
government proceeded apace, and it
was found that the depressed condi-
ton Of the wealth-producers was
due to the manipulation of the cir
culatlng medium by the money pow
er. Relief could only be had through
Legislation, restoring silver to the
| rights of free coinage which had
been surreptitiously torn from it,
and taking away from the national
banks the monopoly of issuing cur
| rency which the Constitution de-
clares is the sole prerogative of the
Federal Government.
1t followed that the fight had to
be made against the money power
and then it developed that both the
old parties were owned and controll-
ed by the money power. What was
to be done? The Alliance was
pledged to ''unity of action" for the
purpose Of securing financial relief
and yet whichever Of the old parties
1T returned to power, Wall street
was still on top. AT this juncture
the Peoples party came to the rescue.
1t said, "Here is party which is
neither owned nor controlled by
the money power, and which will give
you all your demands" What
ought the Alliance to have done?
Undoubtedly the only common sense
action was to accept the offer, and
throw all the united strength of the
organization into support of the
party which was expressly organ
lzatlOn into support of the party
which was expressly organized to its
bidding. But the Alliance did not
do this. 1t said, it was nonpar-
tisan organization and could not
support any party. 1t was fooled
into saying this by the Democratic
politicians who had failed to use the
the Order for their partisan purposes
because their party did not repre-
sent Alliance principles. But the
objection does not hold against a
party which does represent Alliance
principles, and it was the duty of
the Alliance to support the party
which was labOring to carry them
out.
The whole argument turns on the
meaning of the word, partisan.
What is a partisan? Every school
boy knows when it is applied to an
individual. A partisan is one who
stands by his party whether right or
wrongthat is the meaning Of parti;
san, that the only meaning. A nonpar-
tisan is one, therefore, who supports
a party when he thinks it right, and
and forsakes it when hc knows it
wrong. Ii, as our enemies would
have it, any man who votes with a
partyis a partisan. then very voter
IN the cOOntry would be partisan
and that we know is not the case.
Under our system of government
by party, voter is compelled to
vote with some party, but he does
not therefore become partisan. He
only becomes partisan when his
motto is my party, right or wrong.
He is a bipartisan whose motto is
ANY party for the right The po-
sition is utterly untenable that a
non-partisan has nothing to do with
party, because under that construc-
ton every citizen who exercised the
right Of suffrage would be a partisan.
1t is perfectly clear then, that man
may be non partisan supporter Of
a party, meaning thereby that he
supports the party because it repre-
sents his principles, and not simply
because it Is my PARITY
And what is true of an individual
is also true of an organization. The
Farmers Alliance, as an organiza-
ton, may support a political party
which represents its principles, and
still be non-partisan. | may sup
port a party, and not for the party's
sake, but for the purpose of securing
the enactment of its demands into
law. One year it may support one
party, and another year another
party, the essential condition being
that the party supported shall rep
resent its principles. This is the
meaning of "united action in a non
partisan spirit" and any other in
depreciation ignores the united ac-
ton" which the Farmers Alliance
'imperatively demands" in the very
first words of its Declaration of Pur-
poses.
To be consistent, therefore, the
State Farmers Alliance of Virginia
should declare its purpose to support
that political party which represents
its principles, while accords to
every member of the Order perfect
freedom to vote his individual
convictions. 1t should then become
permissible for any State officer.