The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1893-09-20
PEOPLES PLATFORM
ADOPTED BY THE CONVENTION
At Omaha, Neb., July 4, 1892.
Corruption Dominates the
Ball0t-Box, the Legisla.
lures, Congress.

Assembled upon the one hundred
and sixteenth anniversary of the
Declaration of Independence, the
peoples party Of America, in their
first national convention, invoking
upon their action the blessing of AL
mighty God, puts forth in the name
and on behalf of the people of the
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, pOlit-
lcal and material ruin. Corruption
dominates the ballot box. the legis-
latureS, the congress, and touches
even the ermine on the bench. The
people are demOraliZed: most of the
states have been compelled to isolate
the voters at the polling places to
prevent universal intimidation or
bribery. The newspapers are largely
subsidized or muzzled public opinion
silenced, business Frustrated, our
homes covered with mortgages, labor
impoverished, and the land cOncen-
trating in the hands of the capital
lists. The urban wOrkmen are de-
MED the right Of organization for
self-protection; imported pauperized
labor beats down their wages; a hire
ling army, unrecognized by our law,
is established to shoot them down
and they are rapidly degenera ting
into European conditions. The
fruits of the toll of millions are bod
lily stolen to build up colossal for
tunes for few, unprecedented in
the history of mankind, and the pos
SCISSORS of these in turn deSpiSe the
republic and endanger liberty. From
the same prolific womb of govern
mental injustice we breed the two
great claSSeS-trampS and million
aires.
The national power to create mon
ey is appropriated to enrich bond
holders; a vast public debt, payable
in legal tender currency, has been
funded into gold-bearing bonds,
thereby adding millions to the bur
dens of the people.
Silver, which has been accepted as
coin since the dawn of history, has
been demonetiZed to add to the pur-
chasing power of gold, by decreasing
the value of all forms of property as
well as human labor, and the supply
of currency is purpoSely abridged to
fatten uSurerS, bankrupt enterprise,
and enslave industry. A vast con-
spiracy against mankind has been Or
gained on two continents and it is
rapidly taking possession of the
world. If not met and overthrown
at once it forebodes terrible social
commissions, the destruction of civil
iZatiOn, or the eSta bliShment of an
absolute deSpotism We have wit
messed for more than a quarter of
century the struggles of the two
great political parties for power and
plumber, while grievous wrongs have
been inflicted upon the suffering peo-
pie. We charge that the controlling
influences dominating both these
parties have permitted the existing
dreadful conditions to develop,
without serious effort to prevent or
restrain them.
Neither do they now promise us
any substantial reform. They have
agreed together to ignore, in the
coming campaign, every issue but
one. They propose to drown the out
cries of plundered people with the
uproar of sham battle over the tar
III, so that capitalists, corporations,
national banks, rings, trusts, watered
stock, the demonstration Of silver,
and the expressions of the usurers
may all be lost sight of. They pro-
pose to sacrifice our homes, lives and
children on the altar of mammOn; to
destroy the multitude in order to Sc
cure corruption funds from the mil
ionaiers. Assembled on the anniver-
sary of the birthday of the nation,
and filled with the spirit of the grand
general in chief, who established
our independence, we seek to restore
the government of the republic to
the hands of "the plain people,"
with whose class it originated. We
assert our purposes to be Identical
with the purpose of the national con-
stitution, to form more perfect
union and establish justice, insure
domestic tranquility, provide for the
common defense, promote the gener-
al welfare, and secure the blessings
of liberty for ourselves and our pos
terity.
We declare that this republic can
only endure as a free government
while built upon the love of the
WuOIt ptOplc IOI cdCu OUIIcI anu 1OI
the nation; that it cannot be pinned
together by bayonets, that the civil
war is over and that every passion
and resentment which grew out of it
must die with it, and that we must
be in fact, as we are in name, one
united brotherhood. Our country
finds itself confronted by conditions
for which there is no precedent in
the history of the world. Our
annual agricultural productions
amount to billions of dollars in
value, which must within few
weeks or months be exchanged for
billions of dollars of commodities
consumed in their productions; the ex-
listing currency supply is wholly in
adequate to make this exchange.
The results are falling prices, the
formation of combines and rings,
the impoverishment Of the prOduc-
ing class. We pledge ourselves that
if given power we will labor to cor
rect these evils by wise and reason
able legislation in accordance with
the terms of our platform.
We believe that the powers of gov
ornmont-in Othor words Of tho nQO-