The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1893-04-19
PEOPLES PLATFORM
ADOPTED BY THE CONVENTION
At Omaha, Neb., July 4, 1903.
Corruption Dominates the
BallOt-BOx, the Legisla-
lures, Congress.

DeCldrdt1On OF independence, tEe
Peoples party of America, in their
first national convention, invoking
upon their actions the blessing of
Almighty 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-
ical 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 COM
PEELED to isolate the voters
at the polling places to prevent
universal intimidation or bribery.
The newspapers are largely sub
sidized or muzzled, public opinion
silenced, business Frustrated, our
homes covered with mortgages,
labor impoverished, and the land
concentrating in the hand of the
capitalists. The urban workmen
are denied the right of organization
for protection; imported pau
perized labor beats down their
wages; hireling army, unrecog-
nized by our law, is established to
shoot them down, and they are rap
idly degenerating into European
conditions. The fruits of the toll
of millions are bodily stolen 10 build
up colossal fortunes for a few, I'M
precedented in the history of man.
kind, and the possessors of these in
turn despise the republic and en-
danger liberty. From the same
prolific womb of governmental in
justice we breed the two great
classes-tramps and millionaires
The national power to create
money is appropriated to enrich
bondholders; a vast public debt,
payable in legal tender currency,
has been funded into gold bearing
bonds, thereby adding millions to
the burdens of the people.
Silver. which has been accepted
as coin since the dawn of history,
has been demomonetized 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
Insurers, bankrupt enterprise,
and enslave industry. A vast
conspiracy against mankind has
been organized on two continents
and it is rapidly taking possession
of the world. If not met and over
thrown at once it forebodes terrible
social commissions, the destruction
of civilization, or the esta blishment
of an absolute despotism. We have
witnessed 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 suffer
ing people. 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
outcries of plundered people with
ne uproar of a sham battle over
~ tariff, so that capitalists, cor
porations, national banks, rings,
trusts, watered stock, the demone-
tization of silver, and the oppres-
sions of the usurers may all be lost
sight of. They propose to sacrifice
our homes, lives and children on
the altar of mammon; to de-
stroy the multitude in order
to secure corruption funds
from the millionaires. Assembled
on the anniversary of the birthday
of the nation, and filed with the
spirit of the grand general 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 constitution, to form
more perfect union and establish
justice, insure domestic tranquility,
provide for the common defense,
promote the general welfare, and
secure the blessings of liberty for
ourselves and our posterity.
We declare that this republic can
only endure as a free government
while built upon the love of the
whole people for each other and for
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, aswe 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
a few weeks or months be ex-
changed for billions of dollars
of commodities consumed in
their production; the exist
ing currency supply is wholly made
quate to make this exchange The
results are falling prices, the forma-
tion of combines and rings, the i'm
poverishment of the producing
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
governmental other words, of the
people-should be expanded las in
the case of the postal service) as
rapidly as far as the good sense of
an intelligent people and the teach
ings of experience shall Justify to
the end that oppression, injustice
and poverty shall eventually cease
in the land