The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-03-14
PEOPLES PLATFORM
ADOPTED BIZ THE CONVENTION

At Omaha, Neb., July 4, 1892.
Corruption Dominates the
Ballot-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
arst 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 a nation
brought to the verge of moral, polit-
zeal and material ruin. Corruption
dominates the ballot box, the 1egis-
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
ellenced, business Frustrated, our
homes covered with mortgages, labor
impoverished, and the land concen-
lrating in the hands Of the capital
1ts. The urban workmen are de-
1ied the right of organization for
eelf-protection; imported pauperized
labor beats down their wages; a hire
ung army, unrecognized by our law,
y established to shoot them down
pnd they are rapidly degenerating
INTO European conditions. The
fruits Of the toll of millions are bod
lly stolen to build up colossal for
Sunes for few, unprecedented in
che history Of mankind, and the pos
SCISSORS of these in turn despise the
republic and endanger liberty. From
che same prolific womb of govern
mental injustice we breed the two
great claSSeS-trampS and million
Hires.
The national power to create mon
~ Is appropriated to enrich bond
holders; vast public debt, payable
y legal tender currency, has been
funded into gOld-bearing bonds,
thereby adding millions to the bur-
lens of the people.
Silver, which has been accepted as
Doin since the dawn Of history, has
been demonetized to add to the pur-
qhasing power of gold, by decreasing
She value of all forms of property as
we'll as human labor, and the supply
Of currency is purposely abridged to
htten usurers, bankrupt enterprise,
end enslave industry. A vast con-
Gpiracy against mankind has been or
6anized on two continents and it is
tapidly taking possession of the
world. II not met and OverthrOwn
ct once it forebodes terrible social
commissions, the destruction of civil
ixatiOn, or the establishment of an
absolute despotism. We have wit
messed for more than a quarter of a
century the struggles of the two
great political parties for power and
aunder, 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
enc. They propose to drown the out
eries of plundered people with the
uproar of a sham battle over the tar
II, so that capitalists, corporations,
national banks, rings, trusts, watered
stock, the characterization 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
honaiers. Assembled on the anniver-
Dary of the birthday Of the nation,
and filed with the spirit Of the grand
general in chief, who established
bur 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-
Dtitution, to form more perfect
1nion and establish Justice, insure
lemestic tranquility, provide for the
common QeIenSe, prOmOCe Ine GeneT'
n welfare, and secure the blessings
= liberty for ourselves and our pos
t4uty.
We declare that this republic can
Day endure as free government
While built upon the love of the
whole people for each other and for
ne 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 1T
must die with it, and that we must
- in fact, as we are in name, one
united brotherhood. Our country
lnds itself confronted by conditions
Tor which there is no precedent in
the history of the world. Our
annual AGRICULTURAL productions
amount &c billions dollars in
value, which must thin few
weeks or months De changed for
Billions of dollars of commodities
consumed in their prod cton; 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 impOve riShment of the prOduc-