People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1894-09-28
A Word to POpuIists.

| NJ HO UllllO III Ulc ulSUUll VI hdllco
has an election been of so great i'm
pOrtance nor of such vast significance
as its results affect the interests o
the masses of the common people,
mean the great labOring class, thu
wealth producers of the state, as thu
one to take place this fall.
Do you POpulists, you farmers. you
mechanics. you laborers of all classes
understand and fully realize this a.
you ought to? If you do not, let me
say to you. it is high time you begaT
to think it over and think seriOusl!
too. If you do not realize that the
pending contest this fall is of faI
more importance to our beloved state
than any election since 1860, then lei
me say to you in all earnestneSs, that
is high time you draw on your think
ing cap, put on your political eye
glasses, and take very careful view
of the situation as it now opens before
you, for it is worthy of your most care
full study.
If you do not know, you surely ought
to, that the eyes of all the labOrers
the wealth producers, nay, the cor
pOrations, the combines, the trusts
nay, the eyes of the great dragon, plu.
tOcracy, the power behind the throne
are all turned to Kansas and are
watching with intense interest the
great battle for human liberty. as it is
being vigorously waged all over Oul
beloved state, and your action this
year at the polls, let me say, will, in
my opinion, forever decide the great
question, whether you and your chill.
dren and your children's children shall
be free men, or whether they and you
shall continue for ceaSeless genera
tiOns to be the willing slaves of the
money power of the world
This is no child's play, no idle song.
1t is the plain, unyarnished truth.
care not what the old party press may
say. | am not pandering to their
ideas, opinions, notions or wishes. 1t
is the naked. plain truth that | wish
to impress on my cOuntrymen and in
duce them, if possible, by united ac-
ton, to avert the dire calamitieS.
which must inevitably fall upon our
beloved land unless the people rise in
their might and power and forever
hurl the demon, plutOcracy, from our
land and nation.
What, | ask you, are the cOundi-
tiOns tnat confront us today? They
are before you. You cannot plead ig-
norance at the ballot box and say you
did not know the facts and conditions
as they exist before your eyes. Let us
notice these conditions.
Millions of your fellOwmen. through
out the length and breadth of the
land, are today living in enfOred idle
ness through the vicious legislation of
the last thirty years, mainly on the
financial question. Hunger and star
walton stare hundreds of thousands in
the face, even in the midst of plenty.
The homes of tens of thousands of
Woodworking farmers all over our
land are being remOrselessly wrenChed
from them daily by the greedy, I'M
feeling, inhuman money power and
the tOilers driven out into a cold
hearted world to seek home and be-
gin life anew, or if permitted by the
grace of their masters to stay on the
lands as mere tenants, they are allowed
a bare pittance, hardly enough to
keep soul and body of self, wife and
children together. Not only this. hut
in all our great factories and mines.
those who produce the wealth are
forced to work for half pay, while their
little ones are half fed, half clothed
and uneducated, a fit system for breed
ing criminals.
These are not idle sayings, but are
verified by the statistics of the cOun-
try. Nor are these all. But great
God, are they not enough to stir emo,
lions Of every true patriot Il care not
to what party he belongs and make his
blood boil with Indignation? In view
OF these facts do you not know that if.
through Indifference or neglect of
duty, We fail, the world will point the
finger of scOrn at us and say: There
she is. Kansas, where the cradle of
liberty was rocked; where Populism
was born, where the great reform was
first preached, there she is. Look at
her. All her financial ideas of reform
scattered to the wind"
Failure on our part insureS the sue
cess of the money power. Millions of
tOilerS today have their eyes turned
to the Peoples party, which has prom
iSed so much for them. They begin to
see light dawning. Shall they be dis
appointed? The money power, with
all its tools, looks upon our movement
with terror. They realize that it is
worth more to 50 per cent of Ameri-
cans, both white and cOlored. than all
the results of the great move which
freed the slaves thirty years ago. for
they know it means their eternal de-
| want to tell you that if we fail in
Kansas this year this plutOcracy will
60 on drawind their chains as thev
have done in the past until the sun of
American liberty will set in darkness
forever.
In conclusion, let ME entreat you
not to sleep any longer, but awake.
lots in November, forever Danish the
enemy of human liberty from our fair
land. Will you do it? D. T. ROSE.