Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1894-12-28
A BAD BREAK.
CONTINUED FROM FIRST PAGE


free silver, that manhood and womanhood are
of less consequence than silver dollars, so long
this tenting in hostile camps will continue.
Whenever Mrs. Lease and other reformers are
ready for a union on a real reform PLATFORM
that recognizes manhood and womanhood as
matters of supreme and not secondary import
ance, we venture the assertion that the Prohl-
bitionists will be found ready. And the matter
of a new name will be no bar to the union. !"
1t seems that the Voice would question Mrs.
Leases sincerity in her expressed desire for
union of reformers, yet, she is sincere, and she
is not alone in that wish, either, for many OF
our leaders and number of our papers are do
ing all they can to accomplish the union.
s.
The Voice says the Populists are afraid to
denounce the saloon, and that the Prohibition
lists are not afraid to denounce the sin and curse
of usury, and to put it in their platform. We
greatly regret that the Populists do not severely
denounce the saloon in our platform, but we
know that very large majority of the members
of the Populist party are in favor of the utter
humiliation of the saloon. However, we are
of the opinion that it is fully as consistent to
remain silent OH the subject as it would be for
the convention to place rabld anti-saloon
plank in the platform, and then have the ex-
ecutive committee issue an address in which the
people are told that the plank doesn't mean any
thing The Prohibition convention, for in
stance, denounced usury in the platform, and
now the executive committee tells us Gin effect)
that the plank means nothing; that all other
questions dwindle into nothingness as compared
with the saloon question. We do not entertain
a doubt that very large portion of the Prohi-
bition party fully endorse the anti-usury and
kindred planks but that cuts no figure, for, did
not the executive committee say the party didn't
mean it? We are very glad to know that the
Voice, while seemingly the organ OF the execu-
tive committee, does not voice the sentiment of
the party, and we rejoice that the Prohibition
lists have a number of broad-gauged, progress
i've papers, among them the New Era, Spring
field, Ohio; the Kansas Lever, Ottawa; the
New Republic, Lincoln, Neb., and others we
might mention. All of these are published by
men who can see other evils besides the saloon:
men who earnestly desire the union of the re-
form forces of this country.
-
Elsewhere we print letter written by Van
Bennett, of Kansas, to the Prohibition Advo-
cate, of Baltimore, Md.-another broad-gauged
paper by the way~which "gives forth no I'M
certain sound along the line of union. We
might mention other leading Prohibitionists
who are honestly and earnestly endeavoring to
bring about union of forces, and we could
name many Populists who are working as ear
nestly for the same thing; but, there are Prohi-
bitionist 'Teaders" who are under the thumb of
Wall street manipulators and the Standard Oil
Company, and there are Populists of the Schil-
ling stripe, who always fight any opposition to
the saloon. The chances are that the opposi-
ton of these forces to any movement toward a
union of the two parties will prevent such a
union, but their blindness will cause division
in both parties and the organization of an en-
tirely new party which will draw largely from
both old parties, taking in many thousands who
are, to-day, prejudiced against both the Populist
and Prohibition parties, but who are, as they
say, "only waiting for the right party to come
along" Union is coming-if not in one form,
then in another. Get ready for it.
What is the use of holding conventions and
congresses and appointing currency commissions
IL