Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1894-08-02
Political Vagaries.


past four years has earned for the
State the reputation Of being the
home Of political vagaries Of every
Imaginable kind and variety. 1t has
gone abroad over the nation and even
into the lands beyond the ocean that
here on the prairies is class Of peo-
pie whose ideas on political methods
are warped out Of semblance to any
thing in heaven above, the earth
beneath or the waters under the
earth. People have looked on the
State as having no substantial basis
nor substantial ideas for its plans for
government.
This sort OF idiosyncrasy has grown
out Of the rise and development Of
Of the Peoples Party and the wild
utterances Of Its self-constituted hair
Drained leaders.
From the old farmers alliance days
when the sub-treasury plan and the
alliance stores (now alas, gone into
oblivion, never more to reappear)
were in their glory down to the pres
ent Populist State platform with its
straddling insincere planks, with its
tumble Of fiat money, equal suffrage
and anita. P. A. ism the party has
been party Of political vagaries and
the wheels in the heads of its leaders
have been numerous and badly con-
structed.
There has never, it is safe to say,
been sensible political idea put
forth by the Peoples Party Of Kansas.
There has never been a sensible pro-
ject for government been made part
OF its doctrine either past or present.
Take the sub-treasury plan for in
stance. When it was advocated (often
no doubt in good faith by many Of
|
the farmers Of the State) every man
who had made a study of the subject
showed conclusively that there was
not possible any such system as was
proposed. There were dangers to
the government and to business in
the scheme. But the leaders made
it an issue Of the campaign and what
became Of itp 1t, too, has sunk
toward bottomless oblivion and no
Populist is today SO ignorant as to
advocate it, On all sides it is laugh
ed at as the chimcrical device Of an
idle dreamer.
Take the alliance store idea, There
were many who thought that by
combination of farmers and the buy
ing OF all supplies in common great
saving could be effected over the
competitive prices Of the stores of
town So stock companies were
formed and hundreds Of farmers put
their hard earned wealth into the new
institutions. But it was soon found
that it took training to run a store
successfully and dozens of these ALI
ance stores went down taking with
them the cash OF their investors. Now
where can you find Peoples Party
man who advocates alliance storcsp
The fiat money craze will come to
the same end. Indeed there are now
signs of its being deserted by the Pop
ulists and the substitution Of some
other ism for this wild and visionary
idea of making paper pass as money
simply by putting a little green ink
on one side Of it,
From start to finish the Peoples
Party has been party Of, isms. 1t is
q party Of isms yet. Along with the
misguided and deceived members the
party has collected all the cranks and
dreamers of the State and their
wordy elaboration Of their ideas has
been the most prominent feature of
Populist meetings and papers for the
entire history of the party.
Vagaries will never make a state
great, they will never make nation
successful, they will never make a
man looked up to or respected.
The carrying out of Populistic plans
would plunge the State ofKansas into
bankruptcy and convert its broad
acres into waste lands. The advocacy
of them means IN encouragement of
the basic elements Of Coxeyism, an
archy and socialism. Kansas cannot
afford to prolong this kind Of a repu-
tation. She cannot afford to have her
name laughing stock because Of the
senseless notions that take root
here and send their baneful seeds
abroad over the nation.
Political vagaries and vagarists
have no peace in Kansas. This year
is 4 good time to turn them down so
that they will stay. The election Of
a Republican ticket in Kansas this fall
will do more for the State than any
amount of advertising and will even
compensate in a great degree for the
failure of the corn and the visitation