The Louisiana populist. [volume] (Natchitoches, Natchitoches Parish, La.) 1894-1898, 1895-03-08
The Silver Party.

ADVICE given them by ION watson
of Georgia when he said over a
year ago, eff you are in favor of
free silver why don't you get into
a free silver party" and organic d
a new party to be known as the
Silver or Bimetallic party.
But for fear of extending the
same benefits and advantages asked
for silver to some other interests,
these silver men have attempted
to ignore that young giant, the
Peoples party, which has done all
the heroic pioneer work for silver,
opened the eyes of the people on
the question, and which is as loyal
to silver as any party it is possible
to create.
This is a very natural step to be
taken by those silvel ties who are
Just now breaking away from the
old parties. Men do not usually
do things instantaneously. They
want to feel their way cautiously.
Finding that the organizations and
leaders of both the old parties are
bought and paid for by the gold
bugs, and that there is absolutely
no chance to restore silver in eth
er or both of them, the silver men
take the first step by getting out of
these old fossils.
But for fear of antagOnising
some power that they hope to
bring to the support OF their issue,
they refuse to join the POpulists-
the legitimate fathers of the free
silver issue, and undertake the
huge task of building new party.
The platform as outlined In a
clipping from the Picayune, pub
lished elsewhere in this issue, is
splendid as far as it goes, and COW
ers, we believe, pretty thoroughly
the question of money, but does
not differ in any essential point, or
even detail from the POpulist plat
forms money plank, therefore we
fail to see why this new party
should draw into it a single popu-
list. 1t proposes to socialize mOn-
ey-let the people through their
government own and control the
amount of money to be circulated,
instead of allowing private indi-
vmuals and corporations do so.
But the Peoples party proposes to
do exactly this and more; it pro-
poses to do the very same thing
for the two other great public ne
eessities, land and transportation.
The latter two factors in the
production of wealth have been as
much abused by private ownership
as has money, and no permanent
prosperity can be secured for this
country without settlement of all
three of these great questions. We
might have the circulating medium
increased to so or 100 dollars per
capita and leave the present chan
nels of absorption open and in two
or three years at most it would all
be in the hands of a few individuals
and corporations, or enough Of it
to enable them to dictate the price
of all products just as they do now.
IL has taken the life time work
of many men like Norton Weaver,
Harper, Vincent and Bateman, aud
ten years work from u thousand
others as devoted, and ceU de.
fined issue advocated fully by 10
other political party in existence,
to create the Peoples party. and
there is engaged in its support to-
day over two million men, two
thousand newspapers and the log
ic Of events, and this new party
can gather from history the enOr-
nifty Of the task before it.
We believe, However that the
second step taken by these free
silver people win he where they
belong, into the Peoples party.
The longest distance letter can