Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1895-03-13

l 200 Of the best and brightest workers
or our cause, who have taken a formal
commission as legion recruiting officers;
we have mailed thousands of constitu-
tions and instructions in response to
requests from individual members of
our party in every state.
From the very beginning we have
had the constant aid of the reform
press; they have published all our circu-
lars, also made editorial appeals and
we have the service of the Ready Print
Populist columns and w. S. Morgan,
the efficient and alert sentinel of the
National Legion, sent special edition
of his paper to all the legion members,
and all recruiting officers at his own
expense, and has constantly kept the
legion before the people. 1 cordially
thank the Peoples Party press every
where for their potent help; they rep
resent gallant band whose sacrifices
will never be known, who cannot be
bought, sold or bartered, and whose
unselfish and unrewarded labor to our
party is beyond all praise.
The legion will and does fill the long
felt want of compact political body.
1t interferes with no other organiza-
ton; 1t is simply the partisan club, and
Its method Of organization has met with
the cordial approval of our party and
is even admired by those who differ
from us. All the valid objections that
nave been made are covered by the
resolution adopted by the national
committee on December 20 at st. Louis,
and all the clubs and farm and labor
orders can be chartered by sending
names of members and 20 cents, with
out change of officers or their titles.
This was the idea of the national COM
mittee and reformers who made the le-
gion, who provided in the original con-
stitution that all farm and labor orders
should be chartered free.
have many and sore grievances that
l could air; have received treatment
that have right to resent during my
life, and send a vendetta down to my
tribe, but l here and now bury it all
and consecrate myself anew to the
work. Realizing the deplorable con-
dition of our nation, that men are moth
ing but the dust of the earth, and that
If we would hand down liberty and free
government to coming people, we must
bear our burden and faint not, l for
bear. 1 deem it my duty to speak
plainly in reference to the difficulty
OF organizing the Peoples Party. The
forces that compose it have been or
ganiZed to death and scarcely a week
passes but that some versatile genius
evolves some new plan to band the
people together and still further divide
our forces. We have hundreds of dis
cordant camps and scarcely one of them
hold a national meeting, but days are
devoted to charges and counter-charges
OF corruption and fraud. These organ
izations, united, cost a vast sum OF
money, pay large salaries and are gen.
orally firm in the opinion that nobody
should be allowed to organize but the
peculiar forces that unite with them
From all Of the organizations in the
cities the Peoples Party has not yet
received In the nation even the num-
Der Of voters that are claimed to hold
membership in one. If we received these
labor votes we could carry every city
in the United States. While labor
forces willingly pay large dues anG
assessments to all the different orders
they object to the small dues of the le-
gion and the charter fees, and these we
have continually reduced and yet the
members have left me to bear the bur-
den and pay the bills, and besides, to
contribute Office rent and the clerical
labor of myself and family free OF
charge. In other words, they have
thousands of dollars for non-partisan
organizations and not a cent for poll
tics, and leave the national committee
and the National Legion headquarters
bankrupt and cramped for even pos
tage for the enormous correspondence
which comes from all the people. In
addition, we have a dozen farm orders
who are, to say the least, not prosper
Gus, who have graduated their mem
bers largely into the Peoples Party;
have wasted two years of effort of the
best organizers in the nation, trying
to revive or resurrect while their men,
bers have simply marched on to the
cation.
All the above orders feared the legion
would interfere with their work, and
hence, we had, if not the open and ac-
tive, the negative opposition of the
governing forces of all of them, who
have simply said wait, and see II we
cannot resurrect our own. 1 have al
wavS hoan a Arm holfovor In Labor or
ganizations and unions and when ae-
cepted my position, said in the ad-
dress: Il am assured that the legion
does not interfere in any way with any
Of the Industrial orders which have
so grandly done their part in educating
the people, but simply fills the long
felt want OF supplying compact, poll
tical body, in which all can unite on
one common creed and the only test of
membership be loyalty to the platform
of the Peoples Party; IL deemed we
should in any way conflict with any
OF the great industrial or labor or
ganizations l should have nothing to
do with it."
If we propose to have any organiza-
ton worthy of the name for 1896, we
must all bury selfish interests and unite
all the organizing force we have in the
party to band all the people In sym
pathy with us in one organization, and
that the one endorsed by the Official
voice Of the party. Tho machinery is
all ready, the workers duly commls,