The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1895-02-08
WORK OF CONFERENCE
RINGING ADDRESS ISSUED BY
NATIONAL COMMITTEE.
An Invitation for All Good Citizens ia
Unite and Rescue the Government
From the Control of Monopolies-
Time to Act.

The Peoples party conference called
to meet in St. Louis Dec % and go,
was well attended. The call for a
meeting of the national committee in
cluded an invitation to members of the
Reform Press and others who felt dis
posed to confer with the committee
When the meeting was called to order
by Cha irman Taubeneck about 800
Populists were assembled to take part
ia the proceedings. The result of the
ting was the issuing Of an address
setting forth the situation and urging
the necessity of keeping up the fight
against the eencroachments Of organized
monopolies, The following is a full
text of the address:
''The national committee of the
Peoples party sends greetings to it's
constituency throughout the United
States:
''The rapid increase of our vote in
many parts of the Union and the start
ling events of the past two years vivid
ly justify both the existence and neces-
sity for the Peoples party. The con-
tention Of the party that one of the
great needs of the country has been
and is an enlarged volume of circulat-
ing medium, is now practically con-
ceded by all parties, and by the gov
ernment. The gold power and bank
ing interests are insisting through the
President and his secretary of the
treasury that the enlarged issue of our
currency supply shall be given exclu-
sively into the hands of the banks;
that silver shall be excluded, all treas
ury notes retired and that gold alone
shall be the legal tender, thus making
the monetary question an issue which
must be met at once.
''WiIhin the present year, the cor
porations, grown arrogant because of
the vast possessions of wealth and the
exercise of unconstitutional powers,
have made war upon the people, and
induced the federal courts to exercise
in their interests unusual and arbitrary
powers. induced the invasion of the
states by federal troops, without the
request of either of the executives of
said states, or the legislatures thereof,
and are at this time, through a re-
creant administra tion and a truculent
congress, attempting to clothe the rail
road corporations by means of pool
ing bill with power to further and
more systema tically rob, oppress and
plunder the people: and having already
deprived the people of access to the
silver mines of the country as an in
dependent source Of money supply, are
now, in the interest of a banking
oligarchy, endeavoring to deprive
them Of the right to have their gov
ernment, in the exercise Of it's con-
stitutional power, to issue the money
sf the nation and control it's volume
Sin the opinion Of your committee
these events are startling, subversive
of the liberties of the citizen, and de-
structive of business and social Sc
curity; and adhering to the Omaha
platform in all it's integrity, your COM
mittee insists upon the restoration of
the coinage of gold and silver as it ex-
listed prior to 1s73-at the rate of 16 to
without regard to the action Of any
other nation, and that all paper money
shall be issued by the general govern
ment, without the intervention of
banks of issue, the same to be full
legal tender.
''We also declare our implaca BILE hos
tility to the further issue of interest
bearing bonds.
I'VE denounce the pooling bill as
move toward completing the monopoly
OF transportation, and demand that in
stead congress proceed to bring the
the railroads under the government
ownership.
''The power given congress by the
constitution to provide for calling
forth the militia to execute the laws Of
the Union, to suppress Instructions,
to repel invasions, does not warrant
the government in making use of
standing army in aiding monopolies in
the oppression of the public and their
employees. When free men unsheath
the sword, it should be to strike for
liberty, not for despotism or to uphold
privileged monopolies. in the oppression
of the poor.