The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-08-14

~ 01o OAdu>S Ill Vic law UudU ucmOuc-
tized silver? Or in the law that made
who would enSlave indus try must not
be permitted to mortgage the man
hood and womanhood Of America for
the next quarter Of century. The
dollar that is good enough for him who
tolls ought, to say the least. to be good
enough for him who neither tolls nor
spins, but on the contrary considers it
honorable to live on the labor Of 9TH
erS. There never was a bond more
sacred, or entitled to greater prOtec-
tion, than the men and women who
with mind and muscle, hand and
brain, have wrought out upon this
continent the problem of Self-govern-
ment and individual independence.
If it was merely question Of add
ing those 279,16l Prohibition votes to
the million six hundred thousand
Populist votes, it would be simple
enough. But it is evident that large
part of these-probably one-half,-
would follow Chairman Dickie into
the Republican party rather than sup
port free silver in our ranks. And
then the question arises whether the
remaining $4,000 votes which we
would obtain would not keepa million
or more from joining US? A majority
of the people Of this country are in
favor of temperance reform, but you
can not get more than one in fifty, as
the results have shown, to vote to pre-
vent man from drinking beer or
whiskey, if he desires to.
1t seems to us that the mighty
financial issues are certain to rive into
fragments the Prohibition party, just
as they have already divided Republi-
canism and Democracy; and the sheep
will go on one side and the goats on the
other. Natural leaders, like Mr.. Rich
mond, who are not satisfied with fun
gum, will find themselves forced into
the Peoples Party camp; while goldol-
ators. like Dickie, will carry their fol-
lowers into the entertainments of Nam
mon in the wilderness of national
DIES olation.
If the Peoples Party makes Prohibi-
tion its leading feature it will have
just as many votes as the Prohibition
party and no more; and nothing will
be accomplished for reform of any
kind. If. on the other hand, the Pro-
hibitionists should say:-"It is impos-
sible for US to obtain the success of
our chief tenet. Let us postpone an
impracticable fight; and go in with
this great popular movements; and
when financial reform is achieved we
will turn it's mighty torrents to the
sweeping away of moral abuses" if,
we say. they adopt this course it would
not be many years until the cause of
temperance reform, in some shape,
would triumph. But the Prohi-
bitionists are the only party in
this country that has ever at
tempted to carry the coun-
try on on especial statute. IT they had
been content to make the fight on a
neutrality-suspicious. to drunkenness
and drunkard- Misunderstanding it to
legislation, when victory was achieved,
to devise the best method of reaching
their object, there was time when
they would have swept this whole
country. But they brought out their
Procrustean bed-the statute to pro-
hibit the manufacture and sale of in.
toxicating liquor,-and they said
you must adapt yourself to this meas
ure or you can not act with us. We
will stretch you out or cut your legs
Otf-but it is Prohibition or nothing"
II the Republican party in 1860, in
stead of declaring for certain plain
principles had resolved on the meas
ures they would adopt when they came
into power, Mr.. Lincoln would never
have been elected president.
1t is the strangest thing in the
world that men can not see the differ
ence between principles of action and
legislative measures. The former are
worldwide and immortal; the latter
are shaped by events and are the re-
suits of concensus Of opinion of all
those who believe in the principles at
stake. The Republican party was op-
posed, in 1860, to the spread of slavery
over free territory, but when the time
came to act, legislatively, nothing
would satisfy this country but the ut
ter abolition Of slavery everywhere
within our borders. Mr.. Lincoln said:
81 am ready to save Union with
slavery: but, if that is not possible,
then / am ready to save the Union
without slavery" And events insist
ed that it should be saved without
slavery.
The Peoples Party, in 1892 fell into
the same error as the Prohibitionists,
when they put proposed statute into
their declaration of principles. We
refer to the ''sub-treasury plan" They
got the cart before the horse. They
insisted on making that shibboleth in
the fight which could only be result
of victory-and We did not reach the
victory-and the shibboleth helped to
prevent us from reaching it.
The Peoples Party is great moral
measure. 1t is necessarily on the side
of everything that will make mankind
better and wiser and happier. There
is room in it, for every man who pre-
fers temperance to intemperance.
Give it success and it will never cease
its work until it has righted all the
wrongs of the world.
A NEW BOOK.
One of the admirable contributions