People's party paper. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1891-1898, 1896-07-24
The st. Louis Convention.

throughout the ranks of the Peoples
Party at the failure of our national
convention to nominate a "middle.of.
the-road" ticket.
The position of this paper upon
that subject has not changed. We
thought before the convention met,
and we think now, that the welfare
OF our party, and of the principles it
represents, demanded that we nomi-
nate our own ticket, and put upon
that ticket two Populists, tried and
true.
When the convention met, how
ever, 1t soon became evident that a
vast amount of preliminary work had
been done by the shrewd managers
who had charge of the "fusion" pro-
gramme. Not only did our Western
leaders throw the full force of their
influence to the Democratic ticket,
bat few from the other section did
likewise.
That these gentlemen were per-
fectly honest and sincere in believ.
ing that unconditional fusion with
the Democrats was the best policy
to be pursued, we dare not doubt;
but yet it is absolutely clear to us
that such q course would have buried
the Peoples Party and would have
left the cause of free-silver entirely
in the power of the party which had
very recently been its deadliest
enemy.
As the hours passed away at St.
Louis, it became constantly more
evident that our existence as a party
hung upon a thread. The West was
committed to Bryan beyond recall.
No matter what the convention
might do, the Populists of the West
were certain to support Bryan. This
sentiment was expressed by Senator
VIM. V. Allen, and his words were
doubtless true.
With the West gone way from us,
how could our party live? 1t spraug
into existance when the Alliance
leaders of the South, (ed by that
golden-hearted patriot L. L Polk,)
went to the West and pleaded for
unity of action on the part of West
ern Republican and Southern Demo-
craft and when, in response to Folks
appeal, the Western leaders, came
into the South and made us the
pledge that if we would shake off
Democracy, they would step out of
the RS1s'ihlicsn party, and would
meet us, in the middle of the road,
and fort i new party in which the
West and Nle South could act to-
gether.
In the elections which followed,
more than score of Congressman
were elected in the West by the ALI
snoe vote: and in the South the
number was fully as large. But
when we met in Washington, the
Caucus took many of our men and
led them away into hopeless cap.
tivity.
From the West, dozen Congress
men proved true and staid out of the
Republican Caucus.
From this South there was but one
who staid out of the Democratic
Caucus The writer of this article
remembering the pledges he had
made the people, and realizing the
supreme Importance of effecting a
union between Western Republicans
and Southern Democrats, took his
political life in his hands, and Joined |
the men of the West.
Around this nucleus, the Peoples
Party was formed; and had the
West in the late convention by en-
dorsing b 9TH Bryan and Sewall, left
the Populi,ts of the South at the
mercy of the Democratic party, there
would have been a peculiar cruelty
in receiving our death-b blow at the
hands of the West.
With such large number of ex-
perienced workers, organized and
well-equipped, striving for the en-
dorsement OF both Bryan and Sewall,
the fate of the party was in the
highest degree critical. The "mid-
die of-the-road" men were the more
but less united. They
could not agree upon leaders. In