The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1896-05-06
SOME PARTY HISTORY
CAN ALL THE ELEMENTS WORK
TOGETHERo
Speech Delivered by Hon: E. Evans.
Chairman of the National Com.
mittee of the National
Reform Party.
AT THE PITTsBURG CONFERENCE. MARCH
18th, 1896.
(Printed by Request.)


Mr.. Chairman and Citizens:
The next great battle Of the ballots"
In this country WILL I believe, be fought
out between the Reformer and Conserva-
tive; between those who favor righteous
government on the one side, and those
who favor unrighteous government on
the other. The trend of public sentiment
Is fast drifting in this direction.
History, especially in this country,
furnishes abundant evidence that in the
years Immediately preceding any great
division of forces, factions will arise
along distinctive lines Of reform. It was
SO in "ante-bellum days. 1t is SO now.
ist;" the ''wolly head" in the Whig
party, trying to line his party up to the
abolition of slavery. Then we had the
.barn-burner" in the Democrat ranks
struggling practically for the same thing
in his party. Then came the free
soiler," as a sort of compromise between
these two seemingly discordant elements.
to make the country half
slave and half free This wouldn't
work. voice from the west said:"This
half free" Then came the know-noth-
ing party in 1856, and by its persistent
perversity it defeated the Great Path
Finder, Fremont, and secured the cleo
tion Of the most "backboneless biped"
that ever sat in the Presidential chair.
y
things. almost similar to this, ,confronts
us today-except that the slavery, which
binds both the souls and bodies of men
at this time, instead of being sectional as
slavery was, is scattered throughout all
the states and territories of the Union.
Hundreds of thousands of men, women
and children are wandering like Arabs
over the almost limitless acres of this
broad land, without a home to shelter
them, while millionaire Senators and
rin cit in thair fynn 1xy
upholstered chairs, studying how they
may add few more millions to their
already ill-gotten gains. ] do not feal
like censuring these men as some do
These men, like the priests of DID, have
taken rule, and the people love to have
it so, and what will you do in the end
thereof, as said one Of the old pro-
phets.
We have come here to day to ask the
people Of this country the question, as 1t
has never been asked before, What are
you going to do in the end thereof?" You
hold within your grasp and under the con-
troll of your own wills, the ballots which
have made these men what they are. viii
you still continue to WELD these potent
factors to rivet these slavish chains more
firmly around your fettered limbs? We
come here, not as office seekers or mere
malcontents, but as reformers and citizens
of the greatest Republics on earth, seeking
the best good of this mighty heritage
WnlCn our neaVely FdIner, III MS SOOO
plea sure, has bestowed upon us.
This is one of the chief glories Of the
Republic-and one which may not long
remain without the eternal viligance of
the people-that men and women, rich
and poor, great and, small alike, may meet
for the discussion Of great state questions
with as much freedom as If they occupied
the highest position in the realm. -~-s..
Passing from these Introductory re-
marks. now propose to say few words
regarding the few characteristics of the
several fractional divisions Of the great
Reform army now found In separate camps
in the United States.
I will address myself first, briefly, to
the Prohibition party. This party COM
menced to take on form in 1869. 1t held
It's first nominating convention In 1877,
after which no appreciable advance had
been made until the year 1884. the year
in which Ex-Governor St. John of Kansas
became it's standard bearer 1t has made
but little gain since that time, while the
vote has been gaining at the rate OF over
a million every four years, which seems
to preclude at least very early triumph
Of that party. The Prohibition party
makes prohibition, or more properly
speaking the abolition of the liquor
traffic for beverage purposes. the shib-
boleth of the party, both in Its platform
and in it's name. 1t therefore, Logically,
precludes itself from taking up any other
question under its present cOgnomen. It's
platforms usually embrace from ten to
fifteen distinct propositions relating to the
greatly needed reforms of our times, only
one Of which is properly embraced In the
distinctive cognomen Of the party. This
fact gives great force to the remarks OF
one Of it's most distinguished leaders at
the recent meeting of the National Com
mittee of the party in Chicago. Hon. H.
Clay Bascom, Of Troy, N. T., declared be-
fore the committee that the "chief en-
tt,o ;c.t
its platform covers all the needed reforms
of our times, still the name so quail
fes and circumscribes the discussions OF
the party, as to oonfine 1t absolutely to
one line Of work" This has long been
seen by many Of the rank and file Of the
party AS far back as 1884 articles were
written by myself and Others and pub
lished in the old american Reformer."
then edited by Prof. Hopkins and DR..
Cushing, pointing out this fact. This pa
per was merged into the New York Voice.
which has ever since been loyal Except at
to the one-idead name of that
party, although the editor of that paper
declared in the Southern Hotel conference
in ST. Louis, 1892, that "the name Of the
party was misnomer that the party was
more than a mere prohibition party, that
II was in every sense of the word Ma
tfonal Reform party" This statement,
though, has never appeared in the Voice.
One thing mostly neglected In the at
tempt to build up new party, Is the
selection of proper name. Shakespeare
asks the question, What's in a name?"
and then answers it by saying, There is
much in a name"
It is believed by many that had the Pro-
hbitionists started out as Reforrers, and
in the first instance called their party the
National Reform Party, with such admi-
ra BILE platforms as 1t presented. they
would long ago have held the reins Of
government in this country.
From 1872 to 1876 the party was called
the prohibition Party" From 1875 to
1880 it was called the Prohibition Reform
Party. From 1880 to 1884 it was called the
Continued on Page Five.)