The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-03-25
WHITE HOUSE STARS
Plenty of POpulistS Are After the
Presidential Plum.
TILLMAN IS IN THE LEAD
The National Convention In st
Louis Promises to Be a Fed
Hot Affair-The Leading
Indicates.

New York correspondence OF the
Spokane Spokesman Review: II THE
populisrts are to be believed a populist
president will live in the white house
after March of next year, and the
country will be run on lines radically
different from the existing ones.
Such astute men as Dave Hill of
New York, Matt Quay of Pennsylvania,
Tom Reed of Maine, might be inclined
to laugh at the claims of the populists,
but couple Of years ago any one
would have been laughed at who as
serted that the populists would soon
hold the balance of power in the
United States senate.
populist president may not be
elected next November, but the popu-
lists are hustling, and their next con-
vention at st. Louis on July % next, If
not as large as the conventions of, the
democratic and republican parties, will
he quite as exciting. Several populiSts
have the presidential bees buzzing in
their bonnets at a terrific rate, and
when anything like that happens to a
member of that party 1t means oceans
of excitement.
The people who live in the large cit
les and the fair-sized towns of the
country are unable to appreciate the
fervor of politics in a populist center
A populist is the hottest kink of a red
hot politician all the time, and he is al
ways aggressive. He is never on the de-
fensive, but jumps into battle at the
drop of the hat. He has little to lose
ana everything to gain, so he is never
timid.
The populist vote in the last presi-
Dental campaign when Gen. James Il.
Weaver of Iowa. headed the ticket was
1,O4l, OBS In that election Grover Cleve-
land got 5,556,91S votes. Now the pop
ulists claim that they have a voting
strength tn toughout tn ton of 4 00),-
600 No-es. OF course this estimate can
be made with several large grains of
salt, but If 1T were exaggerated only
by many hundreds of thousands II
would come closer to being a winner.
The sober populists, however. do not
expect the millennium this year. but
they do say that when all the votes
have been counted up, the people who
have been in the habit of polxing fun
at them will be deeply surprised at
their strength.
In 1892 Weaver carried Colorado by
nearly $4,000 votes; Idaho by 1000 votes
Kansas by 5000 votes; Nevada by 4 800
votes and North Dakota by ISL votes
This year, in addition to the same states
the populists count upon CARRYING Ne
braska with it's eight electoral votes
Oregon with its four electoral votes
votes, and some put in a broad claim
for many of the southern and western
states which have a free silver ten
/ dency. Moderate members of the party
place the voting strength at 1000 OOC
this year, while some not quite so con-
sentative place IL at 5000 more. and
at least 80 votes in the electoral college
AN ARMY OF DELEGATES.
The delegates who will go 10 ST. Louis
TO select standard-bearer for the par.
ty Will be 1,283 in number. They are
not chosen on the same plan followed
by the democratic and republican par.
ties, but according to the populist vot.
ing strength in the various states
North Carolina, for instance, will have
80 delegates. while New York will have
only "A. and Pennsylvania AZ. Mine Is
given but nine delegates, while Kansas
! has 50.
The following table gives the number
of delegates of each state and also
shows the strong and weak states as
measured by the populist leaders: