The San Francisco call., 1896-07-01
POPUL|STS
ARE ALERT.
Are Not Pleased With the
Probable Action at
Chicago.
MAY ACT INDEPENDENT
OF DEMOCRATS.
Butler Sounds a Warning Note
Against the Schemes of
Whitney.
WILL NOT BE THROWN DOWN
IN THE STRUGGLE.
Leaders of the Peoples Party Prefer
to Name Their Own Candidate
for President.
WILL NOT BE THROWN DOWN
IN THE STRUGGLE.
Leaders of the Peoples Party Prefer
to Name Their Own Candidate
for President.


improbability that Teller will be nomi-
mated at Chicago and that thorough
Democrat will be selected leaves Populist
leaders to carry out their threats to nomi-
nate a man of their own at st. Louis.
The attitude of most of the Popullsts is
strongly suggestive that what Democrats
do will not pc pleasing to the Populists
and that they will travel the rocky road OF
politics alone.
Senator Butler of North Carolina is as
suming a most independent attitude
toward the Chicago convention. In a
letter to his paper, the Caucasian. the
official Populist organ of North Carolina,
he shows his position clearly. The letter
has not yet appeared, but an advance copy
of it is in the hands of THE CALL CORE
spondent. After euloglzing Senator Tel
ler's course at st. Louis, Senator Butler
writes as follows of the political situation
and of the bolt at st. Louis: "a number
of Democrats are now predicting that
Teller and his friends will go into the
Democratic party. OF course this is idle
talk, for he will do no such thing. What
a grievous blunder it wouId be for Teller
and his friends to leave one old party and
go into another one with equally as bad a
record. simply because it is making more
fair promises al this time. There is but
one hope for silver and the people, and
that is for every man who opposes the
gold trust and monopolies to rally to-
gether under the peoples banner at st.
Louis on July %.
"The announcement that ex-Secretary
Whitney would hold up on his European
trip, and that he and number of other
prominent gold men would go to the Chi
cago convention, has been seized upon by
silver Democrats for party advantage.
These silver Democratic leaders who have
so long deceived the people and kept the
financial question in the background when
they knew = was the overshadowing cues
ton, but who are now trying to hold the
honest rank and file of their party in line
when they can no longer fool them by de-
claring for silver, are busily engaged in
putting up man of straw and knocking
him down to show their courage and pat
riotism. They cry out that Whitney is
going to Chicago to get the Democratic
party to declare for the gold standard and
that if the people will put faith in them
they will show how they will defeat Mr..
Whitney and his evil schemes at Chicago.
Now, the truth about the matter is. that
neither Whitney nor any of the gold men
are going to Chicago for the purpose of get
ting gold plank. The gold wing does not
want two candidates for President this
year. He is going there for quite another
purpose. 1t is to prevent silver mon from
uniting this year.
''It is true that when Mr.. Whitney gets
to Chicago he will urge Southern dele
gates to agree to a gold plank. When
they decline he will urge them 20 accept
a compromise plank. When they decline
he will agree to a straight free-coinage
plank, on condition that the silver men
will agree to compromise candidate for
President. and here is where the deal will
be made. Whitney will say to them: IF
you take Mr.. A as your candidate the East
will not furnish any campaign funds, but
if you take Mr.. B. who also claims to be
q silver man, the East will put up the
money for your campaign
"The thing that Mr.. Whitney and the
gold men fear most is that the Democratic
National Convention might indorse Teller
for President, and they fear that if this
were done the St. Louis convention might
also indorse him, and thus the silver force
might be united. But, even if Mr. Whit
ney fails in everything else, his last card
will be to have the gold men apparently
indorse or submit to the action of the
Democratic convention, in order to
discredit it and make the union
of the silver forces impossible.
Whitney knows that the Democratic
party is so odious on account of its false
promises and treachery to the people that
any candidate and any course that bears
only the Democratic label is doomed to
defeat in the coming campaign. He wants
the Democratic party to run free silver
candidate and to be defeated in the COM
ing campaign, but he wants to hold the
party together, to keep Southern Demo.
Gratis bound TO Northern Democrats, be-
cause in 1900 it will be necessary for the
gold men to control the National Demo-
cratic Convention, put up goldbug for
President, and elect him through the ma
chinery and by the help of the Demo-
cratic party, including the South. This is
Mr.. Whitney's IS scheme, and for this, and
for this only, he goes to Chicago.
"Those who doubt this will learn to their
sorrow that it is true when it will be too
late, and we predict in addition that sill.
yer Democrats will be caught in his trap,
either knowingly or unknowingly."
The fear OF Populist leaders is that ii
their convention should indorse the Demo.
cratic nominees their party would be for.
ever swallowed up in the Democratic
party.
It would lose its identity in al future