The Louisiana populist., 1896-12-04
The Platform for 1900.
THE ROAD TO VICTORY.
Wharton Barker, In The American

pOS6 10 WOIk IOr Tue T6btOTdtlOu VI
silver to its time-hOnored place as
money, side by side with gold
Believing. moreover, that it ii
Americas place to command, moi
to follow, we spurn to wait upon
Great Britain or any other foreign
nation, especially as we recognize
that Great Britain is ruled by the
creditor classes, among whom con-
verts to bimetallism are only made
ut the cost Of hundreds of ruined
products in America and other
debtor nations.
To this end we pledge ourselves
to the prompt repeal of all laws by
which silver has been demonetized
and its use abridged, to prohibit
all determinations by the govern
ment or any of it's officers against
eth gold or silver, and to admit
both metals to the right of free
and unlimited coinage at onr mints
at the ratio Of 18 70 /, with full
power for al the money thus coin
ed as legal tender for all public
dues and in all transactions of the
citizen.
2. Recognizing that the govern
mcnt should guard over the meas
ure of value even more scrupu-
lously than it guards over the
measures of weight, distance and
quantity, We pledge ourselves to
oppose all schemes for the retire
ment Ut our non interest bearing
national paper money, and the
substitution of bank currency
we protest against the
surrender of this sovereign power
to the banks, and we demand that
all issues of paper money whatso-
ever, shall be issued directly by,
and the volume thereof controlled
by the National Government.
s. We view with alarm the
rapid Capitalization of capital and
tne unexampled growth of trusts
and combinations designed to re-
press competition and raise prices
BY restricting production, but in
view of the appreciation OF gold
In the impoverishment of
,ur people and the restriction of
he purchasing power of the COM
nunity such growth is not surpris- |
ng. Consumption being greatly !
such . thing as compefi- |
ion among buyers il unknown. !
Competition among producers [sel- |
ers not being balanced by COM
among buyers, becomes
leener and 6orcer until finally the |
cry advantages that should accrue
o the consumer from competition
re annulled by the destruction of
lany competitors, while the sur
iv0rs are driven to combine and
ssrict production in order tol
aaintain prices and save themselves
rom bankruptcy. Il
Naturally, and rightly, such
rusts and combinations excite the
nmity OF the public, for while by
,onopolizing the products Of va
ious articles of manufacture thoy
re enabled to tax the consumer in
be shape of an unduly enhanced
rice for what he buys, the wage
arner, employed by such combi-
ations. receives no benefit from
be enhanced price charged the
onsumer for the product of his
abOr. On the contrary, while the
is obliged to pay trust
rices the wsge-sarner la forced to
ceept trust wages. Such q state
t affairs cannot be tolerated, and
re demand such Legislation as will
reyent the formation of trusts
nd combinations designed to tax
he consumer on the one hand and
be wage-earner on the other, and
rovide means to discover dishon-
st overcapitalization of corpora
IONS, and enforce penalties against
nch overcspitalization.
4. 1t is the duty of the gov
rnment to see that the products of
'bor are justly distributed, that
he many be not despoiled for the
enefit of the few, and to the end
nat all producers shall enjoy a
ecompense for their toll, we hold
nat II is the duty of the o,overn-