The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1897-07-13
AN CHARGE.

@I
Col. Joseph Pie Caldwell, has fire.
quently misled its intelligent readers
in regard to what the Populist want
and what they are willing to do to get
what they want. The latest effort
along this line appeared in that paper
last Friday The Observer contends
that the Nashville conference, recently
held, minimized the Importance of the
silver question. We have read some
thing about that meeting, and we think
the conference only tried to show that
there r other vital issues as well as
the free coinage of silver, and has ad.
vised the people not to run off after
any one thing to the detriment Of other
things equally important. It has been
necessary to call a halt more than once
when enthusiastic Populists have at
tempted to give undue prominence to
any n issue.
The Observer then goes on and
asserts that when Populists find that
they can get what they want they al
ways quit wanting that thing and go
for something else. The Observer says:
ut has all the while been character
istic of the leaders of the Populist
party that whenever they thought they
were about to get what they were
clamoring for they suddenly discovered
that they didn't want that but some
thing else. They have brought the
Democratic party to it's knees on the
silver question, and unless there is a
radical recovery from the present con-
dition of popular discomfort, the free
silver proposition will prevail in the
election of 1900. Now the Populist
leaders do not want anything that can
be had. They flourish by stirring up
the people and exciting their hopes Of
impossible things. Hence we have
occasionally found them saying that
free silver is only one of "our reforms"
as much as to suggest that it was a
very small one at that; and now this
Nashville conference has practically
relegated it to the rear"
The Observer is for silver, provided
England is willing or something of
that kind, which means that it is op-
posed to it. It seems anxious to an
nounce that it has been RELOCATED to
the rear" OF course. So is Wall
Street. But the fact remains that it
has not been relegated to the rear, and
it will not be by those who believe it to
be one of the great issues.
The charge the Observer makes
against the Populists-that of running
from what they want just as
soon a. they fG& they can get it, will
not hold water. The Populists have
not found that they can get silver by a
great deal. By an unfortunate alliance
with the Democrats last year there
was, in the opinion of many, a reason
able fighting chance. But that combi
nation was defeated. No silver in sight
yet. If there should be another SINH.
lar combination effected in the near
future no sensible person would get
frightened. Knowing Populists would
not run if q silver Democratic Presi
dent and q maj Irity in both branches
Of congress were elected, for the people
have long since learned that the Demo
Gratis do what they promise.
There never has and never will be any
danger Of a free coinage law from a
Democratic administration, unless that
party gets in on q goldbug platform.
Then it might do the opposite thing
and pass a free coinage bill at the same
time giving the y. 8. Supreme Court
the wink to declare it unconstitutional
at the earliest possible moment. No,
the Populists are not afraid they will
get what they want from the Demo
Gratis. But they are afraid they will
lose valuable tiEe and that many will
be deceived by the pre- election prom
Uses Of that party; they are afraid that
the Democrats will continue to clamor
fcr free coinage so loudly that many
may believe it is in earnest and will
continue to allow that party to deceive
them. If the Democrats want to give
the country real fright let it adopt,
in plain u~nequivocal language the en-.
tire Populist platform, instead of one
of the popular planks, and then max
ing passes, so to speak, at some of the
other planks, but which are so sugar
coated in fowery language that nobody
can tell whether they are for or against
the issues. They dare not do 1T.
49,
WHAT DOES THE ALLIANCE