The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1897-11-24

mighty men.
Mr.. Lamphere divides all Populists In
to two classes, the theoretical and the
practical. The middle-of- the-road Pop
ulists, he says, undoubtedly have high
ideals and work with an unselfishness
and patriotism that appeals to the best
instincts of men but there Is too much
of the theoretical in their demands"
Should any man be accorded leader
ship in our party who will say of the
Omaha and st. Louis platforms there
is too much of the theoretical in their
demands?"
The fusionists, he describes, as the
practical Populists. They are those
compromising, policy, get there, spoils
system, majority fellows who for party
success would compromise with the
devil and Justify on the ground that
they possessed a few instincts in COM
mon.
These practical fusionists quote Car
lyle: There are quarrels in which even
satan, bringing help, were not unwel-
come"
And again in comparing the Chicago
platform and Organism with the Omaha
platform and Populism Carlyle is ap-
pealed to: Great truly is the actual; is
the thing that has rescued itself from
the bottomless deeps of theory and pos
sibility and stands there as a definite,
indisputable fact, whereby men do work
and live"
Mr.. Lamphere holds that this so called
practical Chicago platform Organism is
the actual, the thing that stands out as
a fact while the Omaha platform Popu
lism rests yet in "the bottomless deeps
of theory and possibility" and he says
late elections have demonstrated that
the Populists are weak. Perhaps they
are weak but Bro. Lamphere has not
OWNED the true cause of that weak
ness. He enormously assumes that the
Democratic party has sincerely and hon.
estly adopted free silver, government
money, opposition to trusts, tax on in
comes and lower taxation. Why did
the Democrats fail to give us any of
these reforms when they had the presi-
dent and both houses of congress?
Mr.. Lamphere has examined the Pop
ulist brand mark upon Bryan and few
well meaning Western Democrats and
declares that all Democrats are 0. K.
a ofc hot bo IN <~F
ulism has never yet invaded the corral
of Tammany. He forgets that Tam
many is the Democratic party, that Tam
many is not theoretical but practical.
He says we are weak. Down in Chi
cago in 1896 those we'll meaning West
ern Democrats out of their desire to
cooperate with the Populists for reform
put up Populist Bryan. Tammany tied
the Wall street Sewall milestone
around his neck. These same friendly
Democrats mixed up for the Populists
16 to lemonade. Tammany put Wall
street coin-redemption stick in it. Jim
Jones, Jim Weaver, Jim Sovereign and
others at st. Louis persuaded the Popu-
lists to take the nasty connection, and
this is why today we are weak. The
dirty dose would have killed any party
less vigorous than the Populists. We
can readily see how from Mr.. Lam
phere's point of view it may seem practi-
cal, it may seem to be the thing to put
up in the Seventh district fusion can
didate for congress.
Wall street money elected Mckinley
and as sequence Mckinley is the tool
Of Wall street. When the Seventh dis
trict sends to congress man elected
by Democratic funds and Democratic
votes that man must and will pass
under the Tammany lash. History has
proven that Wall street Republicanism
and Tammany Democracy are identical.
It was Tammany that nominated Sewall
Tammany that doctored the Chicago
platform with that coin-redemption dope.
It was Tammany that elected Mckinley
by voting the Republican ticket. 1t was
Tammany that placed in nomination
plutes on both the old party tickets in
Ohio. 1t was Tammany that defeated
Henry George and reform, elected Van
Wyck and before 1900 will organize the
new state of Manhattan. send two more
Wall street millionaries to the senate
and dictate the politics of the nation.
Western Populists feel proud when it
is said that in the senate POpulist SEN
ators hold the balance of power.
There are good and we'll meaning
Democrats in the Democratic party, and
in the West we meet them every day,
They are in bad company and we can
never lift them up by ourselves going
down into the political slums to join
them. 1t sounds we'll to talk Of Coop
Grafton insuring success, in union find
ing our greatest strength, storming the
outworks first and taking the citidel
later, and three-cornered fight resulting
in zero, but in all these things there
is more sound than sense, more noise
than meaning. Populists can hardly at
ford to disband, unite and cooperate
with the Democrats, storm the outworks
a. H.