The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-12
LOGICAL AND SENSIBLE.

Inc address TO members Of the PeO-
pies party, issued by Mr. George T.
Washburn, a member Of its national ex-
'ecutive committee, is unlike many Of
the documents emauating from that
source. in that it is full of both logic
and common sense. Mr.. Washburn
says that it is not for the interests
of the Peoples party to continue the
alliance formed in the last campaign
with the free silver Democrats. He
states that this was we'll enough for
the occasion, but would be suicidal
as permanent policy, and gives ex-
cellent reasons therefor He is quite
right in saying that any party, which
hopes for an existence, or aims
to control the government Of this coun.
try. must be founded on large general
principles and be true to them The
two propositions that are fundamen-
tai to Populism are the issue Of ire
deemable paper money by the national
government in a volume regulated
whollH~hy the-state, -and-the ~ae11rlisi-
ton and operation by the state Of
large business enterprises, beginning
with the railroad and telegraph sys-
TENS Of the country.
Now, these doctrines are perfectly
Ineligible. We believe that they are
about as bad as they could be- but
they do form a proper basis fer the
organization and work of a political
party. They constitute the distinctive
feature and the essence of Populism
It will dc for single campaign for a
party to advocate particular legisla-
tive measure, not as a finality, but as
something consistent with its general
programme and making toward the
end which it has in view It was,
therefore, perfectly legitimate for the
Populists last year tc unite with the
free silver men. AS Mr.. Washburn
states, they regarded the free coinage
of silver at the ratio of 16 to 1 as an
entering wedge, and the first step to-
ward the realization Of their complete
idea Of fat money. A dollar worth so
cents is not what they want, but it is
half way on the road from a dollar
worth 100 cents to a dollar worth
nothing at all. SO, if they could have
succeeded in electing Mr. Bryan and
free silver congress. they could have
claimed to have taken a long step
forward
There is no possible advantage to
the Peoples party in continuing this
alliance or repeating this campaign
To do so would repel from it those who
believe firmly in fiat money and state
socialism. The Bryan Democrats
did not openly accept. the Populists'
money theory, and reserved the right
to have their own opinions about gov
eminent operation Of railroads. Thus
the difference of opinion, which was very
radical in the ranks, was smoothed
over for the short space of the cam
paign 1t cannot be buried out of sight
for the next four years. Suppose, as
Mr. Washburn hints, that the Populists
were TO succeed in pushing the free
silverites into Office. With the passage
OF a free coinage bill, the mission Of
the latter would be ended. They could
not be expected to carry out the com.
plete Populist programme. and large
number of their supporters would re-
fuse to stand on it. The thorough
going POpulists would then be worse
off than they were at the beginning.
and have to be organized anew. What
ever may have been the course OF
expediency in November, 1885, 1t il
clear enough now that if the Peoples
party is to have a future in this coun-
try, If 1t Is to hold it's membership
together and to give it's voters an OBJ
Ject toward which to work, 1t will have
to free itself from alliances and COM
promises and stand as the representa-.
tive of the purposes for which it was
organized.
There Is no real halfway house
either on the financial question or
on the socialistic issue. Our money
will be either as good as that of any
other nation In the world or it will be
fiat We shall hold to the principle
Of. individualisln. or we must go over
entirely to. the socialistic state. The