The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1897-06-09
Hon. Ignatius Don
nelly Speaks Freely
of Nashville.
And, in Reviewing the
General Political
Situation,
Gives Hopes of Union
and Ultimate Vic
tory.

The Sage of Ninninger, Hon. Ignatius
Donnelly, came down from Prince
ton yesterday morning, to attend to
his editorial duties for the week
and to meet engagement here
this evening with the Peoples party. He
has been lecturing in different parts of
the Northwest. and yesterday delivered
the address to the Princeton, Mimi, high
school.
In view of the discussions regarding the
Nashville convention the PRESS inter-
viewed Mr.. Donnelly and secured a most
interesting and re-aSSuring statement from
the distii guished publcist 1t began with
an inquiry to whether he should attend
the Nashville meeting, and Mr.. Dmnelly
said:
I think 1t is almost certain that l will
be at the Nashville conference The only
difficulty is getting there from Pine Island.
Mimi, where | speak July 8, to Nash
vile, Tenn, where they desire me to
speak on July 5. l think | can get through.
however. 1 anxious to be there if
possible. l think the Populists have Just
good a right to get together in council
as TO the future the silver men, who
are now in session in Chicago for the same
for no Populists or Democrats are assail-
ing the free silver movement or demand
that 1t shall die, while men who have been
prominent in the Peoples party ranks are
insisting in every public utterance that
we must give up the name and principles.
Il don't think there was any desire or
intention to assume the rights of the ma
tional convention which is to assemble in
out of Senator Buffers fear that if IA con-
vention or conference held it
would end in his dethronement from
his position as chairman of the
Peoples Party national committee.
l don't think anything of the kind would
have been attempted, nor do l believe that
any gathering previous to that OF 1900
would have a right to revise or change the
present committee. My anxiety Is simply
to that the Peoples Party shall not
die. 1t has cost some of us a great deal
of time and money and labor and hum
dreds of speeches to bring it to the point
where it received 1,750,o00 votes. 1t was
not intended when it started in Gin
cinnati in 1891, and organized in February
and July. 1892, at St. Louis and Omaha.
that 1t was simply machine to enable us
to act with the Democrats. We could have
done that without all the trouble we have
gone to. Moreover. there are radical diff
ferences between the Peoples Party plat
form and the Democratic or free silver
Republican platform. TO wipe out that diff
ference of policy the Peoples Party would
simply furnish renfOrcements to the Re-
publican party. We lost thousands of
votes last year by simply co-opera ting
with the Democrats and we would lose
ten times many if we gave up our or
EaniZatiOn.
I'm saying this | am not actuated by any
spirit of hostility to the Democrats of Min
neSota The vast majority OF them are as
earnestly devoted to free silver as the Pop
ulists are, and it is very possible that in 1898
and 1900 some form of cooperation may
be reached between the three elements that
Will not involve the sacrifice of Peoples
party principles. But those are matters d
long way ahead and we cannot tell what
changes may occur in the meantime The
money power is, | think. aboring hard to
reassume control of the Democratic party
of the nation. For to join that party
without knowing where they will stand in
one year or three years from now would
be midsummer madness and only a very
foolish very shallow or a very treach-
erous man would advise any such course.
This is the time for education and can
much better educate the people along lines
of our own organization than by
dissolvng our organization and joining
some other party. Moreover Democrats,
even of Minnesota and they are as liberal
as any in the nation, have manifested no de-
sire to break their ranks to meet on some
compromise ground. They are proud of