The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1897-09-08
OUR FORUM
A STRONG LETTER.

Very Emphatically About sPer-
sonal Attacks Etc.
Bird Island Mimi. Aug. 81, 1897.
Editor Representative:
l am asked what can be done to stop
Mr.. Donnelly's personal attacks, the
same parties say unless he Is stopped
the Peoples Party will all go to pieces.
The parties talking to me in this way
are, I believe, earnest and honest, but
try as 1 will it Is impossible for me to
feel alarmed or fear any such results.
The conditions, that forced those earnest
patriotic men to assemble at Cincinnati
In 81 and also at; st. Louis and Omaha
in '92 to formulate and put forth those
principles enunciated, in the Omaha plat
form, are still crushing the people, are
still as imperatively needed to be chang
ed as ever, the people must be educated
to the point Ct realizing what the
Omaha platform means to them If those
principles can be embodied into laws.
This being the case no personal fight
can check, break up or destroy the Peo-
pies party, If it adheres to these prin-
ciples, if 1t drifts into old party methods
and ignores all but the least of the Is
sues for the sake of enabling certain
ones to satisfy their personal ambition
for office then it needs to be supplanted
by anOther's party just as the old par
ties at this time need to be supplanted.
For my part l do not look upon any
human being as infallible, 80 1T is
easier for me to look upon acts Of GER
tain individuals as mistakes instead of
treachery, 1t appears to me many mis-
takes have been and are being made.
when Senator Butler opposed the CALL
ing Of the Nashville conference, l think
1t was mistake; when those earnest
men branded him as traitor they made
grave mistake. When Senator Butler
was selected as chairman Of the national
convention l feel another mistake was
! made, because Of his official position as
United States senator forced him to re-
side months at Washington, surrounded
| by an influence that has every tendency
to remove his sympathies from the
| people instead Of moving them towards
| the people. l fear, were 1 to reside In
Washington six or eight months as
! United States senator, 1 would feel like
| repeating w. X. Vanderbilt's noted re-
mark: "the people be damned
Viewing the situation as l do 1T is not
strange to me that Senator Butler hon
estly believed it was not best to call the
Nashville conference
So l might account for many things
said and done by earnest, honest men,
the question arises how long can the
Peoples Party survive grave mistakes?
When will we progress to the point
where we can profit by past mistakes?
Reviewing Mr.. Donnelly's work for
! the past 80 years and finding he has pur-
sued consistent and persistent course
actuated by any personal enmity in these
so-called attacks, but sees danger to
the principles of reform if certain
ones succeed in gaining influence
enough to lead the people into grave err
rors. I have confidence enough in his
ability and honesty of purpose to be-
lieve he Is actuated by desire to save
the party from making irreparable mis-
takes.
Having this confidence in Mr. Donnel-
ly, 1T does not shake my faith in him, to
| have papers sent to me with editorials
marked; said editorials intimating that
the REPRESENTATIVE is Jim Hills
paper and that these attacks Of Mr.. Don
nellys are paid for by Jim Hill and
Mark Hanna. If those editors know Of
facts that Justify these insinuations let
them boldly give the public the facts.
If they have no facts then surely Jim
to pay them for these insinuations 1
hope all who fear for the future of the
Peoples party on account of these So
called personal attacks Of Mr.. Donnelly's
will read in the REPRESENTATIVE of
Aug. 18th the two articles on page two
under the headings UNFAIR and "A
Mistake" and while they are about 1t
they might read the whole page, it will
do no harm.
can think of but one way to stop
those so-called personal attacks" and
that Is for those who are attacked to
so conduct themselves that no one can
possibly doubt their honesty and earn
estness of purpose.
believe the Peoples party 50 far as
possible should adopt different methods
from the two old parties; the rank and
file of the voters who are tired of the
old parties are suspicious of reform
party that tries to use methods that
have been so productive of corruption
in the old parties. / often hear it said
the Peoples party is just like the old
parties simply trying to get into pow
er so they san do as the old parties do
"steal all in sight
| The Peoples party should at all times
keep as near to the people as possible
and by earnest effort for reform con-
vince the people that while it is essen
tial for reform that the offices should
be filled by men who believe more in
principles than party
l read once OF dude" who visited a
farmer relative in the state of New
York, the old farmer was threshing our
some grain on the barn floor, the old