The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1897-07-14

and sagacious mind at the helm to d.
rect it's course. Instead of holding out
the hand Of friendship to The Repre-
sentative, as this paper did to it, 1t be-
came kind Of shelter-hole into which
all kinds OF vermin bestowed themselves
and from which they sailed out, like
swarming rats, to attack us at every
turn, without any provocation on our
part.
There were some excellent gentlemen
connected with the Evening Press-like
Mr.. Peter Sutherland, Senator Howard,
Mr.. Garfield and Others, and with these
we never had any trouble or difficulty;
but "Bub" Williams, F. N Stacy and
w. H. Williams constituted trio it
would be hard to- equal anywhere among
the creations Of God for pure .cussed-
ness" and unauthorized meanness. We
had never done anything but kindness
to each of them; but they turned on us
to bite us with their poisoned teeth,
with the ferocity of ella monsters"
But they are out of our pathway of
life forever, and they will have ample
leisure in the future to wonder what
devil it was inspired them to make such
an unnecessary warfare upon us. We
gravely suspect his initials were S. M.
We do not know the Reverend Mr..
Starkey, the last incumbent. He Is
probably worthy man; and he has our
sympathy in his disappointments. We
are inclined to think he would have
done his duty if he had been free to act
but behind him stood, according to his
own statement, an unknown and mys-
FERROUS gold-bug Democrat, of great
to furnish the free silverites with an
organ, out Of pure generosity and love
of fair-play. The trouble was that this
unnamable philanthropist would have
controlled the course of the paper at all
times; and in some crisis of events,
perhaps few weeks or days before a
state or national election. his interests
might have required that the paper
should change front, or some cunning
excuse, and denounce free silver and
the free silver ticket! In such an
emergency the Rev. Mr.. Starkey would
be as powerless as the cabin boy of a
ship at sea when hurricane is sweep
ing it to destruction.
The last work Of the Evening Press
was to make a fierce fight against the
Popuist conference at Nashville, Tenn;
at the same time that the paper was
supporting Mr.. Ovens contention that
the Peoples Party should give up it's
name and principles and merge with the
Democracy. In other words, while pow
erful influences were at work to tear
our party to pieces and ,curder it, the
Evening Press was opposed to any gath
ering of Populists to reaffirm it's princi-
pies or protest against it's destruction
The enemies of Populism were to con-
tinue actively at work all over the
Union; its friends were to remain scat
tered and silent-"dumb before the
Shearers."
1t is easy to see that such an "organ"
as that was worse than no organ" at
all. The longer it lived the more dan
gerous it became. The larger it's circu-
lation the more perilous it was to it's
subscribers.
II 1n6 hut
cession. It's, altar, was an auction-bl
and the auetioneer was an unknown
gold-Democrat-with a mask on.
Despite the excellent gentlemen who
spent their money generously to uphold
the Evening Press, the public had no
confidence in it, The saw the hilt Of
the knife hid up the sleeve.
Mr.. S. M. Owen has our profound SYM
pathy. Another of his ambushes is de-
stroyed. 1t has +, gone with John r.
Walsh's gold-buge daily, of 1894. which
would have advocated the exclusion of
free silver from our platform, but which
died in the borning;;" and was deliv-
cred, in an advanced stage Of deccsnpo-
sition, into the arms of that amiabe
Wet-nurse, John L. Macdonald The
'foetus" was too rotten for him even to
sell; and of course it had no value for
him.
Let us push the work of organization
vigorously, as suggested at Nashvile:
and in 1898 we will be ready to start
daily edition of The Representative that
can be depended on to stand fast by the
Peoples Party, while treating with the
utmost fairness and cordiality all who
are sincere advocates of free-silver and
any other planks Of our great platform.
Stand together, brethren; keep the
flag. flying; make all the converts pos
sible, and above all ORGANIZE. OR
GAME, ORGANIZE.
THE GREAT CONFERENCE.
The conference of Populists held Mon
day and Tuesday, July and 6. at Nash