The advocate., 1897-08-25

HnhAy EUAHn 10 lAhg NAAeAA bAp WVA NAAAefA
and his employer ought to have fair
play and an equal showing In all dis
putes about wages, and that no man or
company should ever be allowed 70
monOpOlize land or franchises to- the
exclusion Of the common rights Of the
people or to the detriment Of society.
Populists believe that the rights Of all
are paramount to the rights Of o few
or OF one. POpulists believe that the
railways Of the country, and the canals,
as well as the lakes and navigable
rivers, ought to belong to the people,
to the end that the cost OF transporta-
ton may be minimiZed, and charges
made uniform throughout the country.
They believe that money, like ships
and railway cars, Is an instrument 'Of
commerce; that Its functions are to
serve public uses; that the people
ought not to be subjected to inconven-
ience or loss from a scarcity OF money
any more than they should be him
dered in their work or their business
by reason of shortage in the supply
Of wagons, cars or boats; and that,
therefore, the people themselves, act
ing through government agencies,
should supply all the money required
for prompt and easy transaction OF
business; that in addition to silver and
gold coin, government paper and that
only ought to be issued and used, that
it should be full legal tender, and that
no discrimination in favor Of or against
anything which is allowed to circulate
20 ha v,artvraft ftknn
And now it Is proposed that this new
party which starts out with such high
aims and exalted purposes, and which
at its first election cast near a quarter
and a million Of votes, shall do two
things:
First-That we shall limit the range
Of our discussions to the silver branch
of the money question; and
SeCond-That we shall ally ourselves
with the Democrat party.
These are the propositions on which
we are divided. am opposed to both
of them.
I have sort Of fatherly interest in
| the Peoples party. / am In some
measure responsible for its existence.
had the honor Of presiding over the
conference that begat 1t, and | wit
messed the travail Of It's birth. l was
the first man sent by its votes to the
| Senate of the United States, and dur
Ing my term Of service in that great
body, / availed myself Of every appro-
pirate opportunity, by resolution, bill,
report and vote, to impress upon 1t
and upon the country the ideas, the
principles and objects Of this party,
and do not wish to see 1t merged In
any other existing organization, and
especially In one that Is too old to be
useful Nor am ] willing, without
warming and protesting, to see 1t made
the football Of politicians and bartered
away for spoils.
| would be willing to abide by the
conclusions Of national conference Of
delegates duly appointed and accred-
| ited fairly representing all the ele-
ments among voters who are opposed
to the present gold standard-high tarifE
regime. That would bring the strong
est and the best men together, who
could, out Of many, form one party
that would put the people in the sad
die. But until that can be accom-
plished, the Populist party is good
enough for me,
In an evil hour it was determined by
those in control OF the party machin-
cry, that the holding OF our national
convention for 1896 should be delayed
| until our opponents had declared them"
selves. II was my judgment then, as
1t is now, that that course was fraught
with danger and that 1t would bring
us trouble. It aroused suspicious and
provoked disagreeable discussions, and
when the time for action came II