The Advocate and news., 1898-10-05
ultimate pOpuIlsm.

WnaJ JnaJ!
What's what?
The tail end of your last sentence;
something about populism.
Oh, ultimate populism; what popu-
lism makes its final goal, what 1t stands
for fundamentally, that which, when ac-
complished, will cause the true Populist
to lay down his arms and say, my work
is finished"
Well, what is it?
Webster defines it to be "a theory or
system of social reform which contem-
plates a complete reconstruction Of So
ciety, with a more just and equitable dis
tribution Of property and labor" Ac-
cording to the Encyclopedia Britannica
the general tendency is to regard as
pertaining to ultimate populism ANY in
reference undertaken by society on be-
half of the poor." This great authority
further states that its tendency "is more
and more to ally itself with the most
advanced democracy" and states that
it's ethics "are closely akin to the ethics
of Christianity, If not identical with
them" Prof. Richard T. Ely says that
it Is Simply applied Christianity; the
Golden rule applied to everyday life"
William Morris regards it as "the ideal
and hope of new society founded on
industrial peace and forethought, aim
ing at new and higher life for all men,"
In the Century Dictionary it is defined
as "any theory or system Of local Or
ganiZation which ...... would introduce
a more perfect and equal distribution Of
the products of labor, and would make
labor and capital, as the instruments of
production [emphasize that phrase ''as
the instruments Of production"l, the
joint possession Of the community"
Worcester's Dictionary defines ultimate
populism as "a science Of recOnstructing
society on an entirely new basis by sub
stituting the principle of association for
that of competition in every branch of
human industry" and, supplementing
this, John Stuart Mill says: mo think
ing man will contradict that associated
industry is the most powerful agent of
production and that the principle of as
sociation is susceptible of further and
beneficial development. From the emil
nent Albert Schaffle comes the assurance
that the future belongs to it. Cicero
meant ultimate populism when he said
that "one thing ought to be aimed at by
all men--that the interests of each, in
dividually and collectively, should be the
same; for il each should grasp at his
own individual interest all human So
ciety would be dissolved"
Here, this is getting confusing. I
thought that pOpulism referred only to
politics, and you are dragging in religion,
political economy and a lot Of other
things.
l am speaking Of ultimate populism.
The Peoples party Is part of the great
movement defending humanity against
mammon. The party may change its
name or evolve into something SEEM
ingly different in the course of events
indeed, many Populists, as well as those
outside the party, expect such change
but, If so, it will be but yielding to nat
ural and inevitable evolution, just as it
has succeeded other parties which were
steps in the elaboration Of reform Po-
litically, ultimate populism stands for
the public ownership of public things,
the collective ownership Of all the means
Of production and distribution. The
more advanced a Populist becomes the
more Importance he attaches to this way
out. All other planks in his platform
are simply feeders to that idea. AS an
example, free silver is but demand for
the government ownership Of money, and
underlying it Is the fundamental prin-