Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1896-1899, 1898-07-26
THE popuLIsr MIDDLE.

lttE POPOLkOl" MOOOlE.
The dispatches announce that tn
national convention OF Peoples party
which was called to assemble in Gin
cinnatti September 5, is of. and tn,
gathering of the middle-of the.roat
and affiliated POpulists will not ge
beyond the call Several states hell
conventions and selected delegates
but other states, in which the Popu
lists have been equally strong, have
failed to respond to the call. This
marks a victory for the fusion ele'
ment over the middle.of.the road ele.
ment in the Populist party. IL Is tht
opinion Of some leading that
it also marks a period in the process:
of dsintegratiou of the party.
A compact was entered into al
Omaha last month between the fusion
and the mld-road factions of the
Populst party, by the terms of which
the national committee was bound
to do no more TO further national
fusion, but to work for the preserva.
of the Populist party as an indepehd-
ent party. Chairman Butler seems
TO be acting on the theory that this
compact does not preclude the ma
tional committee from encouraging
and assisting fusion in the state
campaigns. but such straight Popu-.
lists as Wharton Barker, OF the Phila-
delphia American, claim that this is
direct encouragement, and logically
leads TO fusion in the national cam
paIgn OF 1900.
This same Wharton Barker is ac-
cused by leading fasionists of ad
v0cating the holding of straight
Populist convention this fall, in the
hope that he would himself be made
the presidential candidate. One ear.
nest leader, the Populst candidate
for.governOr'of Arkansas, has said: 81
am inclined TO think this demand for
nominating convention grew mostly
out OF efforts to boom Wharton Bar
ker for president" This Is probably
an injustice tC Mr.. Barker in so
far as u intimates desire on his
part for personal aggrandlzement at
the expense of the cause of Reform.
1t shows, however, the intolerance
and suspicion which are helping TO
to dlsorganize the Peoples party. 1t
shows, also, how easily the cause OF
Reform NAV he switched off into the
realm OF perSonal,po!tics under the
present system.
So long as this isa government by |
political parties, and political parties
are led and controlled by political
machines, the men who can control
the machines can always control
the parties and the government.
This is self evident truth, aud
when we act on the supposition that
we can find men so unsellishly philan-
thrupical that they can or Will resist
all tenn citation to use political power
for their own advantage, we are lean
ing on broken reed. The old parties
have both been under the dominion of
machine politicians, until Two years
ago, when there was a revolt ia the
ranks of the Democracy, But this
revolt expended its force ia Kidding
the party OF one set OF leaders and !
getting some reform principles into /
It's pl, tform II made no change In
the pernicious machine methods. The .
party is still run under the same old
system, the system that brings not +
,he best man but the sharpest poll J.
.ician 20 the top. IL was only by the T.
'orce OF a great popular upheayal that 4,
! man like WIN. j. Bryan could come !,
10 the top. AS was proved two years Z
ago, the machine can not handle
aim. aud he viii be downed by ma r
,hine methods.
The Popullst party, a soon as il !
anne 20 have national scope, found
: imperatiyely necessary 10 have +,
rational machine. But things have
rot run smoothly under that system.