The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1898-01-21
MIDDLE OF THE ROAD
Peoples Party Boilers Meet
at St. Louis and Form a
New Peoples Party
NO FUSION FOR THEM.
They Take the Middle of the
Road and Issue an Address
to the American People.

to the American People.
A new party was born at St. Louis
last week in the conference of the pop
ulists, and named the peoples party.
The peoples party proposes to go it
alone. It has severed all connection
with the national populist committee
and made all arrangement for admin
istering it's own estate without the aid
or advice Of any outside party.
With few exceptions the delegates
declared themselves unequivocally in
favor of going it alone in the future.
The referendum system was most
highly complimented and recommended
for use am ng the middle of the road
ers" in settling matters Of national i'm
portance to the order, and there was a
practical agreement among the dele
gates that a national presidential con-
vention should be held this year. The
entire forenoon and evening was spent
in lengthy discussions and it was not
until a late hour that the mode
of procedure for future action was
agreed upon. Finally a report was
adopted as follows in part:
TO the People OF the United States:
The fusion movement contaminated at
St. Lo lis in July, 1896, and the mex
cusable treatment Of our candidate for
vice president in the campaign that
followed gave rise to such dissal fac
tion among the rank and file Of the peu-
pies party as to threaten the absolute
dismembermeut of the only political
organization honestly conten0ing for
tn social and political rights of the
]aboring and producing classes Of the
country.
1t has been the purpose always Of the
committee to be courteous to the ma
tional committee and our supreme de-
sire has been at all times to promote
harmonious cooperation with said
committee. that factiOual differences
might be obliterated, our party pres
tige regained and our organization re-
stored to its once splendid proportions.
This committee is confident of its abil
ity to show that it is no fault of ours
that the national committee is not
present as a body today, but it does not
choose to waste valuable time in
wrangling over questions Of official Ell
quette. We avow it to be our sincere
purpose now. as ever heretofore, to
promote in every honorable way the re-
form movement on true populist lines,
and we deem the issues TOO momcntOua
an the dangers threatening free gov
eminent too imminent to allow Us to
pause to consider personal grievances
Or aifronts, or to permit wounded dig
nifty, real or imaginary, to overshadow
patriotic duties.
Under present conditions our beloved
organization is slowly but surely disin-
tegrating and our comrades are clamor
: ing for aggressive action.
!; Having in vain importuned those
who assumed to be our superiors to per-
nit us to aid them in the grand work
of re-organizing the peoples party,
that it may accomplish its glorious
} mission, we now appeal to the people,
, the true source Of all political power.
! The referendum committee appoint.
.. vi
SQUAT, Tracy of Texas, Reynolds Of Hi
r nois, Matsinger Of Indiana, and Nc.
\ Gregor Of Georgia.
A number of rules were adopted for
government of the national organiza
ton committee, among them Il rule
that the national com mittee shall sui
y nit to a vote OF the peoples party any
Y proposition, when petitioned to do sc
by not less than 10, 900 members of the
party. This concluded the work OF the
conference.
On the adjournment of the organi'
' cation committee of the peoples party
!. the members of the national com nittee
S pr ,sent met at the Laclede hotel ant
i adopted the following resolution:
d Resolved, That we, the members Of
y the national committee present. indors'
the action taken by the organization
committee and recommend that it,
provisions DO carried into effect, be
lieving that such action will harmon
ize ali differences in the party.
: There were "a members of the com
n mittee represented by the member
n present or by proxies or letters, VIII
e favored a joint meeting Of the nationa
|. committee and organization COMMITTEES
in the spring. Forty states were re
ported at this meeting.
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