The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1899-04-12

Yours for justice and truth,
| Gunnar Naumann.
HON. F. H. LYLE TO POPULISTS.
Every voter is entitled to be enrolled
in precinct or ward club provided he
believes in and advocates the principles
of the Peoples Party, as expounded by
the Cincinnati convention of September
last, and no one not enrolled in such
clubs can have voice in party manage
ment or vote on any referendum matter.
or initiate any changes in party rules.
Upon you, fellow citizens, Of the rank
and file OF the party, individually and col
lectively rests the great responsibility of
success or defeat of Populism.
Shall the Peoples Party die? Let
every true patriot from the bottom of his
heart respond:
God forbid.
Shall the Peoples Party live? Let
every unselfsh patriot shout aloud: Free
government shall not perish from off the
face of the earth. Do not delay but push
the work of club organization in every
precinct in the state
You have been for the last decade,
working 365 days every year with the two
old parties to make plutocrats, and i'm
poverish yourselves, with the masses; now
can you not give at least one day in each
week for the fatherhood of God and the
brotherhood of mankind, and a wee bit
of time now and then, for wife and chill
dren?
Let every Populist do his duty and Sue
cess awaits the cause in 1ooo.-F. H.
Lyle, Chairman, State Ex. Committee Of
Florida.
A. P Baskin, Secretary
H. B. H.
Chattanooga, Tenn, April 6, 1899.
DR.. Henry B. Fay,
Minneapolis, MINI.
My Dear Sir: am in receipt Of the
copies of the Representative containing
full instruction for forming precinct clubs.
cut the instructions out OF the paper
and pasted them on legal cap paper, sent
them out with instructions to form clubs
and report to me- l will in turn report
progress to you.
Our party in Tennessee has not recov-
cred from the fusion of o6. One cause
of our disorganization is the need OF a
state paper. But our party is now max
ing an effort to establish state organ.
If the enterprise succeeds, we think it
will be the means Of bringing the stamped
crowd of Populists to their senses. But
the browning cause of our demoralza-
ton is the ABDOMINAL election laws of our
state. Laws have been passed by the
legislature from time to time to retain the
Democratic party in power. l will not
now discuss the election laws further
than to state that the whole election ma
chinery of the state OF Tennessee is in the
hands of the governor. In reply to your
question concerning the colored portion
of the population of the South, l will
state that l do not feel that I can do the
subject justice, but l may be able to open
the way for some one to follow whom
feel can more ably and fully explain the
situation than l could hope to do. l will
explain to you that l was born and raised
in the South, fought during the entire
war between the states in the Confeder-
ate army. The first vote l ever cast was
Democratic vote. and | continued
strictly to support the nominees OF that
party until in the year 1894, when that
second declaration of independence-the
Omaha platfornl-fell into my hands. Its
teachings knew no race or color, and
therefore, strange as it may appear after
giving some of my political history, l
have no race prejudice, neither could |
after fully endorsing the principles Of the
Populist party. party which knows no
section, race or color, but is truly
party by and for the people. One reason
why l cannot fully discuss the coored
problem is that geographically situated as
our section is, there are fewer colored
farmers than in other states farther
South. The colored citizens of the South
are Republicans and have in the past
bindly followed the dictation OF the white
Republican politician. But the intelli
gent portion of the colored population are
becoming convinced that they are not
wanted by either OF the old parties, and
hence they are badly dissatisfied with
their condition. The Republican kid
gloved'' gentry say if they could shake
off the negro vote they would capture
enough dissatisfied Democrats to insure
their election in some OF the doubtful
southern states. And the Democrats are
continually enacting laws to disfranchise
them. This may surprise some of your
readers, but such are facts, some of the
thinking portion of the colored people
l do not think will longer be dictated to
by designing politicians and will either
vote the Populist ticket or stay at home
on election days. AS before stated the
legislatures pass election laws to dis