The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1899-09-21

ATLANTA, Ca, Sept. 7.-Mr. DON
nelly: hope you will excuse the lib
erty in addressing you, but it seems to
lie that something ought to be done to
Try and stir up the people in the cities,
for to me they appear to be asleep.
There is not more than one in fifty of
the voting population who know how
political parties are run, and not more
i than one in 100 who know what it takes
to constitute dollar. Almost to a man
+ they think it takes piece of silver with
, piece of gold behind it. These same
/ men are intelligent on almost every SUBJ
! ject except finance and the workings of
the government. I will give you one
I illustration. A gentleman here in At
ianta, an educated one at that, a grad
uate of the chronological school To-
Gated here, who now has an office in this
city, and is considered a practical
craftsman, wanted to know how silver
dollar could be worth 100 cents as cir
, culating medium when the silver in it is
only worth SO cents as commodity, un-
less it had the gold behind it. ex-
planned to him that it was not the COM
modify value either of the silver in it.
self, or of the gold behind it, but that it
was the fiat of the government that
makes it compulsory on the other fellow
to take it for debts and dues that makes
it worth 100 cents. Then he could see
how it is that we Populists condemn
purely fiat dollar. Now this case repre-
sents the universal majority so we'll we
cannot help wondering why it is that SO
many bright, intelligent men are SO ig-
norant on these questions After hav-
Ing sought for the cause we find it
comes from the prejudice caused by the
education they have received from the
newspapers which they generally read.
TO show to what extent that prejudice
prevails here in the South. Atlanta is
probably as progressive and metropoli-
tan as any city in the South, and when
the candidate for governor on the Pop
ulist ticket came here to speak, there
were not over so people out to hear him.
l will give one more case of what I
call ignorant superstition, which, to my
mind, covers the labor union question
and it's workings toward political re- !
FORM
Some time ago l met a man, young. of |
fine address, intelligent as far as nature |
has gone. After the customary salute. |
l asked him what he was doing now: he |
said he had been travelling since March |
in the interest of his union, as he had
been appointed organizer for Georgia.
Upon receiving that information I i'm
mediately asked him what the unions
through their leaders and periodicals
were going to commence educating their
members how to vote for their own in
terests. He looked surprised, and said
he thought they already knew how.
When told him what kind of a recep-
tion the 5000 union men here in Atlanta
gave to Mr. Hagean, he wanted to know
who he was, and when told him he was
the candidate for governor of Georgia
on the Populist ticket, he said, why,
the Populist party does not offer the la
boring man any thing"
Now, isn't man like that a fine ig-
noramus for a union to choose for
leader to organize the great state of
Georgia, the state that holds the key to
the political situation, for so goes
Georgia so goes the South" and this
should be the fighting ground.
With that kind of ignorance and SUI
perstition to contend with, how are we
70 teach them. We cannot with news
papers, for the people are too poor to
AXE them, and would not take them if
hey were not too poor, SO that avenue |
s closed. Through their prejudice
hey will not go out to hear our speak
,rs. By that means that avenue is
closed. How to reach the mass of the
.ity voters is the all absorbing question,
Is see it. There is only two ways that
have been able, after five years of
search to discover. One is to get out
mall dodgers bearing direct on the
Iuestions and mail them to individuals ,
Who have not got converted yet. That
8 expensive, and will not do much good: ,
he other way is to send out mission :
lries to the different cities, whose duty :
should be to go on to the streets and {
'reach our doctrines in the highways
nd byways. In the first place he must .
e thoroughly posted on political 3
conomy;, in the second place he must
e thoroughly inbued with love of the
ause at heart. This will fit him to sac
ifice self and friends for the cause of
he must expect at times to
ct abused, II he never gets anything
7orse than eggs, he may think himself
ncky.
am speaking from experience. It
1ould be hard to tell how many times