The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1900-08-31


insects devour 1T, and the price of his
crop is as uncertain the quantity. If
a private monopoly can suspend produc-
ton and fix the price of raw material as
well as the price of the finished product
the farmer, pOwerlesS to protect him
self when he sells, is plundered when he
purchases. Can any farmer hesitate to
throw the influence of his ballot upon the
side of those who desire to protect the
public at large from monopolies?
The prosperity argument which the re-
pub1icans bring forward to answer all
complaints against the administration
will not deceive the farmer. He knows
that two factors enter into his incOme:
First, the size of his crop, and, second,
the price he receives for the same. He
does not return thanks to the party in
power for favorable weather and a bouR-
tiful harvest, and he knows that the re-
publican party has policy which in
sures Il permanent increase in agricultural
prices. Since he sells his surplus in a
foreign market, he is not a beneficiary of
the tariff, and since he produces mer-
chandise and not money, he does not
profit by the appreciation of the dollar.
He knows that the much vauhted pros
perity, of which he has never had his
share. is on the wane in spite of the I'M
usual and unnatural stimulus which it
has received during the last three years.
He knows that each month of 1900 shows
a larger number of failures than the
\ corresponding month of 1892 and that
there is already marked tendency
toward a decrease in the output of the
factories. He knows also that discov-
cries of gold. famines abroad and war
on three continents have not been able
to raise the price of farm products as
| rapidly as trusts and combinations have
raised the price of the things which the
farmer buys.
Our opponents have tried to make it
appear that we are inconsistent when
We desire general rise in prices and yet
| oppose an arbitrary rise in protected man.
fractures or trust-made goods. There is
no conflict whatever between these two
propositions. If general rise in prices
occurs because of a permanent increase
in the volume of money all things adjust
themselves to the new level, and If the
volume of money then increases in pro-
portion to the demand for money, the
price level remains the same and business
can be done with fairness to all. If, how
| ever, the rise is arbitrary, and only affects
part of the products of labor, those
whose products do not participate in the
rise suffer because the purchasing power
of their income is decreased. If a bad
monetary system drags down the price
of the farmers product, while monopolies
raise the price of what he buys, he burns
the candle at both ends and must expect
| to suffer in comparison with those who
belong to the classes more favored by
legislation.
1t is sometimes urged by partisan pop
uliSts that four years more of republican
misrule would so aggravate economic
conditions as to make reforms easier.
No one can afford to aid in making mat
| tiers worse in the hope of being able to
make them better afterwards, for in
doing he assumes responsibilities which
he may not be able to remedy. No pop
ulist, however sanguine, believes 1t pos
sible to elect populist president at this
| time, but the populist party may be able
to determine whether a democrat or a re-
publican will be elected. Mr.. Chairman,
the pOpulist convention, which your
committee represents. thought 1t better
to share with the democrats in the honor
Of securing some of the reforms desired by
your party than to bear the odium of
remaining neutral in this great crisis.
or of giving open or secret aid to the
republican party which opposes all the re-
forms for which the populists contend.
Those who labor to improve the condi-
lions which surround their fellow men
are apt to become impatient; but they
must remember that it takes time to work
out great reforms Let me illustrate by
calling your attention to the slow growth
of public opinion in support of a prop
ositiOn to which there has been prac-
tically public opposition. President
| Johnson in 1868. recommended a constitu-
| tional amendment providing for the cleo
ton of United States senators by di-
rect vote of the people but his recon-
| mendation met with no response. About
IL years later. Gen. Weaver, then a men,
Der of congress, tried to secure the pas
sage of resolution submitting such an
amendment, but his efforts were futile.
In 1892 the resolution recommended by
President Johnson and urged by Con-
gresham Weaver finally passed the house
of representatives, but it has not yet
reached a vote in the senate, and now
after eight years more of public dis
cussion, the proposition for the first time
received the Endorsement Of the national
convention of one of the great parties
l have called attention to the issues
which brought the democrats and popu-
lists together, and which justifies the
cooperation during the last four years
Let me now invite your attention to new
questions which would justify co-opera-
ton at this time even though we diff
fered upon all economic questions. 1t is
not our fault that these new questions
have been thrust into the arSna of poll
tics; it is not our fault that the people
have been called upon to consider ques-
lions OF ever-increasing magnitude. In
1880 the tariff question was the principal
subject of discussion and the democratic
party contended that the masses were
carrying burden of unjust and unnec-
essary taxes. In 1892 the tariff question
democratic and republican parties al
though in the west and south the money
question was assuming greater and
greater proportions and the populistS were
contendinS that our monetary system
was more responsible than the tariff laws
for the depression in agriculture and the
distress existing among the wage earn