The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-09-29

and when two or three were met together
the conditions Of the farmer, and the
theme and tho subject of their con-
their theme and the subject Of their con-
s1deration- Upon discussion and investi-
CATION, reading and listening to lectures,
| gradually the Intelligent farmer came TO
the conclusion that the laws OF the land
| their construction and execution, were
too largely in the interest Of capital,
| combined capital, and that the farmer
| was continually getting the worst OF it,
both in the legislatures and in the courts
| They reasoned together that IN Kansas
| and other agricultural states the farm
/ ers were greatly in the majority, and
| that they had the power to right these
wrongs. if they would only assume and
| exercise that power. They recognized in
| Kansas. where the Alliance aourished
the most, that the whole people of the
state were dependent upon the farmer,
1 and that unless he throve there was no
| thrift anywhere, and that if the farmers
/ would take upon themselves and assert
power which was inherent in them they
might take hold of the very reins of gov
| eminent and be the rulers instead OF the
| hewers of wood and the drawers of wa
| ter, as they were. They were not agi-
| tated about an alliance with Great Brit
| ain, but they came to believe that there
| was an alliance between the law-making
power Of the country and plutocracy,
with combined wealth. They observed
! that it was a very rare and unusual
thing for one Of their class TO have an
Office in the law-making branch o. the
government. and never in the judiciary.
They came to believe upon reflection,
that the people who produced the wealth
OF the country-in short, the people who
were making this western country pro
ductive and inhabitable, ought to have
more to say concerning its government,
and not only ought to have, but deter
mined that they should have; hence the
organization Of the Peoples party.
1.-THE Peoples party as as natural an
outgrowth Of the Fan ers' Alliance as
the organization OF public school in a
newly settled district. 1t was the dec
laration on the part Of the class of peo-
pie to which / have referred that read
justment Of economic conditions was ab-
soutely imperative, and that the only
way for the farmers, who had been Civ
ing their thought and their time in the
Alliance for two years to the question
of the mode and manner of their relief
to get relief, was by the organization Of
a new political party, made up of their
own class and pledged to stand for their
interests. Many men left the old parties
with which they had affiliated for years,
reluctantly and with sad hearts They
did not do so because it was a pleasure
to break away from the party with
which they had voted for years, but be-
he m 10
duty. In short, the organization of the
Peoples party was a declaration on the
part Of the members of the Alliance that
personal interests "are and of right |
ought to be" stronger than party ties.
That the political party which did not |
and would not subserve their interests
and recognize their rights did not de- |
serve and was not entitled to their sup |
port, and so feeling, they resolved them
selves into a political organization with |
a view and with a hope of shaping the |
legislation Of the country more in the |
farmers interests; with the view and |
with the hope of making the vocation Of |
the farmer more profitable and respect
ed. and his influence more fully felt and |
appreciated; with the view and with the
hope of sending men to the state legls-
latures who would fairly and fully rep
resent their constituency, and who would
not be under the influence and domino
ton of corporate wealth and of corrupt
corporate agencies. With these purposes
and hopes they organized the Peoples
party.
THE Peoples party was organized by |
men who We're leaders in the old polii-
cal parties, intelligent men who were be-
leved to have the welfare Of themselves
and families and their neighbors at
heart 1t was organized as a protest
against what they believed to be unjust
and intolerable determinations in legis-
lation and in the courts, against their
class and in favor of the elect. And
what of the contamination of these pur-
poses and hopes? In Kansas, where
Populism took deepest root and where it
grew most vigorously, there was at the
TIME of it's origin a brutal Republican
majority of about $1,000. So vindictive
and uncompromising had become this old
party in Kansas. with its immense ma
jority, that the farmer who furnished
the votes was supposed to have done his
whole duty when he went TO the polls
and cast his vote without question for
the men whom the political fixers and
ringsters had agreed upon. He was not
10 be consulted much less was he to he
chosen to represent his own people his
own class. in making the laws to govern
them. Professional politicians became |
professional la lawmakers, and the decisions |
~ our courts. as recorded in the law ,
books. show conclusively that our courts
had gradually drifted away from the pee
pie and from their interests, and had .
come to act as though their chief bust
ness was TO furnish an easy and ready
avenue through which to take the farm
ar's home from his family and transfer
the title thereto to the eastern mortgage
holder. and to furnish a ready shield for
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