The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1901-07-19
FRIDAY, JULY 10. 1901
Evolution of the Pop,

birth, there were some wonderfully
cratic views and impractical
schemes advanced, which now mus
seem woefully absurd to those who
promulgated them.
The man who could cuss the gov
eminent the hardest, abuse the
wealthy the loudest, and advance
the widest and most senseleSs
schemes of finance, was the most
popular; and the more wlld-eyed
and unkempt the political orator
looked, and the more vehemently
he pumped the air as he shouted his
rattle-pated vagaries, and the more
abuse he could pile up against the
government and government off
Gals, the more heartily was he APP
plauded. A sort of mania seemed
to have taken possession of the peo-
pie, and they were willing to follow
any leader who could stand up be-
fore a crowd and hurl bitter cpl
thets and vile, personal abuse at
the heads Of administration officers
or wealthy citizens. No scheme
was so absurd or theory so ridicu
lous, that was prefaced by denun-
cation of the octopus and the red
dragon, but it would receive the
blind and enthusiastic endorsement
of the Populsts. Ignorant and il
literate men and conceited dema-
gogues who could unblushingly
stand before the public and bias
pheme public decency became the
political leaders and expounders of
political doctrine.
Men who had lived in abject pow
erty all their lives because of their
Incidence in farming and inability
to manage their small financial
transactions, became great expound-
ers of national finance, and spent
their days and a good part of their
nights in assailing our national fnan-
cial system, and suggesting remedies
that were guaranteed to work great
revolutions and cause money to flow
into the lap of labor without effort.
And the strange thing about the
whole matter IS, these fellows were
listened to by the hour and their
vllest abuse cheered to the echo,
while their most ridiculous theories
were adopted with avidity, and they
became local leaders and men of
influence in the communities where
before they had scarcely been toll
Grated.
The whirligig of time sped along,
the people began to read and think
and reason for themselves, and grad
ually, one by one, these impracti-
cal, theories were eliminated from
the political confession of faith, and
the theoretical impracticables who
promulgated them were relegated to
the rear. Riffs began to appear in
the primeval clouds Of its existence
and the sunlight of truth sifted
through to illumine the dark recess
es of false ideas, till it seemed for
awhile the Populist party had a
mission, and many earnest, honest
men focked to its standards, and in
places it became the dominant po-
litical power.
But Democratic politicians and
fxers, who cared for nothing but to
win, wormed their way into the
graces of the party and soon be-
came the ruling element. Their
only thought was to inculcate Dem
ocratic doctrine and win over to
that party the Populist voter and
keep as many Democrats as posi-
BILE at the pie counter. The fusion
scheme developed, and In the close
counties where there was an oppo-
sition ticket put up of Democrats
and Populists, the Democratic mem
bers were usually elected and Popu-