Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Neb.) 1900-1930, 1904-10-20
WATSON'S PEN IN ACID.
PopuIist Candidate in Letter OF Accept.
ance Is VitrfoIic.

| anCS Is
| Thomas r. WatSon's letter formally
accepting the Populist nomination for
President, has been made public. Tho
! letter, which is addressed to Samuel w.
| Williams, chairman OF the committee on
| notification is about 1880 words long.
| 1T denounces fercely the Democratic
| party and its candidate, declares the gold
standard 'unscentiic and wrong as
scrts that those who produce wealth in
the United States are robbed of the
fruits Of the labor and charges com
bined capital with plot to crush x
individual liberty by downing the lah>N
unions.
The only hope for the middle and low
en- classes" as Mr.. Watson terms them,
he sees is the rise and growth to success
of a third party, not subject to corpora
ton domino ton. Constructiyely, he pre-
poses a national board of arbitration to
pass upon disputes between capital and
labor, the adoption of the initiative and
referendum for the making Of federal
laws and the ownership of public utili-
ties.
The letter opens with lament by Mr..
Watson over the tendency of humanity
to submit to the domination of a few,
who use their power for oppression. Pass
ing from historical examples to the con-
dItlon Of things now in the United States,
he finds symptoms which always have
characterized the diseased nation when
afflicted by class legislation" The cor
poratlons, according to the Popuist can
dldate, now rule the land and the people.
"A blacker chapter than that which re-
cords how both the old political parties
united to despol the common people Of
the land" says Mr. Watson, "is not to be
found IN the annals of class legislation"
Attacking the gold standard, the can
didate says:
The gold standard ia not 'irrevocably
nXed, because it is unscientiic and wrong.
Nothing is more certain than that the peo-
pie OF this country will continue their strug-
gle until they have a national currency
Which the money power cannot control, and
which answers the purpose of perfectins
exchanges without becoming an armory
from which the buccaneers Of modern fl
nance draw the irresistible weapons with
which they attack values and raid the mar
ketS
In what Mr. Watson terms "the farm
Ing out to the national banks.of the pow
er, privilege and profit OF supplying the
country with paper currency" he finds q
system whereby the privileged fatten
upon usury at the expense Of the I'M
privileged" and hold ''despotic power"
Both the Republican and Democratic
parties are 'irrevocably fixed" Mr.. Wat
son says, in their support Of the national
banks
In discussing telegraph, telephone, ex-
press and railroad Management, the let
ter says:
No other people among civilized nations
are so cursed with corporate tyranny as
ourselves. Half Il dozen corporate kings
can meet In the office Of J. p. Morgan and
can tax the life out of any city or town in
the United States. By n stroke Of the pen
they can add hundreds of millions OF dol
lors TO the burdens Of the .pPeple. They
enable the trust to Stay It's rivals by grant
Ing rebates. or special rates, which make
competition impossible They debauch pub
lie morals by their methods Of gaining what
they want from governors, legislators
judges, editors, politicians and members Of
Congress
Passing to denunciation of the dead
" principle of compound interest, Mr.
Watson attacks the Standard Oil Com
pany, j. p. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie,
August Belmont, Arthur p German and
Charles n. Schwab for financial opera
tons which, he says. have caused SO
rising tide OF angry discomfort" all over
the country. These evils all would +.
cured by the application of PopuEstic
ideas, according to Mr.. Watson.