Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1904-10-14
wATsoN's PEN IN ACID.
PopuIist Candidate in Letter of Accept
ance Is Vitrio1ic.

anCe Is S1Cr1Ollcs
Thomas E. 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, us about 1850 words long.
1t denounces fiercely the Democratic
party and its candidate, declares the gold
standard "unscientifc and wrong as
serts that those who produce wealth in
the United States are robbed of the
fruits of their labor and charges com
bined capital with a plot to crush out
individual liberty by downing the labor
unions.
The only hope for the middle and low
er classes" as Mr.. Watson terms them,
he sees is the rise and growth to success
of a third party, not subject to corpora
ton domination. Constructively, he pro-
poses 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
W SuDHHL 10 TIE uOuludIlOu Ol Il Lew,
who use their power for oppression. Pass
ing from historical examples to the con-
dition of things now in the United States,
he finds symptoms which always have
characterized the diseased nation when
afflicted by class legislation" The cor
porations, according to the Popuist can
didate, now rule the land and the people.
"a blacker chapter than that which re-
cords how both the old political parties
united to despoil the common people of
the land" says Mr.. Watson sis not to be
found i'm the annals Of class legislation"
Attacking the gold standard, the can
didate says:
The gold standard is not "irrevocably
fixed" because it is unscientitic and wrong.
Nothing is more certain than that the peo-
pie of this country will continue their strug
gle until they have national currency
which the money power cannot control, and
which answers the purpose of perfectirg
exchanges without becoming an armory
from which the buccaneers of modern f.
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
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 a 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 4 Strol-e of the pen
they can edd hundreds of millions of dol
lars to the burdens of the people. They
enable the trust to Stay It's rivals by grant
ing rebates, special rates, which make
competition impossible. They debauch pub
lie morals by their methods of gaining what
judges editors, politicians and members Of
Congress.
Passing to a denunciation Of the dead
ly principle" of compound interest, Mr..
Watson attacks the Standard Oil Com
pany. j. T. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie
August Belmont, Arthur z. German and
Charles NJ. Schwab for financial opera
tons which, he says, have caused "a
rising tide of angry discomfort" all over
the country. These evils all would be
cured by the application of Popuhstic
ideas, according to Mr.. Watson.