The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-10-10
LETTER OF THOMAS E. WATSON
 ACCEPTING 5POPULIST NOMINATION

Following Is the letter of Thomas E Watson. accepting the nomination for President of the Populist Party: To Hon. Samuel w. Williams. Chairman
 Committee on Notification:
 when two srssa political aoantry Dsrsss sns have between them brought about un- satisfactory conditions. 1t is but a nat. ural fact that a third party should so sthe two great parties' for reme- dial ieeisiation lose confidence in both after while, and adopt one of two courses: they either submit , to the nv evirs nrs ranking third party.
 To the student of history. there Is nothing more saddening than the tens dency of the, people to submit AS 2 the masses. Statecraft. like priest There Is always the inner sanctuary
 which the ss tsefe ao of unholy feet
 is a mysterious reverence for author ity. Whatever is Is right" to the 9n- thinking multitude; and the votaries of power never cease to deepen that Impression. Thus partly from isnSr- ance and partly from reverence TOT established authority. the people, in ev- cry age, have shown more inclination fo submit 10 bad government than to resist It. The crimes which have been committed under forms of law ny rai- most stagger belief. They have been so deliberately cruel, so relenuessiy selfish. so shamefully unjust that the blood boiis within him as he reads the record. What was the purpose of the lawmaker in forming such heartiess Legislation? The motive was to render permanent the rule of the few. the the wealth of the few. Always and everywhere the result of this sort of legislation has been the same-it de- feated itself; and the aristocracy fell Those who rule by corruption, being corrupt themselves. sap the very foun. dation of social and political order; and when there Is nothing in the masses of the people but tame submission to tyranny, there is no robust strength left to meet the enemy, within or With
 handful of Engiishmen are able to hold Egypt down, and plunder its peo- pie in the interest of the Rothchilds, and other holders of bonds signed by a decadent and helpless Khedive. Why l? Because the life had been taken out of those poor creatures by centuries of misruie. The common man, in Egypt, has been dirt under the feet of mas ters so long that he has come to be- 1teve that he is dirt, and nothing more. See how the 200,o00,000 of Hindoos are held down by 100, 900 British. See how they submit to be so closely shorn by English plunderers that at the least breath of famine they perish by mil lions How was that horrible situa- tton made possible?
 Centuries of misrule did 1t. Souiless ariHtocracy, thinking of It's own inter ests only, killed the spirit of the peo- pie. by atrocious laws. When the evil hour came and India needed robust manhood to defend the Empire, no wo- n~A ii ire were effeminate, weakened by their own wealth, their own self-indulgence, their own monopoly of power, privi- lege and opportunity. The subject mitted so long. had been slaves so long, that the instinct of patriotism was lack ing; and to the new yoke of the Brit ish the patient OK submitted. To be an OK and wear a yoke had become sec Z ond nature to the wretched. lower class Hindoo.
 they happened to people of another race: in modern times and among the white races such disagreement would be impossible. Self-complacent ignor- Kind of comfort to itself. and blandly congratulates itself upon the fact that legislative systems of robbery are things of the past.
 owned and salaries paid by the pets of class legislation. lose no opportunity of batting the self f-complacent sage on 1.-the back, and of strengthening his be- *lief that all is well with the Republic. SClass legislation did, once upon a time, lead great nations to ruin-but that was long ago. Class legislation : the same old tree. but the fruit is not the same. Thus sayeth the subsi- iized editor; and the self-complacent age who knows that all Is well with the Republic, purrs with satisfaction, md thinks highly of the editor.
 Yet, if one really wishes to know the truth, and will but look around him, bs will observe symptoms which have always characterized the diseased na- tion. Did the people of Russia demand war with Japan? Were they consult ed7 Did they have any grievance dsd not want the war; the people did not want It. Who then forced Russia Into that bottomless pit of blood and suffering7 The corrupt ruling class the predatory capitalists who were seeking new fields of conquest. A score of gold-hunting nabobs provoked the strife; and now the Russian peas ant must yield up his body; shrow the wiring the cry of orphanage from the lips of his child. and feed the buszards with his rotting flesh, in order that interruptions marauders may get their clutches upon more gold.
 In Germany, see how the war lord struts and swaggers and mtsgoverns. See him clap men, women and children into filthy dungeons for the high crime of speaking disrespeotfully of their i'm perial master. See how the soldier rides on the back of the producer. See how the common people are ground down under the wheels of a splendid. extravagant, insolent militarism See the millions wasted yearly on the per- sona1 vanity of the Emperor. See how the smart young officers cut down with theIr swords the private soldier. or the private citizen, and escapes punish ment.
 See how this proud Emperor sends to penal servitude for seven years poor devil of a private soldier who had expressed the wish that the swift train which bore the Kaiser by on one of his Journeys, might have been slowed up So that his Majesty's loyal subjects could have gotten glimpse of the royal face.
 See how Italy is narrowed by the tax gateherer, who squeezes out every possible penny from the common peo-