Evening star., 1935-03-17

tional Greenback Labor party, in
which had been merged some of the
remnants of the nativists with labor,
he went to Congress in 1878 as l of IA
such leaders. The Greenbackers at
that time controlled fully million
votes. Nominated for President by
his party in 1880, Weaver found that
the movement had begun to dwindle
and he had barely a third of the
popular ballots which he had ex-
pected.
Next Candidate Fared Worse.
Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, who had
been both Republican and Demo-
crat, turned his political coat once
more and accepted the Greenback
nomination for the presidency. He
had much less success than his
predecessor. There was boring
within the Greenback contingent and
the remains Of the party were largely
absorbed by Populism.
Picturesque personalities pervaded
Populism in its heydey-Jerry Simp-
son. the "sockless solon"; "Whiskers"
PETER, Coin" Harvey, "Pitchfork"
Ben Tillman. They were associated
with the efforts of the farmer class
to get into the political picture. What
New Workers called "the gay nineties"
were far from cheerful in the Mid
west. Crop shortages or failures, de-
cllnes in the prices of agricultural
commodities, the drop in breadstuff
exports, drought, dust storms and
cattle diseases added to the gloom
OF the agragrian element.
1t was a time for agitators, and
there were plenty of them, especially
in Nebraska and Kansas. Out of the
old Grange societies and farmers
alliances came to the materials from
which the Peoples party, commonly
known as the PopulistS, were con-
jured. 1t teemed with leaders who
had the Pied Piper knack of making
men listen and follow.
jeremiah Simpson. who belonged
to the pioneer days of Populism, had
been sailor on the Great Lakes. In
1878 he drifted to Kansas, where he
became farmer and talker. When
his farming interfered with his
oratory, he abandoned the former
and became friend of the down.
trodden. For time he was identi-
fed with the Greenback Union Labor
party, was elected to Congress three
times as Populist, and was de-
feated thrice for that office. His
sobriquet came from his boast that
he never wore hose, an omission which
he regarded as sign of virility. He
1ourished politically through the COS,
and then retired to a stock farm.
A Woman in the Field.
To that period belonged Mrs. Mary
Ellen Lease, who was an aggressive
advocate of the rights of the people.
A tall. angular woman with a pierc-
ing voice, she was heard all over the
country. OF unusually good executive
ability, she was the first woman
president of the Kansas State Board
OF Charities. She became a lawyer,
and devoted herself largely to espous-
ing the causes of the poor.
AS delegate to the National Popu-
list Convention and an unsuccessful
candidate for the United States
Senate, Mrs. Lease was in the fore
front of the radicals She was a
natural orator, inspired by an intense
sincerity. She will be recalled for
years to come by her advice to agri-
cultural Kansas: What you farmers
need is to raise less corn and more
hell" The latter part of this pre-
cept she put in constant practice.
She proposed to burn the stubble of
all the old parties by the fire of the
then youngest-Populism.
True champion of the tillers Of the
soil was the Populist Senator from
Kansas, William Alfred PETER, known.
perhaps, too familiarly. as "Whiskers"
because of the flowing beard which
swept his stalwart breast. PETER,
author and orator, proclaimed the
doctrine that "the farmer by virtue
of his vocation should control the
politics of the country" He had
been a farmer in various States, with
an i'll success he attributed to the
farmers not getting "a square deal"
A f1rebrand in that conf1agration Of
Populism which was to sweep away
the old political order was Thomas E.
Watson Of Georgia, who rose by way
of the Farmers Alliance. Watson,
Populist member of the House OF
Representatives in 1913, was bncwn
by the violence and intolerance Of
his speeches He attacked the Roman
Catholic Church as editor of maga-
zine bearing his name. He incurred
the enmity Of the Jews by vitrolic
abuse of one of their race.
Watson was a candidate for Vice
Scontinued on Tenth Pase1