Evening star., 1936-06-28

and West worked with the Democrats,
crowded it out.
Discomfort growing, the various
farmer and labor parties. unions and
societies gradually merged into a
third party" which was extolled as
the means of overcoming all economic
difficulties.
Twenty-siX groups were represented
in the convention of 1892, at which
the party was organized. Among
them were the Grange, the National
Farmers Alliance, the Colored Farm
ers' Alliance, the Knights of Labor,
the Patrons of Industry, the Farm
ers' Mutual Benefit Association. the
National Citizens Alliance and the
Knights of Agriculture.
Thus was formed the Peoples
party, usually referred to as the
Populists. 1t had much of the ira
dition Of the old Greenback party,
which stood for imitation, and was
also product of the dissatisfaction
of the farmer and labor. The Green
back survivors aligned themselves
with this new third party" of Pop
ulism They had been opposed to
resumption of specie payment and
redemption of the obligations of the
United States in gold. The Populists
in the same spirit stood for coinage
Of silver in the ratio of Is to l..
Eventually they accepted William
Jennings Bryan as their apostle, and
most of them supported him when he
was the. candidate of the Democratic
party, which they joined.
Position of Lemke.
Lemke has been identified through
his working life with organizations
similar to those from which the Peo-
pies party was formed, such as the
Non-Partisan League and the Ma
tional Farmers Union. The Nom
Partisan League was created largely
among the grain raisers of the North
west by A. c. Townley. The farmers
of North Dakota joined it in an ef-
fort to compel the State to build pub
lie grain elevators for their free use.
The league, working somewhat on
the lines of the Grange and the
Farmers Alliance, promoted various
improvements in the agricultural
realm. The Farmer-Labor party Of
Minnesota, born in 1920, is another
seeking to remedy economic condi-
tions through political action.
Several amendments to the Con-
stitution have been carried through
by agitations which originated with
the third parties. The one abolishing
slavery is best known.
The oldest of this special type Of
political organization now eXtant is
the Prohibition party, founded in
1867 as an amalgamation Of societies.
1t has frequently put presidential
candidates before the electorate. Al
though it started with so definite
purpose, it went to pieces because of
d:Ssension among its members on
such subjects as free silver and the
tariff.
Prohibition Party.
Hardly anything was left of the
Prohibition party when the prohibition
laws were enacted. The campaign
which made the Nation technically
dry was conducted by the Ant;-Saloon
League, which styled itself a nom
partisan organization, although it
maintained an extensive lobby in
Washington. The present Prohibition
party has shorn itself of irrelevant
ideas and its leaders are still hopeful.
The agitation for women's suffrage
dates back for many a decade. A
minor party, dedicated to equal
rights" nominated for the presidency
Mrs. Belva A. Lockwood, pioneer wom-
an lawyer, who in 1884 and again in
1888 conducted a vigorous campaign.
The Woman's Suffrage party carried
on the struggle. When the ballot was
granted, however women allied them
selves mainly with the Republican
and Democratic parties, as the need
for an organization to advance their
political rights was no longer urgent.
For several years after the close
of the Spanish-American War the
anti-imperialists conducted an on
slaught on the Republican party's
policy toward the insular possessions
taken from Spain. This propaganda
applied especially to the Philippines.
Bull Moose" Best Known.
The best known of the third party
movements of this country was the
Progressive, or Bull Moose" organi-
zation in 1912, of which Theodore
Roosevelt was the unsuccessful can
didate. 1t caused the defeat of Will
liam Howard Taft, Republican, and
the victory of Woodrow Wilson, DEM
ocrat. The late Senator Robert M.
La Toilette some years later became
leader of the Progressives.
The Socialists have reached nearly
100000 votes on a national ticket.
The Social-Labor party asserts it is
the older branch of the MARKHAM cult
in this country and the lineal sue
cessor of the Socialist party in the
United States as founded in 1869,
adopting its present name when the
more conservative group withdrew.
The Communists as a political entity
date back in this country to 1924,
although they had numerous clubs
long before that period.
tCopyright, 1850