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PEOPLE’S PARTY PAPER.
PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY THE
V€<«.£'s PAPER PUBUSING COMPANY.
117 1-2 Whitehall St.
TEfGS. E. WATSON, - - President.
C. C. POST, - - - Vice-President.
D. N. SANDERS, - - Sec. & Treas.
R. F. GRAY, - Business Manager.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 1892.
The statement that Mr. Watson
had refused to meet Mr. Black, be
ing para de dby the daily papers of
the State, is simply a sample false-
Jtood. Mr. Watton has challenged
Mr. Black to joint debate, to conl
znence at Appling, September 2, and
to extend through every county in
the district.
CORRESPONDENCE.
Thomson, Ga. July 27, ’92.
tlott. Thomas E. Watson, M. C.
The People’s party of the Tenth
Diatiict of Georgia convened yester
day in the city of Augusta, and un
animously, by rising vote, nominat
ed you to represent them in the Fif
ty-third Congress. And the under
signed were appointed a committee
to notify you of said nomination,and
to ask your acceptance of same. We
take pleasure in saying to you th at
11 ic convention unqualifiedly endors
ed your course in the paesent session
of the Fifty-second Congres. The
People of the Tenth District, who
elected you to Congress, feel that
you have obeyed the spirit as well
xs the letter of instructions they
-gave you, and consequently they
they are determined to return you
to the Fist-third Congress.
Yours very truly,
C. 11. Eli .ING TON,
T. H. Rumson,
J. L. Bynum,
B. 11. Miller,
T. M. Brown,
S. H. Rhodes,
J. J. Taylor,
Silas C. Reed,
B. F. Kitchen,
W. F. Peacock,
A. C. Taylor.
mr. watson’s reply.
Thomson, Ga., Aug. 13. ’92.
| Senjtemen of the Committee.
The preceding notification would
have been answered sooner but for
the press of other matters which de
manded more immediate attention.
I accept the nomination tendered
me and greatly appreciate the I
warmth of approval of my course,
shown m the convention.
Your nomination places me upon
Stesame platform in substance to
which I owe my election two years 1
age. It will be my effort now, as then, i
to carry these principles to success.
Yours very respectfully,
Tuos. E. Watson.
The war - horses of Democracy
nakc purported extracts from Gen.
Weaver’s speech in the early 70s do
iiityto an extravagant degree. There
no doubt Weaver poured hot shot
unto the Democrats when he first lan
:i& s.. Republican, nearly as hot as
Ten. Dan Sickles did before he
came back to the party in 1884.
Now Sickles is all right. Weaver
has been indorsed by lowa Demo
since then, and elected by
tfetir votes, while Sickles was still a
ixloody-shirt Republican. If Wea
is correctly reported in the pa
pers, he is strong in phillipic, and a
gixjd stumper. But in the quota
tions printed there is nothing per
sonal to any man or woman ; they
■tpply to “organized Democracy,”’
aatf no man can say they are wholly
undeserved. Not one sentence sin
gles out the South.
The Peoples’ party rally at Car
nesville, Franklin county, August
will doubtless be a winner.
'.The report of the minority of the
-“Jag” committee, which is found
eJeewhere in this paper, should be
res/L by everybody. And when
read, remember that the investiga
was really an effort to discredit
Mr- Watson’s charges, and that
was the least of them.
T&e majority did not dare raise a
of other charges in that
jaiafchmg paragraph. w And the people
kave agreed that the lesser charge
«?£ drunkenness is sustained by the
testimony admitted.
THE FIGHT OF LABOR.
Ralph Beaumont described legal
ized robbery as being committed by
those who “made the Jaw and rob
bed accordingly.” How true his
definition, and his application thereof,
was never more faithfully illustrated
than in the condition shown by a
glance at several great strikes now
or lately in progress in the different
parts of the country. By a most
studious and persistent control of the
law making power, the people of this
republic, the chosen home of labor,
have seen the great corporations
secure the passage of conspiracy laws
and kindred statutes leveled at labor
organizations, until it has now be
come possible to put the judicial
power of the State or nation, backed
by the militia or standing army, face
to face in antagonism with any con
certed movement in behalf of the
welfare of the laborer. Any overt
act, whether by striking laborers or
by designing employers, presents an
opportunity to call in the judicial or
: executive powers, which leads to the
i execution of the statutes to protect
■ robbery on a grand scale, and the
, strike is defeated at the leisure of
I the employer.
Twice within the last few months
has the standing army of the republic
been seen hurrying to the relief of
the corporations. In one instance,
in May last, forced marches were
i made to protect an invading force of
cowboys, hired by the managers of
an association of cattlemen, who had
raided into the farming communities
of Wyoming, slaying settlers, burn
ing houses and destroying property,
intending to render the section unin
habitable by home-owners, that larger
ranges might be afforded for cattle.
Assuming to facilitate the course of
justice and protect the raiders from
an incensed community, the Federal
court really prevented prosecution in
the State courts, and finally set the
culprits at liberty without trial. The
second, instance of Federal interfer
ence was in Idaho, where the Miners’
Union was crushed by companies of
regulars.
The subserviency of the States
have been illustrated more fre
quently in no less signal a manner.
When Carnegie at Homestead failed,
as did the J Wyoming cattle barons,
in his invasion with a private army,
a State stood ready with its militia to
overawe all opposition and stamp
the approval of law upon his efforts.
As in Wyoming and Idaho, the
courts were made the vehicles of the
State’s action, the laws having been
brewed long since which put the
great civial power behind the mili
tary. In New York, as this is writ
ten, a national guard of 13,000 men
is under arms to enforce statutes en
acted by capital while labor igno
rantly slept or divided against itself
in mock battles for party supremacy.
In Tennessee the blood of slain men
has not dried on the ground where
it Ho wed in an effort to dispossess
capital of legalized- power to com
mand the lives and fortunes of citi
zens by control of competing convict
labor, and the militia is found on the
side of the. dollar, and against the
citizen.
The introductions of soldiery to
settle disputes between capital and
labor, always in the interest of in
vestment, are so many milestones on
the high road to absolutism. In all
ages what is called “power” in poli
tics and statecraft has been the
power to so control labor as to di
vert production into channels other
than to benefit the worker. While
industry has been adding to the vast
wealth of the republic, those in
power have made the laws and di
rected the courts so as to secure
returns to “investors,” leaving the
laborer protected only by his limited
capacity for organization, which in
the meantime has been minimized
and abridged by every conceivable
means, until now any concerted
movement by laborers is met by the
military power, directed under or
ders from the courts in compliance
with laws enacted at the behest of
capital.
Admit that the miners in Tennes
see and Idaho violate a statute ; that
the use of Pennsylvania militia at
Homestead, to do what the Pinker
tons had failed to do, was lawful;
that the invasion of Wyoming and
Pennsylvania by mercenaries, result
ing in homicide and arson in each
instance, was a proper exercise of,
the power under the law to employ
whom capital may be pleased to em
ploy, and what then ?
Once has the country been rocked
from center to circumference by a
conflict between free labor and
slavery. The principle which pre
vailed was the principle of the la
bor organizations, that labor should
receive that which it creates. In
changed form, but with the same
force at work, the same question
now presses for settlement. The
effort of the People’s Party is to
settle it by ballot. That of the Re
publicans and Democrats is to either
prevent its adjustment at all, or to
assume that laws made by capital
provide the only settlement needed
or possible. Is it necessary to say
that if their position be true, then
the republic has become a means of
oppression ?
The convict labor system must go.
The old party speakers and papers
seem to believe that free coinage
means that the government shall pay
81.29 for each ounce of silver pre
sented. This is not true. The gov
ernment under a free coinage law
would simply coin into dollars all the
silver presented, charging such seign
iorage as shall pay for the labor, just
as it now charges 1 per cent, per
annum for furnishing plates, print
ing, issuing and circulating the na
tional bank notes. At the weight of
grains of standard silver nine
tenths fine, 100 Troy ounces would
make 129 silver dollars, for coining
which the owner of bullion would
pay perhaps 1 per cent, seigniorage
upon receiving the money. That
money would be full legal tender,
paying interest on the public debt,
customs duties, and finally the face
of the bonded debt. These func
tions are now confined to gold.
Despite predictions of the Demo
cratic papers, the session of the
State Alliance at Gainesville was
well attended, and became harmoni
ous as the business of the meeting
proceeded. The election of officers
was unanimous. Col. C. H. Elling
ton was elected President by accla
mation; Col W. E. H Searcy, Vice-
President; Mr. W. A. Ivey, Secre
retary; Col. W. A. Broughton, Treas
urer; Rev. S. A. Walker, Lecturer;
I. P. Gilmore, Assistant Lecturer.
The Executive Committee is Com
posed of Felix Corput, W. R. Gor
man, J. W. Taylor, J. J. Stevens and
A. F. Pope.
By an error, the name of R. G.
Hyman, presidential elector, was
misspelled in the ticket published in
this paper. Papers copying from us
will please note the fact and change
the name in their standing ticket to
conform to that above.
T. T. Smith, of Brent, Ga., writes
that the negroes of Monroe county
held a mass meeting in Forsyth Sat
urday to determine what course to
take in the present campaign. The
court house was crowded, and with
great enthusiasm and unanimity they
resolved to support the national,
State and county nominees of the
People’s party. They elected a
chairman and a county executive
committee, and are now fully organ
ized and enthused for the cause of
the people. The negro cannot bear
the name of democrat.
The Constitution of Tuesday, Aug.
16, says:
‘ Last night a large gathering of promi
nent and conservative colored people was
held in this city to discuss the interest of
the colored race.”
A prominent clored man called at
this oilice to say that no such meet
ing was held as described by the
Constitution, and that either that
paper was imposed on or had lent
its columns to a falsehood. No large
gathering of prominent colored
people in Atlanta would pass sueh
resolutions as those printed by the
Constitution in its pretended re
port. The report that 200 colored
citizens of Jefferson county had
held a meeting and denounced Mr.
Watson is doubtless a gross exag
geration as to numbers, if not
manufactured to order. The col
ored voters as a rule know that it is
the same old Democracy,only grown
more intolerant.
ALABAMA POLITICS.
i
Kolb’s Answer to Jones on the Recent
Election.
When men refuse to accept office
because of the corrupt methods by
which they have been declared
elected by their party associates, the
fact is conclusive of the question of
fraud in the election.
The country has been startled by
the announcement from Alabama
that candidates for office on the
Jones ticket have in several in
stances declined to accept because
satisfied they had been “counted
in.” And not only that, but in
Montgomery county (the Capital
county and home of Governor
Jones), where the Kolb candidates
proposed to begin contests in the
courts for possession, it was found
upon application to the custodian of
such records that the tally sheets
had disappeared from the ballot
boxes, where the law requires them
to be preserved for sixty days after
election for the express purpose of
supplying evidence in cases of con
test. No honest man, after know
ing of these outrageous and felon
ious assaults upon the purity of the
ballot-box, can fail to be strongly
inclined to credit the statements of
Capt. Kolb in his recent letter to
the Constitution in reply to Gov
ernor Jones. There is an air of
openness and fearlessness about it
that carries conviction. Witness
the following extract:
‘ The governor commences his letter
by saying that ‘I do not see how it is pos
sible to cut my majority down under 15,-
000.’ This may puzzle the governor, but
it is by no means a prob’em to any well
informed Alabamian. In fact, the state
ment excites general derision, and even
pity, from some of his friends. If the
governor will substitute the honest ma
jority for me for the fraudulent majori
ties he claims in Montgomery, Dallas
and Wilcox, he will lose over 15,000
accorded him in those counties, and by
adding to my majorities 8,000 which I
honestly received from these counties, it
would make a difference of 23,000 votes,
which would wipe out all his alleged
majority and place him in a hopeless mi
nority. This is not at all difficult for the
citizens of these respective counties to
see and realize. In fact, most of his
candid friends admit it. But, to be more
specific, he claims 6,254 majority in
Montgomery county, where no one but
his partisans credit him with any ma
jority at all ; but on the contrary all
except these partisans admit that 1 car
ried the county, and those who have
taken the pains to inform themselves
know that I carried it by not less than
1,500 majority. In Dallas county he is
credited with 6,124 majority, when it is
a recognized fact that he did not receive
a majority of the votes in that county,
and those who are informed know that I
received a majority of over 4,000. In
Wilcox county, where a majority of
3,054 is credited to him, it is well known
in that county that he was beaten at
nearly every box, and all who have in
formed themselves know r that my ma
jority’ exceed 2,500.”
And now, bearing in mind the
pregnant fact that Governor Jones
is in office, and that he and his
friends have control of the election
machinery, read this further ex
tract :
“It is a very significant fact that Gov
ernor Jones carried only four counties in
the State in which I was accorded my
legal rights to at least one inspector at
each box. In this connection it is also
very significant that Governor Jones re
fused to join me in an open letter to our
respective friends requesting them to act
with perfect fairness in the election, and
to do all in their power to assure honesty
in the management, correctness in the
count and fidelity in the discharge of all
legal requirements about the election. It
is also a very significant fact that in
every county in which my friends had
the appointment of inspectors that Gov
ernor Jones had an inspector at every
box where he had a supporter in the
beat, and that in all these counties ex
cept four I received majorities.”
And this:
“Even in his (Governor Jones’) home
county, his best friends admit the enor
mity of the frauds perpetrated in the
black belt and protest against their em
ployment to defeat the will of the people
honestly expressed at the polls, which
clearly show his defeat. Many go so far
as to publicly state that should he avail
himself of these frauds to foist himself
upon the people against their will that
he would be playing the part of Ruther
ford B. Hayes and would be so regarded
by the best people of the State.”
Governor Jones having stated in
his Constitution letter, to which
Capt. Kolb is replying, that “this
majority” (for Jones) “represents a
white majority, for it is idle for any
one to deny that Capt. Kolb,
through the State, received a ma
jority of the black vote,” Kolb
comes back thus :
“When the Governor admits that ‘it is
idle for any one to deny’ that I received
a majority of the colored vote he annihi
lates his claim to any majority in the
State which he may set up, for his ma
jority claimed of over 24,000 in the ten
black belt counties must be yielded,
which alone would overcome all the ma
jorities he claims in the State. That is a
plain confession of his defeat, for it is
well known that an average of all those
counties would show my white vote as
large as his. IT that estimate is correct
all his majorities in these ten black belt
counties should be credited to me.
Should these be deducted from his vote
and given to me, that alone would give
me a majority of over 30,000 on the vote'
as claimed by his managers. * * 1
admit that I received a majority of the
votes of the colored voters of 'be State,
and that it was all won the merit of the
cause I represented.”
Governor Jones cannot afford to
remain silent under the imputations
contained in Kolb’s answer. There
was good excuse seventeen years ago
for the high-handed methods re
sorted to in the Southern States for
their rescue from carpet-bag mis
rule. but the time is past for lawless
tactics. In the campaigns that made
those times forever memorable, and
ever since, the leading argument of
Democrats has been that the will
of the majority of the white people
must govern. The independent who
undertook to control any Southern
States by adding the black vote to a
minority of the 'whites was de
nounced as a renegade and traitor to
his race and section, because it was
said a river cannot rise higher than
its source. If a majority of the
independent’s support came from
Africa, then it must follow that the
administration would be African.
Now, if Kolb got a majority of
the white vote of Alabama, does not
this principle clearly entitle him to
the office ? Can Governor Jones
afford to set up an Africanized ad
ministration ?
But if. as is doubtless the case, the
Jones side, finding the white vote
going to Kolb, neutralized it by
stuffing and other frauds, not only
in the black belt, but also in many
white counties, can Governor Jones
afford to take office ? Should he not
follow the example already set by
humbler candidates counted in along
with himself ? Indeed, should he not
have hastened to set the example?
The situation in Alabama is not
unlike that in South Carolina, where
the fiercest campaign in the history
of the State is now in progress.
Ben Tillman, the farmers’ governor
and candidate for re-election, boldly
proclaims that the fight which he
leads is one between the poor, plain
people on the one side and the aris
tocracy on the other. So in Ala
bama, Kolb is supported by a good
majority of the “common” white
people, whose right to govern is de
nied by the professional class and
the rich, who are the aristocracy of
the Southern section. F.
Perhaps the biggest barbecue and
rally of the People’s Party in the
Fifth district this campaign will be
at Jonesboro next month. The
meeting will represent the three
counties of Campbell, Clayton and
Forsyth, and already meats enough
have been pledged to feed several
thousands. Speakers of State repu
tation have promised to be present.
The Constitution seemed to be
greatly puzzled to know what posi
tion to take on the election in Ala
bama. Jones’ friends at first seemed
to stand on the position that he was
elected by negro votes, and the Con
stitution hastened to rejoice and
congratulate the South upon the fact
that the blacks were seeing the error
of their ways, and would henceforth,
by being tacked on to the minority,
constitute the democratic party ’
But the Jones people soon realized
that that doctrine would involve the
eating of twenty years of argument
on the white supremacy question,
and they hastened to claim a white
majority at all hazards, and the
Constitution ever since has looked
like a boy who has dropped his
biscuit.
On Friday, the second day of
September next, Mr. F. D. W imber
ly will speak in Vienna,Dooly coun
ty, Georgia, on the political issues of
the day. Speaking to commence at
ten o’clock, a. m. On Saturday,
September 3, Mr. Wimberly will
speak at Mount Vernon church,Doo
ly county. Speaking will commence
at 2 o’clock, p. m. Everybody come.
Convict labor is the most obnox
ious form of slavery. It places at
the mercy of greed workers who
have forfeited the good will of so
ciety, and who are therefore unable
to appeal to public sentiment for
redress.
Last Friday at least 2500 people
assembled at the grand rally at Miona
Springs. Col. Peek made a good
speech and many others who have
been in doubt dropped in with the
People’s Purty. Rev. T. G. Bell of
Butler made a good speech after
dinner. The Constitution reporetr
said tlJre were only 1200 people on
thegrounils—-about a; near the truth
as they iver get. At least two thirds
of the men present were People s
Party calamity howlers.
The Democrats have to depend on
the People’s Party to get up crowds
for their gatherings. Without our
help they'always make a fizzle.
PERSONAL.
Thp daily papers of the State hav
ing been treated to doses of assertion,
that Mr. Watson’s brothers oppose
him politically, the following cards
are published that the truth may be
known :
CARD FROM J. F. WATSON.
! Thomson, Ga., August, 1892.
Editors Chronicle : —There appeared
an article in your paper of
from the pen of “P. A. b., entitled
“Tomi Watson’s Horne,” etc., m which
the writer says : “ Watson’s two broth
ers Forrester and Julian, are opposed
to him, and are working for Black.’
Speaking for myself, I will say, while
I am not fully in accord with the Peo
ple’s Party, I am not antagonizing my
brother, nor am I working for Mr,
I > 1 ack .
I will also have to disclaim the honor
of being secretary of the Democratic
Club of Thomson, a position never held
by myself. Hoping you will take
pleasure in correcting the article, I am
very respectfully, J. F. Watson.
CARD FROM W. A. WATSON.
Thomson, Ga., August 16,1892.
Editor People’s Party Paper I send
you a clipping from the Augusta
Chronicle for publication.
It is ibeing used in Tom Watson’s
district that his brothers do not agree
with him politically.
I wish to say I am fully in accord
with my brother Tom.
1 know that no man has the interest
of the people at heart more than he
has. He has been shamefully misrep
resented through the public press.
Please publish the above.
W. A. Watson.
Letter of Declension.
Buena Vista, Ga., Aug. 15.
Messrs <7. H. Richards. J. B. Walker, J. F.
Bushin, W. M. Cartlege, Committee :
Gentlemen —Your esteemed fa
vor, notifying me of my unanimous
nomination by the People’s party of*
the fourth congressional district foA|
the fifty-third Congress, has
received. Devoted as I am to the
principles of the People’s party, and
anxious as I am for its success, it is a
source of regret that I am surrounded
by circumstances, over which I have
no control, that will preclude my ac
ceptance of the high honor you have
bestowed upon me. Had the con
vention received my telegram, sent
as soon as I learned my name was
proposed, they would have been
spared the trouble of calling another
convention. I have tried to arrange
my matters to accept, but find it im
possible to do so. I beg to assure
you, and the convention through
you, of my high appreciation of the
nomination, and, while I must decline
it for the reason stated, I wish it un
derstood that my declination comes
from no lack of interest in this great
fight for the people. I shall esteem
it a privilege and duty to do all I
honorably can for the" cause of the
People’s party, for its triumph and
success menus the prosperity of the
people and the best hopes of the
country. With great respect, lam
Yours truly, 11. T. Hollis.
Floyd County.
Subject to a call of the chairman of
the Executive Committee, the People’s
Party of Floyd county met on the 16th
day of August, en masse.
G. VV. 1 leetwood was elected as per
manent chairman, and D. S. Orndorff
secretary. The chair stated that the
object of the meeting was to select a
a senator and three representatives for
the lower house.
It was moved and carried that a com
mittee of one from each district be ap
pointed by the chairman, to retire and
select candidates for senator and three
representatives in the legislature.
The following committee was select
ed : T. C. Hampton, John Marion, E.
M. Johnson, S. N. Kyle, S. J. Whatley,
J. 11. Horton, Seab. Griffin, W. A.
Wimpey, J. D. O’Bryan, J. A. Deams
and F. M. Autry.
This committee was to select suitable
men and report to the body.
REPORT OF COMMITTEE.
We, your committee, recommend the
name of S. J. Whatley for senator. For
representatives, E. R. King, E. L.
Palmer and O. P. Rich.
It was moved and carried that the
names presented be accepted. There
was not a dissenting voice.
While the committee was out we had
two good speeches from J. Blance and
Miller Wright, of Polk county.
. Ihe court-house was packed from the
judge s stand to the head of the stair
way.
I here was a brotherly feeling among
those present, and not a jar or harsh
word was spoken. It was a strictly
business meeting.
Ihe men that we have selected are
true, good men, and capable of filling
any office. They will look to the wel
fare of all men.
D.S. Orndorff, Secretary,
DeKalb County.
Notice to the Executive Committee
of the People’s Party of DeKalb
County, Georgia:
You are requested to meet at the
court house in Decatur on Tuesday,
September 6, for the purpose of
nominating candidates for county
offices. J. B. Holland,
Aug. 16. Secretary pro-teuu