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WATSON AT SPARTA. [continued from third page.] Because he must have his profit for himself, and he must have something to make up for the profit that the banker in Augusta is going to make out of him, and also for the profit that the New York banker is making out of the Augusta banker. He would rather do business for cash. Ihe profit would be smaller but more satisfactory. He would not have to sell out the poor man and see his wife and children in rags and tatters, and the whole trouble is that the government lets the national banker have a monopoly of getting the money at one per cent; and put you to the necessity of paying from thirty to fifty per cent; and it belongs to you as much as to him ; it belongs to me as much as to the bond holder. The government lets the bond-holder have it on his bonds, but will not let you have it on our cotton; won’t let the farmer have it on his wheat; nobody can have it except the bond-holder on his wealth. In other words, the money made for the benefit of all the peo ple should not be kept in the hands of the few, but all the people should have, a fair share of the money m circulation. Now, what do we propose ? The government issues money to the national banker on bonds of the gov ernment, running twenty or thirty years bearing 4, 5 or 6 per cent interest. Now, what makes those bonds good ? Why, the land that you till, the corn that you grow, the cotton that you raise, the wheat and other products of the farm. How is the bonded debt to be paid ? By the taxes levied by the government on the horses, mules, corn, cotton, wheat, lands and every other sort of wealth which you produce. The national bankers get the right from the government to issue money for one per cent on bonds as security; and why, I a-k you, should not your lands and cotton be as good as the bond which is secured by your lands and cotton ? What keeps the trains running on your railroads? Corn and cotton. What keeps your stores open ? Corn and cotton. What keeps the ships afloat? Corn and cotton. What keeps the laborer in the field? Why, corn and cotton. Then why should not your corn and cotton get some of the benefit of the circulating medium, wliich belongs to you as much as to any man in An erica. [Another rowdy contingent here at tempted to create a disturbance, but the speaker kept the crowd in a good humor, and they enjoyed the basting which he so deftly applied.] Let the bells ring, let the band play, let the democrats foam at the mouth, but I am going to make this speech or die trying. I say that this system is a bad sys tem. It hurts the cropper; it hurts the farmer; it hurts the merchant; it hurts the country banker ; in short, it hurts everybody except those near the top, where monopoly is enthroned at the expense of all the people. (Great cheering.) Now, how do we propose to reme dy this? We say let the govern ment issue the money direct to the people, and in sufficient quantities for the needs of the business of the ebun try; let the people have loans on their lands, cotton and wheat, and at a lower rate of interest. Why should the farmer not have it as well as the bond*holder? Why abuse us be cause we want “ equal rights for all, and special privileges for none?” Here is a man who has more land than he knows what to do with; he stands in need of money to make that land yield him a profit; if he can get that money at 2 per cent., instead of taking a thousand pounds of cotton to pay that interest, he keeps those two bales of cotton and pays six or eight dollars in two shakes of a sheep’s tail. A voice out in the crowd : “ Come down to the barbecue, boys; there is plenty of time yet.” (Yells of de rision.) They say, “ Come to the barbecue.” I have got five to their one, and that is our usual majority. We will give you a barbecue that means a better understanding of these things that make you poorer from day to day in spite of your v ork; in spite of your efforts ; in spite of your toil and sweat. I know that many of you have not understood it heretofore. You buy a piece of land ; you pay from 8 to 20 per cent. interest on the money to enable you to build a home. The land is seamed with gullies; you fill them up ; every spot becomes dear to you, because it is your home; you build a home to live in; you put a fence around the dwelling; your wife and children plant vines around the doors and windows ; they climb and you are embowered in peace and con tenttnent; when the storm comes you thank God that you and your wife ind children are secured against its jlasts, ‘and your heart beats with jladness. But an evil day comes. The banker must get his pound of lesh. The sheriff makes his appear '.nce, and you are turned out in the old world because the government Bes not accord “ equal rights to all, nd special privileges to none. ’• (Sev ral voices: “We see the way it is oing. Wait until election day.”) What else? You know that the jnants throughout this country are ecoming more numerous from year ? year, and the land owners less nu merous. That is a bad sign, harm rs ought to own their farms. The arms of this country ought not to go oto the hands of a few speculative and owners, but ought to be in the PEOPLE’S PARTY PAPER. ATLANTA, GEORGIA, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1892. hands of the people who* fought for it in times of war, and worked for it in time of peace. (Great applause.) They say that we advocate the di viding of the laud, and giving it away. That U all nonsense. (A voice: “That*s one of the Isbm a elite’s.”) Yes, that is one of the variegated Show-my-light lies. (Laughter.) "What we mean is that the laborer shall have the opportunity, by the proceeds of his labor, to buy from the land owner the little home that shall be a shelter for himself and his dear ones. Is that a good or a bad policy? Is that a just or an unjust policy ? (Cries of “ Good ! Good! Just! ”) Mr. Gladstone is trying that in England; Mr. Constans is trying to do that in France ; and why should not we try to put it into the power of the people to own their own homes, by the enactment of just laws ? Instead of building up a community of land owners, through discriminating legislation, and hav ing the masses in the position of renters, why not have a community of prosperous, happy homes; every man owning the spot that is the dearest on earth, and handing it down from sire to son, bringing smiles and peace and contentment where before there was discontent, injustice and suffering ? How would it work ? The landlord of large means -will sell off thirty acre lots instead of renting, and he will be all the better off for selling it. (Voices, “Yes,- he will.’’) That land-owner, instead of being land poor, will take the money and settle with the mer chant, and that will be the better for the merchant as well as the laud owner. You go to your day’s work with the picture of a home you call your own in your mind and the chink of silver ringing in your ears. (Great applause.) That is one of things we offer the people. (The confusion and noise during the delivery of the foregoing para graph prevented your reporter from hearing all the words, and the beauty of diction, if not some of the ideas, was marred.] Then there was the sub-treasury, which last year became the echo of every hill and valley of every State in the South, is another. Col. Liv ingston himself spoke for it last year, but this year you hear nothing from Livingston. He is as silent as the grave. Moses is silent this year. They have both strayed from the plain path which led to relief of the people. When we took the stand two years ago Governor Northen in dorsed every plank in the platform. Where is lie to-day ? He is just where Cobb was on the floor of Con gress, inquiring, “Where am I at?” (Loud laughter, and applause.) Here is one man who knows where he is at, and that is, on the same road he was four years ago. (Cries of, “There’s where you arc, Tom, and there’s where we are.”) lam stand ing qn the same platform I stood on then; I am making the same fight now that I made then; and I hope that the good God will be merciful enough to take me to his embrace in everlasting sleep ere I deceive the people that trusted me. (Applause, loud and long.) They may talk about parties, I am talking about principles; they may talk about shadows, I am talking about sub stances ; they may talk about the la bel on the bottle, but I am going to take every opportunity to talk about the contents of the bottle. (A voice, “I m 1 how dat man can talk.”) We say that the taxes of the peo ple are not properly levied. You pay as much tax on your hat as I pay on mine, though you may not have paid fifty cents for yours and I may have bought one of the finest in the market; though you may not have a place whereon to lay your head, and I may live in a mansion. Is it right that you should pay as much on the coarse blanket in which you wrap your helpless wife or sick babe, while I, who may be the richest man in the county, pay no more on the fine wool blanket from the looms of Manchester? (Cries of, “No 1 No ! ”) You pay as much on the axe with which you cut your fire wood, on the plow with which you till your crops, on your household and kitchen fur niture, on your stock upon your farm as the most wealthy man in the State. Is that right? (Voices, “No ! No! No! ”) What do we say in regard to this ? We say that the tax ought to be re duced to the lowest possible limit for the support of the government economically administered, bearing upon all equally according to their means; we say that the rich million aire ought to pay a tax upon his in come, so that the great fortunes amassed under this iniquitous system should bear their fair share of the burdens of government. Put the burden where it belongs. (A voice, “Now you are talking.”) Do not tax the poor man for the benefit of the banker. (Cries of, “That’s it.”) Do not tax the poor man on his ne cessities. (Cries of, “Hit ’em again.”) Do not tax the poor man on what he is obliged to have in order to live. (Voices, “That’s what they have been doing.”) Do not tax the poor ■white tenant or the poor black ten ant for the sugar that he carries to the sick bed of his helplessj loved ones, the same as you tax the rich man on the finest grades that’ the rich man may carry into the finest homes in Sparta. Why not tax every man in accordance with what he has got? The democratic party will not do so. Why ? Because the men who are ruling the roost in the democratic party are not in sympa thy with the poor poople of the country. [A voice, “That’s the God’s truth.”] The ;People’s party is the only party that has the courage to take this infernal monster by the throat and bring relief to the people and say, “you must be honest with the people—you must do what is right.” [Great cheering.] They are against national banks. Why don’t they say it in their plat form? They say they are for equal rights. What do they offer you ? Why, the old State bank humbug.’ It is the biggest bonanza for sharp swindlers and grinders that ever was established; the best opportunity for the money sharks to get advantage of the ignorant. It is not money ;• it will not pay debts; it is not good out of the State; you do not know whether you are selling your land or your farm products for anything, or something, or nothing. It is only the promissory note of the man that signs it, neither more nor less. It is just as if you sold me your farm, your horses, or your mules, and took my note in payment, paying me for issuing it. The Democratic party proposes to turn loose a half dozen State bank robbers to help the national bank robbers fleece you. [Great applause, and cries of “That’s so ! Hit ’em again !”] Let us have good stuff. When you sell a mule, know what you can buy with the price you receive. If you sell a horse in Georgia, be assured that the money will be good in Carolina or Florida; good in summer and good in winter; good in the autumn and good in spring. Neither party has given you ‘relief ; neither party in tend s to give you relief. The Re publican party did not promise you relief; the Democratic party did make the promise, and when it came to the scratch, voted against it. We promised you relief, and we voted to give it to you. [Voices, “Yes, you did,” and great cheering.] They told you it would be a good thing for you to take a thirty-day note on the stuff you sold; it would be a good tonic for all your complaints; it would be a good medicine for all your diseases. Now they say, after defeating the silver bill, that it would not do you any good anyhow. It was like the old nigger’s rabbit that he caught: “You’se- a plump rabbit.” [Laughter.] “You’se a juicy rabbit.” [Renewed laughter.] “You’se good for the bile, and you’se good for the fry.” [lncreased laughter.] “You’se good for the breakfast, and you’se good for the dinner. You’se good for the supper, and you’se good befo’ goin’ to bed.” [Great laughter and applause.] About that time, in an unguarded moment, the rabbit slipped through his hands, and as he saw the end of his stump tail cutting through the bushes, he says: “Go it, you little debil, you’se not fit to eat nohow !” (Long continued laughter and ap plause.) Now, I have been talking to you a long timei I have endeavored to tell you th< truth ; I have not said anything to the black men that I did not want the white men to hear; I have not said anything to the white man that was not intended for the black man ; I hive no secrets from either* side; and if I stand or fall, I will do it with the satisfaction of having put the plain truth before vou, and appealing to your honest judgment of what is just and right. Now a word with reference to my appearance here to-day. I chal lenged Major Black to meet me in eleven counties of the district; he accepted only five. I threw down the gauntlet for eleven, and he picked it up for only five. (Tre mendous cheering, and cries of “He knows what’s the matter with Hannah !”) I challenged him to en ter the district and fight it out until one or the other of us was whipped; he said he must have thirty days’ rest. (A voice, “We’ll give him a rest after November,” and loud laughter.) When I came here this morning I challenged him and his associates—-three of them—claiming the right to an hour to explain those personal slanders which had been circulated over the district with reference to Col. Peek and myself on the slavery bill, on the educational bill, and the Anthony Wilson matter, which had no relation to the issues of the day, and then to meet them foot to foot and breast to breast on the questions of the day. Was that a fair proposition ? (Cries of “It was! It was! You have him on the run!”) Yes, and I will keep him running; there will not be a grease spot on him left when the fifth of November rolls around. (Laughter.) I have talked to you an hour and a half, under circum stances which it is unnecessary for me to repeat; and I say here again that if the Democrats will trot out two or three of their best men after dinner, weak as I am, exhausted as I am, the last one of them will be ready to exclaim with Mr. Cobb, be fore I am done with them, “Mis’er Speaker, where was I at?” (Cries of “Good boy, Tommy! Good-bye, Jimmie !” and great applause.) I suppose that Mr. Black will deny the soft impeachment about be ing challenged, but I have got the documents. The truth is, they are surprised that you men turned out in such numbers, and with such en thusiasm. They knew this was my appointment; they expected to break the force of my engagement by get ting up this barbecue and drawing the crowd with their calves and mut ton, hog and hominy; they affected to believe last night that I would not face the music, and that they did not know whether I would be here or not; no matter what they thought last night, they knew I was here this morning; they know now that I am here, and here to stay, and that I will never run from any Democrat in the State of Georgia or in the United States. (The scene at this point, to use a threadbare ex pression, “beggared description.” The vast crowd surged and swayed, clasped hands and shed tears of joy, laughed and yelled for full five minutes.) Now, I do not care to meet irre sponsible, second-class cb.inners; I do not care to meet every whipper-snap per who expects to gain a ’little no toriety by repeating refuted slanders against V» atson; but let • them trot out their nags with a record; then candidate for Congress in this Dis trict, or their Governor, and face me before this audience or any other in the Tenth District, and you will see fun. [A voice: “It will be fun for us, but not for them.” Laughter and applause.] I thank you, my fellow citizens, for this magnificent ovation. I thank you for showing by your ac tions here to-day,that you care more for principle than for hog and hominy. It makes me feel proud of you. They say I have written that lam going to be defeated. I never made any such admission. It is not in the power of any man, any set of men, or any clique of tricksters to defeat the will of the people of the Tenth Congressional District, and every day shows more conclusively that the wrongs of the people ring out more loudly and clearly; and that they have planted the flag and will rally around it until these wrongs are redressed. (Great cheering.) The people are the stronger for the flag they bear. Stand to your col ors, men! You are fighting for your homes! (Cries of, “We will.”) Stand to your colors, men of the Tenth District! You are fighting for your wives and children! (Wild cheering, and cries of: “Let any one stand in our way.”) A better - cause never enlisted the brave hearts and strong arms of true freemen; it is conse crated by the tears of lovely women, and wails of helpless orphans. (Re newed cheering.) But a better day is dawning. The young men. are coming from the fields with buoyan cy in their hearts, laughter iu their eyes, and cheers on their lips; the laborer is coming from the cotton row, with love of wife and children in his bosom, and determination in heart. Fair women and helpless children come along, and their hands go up to you in appeals for relief, with a hearty God bless you on your march to victory. (Tremendous cheering.) Stand to your colors, men! (Cries of: “We will.”) Be true to your principles! (Shouts: “You bet we will.”) Keep your feet out of the snares. (Voices: “Yes, yes, boss.”) Keep your minds unclouded! (Voices:. “We’ll do it sho’.”) Keep your hearts true to your leaders, and we will go forward to victory; forward government “of the people, by the people and for the peeple.” The weak growing stronger day by day, and the mighty march of the people becoming more and more irresistible until at length it shall be signalized by such a victory as will light up your homes all over this land, and bring an era of justice and prosperity that will bless the people. Railroads Should Obey the Laws. Buffalo Enquirer. Some startling testimony was given yesterday in the course of the investigation begun by the Board of Mediation and Arbitration to deter mine the causes and responsibility for the switchmen’s strike. Witness es testified that they had been com pelled to work overtime every day. That some days they worked 11 or 12 hours, that sometimes they were compelled to be on duty for 18 or 20 hours continuously and that this happened as often as twice a week. One witness swore* that on one occa sion he had been on duty continuously for 36 hours. While we may expect that these men will make out as strong a case as possible against the railroad com panies, we have no right to suppose that they are not telling the truth. The fact that in one yard every one of the switchmen voted to strike is the strongest kind of corroborative evidence. It is not reasonable to suppose that they went out on strike unless they considered it a necessary step, or that they would have regard ed it a necessary step unless they had substantial grievances. Whatever the result of the investi gation by the Board of Arbitration it will be shown that the, railroad com panies have not attempted to live up the ten-hour law passed last winter. It has been contended that the switchmen ought to have brought action against high officials of the road for the violation of this law. No doubt that is a fine procedure in theory. But it does not result satis factorily when followed out. It is quite possible that a railroad employe appearing as a complaining witness against one of the high officials of the corporation would lose his job. It is quite possible that a witness whose testimony helped the side of the pro secution would also be out of work after the next pay day. We hope for the good of the pub lic, for the good of the railroads and their employes that no further viola tion of this statute will be permitted. Companies which compel men to work overtime in defiance of law are only laying up trouble for the future. If the roads win this fight and re sume business with non-union switch men it will not be many months be fore their new employes *will be or ganized and ready to work together. ALL PULL TOGETHER. The True Relations between Fanners and City Workers. Southern Alliance Farmer. In 1886 when the K. of L. were in a flourishing condition in the principal cities of Georgia, especially so in At lanta, we remember the tactics pursued by the daily press. Their whole aim at that time -was to prejudice the minds of the farmers, as well as every other class of toilers against the movement, and by misrepresentation and willful perversion of truth, inbucnced them to tight monopoly’s battles at the ballot box. This is, and always has been the policy of the money kings, and even of those who hope in the future to be so-called “Kings of finance.” If they can get the horny handed sons of toil divided each other, their victory is easy and complete, and they can then boast of “how good it is for brothers to dwell together in unity;” and plan still greater successes. Then, when it is too late, the honest workingman sees “that an injury to one should have been the concern of all.” The situation at this time, is to all appearances, a reversal of the condi tions of 1886. Now the farmers are in open rebellion against legalized wrongs and injustice, w’hich then they did not understand, and were claimed as the willing tools of monopoly to aid them in accomplishing the destruction of the People’s Party, ‘ Some of us, at least, have not for gotten the persecutions we suffered at the hands of the newspapers, who af fect to believe that “whatever is, is right,” and no one has a right to think otherwise. We all remember the old cry of “agitate, organize, educate,” but for ■what purpose many of us did not then understand, but had we been seekers after knowledge, as we should have been, we would have learned that “every member having the right to vote was a part of the government of the country and had a duty toperform, and the proper education necessary to intelligently exercise that right, free from corrupting influences, was one of the highest duties of every knight of labor.” “In short, an action that would ad vance the cause of humanity, lighten the burden of toil or elevate the moral and social condition of mankind, was the proper scope and field of his oper ations.” It has been a matter of conjecture with the writer whether the K. of L. who still contend that their principles were correct are aware of the fact that the People’s Party platform was copied in almost its entirely from the demands of the K. of L. Head the Omaha platform in another column of this paper and compare it with the following from the K. of L. demands: Section 4—“ That the public lands, the heritage of the people, be reserv ed for actual settlers; not another acre for railroads or speculators, and that all lands now held for speculative pur poses be taxed to their full value.” Section 13—“ That a graduated in come tax be levied.” Section 14—“ The establishment of a national monetary system, in which a circulating medium in necessary quantity shall issue direct to the peo ple, -without the intervention of banks; that all the national issue shall be full legal tender in pay met of all debts, public and private; and that the gov ernment shall not guarantee any private banks or create any banking corporation.” Section 15—“ That interest-bearing bonds, bills of credit, or notes shall never b e issued by the government, but that when need arises, the emer gency shall be met by issue of legal tender and non-interest bearing money.” Section 17—“ That the government shall obtain possession of by purchase, under the right of eminent domain, of all telegraphs, telephones and railroads, and that hereafter no charter or license be issued to any corporation for con struction or operation of any means of transporting intelligence, passengers or freight.” In the preamble we find the follow ing: “It is imperative, if we desire to enjoy the full blessings of life, that a check be placed upon unjust accumu lation, and the power for evil of ag gregated wealth.” “This much de sired object can be accomplished only by the United efforts of those who obey the divine injunction. In the sweat of thy face shalt. thou eat bread.” Once we did not understand the true significance of the speech made by Mr. Powderly at Richmond, Va., in 1886 in which he saids “The lash of the old time slave owner could strike but one back at a time, and but one of God’s poor suffering children felt the stroke.” The lash of gold in the bands of the new slave owner, falls not upon one slave alone, but upon the backs of millions, and among the writhing tortured victims, side by side with the poor and ignorant, are to be found the well to do and the edu cated.” But our eyes are now open, and -we see the truth in all its purity. As it was then, so is it now; for in the very inception of the movement which has terminated in founding the People’s Party, we have seen organizations of farmers, mechanics and working men of every class and condition, • present ing their grievances, and asking for relief with nothing but justice to sus tain them. Ou the other side we have, first, the collossal money kings with a power approaching the miraculous. Second, their envious followers, not possessing so much, but bending every energy to overtake them in the mad race for wealth. Third, the well to do wage workers whose salaries are good, labor light, who seeing no course to complain, op pose complaints from others. Fourth, the stability of society, which dreading a revolutionary shock, are firmly opposed to a radical change in anything. The money kings seeing their advantage, use the first class as their most trusted allies to keep labor in bondage. They tell their followers if you wish to reach us in importance and riches, you must deal with labor with an iron hand, for it is from labor we get all we have, or ever expect to have, Be sure that they do not get justice, for if they should, they might have some of it to spare for us, and we have not, nor never did have any use for that commodity. To the satisfied wage workers, they hold up the dread of discharge. To the stability of society, they direct their newspapers to hold up the awful • horror of a state of communism; to enlarge upon, to misrepresent, to ex aggerate the utterances of every friend of the cause, to bundle them all in one package and labeling it anarchistic, denounce them as enemies to the well being of society, highly revolu tionary and dangerous. And yet in the face of all this we are reminded almost daily that this is a land of “Christian civilization,” but my own observation leads me to en dorse the following from the pen of the lamented John Boyle O'Riely. “The qualities we naturally dislike and fear in a man are those which in sure success under our present social order,, namely shrewdness, hardness, adroitness, selfishness, the mind to take advantage of necessity, the will to trample on the weak in lhe canting name of progress and civilization. The qulities we love in a man send him to the poorhouse, generosity, truth, trustfulness, friendliness, unsel fishness, the desire to help, the heart to pity, the mind to refuse profit from a neighbor’s loss or weakness, the de fense of the weak. Our present civili zation is organized injustice and intel lectual barbarism. Our progress is a march to a preci pice. The sermon on the mount and natural justice can rule the world, or they cannot. If they can, our present ruling is the invention of the devil. If they cannot, the devil has a right to rule, if the peo ple let him, but he ought not to call his rule Christian civilization. Also the folio-wing from the James town (N. Y.) Journal: “Men don’t believe in a devil now as their fathers used to do, They’ve forced the door of the broadest creed to let his majesty through. There isn’t a print of his cloven foot, or a fircy dart from his bow To be found in earth or air, for the world has voted it so. But who is mixing the fatal draught that palsies heart and brain And loads the bier of each passing year with ten hundred thousand slain. Who blights the bloom of the land to day with the fiery breath of hell. If the devil isn’t and never was, will somebody rise and tell? Who dogs the steps of the toiling saint, and digs the pits for his feet, * Who sows the tares on the field of time, wherever God sow his -wheat? The devil is voted not to be, and of course the thing is true, But who is doing the kind of work that the devil alone should do.” E. Wittich. Atlanta, Ga., August 30th. Let every colored man read this plank in the platform of the People’s party: Resolved, That we demand a free bal- ’ lot and a fair count in all elections, and pledge ourselves to secure it to every le gal voter without Federal intervention through the adoption by the States of the unperverted Australian secret ballot system, This is a pledge of friendship and protection to both white and colored alike. It comes from a source that both should trust, and is of such a nature as to inspire confidence in what it says. There are meaningless declarations floating around among political parties, but in this class the above resolution can not be placed. This was adopted separately by a convention representing all the States through real, genuine citizens, who understood the situation. Let it be carefully read by every colored voter. The People’s party does not propose to suffer under bad laws because it is afraid to ask the colored man’s vote to make a change for'the better. —National Watchman. To The People. To the members of the People’s Party and friends of Reform throughout the Union: Our National Committee is sorely in need of funds to meet the neces sary demands of the campaign. The people are coming into our ranks daily by the thousand; counties, dis tricts and States are calling piteously for help. With your timely aid ef ficient men can be sent to’proper localities and the battle be won. Will you not respond at once by sending your contributions without a day’s delay to M. C. Rankin, Treas urer, Terre Haute, Indiana? The situation is our justification for mak ing this appeal to you. Fail not as you prize your liberities. James B. Weaver. James G. Field. Georgia is “in the middle of the road,”