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-" - , .4- ■ , -. ■' ■ Pfopt fs Party Paper VOLUME 1. DEBATE AT SANDERSVILLE THE THIRD MEETING BETWEEN WATSON AND BLACK. An Orderly Discussion of the Issues Between the People an<l the Organized Democracy. In the absence of a stenographic report, the following is presented as the best obtainable account of the Sandersville meeting, September 9. The assemblage was largely Major Black's friends, coming in by the train load from beyond the limits of the county, and even of the district, as at all these meetings, in organized bodies. The People largely outnum bered these bodies of claquers, and Mr. Watson scored a signal triumph, as may be seen by comparing the speeches. In opening, Mr. Watson said: The Augusta brass band is on hand as usual—followed by the or ganized crowd who accompany Mr. Black to do the cheering. They carry with them the banner on which they have painted side by side the pictures of Mr. Stephens and Mr. Black. They do this to chow what a modest man Black is. (Laughter and cheers.) Augusta politicians should be very careful how they parade Stephens’ picture. He denounced them as “thimble riggers and tricksters” to whom he bade defiance. (Cheers.) It is but another illustration of Dem ocratic stupidity to parade Mr. Stephens’ picture against me, when it is well known how he stood for principle against party and always stood ready to appeal from the poli ticians and newspapers to the peo ple. (Cheers.) The Democrats had tried to preju iice the negroes against him because a 1 voted in favor of Daniel Proctor. Democrat, agains t Anthony Wilson, Republican, as sixty-one others had done in the Georgia legislature, in cluding some of the best lawyers in the body. Wilson ca,me into the district and ru.ffie speeches for me. Previous to that time the Democrats called him a worthy and intelligent colored gentleman who had been unjustly treated. After that time they sud denly discovered that he was an “ignorant, thickheaded, old nigger and as black as the ace of spades.” (Great laughter.) Gov. Northen and whine-thro’-his aose-Moses made speeches here the other day. Northen denounced Watson for defeating the claim of Brad well in Congress. Northen said all the members from Georgia want ed the claims paid. If so they were in favor of robbing the tax payers —for the claim had already been paid in full. (Great cheering.) Mr. Watson then alluded the act of Congress approved by the Presi dent September, 1888, providing for the payment in full of the Brad well claim. This created quite a sensa tion. Then Mr. Watson proceeded to explain that he was calling for the regular order to force the sub-treas ury bill to the front—a bill which would relieve the distress of millions of people. Northen and Livingston had framed the sub-treasury at St. Louis in 1889, and had promised its passage to the people, and had got high ofiice by doing so. .Now they were denouncing him because he would not allow a private bill to come up out of its order as a matter of special privilege—-said private bill being in favor of a claim which had beep paid off in full. He (Watson) was calling for the regular order—the miller’s rule of “first come, first served”—in order that a general bill benefiting both white and black might have a chance. (Great applause.) Oa calling fur the regular order he had given offense to many indi vidual claimants, but he could not help that. He had felt it his duty to insist on the business being done in the regular way without special fa vors to individual claimants. (Ap plause.) This had made him un popular with many members of Con gress, especially to the New York delegation, because he had objected to their looting the treasury to the extent of $2,500,000 for a new post office at Buffalo. They had already got $600,000 for that purpose. They wanted $2,500,000 more. Remem bering that our beautiful State capi tol only cost $1,000,000, I thought it outrageous to give $3,100,000 for a post-office in Buffalo, and I knocked the bill out. (Applause.) It was a Democratic steal and the New York Democrats got very mad about it. Look at the record and you will see that the New York members spe cially tried to wreak their vengeance on me during the tangle I had with Joe Wheeler on the question of drunkenness in Congress. He would Bubmit to the audience, both white and black, whether he had not done “JECq-tx&l to A. 11 ——Special Privileges to None.” right in watching these jobs and being careful how their money wafcz spent. (Cheers.) T In this connection let me read you a proposition of Mr. Stevenson, the Vice Presidential nominee of the Democratic party. He hated the South so badly he wished his malig nity to appear in the fundamental law of the land. He proposed the following Constitutional Amendment in 1879: That Congress shall have no power to appropriate money for the payment of any claims for using, taking cr injuring the property of any person or corpora tion by the armies or officers of the United States while engaged in suppress ing the late rebellion against the same. Had this amendment been adopted Bradwell would never have got a cent on his claim. Yet they want the people to elect Stevenson to the Vice-Presidency. Had his views prevailed, no money would ever have been paid us for churches, convents, schools, colleges or private property taken or destroyed in violation of the rules of war. Yet the Demo crats denounce Weaver as an “old wretch” and seek to exalt Stevenson, who wanted his inveterate hatred of the stricken South imbedded in the organic law of the land! (Great cheering.) Mr. Moses said here a few days ago that my Thomson speech was a tissue of falsehoods. If so Black was able show it. I am here now (cheers), and you are here. (Cheers ; yes, we are.) Mr. Black and I are standing foot to foot and face to face, (Cheers.) I deliberately re affirm every statement in my Thomson speech, and I respectfully defy Mr. Black to controvert them. (Cheers.) Two years ago you elected me on your St. Louis platform, which is substantially identical with that adopted at Omaha. Last year I came among you to take your instructions. At Deepstep and at Moss Spring the people of Washington county held up their right hands and voted that I should adhere to your platform, no matter where it carried me. (Cheers and cries of “Yes, we did!”) Is it possible that you’ll now go back on me after I did just as you told me ? (“No! No! No!”) The same gang tha> was after me then is after mo now. -'They hateL your pisiform then and they hate it now. (Cheers.) If you want to sacrifice me to your enemies (Cries of “Never! Never! Never!”) I kept my pledge to you. Single handed I have met your enemies at every point and fought for your de mands with all the strength of my nature. (Cheers.) Now, be fair with me, men ! (Cries of “We’ll do it! Harrah for Watson!”) Deep down in your hearts you know they are bent on my destruction because I stood true to the people and would not bend the knee to the politicians. (Great cheering.) Moses and Livingston could not stay in their seats in Congress. Every time a bush shook they cut out for Georgia to save the dear Democracy. (Laughter ) They both had money of the tax-payers in their pockets, which they had not earned, and which they took in open viola tion of the plain letter of the law. (Applause.) Yet these pure patriots who owe i heir brief notoriety to the Alliance principles are openly advo cating the election of Mr. Black, who denounces those principles just as he, in his Austin letter, denounced the Alliance and its methods. (Cheers and cries of “Livingston’s dead!”) Nearly every politician in Georgia has been down here to tell you how you should vote. (Laughter and cheers.) When November comes we’ll endeavor to show them that we know how to attend to our own business, and we’ll be be ready to answer their wild and distressed in quiry, “Where was I at?” (Great laughter and cheering.) Mr, Black at Crawfordsville said the Indianapolis resolution was not binding because I was instrumental in passing it. This is queer logic. But the facts are against him. As usual, they don’t know what they are talking about. They know no more about the record on those questions than a speckled hen knows about as tronomy. (Great laughter.) The record shows that the same resolutions, to the effect that the de mands then formulated should be hold superior to caucus dictation, was passed at St. Louis in 1889. (Ap plause.) The record further shows that at Ocala the same resolution was expressly reaffirmed, and that L. F. Livingston, that sweet-shrub of or ganized Democracy (great laughter), was the author of the resolution. (Great cheering.) Two years ago Major Barnes en dorsed about all of your platform ex cept the sub-treasury. You defeat ed him. Major Black now asks you to elect him, when he denounces about all of your platform, as well as your organization and its methods. Will you do it? (Cries of no, and great cheering.) They are trying to drive the reform movement back, break it up and disband it. In the name of God and justice, let no Ocala man help them. (Cheers.) If the Quanta, ga., Friday, September 23, 1892. tala men can’t help me, in the name __2__bmmon fairness don’t let them > 'e bear. (Cheers.) : ? Jeffersonian, and am trying to bring back the principles of Jeffer son to bless the people with a reign of “equal and exact justice to all men.” (Cheers.) Jefferson favored the free and un limited coinage of silver. The Dem ocrats of to-day do not. We of the People’s party do. Jefferson favored direct issue of treasury notes in volume sufficient to do the business of the country. The Democrats of to-day oppose this, while we favor it. Jefferson said our private banks should only be for discounts and de posits, not for the issuance of paper money. He denounced State bank ers as sharpers and swindlers. The Democrats of to-day favor the State banks Jefferson denounced, and de nounce the direct of United States notes which he favored. The People’s party agree with Jefferson on both propositions. At Crawfordsville Black said the distress of the people was exaggerat ed. I have no time to go into statis tics on that to-day, but here where lam addressing people who bend over the cotton rows to pick out 6 cent cotton which cost them 8 cents, there is no need to dwell in the topic. They know that agricultual distress is not exaggerated. (Cheers.) He (Black) said the tariff was the chief source of their trouble. I de nounce the tariff as bitterly as they, but is a smaller source of trouble than our infamous financial system. (Cheers.) The Democrats have not formu lated any tariff reduction bill. What do they mean by tariff re duction? What guarantee do we have that they could agree on a general bill? They might violate their pledge just as they did on free silver. (Cheers.) They might violate this promise, just as they did on their promise to economize at the least lesson of Con gress. I repeat my former assertion that instead of keeping that pledge they spent more money thaii iEe biit;or dollar Congress.- (Cheers* Aid I challenge Mr. Black to dis puse it,. (Cneeris.) But suppose they can agree on a bill reducing the tariff by a few cents on the schedules, will it not remain a monster iniquity which gives four dollars to the manufacturer while it gives one to the Government? (Cries of. Yes! Yes! Yes! and cheers.) In other words, the Democrats propose to perpetuate a system which they denounce as infamous robbery. They say that a robbery of 56 per cent under the McKinley bill is a national curse, but that a robbery of 48 per cent under the Mills bill would be a national bless ing. (Great laughter and cheers.) I say they never did intend to pass their free trade bills of which they have talked so much. Why? Because, according to their own showing their bills could have re duced the revenues $158,000,000. The Government is now spending all its revenues. A shortage of $158,- 000,000 w ould cause national bank ruptcy. Its place would have to be supplied. The Democrats provided no substitute to supply its place. Hence I say these free trade bills were never intended to become laws, but were simply a part of the system of de ception and fraud which the Demo cratic politicians were practicing on the country. [Cheers.] We of the People’s party fight the tariff in the true way. We propose another way of raising the necessary revenue —the income tax. [Cheers.] The tariff will never die till some other method of raising the revenue is adopted, and we are the only party which proposes that substitute. Once adopt the income tax and tariff is doomed. [Cheers.] Mr. Black’s remedy for financial distress was State banks. In one breath he accuses us of the intention of flooding the country with paper money; in the next breath he says he wants to do the same thing. [Laughter and cheers.] Under our plan the strength of the republic would be at the back of every dollar. Under your plan the strength of one State alone. Under ours the national Congress of all the States would decide how much should be issued. Under yours each State would say just what the bank ers of that State desired. Under our plan the money would be uni form all over the United States, and would be legal tender, and would live as long as the nation lived. Under yours each State would have its different plan, the paper issued would not be legal tender and wouldn’t have strength enough Io cross the State line. [Cheers.] In his letter to John W. Epps, June 24, 1813, Mr. Jefferson dis cussed national finances at length. Here is what he said: ‘And so the nation may continue to ISSUE ITS BILLS AS EAR AS ITS WANTS REQUIRE AND THE LIMITS OF CIRCULATION ADMIT.” This is exactly what we demand. [Cheers.] “Those limits are understood to extend with us at present to $200,000,000 —a greater sum than would be necessary for any war. But this, the only resource WHICH THE GOVERNMENT COULD COM MAND With certainty, the States have unfortunately fooled away, nay com pletely alienated to swindlers and shavers under the cover of private fxnks.” a subsequent letter to the same g in tieman on the same subject Mr. jßr<?raon says that the object of State banks was to “ enrich swin dlers AT THE EXPENSE OF THE HONEST AND INDUSTRIOUS PART OF THE NATION.” Yet you dare to talk to us of leav ing the principles of democracy! Judged by your platform and your methods, the Democratic party of to-day knows less of Jefferson’s doc trines than a Japanese hog knows about the Chinese religion. (Great laughter and cheering.) In his Bd zeiia speech Mr. Black denied that lhe Government let na tional have money at 1 per cent. I noy hand him the law ; I challenge him to repeat his state ment ; if he does so, I will attend to him in my conclusion. (Cheers.) Mr. Black, denied that Democrats were responsible for national banks. I propose to brove that they are. It is true the. Republicans passed the bills to charter them. But the Dem ocratic party has made no organized attack on thennational bank system for thirty Why ? It means tlther that Democrats liked the sy or that they did not have th r courage of their con victions. Esther explanation damns them. Again. tHtry have voted to extend the charter privileges and the circu lation the Democrats who did Brown, Crisp and Candle-■4 Agai ’* Ireland’s administration wish 4Ve the $316,000,000 gr,i phu put national bank no • stead. ' 6 /Ireland’s administration pu 00 of your money into thes 4ffiike, free of charge, to lenert k ?>n theii*own terms. Agbu 1 w* r are high in aiM*P' es democratic party. them, is in the . Piratic platform. Now, «his proves that the Democri* hates national banks, L on earth would you prove tb Hol-edthem? (Cheers.) The Book says, “The Lord loveth/ Reversed—Democrats hate thbs J jhM hom in legislation they extend the Choicest gifts. They prove their opposition by the concessions they make. Their resistance by surrenders. Have you defendedpur citadel? Yes. See the white flag over its towers! See the enemy rejoicing within! (Cheers.) Why don’t the Democrats make war on the millionaires and We na tional banks, taxing the one on. their incomes and destroying the money monopoly of the other? According to official report, during Cleveland’s administration the na tional banks had paid $67,000,000 as the aggregate of the 1 per cent tax on the circulation based on the bonds since 1863 up to 1888. What amount of circulation must they have had to produce $67,000,000 at 1 per cent? Why, $6,700,000,000. That’s the sum they got the use of by paying 1 per cent. Now, say they loaned it out at 8 per cent; how much did it yield them? $536,000,000. Deduct what it cost them ($67,000,000) from what it brought them ($536,000,000), and you have $469,000,000 as the net profit they made from this most infamous national rascality. [Great cheering.] Remember that their bonds were drawing interest in gold all the time; that this interest was paid in advance to the extent of $13,000,000 during a portion of the time; that the bonds paid no tax; that Cleveland gave them as high as $60,000,000 free of charge from the tax money of the people; that under Cleveland they reaped in the golden harvest some $60,000,000 as premium on these bonds, and yeu have a picture of class favoritism such as modern timeshave rarely seen. [Cheers.] Yet the Democratic party not only proposes no war on this system, which Jefferson hated and Jackson destroyed, but wish to elect Cleve land, whose administration is on re cord as favoring the burning up $346,- 000,000 of greenbacks, which cost the people nothing, and putting in their place an equal sum of national bank notes, which cost them, at 8 per cent, the neat sum of $27,680,000 per annim. Ir the light of your present knowl edge of our financial system, are you willing to vote for suc|i a policy? [Cries of no, and cheers.] The millionaires, sustained by shanceful class legislation, had march ,ed to wealth and power over the thousand desolate farms, abandoned homes and broken-hearted men and women. In the name of God, it was time to call a halt and restore the rule of just laws. [Great cheering.] /V . ( MR. BLACK’S REPLY. Mr. Black was then introduced. He was greeted with enthusiasm. Major Black began by congratu lating tne assemblage on the good order during Mr. Watson’s speech, and asked that the same be accord him. He thought from his greeting that he had some friends outside of the Augusta politicians. [Long ap plause.] He did not care to notice what his friend said further than to say that he misapprehended him if he thought he only represented city politicians. He represented thousands of hon est farmers all over the country. (Cheers.) Watson said he was sent to rep resent the Ocala demands. He conceded it, for he would do him no injustice. The fact is he was in structed to stand by them within the Democratic party. Watson said he could not support Crisp, not because of silver or the subtreasury, but be cause'he belonged to the Gorman- Randall wing of the Democratic party and was not square on the tariff. [Here the disturbance became so great from the third partyites that Mr. Watson asked them to give Major Black a respectful hearing.] Watson had said if the Democrats wanted his resignation they could get it, thereby acknowledging his allegiance to the Democratic party. Voice. What about bar rooms in Augusta? Major Black. Well, I did vote the wet ticket, and what has that got to do with this? You cannot make me ashamed of of any vote I ever cast unless you can make me believe that 1 had done wrong. , * If you did that I would not be ashamed to stand here in this pres ence and aknowledge it. (Cheers.) If you did not do that I would not be ashamed to stand here and avow it. When you come to this, although I do not care to speak of myself, and do not want to, but when you come to any moral question, I do not shirk companon with any man. Continuing he said he had never denied that there was vifiious legisla tion that should be repealed, and that the agricultural interest should have some relief, and when these were affected all interests were af fected. He said he had as much sympathy for them as any man. But they were after measures which could not be put through. You would never get this Government to loan you money at 2 per cent. (Cheers.) And the man who promised what was impracticable. Watson said Jefferson was in favor of issuing treasury notes. He conceded it, but he stood there to defend Thomas Jefferson by saying that he never remotely committed himself to anything like the sub treasury. Watson said, holding up the re cord, “Boys, we’er got the record.” Yes, boys, we have got the record, it was in a period of war and for t£e purpose of tiding over that he advocated treasury notes, but he said \ they were to be sustained by t&xing them He also warned against flooding the country with paper money. He would not bind himself to all Jefferson said under those conditions. He said that neither Jefferson, Jackson nor Mon roe nor any statesman of modern times ever advocated the lending of money on lands and agricultural products. The question was what remedy would furnish genuine relief. Suppose the Government stamps one hundred millions, how are you going to get it out of the treasury ? Voice. Sub-treasury. That’s the right answer. Now, do you know what the sub-treasury is ? It is necessary to have $500,- 000 of products in the county to get a sub-treasury; and if there was a county in the district that could do it—and he doubted it—how would the poor man, who has no corn or cotton unmortgaged, get it out ? You don’t want but SSO per capita; but if money was loaned on one-half of the land it would make it sll6 per capita. Voice. The farmer won’t get it unless he wants it. No; and you won’t get it that way if you do want it. I thought you wanted it. Such a law would only plunge the country into deeper and darker ruin. It would put in the power of men who could get it at 1 per cent, to put it out at 7 per cent., 8 per cent, or 10 per cent.; whatever they choose. You claim that the Democrats are divided. The third party is divided even on the sub-treasury scheme, and Mr. McKeighan, one of your own members, denounces it as having no warrant in law. (Cheers.) Where was there a fair minded man who would say that he expected to get possestion of both houses of Congress and the Presidency ? They would never do it. There was more NUMBER 52 hope in the Democratic party. There were more Democrats in Congress who favored free silver and an in come tax than there were third party representatives. Now, in the name of reason and intelligence if you are for the highest weal, what is the sense of going out of this party and into a new party which does not promise you any hope of relief on these political lines ? My friend says I did not say any thing about an income tax. I didn’t think it was necessary for me to an nounce that I stood upon the plat form of my own party. That is a plank in the platform of my own party. That is a plank in the Demo cratic party platform of the State of Georgia. There is where I stood and expect to stand. I say I would go as far as he would in this direc tion. And I say to all you honest people looking me in the face that there is a great deal better chance for you to get an income tax law in the Democratic party. The tariff stands in the minds and hearts of the people as one of the greatest of issues, yet Mr. Watson is a free trader and does not stand upon the platform of his party, which is com mitted to perpetuating the protective tariff. Major Black said that the people needed relief but that the distress of the people was exagerated. He in stanced the recent visit of a United States officer to Augusta and Geor gia, who made the remarkably en couraging disclosu”e that there were fewer mortgages upon our farms than in any other part of the coun try. He believed in admitting evils, but it was not wise to exaggerate them. He was a poor doctor who came into the room of his patient) and excited the mind of the patient by telling him he would surely die. He advised the cultivation or less cotton. When it was raised at a cost of 8 cents and sold for 6 cents it did not need a farmer or a states man to see and say that it was an unpaying business and that there should be less of it planted and something else planted in its place. You say you want a remedy? Voices. Yes. Maj. BlacL. Then you waut u practical remedy. You do not want a chimerical one. You w«nt one that will bring you relief. Well, the people are impressed that the only plank in the People’s party platform is the sub-treasury plank. But there are others. You have got to take the whole platform and all its candidates. When you con sider it over think about advocating it. He took up the railroad plank in the third party platform. Let me show you, honest men, where this will carry you. From Poore's rail road manual, which, I believe, is standard authority on railroads, I find the followings The liabilities of the railroads of the country Is $10,000,000,000. Their actual cost has been $9,000,000,000. Listen, you men who this morning were asked to give your reason ana judg ment to these questions. The Gov ernment is asked not only to control but to own the railroads. What will the purchase of the railroads make the per capita ? Think of it! I ask Mr. Watson if he introduced a bill in die last Congress to buy the rail roads ? I ask him if he is willing to buy the railroads ? I ask him if he is willing to buy the railroads of the country at a cost of $9,000,000,000 ? Voice. Yes. Major Black. You are ? Voice. Yes j but not for eash. [Laughter all around.] Major Black. I reckon yon are I But suppose you bought them on credit you would fill the country with money until it would reach SIBB per capita. What would your cotton bring then ? Voice. Oh, it would bring a dob lar a pound. Major Black. Yes, In Confederate money. Here Major Black took up Con federate money and showed the worthlessness of it at the time on account of its quantity. “Let me tell you that there is more in this platform than the sub-treasury, which is bad enough. And let me tell you that ?hat party is the friend of the people which tries to protect them from this condition of things. But not only does this plank cover railroads, but the telegraph, which means more money, the telephone, the express. It was absurd. He did not know what the cost of all these would be to the government, but the purchase of the railroads would be $9,000,000,000, and in crease the per capita to the astound ing figure of $l3B. He took up Air. Watson’s book. I want to show you where all these impracticable schemes would carry you. Here is a communication in Mr. Watson’s book. He read the communication and said that the third party platform might buy it now but instead of buying relief it would bring disaster and ruin. He said he would strip the shackles from you. I say that I would strike