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said, in speaking in behalf of Mr.
Black against myself. According to
the plug ugly idea, this year, there
is not a man in the tenth District
who knows how to vote. Fellow
citizens, this is not strictly in the dis
cussion, but I think that I have just
cause to complain that this campaign
has not been one of open and fair
discussion of public issues. Such
men as Senator Gordon and Gov
ernor Northen went into the tenth
district and denounced me personal
ly, and bitterly denounced my friends.
And while denouncing me falsely,
selected a man for them to vote for,
Mr. Black. (Howling galore, which
was kept up several seconds.)
Mr. Watson. Now look at the
Augusta crowd,
A voice : The imported drunken
crowd. They had better behave
themselves here.
Mr. Watson. Why, they are not
only afraid to hear me in the Tenth
district, but they follow me over the
State to prevent you farmers from
hearing the truth. Why ? Because
they fear the effect of the truth on
you.
To return to the course of Gov
ernor Northen and Senator Gordon,
I would not dare to tell you how you
should vote. I shall confine myself
to public measures, and will not pre
sume to ask you to vote for Mr. Tal
iaferro.
A voice. What are you doing up
there ?
Mr. Watson. lam discussing
these issues. Have not you got
?ense enough to understand ? (Laugh
er.) Why, even the sober Demo
crats have to stop in helpless confu
sion and ask, “Where am I at? (Up
rqaraus laughter.) I am advocating
certain public policies and basing my
arguments on public records, as I
agreed to.
What did Governor Northen say
in behalf of a man who repudiates
the St. Louis platform and against a
man who made the fight for him on
the St. Louis platform, which he
helped to frame, against a man who
is making his fight on the platform
•which is a readoption of the St.
Louis platform? The platform of
1886. Here is what Governor Nor
then said:
Strike your wife, who in early life
gate you her warmest affections, but do
net strike the grand old Democratic
party.
(Great confusion and angry demon
stration.)
Mr. Watson. What, are you
afraid to have speeches of your Gov
ernor read to you? Now, I want to
see what sort of a fix this gentleman
over here has got into, and now these
gentlemen relish it. (Resumes read
ing) :
strike your little child, clad in white,
kneeling At her mother’s knee, as she
lisps the first prayer of infancy, “Now I
lay me down to sleep,” but do not strike
the d|ar old Democratic party.
AV hy don’t you holler ? It was a
Etie too stiff for you that time, eh ?
I am going to say it again, boys,
to give you another chance. I will
zive you an opportunity to analyze
It and show how far Democrats do
themselves credit as husbands and
fathers in giving indorsement to a
sentiment like that.
Strike your wife, who has been
your faithful companion in the years
that are passed; nursed you when
sick ; been your comfort when well;
shared with you the toils of poverty,
and has been your greatest source of
enjoyment when you got out of pov
erty; has been always loyal, confid
ing and true; the mother of your
children; the joy of your home; the
dream of your life—strike her, but
do not lift your hand against the
dear old Democratic party. (Howls
of rage, and traitor, traitor, and great
sonfusion.]
Strike your child—your beautiful
little daughter, robed in white, be
coming more like an angel every day,
on account of the spotless raiment
she wears. Not only that, but strike
her as she kneels at the knee of her
mother, your wife, at even’s holy
hour when every man’s thoughts
ought to be quieted as he sees the
end of the day, typical of the end of
life. Not only that—strike her as
she is learning to lisp that beautiful
prayer that all of us learned at our
inother’s knee; strike her without
offense or provocation, this first born
of yourself and wife, or may be the
last pledge of your affection, but do
not strike the grand old Democratic
party I That is one of the men you
are asked to vote for! If you in
dorse that sort of sentiment, go
ahead and do it. But when you in
dorse that sort of sentiment you in
dorse a sentiment that no Christian
magistrate of a Christian State ought
to utter.
He said that in favor of whom?
A man who has denounced your Al
liance methods and platform. He
said that against whom? Against a
man who has never in a single in
stance shown a quailing lip, a fading
color, or white feather in any contest
where your interests were at stake.
A voice. And you never will.
(Great cheering.)
One of the reporters sotto voce
to a neighbor.) Oh, he is great! He
is taking this crowd, I tell you.
Mr. V atson. That speech was
made in the presence of Mr. Black,
and he did not repudiate it. 1 say
this to you. If you want to vote for
the man who gave utterance to such
a sentiment, then go and vote for
Governor Northen.
Voices. We will never do it; and
others, Hurrah for Northen.
Mr. Watson. Go home and strike
your innocent child and wife of your
bosom.
A voice. I hain’t got none,
mingled with every conceivable sort
of abbulitions common at such ixath.
PEOPLE’S PARTY PAPER, ATLANTA, GEORGIA, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1892.
erings. Howls of rage, cries of ex
ultation, cheering and laughing.
Mr. Watson. Oh, that hurts,
don’t it? What platform does
Northen stand on to-day, my friend?
Where is he at? (Laughter.)
A voice. He does not know where
he is at.
Another voice. Livingston will
tell you where he is at.
Mr. Watson. Ah, my friend,
would to God that he were to-day
where he was at two years ago when
he stood squarely on the St. Louis
platform, which is almost word for
word the same as the Omaha plat
form. Can any of you defend what
he says is rank communism? The
product of his own pen.
If you can explain that you can
get oil out of water. To-day he
denounces his own handwork, and
that of Coh Livingston. He says
that it is rank communism, and that
the people of the Tenth District
should vote for Col. Black, who al
ways held these views. That plat
form meets the necessities of our
condition. That platform has been
taught to our people until they be
lieve it. That platform meets
their ideas of government, and no
man on the face of the earth is going
to succeed in driving them away
from that platform. (Long continu
ed applause.)
Why do we say that we should
leave Cleveland and vote for Weav
er? Let us discuss it fairly. Let us
look at the question as it is. You
know very well than the single ex
ception of tariff reform Cleveland
represents everything that you dis
like, especially on the finance ques
tion. Now they tell you about old
Jeffersonian Democracy. They talk
about modern Democracy. They
say that Jeffersonian Democracy is
the true test. Let us compare them
a moment. Does anybody doubt
that Jefferson favored the free and
unlimited coinage of silver? Is that
in the Democratic platform to-day?
No, it has got the same tangle of
confused words as the Republican,
so nearly alike that if they were a
pair of twins and shook up you
would not know one from the other.
Which is the platform that comes
the nearest to Jefferson’s idea of the
free and unlimited coinage of silver?
Why, it is the Omaha platform,
reaching back through the St. Louis
and Ocala platforms.
Voices. Time out! Time out.
We’ve had enough of you. (That
came from the same old gang.)
Mr. Watson. Now thai is one of
the distinguishing principles of our
platform. What is the next? The
national banking system, which has
been so well explained to you by
your leaders for the last four years.
You know that Jefferson hated na
tional banks as being dangerous to
liberty. He opposed them as be
ing calculated to concentrate the
money power and antagonize the peo
ple. AV here is there any antagonism
to the national bank system? Is it
in the Republican platform? No, is
it in the Democratic platform?
Voices. No, no, no! (Cheer
ing.)
Other voices, les, Yes!
Mr. Watson. Where?
A voice. The repeal of the ten
per cent tax.
Mr. Watson. Now my friend, do
you really know where you are at?
(Laughter.) Do you really know
Democracy when you see it? (Re
newed laughter.) Do you know
that it means State banks?
Same voice. Yes sir, I know
that.
Mr. Watson. Do you know that
Thomas Jefferson denounced State
banks as swindlers and shavers?
One of the ring reporters. He
got in a Corbett lick that time.
Mr. Watson. Do I understand
you to dispute the proposition? (No
response.) It seems to me that the
nearer a man comes from a big city
these days, the less he knows.
(Laughter.) Why, it is astounding
how little these men seem to know
these days on the question of finance.
(Renewed laughter.) There is no
doubt but that these rough country
men know a great deal more about
finance than the finely clad city dudes
who have been abusing, ridiculing,
and denouncing them. (Uproarous
laughter.) Let me give you an in
stance of that. Mr. Black, the peer
less candidate, in our last debate at
Thomson, said to the farmers tnat
the government never would let
them have money on two per cent.,
and he very much doubted whether
the government could float its own
indebtedness at two per cent. He
did not actually know that the gov
ernment is now floating two per cent,
bonds.
A voice: Centre shot. (Great
enthusiasm and laughter.)
Mr. Watson. [To the gentleman
who volunteered the information,]
You said that the Democratic party
is fighting the national banks by the
plank about the State banks. I
asked you if you knew that Thomas
Jefferson denounced national banks
and State banks, and said that the
government ought to issue money
directly to the people, as Col. Liv
ingston had so eloquently explained
on former occasions. I want to show
you that Thomas Jefferson not only
denounced national banks, which
the Democratic party does not do,
which the Republican party does not
do, and which the People’s party
does do, but I want to show you
that he denounced State banks as
being swindlers and shavers under
the cover of private banks. [Reads:]
And so the nation may continue to
issue its bills as far as its wants require
and their limits of circulation admits.
That is from a letter to John AV.
Enns. June 24th. 181SL What kind
of bills does he mean? Why, notes
direct from the treasury. How many
people were there then in the United
States ? Having found that, run one
into the other and see how much
Thomas Jefferson thought the coun
try could stand at that time.
[Reads.]
Those limits are supposed to extend
with us at present to S2OO 000.000 -a
greater sum than would be necessary for
any war. Eut this, the only resource
which the government could command
with certainty, the States have unfortu
nately fooled away, nay, completely
alienated to swindlers and shavers under
the cover of private.banks.
Now you see, my friends, that in
that celebrated letter to John W.
Epps, he said that there should be
no private banks except for deposit,
and that the issuing of paper should
not be delegated to those who incor
ate themselves under the names of
State banks, whom he designated as
swindlers and shavers, giving them
the opportunity to rob the laborer of
the product of his labor.
[Atlanta and Augusta try the
howling argument, w'ith less effect,
however, than in the Capitol or the
cotton warehouse, the elements be
ing against them.]
Mr. Watson. How nervous the
Democrats are. Now, don’t they
want to hear a fair discussion very
badly ? Ain’t they anxious to hear
what Thomas Jefferson said ? There
is not a single doctrine of Thomas
Jefferson that does not hit them
squarely between the eyes. I am
here to show you Jeffersonian de
mocracy. I have already shown you
that free silver was Jeffersonian de
mocracy. I have shown you that
they have not got it in their platform
and we have.
[Great confusion at this point.
Mr. Watson continued, although he
could scarcely be heard by the audi
ence.]
Mr. Watson. It is exceedingly
difficult for me to get my argument
in under these circumstances. I hope
that you will be quiet and allow me
to proceed without interruption. I
am dealing fairly with these grave
questions and striking above the
belt.
A voice out in the crowd. Don’t
I you cuss me.
Another voice. You behave your
self. No fight here.
Mr. Livingston. If you all sit
down you can hear better and give
| the others a chance. Keep that man
quiet. There! he has two police
men over him now. You two police
men keep that man quiet! Bill
Ventebrate, for God’s sake, keep
your mouth shut. I will come over
there directly and settle you all if
you do not be quiet. Ha! you straw
hat man ; shut your mouth and sit
down. Here! You man with the
straw hat, sit down. Do you want
me to come olit
Man with thv'Mtaw hat. Yes;
come on. jj
A voice. Holler lounder! Call
If i William.
At this point some ladies ap
proached and there was a general
demand to make way for them. A
man in the audience blew a whistle,
and what threatened to be a serious
matter blew over. That showed the
difference between a city and a coun
try audience. It Atlanta and Au
gusta the “bloods” showed respect
for neither sex nor age. Those who
were imported to this point saw
themselves confronted with an equal
number of stalwart, well behaved
countrymen, and they behaved them
selves. t .bfr: rxe
Mr. Watson. I was proceeding to
show, fellow-citizens, that on the
great question of finance our plat
form squared up with Jefferson’s
idea. 1 was showing you that on
the question of free silver, as well as
on the question of national banks
and State banks, that our platform
represented Jefferson’s idea. I want
to say, also, that Jefferson was
strongly in favor of the encourage
ment of agriculture, of manufactures
and commerce. He said that the
three were sisters, and on their sta
bility depended the welfare of the
country. You have heard about the
crime of the demonetization of sil
ver. You have heard that free
silver was struck down at the in
stance of Ernest Seyd, who came
here from England himself. Col.
Livingston has made the charge; the
Augusta Chronicle has made the
charge;-the Atlanta Constitution has
made the charge. It is crystalized
in the minds of our people that it is
a crime. Why ? Because it has
struck down $150,000,000 of legal
tender silver currency and to that
extent contracted the currency, thus
robbing the people to that extent
every year from them until now.
They say that General Sherman did
it. The point I want to make is
that General Sherman had to have
Democratic help to do it. What was
the amendment to that law which
struck down the silver dollar ? Who
inaugurated the crime in 1873 and
consummated it in 1879, taking away
the legal tender quality of silver—
silver which was good from Jeffer
son’s time down to 1873? It was
an amendment put on by the Senate.
It went to the House. At first it
was disagreed to. Then there was a
conference committee to adjust the
differences between the two houses.
Who were the conferees ? By the
side of John Sherman I find the
name of Thomas F. Bayard, who
afterwards became Cleveland’s Sec
retary of State. Now, if the Re
publicans did it, were not the Demo
crats equally culpable ?
Voices. Yes! Yes! (Long con
tinued applause.)
Mr. Watson. How many of your
knew that Thomas F. Bayard, one of
the leading Democrats of America.
put his hand to that great crime
which took away the legal tender
qualities from $140,000,000 —money
that was helping every man in this
country; the black man and the
white man; the farmer and the mer
chant ; the laborer and the mechanic,
whether working in shop, field or
factory; in city, town or country.
For what purpose was that done?
Simply that they could have an ab
solute mastery over the products of
your labor, and over the labor itself.
Ah, my, triends, the Atlanta Consti
tution has shown you from that dav
to this how the depreciation of silver
has gone hand in hand with the de
preciation in this countrv and in
India; in one country silver being
open to free coinage and in the other
not open, you have lost from ten to
twenty dollars on every bale of cot
top from that to the present time.
Ah, the poverty that hangs like a
pall over this country is due, pri
marily, to the demonetization of sil
ver. The Democrats of the country
went before the people of the coun
try pledged to the free coinage of
silver; yet, when the Republican
Senate passed the bill, a Democratic
House killed it. [Tremendous ap
plause.] Now, I know very well
that the passage of a free coinage act
would only add about $1.50 per
capita to the circulation, but that is
not the point. You would have two
kinds of money instead of one. The
man who does not see that the more
money there is in the country the
more he gets for his products and
for his labor is hopelessly blind. The
man who does not see that the less
there is the less he gets for his pro
duce and labor, while the dollar will
not pay a cent more of his debts.
Thus it is that when you contracted
a debt, say two years ago, and one
bale of cotton would pay it off, by
this contraction of the currency it
now takes two. If I had time to
amplify it I could show it in every
phase, but I want to come to the
remedy.
Now, the country is in trouble.
Nobody denies that. Democrats,
Republicans, People’s party, non
partisans, all acknowledge that.
That is especially true of agriculture,
which Thomas Jefferson says ought
to be encouraged as the hand-maid of
commerce and manufactures. How
do the Democrats propose to help
you ? In one breath they say that
we propose to do too much for you,
and in another breath they say that
because we propose to do too much
they will not do anything at all.
[Laughter and applause.] One says
that they are going to reduce the
tariff, and Governor Northen speaks
to you about sixty cent plow lines.
[Laughter.] Where is the bill they
have formulated for your relief?
Shall it be the Mills bill ? Why, the
Augusta Chronicle and the Atlanta
Constitution fought that as hard as
McKinley himself.
A voice. That is so! Hurrah for
Watson ! Hit ’im again !
Mr. Watson. They tell you that
a forty-eight per cent tax is an un
mixed blessing and that a fifty-six
per cent tax is an unmixed curse.
Look at the schedules of the Mc-
Kinley and the Mills bills and you
will see that eight cents is the dif
ference. What patience have you
with a party that suys it will reduce
a fifty-six pet cent robbery eight
cents? There are fifty-six wounds
sapping the life blood out of a
wounded body, and they propose to
plug up eight and let the other forty
eight continue draining the precious
fluid.
A voice. Hurrah for McGinty !
Mr. Watson. It is impossible for
these Democrats t« find out where
they are at. He could not think of
the name of his man. There are
fifty-six evil spirits infesting the
body, and this Democratic savior
passes by and—does what? Exor
cizes eight and leaves the poor body
to be torn and tended by the other
forty-eight.
I say that you can never have a
substantial attack upon the tariff un
til there is some other way proposed
for raising the revenue, and the Peo
ple’s party proposes a remedy by
levying a tax upon the income.
Draw the fangs of these millionaires,
who. made their immense fortunes
by favoritism shown them, and say,
“You must pay half the tax as long
as you own half the property.
Voices. That is right; that is
just. (Cheering.)
Mr. Watson. If ever that be
comes engrafted on the system of
taxation it will supplant the tariff
sy. tern, and supply the revenue lost
by a reduction of the tariff.
Voices (from the gang). No, no,
no; followed by jeering, and coun
ter cries of approval, followed by
cheers.
Mr. Watson. Now, I know that
they will talk to you about these
little free trade bills that save, so
they say, $148,000,000 in taxes.
Whal are the facts ? The govern
ment is using every dollar it collects.
Where are the Democrats going to
raise these $148,000,000 to supply
the deficiency? I know they say
they are going to reduce the expen
ditures. They have no right to
make the assertion. I said, and I
repeated it in my discussion with
Mr. Black, and I now repeat it here,
I am now speaking of the Demo
cratic House: Pledged to reform,
they have not reformed. (Applause.)
Pledged to economy, they have not
economized. (Cheering.) Pledged
to legislate, they have not legislated.
(Great applause, and cries from the
other side of Livingston, Northen,
etc.) Oh, ain’t it funny ? They
say that they will remedy your
wrongs by leaving a tariff of forty
eight per cent on your necessaries,
and then save you State banks. I
have already shown you what Jeffer
son said about State banks. It can
not be made a legal tender. It
won’t pay your tax fi. fas. It will
not pay your grocery bills. It is
nothing but a due bill, and yon will
have to pay eight per cent for the
privilege of using a due bill that
dies the moment it crosses the State
line. Having sold your cotton, your
wheat, your corn, your horses or
mules, and receive this kind of cur
rency in payment, the very first man
you meet has a perfect right to say,
“This is not legal tender, sir, I will
not take it.” On the other hand,
under the plan proposed by the Peo
ple’s party, money issued on your
land, on your cotton, on your corn
or your wheat, would have the
strength of forty-four States behind
every dollar. Why should not your
products, deposited with proper cer
tificates, be as good collateral as the
bonds of the national bankers ?
Voices. Yes, and we will get it,
too; hurrah for Watson. Counter
cries of derision and contempt.
Mr. Watson. They ask, “How
is the laboring man to get this
money ? It always gives me pleas
ure to answer this or any other fair
question. At the present day you
find it exceedingly difficult to get
money for work or anything else.
Why? Because they have not got
the money. They cannot get sup
plies from the store without paying
a ruinous rate of interest. Why ?
The national bankers have got it all.
Mr. Cleveland pledged himself that
even the $346,000,000 going on its
mission of mercy in exchange for
labor and labor’s products shall be
burned up and substituted by na
tional bank currency. These green
backs go to the people without in
terest ; the national bank notes will
be issued to you at eight per cent.
Do you see the point ?
[At this point the applause and
enthusiasm of the People’s party
men got to fever heat, and there was
corresponding irritation on the other
side. The Democrats on the stand,
and one of them a very prominent
speaker, openly showed acquiescence
and admiration.]
Mr. Watson. Now, is it not true
that you farmers are land poor ?
You have more land than you can
use. It lies out in the fields, fur
rowed and running to decay. You
cannot get money to work it as you
desire. You are cramped in getting
supplies for your leasers for want of
cash. We propose what ? That the
man who owns that land has the
privilege of borrowing money on
that land. The same privilege ac
corded the bondholder or the whisky
man. Thus he will be enabled to
hire and have better control of his
labor. There is no music so sweet
to the laborer as the jingle of the
silver dollars on Saturday night as
he returns to his loved ones.
A colored man. That’s so, boss.
(Cheering.)
Mr. Watson. We all know that
when there is a good deal of money
in a community we all stand a chance
of getting a little of it.
Voices. That is the God’s truth.
(Applause.)
Mr. AVatson. We say to the
farmer, cotton is a valuable product.
Cotton has a value around the world.
We will give you money on equal
terms with the bond holder. “Equal
rights to all” has been our cry for
four years and it is mine to-day.
(Cheering.)
Under our land loan plank, how
would that work. You buy thirty
or forty acres. You borrow money
at two per cent and improve that on,
say, S4OO. You go to work, and in
stead of having no interest in it you
begin to love the land. You plow
and cross plow, gullies are filled up,
flowers bloom about your door, you
and yours will be more happy, more
contented and better People’s Party
men. Now, instead of paying a
thousand pounds of cotton in rent he
pays $8 interest and he is soon free
from even that little tax. (Applause
and sneering.)
A voice. How will the laboring
man get it ?
Mr. Watson. How will a laboring
man get it? Why, he will work for
it like a man. When there is no
money in the country, where or how
will anyone get it ? How does the
laboring man get it now? How can
anyone get blood out of a turnip ?
(Laughter.) When the land owner
gets some of that money without
gt tting it second hand and paying
usurious interest on it, and thus puts
more money in the community, he
is better able to pay the' laboring
man. When the tenant makes his
cotton he gets better prices. Why ?
Because there is more money in the
community.
A voice. You know better than
to be deceiving the people.
Mr. Watson. Yes. You strike a
Democrat and he squeals every time.
We say this: That the grandest
conception of the human mind is that
which had its inception at St. Louis,
uniting the laboring forces, and whose
central idea was that of Gladstone
in England, and the idea of Con
stans in France, and the idea of the
greatest statesmen of Germany, that
the people ought to be encouraged
to own their homes. The idea that
a race of mere renters cannot be as
content, as happy or as patriotic as
a race of home owners. The men
who have an interest in the land are
the men who are content, good citi
zens anywhere.
We propose to restore free silver,
and we say that we are warranted in
saving that they do not intend to
pass the silver bill. Why? Be
cause the Eastern and Northern
Democrats are in line with the Re
publicans of the North and East on
that subject just as the Western Re.
publicans are in line with the South
ern Democrats. But you never can
hope for relief as long as the Eastern
and Northern Democrats dominate
the Democratic party. Why, the At
lanta Constitution says, in a recent is
sue,that you have heard but little about
the force bill. The force bill to-day
is the only thing that keeps the in
dustrial masses from coming together
and throttling this money power with
a resistless emphasis that nothing can
withstand. And it says again, ~ that
the most serious difficulty confront
ing the Democracy is the probability
that the Republican party will aban
don the bloody shirt issue. Here is
one of their organs saying tjiat it is
to the interest of the Southern De
mocracy that the force bill shall be
kept to the front. Why ? It keeps
you and the farmers of the West
separated. The AV estern farmers are
suffering by these unjust laws just
like you, and you must be kept es
tranged in order that the national
bankers shall have their usurious
profits.
A voice: That is the God’s truth.
Another voice: I will swear tc
that, Mr. AVatsou. (Followed by
great applause.)
AVhy, even the Atlanta Constitu
tion stumbles on the truth once in a
while. (Laughter.) The Republi
cans of the North by howling “rebel
brigadier,” and the party leaders in
the South crying out, “force bill,”
they expect to drive you back into
the old parties and thus keep you
under their feet. Here in the South
the Democrats denounce AVatson
and try to howl him down for going
with Jerry Simpson, yet the Demo
crats of the North indorse this same
Jerry Simpson. Now, don’t you
think that if the Democrats of the
North can indorse Jerry Simpson
that the Democrats of the South could
afford to swallow me.
They say that I preach social equal
ity with the blacks. That is false. I
have never said so. I said this:
You visit your friends and I will visit
mine. A r ou invite your black friends
to your home, and I will invite my
white friends to mine. You send
your children to your schools, and I
will send mine to ours. I also said,
what is to the interest of a poor white
man, is to the interest of a poor black
man. AVhat is to the interest of a
white farmer, is to the interest of a
black farmer. AVhat is an injury to
a black laborer, is also an injury to a
white laborer.
Voices: That is the God Al
mighty’s truth. Hurrah for AVat
son.
Mr. Watson. Ah, you may try
to hide it, you may disguise it as you
please but there is a new life brought
into the old South. The scales are
falling from the eyes of our people.
They are breaking away fyom old/
party lines, and marshaling under
banner—the pure banner of equal
rights to all men, w r hite and black,
rich and poor, city and country, town
and village, all classes alike reaping
the benefit, and your children and
children’s children will go down tne
stream of time thanking God for the
People’s party. (Great applause.)
In this great movement, no man was
earlier in the fight; no man was more
earnest in the fight than General
AVeaver, of lowa.
Voices: Hurrah for Weaver;
down with AVeaver, and general con
fusion.
Mr. AVatson. Take it easy, boys,
you are not in Augusta now. You
are visiting, and you had better be
on your good behavior.
I repeat it, that one of the first
men to engage in this reform move
ment, and one of the most untiring
and conscientious, was James B.
Weaver. [General howling.] Now,
boys, you see the sort of methods the
Democrats resort to. You see how
fair a chance they want to give a
man to talk to you. [More howling,
and indignation from decent people,]
You see, boys, how anxious they are
to hear a fair, honest discussion. I
have become used to it in the Tenth,
District, but such conduct is proba
bly strange to you here. (Address
ing the disturbers.) You talk about
AVeaver’s hatred to the South.
AVhere is there a man in the crowd
who away back yonder when the
passions were heated by war that
did not say as bitter things of the
North as ever he said of thb
Sout? AVhen the Congress of the
United States had under advise
ment the pensioning of the Mexican
soldiers, and the question of giving
the benefit to those men who were
in the Confederate army came up,
General AVeaver at the head of thd
entire greenback force, marched
right into the Democratic camp and
said that every Mexican soldier,
whether he was in the Confederate
army or not, should be pensioned.
A voice. That was more than
Stevenson did. This was followed
by a scene of great disorder, lasting
two or three minutes.
Mr. AVatson. I wonder if they
know who their vice-presidential
candidate is. A general who never
got his title in the field, but, like
Cleveland, fought by substitute,
while Weaver won his title on the
field.
A voice (mockingly). Do you
think old AVeaver had enough of
brains?
Mr. Watson. Well, my friend, I
I would hate to be measured by your
standard.
My friend, in 1879 or 1880, Mr.
Weaver introduced in Congress, a
bill identical with these principles
we are fighting for to-day. Free
silver; destruction of the national
banks, and the control of the issue of
money to the people. I tell you a
man who has stood souarely on these