Newspaper Page Text
to have some reward for his labor.
He must have profit on his money
after paying eight per cent. He is
obliged to charge you profit. So
you see that the banker gets the
money at one per cent. He charges
the merchant eight per cent. The
farmer and the laborer have to pay
the merchant his per cent, and still
the farmer and the laborer have as
much right to that money as the
banker or the bondholder. There
you see one class of men are granted
the right to tax the farmer, the mer
chant and the laborer.
Now, what do you propose to do?
The tenants are increasing. Home
owners are decreasing enormously.
We propose that this money of the
people shall be issued in sufficient
volume to do the business of the
country on a natural basis, allowing
the commodities of the people to
bring their full value as decided by
the requirements of the world for
that article and the amount of labor
expended on it. That is the natural
price of any article, and the price
will gravitate to these natural require
ments as naturally as the needle grav
itates to the pole. Here is a man
who has more land than he can han
dle. It is run down. You say :
“ Boss, I want thirty acres of land. I
can get a little money on the cotton
when it is made. I can borrow from
the government at 2 per cent.” You
sell the land. Both are benefited.
AVhy? You can pay off laborers in
cash. The storekeepers will not boss
that man any more. That man will
boss the storekeeper. Why? He
will make competition between mer
chants. (I did not say that in an of
fensive sense.) Why ? The mer
chant will do a quick business with
certain profits, instead of a slow busi
ness with uncertain profits. There
fore, the man who buys thirty acres
of land by means of a government
loan, instead of paying two bales of
cotton rent, he will pay half a bale
as interest, and save a bale and a
half of that cotton. In less time than
you can shake a rabbit’s foot he will
have that place paid for. The cer
tainty of reward inspires him. There
never was a thing that will jerk gold
and silver out of these hills so quick
as to fill them with men and women
working with a knowledge that they
are going to have a chance in the
race of life for home and happiness.
The happy home taking the place of
the rented cabin. There will be the
golden fruit hung in the orchard,
flowers at the door, the outhouses
carefully kept and filled, and every
thing bright and happy. Why ? It
will be inhabited by the man whose
toil has produced it—a man who will
say, “ I am monarch of all I survey.”
It is under the care of some good
woman, under whose roof her children
born and reared. That is our
'X <lO HVv SivJMcr.C to v vrn it
anywhere. It is our policy to en
courage the people to buy the land
and establish homes, and give them
a fair opportunity to pay for those
homes. (Applause.)
Now you boys here are told that
the Australian ballot system will
keep the illiterate man from voting.
At present it is well known that the
Democrats want to prevent any one
from voting who will not vote with
them. Why, down in the Tenth Dis
trict they make no hesitation in say
ing that Watsou has the votes, but we
will do the counting. Now we want
every voter to go into a little voting
booth where he can select whatever
ballot he pleases and go out and
vote it, and there is not a man who
can interfere -with him by persuasion.,
or threats. But they say that if
you cannot read, you cannot vote.
That is a mistake. Each political
party will be represented on the
board of managers, and if you are a
Democrat, you will ask the Demo
cratic manager to select your ballot,
and if you are a People’s party man
you only have to ask the People's
party manager to do the same thing.
The law can be so made as to pro
tect the ignorant. It is the same
way if you are a Republican or be
longing to any other party. The
voter,say in the approaching election,
can get any man to explain which
the Cleveland, the Harrison or the J.
B. Weaver, electors are. I will
wager that there is not a white or
colored man in this crowd, but can
tell the difference between Cleve
land, Harrison and Weaver by see
ing the name on the ticket.
A voice. Hurrah for Cleve
land !
Mr. Watson. And burning up
the greenbacks. Why did you not
yut that in ? (Laughter.)
Not only that, I believe that the
man who cannot read and write
would be willing to go to the trouble
of learning if by that price he could
get an absolutely free ballot and fair
count. Why? Because the greatest
possible gratification to any one is to
know that his ballot will be counted.
There is no doubt about that.
Are there any other questions that
you world like to have discussed?
A voice. AV hat about the frac
tional currency?
Mr. Watson. Both the republi
cans and the Democrats took $23,-
000,000 of fractional currency and
held it out of circulation, and Cleve
land did just as much of that as
Hayes, Arthur or Garfield. (Ap
plause.) There is no use of talking
abuut it. It is a regular case of pot
and kettle. There is no difference
between the Republicanism of John
Sherman and the Democracy of
Grover Cleveland, on the money
question. Nobody denies that up
North. I have heard it claimed that
the Democrats ought not be blamed
for killing free silver. The New
York World,spokesman for the De
mocratic party said that they had de
feated freq silver, just as it claims
PEOPLE’S PARTY PAPER. ATLANTA, GEORGIA, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1892
that Northern voters ought to vote
for Cleveland because he dished out
more pensions than any Republican
president.
A voice. Yes, and he vetoed
more pensions, too.
Mr. Watson. Yes, and he signed
more, too. (Laughter and applause.)
Why, according to my recollection
of the figure President Grant signed
between four and five hundred of
these private pension bills, while
Cleveland, during the same period,
signed over twelve hundred. The
New York World also show, that
Cleveland paid out $34,000,000 more
for pensions during three years than
any Republican president ever paid,
and asked the votes of Northern
soldiers on that account. Do you
deny it?
Old gentleman with the ear trum
pet. Was he not compelled to pay
that out?
Mr. Watson. This gentleman
asks me if he was not compelled to
pay that money out. Let me say
that he was compelled to pay it by
virtue of laws passed in Congress;
and I answer in that connection, that
Democrats and Republicans passed
those laws jointly. (Great ap
plause.)
Same old gentleman. Will you
give the vote?
Mr. Watson. I will say this, that
the Democratic national platform
took credit for that act, and those
laws were passed by the almost un
amimous vote of both parties. (Ap
plause.)
I say further, that the arrears of
pensions act passed in 1879, giving
$26,000,000 to these pensions as
back pay, reaching back to the time
that they left the service, and Gen.
John B. Gordon and Benjamin Hill
voted for it.
Old gentleman, (peevishly). I
knew you would dodge it. Give the
vote, and that would place the re
sponsibility where it belongs.
Mr. Watson. Oh, yes; the truth
hurts. We understand that. I an
swer you farther that the Democrats
of the North and East stand pledged
!to these very pension laws.
A voice. lam a Northern man,
and I do not see how a Southern man
can be anything else but a true
I Democrat.
Mr. Watson. All Southern men
ought to be true Democrats, but the
man who goes back on Jeffersonian
Democracy, whether Northern or
| Southern man, is a false Democrat.
I have said this, and maintain it,
that every principle of our platform
is founded on Jeffersonian Democ
racy, and the trouble with our mod
ern Democracy is, that it has’ not a
particle of Jeffersonian Democracy
in its platform. Jefferson favored our
land plank. Jefferson favored the
direct iskue of the money to the peo
pffi Jriffergon favored our antagon
ism to 'State banks, mid if he were
alive, lihave n<L the least doubt but
he would favor the income tax.
A voice. Would he favor the rail
road plank ?
Mr. Watson. I rather think he
would. In the very fundamentaljlaw
of this land, the framers of the consti
tution said that navigable streams
never should belong to the States or
to private persons. Why was the
State of Georgia never permitted to
own the Savannah River or any other
navigable stream within her bounda
ries ? Simply because it was a water
highway, a national avenue to travel
and merchandize, and the fathers
who formed our government said
that they ought to be kept for the
benefit of all the people. That [they
should not be allowed to go into the
hands of private parties, corporations
or of the State. Would you be
willing to vote for a law that would
turn your roads into private property
of individuals or corporations ?
A voice. They used to be owned
by private parties, and they were
good roads, too.
Mr. Watson. But would you do
that to-day ?
Same voice. Oh, no. (Laughter.)
Mr. Watson. Now, by the evolu
tion of modern’society, the railroad
takes the place of the river. That
railroad is the public highway over
which traffic is conducted. Now,
does not the same argument apply to
keeping of the rivers open ?
Voices. Yes, yes. (Applause.)
Mr. Wstson. Now. I want to ask
my Democratic friend over here, if
he would be in favor of keeping the
dirt road, which accomodates him, out
of the hands of monopolists; and if
so, why the same should not apply to
the iron road ?
Voice. How will you buy the
railroads ?
[The audience began to
impatience at the interruptions.]
Mr. AVatson. My friend is asking
fair questions, and I am going to
knead him into People’s party dough.
(Laughter.)
Same voice. You will never
knead me into AA T eaver dough.
Mr. Watson. We will see. He
says, how will we get the railroads ?
The government gave much of their
lands to them by the law of eminent
domain. AVhen you foot up the first
cost of all the railroads in America,
and balance that with the amount of
the donations -which the States gave
them, which the counties gave them,
and thedownships gave them, the rail
roads have not cost the corporations
one cent. How did they get your land
when you did not want to sell it ?
They go to the legislature and invoke
the right of eminent domain, and
say, “you will have to accept so and
so" for your land, for public necessity
requires that we should have it.”
They have a commission, appointed
to go there and map out your land,
assess its value, and when the rail
road pays that assessment the land
goes from ’ you. That is what the
law calls taking land by the right of
eminent domain. Now, what the
railroads got by the right of eminent
domain from the people, the govern
ment can get by eminent domain
from the railroads and restore to the
people. Do we propose to get them,
and pay nothing? Not at all. We
purpose to make the same rule apply
by which they got these lands. Ap
point a commission. Let them as
sess the real value of the roads. Let
them squeeze out the fictitious value.
Every man, Woman and child in
America is taxed at present to pay
interest annually on five billion dol
lars of watered stock.
The Democrat from the North.
That is right, Mr, AA’atson.
Mr. Watson. Now, that is a very
clever fellow. It is a pleasure to
argue with him. (Laughter.) He
owns up like a little man. (Renewed
laughter.)
Now, we -would get these roads
and pay for them by issuing legal
tender notes. That would do what?
Relieve the people from paying trib
ute on the five billion watered stock.
AVe would save fifty million dollars
on the salaries of fellows who do
nothing only sit in their offices and
look pretty.
Same Northern Democrat. That
is right.
Mr. Watson. What is the form
of abuse under the present system ?
It makes the community at large pay
enormous salaries to a few favored
individuals. Some of the Democrats
who denounce the railroad plank in
our -platform are going around with
free passes in their pockets.
Voices. That’s so, as sure as you
live. [Laughter.]
Mr. AVatson. Don’t you think it
is right when a man is speaking
against the government ownership of
railroads that the people should
know that he has a two hundred
dollar free ticket in his pocket? I
do not say that because a man takes
a free pass he is necessarily bought,
but I do say that when a man is
arguing for the railroads the people
ought to know that he has got a free
pass in his pocket.
A voice. AVho passed you here ?
Mr. AVatson. I paid my own way.
Ain’t it a pity that the men who are
traveling around speaking in the in
terest of railroads and against the
interests of the people could not say
as much? [Applause.] I say that
the Congressman who takes the
twenty cents per mile that the gov
ernment allows him and puts it in his
pocket and accepts a free pass from
the railroad is not in a position to
speak as a disinterested servant look
ing to the interests of his constitu
ents. I say that he is not the proper
man to argue against the man who
pays his own expenses.
AVe have already shown what you
on the payment of five
billion dollars -watered stock. Don’t
you know that we could run the rail
roads on practically the same equip
ment and in fifteen, twenty or thirty
years give the people the advantage
of all the savings.
Don’t you know that Thomas
Jefferson bought 757,000,000 acres
of land at one trade ?
Voices. Yes; hurrah for Jeffer
son.
Mr. AVatson. AVell, that was a
bigger trade for the country at that
time than for the country to buy the
railroads to-day. Now, do you know
this, that some of Jefferson’s friends
admitted that he violated the consti
tution when he did that ? I do not
say that we will be violating the
constitution. I say that we will be
keeping both within the letter and
spirit of the constitution in buying
the railroads and restoring them to
the people. Don’t you know that
the railroads can destroy your town
or build it up at their sweet will and
pleasure ?
A voice. So far as monopoly is
concerned, you know as much about
them as I do.
Mr. Watson. AA T ell, that is a gen
erous concession. lam very thank
ful for it, my friend. [Laughter.]
Now, he admits that this is one of the
worst features of the railroads to
day. Don’t you know that if the
railroads were under the control of
the government that your town, and
every other town, would get fair
play. AVhy ? It is not the postmas
ter’s interest to build up this town at
the expense of that* Remove the
motive and the crime disappears.
Put the railroads where they are
operated at no man’s individual
pleasure. I could go further and
show you many other benefits to ac
crue from the government ownership
of railroads.
Colonel Livingston said down here
at Conyers Monday, “Suppose you
got a leg cut off, or had a horse or a
calf killed, how are you going to get
paid for it by the government ?”
AVell, every man knows, I suppose,
that there is such a thing as a Court
of Claims at AVashington, where any
citizen can present a claim against
the government, and the jurisdiction
of that court can be extended to
these cases. But they say that if
your railroads go into the hands of
politicians you never can get that
party out of power. Where are
they now? They are in politics and
control politics. Is it possible for
the legislature to deter an illegal
railroad combination ? Who de
terred it in the case of the Central
Railroad? AVhy, it was Judge
Emery Speer, who took the thing
by the nape of the neckj and shook
the life out of it. And even then he
could not do it until the Wall street
combination destroyed the railroads
of the State.
Then he says that if the govern
ment runs the roilroads of the State
it will put in all the engineers, con
ductors, etc. Well, my friends, if
you put one man in office do you not
leave five outside wanting it? Aly
opinion is that you would have as
much chance against his influence as
to-day. The same argument stands
against the railroads ashman aged now.
A voice. Does not the People’s
party indorse the one term idea ?
Mr. AVatson. That is true, but I
was going upon the broader idea than
that. AVe are arguing, like the early
fathers, that there should not be
more than one term for the president,
so that he would not be using the pa
tronage of the government for his
re-election.
A voice. If we get a good Presi
dent, why not keep him ?
Mr. AVatson. In a government of
sixty millions of people there is no
man so much. Yetter than, all others
thathe must be continually selected for
the high office of President. AVe do
not rule on the.kingly idea, AVe say
that the civil Service law ought to be
enforced. AVhat is that?. ; The ap
plicant must come before, a beard
and be examipyd. He must be qual
ified to fill the position or he cannot
get the place. Therefore, ihen of one
political party could not get all the
railroad jobs and offices.;
I cannot talk to you greater
length. I appreciate your attention,
and unless you have some questions
which interest you, I will
A voice. AVq will elect Cleveland.
AVell, let us see. This is the first
time that I have looked ipto your
faces. I have talked to you to-day
the same doctrine I have talked to
my own people.. I am glad to see
that you have received it as you did.
Now, I want to see how many of you
people, white and black, ladies and
children, indorse the position that I
have taken to-day. As many as do,
hold up your hands.
[The vote gave, to all appearances,
a unanimous show of hands.]
Mr. Watson. „ Now, I am going to
take the other side. As many as are
opposed hold up your hands,
f About twenty-five hands wfent up.]
Mr. AVatson. ..Now, I want to say
this : the People’s party is pledged
to unity and reconciliation of, the two
sections. The grandest speech Ben
Hill ever made -was when he pleaded
for the restoration of good feeling
between the North and South. The
grandest act of Henry AV.. Grady’s
life was when he gave his life as a
sacrifice to a reunited country, and
pleaded for friendly relations between
the sections. The grandest thing
that the Alliance ever claimed was
through the mouth of such a man as
Livingston, up to this year,[that they
had finally buried hatred
too deep to resurrect. (Great ap
plause.) To-day these men are wav
ing the bloody shirt as determedly as
the Atlanta Constitution and the At
lanta Journal did two years ago, to
rekindle the embers of sectional hate.
(Great applause.) In? .the name of
th? |Prince of [Peace, I say, let us
have peace. Let preach and
act the doctrines of reconciliation
between the sections.;, Let us
put the seal of condemnation
upon that man, or men, who
seek to array us in , hatred against
our brethren across she, Season and
Dixon’s line. (Renewed applause.)
Let us say to every man who will
help us; come. If /he be, from the
East, let him come. H lf hq be from
the AVest, let him cpme. If he be
from the North, let him come. If
he be from the South, let hjm come.
If he be a black man, let us say, come.
If he be a brown man, let us say,
come. If he be a white man, let us
say, come. Let all come and help
us to redeem this people and this
land ; to rehabilitate and reestablish
the principles of “equal au 4 exac t
justice to all men.”., /
Alices. That is, right; we are in
for that.
Mr. AVatson. They say that lam
in for social equality between the
whites and blacks. I most emphatic
ally say that it is untrue. I have
never said anything, to the blacks
except in the presence of the whites.
I have never said anything to the
whites except in the presence of the
blacks. I say here and now that
social equality is not a good thing
for either race. Yo,u colored people,
as well as the whitbs, are better
apart. You go to,.your churches,
without any interference, ; and we
will go to ours.
I have said that what, injures the
black tenant injures -the white tenant.
AVhat injures the Ifiack farmer in
jures the white farmer. That we
should live under a of just
laws where the (he , farmer,
or the mechanic will.be.treqted right.
That the farmer, the . mqqhanic, the
tenant or the laborer ought to be
treated with the saipe consideration
as the national banker or bondholder;
the railroader or th er,capitalist. Thus
I said that this new spirit infused by
the People’s party had, great things
for you black men;as,, welt as for
white men. > 0 ;
The infamous laws, must be chang
ed. Our people are being oppressed.
The hand of ruin is on thousands to
day, and will be on thousands more
to-morrow. The Democracy makes
no promise to help you. Distress is
here as well as in Europb. If we do
not change them, 1,. for one, believe
that the people will be driven to
conflict which I would deplore. Be
earnest in this work, my friends. The
appeal to duty was never plainer
than to-day. Every man who loves
home, let him follow. Every man
who loves what is fair ami, true, let
him follow the People’s party. On
with the fight to-day. On with the
fight to-morrow. On with the fight
this week. On with the fight next
week. On with the fight, in victory
or defeat, in sunshine or in shadow;
until we see the day which will bring
dease, contentment and happiness.
A DEMODRATIC DISSENTER.
Judge George Clarke, candidate of
one of the branches of organized
Democracy of Texas, dissents from
the demand for the repeal of the
10 per cent tax on circulation. He
discusses economics in advocating his
claim to be Governor, and states his
position as follows:
The tenth plank of this platform
proposed and adopted by the car
stable convention, is as follows: “We
oppose the national banking system,
we demand the repeal of the federal
tax on State banks and favor an
amendment to our State constitution
permitting the incorporation of State
banks under proper restrictions and
control for the protection of depos
itors and the people.” Evidently the
author of this plank of the platform
is scarcely out of his teens; other
wise, he would have known what old
er men know, that the greatest curse
to this country anterior to the war
was the existence of State banks,
which Hooded the country with irre
deemable private paper and subjected
the citizen to enormous discounts in
the transaction of his business. These
banks promise well on paper, hut al
ways disappoint in performance.
Their history is one series of finan
cial blunders and calamities, result
ing alway s in the robbery of the peo
ple.
Evidently it, too, is a part of the
system of vote catching inaugurated
under the roof of that car stable in
Houston, by which it is proposed to
Hood the country with wildcat money
with a vain hope of appeasing the
clamor of the people for a redress of
financial grievances. The consti
tutional history of Texas should have
admonished them to a different line
of political declaration, for Texas has
always been inexorably opposed to
the incorporation of banks even of
discount. An inhibition to that ef
fect was contained in her constitu
tion of 1855. It was never super
ceded except during the existence of
the constitution from 1870 to 1875,
and in 1876, the same fundamental
declaration was again inserted in our
organic law.
Clearly there must have been some
reason among our fathers in Texas
for their unalterable opposition to
State banks, and one acquainted with
the financial history of our country
anterior to the warneed have no diffi
culty in determining the reason for
the inhibation.
We can recur again with profit to
the utterances of Mr. Jefferson as a
test of the Democracy of this State
bank declaration in the street-car sta
ble platform. In terms of absolute
severity and denunciation he repro
bated the system of State banks and
did not hesitate to stigmatize them as
public robbers and swindlers. He
even went so far in his condemna
tion as to urge most vehemently and
continually that in the interest of the
public welfare the States should sur
render this right to charter banks,
claiming that it was a blot left in our
State constitutions, which, if not re
moved speedily, would end in their
destruction. I quote some few of
his many expressions upon this sub
ject.
Bank paper must be suppressed and
circulating medium to be restored to the
nation to whom it belongs.
The State legislatures should be im
mediately urged to extinguish the right
of establishing banks of discount. Most
of them will comply on patriotic princi
ples, under the convictions of the mo
ment; and the non-complying may be
crowded into concurrence by legitimate
devices.
The system of banking (State banks)
we have both equally and ever repro
bated. I contemplate it as a blot left in
all our constitutions, which, if not cov
ered, will end in their destruction, which
is already hit by the gamblers in corrup
tion. and is sweeping away in its progress
the fortunes and morals of our citizens.
Everything predicted by the enemies
of banks (State banks) in the beginning
is now coming! to pass. We are to be
ruined now by the deluge of bank paper,
as we were formerly by the old conti
nental paper. It is cruel that such revo
lutions in private fortunes should be at
the mercy of avaricious adventurers, who,
instead of employing their capital, if any
they have, in manufactures, commerce,
and other useful pursuits, make it an in
strument to burthen all the interchanges
of property with their swindling profits—
profits which are the price of no useful
industry of theirs. * * * I am an
enemy to all banks discounting bills or
rates for anything but coin.
These quotations from the great
expounder of Democracy could be ex
tended at great length, but there is
no necessity for further evidence as
to his views. Every prediction he
made as to the inherent rottenness of
the State bank system was complete
ly verified by their subsequent ca
reers, and multiplied calamities came
upon the people because of a disre
gard of his prophetic utterances. We
are invited back to this feast of ruin
by the platform of the Hogg follow
ers. We are asked to forget the
teachings of our past experience, to
ignore the solemn warnings of our
greatest Democrat, and to assist in
embarking our State and country
upon the treacherous sea of financial
disaster, in order that a sufficient
number of People’s party people may
be gulled into voting for Hogg to
elect him.
Every true Democrat in Texas
will decline to join in such criminal
carnival. Every conservative and
sensible business man and citizen
must realize from this declaration
the desperation which prompted its
utterance. Not content with the
prostration of our industries and the
destruction of our values and our
prosperity, these people now invite us
to the ghost dance of State banks in
the vain hope that amid howling
dervishes we may forget the gospel
of true Democracy. The hope is a
vain one. The invitation will be
spurned and true Democracy and
conservative business methods will
join forces in the patriotic task of
saving our State from the hands of
such buccaneers in finance and such
adventures in politics.
No sane man desires to see this
country again flooded with wildcat
money, producing a mania for specu
lation, paralyzing legitimate industry,
destroying confidence and finally cul
minating in the financial ruin of the
people periodically almost every
decade. We want more money per
haps, but we want good money,
money coined and issued by the only
sovereignty in America capable of
making money, the National Govern
ment, free from control by private
corporations or associations of indi
viduals, and of sufficient volume to
satisfy the demands of commerce and
the necessities of the people. State
banks of issue are a long step back
ward in the proguess of civilization.
They will prove a snare and delusion
to the people, and instead of lighten
ing their burdens, judged by their
past history, will bring periodical ca
lamities upon them and destroy their
substance and their accumulations.
If 50,000 votes are to be secured
only by this method our friends of
the street-car stables will pardon me
if I suggest that they abandon their
present fraudulent organization and
go over “body and’ breeches” to the
People’s party. Honesty is the best
policy, even in politics, and I com
mend the aphorism to them for leis
urely digestion.
Presidential Campaign.
Jonesboro News.
The question every Southern and
Western man may now ask, is, Will
Cleveland and the Eastern Democrats
change their policy or must the South
and West and North-west sacrifice,
the principles the right for which
they have so gallantly stood.
The free coinage measure and the
bills pending in congress known as
the Hatch bill and Washburn bill
affects directly the interest of the
producers of cotton and grain to
such an extent that if fully under
stood would be with these sections
paramount to all other issues.
That Mr. Cleveland was untiring
in his efforts to stop the coinage of
silver no one could doubt who will
read his message, and study his
public and private record.
That the policy represented by
Mr. Cleveland and his confederates
are inimical to that demand and need
ed by the South and West cannot
admit of an honest doubt. As he
stands committed upon a platform of
principles more injurious and damag
ing to*the debtor class than that of
Gen. Sherman, who advocates the
gold standard with limited coinage
as now in vogue.
Mr. Cleveland and the Democratic
party at Chicago have repudiated*
silver as money, have undertaken to
stamp a falsehood upon the silver
money, which is not true and which
the American people cannot afford
to iidmit, or endorse, and which
forces the South and SVW tv either
repudiate Cleveland and his financial
policy or endorse the declaration that
one-half of the money of the country
is dishonest money. Will the South
and the West join Mr. Cleveland and
say that it is dishonest and depre
ciated currency, palmed off upon the
people by the government as such.
Will the Democratic party persist
in a policy that repudiates it? If so
then silver should be driven from
commerce and the present circulation
contracted to one-half its present
volume.
Until 1873, if the history of com
merce is true, there was an unlimited
demand for both gold and silver at
the mints, and as a result no such
thing as a contraction of the currency
was known, business prospered, com
merce flourished.
Why not restore silver to its
legitimate value upon the proper rate
of value and let the price at the mint
control, then its full market value
will be realized as it was before it
was striken down by the conspira
tors of honest money and the people.
With this campaign will rise or
fall at least two or four years, the
correct and truthful representative of
that system demanded by the people.
The competition of parties, the
contending of factions, devoted to
the fortunes of their leaders may
obscure the real issues involved and
for a time subordinate principles and
problems that demand a solution.
But the avowed principles of the
common people, the producers of the
wealth, will furnish an unmistakable
basis for future success and p) os
perity of the American people.
For a party to nominate a candi
date, adopt declarations of principles
opposed to our interest and our views
on these questions is simply to for
feit the right to our votes and as to
Mr. Cleveland and the policy of the
present democratic party. We could
under no circumstances support
either. We hope to see a pure and
aggressive policy with a higher
regard for methods and principles
inaugurated in the south, then and
only then will it meet with public
favor.
Neither the Associated Press nor
the special correspondents of the
great dalies sent out accounts of the
infamous events in Atlanta last
Thursday night and Friday. The
party of high morality in the South
depends more on “the better art o’
hidin’ ” them on freedom from sin.
To-day the People’s party has a
good third of the popular vote.
Brothers, will you stick until the sun
sets November 8, and skirmish for
converts, or will you return to your
old party bondage ?
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