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THAT EXTRA SESSION.
A simply honest man would have
supposed, last October, that the first
act of the Democratic party after
the inauguration of its nominees
would be to call Congress together
and proceed to enact the reforms to
which the party was said to be
pledged by its platform. More than
two months have passed, and it is
now gravely stated by Mr. Cleve
land’s -friends that there will be no
extra session of Congress. True, it
has been stated by Mr. Kilgore of
Texas that Congress would convene
in extraordinary session in Septem
ber, but Mr. Platt of New York says
Mr. Kilgore knows nothing about it,
and that no extra session will be
called.
A more recent publication quotes
a prominent Senator as having
stated:
“My impression is that the admin
istration will endeavor to persuade
the bankers of the country to put
their gold at the disposal of the
treasury and that it will continue to
pay out gold for all classes of L nited
States notes presented, silver cer
tificates excepted, of course, just at
present, with the hope that the tide
will soon turn and the treasury begin
to accumulate gold again. If that
policy fails, and it becomes apparent
that the entire gold reserve fund of
the treasury will be exhausted, I be
lieve that Mr. Cleveland will, instead
of issuing bonds, call an immediate
extra session of Congress and throw
upon it the responsibility of devising
financial relief. I know that he even
now thinks of doing so, and would
have issued a proclamation last
week calling an extra session, to
meet in May, had it not been for his
belief that a majority in both House
and Senate would pass a bill for the
free coinage of siver, as its idea of
what the country needs. Mr. Cleve
land is more strongly opposed to free
coinage than ever.”
This last authority gives a reason
for the delay so plausible, and so
conformable to the public impres
sion, that it has been tacitly accepted
as the truth.
Now let us see how it is. Mr.
Cleveland, together with other Dem
ocrats, desires an extra session of
Congress. But he desires it for pur
poses not shared by most Democrats
of the South and West. He is anx
ious that his personal construction
shall be put on the party pledges
before the party’s representatives get
a crack at them. And he intends to
see construction is accepted
as orthodox, or to know the reason
why. . v
Here we have the spectacle of an
executive dictating his personal views
to the legislature, as well as the lead
ers and managers of his party. Back
of his assumed bossism he holds the
patronage of his great office, and it
is intimated that as the representa
tives and Senators conform to his
wishes in financial legislation, so will
their recommendations for office
exercise influence in appointment.
The Democratic heelers and work
ers are hungry. Already compari
sons of the slothfulness of this admin
istration with the alertness of the
last are made in the party papers,
and a strong pressure is exerted
upon the representatives to surren
der their individual convictions and
join the President’s crusade against
the popular pretenses upon which
the party got power. As the aver
age Congressman realizes that hi s
ability to keep himself solid with the
various county rings depends upon
his ability to influence patronage, the
test of his fealty to principle becomes
more incisive, and the temptation to
abandon the humdrum ideas of polit
ical honesty prevalent among the
mass of his. constituents grows apace,
Mr. Crtßeland has evinced a de
termination to pursue with relentless
singleness the main object of his
financial policy. Now is the average
Congressman between the devil and
the deep sea. To fail to land his
hustlers into places pledged to them,
means the opposition of the machine
in future campaigns. To surrender
to the duress exercised by the ap
pointing power threatens his hold
upon the voters who will be outraged
by his treason.
Thus it will be seen that while the
President is endeavoring to secure
aid in his movement against free
silver, the average Congressman is
slow to align himself against the
public sentiment of his district. So
hat, between the executive inability
to depend upon Congress in session
and the member’s unwillingness to
tell “where he is at,” it is probable
that there will be no extra session.
To the present time, it appears
that the President has the best of it.
He has very adroitly preserved the
prestige and support of the preceding
administration. He has declared for
the policy of letting holders of office
serve out their terms, and has so
maintained the status that he can
PEOPLE’S PARTYPAPER. ATLANTA. GEORGIA. FRIDAY. MAY 12. 1893.
without shock change what is nomi
nally a Democratic into a Republican
administration. His entire conduct
since his inauguration indicates so
positive a disregard for party lines
as to leave no room for surprise
should he determine on this course.
And why should he not so deter
mine ? A great party stands ready
to rally to his support, in complete
possession of the administrative
offices, with platform pledges and
declarations far more to his personal
liking than are those of the Democ
racy.
Can he secure enough Democratic
Senators and Congressmen to con
vert the Congress into an active ac
cessory to his financial purposes?
That is perhaps the real cause for
hesitation. With ninety Democratic
majority in the House and four in
the Senate it would seem a her
culean task. But be it remembered
that there are nearly fifty Represent
taives, and at least three Senators
who, while nominally Democrats,
are not more so than Mr. Cleveland
himself.
It looks like a combination of
Cleveland, together with whatever
Congressional following patronage
will influence, with a practically solid
Republican party. And when that
comes, the political horizon will clear
up wonderfully.
Any way, the prediction is safe,
that no extra session of Congress
will be called until the President
feels that he can control financial
legislation.
NOTES OF INTEREST.
The execution of Carlyle Harris
by electricity at Sing Sing, N. Y.,
Monday, is reported to have been
entirely successful from the humane
point of view. When the moment
arrived, Harris was seated in the
chair to be used, to which his legs
and arms were strapped. One of
the attendants attached the elec
trode to Harris’ right leg, which was
bare to the knee, a slit in the trousers
having been made in advance. An
other placed the helmet containing
the other electrode on the head.
Electrician Davis attached the wires
to the two electrodes. All of this
work w r as done quicker than the tel
ling of it. Then the guards stepped
back. Davis, who had gone to the
switchboard, said: “All ready.”
There was an instant of pause, while
every 4nan in the rooms held ’his
breath. Then Dr. Daniels raised his
hand. A sharp click from the lever
and the form in the chair straight
ened up till the straps cracked. It
was just 12:40| o’clock by the stop
watoh held by Dr. Merrit. A cru
rent of 1,760 volts passed through
the body of Carlyle Harris. In two
seconds Davis threw the switch back
so that only 150 volts were on. Dr.
Daniels still held his hand aloft and
one finger pointed above as though
to indicate that the soul of the man
in the chair had passed upward.
Then his arm fell and in just 55|
seconds the current was shut off.
Drs. Irvine and Habershaw imme
diately stepped forward and ex
amined the body, which had settled
back limp in the chair. Dr. Irvine
opened the coat and vest and tore
away the shirt over the heart. He
applied the stethiscope, and, after
listening for the heart-beats, turned
and shook his head. This was two
minutes after the first contact and
Dr. Daniels then invited the other
physicians to step forward and ex
amine the body. Life was extinct
and it was plain to all who were
present that death had come at the
first touch of the current. The only
sign of animation after the current
was turned on was a slow movement
of the little finger of the right hand
and that w T as evidently due to mus
cular contraction caused by the cur
rent and not by the volition of the
subject in the chair.
Arrangements have been com
pleted for the transfer of the re
mains of Jefferson Davis from New
Orleans to Richmond. Sunday, May
28, the Governor of Louisiana will
deliver the ashes of the dead chief
tain to Gen. John Glynn, represent
ing the United Confederate Vet
erans. The funeral train will halt at
Montgomery, Ala., and the casket
will be carried to the capitol build
ing, to lie in state for some hours on
the front portico where Mr. Davis
took the oath as president of the
provisional government of Confed
eracy. Reaching Atlanta at 4:30 p.
m., the casket will be carried to the
Georgia capitol, to lay in state for
four hours, after w’hich the train will
move on to Greenville, S. C., where
a stop of fifteen minutes will enable
the people to testify their respect.
At Charlotte, N. G.» elaborate prepa
rations are being made for a great
demonstration. At Raleigh a halt
will also be made, and the G overnor
of North Carolina will give suitable
recognition of the event. On the
night of the 30th of May, at 11
o’clock, the train will arrive in Rich
mond, and the re-interment in Hol
lywood cemetery will follow next
day.
Dispatches from Washington say
that the gold reserve, which had for
the past two weeks been below the
limit, was on Tuesday made intact
by the West. Secretary Carlisle ac
cepted the gold offered from St.
Louis, 82,000,000, which, with the
gold in the Treasury, makes the total
8100,196,000, or $196,000 free gold.
Just why Mr. Carlisle or the papers
should not call the $100,000,000 free
gold is an enigma, as it is held arbi
trarily by discretion of the Secretary
of the Treasury, and not conformably
to any statute.
It is rather amusing than tragic, to
hear that a National bank opened on
the fair grounds at Chicago should
have been forced to suspend. The
bank’s capital was 81,000,000. Poor
judgment in making loans and the
stringency of the money market are
given as causes of the failure. The
deposits amount to a trifle over
$900,000. It is expected that the
depositors will be paid in full. The
Chemical was not a member of the
clearing house association. If things
do not improve, there is reason to
believe that the fair itself will be a
financial failure. Uncle Sam’s mill
ions may keep it going to the end.
A great deal of rain has fallen all
over North Carolina. The larger
streams are very high. The Roanoke
has broken the great levees built by
the convicts at the State farms, and
815,000 of damage is already done.
Eight hundred feet of levee is swept
away.
For some months white caps have
made the country around Brookha
ven, Miss,, disorderly in the extreme.
Finally indictments were found
against a number of citizens, nine of
whom were brought to trial Satur
-1 day. Several hundred neighbors of
the defendants armed themselves
and marched into Brookhaven at the
hour sen for trial, demanding the re
lease of the prisoners. The personal
courage and determination of Judge
Chrisman alone defeated the mob.
He met the crowd at the courthouse
door and demanded that they dis
talked firmly and reasoned
the matter out, displaying a set pur
pose to lose his life rather than sub
mit to having his court disgraced by
mob violence. The crowd withdrew,
and the trials proceeded. Monday
six of the accused pleaded guilty
and sentence was passed upon them,
the penalty being two years at hard
labor. Tuesday the prisoners were
put in stripes at the penitentiary. All
the accused are poor, and but one had
no family. The community has
quieted down, and it is believed there
will be no more lawlessness of the
same kind. True, the Governor took
a hand with threats of the militia, but
there is every reason to believe that
Judge Chrisman stemmed the tide
and won a great moral victory.
MACON REJOICES NOW.
Macon is rejoicing over the fact
that the pleasure boat, Mascotte, is
finished and on its way up the river.
The announcement that an all-day
excursion down the river will be the
regular programme for Sundays will
not be received with unmixed joy
by the orthodox pastors and Sunday
school superintendents. We hope
the preachers and teachers will be
able to hold their own in the contest
for the possession of the Macon
youth on the Sundays.
Good Cheer from Texas.
I want to say to you and the read,
ers of your valuable paper, that the
Populists of Texas are still in the
middle of the road, and that they are
twice as numerous as they were last
November, and are gaining fast.
You can bet on Texas. We polled
108,000 last fall straight for the Peo
ple’s party, and I believe we could
double that number now, for thous
ands of the old moss-backs say they
have got enough of promises from the
Democrats to last them the balance
of their lives; and the way they are
tearing off the old Democratic collar
is fearful to behold—especially fear
ful to the leaders of the old party—
and like the good old Baptist deacon,
w’e say to them, when you repent
come over among God's people, and
we will receive you and extend to
you the right hand of fellowship. I
tell you we are taking in more re
pentent Democrats than ever Sam
Jones did sinners at a Methodist
camp-meeting.
I was once proud of my native
State (Georgia), and am yet, to some
extent, but am proud I was not born
in Richmond county—that county so
true and-loyal to plutocracy. lam a
native of old Franklin county, where
God’s people live, where the people
lova country more than money. I
tell you, if Tom Watson’s paper could
reach the masses, the People’s party
would get 444 electoral votes in ’96,
and I think we will get two-thirds of
them any how, for the Populists are
rising up all over the South, West
and Northwest like the locusts did
in Egypt in the days of Pharaoh, to
run this government in the interest
of all the peoplej for if we don’t the
Democratic canker-worms will eat
up what the Republican catterpillars
left. Then the fathers will have to
sell their wives and children and go
down into Egypt to buy corn ; and
then w*e will be sold into bondage for
430 years and work under taskmas
ters, and furnish our own straw to
make brick. Hurrah for Tom Wat
son and the People’s party.
N. C. Osborn.
Dallas, Texas, May 3.
A SANGUINE OFFICIAL.
Capt. S. D. Brad well, State School
Commissioner, couples together two
rather inconsistent facts. He says
illiteracy is decreasing in Georgia
and that the number of private
schools is diminishing. He says:
“We have very few children now
above the age of ten years who can
not read and write. Georgia has
made wonderful progress from illiter
acy in the last twenty years and the
greatest advances have been made
within the last decade. Blacks as
well as whites have derived general
benefit from the public school system.
In former days when the prive school
system was in vogue, a large propor
tion of the children, whites and blacks
did not get any schooling. Now
every child in the state gets some
schooling some time withmg a period
of three years. All the children do
not get to school every year, but
they have a chance some time during
a period of three years. The sup
planting of the private schools by the
public schools means a great deal to
the children and the cause of educa
tion. It is gratifying to see the pub
lic system extend to the masses as it
is doing. ”
If the commissioner is not too san
guine, this is gratifying. It is dis
graceful, that so small progress has
been made in education within the
three decades that have nearly elaps
ed since the war.
A Kansas Soldier Writes.
Shaw, Kan., May 1.
Your paper suits me exactly.
Some say it is too radical, but a man
is radically right or wrong. What
would you think of a conservative
Christian? He would not be worth
a cent, probably would suit his
Satanic Majesty. I want to tell you
we have turned the rascals out in
this state, that is the state officers.
We had a hard struggle to do that,
between the Republicans and straight
Democrats. The Republicans would
adopt all the demands of the green
back party, then when they got the
offices, would ignore the demands of
the people. But thank God they
cannot do that any longer. I am
afraid the Democrats in your coun
try will down you and your people.
It is the same way here. The
Republicans will adopt anything in
their platforms—even the Lord’s
Prayer, with the exception of “Give
us this day our daily bread,” they
object to that. I don’t want your
people to think it was a Democratic
victory in this State, we don’t think
any more of Cleveland than we do of
Harrison. I don’t see why the
Southern people go wild over the
election of Cleveland, he is nothing
only an Eastern Yankee with all the
oppressive ideas of a London Jew.
We in this State elected an ex-Con
federate soldier to Congress to show
to you that the war closed 28 years
ago. Ido not know whether your
people appreciated it or not. We
have over one-hundred thousand ex
soldiers in this state, about twenty
three thousand belong to the G. A.
R., and so you see he had to get a
big vote amongst the soldiers. You
would suppose the straight Demo
crats voted for him. Not much, they
fought him as hard as the Republi
cans did. The next election in the
South we want the old soldiers to
fall in line to the right or left of us
and dress up and stand shoulder to
shoulder with us and stand until we
get relief for down-trodden human
ity.
There is a sympathy between? all
soldiers (it matters not which side),
and a feeling that no one knows any
thing about without he was in the
war. I want to hear from some of
the old soldiers from your country
through your paper. I want them
to help fill up the bloody chasm with
plutocratic bodies. We will have to
form an alliance for self protection
against the plutocrats of this country
and the London Jew. That is if we
want to leave an inheritance for our
children. If we don’t, we will leave
a bond and mortgaged country for
them to live in. They want the
country bonded and mortgaged up
to the producing capacity of the
land; they have it nearly that way
now. Between the railroads and
banks we can hardly make a living.
If we raise a hill of potatoes we do
not know who will get it, the banks
for usury or the railroads for freight.
John Johnson.
Four Black Birds at a Crack.
Warrknton, Ga., May 8.
Not allowed to sing Watson songs
in the middle of the road. Our pa
per, the Clipper, says they did them
right. Governor Northen says no
more whitecaps, and so do I. The
Governor is right. Suppress them,
Governor. If the negroes are not
allowed to sing “ in the middle of the
road,” where is our liberty gone ?
Yes, Mr. Editor, on Thursday night
last, four negroes, going from work
home, passed an old moss-back’s
house in a cart, singing a Watson
song. He picked up his gun and
fired into them, and all are disabled
so they cannot work, and|jwill not for
some time—one may never. A Dem
ocratic paper says he did right. Old
moss-baok wants to beg their pardon.
This old moss-back has been on a raid
for game for some time. Says his
shot were too small, and got a neigh
bor to buy him larger. No more
crippling. He wants to make a dead
shot. Down with whitecaps, Gov
ernor; I am hand and hand with
you. This happened about one mile
from Warrenton. They had just
passed Mr. Wilhoit’s house singing
the same song; he said nothing to
them, and he is the owner of the
place. S. A. J.
A Plea for Harmony.
I regret very much to note that
there seems to be a growing disposi
tion on the part of some of our refor
mers to criticise their co-workers in
the reform ranks. This is very
wrong and the writer thinks it should
not be tolerated by the rank and file
and indeed it will not be. We have
agreed upon certain demands of re
form, and it is too early to start a
family quarrel as to how the lan
guage shall be worded in the plat
form declaring for those reforms
three years hence. We have agreed
upon a demand for an increase of
money to the amount of SSO per cap
ita ; we have agreed upon the issu
ance of legal tender greenbacks and
of the free and unlimited coinage of
both gold and silver to supply this
increase, and we have agreed that it
is right for the national government
alone to issue this money and to issue
it direct to the people without the
intervention of bankers or other
financial agents; we have agreed
upon a lower rate of interest; upon
a graduated income tax ; upon every
function of the general government
being run upon an economical basis ;
upon government control of the pub
lic highways; and after having
agreed upon a theory of all those de
mands, little does it become us to
fall out and fight over the manner of
accomplishing them or of the mode
of getting them before the public.
Since convincing ourselves that they
are right and just, it behooves us to
use our every honorable energy in
pushing them to the front, and in
educating the unconverted that they
are right and just. There is a great
work before the American working
man if he wishies to be a free man,
a citizen of equal rights and liberties
with every other man. This work
consists mainly in education and in
organization.
How it is pleasing plutocracy to
see the workingmen quarrel over the
minor details of their demands, and
to note how they abandon all hope
of relief just because each one does
not agree upon the same technical
plan of accomplishing that relief.
It is the chief mission of plutocracy
to work up strife in the ranks of the
vanguard of the great army of labor
ers on their steady march for indus
trial freedom; but it should be the
duty of every soldier in this cause to
stand firm and not allow the enemy
to stampede or throw them off their
guard. Let’s cease our mutterings
of the disbelief of the sincerity and
honesty of our fellow-reformers, and
let each and every one make a strong
push in the right direction and we
will soon surmount the hilltops of our
great oppression, and when once on
level ground traveling will be easy.
James T. Buck.
Kosciusko, Miss.
A Warren Brother’s Notes.
Camak, Ga., May 2.
Can anybody tell what has become
of John B. Gordon ? If so please
notify at once.
What has become of the extra ses
sion of Congress we heard so much
of last year, and hear so little of
now? All gone glimmering, as I
fear all other promises will go.
If Congress had the power to issue
bonds and sell them for greenback
and then burn the greenbacks, why
can’t they make the greenback and
call in the bonds and burn them and
cause the bond-holders to invest his
money in other securities so the peo
ple could get hold of some of it?
There is and awful vacuum down this
way.
How is it that supply and demand
have nothing to do with the price of
the farmers’ product?; Cotton, 2,000,-
UOO bales or one-fourth off, yet cot
ton coming down below the cost of
production. But 1 notice cotton
goods don’t come down worth a cent.
Will the Manufacturers Association
please explain at once ? How about
that 46 per cent?
I wonder when the Atlanta Con
stitution is coming down to lead our
Tom back into the fold ? Please
notify them that he won’t do to fool
with, for he is loaded with sound
logic and unanswerable argument. I
put them on notice, though I expect
it is useless, for a burnt child dreads
the fire.
You should have been down here
to see a Democratic judge sit down
on a People’s party grand jury and
see him run his partisan pen through
the appointments of the People’s
party notary publics at one stroke.
He killed your humble deponent with
that stroke. I’m surely dead, but
still kicking.
Boys, stand to your guns, for we
are right. Let me here remark, it
will be a cold day in August when a
Democrat holds office in our county
again.
I was down at the Electric City a
few days ago and had the exquisite
pleasure of seeing that peerless
Christian gentleman, J. C. C. Black
also saw all those peerless Christian
groceries placed upon the good peo
ple of Augusta by his vote and in
fluence. Will somebody please har
monize ? I can’t. The arm or
branch of those Christian groceries
which was established in our little
town, I’m glad to say, has been
withdrawn.
Mr. Clark Howell says that the
Democrats must redeem their pledges
or they are gone. Just so. But how
are they to reform the tariff when it
don’t yield enough to keep up tha’
government at present? and when
our present Congress is so generous
as to vote temselves SI,OOO each to
buy cigars during the dull summer
months? Economy with a ven
geance! Say, then, “what do yon
propose to do about it?” Boys, votes
them out. It is our only remedy
let us apply it at the first
* * *
Called to taw.
The Chattanooga Times calls the
Constitution to taw:
“What about the doctrine of Gro
ver Cleveland ? In what respect da
his financial aiews differ from
held by Mr. Sherman? What arg
you going to do about his announced'
determination to exhaust all powers
of the government to maintain gold
payments—that is, retain the gold’
standard? Never mind about John’
Sherman; tell your “gold-bug edi
tors” in Georgia that they must ceaseH
supporting Mr. Cleveland’s financial
doctrines, or you will post them as
traitors and read them out. Cleve
land is a stouter “goldolator” than
Sherman ever was, for the latter*
seems to favor raising the silver dol-j
lar from its present ratio of 16 to 1J
of gold to a ratio of 20 or 24 to 1 of
gold, and then resume the free coin
age, which was stopped by law in
1873. Cleveland has no faith in the;
success of such an exheriment.”
It need only be said that tha.
Times is a thick-and-thin supporter
of the administration.
SLAVERY IN PRUSSIA.
Brutal Treatment of Peasant Women
by a Feudal Baron.
Berlin, April 30. A Liberal,
paper to-day publishes the following
in illustration of the treatment ac
corded to peasants by the owners of
the extensive feudal farms in Eastern
Prussia. Forty Polish peasant
women, who had sought work on a
large estate in Bukow, were so
badly treated by the baronial land
lord, that they left their huts ath
night and came to Berlin to seek)
other employment. The landlords
telegraphed the chief of police hereL
requesting him to arrest the women}
on the charge of breaking their conJ
tract with him. The chief dispatcher
two “ Black Marias ” (which arol
painted gnfeen in Berlin)* to the rail/
way station. Half a dozen burM>
policemen arrested the frightened!
peasants, huddled them into the ve-<
hides and carried them off to prison!
There it appeared that none of the/
women could speak German, and anj
interpreter was secured,Jto whom they
told a heartrending story of the bru4
talities they had suffered. Several*''’
of them were half starved and clothed
only in;rags. It is understood that
the Emperor has ordered the Minis
ter of Agriculture to look into tho
affair.
Warren County Alliance
Will meet at the Court House ia
Warrenton, May 20, at 10
All sub-Alliances are urged to have’
full delegation present. All alliance
men of the county and
counties are invited to meet with usj
Let every brother come and impress
on his neighbor the importance of
attending this meeting. President
Ellington and Brother Sam Walker,
State Lecturer, will be on hand to
address the meeting, and it is a duty
we owe the organization to be pres
ent. W. B. Shivers, Secty.
Looks a Bit Suspicious.
St. Louis Republic. 5$
An esteemed and acute reader offli
the Republic writes that in less thauHj
a week after the Boston bankereß|
have been kind enough to give
Carlisle their gold for greenbacklf
they will send some one with tha
greenbacks around to the New York)
Subtreasury to draw out the gol®
again. This is entirely within tha
range of possibilities. In fact, it id
greatly to be feared that these people
are having fun with Mr. Carlisle.
But he is entirely too high-minded to
suspect them of it.
THE PEOPLE’S PARTY PAPER,
117 1-2 Whitehall St., Atlanta, Ga. r
Advocates These Principles:
1. Issue the money of the govern menfr
directly to the people, instead of allow
ing national banks the “special privi
lege” of doing so at a heavy profit.
2. Allow all the people an equal chance
to get some of that money instead of al
lowing the boodlers a monopoly of get
ting it; give cotton and wheat and land
as good a chance as you give the bond®
whose value depends on cotton and
wheat and land.
3. Tax the fat incomes of the million
aires instead of the plows and hoes and"
clothes and blankets of the laborers.
4. Coin silver on terms of equality with
gold, so that the people will have both
kinds of money.
5. The railroads now own the govern
ment and run it in the interest of tha
corporations ; let the government own
the railroads and run them in the inters
est of the people.
6. Prohibit monopoly, whether oft
trade, of production, of of land ; main
tain competition as the health of com-1
merce and as the fairest thing for all*
parties. Thos. E. Watson,
Editor-in-Chief. i