Newspaper Page Text
4
PWS PARTY Pffl
Published Every Fridat At No. 8
South Broad Street
TIIOS. E. Wa’FSON, Edito r;e"i!lcnt
W. J. Henning, Awso<!la,e Efl)tOT
C. E. McGregor, ,31n ''^ nllg( , I .
Lulu M. Pearce, £ * cr Yre?mer.
A. i. Smith, Aa ' cltb,D « Mttnagcr
People’s Party State Ticket.
For Governor :
.TAMES K. HINES.
For Secretary of State:
A. L. NANCE.
For Treasurer:
C. M. JONES.
For Attorney-General:
J. A. B. MAHAFFEY.
For Comptroller-General:
W. R. KEMP.
For Commissioner of Agriculture:
JAMES BARRETT.
Change of Katie.
Those gold bug journalists and
orators who make so much of the
fact that trilling changes have been
made, heretofore, in the ratio at
which silver and gold were coined,
should tell all the facts or none.
They should explain to the people
that when Jefferson stopped the
coinage it was because our country
had almost no silver at all and that
all foreign coins were full legal ten
der here, and that the diffeience be
tween the foreign ratio and ours cre
ated confusion.
We never did have any consider,
able amount of gold to coin until the
gold mines of California were discov
ered in 1848.
We never had any silver of conse
quence to coin until the western sil
ver mines were opened after the
civil war.
Previous to 1857 our currency
consisted principally of foreign gold,
foreign silver, and home-made paper
money.
This paper money consisted o'
treasury notes, national bank notes
and state bank notes.
When foreign coins were outlawed
by the demonetization act of 1857,
our currency was sharply contracted
and a ruinous panic ensued.
Foreign coins having been exclu
de .1, the question of domestic coin
became vastly more important than
it had beefl before.
The ratio between silver and gold
in 1873, when John Sherman and
Bayard, republican and democrat,
conspired to strike it down, was
10 to 1.
At that time the amount of silver
in a silver -dollar was worth three
cents m< re than the amount of gold
in a gold dollar.
Unfriendly legislation having been
enacted against silver, and its use as
a money metal having been de
stroyed, its value in the markets fell
just as the value of gold would have
fallen under similar circumstances.
Ever since the “crime of 1873’’
was committed, the campaign cry of
the democrats has been “Free Sil
ver.’’
Mr. Atkinson asks why the St.
Louis platform of the alliance did
not call for the ratio of 16 to 1.
Simply because no mortal man
dreamed that a change of ratio was
contemplated.
Everybody supposed that the
whole light on the silver question
was for the purpose of undoing the
“crime of 1873,” and putting silver
right back where it was when Sher
man and Bayard struck it down.
Therefore it was the universal un
derstanding that tl.e demand for the
restoration of silver meant its re
storation at the old ratio, which the
experience of half a century had
demonstrated to be the true one.
This new doctrine of changing
the ratio, violently ami radically
from 16 to 1, to 30 to 1, is the cun
ning attempt of the gold standard
ring to confuse the people and to
hopelessly postpone the settlement
of the question.
When a man, under present con
ditions, talks about coining silver
dollars different from those we now
have, he is at heart opposed to any
more silver and he ought to be honest
enough to say so.
Georgia Democracy ou the Republi
can Platform.
S Iver is the money of the people.
In proportion as silver has been hon
ored as a money metal and occupied
a position on a parity with gold, the
price of staple agricultural products
and labor has been maintained. In
1873, before silver was demonetized
under the leadership of Sherman,
the republican, and Bayard, the
democrat, the average bullion value
of a silver dollar was $1,004, and
tlie pi ice of cotton was 20 cents.
’883,. under the ban of denioncti
the bullion price of silver
PEOPLE’S PARTY PAPER, ATLANTA, GA., SEPTEMBER 2J. 1894.
THIS IS WHAT THEY ARE’- TRYING TO DO.
Y 'S7 zl
MOf’
W l \- Y ! Y \y,T
!/\ w ATT-'' 7 *i \ V"^7A
I/ ■ t tax es I Yz- -
” YrzriFZ / Y V-CLIGIE-/ /YeYY
The Democrats of 1 leorgia are being R -publicanize 1. Behold the office-holder chloroforming the voter in order to strip off his Jeffersonian garments and replace them with the John Sherman suit
in a dollar had fallen to 85 eents
and 8 mills, and cotton had declined
to 10 cents. In 1893, when the In
dian mints had been closed to silve r
and the goldbugs had elected their
president, ensuring the final clos
ing of the mints of this country to
silver, the bullion value of a silver
dollar was rated at 62 cents, and
cotton was down to 6 cents.
The other staple products and the
price of labor will thow an equal de
preciation with the price of silver.
These figures are suggestive. The
proposition that an advance in the
price of silver will be followed by a
coiresponding advance in the price
of cotton, of wheat and of labor gen
erally, needs no argument. It is
well understood by- the people and
the universal demand of the produc
ing classes is that silver be restored
its constitutional privilege at the
mints, which would speedily raise its
price and with it the price of labor
and the products of labor.
The gold bugs oppose it and the
struggle for the mastery is on.
'Die democratic party had always
been a silver party-. From Jefferson’s
free coinage act of 1792 down to the
time when the gold bugs secured
control of the democratic party, it
had been the friend of silver. In
1892 the goldbugs controlled the
national democratic convention,
adopted an anti-silver plank, nomi
nated an anti-silver president, who
was elected; and the democrati s
party- ceased to be the party of Jef
fersonian principles.
The republican party 'Jias always
been the opponent of these princi
ples. It has always been consistent
in its advocacy of high protection
and dear money. It is the open
enemy to silver today. Senator
•Jones, who advocates the free coin
age of silver, was forced to admit at
last that there was no hope for sil
ver in the republican party and as
reluctantly as a southern democrat
quits his old party, he severed his
connection with the republican gold
bug party.
He did not join the democratic
party, because it is as hostile to sil
ver as the republican party. There
are democrats who still cling to the
hope that the old party is a friend to
silver, and some of the congressional
candidates in the south are running
upon a 16 to 1 silver platform; but
jt is <y deceit and a snare. A com
parison of the republican and demo
cratic platform utterances on silver
will show that, the two o’d parties
stand upon the same plank. The
Georgia democratic platform says:
“We denounce the republican legisla
tion known as the Sherman act of 1Y ■».
as a cowardly makeshift, fraught with
p<. ■ sibilitlies of danger in the future,
which should make all of its support
ers, ns well as its author, anxious for
its speedy repeal. We hold to the use
of both gold and silver as the standard
money of the country, and to the coin
age of both gold and silver without dis
crimination against either metal, < r
charge for mintage, but the dollar unit
of coinage of both metals must be of
equal int rinsic and exchangeable value
or be adjusted through international
agreement, or by such safe-guards of
legislation as shall insure the mainte
nance of the parity of the two metals
and the equal power of every dollar ;.t
all times in the markets ami in pay
ments of debts; and we demand that all
paper currency shall be kept at par
with and redeemable in such coin. We
u.sist upon tills policy as especially
necessary for tin- protection of the
farmers and laboring classes, the first
ami most defenseless victims of un
stable money and a fluctuating cur-
The silver plank of the Nebraska
republican platform reads this way :
The American people, from traditioit
3 and interest, favor bimetallism and the
. republican party demands the use of
• both gold and silver as standard money,
and with such restriction and under
provision to be (b tern iti *1 by legis’.a-
;• tion as will secure the maintenance of
~ the parity oi the two metals so that
the purchasing and debt-paving power
-of the dollar, whether of silver or
) , gold, shall be at all times equal.
I A microscope would fail to reveal
I any difference between the Georgia
democratic platform and the Ne
braska republican platform.
The Atlanta Journal, an open ad
vocate of the single gold standard and
an honest exponent of democratic
policy, says :
There has been much misrepresenta
‘.ion on this question. From some dem
, cratic sources, we hear expressions
which would indicate that there is no
difference between the democratic and
the populist platforms on tin* money
question. The people must not be de-
I ceived by any such false doctrine. The
lemocracy is pledged absolutely to a
•ound currency, to the maintenance un
der all conditions of the parity of gold
and silver, to the proposition that every
J dollar coined or issued by the Enite.i
3 States must be of equal purchasing and
debt-paying power.
r The Columbus Enquirer-Sun, an
other organ of “the men who con-
3 troF' the democratic party, says:
It is in this view of the matter (that
j opposition to the free coinage o:
silver at 16 to 1). which does not seem
» vague or clouded, that the Enquirer
j Suu protests against the continueujfight
by democrats for a free coinage of sil
l ver tha-t is not favored by the national
/platform, nor by the administration,
J nor l.j’ the democratic congress.
1 The Macon Telegraph puts it thus:
‘ It seems to us that the man cr news
( paper which argues for free coinage at
’ 16 to 1 ratio, or any ratio which doe
not insure a sound bimetallic currency,
must neeessariily make converts t
' the populist party to the extent tha
; the arguments are convincing. This is
true because the populist party is the
’ only party which favors free coinage
on such terms. 'l'he democratic party
does not and the republican party does
’ not.
Let not Georgians who desire the
, restoration of silver as a money
i metal at our mints, delude themselves
i with the vain hope that it can be
■ done through the democratic party.
■ As the Journal fairly and honestly
, states, democracy is pledged abso
lutely to a sound currency, to tin
> single gold standard.
There is no difference between i
and republicanism; it is only tin
I populist party which differs from
both in that it favors Jefferson’s
: idea of the free coinage of silver at
• our mints.
Do you want the producer and
laborer to receive better remunera-
> tion ?
I Do you want to see. the waste
; places build up? Do you want pros
i perity restored?
. 1 Do you believe that the restora
tion of free silver coinage is an im-
• ' portant factor to help do it?
Then the populist party is the
. partv for you to support, for surely
you can see that neither one of the
■ i old parties is a friend to silver.
1 How State Taxes Hare Decreased.
The Meriwether Vindicator makes
• I the statement that the democratic
' party has lowered the state taxes.
■ll does not make this decj/ir.ation
editorially and openly, but trots out
: a mythical old colored man, and
i quotes him as authority for a state.
: . ment which makes even a weather
. I beaten mossback smile at its ab-
I I surdity.
: I In 1870 the state government was
j the hau ls of the republh ans. The
tax rate was 40 cents on the hundred
| dollars; S2OO was exempt from tax-
■ ation; cotton was worth 20 eents a
pound. A farmer, ownin'; a small
, farm worth SSOO, a pair of ninlcs
. ! and other stock to the value of SSOO
II more, would have had to pay—4o
cents per SIOO on $800—53.20 for
state taxes which would have re
quired 16 pounds of cotton.
In 1893 the state government was
in the hands of the democrats. Dem
ocratic lowering of taxes bad been
gradually progressing for twenty
three years with the result of reduc
ing the tax rate to 46.1 on the hun
dred dollars and not one cent ex
empted from taxation. Cotton was
worth six cents a pound. The same
farmer, owning the same farm and
stock valued at the same price,
would have to pay 46.1 per SIOO on
SI,OO0 —$4.61 to raise which he
would have to sell 76 pounds of
cotton.
“Bless the Lord,” piously exclaims
the Jijiqijicator through its mythical
orfiX.., “We feels it in
lower taxes.” It will bo noted that
the old c ilored man has no name.
No colored man who has, will bless
the Lord for such a condition, and
no white man will, unless he feeds at
the trough of the “men who con
trol.”
Evasion ami Buncombe.
Some days ago The Daily Press
requested the Augusta Chronicle to
define its position on the question of
giving the voters of Georgia a fair
election this year. Accordingly the
Chronicle locates itself in an editorial
headed “Ballot reform.”
After a long preamble, in which
our contemporary tells what has been
done in tha way of ballot reform in
various other states, and comments
on the fact that Georgia is one of the
very few m which ballot reform of
some sort has not been enacted
within the last few years, it comes
down to the gist in the matter. It
says:
“We do not seriously regard the
btimcombe demands of the populists
for a free ballot and a fair count.”
IVhy does the Chronicle style the
demand for an honest election as
‘buncombe?” Is there anything
approaching to buncombe in the fair
and honest proposition tendered by
Chairman Watson to Chairman
Clay ? And docs the Chronicle re
fuse to regard them seriously be
cause the democratic party through
its executive committee refused to
entertain the proposition ? Does it
refuse to treat it “seriously” because
til its talk about fair elections is to
be taken as idle talk, only intended
as buncombe ?
“Neither are we moved by the pop
ulist charges of democratic ballot box
frauds.”
Does the Chronicle wish to be un.
derstood as endorsing these frauds?
It cannot deny them when in its own
county nearly 2,000 votes were polled
at the last election in excess of the
total number of voters, and, as the
Chronicle will not deny, for the
democratic nominee.
To talk about what the next legis.
Uture should do in the way of “pro
viding for ballot reform of the most
advanced type” bears a very suspi
cious similitude to “buncombe,” when
advocated by a paper which is not
moved thereto by the billot box
frauds which have been committed
No party which is honest can refuse
to accede to a request which con- j
forms to the present law, and which
would go a long way toward putting ■
a stop to Iran i. That the Chronicle
should get uprn another populist
plank in demanding the Australian j
: ballot system is all fight, but does it
want a fair and honest election next
month?
hVhat objection has it to a divi
sion of election managers? Speak
right out, brother.
Chairman Clay Discussed.
Before his nomination and selec
tion as chairman of the democratic
convention serious charges were
made against him by democrats of
Fannin and Cobb counties. These
charges were supported by affidavits
of organized democrats, but “the
men who control” refused to have
them investigated, and hissed from
the floor of the convention the man
who asked that the charges be looked
into.
Mr. Marion W. Harris (who was,
until recently, a member of the ex
ecutive committee of which Mr. Clay
is chairman), after five weeks’ inti
mate official with Mr.
Chairman Clay, has this to say of
' him:
He (Mr. Clay) denied it to The Daily
Press reporter Tuesday luoming 1 . Ho
denied it to the Constitution on Tues
day night, and to the Telegraph on
Tuesday night, so all these papers sai 1,
; while, as a matter of fact, he wrote me
Tuesday morning (his letter being post
’ marked at 12:39 in Atlanta Tuesday.
■ and was received in Macon Tuesday
J night at 8:30) acknowledging the re
'. coipt of my resignation.
! Thus, Mr. Marion W. Harris suc
ceesfully impeaches the veracity or
truthfulness of Chairman Steve Clay!
1 This impeachment, like the damning
1 affidavits, comes from a rock-ribbed
1 democrat who defies the organized
■■ Georgia democrat to apply the yard
st ek, (provided they can find the
E stick) to his democracy.
E Discussing how the contents of
! his letter of resignation became
“ known in Atlanta Mr. Harris says :
“Consequently I knew that the mat
ter became public in Atlanta after my
letter reached Sir. Clay and not before.
’ Perhaps if Mr. Clay will make a close
investigation of the surroundings of
the democratic headquarters he may
, find some one or something that ‘is at
heart a populist’ and that ‘has evi
‘ deutly communicated with the popu
; lists.’”
There being two branches to the
■ Georgia democratic family—the sil
i verites and the goldites—and Mr.
Clay being of the silvorites and Mr.
Harris of the goldites, it appears nat
, ural to Mr. Harris that Mr. Clay
, should bo “at heart a populist” as
• the populists are the only genuine,
simon-pure silver democrats.
Mr. Harris is led to make this re
i flection upon the silverites of the
committee:
“Because Mr. Clay announced to the
executive committee on the llth inst.,
■ before any business was transacted, af
ter ordering all the doors carefully
closed, that lie was obliged to be very
. cautious, 'for in some unaccountable
? i way,’ said he, ‘everything that has
I been done here has leaked out, and our
I I enemies get hold of it.’ ”
II All of which goes to show that
’ I “the men who control” have tun
the democratic ship upon the shoals
’ and it is rapidly going to pieces.
I The crew and the captain is suspi
cious of every member of the crew ;
’ j while the honest passengers are tak
’ ing to the lifeboats and abandoning
' i the sinking hull.
We’ll lay alongside of the old hulk
■ until she goes to the bottom. Gur
decks are clean, our cabin comforla
bla, and otir ship capable of accotn-
i moda'.ing all who wish to take
j refuge.
_
Mr. Fleming’s Map.
The latest map of Georgia is a po
; litical map of the state, drawn by
Mr. W, 11. Fleming, of Augusta.
While the author intended it as an
argument to show that he should be
the next speaker of the house, it is
also a capital argument to show that
the “men who control” should be
turned down.
Mr. Fleming draws two lines, one
north and south through Milledge
ville, and the other east and v»est
through Macoj, and shows that all
• the democratic nominees for state
officers live in the section east of the
first and north of the second line.
He does not condemn the “men who
control” for selecting all the state
house officers from one small section
of the state, but “makes his appeal
in this matter’’ to be made speaker
of the house, timidly venturing to in
sert in his supplication the pica that
ho had obediently given his “active
support to him (Atkinson) since his
nomination.”
Mr. Fleming's attitude as a sup
. pliant at the feet of “the men who
control” may suit him.
He may think a gross injustice to
i the balance of the state will be
’ righted by his securing a coveted
nosition. These are matters of in
. dividual taste and judgment. But
■ intelligent voters will not fail to per
. eoivo that the exclusiveness in se
lecting the state house officers prac
ticed by the democrats was not imi
tated by the populists. Mr. Flem-
• ing’s map presents a strong argu
-1 ment in favor of the populist nomi
' nees.
Where They Are “at.”
The “men who control” in Butts
county do not seem to favor a fair
: election, as the following cards will
show.
The repetition of the lame excuse
of Chairman Clay by Chairman
Pound that, “I havo no authority to
; dictate in the prenfses” is a lame ar
: gument which no one will fail to un,
1 derstand. He was not requested to
- dictate ; but simply put himself on
record, in his capacity as executive
, head of his party in Butts county, as
favoring an honest election by re
questing a fair division of election
managers. His unwillingness to do
this, leaves but one construction :
, An Op-n Lctte .
Mr. E. E. found, Chairman Demo
‘ cratic Executive Committee, Jackson,
Ga. - Dear Sir-To the end that in the
’ approaching election, the management
may lie such that neither populists nor
.democrats may have just cause for
complaint, 1 would respectfully ask
1 that a mutual agreement be entered
into between us, whereby there shall
be a fair division of managers at the
polls. There being nothing in the law
to prevent, this, it would bo evidence to
the world of a spirit of fairness in the
democracy of Butts, and would re
move any grounds for apprehension of
, I unfair treatment, whether well
; ' founded or not, lint which is neverthe
. I less so prevalent now amongst the pop
ulists. Such a course can harm neither
side and would tend to strengthen the
. : confidence of the people in their insti
-1 tutions to promote peace and good
order in society.
1 Respectfully,
S. C. McCandless.
Chairman Populist Ex. Com.
Card From E. E. Fonucl.
Hox. S. C. McCandless, Chairman
Populist Executive Committee:—Dear
Sir: In reply to your letter in the last
• ; issue of the Argus, I will state that the
i law prescribes who shall hold elections
: for governor and members of the legis
lature. The law recites that a justice
of the peace and two freeholders shall
perform that duty, and as chairman of
the democratic executive committee of
Butts county 1 have no authority to
dictate in the premises. I sui confident
that the election, as all other elections
that have been held in Butts county
will be conducted in all fairness, and
that there will be a free ballot and a
fair count. Yours resnectfuly,
E. E. Pound.
Chairman Dem. Ex. Committee.
Note the new appointments of
speakers in this issue.
The “Men Who Control” and the
Negro Voter.
What sort of treatment the negro
may expect as a voter‘from the dem
ocratic party, and how far that party
will let him go in exercising his con
stitutional right to cast his ballot as
his judgment shall direct, may be
gathered from tho following :
Last Saturday the colored people
held a mass meeting in town, and
adopted the resolution which appears
below. We are glad to know that they
have decided to act as free and inde
pendent men, and we congratulate
them on this upward and onward
move and, it they act in the future in
accord with these public expressions,
they will merit the respect of all the
good people of the state. So far as we
know, the colored people of Elbert are
the first in the state to cuter their pro
test against the use of whisky and
money in our elections, prof. L. -T.
Kennedy is the author of the resolution,
which was unanimously adopted,
resolutions.
We, colored voters of Elbert county,
in mass meeting assembled, declare
our unfaltering faith in tho principles
of the republican party, as has been
enunciated in its party platforms of
principles since 1856: but as there are
no republican candidates before the
voters of this state or county, we feel
it our privilege to act independently in
this campaign. And as there are two
parties soliciting our suffrages, we owe
it to ourselves and posterity to act
wisely and support the men and meas
ures that will promise us tho greatest
benefit, not as individuals, bat as
American citizens.
We condemn the former practices in
this county, of buying and selling
votes, as being more dangerous to civil
government than the sword, and works
greater evil to society than robbery or
theft.
We favor good government fearlessly
enforced, and pledge our support to
that partv which promises equal rights
to every citizen of this state, white or
black, rich or poor.
We stand open to party conviction
and yield only to arguments of words
and reason.
The candidates that propose to buy
our votes with mean whisky and dol
lars deserve our repudiation at the
polls.
We believe it only simp’c justice that
the victorious party controling our
votes should give us such representa
tion in civil affairs that our wealth and
intelligence will justify.
With these hopes in view, we intend
to arouse the passions and prejudice of
no man, and to treat every man's opin
ion with proper consideration, with the
hope of receiving his good will.
W H. UrstiAW, Chm’n.
R. J. Spann,- Scc’y.
These resolutions were published
in the Elberton Star. In the next
issue of that paper appeared a notice,
signed officially by tho county school
commissioner, headed “a few words of
plain English to the colored teachers
of this county,” in which the resolu
tions are denounced as “the biggest
fool and nonsensical article,” which
were signed by a colored teacher as
secretary, who carries in his pocket
a recommendation signed by me (tho
school commissioner)” and the plain
English is embodied in these words:
“So help me God. as long as I am
count}- school commission, the "nigger’
politicians of Georgia will not teach
our schools.”
The “ men who control” endorse
this job-lashing school commissioner,
as will be seen by the following cards
copied from the Star:
Commissioner Wall Endorsed.
Editor Star:—All good citizens of
this county heartily endorse Rev. Jas.
N. Wall’s article in last week’s Star.
It demonstrates clearly to the minds of
the people that Mr. Wall had the man
hood to speak out and do his duty. If
we had more such citizens in public
business in our county it would be a
great blessing. Wo know what we aro
talking about. The article in question
has the true ring of an officer’s duty.
Respectfully, W. IL Kerlen.
Mr. Editor : —lt is a source of pleas
ure to inc to commend our efficient
county school commissioner for his
bold and manly card in last week’s
Star, directed to the colored teachers of
Elbert county. I heartily endorse ev
ery word he writes, and believe every
good citizen of Elbert will dothesame.
11, J. Brewer.
The democratic press is making
desperate efforts to beguile the “col
ored voter” to vote the democratic
ticket, but as soon as he acts as a
man and reasons independently for
himself, he becomes a “nigger politi
cian,” and the “men who control”
will prostitute their office to crush
him out and force him to vote as ho
is being dictated to by them.
Can any honest, intelligent negro
hesitate as to which party he should
support?
Democratic Intemperance.
Rev. S. B. McGehee, having
stated that he preferred Judge Ilinee
to Mr. Atkinsou for governor, and
that numbers of voters, to his .cer
tain knowledge, who would have
cast their ballots for General Evans,
would vote for Ilinas, since the Gen
eral had been knocked out by tho
“men who control” was at once
classed by the Sparta Ishmaelite as
an “average hellion.”
In its last issue, the Ishmaelite ex
plains to Mr. McGehee what it
meant by “average hellion” and de
nounces honest, conscientious men
as being a degree worse than “hel
lions,” if they disagree with the Ish
maelite politically. Read this bitter
vituperation of the Ishmaelite, ye
Christian preachers and laymen. It
is a sample of Georgia democratic
principles:
The Ishmaelite cannot undertake to
define for Mr. McGehee all the words
not contained in his antiquated dic
tionary. It wi!4 say, however, by the
term, “average hellion,” is meant an
unregenerate fellow who yet isn’t rep
robate enough to abandon political
honor and principle because his candi
date got left in the primaries. 'The
fellow who would do so—whether
preachers or laymen—are, of .course,
beyond the average, and may be de
fined simply as Hines democrats.
The Daily Press will be maileita
to any address in the United
i four months for two dollars.