Newspaper Page Text
The Peoples Party Paper
VOLUME V.
HON. M. D. IRWIN .
ADDRESSES THE STATE
ALLIANCE
AT ATLANIX GEORGIA.
October 23rd 1895-He Sifts tht
Honest Allianceman From
the Knaves.
One year ago It was thought by the
enemies of the Alliance that there
never would be another meeting of the
State body, but you have disappointed
your enemies and surprised even your
friends. Today, instead of showing a
decline, you show nearly double the
number of counties represented in your
last annual meeting.. The order is tak
ing on new life, and promises.to regain
its former vigor and power in the near
future. The great question of co-oper
ation among the producers is forcing
itself home to every farmer at this time
as it. never did before, and they are
realizing that the most practical place
to put this co-operation in operation is
through the Alliance organization. In
fact, the farmer has no other place of
refuge when he is assailed by the trusts
and combines except his own order, the
Alliance.
Thousands of dollars have been saved
to the farmers this year in many coun
ties of the State through the co-opera
tion of the Alliance. With it perfect
organization all over the State, millions
can be saved every year, and instead of
it going into the hands of the specula
tor, as now, it would remain in the
pockets of the producers.
Every organization, be its principles'
ever so true, has its storms and sun
shine, but if its demands are based up
on justice and equity, its final triumph
is assured. So with the Alliance—with
“equal and exact justice to all” in
scribed upon its banner: with right,
truth'and humanity as its motto, noth-
. ing cun.prevent-its slice, ss sareoi’r own
■nes'lec . f -'rd-.- ,
Uport the action of this meeting de
pends the future prosperity of the order
you represent. If you are wise, con
servative and determined, laying all
selfishness aside and looking only to
the interest of the producers as a whole,
then the order will take on new life,
and much good will, be accomplished by
your meeting together. Let us hope
for this line of policy the policy that
is to,make the producer master of the
situation.
Nothing but dire necessity ever forced
the farmers into organization. The’r
very existence is itself against organi
zation, against monopoly of any and all
kinds.
Eight years ago, after bearing the
burdens of class legislation patiently
for years, the farmers reached a point
in their history where the necessity of
organization was forced upon them. It
was then that the Alliance was formed,
a purely class organization, with the
emancipation of the producers as its
chief object. We had watched the rise
and fall of many farmers' orders unti'
it was a common expression among all
classes that the "producers could not
unite.” The commercial world ac
cepted the truth of this saying and
looked upon the organization of the
Alliance with that same complacent
smile that characterized them during
the organization of former orders of the
producers. They feared nothing from
a class of men who were so foolish as
not to be able to organize for their own
promotion and welfare.
The order moved forward and into its
ranks it swept the producers every
where. the new doctrine was preached,
until its proportions were alarming to
the who had and were still
growing fat at the expense of the pro
ducers. It looked for one,e like the
farmers were going to stick and that
Shylock would have to loose his hold
upon the throat of agriculture and
labor. The first batt e was between
the order and the merchant, and it was
won. The merchant was compiled to
bring down his profits to a reasonab e
point, and the farmer no longer had to
suffer under the burden cf 100 per cent
per annum for supplies purchased. But
the order was not long in discovering
that the burden was not alone due to
exorbitant profits on goods, but to
other sources. Although the farmer
had been for half a century like "cumb
driven cattle” in politics, the order now
took the helm and by the unity and
concentration, tty the justice of its de
mands, by the necessity of the times,
many were its victories in this new
field. The old politicians went down
before it and found himself at sea with
out a compass. It looked as if the
political atmosphere would be cleared
and the drones who produced nothing,
but consumed the people's wealth,
“ to -A. 11- —1 Privileges to Norio.”
would be driven out of the temple of
our liberty.
History repeated itself. These leeches
upon the wealth producers of the nation
accepted as it were, our principles and,
upon faithful promises to enact them,
retained the control of our legislatures
and congress. They all jumped aboard
th J Alliance band wagon for the sake
of holding the offices, and the promised
reforms never materialized. Men ejec
ted upon certain pledges, t> ought noth
ing of violating them until the people
became disgusted with the f _>ul methods
and corruption of our political leaders,
and a general revolt was the result.
However, this*revolt did not come until
the political prostitutes had gotten in
their deadly work, and divided the pro
ducers at the ballon box. But the edu
cation of the masses carried on so suc
cessfully by the Alliance had its effect,
anti the result is, millions of reformers
of the nation banded together as broth
ers to better the condition of the wealth
producers and laborers, No order since
that established by the lowly Nazerene
has pi oduced such a profound sensation
the world over as the Alliance of the
producers It has not only awakened
the wealth producers to contend for
their jus b rights, but it has stirred np
plutocracy and brought face to face the
contending forces. By our campaigns
of education we have driven the mooev
power from its hiding place beneath
the shields of old party prejudice and
forced it into the open field of battle.
Under the search light of truth thrown
upon the situation by the Alliance cru
sade, we are now able to know the
true friends of the producers and the
knaves who have been able to deceive
the people under party cover are ex
posed to public contempt and their
hypocrisy laid bare to the world. The
battle lines are clearly defined now.
The fight is between the classes who
produce nothing and the masses who
produce all wealth. It is a battle be
tween the neople and plutocracy—the
prople against the money power.
It is only necessary that the forces
who have a common interest; who la
bor and produce all wealth, consoli
date and they will win the victory.
The forces on the other side are al
ready closely organized. The enemies
of the producers are united. Those
your children to a relentless money
oligarchy* are shoulder to shoulder,
marching under the same banner with
its false inscription, “sound money.”
They are in possession of the temple
of liberty, they’’ own and control your
national legislative bodies. They con
trol the money of the nation and
through it the political knaves who
dictate party' platforms and policies.
Not only this, but even the judicial
ermine is stained by the touchJ of this
monster enemy of human liberty. The
church, founded in the interest of hu
manity and truth, has in a large meas
ure been captured by plutocracy, and
instead of being a help and shield to
the poor, lias become a tool of the
money' power to destroy the great les
son taught by the Master, the •’broth
erhood of man and the fatherhood of
God.”
With the forces who produce the
wealth it is consolidate or' perish.
Unite, or be the voluntary serfs of the
money devil forever, is cur present
condition.
From the earth intelligently tilled
springs all wealth. It is the great
creative fountain from which emanates
the streams which supply and build
up every class in the nation. Upon
the producer rests every' burden of
taxation, national, state and local.
The banker, the manufacturer, the
merchant and the professional man
alike must receive their profits and
reap their fees from the products of
the earth. All of the in tri cat a and
expensive machinery of government
rests its burden upon the producers.
The magnificent fortunes of the spec
ulators and money lords represent the
sweat and toil of the producer, extort
ed u< der pretense of law, which
licenses trusts and monopolies to prey
upon the man who stands between the
nation and want.
Still the producer receives nothing
more than a passing menti »n by our
legislative bodies. Our departments
of agriculture, both state and national,
arc farces and ©f no benefit to those
who are struggling to feed and clothe
the world. Those positions are used
only to pay political debts and
strengthen the party that is in. Usu
ally they are filled by men who have
no practical experience in farming,
and know nothing of the condition and
needs of the producers. A set of pol
iticians who theorize on ttye profits in
“three-cent cotton” and the “beauties
of tlie gold standard.” The places were
created for the pu pose of quieting the
farmers by a pretended recognition
of agriculture in the government.
Our state agricultural department has
never advanced or advocated anything
befcre our legislature that would ben
efit the class it represents, but has
been contented to draw salaries and
ATLANTA, GA., FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1895.
issue its stereotyped monthly bulletin.
With these departments in our ration
al and state government we have seen
the producer outlawed and brought to
po erty’s door while the classes have
piled n > their millions upon the profits
of the farmer's products.
These fortunes have been made by
the protected few, while the farmer
who bore the burden was legislated
against and fna.de to suffer.
Now, self-preservation demands that
every producer place his shoulder to
the wheel and co-cperaie in this great
order.
Reply to The Herald’s Personal
Attack.
Open letter to Augusta Herald : On
October 2nd you said, “lat. r in the day
after the committee called on him (Mr.
Black) he decided he would go to the
polls. He walked up to the polls assis
ted by his friends arid voted for the De
mocratic nominee.” When Mr. Watson
charged that fact upon Mr. Black you
said : “Mr. Black did not vote at all.”
Which of your two statements is a
lie and which is the truth ? It is your
funeral, —take choice of hearses.
Instead of answering this plain ques
tion in a plain way, the dear Herald
repl.es withan unworthy, bitter, per
sonal attack on Major McGregor which
is as full of misrepresentation as an egg
is of meat, and to hide the fact that this
attack on Major McGregor was made to
cover its own disability to answer his
question, it extends its poison-fanged
justification to Mr. Watson. The sum
of its reply is that Messrs. McGregor
and Watson are fomenting strife
among the people n order to obtain
subscribers for The People’s Party
Pap.- ji out of which, the Herald claims,
t\ey < drive a princely income.
If all the Herald says about The Peo
ple's Party Paper were true, if it
was really a mine of wealth to its own
ers, the ordinary reader will still be at
a 10-s to know which horn of the dilem
ma presented by Major McGregor the
Herald chcse. Was Mr. Black assisted
to the polls by his friends to cast a yote
for himself, or did he abstain from vot
ing ? The Herald made both these con
tradictory assertions, which one of
them does it mean to retr.act by its dive
into the mud? Without further ex
planation the people will fail to kne* .
If to publish a partisan paper
H •_ r.u bp -Mrs,-rV2 e *
and “breeders o', discoid,' and if
degree in these accomplishments is to
be measured by the apparent profit
they derive from their circulation, then
as a “fom nter of strife and a breeder
of discord ’ the Herald leads The Peo*'
ple’s Party Paper by long odds. The
subscription price of The People's
Party Paper is 50 cents a year, or
about one cent per copy. The subscrip
tion price of 'the Herald is ten cents
per week or about two cents per copy.
Both papers being 8 page 6 Column
papers, it will be seen that the lieraid
is just twice'as deep in trie bog as The
People’s Party Paper is in the mire.
But as the white paper and mailing is
about one-half a cent per copy, it wil
be seen that The People's Party
Paper has only a half a cent left to
coverall its other expenses where the
Herald has one and a half cents. But
this is not all. The miscellaneous read
ing for goldbug papers is furnished
them by the gold syndicate free of cost
and any paper which chooses to antag
onize the interests of the people can
obtain this matter already’ set in type
without any expense, but all matter
relating to the welfare of the people
must be paid for at the highest rates.
“Fomenter of strife” and “breeder of
discord” “for revenue only,” comys
with very bad grace when it is applied
by r the-men who manage the Herald to
the men who manage The People’s
Party Paper.
But an ox, floundering in the mire,
will only get deeper the more he flound
ers. Augusta Herald.
Meeting of the Reform Press
Association of Georgia.
The Reform Press Associaticn meet
ing in Atlanta on the 24th inst. was
called to order by Hon. M. D. Irwin,
president. Hon. Bion Williams, of the
“ Woodbury Messenger,” secretary
pro tem.
Mr. H. P. Blount, editor of “The
Other Side,” Atlanta, Ga , was elected
president and .John I. Full wood, of
“The Advance Courier,” Cedartown,
Ga., secretary and treasurer for the
ensuing year.
H. P. Blount, J. A. Hollis and J. I.
Fullwood were appointed to arrange
for an excursion for the body to some
point in during the winter.
After an enthusiastic meeting and
the transaction of business of vital
importance to the body, the meeting
was adjourned until the 18th of De
cember, when the association will
meet again in the city of Atlanta.
, I- F-
“Birds of a feather will flock to
gether.” Sam Jones, the 81,500 a week
evangelist, has declared himself a
gold-bug. Money and religion,, like oil
and water, won't mix.—Cleburn (Tex.)
Herald.
DOWN IN GEORGIA.
J. JI. BROWh ing WRITES IN
TERESTINGLY
ABOUT POLITICS IN GA.
The Great Moral Victory Won
by the Populists and Facts
About Democracy.
Among the visitors to the Cotton
Staves and International Exposition,
none has been more observant of polit
ical even's than the writer of the fol
lowing letter io the Western branch of
the American Press Association :
[Special Correspondence.}
Atlanta, Oct. 21.—1 f you want pol
itics as is politics, come to Georgia. If
you want to study- a history showing
how ingeniously a people can bo Jed
along by .degrees to surrender the exer
cise of s?!f government, take Georgia
from 1870 to 1890, and if yon next
xyant to see how a brave and intel
-1 ligent few can induce the people to re
sume their rights and force an arrogant
oligarchy to consent to reforms, take the
experience of the Populist leaders of
this state. The reading public has part
cf this history by fits and starts. I. wish
now to present it in the order of time
to the end that Populists elsewhere may
see that their compatriots beA have al
ready won a great moral victory and are
encouraged to press on.
Those languid patriots who complain
that “the Excitement of a hotly contest
ed campaign is bad for business” and
that “farmers talk politics when they
ought to bo at work” should have lived
in Georgia the 20 years following the
overthrow of the reconstruction govern
ment. It would have been heaven to
them. There was but one political
party, but at first there was excitement
about the conventions, as a nomination
was an election. The managers soon got
rid of that, however, and then year by
year the interest declined until two
thirds c-'ithe citizens neither knew nor
-ared when election day, came. Those
v-v’fe to be going to town that
£* ', a few hundred ballots elected
. I ‘V a sc-oie a
member of the legislature, and in ninny
instances the votes of the election ofii
cvj.ls‘were the only ones cast. As late
as two weeks ago, at a special election
In Acree, on the Brunswick and West
ern railroad, but one man qualified and
voted. Mr. Beta Hill, candidate for
mayor, elected himself and the whole
town council. And during one-half of
those 20 years taxes were actually high
er in. proportion than during the much
abused administration of Governor
Bullock—that Bullock whom they ran
out of tho state, but received him again
with honor when ho “brought in capi
tal.”
There were uneasy spirits all that
time, however, men who did not believe
in such oppressive unanimity. There
was HpIpMV. H. Felton, grand old hero,
up in tlie Seventh district, who for 30
! years preached Methodist doctrine on
Sunday and honesty and independence
! in politics on weekdays. He represent
ed his district in congress, refused to
bow the knee to Baal, came out a Popu
list, and though well up in the seven-'
ties is fighting yet and says he has just
learned how to light. There was and is
Judge James K. Hines of this city, a
prominent member cf the local bar and
one of the clearest thinkers on social and
economic issues to be found in the coun
try. He has been judge of the superior
court, and according to the belief of the
Populists was elected governor last
year, though the old machinery counted
in Governor Atkinson. The career of
Tom Watson is well known. Another
lender in the revolt was Major C. E.
McGregor, present manager of the Peo
ple’s Party paper of this city and state
senator from the district composed of
Greene, Warren and Taliaferro counties.
His experience is of special interest,
showing as it does what men had to un
dergo who fought against the prevailing
current. Ho is a native of the state, ami
was a brave soldier, a major in the
Eighth Georgia and the reserves. So all
was serene till he began to agitate for
reforms. Then the “solid men,” as they
called themselves, united against him.
All the prestige, all the leading families,
all the concentrated wealth and privi
lege stood in solid array, but he carried
ths three counties, the one with the
largest Democratic, vote in 1890 and
1892 giving him 575 majority. His
election expenses were just $32, while
the old set admit that they spent nearly
$3,000 to defeat him. This, be it re
membered, was under the old law, when
bribery was easy and fraud the rale.
The three counties elected Populist offi
cials at the same time,.but the judge
threw them out on technicalities. An
other trusted leader is Mr. John D.
Cunningham, owner of the Kenesaw
nursery, near Marietta, one of the largest
fruit growers in the south and president
of the Frnit Growers’ association of the
state. Ho is neither an orator nor a
writer, but as an executive man has few
equals. He led the fruit growers’fight
with the transportation companies and
forced a reduction of some S4O per car
on fruit to tho eastern cities.
_ AU these and many more led off lo-
cally, and the grange movement was
the first attempt at anything like union,
but it was short lived. The Fanners’
Alliance, however, organized and consol
idated a healthy opposition and formu
lated certain specific demands. These
were accepted by the Democrats in most
of the state, and in 1890 the candidates
for congress pledged themselves thereto.
On reaching Washington • all ignored
these pledges at command of the caucus
except Thomas E. Winn of the Ninth
district and Thomas E. Watson of the
Tenth.. Their experience is tolerably
familiar to the public. They were un
ceremoniously expelled from the Demo
cratic party. The split was complete,
and in 1892 Georgia had areal political
campaign on live issues, tho first in 20
years.
I pause right here to note the irony
of politics. The Democrats are now
calling on the country to admire them
for having passed an election law em
bracing some of the principles they de
nounced the Populists for indorsing.
The Populists, who are prominent in
their several lines of trade, are appealed
to on .behalf of the exposition, and Hon.
Emery Speers, Republican, who was
made judge of the United States district
court for the southern district of Geor
gia to get him out of politics, was se
lected as orator of the day at the opening
of the exposition.* Next to Booker
Washington, the colored orator, Speers
was the hero of tho day. So, after 20
years of proclaiming that the talent,
etc., in Georgia is all Democratic, some
of the best work at the exposition is
done by Populists, and the big honors
of the opening day are taken by a Re
publican and a “nigger!”
Fraud, and bribery under the old law
reached their maximum in 1894. No
body will ever know what the real vote
was, for the managers in each county
were afraid there would be a slump in
other counties, and naturally expecting
officials in the Populist precincts to play
the same game they counted everything
their own way. When the first reports
■came out, they saw they had overdone
it and revised the returns to some sem
blance of decency.
The possibilities under that law are
beautifully illustrated by the fact that
in one county of the Tenth district the
Democratic vote, returned, even after re
vision, was nearly 2,000 larger than t|ie
number of males over 21, all parties,
qualified and disqualified. It was com
placently assumed that the census of
1890 was very defective and that in
i the four years the population had in
creased .by 40 per cento The. was illus
’i.rai * ; ,0 " ‘7.’;, --tn* in
! these United States an evil is seiuou.
I reformed till it gets so bad that• people
| just can’t stand it any longer. Every
i body was ashamed of that election, and
so the legislature, by act approved Dec.
10, 1894, provided for a very rigid sys
tem of registration, of which I shall
have something to say in the future.
Populists consider it 1 poor ittempt at
reform, but it has a few good features.
It will probably disfranchise about 40
per cent of the adult males, but those
actually qualified will stanfl some
chance of being counted as they vote.
The old law as to appointing election
officials is still in force.
And now all the Democratic papers
in the state except tho radical silverite
organs are singing tho sweet refrain
that "Populism is dead; eight cent
cotton has killed it,” which leads mo
to give some figures on that subject. It
appears by the reports of the Atlanta
exchange that the average- Georgia
farmer last year made Six bales cf cotton
and got cents a pound for it. This
year he has made four bales and expects
Scents. Last year therefore he got $165
; for his crop and this year will get $l6O
: —if cotton doesn’t go down! The state
' as a whole is now claimed to be self
| supporting in bread and meat, cotton
' being the cash crop. So the farmer has
$5 less than last year, and according to
i the market reports will have to pay 10
per cent more for clothing and boots
. and shoes and 82 per cent more for iron
! utensils. If this is prosperity, what
I would the goldbugs call adversity? In
I the south as a whole, however, there
may be a slight gain, for the latest
claim is that the crop this year will bo
nearly 7,000,060 bales against 9,000,000
last year. J. H. Browning.
They Are Making; a Great Mistake.
Senator Allen of Nebraska delivered
flip Labor day address at Butte, Mon.
On the silver question he said : “If the
i silver sentiment of the United States
: could be united for one man, I think a
i free silver president could bo elected.
; but it is very doubtful if anything of
i the kind will occur. I shall not be sur
prised to see five presidential tickets in
the field next year. I think that the dis
position to put a strictly silver party in
tho field is confined to tho mining states,
and I am very doubtful of the wisdom
of tho movement. Those who are urg
. ing it are making a great mistake.
I “There are many silver men who be
lieve the Populist party is simply a
temporary growth, and that it will soon
disappear with slightly changed condi
tions. Therefore there are many who
urge the organization cf a straight sil
ver party, but they are making a great
mistake, in my judgment. The Populist
party is as well founded and for its
numbers as well organized and as de
termined as any other political party,
and it has come to stay. We will not be
absorbed by any other political party,
and we expect to open our doors suffi
ciently wide to admit all honest men
who want to see a reform iu our govern
ment, ” ■ ' .
NUMBER 7.
PERHAPS A SCANDAL.
INQUIRY INTO THE STATE
DEPARTMENT FINANCES.
AIR OF MYSTERY ABOUT IT
Funds Said to Be Deposited in
Private Banks and Diverted
from the Government#
Under date of October 24, the Wash
ington correspondent of the New York
Press furnishes his paper with the fol
lowing disclosures:
An investigation of the State Depart
ment's financial affairs is in progress.
The auditor for the State Department
has been pushing the inquiry for some
time. It is reported that discoveries
have been made of the dep »sit of funds
in private banks, of the d/ersion of
receipts from various sources to other
than government channels, and of a
general condition of con'usion and
irregularity that may yet develop some -
stirring disclosures.
At the State Department the fact
that an investigation is not denied, but
it is positively said that nothing of an.
incriminating character is involved in
the affair, and that the result will
simply effect the establishment of per
bans a better method of bo >K-keeping.
At the Treasury Department the inves
tigation is also admitted, but no one
will venture an official opinion as to
what the result will be. t
May He Like a Former
From the outside source it is hinted,
that there has possibly been a repeti
tion of practices, the discovery of which
created a scandal in the P. st Office De
partment about ten years ago. Major
Burnsice was then disbursing officer of
the Pos Office Department. His deal
ings in bucket shops and his extrava
gant entertainments e an investi
gation which jesulted in an important
discovery.
Every dollar furnished him for dis
bursement had been honestly paid and
vovchui.> therefor retur to the
Tr Asury, but for moneys obtained*
*r? .a .' e sale of waste p-per and froni
I revenue now Y'?"’ :
had been kept to indicate that a donai
had ever been received.
shortage Was Over S3o,of»n.
The shortage in the Post Office De
partment from the failure to deposit
the receipts with the Treasury then
amounted to over $30,000. Burnside
escaped punishment on tlie ground of
his alleged insanity, which caused his
eommitmer t- to the government asy
lum, where,he is’to-day nominally un
der restraint, but permitted to visit his
friends and to taxe occasional drives
for his health.
The mystery observed at the State
Department in the Auditor’s office tends
to confirm the suspicion of the serious
ness of the investigation now going on.
Yet it is probable that nothing will be
known of the result until tlie Auditor
makes his report to the Secretary of
the Treasury.
State Alliance Meeting.
The Georgia State Alliance convened
in Atlanta on October 23rd and ad
journed after a harmonious and profit
able meeting of two days. It has been
common of late years for those men
who wished to fly the Alliance as a tail
to the De mocralic kite to charge that
Populists were ruining thejUlunee by
injecting polities into the order, yet
over one hundred counties were repre
sented in the Convention, and not a
polieal utterance was heard in the
meeting.
Mr. Irwin having declined re-election
Mr. M. Ij. Palmer, of Floyd county,
was elected president and Mr. F. M.
Waddell, of Merriwether, was elected
Secretary. Mr. Palmer is a man of
great force of character and of strong
convictions. No better man could
have been chosen, Mr. Waddell’s re-,
election without opposition is a suffi
cient guarantee that he is a fit man for
the position.
The following officers and lecturers
were elected :
M. L. Palmer, President, Lavender;
W. K. Kemp,- Vicv-president, Swa’ns
boro; F. M Waddell, Secretary and
Treasurer, Snelson; H (}. Edenfield,
Chaplain, Millen; F. D. Wimberly,State
Lecturer, Cochran; W. Y. Carter, Assis
tant-lecturer, Hartwell; J. M. Bruce,
Doorkeeper, I’leasmt Grove; W. 11.
Bryans, Sa.geant-at Arms. Ola; W. H.
Prickett, Assistant-Doorkeeper, South.
Atlanta.
JJititrict Leolu'-ers.
Ist. IL G. Edenfield, Millen.
2nd. Wtu E. Smith. Atapulgus. As
sistant, A. W. Ivey, Thomasville.
3rd. F. p. Wimberly, Cochran. As
sistant, Allen Kemper. Weston,
4th. J. R. Spence, Carrollton.
sth. Rev. B. F. Dodson, So. Atlanta.
6th. T. J. Barrett, Meansville. AssiSr
taut. W. H. Smith, Flovilla.
7th. J. W. McGarritv, Day.
Sth. W. Y. Carter, HartwelL
9th. Thos. E. Wynn, Lawrenceville.
10th. Rev. S. A. Walker, Thomson.
11th. Dr. S. W. Johnson, Baxley.
