The representative. [volume], May 02, 1894, Image 1

About The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901

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PEOPLE’S PARTY,
STATE
CfNVENTI©N
Under the authority vested in us, as the State J?en
trai Committee of the People's Party of Minnesota, we
hereby give notice that a State Convention of the Peo
ples Party of this state will be held at Minneapolis.
[The date and hall will be announced in our
next issue. The time will be as near the 10th of July
as possible. The matter is in the hands of a Minne
apolis committee.]
To place in nomination candidates for the following of
fices:
Governor,
Lieutenant Governor,
Secretary ok State,
State Auditor,
State Treasurer,
Clerk of tiik Supreme Court,
Attorney General,
Chief Justice of tiie Supreme Court,
One Associate Justice of the Supreme Court
And to transact all other business which may properly
come before the Convention.
The basis of representation will be as follows: Two
delegates for each county, and one delegate for each fifty
votes,or major fraction thereof, cast for Hon. I. Donnelly
for Gov. in M,> 2.
Arrant m nts will be made for reduced railroad fares
and modern.e notel charges. We will also try to arrange
for cheap accommodations for the teams of farmers who
come in by the wagon-load. Announcements as to these
matters will be published hereafter in The Represen
tative.
We would urge all friends of the People's Party to see
that their section is fully represented in the Convention.
A great change lias taken place in the political views of
the mass of our voters, brought about by the ruin to
which the whole country has been reduced, by the mis
government of the two old parties. If we do our duty
the People’s Party will carry Minnesota in the election
fn November next. Let us meet determined to subordi
nate all personal ambitions to the good of the people: let
us be wise and reasonable as well as bold and consistent,
AND WE MUST TRIUMPH.
THOMAS J. MEIGHEN,
Louis Hanson, Secy. Chairman.
Robert Eckford, Ass’t Secy.
C. T. Shei.lman, James Munro,
J. J. Mooney, L. Montgomery,
Gilbert 1- ish, C. N. Perkins.
J. P. Sheppard, S. P. Rasmusson,
A. Richmond, O. A.Lindberg,
E. F. Clark, C. F. Graves,
M. Wesenberg, C. F. Boiiall,
J. T. Plant, E. E. Lommen,
L. B. Cantleberry.
State Central Committee,
•
I
THE STATE CONVENTION
(f Hie People's Parly of Minnesota—
Tho Call Out for the Greatest Pop
ulist Convention Ever Held in the
State—Lctj All Hands Get Ready.
In tlie foregoing will be found
the call of tlie State Central Com
mittee for the State Convention of
the People’s party of Minnesota.
The committee went straight ahead,
“in the middle of the road;” and
there is no doubt the convention, in
the same spirit, will nominate their
own ticket, without “fusion” with
any one.
This convention will be the great
est and most important ever held in
this state. It will name the winning
ticket. Our advices from all parts
are that the hard times are making
converts for us by the thousand,
every day and hour. The principles
of the Omaha platform are becoming
constantly more popular. There is
no more talk about “calamity howl
ers.” The people are all “howling”
together now; and no one has any de
sire to mock another. We are all in
the soup in a bunch.
Let us call the attention of our
friends to the following item of
news:
“Anderson, Ind., April 26.—The
Populists of this county, including
Leroy Templeton, candidate for gov
ernor, in 1892, are at the head of a
movement to have all delegates go
overland in buggies and wagons to
the state convention, which will be
held in Indianapolis about May 22.
The movement has been kept very
quiet. Letters have been sent out to
all of the county central committees,
asking them to interest their dele
gates in the scheme. Thev propose
to start three or four days ahead of
time and allow time to stop and
make speeches. As they gradually
draw near to Indianapolis they will
form into platoons. Many of the
counties have been heard from and
every one in favor of the scheme.”
Why would this not be a good plan
for the People’s party of Minnesota
to imitate? It would certainly work
well for the Populists living within
100 or 150 miles of Minneapolis. Ar
rangements will be made for cheap
etabling; and farmers could bring
their own feed with them. They
could gather at certain points, and
have one or two speakers with each
troop, and hold meetings every night
“a la Coxey.” Why not? All that is
needed to revolutionize this state is
energy and courage. We have got
the facts the arguments and the
conditions to give victory.”
* *
■ ' 'V e - -
The Representative
GREENBACKS AT PAR.
Can Paper Money Be Made an Good
a* Gold f—-Tlie Nation's Experience
In tlie Civil War.
BENSON, Minn., April 20. IS94—Hon. Ig
natius Donnelly, St. Paul, Minn.—Dear Sir:
I had a pretty hot discussion the other day
with a lawyer of this place, by the name of
T- F. Young, about the old demand notes,
or greenbacks. I Insisted that the iirst $60,-
000,000 of demand notes of greenbacks is
sued in 1861 and 1862 never fell below par
with gold, but that the greenbacks issued
later fell compared with gold on account
of the fatal exception clause inserted on
the backs of these.
Mr. Young insisted that they were all
alike in every respect, and that one fell as
much as the other.
Will you kindly refer me to some book or
other reference which must be regarded as
authentic on this matter, by which I can
prove my assertion? (If you have any such
book that you could dispose of I should
be pleased to receive it, and if you mark
price of it, I shall remit same to you on
receipt of book, provided its price does not
exceed 50c.) Also, does the United States
at present coin any standard silver dollars?
We should be pleased to hear from you
on this matter, either through The Repre
sentative or otherwise.
The Populists are increasing in numbers
every day in this section, and all indica
tions point to the fact that we will carry
Swift county with a great majority next
fall. Yours respectfully,
H. M. GILBERTSON.
COMMENTS.
In answer to the inquiries contained in the
foregoing letter, I would say that Mr. T. F.
Young Is greatly In error In the position
he has taken. In proof of this, I would re
fer him to the speech delivered in the
United States senate by John Sherman on
July 4, 1862, In which, speaking of the first
$60,000,000 of demand notes he said:
“The notes are now held and hoarded.
The first Issue of $60,000,000 of notes were
issued with their right of being converted
into 6 per cent 20-year bonds, and with the
prlvilegeof being paid for duties in customs.
THEY ARE NOW . FAR ABOVE PAR
AND HOARDED.
I would also refer him to Schueker’s “Life
of Salmon P. Chase,” page 225, where the
following appears:
“About the time of the suspension of cash
payments, a wealthy New Yorker came into
the possession of a large sum, approxi
mating to $1,000,000, in ‘demand notes.’ He
offered them for deposit in a leading bank
of New York, the officers of which refused
to receive them, however, In the ordinary
course of business, or in any other way
than as a special deposit. Having no al
ternative, the gentleman reluctantly con
sented. The demand notes being receivable
for customs the same as coin, kept pace
with the advance in the price of coin; and
when the depositor withdrew his deposit
demand notes were worth nearly or quite
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY PER CENT
PREMIUM, MEASURED IN LEGAL
TENDER.
If Mr. Gilbertson desirea to Investigate
this subject still further, we would refer
him to the excellent little book of Casca
St. John, entitled “Why Are We Poor?”
published by The Nation Library, Room 56,
323 Nicollet avenue, Minneapolis, Minn.
The price is 25 cents. He will find this a
very complete compendium of information
on all the points that are apt to arise In
discussion.
Mr. Young is also In error when he says
that there was no difference between the
first Issue of greenbacks and the subse
quent issues. The difference was this: The
first $60,000,000 were receivable for all debts,
public and private, of every kind. The
“SPEAK TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL THAT THEY GO FORWARD .”
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN., WjhjfcESDAY, MAY 2, 1894.
other issues were receivable for all debts,
publio and private, except duties on im
ports and Interest on the public debt. It
was these latter that were so discriminated
against that fell so tremendously in value,
compared with gold. The change was, made
at the demand of the bankers of New
York.
Thaddeus Stevens, the great leader of the
house during the war, and chairman of
the committee on finance, resisted the
change to the utmost. In a speech deliv
ered in the house Feb. 20, 1862, be said:
“I have a very few words to say. I ap
proach this subject with more depression
of spirit than I ever before approached any
question. No personal motive or feeling
influences me. 1 have a melancholy fore
boding that we are about to consummate
a cunningly devised scheme, which will
carry great injury and great loss to all
classes of people throughout this L'nion,
except one. With my colleague, I believe
that no act of legislatiQn of this govern
ment was ever hailed with so much delight
throughout the whole length and breadth
of this Union, by every class of people,
without any exception, as this bill which
we passed and sent to the senate.
Congratulations from all classes —mer-
chants, traders, manufacturers, mechanics
and laborers—poured upon us from all
quarters. The Boards of Trades from Bos
ton, New York. Cincinnati, Louisville, St.
Louis, Chicago and Milwaukee approved its
provisions and urged its passage as it was.
I have a dispatch from the Chamber of
Commerce of Cincinnati, sent to the secre
tary of the treasury, and by him to me,
urging the speedy passage of the bill as it
passed the house. It is true there was a
doleful sound came up from the caverns of
bullion brokers and from the salons of
associated banks. Their cashiers and agents
were sqpn on the ground and persuaded
the senate, with but little deliberation, to
mangle and destroy what It had cost the
house months to digest, consider and pass.
They fell upon the bill in hot haste, and so
disfigured and deformed it that its very
father would not know it. Instead of be
ing a beneficent and invigorating measure,
it is now positively mischievous. It has all
the bad qualities that its enemies charge
on the original bill and none of its benefits.
It now creates money and by its very
terms declares it a depreciated currency.
It makes two classes of money—one for
the banks and brokers and another for the
people. It discriminates between the rights
of different classes of creditors, allowing
the rich capitalist to demand gold and
compelling the ordinary lender of money
on individual security to receive notes
which the government had purposely dis
credited. But now comes the main clause.
All classes of people shall take these notes
at par for every article of trade or con
tract, unless they have money jnough to
buy United States bonds; and then they
shall be paid in gold. Who is that favored
class? The banks and brokers and nobody
else.”
Mr. Voung, like a good many other dis
tinguished Republicans and Democrats, is
undoubtedly very familiar with the tariff
on calico and shoe strings, but knows noth
ing of the financial history of his country.
The facts above given show that $60,000,000
of a full legal tender greenback went all
through the war at par with gold; and this
proves that similab greenbacks today
would, in time of peace, be worth as much;
and hence that there is no necessity for
gold or silver or national bank notes. The
country has the power, in its own hands,
to make its own money and give it to the
people in sufficient quantity to insure uni
versal prosperity. i. d #
A Dish of Pense-Sonp,
That bald-headed old sinner, and servile
tool of the rings and monopolies, G. S.
Pease, of Anoka, Minn.—a lick-spittle by
nature and a fraud by instinct—attacks us
with the feeble ferocity of a sick rat, and
without the slightest provocation on our
part. He says:
“As a demi-god of the Alliance he
wrapped that organization like a mantle
around himself, and while the Alliance
masses shivered in the cold, he warmed
himself at the Populist fire where the
Donnelly chestnuts were roasting.”
That beats Sir Boyle Roach's famous
metaphor: “Mr. Speaker, I smell a rat; I
see him floating in the air; but with the
blessing of God we will yet nip him in the
bud!” Here the demi-god of the Alliance—
that’s me—wraps the Alliance around him,
like a mantle, gets up close to the Populist
fire, and leaves the Alliance—which is
wrapped around him—out in the cold—close
up to the fire! Oh, Pease! Thine ears
disturb the equilibrium of the spheres, and
thy bray is a perpetual discord in the uni
versal harmony of nature. The microbes
have eaten away thy hair, and now they
have attacked the periphery of that which,
for courtesy, we call thy brain.
And Pease grieves over the the loss of
Doctor (?) Fish. Naturally enough. The
election is approaching; and this time there
is no hysterical, shirt-tearing, flamboyant,
hifalutin, paroxysmal, God-and-humanity
Populist leader to buy up—and Pease retires
into the seclusion of his back yard and
kicks himself, and curses the demoniac
Donnelly, who, with an infinite capacity
for raising the devil, refuses to make a
merchandise of his faculties and sell out to
the God-forsaken breed of Peases. Hence
these “weeps.” •«
Be quiet, oh Pease! He that approaches
so near to nothing as thou dost, should imi
tate the solemn speechlessness of unorgan
ized, dead matter. Be quiet, or we shall
wrap thee around us “like a mantle” and
stand close to the Populist fire, and burn
thy confounded, spindling, hind legs off.
We will. And then mankind will cry—
“Pease! Pease!”—but there shall be no
Pease —nay, not a microbe. I. D.
An Awful Showing.
“The census of 1890 states that the total
accumulated wealth of the nation is about
$60,000,000,000. One-half of this is held by
31,000 persons, or one-twentieth of one per
cent of our population averaging $1,000,000
each. The remainder possess an average
of SSOO each. Is it any wonder with this
wholesale congestion of wealth that the in
dustrial system is paralyzed, and that mil
lions of men are out of work. A contracted
market follows in the wake of concentrated
wealth, and a contracted currency.”
Wouldn’t it be a good Idea to “let the
molasses run for another 30 years, under
the management of the two-one old party?
The only difficulty is that sheol will break
loose long before that time. It Is the bal
lot box or bullets. If you don’t use your
brains you will hava to use your guns.
Which shall it be? I. D.
COXEYISH.
The Universal Discontent—The March
on Washington—A General Upris
ing.
We have been furnishing our readers with
some reports at the advance of Qoxey and
others upon the seat of government. It Is
assuming vast proportions. It Is something
heretofore unheard of in the history .of our
country, and a "local expression,” as the
doctors would say, "of a constitutional dis
ease.” It is the virus of monometallism and
monopoly working Itself out in a conti
nental eruption. It is terrible; itt is most
dangerous: and yet it has some good fea
tures.
It proves that a, people, trained under free
institutions, and vitalized by the public
schools, will not patiently submit to die of
starvation, like Russian peasants. It em
phasizes the evils under which the country
suffers, and enforces .he attention of even
the law-making power at Washington. The
individual citizen, taken separately, is now
adays, in these United States, absolutely
helpless. His enemies have control of
nearly all the a,venuei of .public opinion.
He is like a man dying with forty*doctors
around him, each one assuring him that he
is in magnificent health. He cannot con
tradict them; he does not know as much as
they do; and yet his instincts tell him he
must have a change of treatment or he will
perish. He gets up out of bed and goes
for the doctors with a club; he breaks the
spell, and the medicinal power of unassisted
nature may save hini
Think what an “object lesson” these
tramping thousands have been to the on
looking millions! Think of the vast, innu
merable public meetings, some of them 10,000
strong, that have gathered together to hear
the new r gospel, which had been, heretofore,
with great pains, excluded from the ears of
the people. The placid, torpid, rotten sur
face of society is being blown into breakers
a hundred feet high; and Plutocracy stands
on the shore, wringing its hands and cry
ing, “Where, oh where. Is this thing to
end?”
It is instructive to observe the efforts that
have been made to suppress this peaceful
insurrection of the people. First ridicule
was tried, but that fafled. Then, at Alle
gheny City, Coxey’s men were corralled in
a fenced enclosure, and if a man went out,
to go on an errand, he was instantly arrest
ed and condemned to the stone pile for 60
days. Thirty-eight were thus seized upon;
and when Coxey and the rest of his men
attempted to pass own gate to visit a
theater, to which they had been invited,
tr.ey w'ere driven back by armed men.
The result was the working classes rose up
in indignation, and they had to permit “the
commonweal” to proceed, in the midst of a
vast ovation, the whole populace turning
cut to cheer them, while provisions flowed
In in unlimited quantities. i
The same tactics r. ere employed with
Kelly’s army of Californians, 1,500 strong,
when they reached the lowa line at Council
Bluffs. A fool of a fellow named. Jackson,
the Republican governor of lowa, elected
by reason of the general disgust with Cleve
land, called out a large body of soldiers to
stop the unarmed men. There Is a huge
auditorium on the Chautauqua assembly
grounds, near Council Bluffs, that will hold
10,000 people; it is open at the sides—merejy
a roof. General Kelly desired to put his
weary men under it, as it was raining hard.
The power and dignity of the great state of
lowa, represented by the governor and the
troops he had called out, said “No!” The
soldiers got under the roof—they could not
fill one-tenth part of the covered space—but
with drawn bayonets they kept the poor
fellows out in the c-v.l and rain, standing
all night in the mud. drenched to the skin
and shivering. Fifteen of them were taken
down with pneumonia—thanks to Gov.
Jackson and the state of lowa, This was
a triumph of civilization. The purpose was
to drive the followers of Kelly to some des
perate act, and then call out all the militia
of the state to shoot them down. -But It
did not work. Tlie wanderers were pa
tience itself. But the people of Omaha took 1
it up. Vast indignation meetings were
held; immense contributions of food and
clothing flowed in; the workmen dropped
their work, and 39,000 stalwart men and
hundreds of wor en marched across the
river to Council Bluffs, ready to seize
trains, bum depo s or do any other work
of revenge. Motley was raised to pay the
fares of the men to Chicago, but the rail
road companies refused to carry them. A
crowd of women seized upon a trail*- of
cars and ran it out to where Kelly’s men
were encamped. A railroad attorney,
named Hubbard, swore that the company
would ditch the train if it killed every one
on board, or run a wild engine into it and
smash it Into kindling wood. Kelly wisely
declined the train, and is now marching
across lowa. Here is what the press re
port:
THE SHAM FIGHT.
The Great Humbag —Tariff and Pro
teetton.
For years past the Democrats and Re
publicans have filled the heavens with their
outcries over the tariff question—the clamor
of the contending hosts has been terrible;
the smoke of battle darkened the sun. The
Democrats assured us that they were for
free trade; and if they obtained power they
would wipe out all “protection,” and give
the West cheap goods; and the West be
lieved them. The Republicans played on
the other string, and told the (workmen of
the East that the death of “protection”
meant the end of emplbyment for them;
and the workmen believed them. Two years
ago the hard times gave the Democrats
complete and absolute possession of power
in all branches. What has been the result?
The whole pretense of free trade is blown
to the winds. It lo»ha as if both Republic
ans and Democrats would harmoniously sup
port the same bill! Ex-Senator Philetus
Sawyer (Republican) of Wisconsin was in
terviewed the other day in California. Saw
yer is a millionaire, as all Republicans
should be, and a “father in Israel;” and he
said:
“I don’t think the .pending Wilson bill
will be a measure
when it gets through the senate. By the
time It gets through there and the confer
ence committee I do not believe it will
produce enough radical changes to essen
tially disturb the present status of the man
ufacturers’ Interests.”
Ah! Indeed! There you are!
The people fight for 25 years, over the
tariff question; march and countermarch;
hurrah and shout; burn rockets and blow
trumpets; wrangle and fight; break each
others’ heads; shoot, kill and murder one
another. . And all for what-! For a bill
that is satisfactory to both sides!!!
Let the American people go out and kick
themselves all around their back yards; let
them cry out: “Humbugged! Swindled!
Duped! Played for suckers! Bamboozled!
Honey-f uggled! Done up by a continental
confidence game, played by thimble-riggers!
Where is fhe fool-killer? Bring him in.
The whole country needs him.”
The Populists told you in 1892 that the
tariff fight was “a sham battle” to keep
the people from thinking about the money
question. But you knew it all. Y'ou bel
lowed and roared, “Tariff! Tariff! Tariff!”
like an infernal pack of unreasonable idiots.
And now you have got what you deser ved
wheat 45 cents a bushel and the mortgages
sweeping the land out from under your
feet; and the two old parties frame a bill
satisfactory to both, and the tariff issue,
like Macbeth’s witches, “makes itself air,
thin air, in which it vanishes!”
Vanishes? Not a bit of it. The scamps
are getting ready to play the same old
gold-brick, little-joker game over again.
McKinley is to be nominated for president
in the name of "protection;” and the di
lapidated remnant of the Democrats—what
is left after Grover gets through with them
—will meet together somewhere and howl,
between drinks, “Free Trade!” “Free
Trade!” until their throats give out or the
heavens crack. And the trumpets will blow,
and the drums beat, and the orators speak,
and the rockets explode; and millions of
unfinished creatures, with the semblance of
men, legs and arms without brains, will
batter each other over the heads, shouting
“Protection!” and “Free Trade!” while the
sheriff seizes upon their last cow.
It is really one of the great unsolved
problems of this earth why the Lord should
have made so many fools and so few sensi
ble men; and then have established this
republic for the majority to govern!
more aggressions.
Imprisoning; an Editor for Criticising
a Judge—High-Handed Proceedings.
We have shown repeatedly that one of
the greatest dangers that threatens the life
of the republic Is the disposition of the
courts to assume absolute power In all pub
lic affairs. The congress of the United
States now has a committee at work In
Milwaukee, investigating the course of
Judge Jenkins, in trying to reduce railroad
employes to the condition of helpless serfs.
tV e saw in Kansas and Colorado the courts
riding rough-shod over governors, although
nothing can be plainer than that a court
has no power to reverse the action of the
executive department of a state, then the
governor has to hear an appeal from the
supreme court. In Minnesota this was set
tled 35 years ago, when the owners of the
old $5,000,000 swindling railroad bonds ap
plied to the supreme court for a mandamus
to compel Gov. Sibley to sign the bonds.
The court very properly held that it had no
power over the governor. But in Colorado
we saw not only the supreme court of the
state interfering to control the action of
the governor, in removing a couple of police
commissioners, appointed by him; but even
a district court issued its mandamus to pre
vent the governor from acting! It is true
tho latter court has since taken the back
track; but these arrogant assumptions of
power brought the state of Colorado to
the verge of a bloody civil war.
But now we have a still more glaring in
stance of judicial aggression. Book at this:
OMAHA, March Z6.—Cunningham R. Scott,
judge of the criminal branch of the dis
trict court, today ordered the prosecuting
attorney to tile an information and cause
the arrest of Edward Rosewater, editor of
the Bee, on the charge of contempt of court.
This action was the result of a editorial
appearing in the Sunday Bee criticising
Judge Scott’s course for refusing to hear
counsel in the case of W. D. Percivai, a re
porter who had been brought before Judge
Scott Saturday for contempt of court. As
an outgrowth of Scott’s action the Bee this
evening prints a double-leaded editorial call
ing on the bar of Douglas county to meet
and take decisive action. In a two-column !
card over his name Mr. Rosewater says:
“The autocratic and un-American attempt
of Judge Scott to muzzle and terrorize the
press and humiliate and degrade the bar
of this city under pretense of upholding the
dignity of his court compels me to enter an
earnest public remonstrance agaist a pro
ceeding which is without a parallel either
in this country or in Great Britain. I
question whether the czar of the Russias
would in this enlightened age undertake to
punish an editor or reporter for any viola
tion of the Russian press laws without giv
ing him a chance to defend himself through
attorneys and whether he would assume for
himself the roles of prosecutor, witness
and judge under the most provoking cir
cumstances.’’
The daily press are bad enough, God
knows. They are usually the upholders of
tyranny, the supressers of knowledge and
the blindfolders of the people, hue we can
not stand by and see the editors <■' even
these derelict sheets clapped into p at
the dictum of a criminal jud.-e, any
other judge. If such things are p ssible,
the liberty of the press is at an end. The
courts can ride over individual rights, de
prive men of life and liberty, give their
property to knaves and corporations, and
no newspaper editor can dare to question
the propriety of their proceedings. Cor
ruption has reduced the daily press to a
pitiable condition, and now it is proposed to
add the terrors of judicial persecution and
imprisonment.
Does not this country need a new birth
of freedom? Does it not need a new
political party, devoted to the protection
of human rights and nothing else? I. D.
LATER—Since writing the above, we see
thaj this court has actually sent Mr. Ed
ward Rosewater, the editor of the Omaha
Bee, the leading Republican paper of
Nebraska, to prison for 30 days, for criti
cising the action of the court Commenting
upon this outrage, the Chicago Herald
says: “The day has gone by for punishing
newspaper proprietors or anybody else for
contempt of court'’ in using language, ver
bally or in print, criticising, censuring, or
even libeling the judges. Contempt of
court nowadays consists only in disturb
ance of proceedings in court while in ses
sion, interfering with the court’s processes,
the juries or witnesses; conduct in the im
mediate presence of the court calculated to
bring it into disrepute, or In resistance of
its authority and disobedience to its lawful
rules and orders.
It is not contempt of court to publish a
vituperative newspaper article about the
judge, even criticising his judicial acts,
nor to steal the judge’s pocketbook, nor to
assault him on the street, unless the as
sault is an actual interference purposely
with his discharge of his official duties. A
Judge is not a consecrated person. If he is
the victim of a libel, or a larceny, or on
assault and battery, the offender must be
arrested on complaint, tried and punished
like any other criminal of the same de
gree committing a similar offense against
any other individual. The judge cannot
take the law into his own hands and pun
ish the libeler, thief or ruffian summarily
for contempt of court. The statutes in
many of the states accurately define “con
tempt,” and provide for - Its punishment
Judge Scott should oe prosecuted for
false imprisonment, and should be im
peached. So should all other judges who
wantonly exercise usurped power, or use
the powers of their office unlawfully, vin
dictively and oppressively against individ
uals. Dlvlnty does not hedge about a
judge. His powers and duties are pre
scribed by law, and he must keep within
the law while exercising and performing
them.”
One of the greatest dangers now threat
ening the liberties of the American people
is the usurpation of the courts. A few
examples are needed to let them know that
they are not the people nor the ultimate
power in this country. __ X. IX
L D.
'' c* * -V *■ ' -
WHOLE NO. 53.
SPM?ronTOM?!f?!nts
Za fl
CONVENTION a
OR THE GRAIN GROWERS
OF THE
NORTH-WEST
Will be held in Minneapolis, Minn., in the .... 33
Convention”’ C * ose the People's Party State
All the farmers of Minnesota, and the Northwest, 3
are cordially invited to meet together at that time, to !3>2
take council how they can, by co-operation, release 332
THEMSELVES FROM THE GRIP OF TnE GIANT COMHINA
•kz-vr- TI WHICH ARE NOW DESTROYING THEIR INDUSTRY _|S
and driving millions of them into bankruptcy. Members 332
Ofc’ss- of the National Alliance or of the F. A. and I. U., from
a P Parte of the Union, will be cordially welcomed.
two days, ahd the Grain Growers Convention v : ” then ~
- held in the same h all. It will have no co n s :tion 332
Wlth the People’s Party, but will be a purely no., oarti- 332
san meeting. *
As our enemies may try to pack the convention all 332
parties who propose to attend are requested to pro-
cure a written statement, from the President or Secre- T
tary of the local alliance, in their neighborhood, or from 332
other well known citizen, to the effect that they arc act- 33 2
Hal farmers and in sympathy with the purposes of the ~
convention. All those who believe that the farmers 332
should quietly submit to injustice, without making any 2
effort to defend themselves, are respectfully requested to
stay away.
. „ We do oof expect to put up the price of wheat to two 332
dollars a bushel, or even to one dollar a bushel, rut to '
•k/v. 6ET AS MUCH OUT OF IT AS TnE WORLD’S MARKET WILL 332
justify; and to get clear of as many middle-men as -
POSSIBLE.
would represent a saving of
TEN MILLION DOLLARS TO THE NORTHWEST:
while a rise of five cents a bushel would put half that 332
9^ — vast sum into the farmers pockets, of this section. 332
It will certainly do no harm for the grain-growers
to get together, for one day, to talk over the situation, 332
and see if they can improve their condition. -
We are told:
“ Who would be free themselves must strike the blow ” 332
And it will not do for American freemen, representing 2
9*~~ our country’s greatest and most honorable, though most ~
impoverished industry, to fold their hands and give up 332
the great battle of life without a struggle. Every other 2
interest is combined against the farmers. » Are the farmers
the only Americans who are incapable of organizing for self-de- 332
tense? Our enemies say so. Shall we undeceive them 5 332
9*~- _ Arrangements will be made, and announced in the
Representative, for cheap railroad fares and reduced 332
hotel charges. Let the farmers also imitate the example 332
set us by the brethren of Ohio, and come in by the wag-
on-load, from all directions, with their wives, and chil- 332
dren and neighbors. Cheap stabling will be arranged for. 332
9 Cease, for a day or two, raising crops for others
to steal; AND COME together and see if we can t 332
9* — DO something to st op the STEALING. 332
Ignatius Donnelly,
Pres’t State Farmers Alliance, Minn. ~^9
ORGANIZING.
The Grain Growers’ Convention—The
Farmers Will Defend Themselves
Against Their Oppressors.
In the foregoing will be found a
call for a Grain Growers' Convention,
to be held shortly in Minneapolis.
This is the most important move
ment for the farmers ever made in
the Northwest. It will, we hope,
constitute 'the beginning of a new
epoch. Heretofore the agricultural
class has been at the mercy of those
who prey upon it. The farmers were
scattered, isolated, divided; while
their enemies were united in a solid
phalanx. Let us get together and
see what can be done to put a stop to
this condition of things. It may be
we will be able to do nothing. But
at least the cause is worth an effort.
What can be done?
Many valuable suggestions have
been made by correspondents of the
Representative. Suppose some
thing like this ishould be attempted?
The Representative has an of
fice in the Boston Block, Minne
apolis. We could give desk room in
it, free of charge, until the ex
periment proved a success.
Then at our Convention let all who
attend chip in what they can afford,
from ten cents to five dollars:—that
money to be used to pay the expen
ses of an agent —a Secretary—who will
stay in Minneapolis; also to pay for
stationery, printing, and postage.
Let the Secretary agree to work for a
month or two without charge, save
his expenses, and after that to have
a reasonable salary. Then let the
convention elect a Board of Man
agers, under whose orders the Secre
tary should work.
Then let the Secretary send out
circulars to every local alliance, and
ask it to assemble and report:
1. Are its members willing to or
ganize for self-protection?
2. Will they agree to sell their
wheat through the Association, if
the price is satisfactory?
3. Give the names and postoffice
of members, and the amount of acres
each one will have in wheat; and the
dates at which they will probably de
sire to sell; and what proportion of
their crop they will want to sell at
those dates.
4. Are they willing to pay J cent
per bushel, on the amount sold
through the Association, if it is evi-
tifl
VOL. 11. NO. 1.
dent that tlie price lias been raised
at least that mucli, through the ef-'
forts of the Association; the money
to be expended in paying tlie expen
ses of the society; and, if any is left,
In renting or building an elevator or
warehouse at Duluth.
The parent association could es
tablish branches in other states,
where desired.
It could also designate, upon the
recommendation of county alliances,
an agent in each county, as suggest
ed by one of our correspondents, who
might sell the entire crop of that
county. Now the farmers rush their
wheat in and compete witli each oth
er to break down prices. Then all
such competition would cease, and
the buyers would have to compete
with each other to get the wheat or
go without. If tlie buyers >in any
county combined and refused to bid,
the central society at Minneapolis
would have been negotiating with
Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, Buf
falo, New York and Liverpool, to
find the highest prices obtainable;
and could ship accordingly, leaving
the local buyers in the lurch. If the
movement was made general we
could smash all the “bears” and “op
tion dealers” in the United States,
by flooding the market or starving
it, as might seem best.
Two things would be necessary.
1. Honesty in agents.
2. Common sense in the grain
growers. If we attempted to put
wheat too high wre would smash the
movement.
Get together, bretheren, in conven
tion and let us talk these things all
over. Come by trains, and teams
and on foot—but come.
Carlyle’s Prophecy.
More than fifty years ago Carlyle wrote:
—“The republic west of us will here its
trial period, its darkest of all hours. It Is
traveling the high road to that direful day.
And this scourge will not come amid
famine's horrid stride, nor will It come by,
ordinary punitive judgments. It will como
as a hiatus in statecraft, a murderous
bungle in policy. It will be when health is
Intact, crops abundant, and the munificent
hand open. Then so-called statesman will
cry ‘over-production,’ the people will go to
the ballot-box amid hunger and destitution
but surrounded by the glitter of self-rule,
and ratify by their ballots the monstrous
falsehood, over-production, uttered- by inls
statesmen, and vindicate by the sams ballot
the dgfamous lie, over-production, thrown
upon the breeze by servile editors through
a corrupt press. And this brings ruin upon
his country, serfdom upon himself, and op
pression upon his children.”
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