People's Pilot, Volume 4, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 January 1895 — People’s Party Platform. [ARTICLE]

People’s Party Platform.

FOUNDATION PRINCIPLES. Flli st. —That the union of the lsibor forces <• iue United Stsites tins day consumiiistted shall lie permanent and pci pvt mil; may its spirit enter into all hearts for the ssilvsition of the republic stud the uplifting of man-. kind. sjEOD.Ni>.— Wealth belongs to himwhocreates it. and every dollar tsiken from industry without sill equivalent is robbery. "If any will not work, neither shall lie eat.” The interests of civic and i ural labor are the same; their interests are identical. Third —We believe tlisit the time lists come when tlie railroad corporations will either own the people or the people must own tlie railroads, and should the government enter upon ttie work of owning and managing any or ail railroads, we should favor sm amendment to the eoiistitusion by which all persons engaged in the government service shall be placed under a civil service regulation ot tin* most rigid character, so as to proven i an increase of the power of the nsitimal administration by the use of such additional govern :uen' employes. FINANCE. F hist— We demand a national currency. s«fe. sound and tiexihle, issued by the general government only, si lull lega 1 tender for all debts public and private, smll that without ilies u- ■of hanking corporations, a just, equitable and efficient means of distribution direct to the people at a tax not to exceed ‘J percent, per annum to lie provided ns set forth in t lie sub-1 resisury plan of the Farmers’ Alliance or a better system; also by payments in discharge of its obligations for public improvements. We demand free and unlimited coinage of silver at the present legal ratio of It; to I. We demaiul that 1 lie ami unit of circulating medium lie speedily increased to not less man J6O per capita. We demand a graduated income tax. We believe t hat the money of the country should lie kept sis much ns possible In the hands of the people, and lienee we d-nnand that all state and national revenues shall be limited to the necessary expenses of the government, economically and honestly administered. We demand that postal ssivings bunk be established by the government for the safe deposit of the earnings of tlie people and to facilitate exchange. TRANSPORTATION. Second—Transportation being si means of exchange and a public necessity, the government should own and operate the raiirosids in the interests of the people. The telegraph and telephone, like the postoffice system, lining si necessity for the transmission of news, should In' owned and operated by Hie Government in the interest of the pcop.e. LANDS Third—The land, including sill the natural sources of wealth, is the heritage of the people. smd should not lie monopolized for speculative purposes, mid alien ownership of land should he prohibited. All lands now held by railroads and oilier corporations in excess of tbeir aitual n m Is Hud all lauds now owned by aliens should he reclaimed by the government and held for actual settlers only. SUPPLEMENTARY RESOLUTIONS. WHF.rsEAS. Other questions have been presented for our consideration, we hereby submit the following. not as a part of the platform of the People's Party, but as resolutions expressive of t lie convent ion. Resolved. That we demand a free hallo stud si fair count in sill elect ions and pledge ourselves to secure it to every legal voter without federal intervention through the adoption by the States of tlie unperverted Australian or secret ballot system. Resolved. That the revenue derived from si graduated income tax should be applied to the reduction of thy burden of taxation, now levied upon the domestic industries of this count ry. Resolved. That we pledge our support to fair and liberal pensions to ex- Union soldiers and ssiilors. Resolved. That we condemn the fallacy of protecting A niericiin lsibor under 1 he present system. which opens our ports to the pauper and criminal classes of the world and crowds out our wage earners; and we denounce the present incit ed ive laws against contract Isilior and-demand tlie further restriction of undesirsilile immigration. Resolved. That we cordially sympathize with the efforts of organized workmen to short! n the hours.of labor and demand a rigid enforcement of t lie existing eight hour law on government work smd ask that'll penalty clause be added to the said law. Resolved. Tle.it we regard the maintenance of a luge s anding army of mercenaries, known sis the Pinkerton system, as a menmvi to our liberties, and we demand its abolition and wo condemn the recent invasion of tlie Territory of Wyoming by the hired assassins of plutocracy, assisted by federal officers. Resolved, flint wo commend to the thoughtful consideration of the people andthe reform press the legislative system known as the initiative and referendum. Resolved. That we favor si Constitutional provision limiting the office of President and Vice President to one term and providing for the election of senators of the United States by a direct vote of the people. Resolved. That we oppose any subsidy or national slid to any private corporation for any puroose.

Charity only for the starving, and not then until hunger and cold threaten to demolish the cob house of tyraht King Favoritism. By the adoption of the Initiative and Referendum every great public question would be submitted direct to the people for their verdict. lowa’s 35,000 populist voters are to raise a fund of #IO,OOO for education and organization. Reform literature is to be the basis of campaign. At last the magazines have recognized the money question as the living issue with the people and are presenting papers by eminent authorities galore. The year 1806 will find every state west of the Mississppi and every southern state a solid column for the free coinage of silver under the Poumlist banner. 8500,000,000of3percent, bonds as an interest bearing basis for national bank notes, greenbacks retired, silver destroyed, a gold basis with the gold in Europe,— that is the fusion reform plan of republican and democratic parties. Thousands upon tens of thousands of democrats and republicans are but waiting the inevitable action of this congress upon the silver question to pay their last party dues and join the Populists. There could be no poverty and consequent suffering if a few favorites of society were not given special privilege to levy tolls upon the natural resources of the earth, which are God’s gift and dowery to all mankind. John M. Thurston, the Union Pacific attorney-in-chief was given the senatorial plumb by the Nebraska republicans Wednesday. This election makes the Chicago TimesTemark thoroughly applicable, that “the roll of trust attorneys could be called in the United States senate without discovering any absentees.”

If the United States builds the Nicaragua canal it is liable to be accused of paternalism and socialism, at least that is the ar gument used against the oft repeated request to build irrigation ditches that would reclaim the arid west and prevent the need of benevolent people in Jasper county sending relief to starving Nebraska. If any amendment be made to the Indiana ballot law it should be relieved of the possibility of confusion by making it obligatory on the voter to stamp a cross for each candidate voted for. it might also stimulate “party voters” to discover the names of their nominees if all names of candidates were printed in a single column without party designation.

Where and what is the power that wields such a mighty influence for evil; that induces the great press of the country to support and defend a monetary system that has had a trial of centuries in every civilized (God save the mark!) nation of the globe and has failed in every instance; that in every case where great danger menaced a people, as domestic turmoil or foreign war, has had to be abandoned, while recourse to its opposite has been had as the only means of salvation for the national life, and a return to which has in every case resulted in untold suffering to all classes except the very rich. The Denver Republican which used its editorial columns with the utmost brutality and malignity in its opposition to the candiacy of Gov. Waite, now repudiates its own utterances in giving the following tardy acknowledgement of his sterling character in its issue of Jan. 9th: “No taint of dishonesty or corruption ever attached itself to his (Waite’s) record as governor,”he“could neither be bought nor bullozed, and we have no doubt that he always endeavored to do what he believed was best for the people of Colorado.” The Republican asks that justice be accorded his good qualities, though it was only by misrepresentation and venal newspaper abuse that he was defeated. The editor of the Pilot is proud of the fact that he assisted in the nomination of Waite for governor in 1892 and cast one of the votes that gave him 17,000 majority. Colorado is the loser by his defeat not Gov, Waite.