People's Pilot, Volume 5, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 February 1896 — WILL BE BETTER [ARTICLE]

WILL BE BETTER

THE PLATFORM OF THE PEOPLE’S PARTY. It Will Be Made In Jnljr Politician! War Predict Whit It Mar Be or Ought to Be, bat the People Will Say Whal It Shall Be. We have no disposition to dispute the fact that the people's party has arrived at a crisis in its history that requires careful leadership to guide it safely over the breakers. It the party were well established, well organized and disciplined, there would be but little danger. But it is yet in its formative period. This being the case, it is something more than a mere political party. It is a solemn, living protest against the two great political parties in this country and their corrupt methods.

At this moment it is asked to co-op-erate with a faction who do not see their way clear to indorse our platform, or even to cut entirely loose from their old parties. To what extent can thfe people’s party do this without a compromise of principle or lowering of its flag? That is the great question of the hour. The situation is about this: If the two old parties would accede to the demands of the silver men and open the mints to silver on equal terms with gold there would be no free silver party. The silver men would vote with the old parties. But if the old parties do not accede to their demands, then the silver men are willing to make the money question the issue.

Now cornea the question of platforms and candidates. Can the people’s party and the silver party unite? It is hardly worth while to discuss the possibility of emasculating, to any considerable extent, the Omaha platform, The consensus of opinion is that the three cardinal principles, finance, transportation and land, must remain. Whether the silver men could bring themselves t,o an acceptance of such a platform the future must determine.

There is a strong probability that if a union of forces is consummated it must be done on the man, each party retaining its distinctive platform. This would be a concession or compromise, without any sacrifice of principle. In the choice of a candidate it would be necessary to take one that had practically withdrawn from the old parties, at least to the extent of not partaking in their caucuses or indorsing their methods. , We do not think it would be possible to secure the vote of the populists for any man who still wears the old party harness. We do not mean by this that he would necessarily have to be a populist, but that he would have to be anti-monopoly to an extent that he would not work with either of the two old parties. And after the holding of the national conventions we predict that such a man will not be hard to find.

Those populists who style themselves leaders, and the silver men, who undertake to emasculate the Omaha platform, reducing it to the currency question alone, will -make a mistake. To those populists who have fears that such a thing will-be done, we have to say, there is no danger if you do your part. Go to work and organize our forces, and when you select your delegates to county and state conventions choose none but true men, and men with level heads. Avoid the hot heads, the ranters and trigger-mouth fellows. It is better to selecet a man with a level head, even if he had no tonque at all, than some shallow-brained, noisy talker who is all tongue. We take it for granted that every populist wants a union of reform forces, but that no true populist wants it at the sacrifice of principle. The silver men should not ask this, nor should we ask them to stand upon a platform which they-cannot indorse. But we can come to an agreement as to candidates, not only presidential candidates, but in every congressional district it should be seen to that where there is g gold-bug likely to be elected, all opposition should be combined against him. This can be done without an incongruous amalgamation of different political parties. Each party can respect the platforms and opinions of the other, whether it can indorse them or not. There will be no swallowing as announced by the plutocratic papers; bat there’ll be a general ground swell that will astonish somebody when the vote is counted, if we have respect for ourselves, and others who want to wrest this government from the hands of traitorous money-leeches. Agatn we say to the people, do your duty and all will come out right. Send good, true men to the convention and your interests will be guarded. There is a kind of victory that world be worse than defeat to us. It is not, with us, a fight for spoils, but for principle.

There is absolutely no hope for the man who shuts his eyes and says “I’m a Democrat because I am a Democrat,” or “I’m a Republican because I’m a Republican.” That kind of a man may have intelligence but he is soaked in prejudice like an old toper is in whiskey, and the only thing that can change him is spontaneous combustion.

The United States navy is not as large as that of Great Britain, but in case of war it would soon be made much larger by the Americans capturing British vessels. The bankers don’t like the People’s party and that Is one of thp best recommendations it has