Southern Mercury. (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 22, No. 4, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 23, 1902 Page: 2 of 16
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SOUTHERN MERCURY
Thursday, January 23,1902.
UK
THAT GRAND OLD DOCUMENT, to fatten usurers, bankrupt enterprise
THE OMAHA PLATFORM. and enslave industry. A vast conspir-
In the book of Holy Writ there isTn acy against mankind has been organ-
injunction something like this: "Seek *ze<^ on two continents, and it is rap-
yet the old paths and walk therein and Idly taking possession of the world. If
ye shall find rest." not met and overthrown at once it
Just now when political doctrines of forebodes terrible social convulsions,
every shade and complexion are being the destruction of civilization, or the
advanced' and discussed on the forum establishment of an absolute despot-
and in the press it may not be amiss lsm- We have witnessed for more than
to present to the people a copy of thai; a Quarter of a century the struggle be-
widely known declaration put forth at tween the two great political parties
Omaha on July 4, 1892. Though near- for P°wer and Pander, while grievous
ly a decade ha* passed since it was wronS8 have been inflicted upon the
read and adopted with tumultuous ap- sufferinS people. We charge that the
plause by the thousands of honest and controlling influences dominating both
oppressed wealth producers, represent- these Parties have permitted the exist-
ing every section of our great country, ing dreadlul conditions to develop
the declarations they made are as true without serious effort to Prevent t)r re"
today as when they were made.
The principles upon which the Oma-
strain them.
Neither do they now promise us any
ha platform was founded will ever re- substantial reform. They have agreed
main the bed rock of our civilization, together to ignore in the coming cam-
Here is an exact copy of the docu-
ment as originally adopted:
THE OMAHA PLATFORM.
paign every issue but one. They pro-
pose to drown the outcries of a plun-
dered people with the uproar of a
(Adopted at Omaha, Neb., July 4.1892.) sham battle over tariff, so that capital-
Assembled upon the one hundred *sts .corporations, national banks,
and sixteenth anniversary of the De- trusts, watered stock, the demonetiza-
claration of Independence, the Peo- tion of silver and the oppressions of
pie's party of America in their first na- the usurers may all be lost sight of.
tional convention, invoking the bless- They propose to sacrifice our homes,
ings of Almighty God, put forth in the lives and children on the altar of
name of the country the following pre- Mammon, to destroy the multitude in
amble and declaration of principles: order to secure corruption funds from
The conditions which surround us the millionaires. Assembled on the an-
best justify our co-operation; we meet niversary of the birthday of the nation
in the midst of a nation brought to the and filled with the spirit of the grand
verge of moral, political and material general chief who established our in-
ruin. Corruption dominates the bal- dependence, we seek to restore the
lot box, the legislatures, the congress government
and touches even the ermine on the the hands
bench. The people are demoralized;
most of the States have been com-
pelled to isolate the voters at the poll-
of the republic to
of "the plain peo-
ple" with whose class it orig
inated. We assert our purposes
to be identical with the purposes of the
ing places to prevent universal intimi- national constitution, "to form a per-
flation or bribery. The newspapers feet union and establish justice, in-
are largely subsidized or muzzled, pub- sure domestic tranquility, provide for
lie opinion silenced, business pros- the common defense, promote the gen-
trated, our homes covered with mort- eral welfare and secure the blessings
gages, labor impoverished and the of liberty for ourselves and our pos-
land concentrating in the hands of the terity."
capitalists. The urban workmen are We declare that this republic can
denied the right of organization for only endure as a free government
self-protection; imported pauperized while built upon the love of the whole
labor beats down their wages; a hire- people for each other and for the na-
ling army, unrecognized by our laws, tlon; that it cannot be pinned togeth-
ls established to shoot them down, and er by bayonets, that the civil war is
they are rapidly degenerating into Eu- over and that every passion and re-
ropean conditions. The fruits of the sentment which grew out of it must
toil of millions are boldly stolen to die with it, and that we must be in
build up colossal fortunes for a few, fact, as we are in name, one united
unprecedented in the history of man- brotherhood. Our country finds itself
kind, and the possessors of these in confronted by conditions for which
turn despise the republic and endanger there is no precedent in the history of
liberty. From the same prolific womb the world. Our annual agricultural
of government injustice we breed the productions amount to billions of dol-
two great classes—tramps and million- lars in value which must in a few
aires. weeks or months be exchanged for bil-
The national power to create money lions of dollars of commodities con-
is appropriated to enrich bondholders; sumed in their production; the exist-
a vast public debt, payable in legal ing currency supply is wholly inade-
tender currency, has been funded into quate to make this exchange. The re-
gold-bearing bonds, thereby adding suits are falling prices, the formation
millions to the burden of the people. of combines and rings, the impoverish-
Silver, which has been accepted as ment of the producing class. We
coin ever since the dawn of history, pledge ourselves that if given power
has been demonetized to add to the we will labor to correct these evils by
purchasing power of gold, by decreas- wise and reasonable legislation in ac-
ing the value of all forms of property cordance with the terms of our plat-
as well as human labor, and the sup- form.
ply of currency is purposely abridged We believe that the powers of gov-
ernment—in other words, the people—
should be expanded (as in the case of
postal service) as rapidly and as far
as good sense and intelligent people
and the teachings of experience shall
justify, to the end that oppression, in-
justice and poverty shall eventually
cease In the land.
While our sympathies as a party of
reform are naturally upon the side of
every proposition which will tend to
make man intelligent, virtuous and
temperate, we nevertheless regard
these questions—important as they are
—as secondary to the great issues now
pressing for solution, and upon which
not only our individual prosperity,
but the very existence of free institu-
tions depend, and we ask all men to
first help us to determine whether we
are to have a republic to administer,
believing that the forces of reform this
day organized will never cease to move
forward until every wrong is righted
and equal rights and privileges estab-
lished for all the men and women of
this country; we declare, therefore:
Union of the People.
First. That the union of the labor
forces of the United States this day
consummated shall be permanent and
perpetual; may its spirit enter into all
hearts for the salvation of the republic
and the uplifting of mankind.
Second. Wealth belongs to the man
who creates it, and every dollar taken
from industry without an equivalent is
robbery. "If a man will not work
neither shall he eat." The interests
of rural and civic labor are the same;
their enemies are identical.
Third. We believe that the time has
come when the railroad corporations
will either own the people or the peo-
ple must own the railroads, and should
the government enter upon the work
of owning and managing all railroads,
we should favor an amendment to the
constitution by which all persons en-
gaged in the government shall be
placed under a civil service regulation
of the most rigid character, so as to
prevent the increase of the power of
the national administration by the use
of such government employes.
Platform.
We demand a national currency,
safe, sound and flexible, issued by the
general government only, a full legal
tender for all debts, public and private,
and that without the use of banking
corporations, a just, equitable and effi-
cient means of distribution direct to
the people at a tax not to exceed 2
Per cent per annum, to be provided as
set forth in the sub-treasury plan of
the Farmers' Alliance, or a better sys-
tem; also by payments in discharge of
its obligations for public improve-
ments.
We demand free and unlimited coin-
age of silver and gold at the present
legal ratio of 16 to 1.
We demand that the amount of cir-
culating medium be speedily increased
to not less than $50 per capita.
We demand a graduated income tax.
We demand that the money of the
country should be kept as much as
possible In the hands of the people,
and hence We demand that all state
and national revenues shall be limited
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Park, Milton. Southern Mercury. (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 22, No. 4, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 23, 1902, newspaper, January 23, 1902; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth185934/m1/2/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .