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by those who have do remedy to' propose for tlie
truatH, but oppose any remedy suggested.
But he gets even nearer to the republican lino,
if possible, when ho says, "The people want a
safo and conservative administration of public
affairs." That is just exactly what the republi
cans always promise. "Safo and conservative"
everybody wants a safe administration and con
servatism is an almost universal trait. But the
republicans prate so much about "safety" and
"conservatism" that a democrat- ought not to
use the terms without explaining what ho means
by them. An administration that would bo
"safe" for the monopolies would not bo satisfac
tory to those who are the victims of every private
monopoly, and an administration so conservative
that it would not undo anything that the repub
lican party has done would bo no better than a
republican administration.
Mr. Hill adds: "There must bo no question
of our intention to fearlessly maintain the na
tional credit under any and all circumstances."
As the domooratio party has never attacked the
iiational credit that advice is gratutious unless
Mr. Hill means to condemn the Chicago and
Kansas City platforms; and if such is his inten
tion, he ought to make the attack openly and
boldly.
In another part of the letter ho says, "-We
should conciliate rather than antagonize the
great business interests of the country." How is
this conciliation to bo accomplished? The pol
icies advocated by the democratic party are as
good for the ordinary business man as they aro
for tlio laboring man or the farmer, but the great
railroad interests aro opposed to the democratic
party because the party opposes extortionate
rates, rebates and discriminations; because it op
poses watered stock and fictitious capitalization,
ilt cannot conciliate those interests without aband
oning the people generally. The great banking
interests of the country arc against the democrat
ic party because the democrrtic party is not will
ing to turn seventy-five millions of people over to
the tender mercies of a few financiers. It cannot
conciliate these interests and at the same time
protect the rights of the wealth producer. The
great manufacuring interests want a protective
tariff and the great trust interests want to be let
alone. Mr. Hill says that the great business in
terests can easily bo conciliated "without the
surrender of a single essential party principle."
It is to bo hoped that ho will at an early day give
the party thobonefil of his definition of ' 'essential"
party principles.
Mr. AY ells of St. Louis was nominated for
mayor to please the "business interests" they
would not be satisfied with a candidate who
had voted the democratic ticket or who was
willing to admit that he believed in democratic
principles. Shall wo teach them democratic
principles or at their demand abandon democrat
ic principles?
Mr. Hill is so skillful in the use of words
that he should have no difficulty in making his
meaning plain. It is not necessary for him to
borrow republican phraseology. He owes it to
the party to give expression to his views in clear
and unambiguous language If ho joins with
Mr. Cleveland, Mr. "Whitney et al. in their ef
fort to republicanize the democratic party he
The Commoner
will be a tower of strength to their side. If
he intends to cast in his lot with the six mil
lions and more who kept the faith in 1B00 and
1900 he should avoid the verbiage that repu oil
cans and gold democrats have employed to con
ceal their sinister purposes.
W
The New Woman.
Rev. Thomas B. Gregory, writing in the? Chi
cago American, laments the "passing of woman."
lie seems greatly worried, and pours forth his re
grets as follows:
Mother, as well as the "pies that mother used to
make"; wife, with the unspeakable charm and beauty
that once went hand in hand with her; sister, with
the tender endearments that used to be associated
with her name, and home and its atmosphere of peace
and joy, are slipping- away from us.
Mr. Gregory thinks that the new woman is
" neither wife, mother nor sister," but, "as the
Frenchman would put it, simply a. female." He
does not state the case fairly. There has been
no change in woman, unless it be for the better.
It is true that today more women than formerly
are required to toil in order to earn their daily
bread. This fact indicates an unsatisfactory con
dition, but is Mr. Gregory devoting his energies
and his talents towards the remedying of this
evil?
It is true, also, that women are today taking
a more conspicuous part in the formation of pub
lic opinion. There are today hundreds of wom
en's clubs and similar societies where none existed
a few years ago, but these organizations do not
injure woman, either individually or in her re
lation to society. On the contrary, they aid and
improve her in both respects.
During our wars, and during every great
crisis in the world's history, it has not been
thought necessary to keep women in ignorance
of the events happening around them. Civiliza
tion has nothing to fear from the "new woman"
who aspires to an intimate acquaintance with the
tilings which deeply concern society; but it had
much to fear from the "old man" who elevates
his nose whenever he sees a woman brave enough
and energetic enough to earn her own living,
when circumstances makes this necessary, or am
bitious enough to keep in touch with the happen
ings of the world.
The husband, the brother, and the child aro
better off as well as happier when the wife, the
sister, and the mother have, in addition to affec
tion, education and business capacity. The
world needs the brain of woman as well as the
brain of man, and even more does it need the
conscience of woman.
The Rev. Mr. Gregory will learn, if he will
make an impartial investigation, that there has
been no such thing as "the passing of woman";
ho will learn that our social and political condi
tions would be more advanced than they are to
day if the men of America had made the same
relative progress during the last fifty years that
the women of America have made.
To say that the wife is a helpmeet is better
than to say that she has an "uuspeakable charm
and beauty", to say that a mother instructs, as
well as nourishes, her child, is better than to
praise the "pies that1 mother used to make."
Woman is the complement oi mail, and neither1
will suffer if she is his intellectual companion, as
well as his wife, his mother, and his sister.
Justice to the Populists.
The populist party, ridiculed by the republi
cans and denounced by the gold democrats, has
really been a great educator. It is an historical
fact that many political organizations have been
influential in moulding public opinion, even
though they have never secured control of the
federal government. The populists have never
had at any time more than a score of members of
Congress, and yet they have given an impetus to
several reforms which must ultimately be accom
plished. For years the democrats preached tariff
reform in states like Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado
and the Dakotas but they seemed to make liltle
progress because republican prejudice was a bar
rier to democratic doctrines. The populists did
not denounce a protective tariff in their platform,
but in attacking the republican party they weak
ened the protective sentiment among their mem
bers and today tariff reform is much stronger in
the west than it would have been without the
assistance of populism. The Wilson Bill, the
only tariff reform measure enacted since the war,
could not have passed without the aid of populist
votes in the senate.
The first national platform written by the
populists demanded the election of United States
senators by a direct vote of the people. That
was before the matter received serious attention in
Congress, but since then the House of Represent
atives has three times adopted a resolution pro
posing the necessary amendment. In 1900 the
democratic platform endorsed this reform and it
is now receiving the support of many prominent
papers which until recently have been silent upon
the subject or opposed to the change.
The populist party is an advocate of the sys
tem known as the initiative and referendum,
whereby the people can compel the submission
of important questions and pass upon the acts of
legislatures. This reform has been endorsed by
many democratic state conventions and was last
year approved by the national convention of the
party. South Dakota, at the 1898 election,
adopted an amendment providing for the initia
tive and referendum, in spite of the fact that the
republicans carried the state by a considerable
majority. Even more recently, a republican leg
islature in Oregon has given its endorsement to
direct legislation.
The republican governor of Wisconsin. is urg
ing the adoption of a system abolishing political
conventions and providing for party nominations
by a direct vote of the people a system entirely
in keeping with the contentions of the populist
party.
Prior to the organization of the populist
party, comparatively few men advocated the muni
cipal ownership of public utilities, and yet today
business men in every part of the United
States are openly defending this policy. When
ever the question has been submitted to the voters
a large majority has generally been polled in
favor of this reform, once denounced as populistio
but now regarded as prudent business policy for,
a community.
The populists favor a postal telegraph system,
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