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About The independent. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907 | View Entire Issue (March 10, 1904)
2 THF NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT MARCH 10. 1904. resenting the voters. Two years ago I assisted in having a plank in our state platform demanding a general primary elections law under which all parties could make their - nomina tions, as in the Minneapolis system in Minnesota, or the plan supported bv Governor La Follette of Wiscon sin." I am glad to see you test that Dlan. The admirable work you are doing in card-indexing the Old Guard de serves commendation, and reward. I enclose $1 bill to help pay expenses. The Old Guard will continue to be a power whether the people's party con- II ..mMl.aflttl M nnl TllfV II UurS all urgauuanuu v will be thoughtful radicals some where, in some party, and always -contributing to thoughtful solving of great questions. A call has been issued for people's state convention for April 12 in Kan sas, and they may nominate a ticket, ignoring the democrats entirely. The Independent has suggested that the laws governing presidential elec tors in each state be reported to the paper. The Kansas statute says little about such electors: "On the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November . ; , in ev- fry lourcn year aiier iooot i-utie shall be held a general election for the election . . of as many electors of president and vice piesiucnt of the United States as this state may be entitled to." (Sec. 2679 g. s. 1901.) - Under the Australian ballot system the presidential electors are recog nized and referred to in connection with certificates of nomination, and also with the arrangement of names on the ballots, thus: "All certificates of nomination shall be in writing, shall contain the name of each person nominated, his resi dence, his business, and the office for which he is nominated. , , When electors for president and vice presi dent of the United States are nomi nated, the names of the candidates for president and vice president inay also be shown on the certificates. .. . . (Sec. 2C99 gen. stat. 1901.)" . . . "All nominations made and certified in accordance with the provisions of this act and none other, shall be printed on the official ballot. . . . Bal lots shall contain no other names than those of nominees, except that the names of candidates for electors for resident and vice "resident of the United States may be preceded by the names of the candidates for pres ident and vice president." . . (Sec 2, ch. 228, laws 1903.) ... - "All nominations made by political parties shall be known and desig nated as 'party nominations,' and the certificates by which such nomina tions are certified shall te known and designated &s 'party certificates of nomination. party nominations or candidates for public office can be made only by a delegate or mass con vention, primary election or caucus of qualified voters belonging to one political party having a national or state organization." (Sec 2C96, gen. stat. 1901.) "Any political party having a state or national organisation, by means of a delegate or mass convention, pri mary election, or caucus of qualified, voters belonging to such parly, may, A At. . A .. . X J. - iui luo Biaie . . . uumiuaie one per son for each office that is to be filled . . . at the next ensuing election, and subject to the provisions of this act, file a certI3cate of such nominations so made." . . . (See. 2697, gen. stat. 1901.) "All nominatfons other than party nominations shall be known and designated as 'independent nomina tions,' and the nomination papers whereby such nominations are made shall be known and designated as 'In dependent certificates of nomination.' Independent nominations of candi dates for any office to be filled by the voters of the state at large may be made by nomination papers signed by not less thau 2,500 qualified voters of the state for each candidate.' , . . (Sec 2698, gen. stat 1901.) As the people's party has a na tional and state organization. It can nominate the ten presidential elec tors, I think, by a delegate or mass convention, or primary election, un let the republicans, in who, hands the state government Is, should de cide that the pirty has no national or state organisation. They mUht do this on the theory thtt we had no separate state ticket In 1902. though we nominated a full ticket. buid tlvVrt was nominated aUo by the democrats, and appeared on the bal lot vmlr that heading a the repub lican had pniss a l.'w yrtvtntlug two tf mure p.irtl from noralnaUnj; the Mn ctntll tat., or rather forbid dlojf the name to appmr mum than once un the oflUlal ballot. Hut surety ornanljatlon dot not dfpfri'l uion whether a ticket was printed on the ballet or not J. C. RUPFKNTHAK South Dakota Populists 6 Old Guard Waking Vp -Pleased With Action at St. Louis Of all the states where populism once had a strong foothold, none has, up to this time, shown eo much apathy as South Dakota. Up to the middle of February only four had enrolled in the Old Guard of Populism, and one of those is really a Nebraskan Sena tor Muffly. of Madison county, tem porarily at Hot Springs for his wife's health, and another was a prominent people's party worker in Iowa in 1901. But the action of the committees at St. Louis seems to have had a good effect The letter below tells its own story. It was written upon a letter head practically identical with the one I hive used in the Old Guard work, except that it carries the names of the state organization where mine has the Denver conference organiza tion. J. M. Pease the writer is chairman; E. J. Tracy, of Minnehaha county, is secretary; N. L. Crawley, of Hand county, treasurer; and T. J. Thompson, of Beadle county, or ganizer. Hurrah for the Old Guard of Pop ulism of South Dakota! "Have you heard from South Dakota," was the significant inquiry, of several gentle men at the St. Louis meeting, with many grimaces and shrugging of shoulders, as much aa to say, "Ah, gentlemen, Mr. Hearst has the ptipul ists of South Dakota in his vest pock etshave "you heard from South Da kota?" Now, The Independent is not the conscience-keeper for any populists, except those connected with the pa per, and it cheerfully acknowledges the undoubted right of every populist to be "for" Mr. Hearst or any other candidate he prefers. But it dislikes to see snap judgment taken, especial ly under the conditions which prevail In South Dakota. The suggestion of Mr. Pease is good. Some sort of working organi zation should be effected 'n each of the 53 counties. I should suggest that something after the plan outlined for the Vanguard of Populism would be about right. Make an enrollment of every voter who is Willing to stand up and be counted for the funda mental principles of populism as out lined in the Omaha platform and . in the St. Louis address, and who ap proves the action of the two commit tees at St. Louis in calling the Spring field convention. Advertise thor oughly the Springfield call. Call a state convention, say for about June 15, giving plenty of time to perfect the enrollment See that county con ventions are called in time to elect delegates to the state convention. And see to it that Vanguards are elected as delegates to all conven tions, county, state and national. Then no matter who Is the choice of South Dakota for president, there can be no charge of bad faith or snap judgment, and the populists of South Dakota can be depended upon to sup port the ticket nominated at Spring field. A record of this enrollment should be made by the. South Dakota organ ization; but for the benefit of the national committee, every enrolled member in the state should also be enrolled in the national Vanguard records, thus keeping In touch with the national organization Mr. Pease's letter follows. D. Editor Independent: A reference to your enrollment of the Old Guard of Populism will convince you that no state in' the Union, more than South Dakota, needed the reviving in fluences and inestimable benefits which are sure to result to our cause in this state from that gathering of reform patriots held In St. Louis cn Washington's birthday. The St Ioui8 meeting possessed, la the highest degree, the two essen tial elements for success which have charactcrlied every crisis in the lite of the republic and of every worthy reform movement in this couatry. First. Its lending spirits placed ev evcry vital interest of the cause abcte fit, and. iccoud. both taction vme portscd by a determination for ul tiCiivT and complete unUm that no personal differences, past or prMnt. could overcome. Ileuruon under such heroic conditions and dUpiMitimi wai Inevitable The future of the tame cf rtnnon.le reform U stvur In the hand of suh a rfiuiy wl at St. l-oula. This reunion of populUni win encourage and revhe our droning I'lrlti here In 5juth Dakota that we hop to be ut In the near future U ho thst It Just what a tired rd to rrklthl! our eampnreg and put new life and hup Into imr dmhtatt emd and JlacotiracM menibrrthln. If uh a ;xp'Ut revualUt a Col. J. S. Felterr of Springfield, I1L, could be sent to this state for a series of meetings, to be held at ten principal county seat towns, it would result in an awakening such as we have not seen since the days of the farmers al liance and the independent party. If we can perfect county organiza tions under whatever plan the na tional joint committee shall decide upon, between now and the date for holding our national convention, the people's party, in this state, would soon become so Ftrongly fortified and securely established 'that those pop ulists who are now looking,, for the Bryan-Hearst democrats to dominate the national democratic convention, may return and find a welcome and comfortable political home in the people s party of South Dakota There are no bounds Lo our en thus iasm or limits to our gratitude for the success of the recent f3k Louis conference. We will now get together and organize for the most important presidential campaign since that of Weaver and Field in 1832. JOHN M. PEASE. Davison County, S. D. Bryan a Populist? , Editor Independent: The reorgan izes bring against Mr. Bryan the chaige of populism, but they cannot establish their case. "With populists the paramount "is sues are money, land and transporta tion, and in none of theso does Mr. Bryan assent to our ideas. . We believe in the old Jeffersonian idea of "treasury notes bottomed on taxes," or "notes redeemable by taxa tion," as sotne consider more explicit; not in an Irredeemable currency as Mr. Bryan has charged. Did he ever advocate the right of the people to issue any money but coin,or notes redeemable In coin? He has much to say about the money changer's rule, but would he really support a meas ure to break their power? We have declared that "the land should not be monopolized for spec ulative traffic." The source of power of the coal trust, steel trust, and many others is the monopolization of the base of supplies, and so long as they control this base, any regula tions in regard to publicity, inter state commerce or the tariff will be of little, avail, for they will skin the producer, fleece the manufacturer and rob the consumer just the same. But perhaps there is no other ques tion of such vital importance to the people of the United States as that cf the railroads; certainly not to the farmers of the west. The railways rob us by day and by night; they catch us both coming and going; and the farmer pays the freight. The roads pay their chief officers royal salaries and get their attorneys elect ed governor and United States sena tor. They have inflated their capital beyond belief and yet make more money than any legitimate business, and "the people be damned." We populists had heard that in some other countries some of the railroads were owned by the govern ment, and the people got service much more reasouable than we, and yet the roads were a great source of revenue to the countries owning them. So we demanded that the government take possession ofMhese roaas, pay ing the owners the original cost or what it would ost to duplicate them, and operate them for the benefit of the people. Did Mr. Bryan ever in tentionally, by Inadvcrtance or by accident, say a word that could be construed to be In favor of such a plan? He has recently been In Europe and has written some very interesting letters about things, people and cus toms; and some of his admirers have been anxiously waiting to see what he would have to say about govern ment railways. They read, with in terest, hU lettef In regard tn munici pal ownership of r.treet fallwaya, wa ter and gas rronopolle, etc., but uere beslunlng to fear ho had misrd eon nettlon wltn th ute railways. it not tux He actually sav them! And he tells us all about them in The Commoner of February Ginger! Did yon ever see a man walk on rm and not rrarU a nhetl? He saw governmrnt railway In fUltirrland, Holland. fr-lKluni. iVn mark, and Kiwla; wa writing fayi Urruany. tut no word of Uvruun read. And befor he ha finbhed the filth line he aw'tchea off onto the tin portant subject of hU dlsiotrrjr, In KuttU, of a community thai employed a physician who treats the people without charge! We have politicians in this country; who do that in October. , There is no doubt he could have written five columns of very interest ing matter . instead of less than five, lines on that subject, without commit ting himself one way or the other. Against the base libel that he is a populist. Mr. Bryan has just cause of action and can produce volumes of 5 T M 3 . GEO. H.- STEELE. Itockhara, S. D. A Democratic Visw Editor Independent: Received your Old Guard circular letter, and as I am not a populist, I did not answer. Have always been a democrat and will remain one as long as W. J. Bry an controls the organization of that party. - The populists In this county, while they had an organization, were com posed of a few disgruntled republicans who always wanted office. By this I mean an honest populist could not do anything in their conventions; so nearly all are now with the old par ties. . I take. The Independent because I like to read all sides of the question, which I think every voter should do. In my opinion the populists will never become a party of national im portance 'unless the gold democrats get control of the democratic party. -If this happens, then the only course for Bryan's followers is to vote 'er straight for the populist nom inee. C. E. DOTY. Cass County, Neb. How This for'Democracy? Archie Roosevelt, if the storv told: , by some of his playmates is to be be lieved, is very much handicapped in the selection of his friends bv the fact that hi3 father is temporarily occupy ing the White house. He may only; play, so Archie has explained the sit uation, with the children of families in "ranking society." such as those of diplomatic senatorial, armv and naw circles. No others at least can be re ceived by Archie at the White house- and these must present their fathers' visiting cards as an evidence of . their privilege to call upon the president's sou. ArchI-3 goes to the Dublin" R.-iinrti and presents thereby a very edifying speciacie oi a democratic rnnciple In practice which has been . generously exploited at home and abroad. This exposure to the masses, however. somctiraes throws temptation In his way unier tfce guise of small boys who never beard ot such a thing as "ranking society." He had a little chum of this-kind at Christmas time when his mother was sending out invitations for a chil dren s party at the White house An chie was very anxious to have him in cluded among the guests, but he was somewhat perplexed to know how it could be managed. He explained th situation quite frankly to his little inena ana concluded with a promise to asK his mother if he couldn't be In vited anyway. The little friend also had a mnfhep at home, to whom he revealed hi3 hopes and expectations. But she, misguided woman, had crown un in the belief which Benjamin Franklin's aemocratic daughter essayed to es tablish when she insisted that there was "no rank in America but ran If mutton." And when Archie reported on the following day that he had asked his mother and that she had said the little boy could come, the lit tle boy responded reluctantly: "I've asked mine. too. and she rbvb l can't " New York World. Dr. Shoop's Rheumatic Cure Costs Nothing if H Fails Ab howrt pntm tn luffm from RknumatUm la rlcoifw lo thli itfer. or fr trrrbi rvry. hnw tu nn4 iportA fur fihcanttittm. r Nl ! to ui ts4. uu.U urrmuv. mi ware m rtrul. found r4ij c female! thM did aiatppnint m Hurr Kbovtnaiic r-r. crtliUoM tatfv4tMl tikwimnm, I do met a ihii lr Muuutii i ur - lur HU Into R.B (!( i hu U lmtnll !. tut It UI (int fn.fn th M Ut riw4 Mill nd illnf . 4 (bra IMI U tk rnl .f dkM. mllm. I lo..t thl writ thai I mil furaltk h lull Mtunlk Mf I kuHtiic( un urn trial. I raoiu trur all raara itfcta a m. nih. It would b uarvai t litihi fin inatraa will fild witkia I. 1 hi Ma! UrMiuotil win talr fv tkat It. kuftl I ktati t urn la a r a aiaat I ftvum. turn- ttiit tt.f f aikrt dUw ul I IrrMUttl t. M t!lf la mad I rta4 it tnt rank My faun la tut Ik Hiio.m f t wrt-iw- artual ikiMPb!. I a wkal It ran d kMI tav ikia M wall Ul I will fuiaik f roitiadii m trial, MnHr wrti mI lr t? W i kfitaiim, twin tKa artaat wim a rt t la tr trttt ikal y taa awr alt iym M it, I kuiutu iuiki in ft tk " I w mtf uto it a fmi MMit mi trial. II It awM-onla IMwi U ?w ia. a, if i Ian tk Ij ki miik aad hum ai. it wii lf uri t i uiraa Ibat ta-ti 1 4i.wi titrt a aar ifm WiiWHut a4 I will ar4 torn Ika Uk IriMf tfw)f l-r a wowik. II H una im ! i wiatk t'UrM It tfeatS lta llarlM, u. Mild tawaaoa kri ara wtww awrwd ki lwttt.. at alldluilUU.