4'
fit "
Vol. XV. .
LINCOLN NEB., APEIL 7, 1901.
No. 46.
SMITH COUNTY, KANSAS.
Rousing; Populist Convention
Straight Party Action
the Slogan.
WW
j8
& DELEGATIONS'.
' &
State Convention, Topeka, 8
- April 12. ' 1 &
'Jt E. T. Thompson. ' J
5 P. Myers. 0
8 John Mollison.
'VJl Henry Williams. J
" V G. Gibson. .
J. C. Bunker.
'jt M. E. Wells.
.38 D. M. Relihan.
Upon poll of delegation, 3
' ,j8 each delegate declared in open
convention for a straight pop-
8 ulist ticket, national, state, &
and county. J8
- ' Congressional Convention, s
Colby, May 25.
- J. B. Dykes. !
D. P. McLaren. J
V W. Anderson. ' .
8 W. H. Perry. &
Vje John ' Ward. . &
j Jacob Austler.
T. P. FarrelL
D. M. Relihan.
8 Delegation instructed for j8
8 John Mollison.
. State Senatorial, not yet called. 8
8 John Elwood.
J8 , J. A. Wright.
8 H. C. Smith. .
.98 J. E. George. 8
. v W. H. Lyon.
8 C. Post. 8
- 8 0. P. Gibson. J
. & Charles Townsend. J
,j8 . i
" 'Smith Center, Kas., April 2. (Edi
torial Correspondence.) If populism
were ever really dead out in this west
ern Kansas county, the Old Guard
was shrewd enough to select this
glorious day, on the eve of Easter, to
begin the resurrection. But when 1
looked in upon the county convention
this afternoon and saw in their seats
118 delegates out of a possible 11)0,
representing 20 townships out of 25
in the county, I was convinced that
populism had never died in Smith
county it had simply gone to sleep
for a brief period.
That the sleep was refreshing and
invigorating is evidenced by the keen
. interest manifested by the delegates
in attendance and their activity and
' ' determnation to pursue a straightfor
ward course. And that the republicans
are alarmed, is manifested by the at
titude of the republican organ here,
the Smith County Pioneer. A few
weeks ago Joe Wright, editor of The
Messenger, the new populist paper at
Smith Center, came down to Lincoln
to learn something more than he could
find in the papers about the outlook
for the coming national " convention
at Springfield. He spent the day with
The Independent, with ' good advant
age to both parties. He related the
facts about the meeting of the pop
ulist county central committee 1 In
Smith Center, where 23 out of 25
' townships were represented, and pre
dicted that the county convention,
: April 2, would be the biggest conven
tion to elect delegates ever held by
the populists of Smith county.
The prospect of seeing a Kansas con
vention, fired with the old-time en
thusiasm, resulted in The Independent
deciding to have a representative on
the ground. Upon Mr. Wright's re
turn home, he announced In The Mes
senger that one of the editors of The
Independent would be present at the
county convention and addresa it.
This announcement caused the Pio
neer to pour out its vails of wrath
upon the populists of Smith county
and to comment sarcastically upon
their Importation of a "big orator
from Nebraska." etc.. even going to
the extent of ruing about half a col
umn of what the "big orator" ould
probably say in bis "calamity howling
speech."
The populUU of Smith county, In
touuty matters, pursued an lnd-peti-dint
course for twelve years lU'W to
15o: and m completely dominated
political affairs that for time there
was scarcely a republican ollkcr,
township or otherwise, in the county.
Almost to a man, however, they are
ardent admirers of Mr. Bryan, and
gave loyal support to the fusion state
ticket. Among Kansas democrats
there are a good many of tho Cleve
land variety, or, perhaps, more prop
erly speaking, the "anything-to-win,
band-wagon brand; and these men
were always persistently pushing
themselves to the front in every fu
sion arrangement. This made It dif
ficult for Smith county populists to ac
cept co-operation; but they did it As
one of them expressed it to me, "We
fused with Bryan not with the dem
ocratic party." '
Finally, in 1902, the election law
had made co-operation impossible as
theretofore, and the attempt resulting
in a state ticket composed of demo
crats and populists and one republi
canWebb McNall which went on
the official ballot as-W "derrfocratic"
ticket, the, populists of Smith county
were induced to abandon their time-
honored custom of going it alone in
county matters. They fused with the
democrats on a, county ticket and
got "licked out of their boots."
Following the defeat of 1902 the
Smith County Journal, which there
tofore had been a staunch populist
paper, and had received thousands of
dollars In county printing at the
hands - of ! populist county officials,
flopped over to the democratic column
and left the populists without a pa
per. There was no election in 1903
and; hence, no county convention that
year. Accordingly, there was no way
of telling whether the people's party
of Smith county was dead and burled
or simply hibernating. .
Having no gatherings in the way
of contentions or committee meetings,
and no newspaper talking populism,
there was no way of knowing much
about the status of the people's party
in Smith county. One could guess
but it would be only a guess. The
convention today, with its big at
tendance and enthusiasm, . is in
marked contrast to the political con
ditions In Smith county less than six
months ago. A bit of history may
prove Interesting:
Last summer The Independent, tak
ing -as a starting point a directory of
populist papers published by The Non
conformist in 1891, published a few
articles regarding people's party pa
pers and sent marked copies to the old
addresses. ; One of these copies fell
into the hands of J. A. Wright, cf
Lebanon, Kas. He responded with an
interesting letter on the rise arid fall
of populism in Smith county, and this
led to further correspondence. When
the first 960 letters of invitation to
enroll In The Old Guaid of Populism
were sent out, Mr. Wright's name was
on the list The records show that
his enrollment was received Decem
ber 9, 1903 a prompt response, inas
much as the letters were mailed De
cember 5. , With his enrollment, he
sent a list of names of Smith county
populists, among which was the name
of E. T. Thompson, the present chair
man of the county central committee
Mr. Thompson was sent an invita
tion to enroll. Ills card bears date cf
December 25.
Mr. Thompson is a young man,
level-headed, cloar-slghted. He is pe
culiarly a man of action. Many men
know what bugtt to be done, but by
the time they have made up the'r
minds to do it, the opportunity has
passed. Mr. Thompson Is not of this
mould, lie is not raah, but he does
not procrastinate.
With his enrollment papers he sent
a dollar for the Old Guard expenses
and a list of 2'M) Smith county popul
ists, covering every township in the
county. Several issues of The Inde
pendent were at once sent to them and
later on they were Invited to curoll
In tho Old Guard of IVpultora.
Up to today the only enrolled mem
bers from Smith county are C. W. Ac
Urn, John II. Alhway, A. J, Hammond.
Ad Kennedy, li. T. Thompson, John
V, Ward. M. K. Wells. lUrvo U
Wright, and Joseph A. WrlgM nine
out of some 350 who. were Invited to
enroll. I have expended, nearly $:o
In postage and printing trying to ei
roll the Old Gyard of Smith county,
and have received all told $2.43 assist
ance from the nine who did enroll.
Looked at from this standpoint only,
my experience with Smith county
would bear out Gerry Brown's remark
at St Louis that "Bro. De France's
attempt to enroll the Old Guard has
proved to be a lamentable failure.'
But when I saw the rousing b g
convention here today, I felt that
"lamentable failures" are often pro
nounced succestes, if looked at from
the proper view-point. But for Chair
man Thompson s prompt action at the
right time, today's convention would
have been no bigger than the Smith
county democratic convention a few
weeks ago when thirteen men elected
a Hearst delegation to Wichita. It
was owing to his prompt action that
so many Old Guard letters and copies
of The Independent were sent into
Smith county. These gave encour
agement to the discouraged popunstJ.
It was owing to his prompt action that
Mr. Wright was enabled to buy out the
second democratic paper , at Smith
Center and convert it into a red-hot
populist organ. And this gave con
tinued Inspiration and encouragement
Ail of which culminated today in a
couvention nine-fold bigger than the
democratic county convention and
somewhat larger than the recent re
publican convention.
The convention organized this fore
noon with Old Guard M. E. Wells as
temporary chairman and Old Guard
S. 1. Thompson as temporary secre
tary. Committees were appointed on
credentials, rules and order of busi
ness, and resolutions. Adjournment
was then taken until 1:30 p. m.,;
The committee on rules and organi
zation reported the name of W. H.
Perry for chairman and Josias Lam
bert for secretary.
The committee on credentials , re
ported the following delegates present
and entitled to seats in the conven
tion: Center township : W. H. Lyons, D.
M. Relihan, H. C. Smith, W. H.
Thompson, M. C. Burr, Ed Chandler,
Martin: Wm. - Anderson; Henry
Plank, Geo. E. Smith. "
White Rock : Wm. Kelley, John 0.
Kelley, J. Wagoner, O. Isom, E. Hu
bel, W. L. Rogers.
Lincoln: Wm. Long, J. G.lGoheen,
R. Verhage, W. L. Peters, P.'Dunker,
A. H. Schoen, J. B. Saundis.
Lane: F. M. Myers, L. Michaels,
M. E. Wells, R. G. Badders, E. C.
Moore, J. G. Douglass. .
Cedar: C. IlcCarter, F. Grauer
holz, L. Grauerholz, W. Bierman, Gid
Dimond, C. Bown. : ' ;
Harvey: N. H. Withlagton, A.Nor
berg, W. II. Auker, A, Frutiger, G.
Gibson, J. Bergman. '
Banner: A. T. Weltmer.l ! W.v F.
Weltmer, T. F. Lanlgan, W. It. Perry,
L. B. Harper, J. J. M. Loofburrow.
Beaver: J. Lambert, John Craig,
John Skinner, J. Drew, W, H.' Bryan,
Jay Pounds. . 1
Swan: O. Paxton, O. Burger, W.
Dimond. J. C. Walters, W. H. Ingle,
C. Allen. ,
Pleasant: Wm. Zimmerman, C.
Post, O. A. Mollison, Aug. Austoff, Ike
Uust, John Mollison.
Washington: T. M. Hardacer, John
Mussor, F. A. Michaels, J. Hastier, V
J. Flint, E. F. Gardner.
Cora: John Elwood. Ike Rora
baugh, Forrest Maulsby, O. It. Hend
ricks. J. E. Deks. K C. Prownt.
Pawnee: F. Brown, W. R. WlUhms,
D. M. Landreth. G. Robert, J. l.
Brown. U Barnes.
Oak: H. A. Dykes J. M. Allen. D.
V, M;Laren, o. M. Gilbert, Henry Al
len. W. 11. Flos-her.
Dor: Wm. Vlnlon. O. A. Welch. C.
A. Stanhop. Sara Klnlon, R I. Sweet,
J. l. Lea.
Webster: S. L. Amis. II. Williams.
W. B. Amis. Hob Amis. U W. C.
Shield. C. W. Adon.
Crystal TUlns: John Gift. O, Cro
mer. C. If. TowtwDd. Kit Pyle. K.
llnrahauth, W. I. Jackson,
JJlalae: John Gorman, A.
Dickey, J. M. Isom, F. M. Tomlinson,
Jim Farrens, E. T. Thompson.
Houston: D. I. Fllnn, O. P. Gib
son, T. P. Farrell, H. Pitzer, G. Mitch
ell, H. L. Abercorabie.
The committee on resolutions-
Messrs. J. A. Wright, John Mollison,
and W. H. Lyon reported a platform
reaffirming the former state and na
tional platforms, declaring for the
referendum, initiative and imperative
mandate; for a scientific paper mon
ey, for public ownership of public
utilities; and, touching state matters,
some caustic references to State Treas
laei Kelly, Senator Burton and Candi
date Hoch. It wound up by declaring
that the chaotic condition of the old
parties renders independent action
imperative on the part of the people t
r:i: iy in nation, state - and couDty.
This plank was received with the
g. eatest applause.
Election of delegates was then taken
up, resulting in the delegations given
at the beginning of this correspon
dence. Every man nominated for
delegate was called upon to express
his position as to party policy. , Ev
ery one declared for straight party ac
tion and against any attempt at fu
sion. The congressional delegation was
instructed to use all honorable means
to secure the nomination of John Mol
lison for congress and well informed
men tell me hat his chances are
good for securing It Mr. Mollison Is
one of the Old Guard, having "come
all the way over the trail." He waa
one of the early greenbackers In II-
1 . A. 11. 1
iinois m me- seventies ana nas Deea
fighting for reform ever since. At one
time he lived in Cass county, Neb.,
near Weeping Water. He wears the
little bronze . button, of the" G. A. R,
. The only crime I could find charged
up against John Mollison Is that he
has too kind a heart. Back in the al
liance days out here John started a
store. . There was an agreement on his
part to be content with ten per cent
profit on his investment or, rather,
to sell his goods on a margin of ten
nsr nerit nrMrVi fa en ma what .Hffor-
ent. On the other hand there was an
agreement by the alliance people to
pay cash. Everything worked like a
charm for a time; but finally the blue
days of '93 and '94 came around. Cash
payments were impossible. People
must have the necessaries of life or
starve. Molllson's big heart could not
send away empty handed the teller of
a tale of hard times. The ten per cent
margin was retained but the cash
payments were abandoned.
For a time he was doing a fifty
thousand dollar business. He quit in
debt, with thousands of dollars owing
to him. "My debtors," he told me,
"are scattered over Oklahoma, Oregon,
Washington, Texas and elsewhere
some of them live here yet. After I
qnlt, I went into the bridge business
and made money enough to pay the
debts I owed but I can't get anything
thafs owing to me." . .
I am looking for the populists of
Smith county to clean the platter this
fall. They have the air of success
about them, and with such a man aa
Thompson at the head of the cam
paign, and Joe Wright making The
Messenger a stronger populist paper
every week, I don't see how they can
lose. The republicans are scared
that's evident; and there aren't verj
many democrats.
Socialism isn't making much head
way here, I find One of the leading
populists m mo time ago made up his
mind that the people's party waa sim
ply walking around to save an under
taker's bill, and accordingly sub
scribed for the Appeal to fieason with
the Intention of becomlns a soclali&t,
"I studied It faithfully," he said,
-but the more I read the farther away
I got from socialism. It may go all
rltht with factory hands, but thrrt'l
nothing In socialism for farmers.'
1 have enrolled the lis delegates to
the Kralth county convention as mem
bers cf The Vanguard of Populism.
Two of them have already enrolled in
the Old Guard, and 41 of them have
Old Guard Invitations which they
have nrtictl to answer, letters
will be sent to the remainder. We