I'NITKD STATKS OF .\ M Kl;l< 'A. 





principle of proportional representation to he intro- 

 duced. 



All public officers to be subject to recall by their 

 respect ivi- enlist ttuciieies. 



_'l. Uniform civil and criminal law throughout the 

 Unit- - Administration of jorti 



iition of capital punishment. 



Charles II. Matchett. of New York, was nomi- 

 nated for President, and Matthew Maguire, of New 

 Jersey, for Vice- ['resident. 



Populist Convention. The Populist Con vent ion 



was held at St. Louis. Mo., on July 22, 23, and 24. 



It was called to order by Mr. Taubeneck. 



Chairman of the Populist National Committee. 



ie, of Missouri, delivered an aii 

 of welcome. Senator Marion Butler, of North Car- 

 olina, was made temporary chairman. Senator Al- 

 len, of Nebraska, was chosen as permanent chairman, 

 after a vote had been taken on the adoption of a 

 minority report recommending James A. Campion, 

 of Maine. The vote yielded 758 for Allen and 564 

 for Campion. This was a victory for those who ap- 

 proved of \V. J. Bryan as head of the ticket. The 

 platform was as follows : 



The People's party, assembled in national convention, 

 reaffirms its allegiance to the principles declared by the 

 founders of the republic, and also to the fundamental 

 principles of just government as enunciated in the plat- 

 form of the party in 1 - 



\Ve recognize that through the connivance of the pres- 

 ent and preceding administrations the country has reached 

 a crisis in its national life, as predicted in our declara- 

 tion four y. , that prompt and patriotic action 

 is the supreme duty of the hour. 



\Ve realize that, while we have political independence, 

 our financial and industrial independence is yet t<> be at- 

 tained by restoring to our country the constitutional con- 

 trol and exercise of the functions necessary to a people's 

 government, which functions have been basely surren- 

 dered by our public servants to corporate monopolies. The 

 influence of European money-cha::. - - >.-n more po- 

 tent in shaping legislation than the voice of the American 

 people. Executive power and patronage have been used 

 to corrupt our legislatures and defeat the will of the peo- 

 ple, and plutocracy has thereby been enthroned upon the 

 ruins of democracy. To restore the government intended 

 by the fathers, anil for the welfare and prosperity of this 

 and future generations, we demand the establishment of 

 an economic and financial system which shall make us 

 masters of our own affairs and independent of European 

 control, by the adoption of the following declaration of 

 princi 



Finaticf. 1. We demand a national monev. safe and 

 sound, issued by the General Government only, without 

 the intervention of banks of issue, to be a full legal ten- 

 der for all debts, public and private : a just, equitable, and 

 efficient means ot distribution, direct to the people, and 

 through the lawful disbursements of the Government. 



2. We demand the free and unrestricted coinage of sil- 

 ver and gold at the present legal ratio of 10 to 1. without 

 waiting fort: _rn nations. 



3. We demand that the volume of circulating medium 

 be s]>eedily increased to an amount sufficient to meet the 

 demands of the business and population, and to r- 



the just level of prices of labor and pr<xluction. 



4. We denounce the sale of bonds and the increase of 

 the public interest- bearing debt made by the present 

 Administration as unnecessary and without authority ot 

 law. and demand that no more boi. . except by 

 specific act of Coi:_ 



5. We demand such legislation as will prevent tl. 

 monetization of the lawful money of the United - 

 by private conn 



0. We demand that the Government, in payment of its 

 obligations, shall use its option as to the kind of lawful 

 money in which they are to be paid, and we denounce 

 the present and preceding administrations for surrender- 

 ing this option to the holders of Government obligations. 



7. We demand a graduated income tax. to the end that 

 wealth shall bear its just ] Taxa- 



tion, and we regard the recent decision of the Supreme 

 Court relative to the income-tax law as a misinterpreta- 

 tion of the Constitution and an invasion of the rightful 

 pow. cr the subject of taxation. 



:,and that 

 by the Governim 

 the peopU- and t 



.),. 



1. Tl: 



lie n< 



railroads in the interest of the ; '.par- 



tisan basi>. to the end that all ma.- 



treatment in transportation, and" that the tyrannv and 

 political power now exercised bj .'in.;,.'] OOT- 



porations. which result in the impairment, if not tl.- 

 struction. of the t*>litical rights and personal liW-rtiesof 

 the citizen, may :. Su<-h ownership is to be 



.idually, in a manner with 



sound public poliey. 



: ne interest of the United States in the public high- 



- built with public monevs. and the ; 



of land to the Pacific railroads, should n' n ated, 



.aged, or sold, but guarded and protected for the 



general wi . ided by the law- _- <uch 



railroads. The foreclosure ot existing liens of the United 



:;ould at once follow default in the 



payment thereof by the debtor companies; and at the 

 foreclosure - i roads the Government shall pur- 



chase the same, if it becom to protect its in- 



terests therein, or if they can be purchased at a re: - 

 ble price : and the Government shall operate said railroads, 

 as public highways for the benefit of the whole people, 

 and not in the interest of the few. under suitable pro- 

 visions for protection of life and property, giving to all 

 transportation interests equal privileges and equal rates 

 for fares and freights. 



3. We denounce the present infamous schemes for re- 

 funding tl. :id demand that the laws now ap- 

 plicable thereto be executed and administered according 

 to their intent and spirit. 



4. The telegraph, like the post-office system, being a 

 necessity for the transmission of news, should be owned 

 and operated by the Government in the interest of the 

 people. 



Public Land*. 1. True policy demands that the na- 

 tional and 8 -'.ation shall be such as will ulti- 

 mately enable every prudent and industrious citizen to 

 secure a home, and therefore the land should not be 

 monopolized for speculative purposes. All lands now 

 held by railroads and other corporations in excess of their 

 actual needs should bv lawful means be reclaimed by 

 the Government and held for actual settlers only, and 

 private land monopoly, as well as alien ownership, should 

 be prohibited. 



i. We condemn the land-grant frauds by which the 

 Pacific railroad companies have, through the connivance 

 of the Interior Department, robbed inultitu-i 



- rtk-rs of their homes and miners of their claims, 

 and we demand legislation by Congress which will en- 



the exception of mineral land from such grants 

 after as well as before the patent. 



3. We demand that b-ma li h settlers on all public 

 lands be granted free homes, as provided in the National 

 Homestead Law, and that no exception be made in 

 tlie case of Indian reservations when opened for settle- 

 ment, and that all lands not now patented come under 

 this demand. 



I!-/, r. i,,l 'tin. We favor a system of direct legislation 

 through the initiative and referendum, under proper con- 

 stitut: :rds. 



Ei- - We demand the 



election of President, Vice-President, and United > 

 Senators by n direct vote of the people. 



ler to the patriotic people of Cuba our 

 deepest sympathy in their heroic stn.__ .itieal 



freedom and independence, and we believe the time has 

 come when the United M;r it republic of the 



world, should recognize tlur 1 of right ought 



; free and independent state. 



' "e favor home rule in the Territories and 

 the District of Columbia, and the early admission of the 

 Terr:' 



i >w - .. All public salaries should be made 



to correspond to the price of labor and its product.*. 



P-itirH-il'ixifi. In t: ' industrial depr - 



idle labor should be employed on public works as far as 

 practicable. 



A. -. The arbitrary course of the courts in 



assuming to imprison citizens for indirect contempt and 

 ruling by injunction should be prevented by proper 

 1 at ion. 



