34 THE AGRARIAN CRUSADE 



that we will use all lawful and peaceable means to free 

 ourselves from the tyranny of monopoly, and that we 

 will never cease our efforts for reform until every de- 

 partment of our Government gives token that the 

 reign of licentious extravagance is over, and something 

 of the purity, honesty, and frugality with which our 

 fathers inaugurated it, has taken its place. 



That to this end we hereby declare ourselves abso- 

 lutely free and independent of all past political connec- 

 tions, and that we will give our suffrage only to such 

 men for office, as we have good reason to believe will 

 use their best endeavors to the promotion of these ends; 

 and for the support of this declaration, with a firm reli- 

 ance on divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each 

 other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 



This fall campaign of 1873 in Illinois broke up 

 old party lines in remarkable fashion. In some 

 counties the Republicans and in other counties the 

 Democrats either openly joined the "Reformers" 

 or refrained from making separate nominations. 

 Of the sixty-six counties which the new party con- 

 tested, it was victorious in fifty-three. This first 

 election resulted in the best showing which the Re- 

 formers made in Illinois. In state elections, the 

 new party was less successful; the farmers who 

 voted for their neighbors running on an Anti- 

 Monopoly ticket for lesser offices hesitated to vote 

 for strangers for state office. 



