THE PEOPLE'S PARTY LAUNCHED 127 



After the Greenback party lost the place it had 

 for a fleeting moment obtained, labor once more 

 essayed the role of a third party. In 1886, for in- 

 stance, the Knights of Labor and the trades unions, 

 for once cooperating harmoniously, joined forces 

 locally with the moribund Greenbackers and with 

 farmers' organizations and won notable successes 

 at the polls in various parts of the Union, particu- 

 larly in the Middle Atlantic and Western States. 

 Emboldened by such victories, the discontented 

 farmers were induced to cast in their lot with labor; 

 and for the next few years, the nation saw the man- 

 ifestoes of a party which combined the demands of 

 labor and agriculture in platforms constructed not 

 unlike a crazy-quilt, with Henry George, James 

 Buchanan, and Mson J. Streeter presiding at the 

 sewing-bee and attempting to fit into the patch- 

 work the diverse and frequently clashing shades of 

 opinion represented in the party. In 1888, Street- 

 er, ex-president of the Northwestern Alliance, was 

 nominated for President on the Union Labor ticket 

 and received 146,935 votes in 27 of the 38 States. 

 Despite its name and some support from the East- 

 ern workers, the new party was predominantly 

 Western : more than half of its total vote was polled 

 in Kansas, Texas, Missouri, and Arkansas. In the 



