144 THE AGRARIAN CRUSADE 



with labor's demands for shorter hours, condemned 

 the use of Pinkerton detectives in labor strife, and 

 favored greater restriction of immigration, the in- 

 itiative and referendum, direct election of United 

 States senators, and one term for the President and 

 Vice-President. 



The platform, according to a news dispatch of 

 the time, was "received with tremendous enthusi- 

 asm . . . and was read and adopted almost be- 

 fore the people knew it was read. Instantly there 

 was enacted the mightiest scene ever witnessed by 

 the human race. Fifteen thousand people yelled, 

 shrieked, threw papers, hats, fans, and parasols, 

 gathered up banners, mounted shoulders. Mrs. 

 Lease's little girl was mounted on Dr. Fish's 

 shoulders he on a table on the high platform. 

 The two bands were swamped with noise. . . . 

 Five minutes passed, ten minutes, twenty, still the 

 noise and hurrahs poured from hoarse throats." 

 After forty minutes the demonstration died out 

 and the convention was ready to proceed with the 

 nomination of a presidential candidate. 



No such unanimity marked this further proce- 

 dure, however. Just before the convention the 

 leaders of the People's Party had thrown the old 

 parties into consternation by announcing that 



