THE SILVER ISSUE 165 



simply as a means to an end. I think a party 

 should be held no more sacred than a man's shoes 

 or garments, and that whenever it fails to subserve 

 the purposes of good government a man should 

 abandon it as cheerfully as he dispenses with his 

 wornout clothes." As Senator, Allen attracted 

 attention not only by his powers of physical en- 

 durance as attested by a fifteen-hour speech in op- 

 position to the bill for the repeal of the Silver Pur- 

 chase Act, but also by his integrity of character. 

 "If Populism can produce men of Senator Allen's 

 mold/' was the comment of one Eastern review, 

 "and then lift them into positions of the highest 

 responsibility, one might be tempted to suggest 

 that an epidemic of this Western malady would 

 prove beneficial to some Eastern communities and 

 have salutary results for the nation at large." 



In this same year (1893) Kansas became a storm- 

 center in national politics once more by reason of a 

 contest between parties for control of the lower 

 house of the legislature. The returns had given 

 the Republicans a majority in the assembly, but 

 several Republican seats had been contested on sus- 

 picion of fraud. If the holders of these seats were 

 debarred from voting, the Populists could outvote 

 the Republicans. The situation itself was fraught 



