THE POPULIST MOVEMENT 



By Frank L. McVey, Ph.D., Instructor in Economics in the 

 University of Minnesota 



(From Economic Studies, Vol. I, No. 3, August, 1896, "The Populist 

 Movement," p. 135) 



THE PLATFORM HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE'S PARTY 



THE last five years have been remarkable for the rapid rise 

 of the political party now known as the People's Party. It 

 has extended from one state into another until there is an organ- 

 ization in every state, not to mention the territories. Although 

 including a part of the discontented of the towns and cities, it 

 can best be defined as a class movement chiefly confined, so far 

 as membership is concerned, to men engaged in agriculture. The 

 complaint of the party has been that prices of farm products are 

 low, that the farmers' revenue is much less than formerly, and 

 that monopolies are crushing the small producer and taxing the 

 consumer. The first two are declared to be the result of financial, 

 the last of industrial, legislation. 



The object of the party is to secure relief for the farming and 

 laboring classes. The justification of this object is found in the 

 decline in prices and the heavy burden of debts, made doubly so 

 by the change in money standards. Legislation is looked upon 

 as the means to secure an improved condition ; hence the forma- 

 tion of a political party. The government is thus the all-powerful 

 lever by which better times are to be brought about. 



This third party, however, was not the growth of a day. Its 

 formation was due to changes in modes of agriculture and manu- 

 facturing introduced soon after the Civil War. Machinery had a 



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