324 HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL. 



medium, and insist, in the language of Thomas Jefferson, that ' bank paper must be 

 suppressed and the circulation restored to the* nation, to whom it belongs.' 



" Third. It is the paramount duty of the government, in all its legislation, to 

 keep in view the full development of all legitimate business, agricultural, mining, 

 manufacturing, and commercial. 



" Fourth. We most earnestly protest against any further issue of gold bonds for 

 sale in foreign markets, by which we would be made, for a long period, ' hewers 

 of wood and drawers of water' to foreigners, especially as the American people 

 would gladly and promptly take at par all bonds the government may need to sell, 

 provided that they are made payable at the option of the holder, and bearing interest 

 at three and sixty-five per cent per annum, or even a lower rate. 



" Fifth. We further protest against the sale of government bonds for the purpose 

 of purchasing silver to be used as a substitute for our more convenient and less fluc- 

 tuating fractional currency, which, although well calculated to enrich owners of silver 

 mines, yet in operation it will still further oppress, in taxation, an already overbur- 

 dened people." 



In 1877 there was another movement that took root here in the 

 United States. It was termed the " Socialistic Labor Party." It went 

 further than any other labor movement that had ever come to the front 

 in this country. It aimed to do away with competitions as means of 

 advancing civilization. It believes that the next step in evolution is in 

 the line of paternalism. The first national convention that was ever held 

 in this country was in Pittsburgh, in 1877. One of the leading spirits of 

 that body was Albert R. Parsons, who suffered death for his opinions 

 upon this question. A great many persons have been led to believe 

 that Parsons was of a bloodthirsty disposition, while the contrary was 

 the case. He was of the kindest of dispositions, but he had studied the 

 present unjust system until he had become a fanatic against it ; and 

 whenever he read of an injustice under it, he could not resist the temp- 

 tation to condemn it in the most severe terms. This party has con- 

 stantly placed tickets in the field at local and State elections. They 

 have been the strongest in Chicago and New York. John Swinton of 

 New York is one of the strongest advocates of this idea in the country, 

 and at one time was their candidate for mayor of the city. They are 

 gradually increasing from year to year. During the last campaign their 

 candidate for governor, in the State of New York, reached nearly 

 14,000 votes. Osborne Ward, the translator of the Labor Bureau at 

 Washington, in 1877 was the lecturer for that party, and travelled over 

 the country in their interests, and, the same as all other labor agitators 

 in the early days, received his pains for his services. 



In 1877 there also came into prominence the organization known as 

 the " Knights of Labor," with a platform similar in purport to the one 

 adopted at Indianapolis. The members of this organization, as a gen- 



