emblem in foreign ports, and have virtually extinguished the race of American seamen. We oppose the pretence that discriminating duties will promote shipping; that scheme is an invitation to commercial warfare upon the United States, un-American in the light of our great commercial treaties, offering no gain whatever to American shipping, while greatly increasing ocean freights on our agricultural and manufactured products." MONEY.-"The experience of mankind has shown that, by reason of their natural qualities, gold is the necessary money of the large affairs of commerce and business, while silver is conveniently adapted to minor transactions, and the most beneficial use of both together can be insured only by the adoption of the former as a standard of monetary measure, and the maintenance of silver at a parity with gold by its limited coinage under suitable safeguards of law. Thus the largest possible enjoyment of both metals is gained with a value universally accepted throughout the world, which constitutes the only practical bimetallic currency, assuring the most stable standard, and especially the best and safest money for all who earn their livelihood by labor or the produce of husbandry. They cannot suffer when paid in the best money known to man, but are the peculiar and most defenceless victims of a debased and fluctuating currency, which offers continual profits to the money changer at their cost. Realizing these truths, demonstrated by long and public inconvenience and loss, the Democratic party, in the interests of the masses and of equal justice to all, practically established by the legislation of 1834 and 1853 the gold standard of monetary measurement, and likewise entirely divorced the Government from banking and currency issues. To this longestablished Democratic policy we adhere, and insist upon the maintenance of the gold standard, and of the parity therewith of every dollar issued by the Government, and are firmly opposed to the free and unlimited coinage of silver and to the compulsory purchase of silver bullion. But we denounce also the further maintenance of the present costly patchwork system of National paper currency as a constant source of injury and peril. We assert the necessity of such intelligent currency reform as will confine the Government to its legitimate functions, completely separated from the banking business, and afford to all sections of our country uniform, safe and elastic bank currency under Governmental supervision, measured in volume by the needs of business."

CLEVELAND.-"The fidelity, patriotism and courage with which President Cleveland has fulfilled his great public trust, the high character of his Administration, its wisdom and energy in the maintenance of civil order and the enforcement of the laws, its equal regard for the rights of every class and every section, its firm and dignified conduct of foreign affairs and its sturdy persistence in upholding the credit and honor of the Nation are fully recognized by the Democratic party, and will secure to him a place in history beside the fathers of the Republic."

CIVIL SERVICE.-"We also commend the Administration for the great progress made in the reform of the public service, and we indorse its effort to extend the merit system still further. We demand that no backward step be taken, but that the reform be supported and advanced until the un-Democratic spoils system of appointments shall be eradicated."

ECONOMY.-"We demand strict econ~ omy in the appropriations and in the administration of the Government."

ARBITRATION.-"We favor arbitration for the settlement of international disputes."

PENSIONS.-"We favor a liberal policy of pensions to deserving soldiers and sailors of the United States."

SUPREME COURT.-"The Supreme Court of the United States was wisely established by the framers of our Constitution as one of the three co-ordinate branches of the Government. Its independence and authority to interpret the law of the land without fear or favor must be maintained. We condemn all efforts to degrade that tribunal or impair the confidence and respect which it has deservedly held. The Democratic party ever has maintained, and ever will maintain, the supremacy of law, the independence of its judicial administration, the inviolability of contracts and the obligations of all good citizens to resist every illegal trust, combination or attempt against the just rights of property and the good order of society, in which are bound up the peace and happiness of our people.

"Believing these principles to be essential to the well-being of the Republic, we submit them to the consideration of the American people."

POPULISTS.

The second National Convention of the Populist party met at St. Louis, Mo., on July 22, 1896. Senator Marion C. Butler, of North Carolina, was temporary chairman, and Senator William V. Allen, of Nebraska, was permanent chairman. William J. Bryan, the Democratic nominee for President, was indorsed, and Thomas E. Watson, of Georgia, was nominated for Vice-President.

The convention reversed the order of procedure in nominations, by a vote of 785 to 615, to nominate the candidate for Vice-President first. The names presented were Congressman Harry Skinner, of North Carolina; Thomas E. Watson, of Georgia; Frank Burkitt, of Mississippi; A. L. Mimms, of Tennessee; Mann Page, of Virginia, and Arthur Sewall, of Maine. The balloting began after midnight, July 24, and the result of the first ballot gave Watson 469; Sewall, 257%. and the others ranging lower. A motion to declare Watson the nominee was carried.

On the following day William J. Bryan, nominee of the Democratic Convention, was made the head of the Populist ticket, notwithstanding he had telegraphed to Senator Jones to withdraw his name if Sewall, Democratic nominee for VicePresident, was not indorsed for VicePresident. James B. Weaver nominated Mr. Bryan; Henry W. Call nominated S.

F. Norton, of Chicago; Mr. Livingston

nominated J. S. Coxey, but withdrew the

name later. The ballot showed the following result: Bryan, 1,042; Norton, 321; Eugene V. Debs, 8; Ignatius Donnelly, 3; J. S. Coxey, 1.

THE PLATFORM.

"The People's party assembled in National Convention, reaffirms its allegiance to the principles declared by the founders of the republic, and also to the fundamental principles of just government as enunciated in the platform of the party in 1892 We recognize that, through the connivance of the present and preceding administrations, the country has reached a crisis in its national life, as predicted in our declaration four years ago, and that prompt and patriotic action is the supreme duty of the hour.

We realize that while we have political independence, our financial and industrial independence is yet to be attained by restoring to our country the constitutional control and exercise of the functions necessary to a people's government, which functions have been basely surrendered by our public servants to corporate monopolies. The influence of European money changers has been more potent in shaping legislation than the voice of the American people. Executive power and patronage have been used to corrupt our Legislatures and defeat the will of the people, and plutocracy has thereby been enthroned upon the ruins of democracy. To restore the Government intended by the fathers, and for the welfare and prosperity of this and future generations, we demand the establishment of an economic and financial system which shall make us masters of our own affairs and independent of European control, by the adoption of the following:

NATIONAL MONEY.-"We demand a national money, safe and sound, issued by the general Government only, without the intervention of banks of issue, to be a full legal tender for all debts, public and private; a just, equitable, and efficient means of distribution direct to the people and through the lawful disbursements of the Government."

SILVER.-"We demand the free and unrestricted coinage of silver and gold at the present legal ratio of sixteen to one, without waiting for the consent of foreign nations."

CIRCULATION.-"We demand the volume of circulating medium be speedily increased to an amount sufficient to meet the demands of the business and population, and to restore the just level of prices of labor and production."

BOND ISSUE.-"We denounce the sale of bonds and the increase of the public interest-bearing debt made by the present Administration as unnecessary and without authority of law, and demand that no more bonds be issued except by specific act of Congress. We demand such legislation as will prevent the demonetization of the lawful money of the United States by private contract. We demand that the Government, in payment of its obligations, shall use its option as to the kind of lawful money in which they are to be paid, and we denounce the present and preceding Administrations for surrendering this option to the holders of Government obligations."

INCOME TAX.-"We demand a graduated income tax, to the end that aggregated wealth shall bear its just proportion of taxation, and we regard the recent decision of the Supreme Court relative to the Income Tax law as a misinterpretation of the Constitution and an invasion of the rightful powers of Congress over the subject of taxation."

POSTAL BANKS.-"We demand that postal savings banks be established by the Government for the safe deposit of the savings of the people and to facilitate exchange."

RAILROADS.-"Transportation being a means of exchange and a public necessity, the Government should own and operate the railroads in the interest of the people and on a non-partisan basis, to the end that all may be accorded the same treatment in transportation, and that the tyranny and political power now exercised by the great railroad corporations which result in the impairment, if not the destruction, of the political rights and personal liberties of the citizen, may be destroyed. Such ownership is to be accomplished gradually in a manner corsistent with sound public policy."

PACIFIC RAILROAD DEBTS.-"The interest of the United States in the public highways built with public moneys, and the proceeds of extensive grants of land to the Pacific railroads, should never be alienated, mortgaged, or sold, but guarded and protected for the general welfare as provided by the laws organizing such railroads. The foreclosure of existing liens of the United States on these roads should at once follow default in the payment thereof by the debtor companies; and at the foreclosure sales of said roads the Government shall purchase the same if it becomes necessary to protect its interests therein, or if they can be purchased at a reasonable price; and the Government shall operate said railroads as public highways for the benefit of the whole people, and not in the interest of the few, under suitable provisions protection of life and property, giving to all transportation interests equal privileges and equal rates for fares and freights. We denounce the present infamous schemes for refunding these debts, and demand that the laws now applicable thereto be executed and administered according to their interest and spirit.'

for

TELEGRAPH.-"The telegraph, 'like the postoffice system, being a necessity for the transmission of news, should be owned and operated by the Government in the interest of the people."

LAND.-"True policy demands that the National and State legislation shall be such as will ultimately enable every prudent and industrious citizen to secure a home, and therefore the land should not be monopolized for speculative purposes, All lands now held by railroads and other corporations in excess of their actual needs should by lawful means be reclaimed by the Government and held for actual settlers only, and private land monopoly, as well as alien ownership, should be prohibited. We condemn the land grant frauds by which the Pacific railroad companies have, through the connivance of the Interior Department, robbed multitudes of actual bona fide set

tlers of their homes and miners of their claims, and we demand legislation by Congress which will enforce the exception of mineral land from such grants after as well as before the patent. We demand that bona fide settlers on all public lands be granted free homes, as provided in the National Homestead law, and that no exception be made in the case of Indian reservations when opened for settlement, and that all lands not now patented come under this demand."

DIRECT LEGISLATION.-"We favor a system of direct legislation through the initiative and referendum, under proper constitutional safeguards."

GENERAL PROPOSITIONS.-"We demand the election of President, VicePresident, and United States Senators by a direct vote of the people. We tender to the patriotic people of Cuba our deepest sympathy in their heroic struggle for political freedom and independence, and we believe the time has come when the United States, the great republic of the world, should recognize that Cuba is and of right ought to be a free and independent State.

"We favor home rule in the Territories and the District of Columbia and the early admission of the Territories as States.

"All public salaries should be made to correspond to the price of labor and its products.

"In times of great industrial depression idle labor should be employed on public works as far as practicable.

"The arbitrary course of the courts in assuming to imprison citizens for indirect contempt and ruling them by injunction should be prevented by proper legislation.

"We favor just pensions for our disabled Union soldiers.

"Believing that the elective franchise and an untrammelled ballot are essential to government of, for, and by the people, the People's party condemn the wholesale system of disfranchisement adopted in some of the States as unrepublican and undemocratic, and we declare it to be the duty of the several State Legislatures to take such action as will secure a full, free, and fair ballot and an honest count. "While the foregoing propositions constitute the platform upon which our party stands, and for the vindication of which its organization will be maintained, we recognize that the great and pressing issue of the pending campaign upon which the present election will turn is the financial question, and upon this great and specific issue between the parties we cordially invite the aid and co-operation of all organizations and citizens agreeing with us upon this vital question.'

A minority submitted a substitute platform, taking the ground that the one of the majority was too elaborate and too much like that adopted at the Democratic Convention. The substitute denounced "the methods and policies of the Democratic and Republican parties" for their "mutual co-operation with the money power'; also their policies of tariff and the issuance of interest-bearing United States bords in time of peace; demanded a National currency; the free and unlimited coinage of silver and gold at a ratio of 16 to 1; that the circulating medium

shall consist of gold, silver and paper currency; a graduated income tax; economy in Federal administration; Government ownership of the telegraph and telephone; the prohibition of alien ownership of land and pauper immigration, and legislation by means of the initiative and referendum. The minority platform was overwhelmingly defeated, and the majority platform, as above, was adopted.

SILVER PARTY.

The first National Convention of the Silverites met at St. Louis on July 22, 1896. Francis G. Newlands, of Nevada, was made temporary chairman, and W. P. St. John, of New-York, was permanent chairman. William J. Bryan and Arthur Sewall, the candidates of the Democratic Convention for President and Vice-President, respectively, were indorsed on July 24, by acclamation.

THE PLATFORM.

The following is the platform as adopted on July 23:

MONEY.-"The National Silver party of America, in convention assembled, hereby adopts the following declaration of principles:

"The paramount issue at this time in the United States is indisputably the money question. It is between the British gold standard, gold bonds and bank currency on the one side, and the bimetallic standard, no bonds, Government currency (and an American policy) on the other. On this issue we declare ourselves to be in favor of a distinctively American financial system. We are unalterably opposed to the single gold standard and demand the immediate return to the constitutional standard of gold and silver, by the restoration by this Government, independently of any foreign power, of the unrestricted coinage of both gold and silver into standard money at the ratio of 16 to 1, and upon terms of exact equality as they existed prior to 1873; the silver coin to be of full legal-tender, equally with gold, for all debts and dues, public and private; and we demand such legislation as will prevent for the future the destruction of the legal-tender quality of any kind of money by private contract. We hold that the power to control and regulate a paper currency is inseparable from the power to coin money, and hence that all currer.cy intended to circulate money should be issued and its volume controlled by the General Government only, and should be a legal-tender."

as

BOND ISSUE.-"We are unalterably opposed to the issue by the United States of interest-bearing bonds in time of peace, and we denounce as a blunder worse than a crime the present Treasury policy, concurred in by a Republican House. of plunging the country into debt by hundreds of millions in the vain attempt to maintain the gold standard by borrowing gold; and we demand the payment of all coin obligations of the United States as provided by existing laws, In either gold or silver coin, at the option of the Government and not at the option of the creditor. The demonetization of silver in 1873 enormously increased the demand for gold, enhancing its purchasing power and lowering all prices measured by that

standard; and since that unjust and indefensible act the prices of American products have fallen upon an average nearly 50 per cent, carrying down with them proportionately the money value of all other forms of property. Such fall of prices has destroyed the profits of legitimate industry, injuring the producer for the benefit of the non-producer, increasing the burden of the debtor, swelling the gains of the creditor, paralyzing the productive energies of the American people, relegating to idleness vast numbers of willing workers, sending the shadows of despair into the home of the honest toiler, filling the land with tramps and paupers, and building up colossal fortunes at the money centres. In the effort to maintain the gold standard, the country has, within the last two years, in a time of profound peace and plenty, been loaded down with $262,000,000 of additional interest-bearing debt under such circumstances as to allow a syndicate of native and foreign bankers to realize a net profit of millions on a single deal."

GOLD. "It stands confessed that the gold standard can only be upheld by so depleting our paper currency as to force the prices of our products below the European, and even below the Asiatic level, to enable us to sell in foreign markets, thus aggravating the very evils of which our people so bitterly complain, degrading American labor and striking at the foundations of our civilization itself. The advocates of the gold standard persistently claim that the real cause of our distress is overproduction; that we have produced so much that it made us poor-which implies that the true remedy is to close the factory, abandon the farm and throw a multitude of people out of employment; a doctrine that leaves us unnerved and disheartened and absolutely without hope for the future. We affirm to be unquestioned that there can be no such economic paradox as over-production, and at the same time tens eof thousands of our fellowcitizens remaining half-clothed and halffed, and who are piteously clamoring for the common necessities of life. Over and above all other questions of policy, we are in favor of restoring to the people of the United States the time-honored money of the Constitution-gold and silver, not one, but both-the money of Washington and Hamilton, and Jefferson and Monroe, and Jackson and Lincoln, to the end that the American people may receive honest pay for an honest product; that the American debtor may pay his just obligations in an honest standard, and not in a dishonest and unsound standard, appreciated 100 per cent in purchasing power and no appreciation in debt-paying power, and to the end, further, that silver-standard countries may be deprived of the unjust advantage they now enjoy, in the difference in exchange between gold and silver-an advantage which tariff legislation cannot overcome. We therefore confidently appeal to the people of the United States to hold in abeyarce all other questions, however important and even momentous they may appear; to sunder, if need be, all former party ties and affiliations, and unite in one supreme effort to free themselves and their children from the domination of the money power-a power more

destructive than any which has ever been fastened upon the civilized men of any race or in any age. And, upon the consummation of our desires and efforts, we evoke the aid of all patriotic American citizens and the gracious favor of Divine Provider.ce. Inasmuch as the patriotic majority of the Chicago Convention embodied in the financial plank of its platform the principles enunciated in the platform of the American Bimetallic party, promulgated at Washington, D. C., January 22, 1896, and herein reiterated, which is not only the paramount but the only real issue in the pending campaign, therefore, recognizing that their nominees embody these patriotic principles. we recommend that this Convention nominate William J. Bryan, of Nebraska, for President, and Arthur Sewall, of Maine, for Vice-President.'

PROHIBITION.

The National Convention of the Prohibition party was held at Pittsburg, Penn., May 28, 1896. Joshua Levering, of MaryJand, was nominated for President, and Hale Johnson, of Illinois, for Vice-President. Close to midnight, when contributions to the campaign fund were being received, the Free Silver, Woman's Suffrage and Populist delegates, numbering about 200, bolted the convention,

THE PLATFORM.

The majority of the Committee on Resolutions reported a platform, the first six planks of which were adopted unanimously by the committee, and were denunciatory of the liquor traffic and proposed straightout prohibition. The seventh plank, which declared that no citizen should be denied the right to vote on account of sex, was adopted by only a small majority. The other planks, which referred to one day's rest a week, the English language in non-sectarian schools, the election of President, Vice-President and Senators directly by the people, liberal pensions, exclusion of pauper and criminal emigrants, arbitration, etc., there was some division on.

The minority reported a platform which contained this money plank:

"Resolved, That all money be issued by the Government only and without the intervention of any private citizen, corporation or banking institution. It should be based upon the wealth, stability and integrity of the Nation, and be full legal tender for all debts, public and private, and should be of sufficient volume to meet the demands of the legitimate business interests in this country and for the purpose of honestly liquidating all our outstanding obligations payable in coin. We demand the free and unlimited coinage of silver and gold at a ratio of 16 to 1 without consulting any other nation." The other points on which the minority asked action were: Preserving public lands from monopoly and speculation; Government control of railroads and telegraphs; favoring an income tax and imposing only such import duties as are necessary to secure equitable commercial relations with other nations; favoring the adoption of the initiative and referendum as a means of obtaining free expression of the popular will. On the motion to make these recommendations part of the