Populist Stump Speech We all want what is best for our society. As farmers, sharecroppers, and laborers, we’ve wanted to keep our jobs. We’ve asked for increased currency, free coinage of gold and silver, and a graduated federal income tax. This is what we felt was the best, but we never got what we asked for. We’re here to change that. Back in 1892, the Ocala Platform restricted and limited corporations and business practices. All the businesses and corporations were risking our jobs, and as a society, we need job stability. The Grange organized economic ventures, and took political action to defend what was most important to us Populists.
Someone whos priority wasn’t to help the Populists was former president, James Garfield.
Just like any other Republican, he was more interested in spoils and patronage than reform.
Shortly after he was elected president, James Garfield was assassinated. Shortly after, a decline in silver prices encouraged investors to trade their silver dollars for gold dollars, and the gold reserve fell to a low level. This caused the President to turn to Wall Street banker
J.P. Morgan to borrow $65 million in gold to support the dollar and gold standard. This made
Americans think the government was a tool of rich eastern bankers. That is not what Populists are about. We care about everyone..not just the rich. There are many issues within our society. Like the Knights of Labor, we envisioned eight hour days and we’ve promoted the workingmen. At that time, paper money not backed by gold or silver had been given by the government as an emergency measure of financing the war. To us, the greenbacks were a sign of prosperity, while investors saw it as a violation of national law. This was the start of the Greenback party. This caused the Democrats to campaign for a lower tariff, and that’s what we’ll give them. Then the Omaha Platform demanded the restoration of government to the people by directing the popular election of
U.S. Senators and electing state laws by voters. Because of this, Thomas Watson appealed to both races and they united on their economic issues. This is what we want to see all races coming together. It’s what our society needs. James Weaver, a previous Populist Party candidate, won more than 1 million votes. He lost in the South and failed to attract urban workers in the north. Unlike that unfortunate loss, we would like to see a Populist candidate win an election. In 1893, the stock market crashed, and railroads went into bankruptcy as a result of overbuilding. This depression lasted for 4 years. Then came Coxey’s Armya march to Washington by thousands of unemployed people. They demanded that the federal government spend $500 million on public work programs to create jobs. If we’re elected, we’ll make sure everyone has
