LAD #23

The Populist Party emerged in the late eighteen hundreds as a reaction to the growing power of the industrialists and the continued exploitation of workers. In the Preamble of the "Populist Party Platform," the Populists discussed the conditions surrounding the formation of their party. They describe corruption surrounding voting procedures, impoverished workers, and greedy robber barons who reaped fortunes from the labor of workers. Their is also a note of xenophobia in their argument. Immigrants are also to blame for the plight of the American working class because they take American jobs and work for lower wages. According to the Populists, the Federal Government passively allowed these ills to exist and neither the Republicans nor the Democrats had any plan to correct them. The Populist Party proposed several measures that could serve as a solution. It advocated for an increase in the amount of money in circulation, a graduated income tax, a postal savings bank for workers, and an unlimited coinage of silver and gold at the ratio of sixteen to one. The Populists also said that the Federal Government must take control of the railroads, telephones, and telegraph and repossess excess land held by corporations so that it could be delegated to settlers. They also formally established a permanent labor union to represent their interests. Their document ended with a list of sentiments in which they resolved to remain actively seized in the matter. Condemning the Pinkerton system and unwanted immigration, they asked that the President and Vice President be able to serve only one term and said that the election of senators should be carried out directly by the American people. The secret ballot and pensions for soldiers and sailors also needed to be established by the Federal Government. In this way, the Populists essentially demanded reform.