STATE PLATFORMS,                          
          73



                              PEOPLES' PARTY.

                     Adopted at Neenah, Wis., September 13, 1886.
                                      PREAMBLE.

  in the words of Abraham Lincoln, ".Labor is the superior of capital
and deserves by far
the higher consideration. Ceipital woull not have existed, if labor had not
first existed."
But capital in the form of giant corporations, has thrown its devil-fish
arms around labor,
and the farmer, the merchant, the working'nan and even the manufacturer are
being
robbed and impoverished by so-called "ve ted rights," obtained
through fraudulent legis-
lation.
  The corporations, "with no bodies to punish, and no souls to damn,"
led on by heartless
millionaires, have secured control of the professional politicians, and use
them as tools to
accomplish their ends, not even hesitating at bloodshed, as instanced in
numerous cases
throughout the country. They rob the farmer, the merchant, and the manufacturer,
by
extortionate rates and unjust discriminations, and grind the face of the
laborer by starva-
tion wages.
  When lhbor demands that to which it is in justice entitled, the corrupt
tools of corrupt
corporations, for lack of argument, attempt to mislead the public mind by
charging that
the labor movement proposes to use violence in securing the rights that belong
to the pro-.
ducing classes. That there may be no misunderstanding as to our position
and demands,
we hereby issue this
                              DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES.
   1. The use of violence in any form "to settle disputes"1 is
utterly unjustifiable in a
 civilized community, whether advocated by fanatical anarchists or practiced
by corrupt
 pol:ticians as in our state, and none but those who have not developed out
of barbarism
 would resort to its use.
   2. Land, money, the means of communication and all public improvements,
like the
 post office, should be owned and controlled by the people represented in
a just govern-
 ment.
   3. Bureaus of labor statistics should be conducted in the interest of
the whole people,
 and not serve to furnish sinecures for poletical hacks.
   4. All laws should be simplified, so that there is but one law on one
subject and that
 worded in p.ain language, which will enable the people to understand the
law without pay-
 ing enormous fees to lawyers.
   5. Arbitration should be generally introduced to take the place of strikes
and other
 injurious means of settling labor disputes; child labor be prohibited in
factories, mines
 and workshops; no more contractors be permitted to prevent the reformation
of convicts
 or undersell honest manufacturers by contracting for the labor of prisoners;
convicts
 should be employed in building roads, or other work that will not enter
the market and
 depress the price of better goods; proper measures be provided for the safety
of people
 working in mines, manufactures or buildings; regular weekly cash payments
secured for
 the employes of corporations; the contract system be abolished on public
work, and other
 measures provided to protect those who are unable to protect themselves
under a system
 that enables the few to luxuriate on the proceeds of the labor of the many.
   6. The one man power has no place in a republic, hence all public officials,
as far as
   practicable, should be elected by a direct vote of the people, and the
voters be allowed to
   recall all unfaithful, inefficient and dishonest officials.
   7. The right to vote is inherent in all mankind, and should not be abridged,
except in
   case of minors, idiots, insane and criminals.
   S. A graduated income tax is the only equitable system of taxation, placing
the burden
   of government on those who can best afford to pay, instead of laying it
on the farmers
   and producers, and exempting millionaire bondholders and corporations.
   9. To relieve the tax-burdened and mortgage-ridden people of the extortions
of money
   monopolists, the government should loan money directly to the people,
at a rate of inter-
   est not to exceed 8 per cent., and shall establish postal savings banks.
   10. That congress be instructed to furnish money that shall be increased
in volume in
   proportion as the industries and population of this nation increase, and
shall be full legal
   tender for all debts, personal and national.
   11. The extraordinary increase in the invention of labor-saving machinery,
requires a
   material reduction in the hours of labor. When machinery does the work,
some of it
   should be lifted from the shoulders of man. But owing to the growth of
monopoly,