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150,998, equal to $26.94 per capita. It consisted of $1,442,247,405 of currency of all descriptions and $612,903,593 of certificates against which an equivalent of the appropriate kinds of money was held in the Treasury for redemption on demand. The total was made up of $610,806,472 of gold coin, $200,733,019 of gold certificates, $65,889,346 of standard silver dollars, $408,465,574 of silver certificates, $76,160,988 of subsidiary coin, $3,705,000 of currency certificates, $313,971,545 of United States notes, $300,115,112 of national bank notes, and $75,303,942 of fractional currency. The money in the Treasury, exclusive of the sums against which certificates had been issued, was $284,549,675, made up of $222,844,953 of gold coin and bullion, $15,749,107 of standard silver dollars, $6,702,754 of subsidiary coin, $29,004,471 of United States notes, $9,525,332 of national bank notes, and $723,058 of fractional currency. The amounts of the verious kinds of money in the country were $103,384,444 of gold, $408,465,574 of standard silver dollars, $82,863,742 of subsidiary coin, $346,681,016 of U ted States notes, $309,640,444 of national bank notes, and $76,027,000 of fractional currency. The coinage of the United States mints in 1899 was $111,344,220 of gold, $26,061,519 of standard silver dollars, and $1,837,451 of minor coins; total, $139,243,191.

There were 3,871 national banks doing business on Sept. 5, 1900, having $3,281,000,000 of deposits net, against which they held reserves amounting to $983,300,000, or 29.7 per cent., the legal reserve being $684,100,000, their reserves consisting of $518,400,000 of lawful money, $450,700,000 due from agents, and $14,200,000 redemption fund. The resources and liabilities of the banks, according to the report of the Comptroller of the Currency, were on that date as follow:

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There were 6,107,083 depositors having $2,449,547,885 of savings deposits, of which $939,790,300 were in the Eastern, $1,148,691,356 in the Middle, $14,840,199 in the Southern, $185,806,444 in the Western, and $160,419,586 in the Pacific States.

Navigation. The tonnage of vessels entered from foreign countries at the seaports of the United States during the year ending June 30, 1900, was 23,533,597 tons, of which 3,974,239 tons were American and 19,559,358 tons foreign. The tonnage of sailing vessels entered was 3,245,874 tons, of which 923,561 tons were American and 2,322,313 tons foreign; the steam tonnage was 20,287,723 tons, of which 3,050,678 tons were American and 17,237,045 tons foreign. The tonnage of vessels cleared for foreign countries during the fiscal year 1900 was 23,617,658 tons, of which 4,006,114 tons were American and 19,611,544 tons foreign. The tonnage of sailing vessels cleared was 3,298,691 tons, of which 958,489 tons were American and 2,340,202 tons foreign. The steam tonnage cleared was 20,318,967 tons, of which 3,047,625 tons were American and 17,271,342 tons foreign. During the year 783,375 tons were entered from and 832,434 tons cleared for Belgium, 642,654 tons entered from and 1,011,322 tons cleared for France, 2,334,042 tons entered from and 2,706,337 tons cleared for Germany, 798,380 tons entered from and 538,957 tons cleared for Italy, 868,657 tons entered from and 1,303,168 tons cleared for the Netherlands, 443,420 tons entered from and 212,350 tons cleared for Spain, 7,015,528 tons entered from and 7,047,998 tons cleared for the United Kingdom, 1,214,476 tons entered from and 1,301,780 tons cleared for Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, 1,469,610 tons entered from and 1,465,052 tons cleared for British Columbia, 375,268 tons entered from and 320,518 tons cleared for Central American states, 638,675 tons entered from and 532,397 tons cleared for Mexico, 705,760 tons entered from and 696,485 tons cleared for the British West Indies and British Honduras, 1,341,928 tons entered from and 1,247,752 tons cleared for Cuba, 73,658 tons entered from and 257,765 tons cleared for the Argentine Republic, 500,595 tons entered from and 245,574 tons cleared for Brazil, 336,366 tons entered from and 307,384 tons cleared for Colombia, 132,465 tons entered from and 77,778 tons cleared for British India, 394,801 tons entered from and 456,069 tons cleared for China, 272,491 tons entered from and 256,820 tons cleared for Japan, 141,922 tons entered from and 298,514 tons cleared for Australia and New Zealand, 367,686 tons entered from and 274,769 tons cleared for Hawaii, 157,587 tons entered from and 281,897 tons cleared for British possessions in Africa and adjacent islands, and 2,524,253 tons entered from and 1,944,538 tons cleared for all other countries. Of the total tonnage of American and foreign vessels in foreign commerce entered and cleared 8,176,761 tons were entered and 7,843,529 tons cleared at the port of New York, 2,236,066 tons entered and 1.909,121 tons cleared at Boston, 1,850,656 tons entered and 1,885,959 tons cleared at Philadelphia, 1,677,385 tons entered and 1,775,269 tons cleared at Baltimore, 1,675,434 tons entered and 1,729,008 tons cleared at New Orleans, 1,351,718 tons entered and 1,339,648 tons cleared at San Francisco, 1,103,797 tons entered and

1,173,523 tons cleared at Puget Sound, 724,666 tons entered and 816,834 tons cleared at Galveston, 520,153 tons entered and 595,229 tons cleared at Pensacola, 549,198 tons entered and 505,273 tons cleared at Mobile, 458,105 tons entered and 636,622 tons cleared at Newport News, 344,082 tons entered and 372,919 tons cleared at Portland, Me., 200,593 tons entered and 392,294 tons cleared at Norfolk and Portsmouth, Va., 267,568 tons entered and 343,555 tons cleared at Savannah, 210,884 tons entered and 226,837 tons cleared at Brunswick, 165,378 tons entered and 178,662 tons cleared at Passamaquoddy, 176,073 tons entered and 144,163 tons cleared at Pearl River, 95,007 tons entered and 52,645 tons cleared at Charleston, and 1,750,073 tons entered and 1,705,568 tons cleared at all other seaports. The nationality of the tonnage entered and cleared in the foreign trade at American seaports during the year ending June 30, 1900, is shown in the following table:

American..
Austrian..

NATIONALITY.

TONNAGE.

Entered.

Cleared.

Railroads. The length of railroads in operation in the United States on Dec. 31, 1899, was 190,833 miles, 3,981 miles having been added during the year. The total length in 1889 was 161,326 miles; in 1879, 86,556 miles; in 1869, 46,844 miles; in 1859, 28,789 miles; in 1849, 7,365 miles; in 1839, 2,302 miles. Of the total mileage in 1899, the New England States had 7,447 miles; Middle Atlantic States, 22,206 miles; Central Northern States, 40,849 miles; Southern Atlantic States, 21,232 miles; Gulf and Mississippi valley, 15,717 miles; Southwestern States, 36,942 miles; Northwestern States, 31,227 miles; Pacific States, 15,209 miles. The total capital stock, returned for 187,781 miles in 1899, was $5,742,181,181; funded debt, $5,644,858,027; floating debt, $305,777,858; total liabilities, $11,692,817,066; average total cost of construction, $62,268 per mile. The gross earnings in 1899 were $1,336,096,379, being 11.4 per cent. on the total liabilities, receipts from passenger traffic being $297,559,712, from freight $922,436,314, and miscellaneous receipts $116,100,353. The interest paid on bonds and other debt was $245,250,364 during 1899, the average rate being 4.12 per cent., and the dividends paid on stock amounted to $109,032,252, an average rate of 1.90 per cent. The gross earnings per mile were $7,161 on the average; net earnings, $2,400 per mile, the percentage of expenses to earnings having been 66.49, against 68.16 per cent. in 1898, 69.74 per cent. in 1897, and 70.43 per cent. in 1896. The number of passengers carried in 1829 was 537,977,301; passengers carried 1 mile, 14,859,541,965, making average passenger receipts per mile just 2 cents; freight 65,053 60,443 79,388 82,030 carried, 975,789,941 tons; tons carried 1 mile, 126,358,539 365,428 991,703,110, making average freight receipts 0.73 242,015 332,685 cent per ton per mile. The gross earnings of 190,406 miles for the year ending June 30, 1900, were $1,480,673,054, or $7,776 per mile of line, $366,860,760 of the total being passenger and $1,048,268,875 freight earnings. Operating expenses amounted to $956,814,142, or $5,025 per mile. The net earnings were $523,818,912, or $73,110,747 more than in 1899. Including $60,675,700 of income from investments and other sources, the total net income was $584,534,612, out of which $109,400,147 were paid in dividends, $27,555,388 more than in 1899, and the total deductions, including interest on bonds, rents for leased lines, and $44,396,165 of taxes, were $395,811,056, leaving a surplus of $79,323,409, compared with $53,064,877 in 1899.

3,974,239 4,006,114
107,289 129,576
360,971 365,192

298,131
441,253
414,814

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12,453,113

12,464,012

Danish

296,657

Dutch.

466,911

French

408,008

German.

2,690,489

2,702,791

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332,942 1,722,247

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The number of sailing vessels, including canal boats and barges, registered as belonging in the United States on June 30, 1900, was 16,280, of 2,507,042 tons; the number of steam vessels was 7,053, of 2,657,797 tons; total merchant marine, 23,333 vessels, of 5,164,839 tons. The tonnage owned on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts was 2,727,892 tons; on the Pacific coast, 601,212 tons; on the Northern lakes, 1,565,587 tons; on the Western rivers, 258,456 tons. The steam tonnage employed in the foreign trade in 1900 was 337,356 tons, and the total tonnage of American vessels in the foreign trade was 816,795 tons; steam tonnage in coastwise trade, 2,289,825 tons; total tonnage of coasting vessels, 4,286,516 tons; steam tonnage in the whale fisheries, 3,986 tons; total tonnage in the whale fisheries, 9,899 tons; tonnage in cod and mackerel fisheries, 51,629 tons. The total tonnage of American vessels, 5,164,839 tons, shows an increase of 6.18 per cent. over the previous year, which recorded an advance of 2.41 per cent. over 1898, in which year there was a slight decrease in American tonnage as compared with 1897. There were 504 sailing vessels, of 116,460 tons, built in the United States in 1900; steam vessels built, 422, of 202,528 tons; canal boats, 38, of 4,492 tons; barges, 483, of 40,310; total, 1,447 vessels, of 393,790 tons, compared with 1,273, of 300,038 tons, in 1899 and 952, of 180,458 tons, in 1898. On the New England coast there were 199 vessels built, of 72,179 tons; on the entire seaboard, 1,107 vessels, of 249,006 tons; on the Mississippi river and tributaries, 215 vessels, of 14,173 tons; on the Great Lakes, 125 vessels, of 130,611 tons. Among the sailing vessels built in the United States in 1900 were 10, of 28,903 tons, built of steel, and of the steam vessels 80, of 167,948 tons.

Telegraphs. The Western Union Telegraph Company had 192,705 miles of line and 933,153 miles of wire in operation on June 30, 1900. The number of messages sent during the year was 63,167,783. Receipts were $24,758,570, and expenses $18,593,206, leaving $6,165,364 profits, showing an average toll per message of 30.8 cents and an average cost of 25.1 cents. The Postal Telegraph Company has 26,042 miles of cable and land lines, with 169,236 miles of wire, and during 1900 sent 16,528,444 messages. The total length of telegraph lines in the United States open for public business, excluding railroad, Government, and pri vate lines, exceeds 210,000 miles.

The Bell Telephone Company, on Jan. 1, 1900, had 1.239 exchanges and 1,187 branch offices, and 509,036 miles of wire on poles, 15,087 miles on buildings, 489,250 miles underground, and 3,404 miles submarine, making a total of 1,016,777 miles. The total number of circuits was 422,620; number of employees, 25,741; number of subscribers, 632,946. The aggregate length of telephone wires oper ated is 1,518,609 miles, the number of conversations about 1,666,000,000 per annum.

Presidential Election. The nomination of William McKinley, of Ohio, who was elected

President of the United States in 1896 by 271 to 176 electoral votes and by a plurality of 601,854 popular votes over William Jennings Bryan, of Nebraska, was not contested in the Republican party, nor was that of Mr. Bryan in the Democratic party except by the Gold Democrats, who in 1896 either abstained from voting or supported the Republican candidate or joined in the dissentient movement of the so-called Jeffersonian Democracy, who under the name of National Democrats nominated John M. Palmer, of Illinois, for President. Before the great parties held their national conventions in 1900 several of the independent parties met to declare their principles and put forward candidates. The fourth annual session of the Supreme Council of the Farmers' Alliance and Industrial Union was held in Washington, D. C., on Feb. 6 and the two following days. The support of the Farmers' Alliance was pledged to the candidates to be chosen by the Democratic party for President and Vice-President, and the following platform was approved:

"Whereas, the Declaration of Independence, as a basis of a republican form of government that might be progressive and perpetual,' that all men are created equal, that they are endowed with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed';

"We hold, therefore, that to restore and preserve these rights under a republican form of government, private monopolies of public necessities for speculative purposes, whether of the means of production, distribution, or exchange, should be prohibited, and whenever such public necessity or utility becomes a monopoly in private hands, the people of the municipality, State, or Union, as the case may be, shall appropriate the same by right of eminent domain, paying a just value therefor, and operate them for and in the interest of the whole people. We demand a national currency, safe, sound, and flexible; issued by the General Government only, a full legal tender for all debts and receivable for all dues, and an equitable and efficient means of distribution of this currency, directly to the people, at the minimum of expense and without the intervention of banking corporations and in sufficient volume to transact the business of the country on a cash basis. We demand the free and unlimited coinage of silver and gold at the legal ratio of 16 to 1. We demand a graduated income tax. That our national legislation shall be so framed in the future as not to build up one industry at the expense of another. We believe that the money of the country should be kept as much as possible in the hands of the people, and hence we demand that all national and State revenues shall be limited to the necessary expenses of the Government economically and honestly administered. 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. We are unalterably opposed to the issue by the United States of interest-bearing bonds, and 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 Government shall purchase or construct and operate a sufficient mileage of railroads to effectually control all rates of transportation on a just and equitable basis. The telegraph and telephone, like the post-office system, being a necessity for the transmission of intelligence, should be owned and operated by the

Government in the interest of the people. We demand that no land shall be held by corporations for speculative purposes or by railroads in excess of their needs as carriers, and all lands now owned by aliens should be reclaimed by the Government and held for actual settlers only. We demand the election of United States Senators by a direct vote of the people; that each State shall be divided into two districts of nearly equal voting population, and that a Senator from each shall be elected by the people of the district. Relying upon the good common sense of the American people, and believing that a majority of them, when uninfluenced by party prejudice, will vote right on all questions submitted to them on their merits; and further to effectually annihilate the pernicious lobby in legislation, we demand direct legislation by means of the initiative referendum. We demand free mail delivery in the rural districts. We demand that the inhabitants of all the territory coming to the United States as a result of the war with Spain be as speedily as possible permitted to organize a free government of their own, based upon the consent of the governed."

The next earliest convention was that of the Social-Democrats, who on March 6, at Indianapolis, Ind., nominated Eugene V. Debs, of Indiana, for President, and Job Harriman, of California, for Vice-President, and on March 7 adopted the following platform:

The Social-Democratic party of America declares that life, liberty, and happiness depend upon equal political and economic rights. In our economic development an industrial revolution has taken place, the individual tool of former years having become the social tool of the present. The individual tool was owned by the worker, who employed himself and was master of his product. The social tool, the machine, is owned by the capitalist, and the worker is dependent upon him for employment. The capitalist thus becomes the master of the worker, and is able to appropriate to himself a large share of the product of his labor. Capitalism, the private ownership of the means of production, is responsible for the insecurity of subsistence, the poverty, misery, and degradation of the ever-growing majority of our people; but the same economic forces which have produced and now intensify the capitalist system will necessitate the adoption of socialism, the collective ownership of the means of production for the common good and welfare. The present system of social production and private ownership is rapidly converting society into two antagonistic classes-i. e., the capitalist class and the propertyless class. The middle class, once the most powerful of this great nation, is disappearing in the mill of competition. The issue is now between the two classes first named. Our political liberty is now of little value to the masses unless used to acquire economic liberty. Independent political action and the trade-union movement are the chief emancipating factors of the working class, the one representing its political, the other its economic wing, and both must co-operate to abolish the capitalist system. Therefore, the Social-Democratic party of America declares its object to be:

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First, the organization of the working class into a political party to conquer the public powers now controlled by capitalists. Second, the abolition of wage slavery by the establishment of a national system of co-operative industry, based upon the social or common ownership of the means of production and distribution, to be administered by society in the common interest of all its members, and the complete emancipation

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of the socially useful classes from the domination of capitalism.

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The working class and all those in sympathy with their historic mission to realize a higher civilization should sever connection with all capitalist and reform parties and unite with the SocialDemocratic party of America. The control of political power by the Social-Democratic party will be tantamount to the abolition of all class rule. The solidarity of labor connecting the millions of class-conscious fellow-workers throughout the civilized world will lead to international socialism, the brotherhood of man.

"As steps in that direction, we make the following demands:

"First, revision of our Federal Constitution, in order to remove the obstacles to complete control of government by the people irrespective of sex. Second, the public ownership of all industries controlled by monopolies, trusts, and combines. Third, the public ownership of all railroads, telegraphs, and telephones; all means of transportation and communication; all waterworks, gas and electric plants, and other public utilities. Fourth, the public ownership of all gold, silver, copper, lead, iron, coal, and other mines, and all oil and gas wells. Fifth, the reduction of the hours of labor in proportion to the increasing facilities of production. Sixth, the inauguration of a system of public works and improvements for the employment of the unemployed, the public credit to be utilized for that purpose. Seventh, useful inventions to be free, the inventor to be remunerated by the public. Eighth, labor legislation to be national instead of local, and international when possible. Ninth, national insurance of working people against accidents, lack of employment, and want in old age. Tenth, equal civil and political rights for men and women, and the abolition of all laws discriminating against women. Eleventh, the adoption of the initiative and referendum, proportional representation, and the right of recall of representatives by the voters. Twelfth, abolition of war and introduction of international arbitration."

Early in January the national committee of the Union Reform party, which favors direct legislation, appointed a canvassing board, which sent out ballots to members of the party for votes for candidates for President and Vice-President. The balloting continued through February and March. In April the canvassing board announced that Seth H. Ellis, of Ohio, and Samuel T. Nicholson. of Pennsylvania, had been nominated for President and Vice-President respectively on the platform favored at Cincinnati on March 1, 1899: "Direct legislation under the system known as the initiative and referendum. Under the initiative the people can compel the submission to themselves of any desired law, when, if it receives a majority of the votes cast, it is thereby enacted. Under the referendum the people can compel the submission to themselves of any law which has been adopted by any legislative body, when, if such law fails to receive a majority of the votes cast, it will be thereby rejected." The convention adopted an appeal in part as follows: "We accept the strong and unanswerable arguments of our friends. We see no need or benefit from party except a party to secure direct legislation. We have attached ourselves to the Union Reform party for direct legislation only. This party, organized by progressive and active men from this and other States at a time when dominant parties had legislated to make the initiation of reform movements impossible, acted while we were awaiting an opportune hour. We ask our honest, home-loving

fellow-citizens to organize in their respective precincts, and to honestly and fairly extend their organization to county and district, and to assist in controlling and extending the party and movement until the desired object is attained. The majority is with us in this desire for direct government, and with this sole purpose they must act at last. The logic of events, the tyranny of the bosses, and the necessities of the hour assure us. Friends, this securing of a rightful voice is the affair of the individual, of each and every one. Government direct by the people will not come as a voluntary concession from the holders of political power. These controllers of parties will not permit of referendum of acts and expenditures; they will not give to the people initiatory and mandatory rights, because to do so would be to destroy their own useless but lucrative occupa tions. These party bosses who monopolize political opportunity are the allies and supporters of all monopolies. We all believe that conditions can be made better or worse by legislation. The corporations know this and act accordingly. Truly they contribute to the election of candidates, but their great contributions are direct to the machine."

The United Christian party, a new organization, met at Rock Island, Ill., and on May 2 nominated by acclamation Silas P. Swallow, of Pennsylvania, for President, and John G. Woolley, of Illinois, for Vice-President. These candidates withdrew, and the party, which is devoted to the inculcation of religious and moral ideas as controlling forces in politics and government, put in nomination for the respective offices Jonah F. R. Leonard, of Iowa, and David H. Martin, of Pennsylvania. The convention adopted the fol lowing platform:

"We, the United Christian party, in national convention assembled, acknowledging Almighty God as the source of all power and authority, the Lord Jesus Christ as the sovereign ruler of nations, and the Bible as the standard by which to decide moral issues in our political life, do make the following declaration: We believe the time to have arrived when the eternal principles of justice, mercy, and love as exemplified in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ should be embodied in the Constitution of our nation and applied in concrete form to every function of our Government. We deprecate certain immoral laws which have grown out of the failure of our nation to recognize these principles, notably such as require the desecration of the Christian Sabbath, authorize unscriptural marriage and divorce, license the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors as a beverage, and permit the sale of cigarettes or tobacco in any form to minors. As an expression of consent or allegiance on the part of the governed, in harmony with the above statements, we declare for the adoption and use of the system of direct legislation known as the 'initia tive and referendum,' together with proportionate representation' and the imperative mandate.' We hold that all men and women are created free and with equal rights, and declare for the establishment of such political, industrial, and social con- . ditions as shall guarantee to every person civie equality, the full fruits of his or her honest toil, and opportunity for the righteous enjoyment of the same: and we especially condemn mob violence and outrages against any individual or class of individuals in our country. We declare against war and for the arbitration of all national and international disputes. We hold that the legalized liquor traffic is the crowning infamy of civilization, and we declare for the immediate abolition

of the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors as a beverage. We are gratified to note the widespread agitation of the cigarette question, and declare ourselves in favor of the enactment of laws prohibiting the sale of cigarettes or tobacco in any form to minors. We declare for the daily reading of the Bible in the public schools and institutions of learning under control of the State. We declare for the Government ownership of public utilities. We declare for the election of the President and Vice-President and United States Senators by the direct vote of the people. We declare for such amendment of the United States Constitution as shall be necessary to give the principles herein set forth an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental law of our land. We invite into the United Christian party every honest man and woman who believes in Christ and his golden rule and standard of righteousness."

The fusion wing of the People's party held a convention at Sioux Falls, S. D., on May 10, at which William J. Bryan was nominated for President by acclamation. A motion to defer the nomination for Vice-President and appoint a committee to confer with the National Democratic Convention was defeated by 492 to 462 votes. Howard S. Taylor, of Illinois, J. H. Davis, of Texas, E. Gerry Brown, of Massachusetts, J. W. Breidenthal, of Kansas, T. T. Rhinder, of Pennsylvania, and John J. Lentz, of Ohio, withdrew their names when they were brought forward for the nomination in favor of Charles A. Towne, of Minnesota, who was nominated by acclamation, and who withdrew, on Aug. 8, after A. E. Stevenson was nominated by the Democratic convention, and on Aug. 28 the Executive Committee named Mr. Stevenson as the candidate of the party. The following platform was adopted:

"Resolved, that we denounce the act of March 14, 1900, as the culmination of a long series of conspiracies to deprive the people of their constitutional rights over the money of the nation and relegate to a gigantic money trust the control of the purse and hence of the people. We denounce this act, first, for making all money obligations, domestic and foreign, payable in gold coin or its equivalent, thus enormously increasing the burdens of the debtors and enriching the creditors. Second, for refunding coin bonds not to mature for years into long-time gold bonds so as to make their payment improbable and our debt perpetual. Third, for taking from the Treasury over $50,000,000 in a time of war and presenting it as a premium to bondholders to accomplish the refunding of bonds not due. Fourth, for doubling the capital of bankers by returning them the face value of their bonds in current money notes so that they may draw one interest from the Government and another from the people. Fifth, for allowing banks to expand and contract their circulation at pleasure, thus controlling prices of all products. Sixth, for authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to issue new gold bonds to an unlimited amount whenever he deems it necessary to replenish the gold hoard, thus enabling usurers to secure more bonds and more bank currency by drawing gold from the Treasury, thereby creating an endless chain for perpetually adding to a perpetual debt. Seventh, for striking down the greenback in order to force the people to borrow $346,000,000 more from the banks at an annual cost of over $20,000,000. While barring out the money of the Constitution this law opens the printing mints of the Treasury to the free coinage of bank paper money, to enrich the few and impoverish the many. We pledge anew the People's party never to cease the agitation until this great

financial conspiracy is blotted from the statute books, the Lincoln greenback restored, the bonds all paid, and all corporation money forever retired. We affirm the demand for the reopening of the mints of the United States for the free and unlimited coinage of silver and gold at the present legal ratio of 16 to 1, the immediate increase in the volume of silver coins and certificates thus created to be substituted, dollar for dollar, for the bank notes issued by private corporations under special privilege granted by law of March 14, 1900, and prior national banking laws, the remaining portion of the bank notes to be replaced with full legal-tender Government paper money, and its volume so controlled as to maintain at all times a stable money market and a stable price level. We demand a graduated income and inheritance tax, to the end that aggregated wealth shall bear its just proportion of taxation. 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. With Thomas Jefferson we declare the land, including all natural sources of wealth, the inalienable heritage of the people. Government should so act as to secure homes for the people and prevent land monopoly. The original homestead policy should be enforced, and future settlers upon the public domain should be entitled to a free homestead, while all who have paid an acreage price to the Government under existing laws should have their homestead rights restored. Transportation being a means of exchange and a public necessity, the Government should own and operate the railroads in the interests of the people and on a nonpartisan basis, to the end that all may be accorded the same treatment in transportation, and that the extortion, 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 in a manner consistent with sound public policy. Trusts, the overshadowing evil of the age, are the result and culmination of the private ownership and control of the three great instruments of commerce-money, transportation, and the means of transmission of information--which instruments of commerce are public functions, and which our forefathers declared in the Constitution should be controlled by the people through their Congress for the public welfare. The one remedy for the trusts is that the ownership and control be assumed and exercised by the people. We further demand that all tariffs on goods controlled by a trust shall be abolished. To cope with the trust evil, the people must act directly without the intervention of representatives who may be controlled or influenced. We therefore demand direct legislation, giving the people the lawmaking and veto power under the initiative and referendum. A majority of the people can never be corruptly influenced. Applauding the valor of our army and navy in the Spanish War, we denounce the conduct of the administration in changing a war for humanity into a war of conquest. The action of the administration in the Philippines is in conflict with all the precedents of our national life; at war with the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the plain precepts of humanity. Murder and arson have been our response to the appeals of the people who asked only to establish a free government in their own land. We demand a stoppage of this war of extermination by the assurance to the Philippines of independence and the protection under a stable government of their own creation. The Declaration of

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