2. Labor
vs. Greed
Source:
Southern Mercury (Dallas, TX), July 23, 1896
Plutocracy
was a synonym for monopolist in the late nineteenth century.
In Greek Mythology, Pluto was the god of the lower world, also known as
Hades. Populist newspapers
frequently reprinted particularly good cartoons from other Populist newspapers.
Watson Heston of Carthage, Missouri, drew this illustration for Jacob
Coxey's newspaper, Sound Money (Massillon, Ohio).
Henry Vincent, former editor of the American Nonconformist, which
carried many Watson Heston cartoons, worked for Coxey in 1896, and copyrighted
the illustration, which the Southern Mercury of Dallas, Texas,
reproduced. Notice that the balance
bar at the top of the scales is labeled "Corrupt Legislation."
Populist contended that it was corrupt legislation that allowed
exploiters to steal from producers. Also,
note that the sword in the farmer's hand is labeled the "last resort."
Although farmers expressed considerable anger toward banks and mortgage
companies, very little actual violence occurred. The People's Party was firmly committed to the democratic
process.
Cartoons
commonly use popular stereotypes to get their message across.
The Rothschild's, a family of European Jewish bankers, frequently appear
as villains in Populist cartoons. Scholarly
critics of Populism, like Richard Hofstadter, have charged Populists with
anti-Semitism. Were Populists
Anti-Semitic? By today's standards,
they probably were. But, they were
no more anti-Semitic than other elements of Anglo-Saxon America at the time.
Anti-Semitism was widespread in Europe and America before the Holocaust
of the 1940s. Populist
Anti-Semitism was limited to anti-banker/moneylender sentiment.
Very few Populists joined the American Protective Association, the major
nativist organization of the 1890s. In
fact, the Populist Rocky Mountain News mounted a crusade against the APA
in its pages during the mid-1890s.
For
Hofstadter's charges, see:
Hofstadter, Richard. The Age of Reform: From Bryan
to FDR. 330 p., index. New York: Knopf, 1955.
For
an early rebuttal, see:
Woodward,
C. Vann. "The Populist Heritage and the Intellectual." American
Scholar. 29(1):55-72. Winter 1959. Reprinted in The Burden of Southern
History. 250 p. Revised edition, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State U P, 1968.
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