Populism and Politics: William Alfred Peffer and the People's Party
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University of Kentucky UKnowledge American Politics Political Science 1974 Populism and Politics: William Alfred Peffer and the People's Party Peter H. Argersinger University of Maryland Baltimore County Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Thanks to the University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky, this book is freely available to current faculty, students, and staff at the University of Kentucky. Find other University of Kentucky Books at uknowledge.uky.edu/upk. For more information, please contact UKnowledge at [email protected]. Recommended Citation Argersinger, Peter H., "Populism and Politics: William Alfred Peffer and the People's Party" (1974). American Politics. 8. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_political_science_american_politics/8 POPULISM and POLITICS This page intentionally left blank Peter H. Argersinger POPULISM and POLITICS William Alfred Peffer and the People's Party The University Press of Kentucky ISBN: 978-0-8131-5108-3 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 73-86400 Copyright © 1974 by The University Press of Kentucky A statewide cooperative scholarly publishing agency serving Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky State College, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University- Editorial and Sales Offices: Lexington, Kentucky 40506 for Jody This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface x1 ONE Farmers and Politics TWO The People's Rebellion 22 THREE The Partisans of Politics 58 FOUR The National Crusade 80 FIVE The Betrayal of the Promise 104 six That Iridescent Dream 151 SEVEN The Silver Panacea against Omaha Populism 192 EIGHT Reaping the Whirlwind 233 NINE The Reward of the Faithful 276 TEN Populism and Politics 302 Essay on Sources 312 Index 325 This page intentionally left blank List of Tables Mortgage Variables and Populist Voting, 1890 63 2 Voting Distribution by Town Size, 1890 67 3 Turnout and Residence, by Counties, 1890 69 4 Strength and Losses in Democratic Voting, 1888-1890 76 5 From Populist to Republican: Changes in Party Support for Selected Counties, 1890-1894 185 6 From Democrat to Populist: Changes in Party Support for Selected Counties, 1890-1895 186 7 Estimated Composition of People's Party in 1894 by Former Partisan Affiliation 188 8 Alternative Estimation of the Composition of the People's Party in 1894 by Former Partisan Affiliation 189 9 Correlation Coefficients between 1894 Party Votes and Economic Variables 190 This page intentionally left blank Preface The past two decades have witnessed a historiographical debate over the nature of Populism in which participants on each side have made facile judgments based on inconclusive evidence and incomplete research. Historians have carried on their debate largely apart from the political history of the period, and their analyses of Populism have suffered accordingly, with basic questions about the movement remaining unanswered, indeed unasked. Both his torical friends and critics of Populism have failed in the most elemental task of identifying their protagonists, and they have vir tually ignored the time dimension in arguing that Populists believed this, or that Populism represented that. Although the life of the People's party was quite short, the party and its adherents changed remarkably during that time, and no exposition on the nature of Populism which fails to account for this will add to our under standing. The purpose of this book is to examine precisely those changes that Populism experienced as it confronted American politics and society in the 1890s. I employ several methods of historical analysis, including quantitative techniques in addition to more traditional methodology, and I examine Populism at the personal, local, state, and national levels in an effort to review fully the transformation of the movement. Thus, although my study is broadly biographical, xii Preface I focus on William Alfred Peffer primarily to illustrate the changes within Populism. For this purpose, his career is unequaled: his six-year term in the United States Senate coincided exactly with the generally recognized birth and death dates of Populism; and with good reason, for he carried the title "Father of Populism" and was the foremost public representative of the movement in the 1890s, though historians have since neglected him. But Peffer merely illustrates the more important problems considered, and consequently much of this book finds him only distantly involved personally. I closely investigate the Populist politics of Kansas, for example, in order to suggest reasons for changes, decisions, and policy distinctions at the national level, though Peffer usually avoided any direct intervention in state politics at that time. The essence of Populism was that it was a political movement, and the essence of the People's party was that it was a political party. This study is therefore primarily political history, and I treat the issues that have bedeviled other historians primarily only insofar as they operated politically. There are of course some re flections on the interpretive debate, but I hope that the larger work of tracing the metamorphosis of the movement will itself provide a better clue to the problem of Populism in America. I am indebted to many people for many things. The late Professor George L. Anderson of the University of Kansas first aroused my interest in Populism and continued thereafter to encourage my work. Professor Gwen S. Argersinger of the University of New Mexico contributed immeasurably her time, assistance, and knowl edge in both the researching and writing of this study. Professor Allan G. Bogue of the University of Wisconsin directed the disserta tion on which this book is based and provided valuable advice and suggestions. Professor James D. Norris of the University of Missouri at St. Louis gave me reassuring advice and consistent support when I began this study. Professor David P. Thelen of the University of Missouri at Columbia gave an earlier form of the manuscript a critical reading and contributed many valuable comments and sug gestions. The staffs of many fine institutions, especially the Kansas State Historical Society and the State Historical Society of Wiscon sin, were helpful in a variety of ways. Portions of Chapter 2 Preface xiii originally appeared in the Kansas Historical Quarterly, and per mission to incorporate this material is gratefully acknowledged. My wife, Jo Ann Eady Argersinger, devoted her time, patience, and encouragement to the completion of this work and improved it in both style and substance. If, despite all this assistance, errors still persist, they are entirely mine and deservedly so. This page intentionally left blank CHAPTER ONE Farmers and Politics FROM THEIR very beginnings, Kansas and the Republican party were inextricably related. The difficulties of the territorial years, the struggle of the Civil War, and the postwar influx of Union veterans sustained their mutual attraction. As a one-party state, however, Kansas still witnessed the political turmoil of the 1860s and 1870s, for all political positions found representation within an active Republican party. The state GOP, with its flexibility and responsiveness, largely controlled those reform impulses that cul minated in Populism in the 1890s. Independent parties existed, but even during the economic collapse of the 1870s most reformers found it more convenient and productive to seek change within the existing party structure rather than through a third party. William Alfred Peffer fit the pattern of these cautious reformers. Born into a distinctive rural society in Pennsylvania in 1831, Peffer inherited an enduring belief in the classical virtues and values of an agrarian way of life. A temperance and antislavery agitator in his youth, he then settled in Indiana where he farmed and helped organize the Republican party locally in 1854. Following the Panic of 1857 he moved to Missouri only to flee in 1861 because of his Unionist sentiments and to join the Eighty-third Illinois Infantry. He served in Tennessee as a foot soldier, quartermaster, and judge advocate, which provided his enduring title, "Judge" Peffer. His 2 POPULISM and POLITICS liberal racial and political attitudes necessitated a postwar depar ture from Tennessee and in 1870 he settled in Kansas as an editor and lawyer. An active local reformer, Peffer nevertheless refused to break with the GOP in 1872 over the issue of political reform, insisting that greater reform and more reliable candidates were available through regular action. In 1874-1875, a period of drought and depression, Peffer worked as a Republican state senator to produce an effective political response to the troubles of destitute farmers and burdened town-dwellers. He scorned the Independent Reform party of those years as composed of shysters and charlatans whose reform interests involved only personal aggrandizement through an irresponsible indifference to public needs. Having suf fered in the past for his Republicanism, Peffer was unwilling to leave his party voluntarily during hard times and little sympathized with those who did.t Other Republicans were less demanding and not inclined to pun ish errant party members provided they returned quickly to the fold. Samuel N. Wood, a