10. That we deprecate the discrimination of American legislation against the greatest of American industries—agriculture, by which it has been deprived of nearly all beneficial legislation, while forced to bear the brunt of taxation; and we demand for it the fostering care of Government, and the just recognition of its importance in the development and advancement of our land; and we appeal to the American farmer to co-operate with us in our endeavors to advance the national interests of the country and the overthrow of monopoly in every shape, whenever and wherever found.
The National party, that was the legatee of the Greenback party, held its national convention at Indianapolis, on the 28th of May, with James B. Weaver, of Iowa, its president. General Benjamin F. Butler, of Massachusetts, was nominated for President on the 1st ballot, as follows:
| Benjamin F. Butler, Mass. | 322 |
| Jesse Harper, Ill. | 99 |
| Solon Chase, Me. | 2 |
| Edward P. Allis, Wis. | 1 |
| David Davis, Ill. | 1 |
General Butler was then declared the choice of the convention, but the motion to make it unanimous called out hisses from a portion of the delegates. A. M. West, of Mississippi, was nominated for Vice-President by acclamation. The following platform was adopted:
Eight years ago our young party met in this city for the first time, and proclaimed to the world its immortal principles, and placed before the American people as a Presidential candidate that great philanthropist and spotless statesman, Peter Cooper. Since that convention our party has organized all over the Union, and through discussion and agitation has been educating the people to a sense of their rights and duties to themselves and their country. These labors have accomplished wonders. We now have a great, harmonious party, and thousands who believe in our principles in the ranks of other parties.
“We point with pride to our history.” We forced the remonetization of the silver dollar; prevented the refunding of the public debt into long-time bonds; secured the payment of the bonds, until “the best banking system the world ever saw,” for robbing the producer, now totters because of its contracting foundation; we have stopped the wholesale destruction of the greenback currency, and secured a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States establishing forever the right of the people to issue their own money.
Notwithstanding all this, never in our history have the banks, land-grant railroads, and other monopolies been more insolent in their demands for further privileges—still more class legislation. In this emergency the dominant parties are arrayed against the people, and are the abject tools of the corporate monopolies.
In the last Congress, they repealed over twelve million dollars of annual taxes for the banks, throwing the burden upon the people to pay, or pay interest thereon.
Both old parties in the present Congress vie with each other in their efforts to further repeal taxes in order to stop the payment of the public debt and save the banks whose charters they have renewed for twenty years. Notwithstanding the distress of business, the shrinkage of wages, and panic, they persist in locking up, on various pretexts, four hundred million dollars of money, every dollar of which the people pay interest upon, and need, and most of which should be promptly applied to pay bonds now payable.
The old parties are united—as they cannot agree what taxes to repeal—in efforts to squander the income of the Government upon every pretext rather than pay the debt.