New York Univ. Limary Euch! 3-23-1928 INTRODUCTION In dealing with the subject Populism in Alabama, it is the purpose of the writer to show as clearly as possible (1) the fundamental aspects of the commonwealth which gave birth to this insurgent movement; (2) to trace the history of the organizations, economic and political, upon which the Populist party was founded; (3) to study the workings of the Populists as an organized political force; (4) to show why the party passed; and (5) to attempt an evaluation of the significance of the movement —mediate and immediate—upon the state's history. The Populist Movement in a few other states has been studied, but no previous effort has been made in connection with the subject in Alabama. This one fact has obviously made the present study all the more difficult, forcing the author to "break the ice", as it were. Under such conditions, the chief source of material has necessarily been the contemporary newspapers and public records of the state. It has been no small task to ferret information from dusty, unindexed newspapers, buried away in dark closets. But that was not the worst obstacle. Newspaper data, amid heated political campaigns, are extremely partisan, hence often unreliable. This has placed upon the writer the burden of essaying for the first time an impartial interpretation of the material used. The author has no "axe to grind"; he holds brief for neither Republican, "Regularity" Democrat, "Jeffersonian" Democrat, nor "Simon-Pure" Populist. His aim in this essay has been to let the facts speak for themselves, knowing full well that neither faction was an amateur at propagandism. For valuable suggestions and many courtesies shown the essayist in the preparation of this monograph, thanks and appreciation are due, and are hereby gratefully expressed to Peter A. Brannon, Curator of the State De partment of Archives and History, Montgomery; to Judge Walter B. Jones, Montgomery; and to the following members of the Graduate Faculty of New York University, namely, Dean Marshall S. Brown and Professor John Musser, of the History Department; and Professors R. J. Swenson and E. C. Smith, of the Government Department. The work would have been practically impossible without the encouragement and clerical assistance of my wife, Lillie Pearce Clark. The many imperfections, however, in this initial study of Populism in Alabama are chargeable to the author. JOHN B. CLARK, Marion, Alabama |