A Death Oath in the Silver Federation—and a Man Who Vanished
The Spokane press called the Farmers' Protective Silver Federation secret, oath-bound, and rifle-armed, then linked it to the disappearance of Gloystein.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
By the constitution of the Farmers' Protective Silver Federation the order is unmistakably shown to be secret, oath-bound, political and rifle-armed. The ritual shows that the penalty of death is kept constantly before the members. The evidence of alarmed and awakened members confirms the common belief that at the meetings rank treason is spouted, the law reviled and the officers of the law denounced for the performance of their sworn duty. To a man the members are Populists, and the Populist party has constituents who are notoriously disloyal even in the open. Put these men behind closed doors, allow them to rub elbows with each other for several months, and if aught patriotic or loyal came of the gathering it would be a miracle.
Organizations of this character are bad to begin with, and grow worse with age. Their existence in a free country is wholly indefensible, and if good men stumble into them it is through misrepresentation and bad judgment. There is only one commendable thing for the Farmers' Protective Silver Federation to do—that is to die.
—Spokane Spokesman.
The Silver Federation is on the rack, and is now undergoing a course of treatment at the hands of the newspapers of the country that must be very distasteful to them. On another page will be found an article purporting to expose ritualistic and secret work of that organization, from the Spokane Spokesman, which paper alleges that it is the truth, and if it is so, it is very damaging in some respects, coming, as it does, at a time when the disappearance of Gloystein is laid at their door. After reading the article from the Spokesman the words of one of the leaders of the federation and a candidate for office come vividly before our mind. At an open meeting of that society, held in the U. B. church some time ago, that gentleman publicly stated that “a man had better be in hell with his back broke than to reveal any of the secrets of the Silver Federation.” The words of great men never die.
—Oakesdale Sun.
“A man had better be in hell with his back broke than to reveal any of the secrets of the Silver Federation.”
The 1894 panic over a secret, rifle-armed political order shows how easily electoral organizing could be painted as sedition—and how a local disappearance could turn a club into a public menace. Modern Washington still argues over the line between political association and intimidation, especially when armed groups attach themselves to parties and candidates. The names have changed, but the question has not.
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