Farmer's Alliance Convention Ends in Chaos
A political assembly in Dayton dissolves into a brawl after the president is expelled.
The story, cleaned up
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The state convention of the Farmers’ Alliance, which met last week in Dayton, condemned Acting Governor Laughton and his work, demanding the reduction of taxes, a railroad bill for the relief of farmers, a tariff for revenue only, and the repeal of the national banking system. The convention recommended an amendment to the constitution so that school funds may be loaned to individuals on real estate security; favored unlimited coinage of domestic silver, and urged the enactment of a law to prevent the importation of armed men in the interest of corporations. The convention of the Alliance people at Dayton ended with a sensation. President Sutton became disgusted with the way things were running and left the meeting, whereupon, by resolution, he was expelled from the Alliance. One impassioned speaker got so worked up over the expelling of Sutton that in making his gestures, which were more forcible than elegant, he bit the delegate from Oaksdale in the mouth and knocked out a tooth.
“One impassioned speaker got so worked up over the expelling of Sutton that in making his gestures, which were more forcible than elegant, he bit the delegate from Oaksdale in the mouth and knocked out a tooth.”
The Farmers' Alliance was a powerful populist movement in the 1890s that challenged corporate monopolies, mirroring contemporary debates about the influence of corporate money in Washington politics and the struggles of independent agricultural producers.
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