((I have to say I agree on both counts... I personally would have no problem with the Republicans coming back, surprisingly enough
))-
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((I have to say I agree on both counts... I personally would have no problem with the Republicans coming back, surprisingly enough
))
(( if I recall, by 1910 the Harrison interlude is supposed to be punctuated with the Federalist's gradual/fated collapse happening; with the next party on the slot being a liberal party, not necessarily the Republicans, that will not be a Federalist style super-broad tent but will have both right-liberals and social liberals ))
((Anti-anti-trust; I like the sound of that!))
With all of this political controversy, I fear I may be losing my taste for politics. I will consider very carefully who I support.
((After the dust settles and the next update, I expect I'll be making a new character.))
With all of this political controversy, I fear I may be losing my taste for politics. I will consider very carefully who I support.
((After the dust settles and the next update, I expect I'll be making a new character.))
Mr. Khur, it saddens me to think that i once considered you an ally. Your fall to the depths of reactionary politics and pro-monopoly policies has made me determined to decide much more carefully on who I trust. Your opportunism is likely not isolated to yourself in this town.
I'm insulted that you'd accuse me of such plotting. Besides, he suggested it.
King, I know. It was premature, and I'm sorry. This holiday season's just got me down, with such controversy on the thread and little to no enjoyment in RL.
So, if you guys could try to be a little less combative, I'd really appreciate it.On a more election-related not: I just need Mikeboy's policies and I can post the update. Just a heads-up, 1896 is not going to end in sunshine and lollipops.
I knew all this government control and regulations (which helped create and entrench these monopolies) would make things bad!
(The dirty little secret about Monopolies, the governments role in forming them...)
I await the events of 1896 with bated breath, its hard getting information when one lives under a rock.
I await the events of 1896 with bated breath, its hard getting information when one lives under a rock.
(( Let's not discuss politics OOC. You know I would have some interesting and long-winded things to say on the subject of monopolies and governance. ))
I'm insulted that you'd accuse me of such plotting. Besides, he suggested it.
King, I know. It was premature, and I'm sorry. This holiday season's just got me down, with such controversy on the thread and little to no enjoyment in RL.
On a more election-related not: I just need Mikeboy's policies and I can post the update. Just a heads-up, 1896 is not going to end in sunshine and lollipops.
((So he knows he is gona be assassinated?
All kidding aside, I'll get over it. I hope things improve for you, we can't have your down mood negatively affecting every update from now on
Hopefuly we can get those policies soon and get this election underway.))
I hope things improve for you, we can't have your down mood negatively affecting every update from now on
OOC: Especially because, if he really wanted to, he could just make Harrison Supreme President For Life
OOC: Especially because, if he really wanted to, he could just make Harrison Supreme President For Life
Stop giving me ideas!
The Presidential Election of 1897
The National Conventions of 1896 were a spectacle the likes of which do not often happen in politics. The Democratic Party’s primary was the simplest and quickest; Joe Hayden was elected almost unanimously over Jimmy Nightmore. The Federal and American Conservative primaries however, were nowhere near as clear cut, and ended in the former splitting in half as far as the election of 1897 was concerned.
The ACP primary became a tight three-way race between Richard Orleans, Calvin Carr and Andrew Garrett. At first, many expected Garrett to win because of his long-standing status as a party faithful. However, Garrett’s position on monopolies drove the Titans away from him, and with them the votes of the party’s more business-minded members. Carr was able to scratch up the least votes, but still came close to winning the nomination each ballot.
The real contest however, was between Garrett and Orleans. Many party members feared Orleans’ status as a Titan would drive away voters, But Orleans assured them that Americans would “choose the right candidate, the candidate of business and prosperity”. On the thirty third ballot, Carr finally dropped out in order to break the deadlock, and Orleans’ “Pro-Trust” policies carried the day.
1. Richard Orleans, Owner of United Fruit and ACP candidate for 1897.
The Federal primary on the other hand, almost broke the party completely. James Harrison’s nomination had seemed at first to be a shoe-in, until Roderick Khur, disliking anti-trust laws, stepped in as a challenger. Through ten ballots, it was proven that the Federal Party was as bitterly divided over anti-trust as it was staunchly united in everything else. Over the next two days, the two candidates would exhaust all the options available to them.
Harrison went into talks with President Hayden on Day Two. The intention was that, should Harrison win the nomination, the Federal and Democratic Parties would form a coalition for 1897. When Khur seemed close to winning on the twenty eighth ballot, the president and Harrison agreed on simply nominating Harrison as Hayden’s vice-president. For all intents and purposes, it would have been a coalition ticket, and for the Federal Party, it could have ended in disaster, as New York and Pennsylvania were almost bound to follow Harrison.
Khur on the other hand, did all he could to gain the votes necessary to win. He engaged in more than twenty seven private meetings with congressmen from different Federal states on December 3rd alone. Slowly, in his conversations with senators and representatives from New York and Pennsylvania, Khur came to realize that if Harrison didn’t support him, he might lose the two most valuable and reliable states the party had.
2. Roderick Khur, c. 1896.
By now, the main bone of contention for most Federals was clearly not anti-trust, as numerous speeches held during the convention prove, but the idea of a coalition. Many Federals feared that by entering coalition with the Democratic Party as the vice-presidential candidate, they would signal that the party was dead and no longer believed in itself. Those who had voted against coalition in 1877 feared that the party would become as subservient as it had then.
Harrison reminded them that the party had experienced its two presidential victories in the elections after 1877. Khur meanwhile realized that it would be worse for the party to have New Yorkers and Pennsylvanians end up voting for the “Democratic” ticket than the proposed “Federal-Democratic” ticket. He pulled out, endorsing Harrison’s candidacy. When the two men embraced during the standing ovation that followed Khur’s concession speech, Harrison was reportedly crying “the most honest tears of respect that I have shed since 1861” [1].
The Federal-Democratic coalition would be a much more equal partnership than the one formed in 1877. Despite this, those party members who were most fervently anti-coalition or pro-trust left for the ACP National Convention. The ACP’s choice of a Titan at first ruffled some feathers, but in the end Orleans convinced the new arrivals too, even making Khur his pick for Vice-President. In his words “who better to hold our dialogue with business than a man they trust and relate to?” Unfortunately, one of the Titans would soon suffer one of the worst PR disasters in history.
3. Standard Oil “Enforcers” advance through a street in Devine.
The Devine Strike began in September 1896, when the 2,900 employees of Standard Oil’s local refinery marched out of the factory in protest against low pay and “dismal” working conditions [2]. At first Rockefeller just used strikebreakers, but when the strike began making headlines, he decided to end it as quickly as possible. He called in the dual hammer of Daniel Pinkerton’s Agency and his company’s own Enforcers [3]. Before Devine, only 27 workers had died in strike-related riots, and only 6 had been killed by enforcers.
The Enforcers and Pinkerton expected the strikers to break up their picket lines the moment they arrived at the factory. However, in the second largest city in Texas, supported by the local populace, the strikers were bolder than in other encounters. Slowly, the protest escalated to throwing rocks and bottles.
The captain of the Standard Oil Enforcers finally ordered his men to advance forward with bayonets after two hours of being pelted by all kinds of objects. The result was that the SOEs came within inches of the picket line before the captain decided to order a halt. He told the men to raise their rifles, hoping this would discourage the ever-growing crowd. It did not and, feeling threatened, the captain ordered his men to fire.
In the ensuing chaos, 38 people were killed. Some protesters decided to attack the SOEs head on, and the protest became a riot, which spread to the entire city. Two days later, the enforcers were pinned down outside the factory, Pinkerton had pulled out, and 62 more people had died in accidents and attacks on the SOEs. The state militia was sent in by Governor Garrison. When order was restored on December 16th, 361 Devine residents, 2 Pinkerton agents, 22 strike breakers, 31 SOEs and 12 militiamen were dead.
The nation was horrified. Rockefeller was dumbstruck, and Orleans was furious. He called Rockefeller, and berated him for “ruining any chance we had to gain sympathy with the workers” [4]. Rockefeller responded with “I do not give a damn about your politics or anti-trust at the moment Richard. I have committed the most horrible of sins. Whether Standard Oil is broken up or not doesn’t matter. I have amends to make”.
[1] – Harrison was referring to General Young’s victory speech in Washington at the end of the Civil War.
[2] – Although Standard Oil’s, and specifically its refiners’, working conditions were known to be some of the best in the country, the Devine factory’s were lower than usual.
[3] – Pinkerton’s was a “detective” agency specializing in industrial matters. The Enforcers were created in order to defend strikebreakers and deter strikers from attacking factories.
[4] – Respectively, Rockefeller and Orleans were using the second and third telephones ever produced in the United States. Until American companies got their hands on the telephone in 1886, the invention was relatively unknown. Americans quintupled its sales and production, giving almost every US household a phone by 1920.
The Candidates/Tickets of 1897
Election Manifesto of the Federal-Democratic Party
Presidential Candidate: Joe Hayden
Vice-Presidential Candidate: James Harrison
Presidential Candidate: Joe Hayden
Vice-Presidential Candidate: James Harrison
“Fellow Americans, I speak to you today as a man who has traveled this country for many years. I have walked among a people that are the greatest on earth. I have seen what this people want, and it is not monopoly and oligarchy. What this people want is prosperity, equal opportunity, workers’ rights and all the other things that Mr. Hayden and I stand for. And we all know that what Americans want is what is best for this nation”. – Federal-Democratic Vice-Presidential Candidate James Harrison
A New Era of Freedom
-We must disestablish the trusts which use their position to harm their workers and consumers alike, a true detriment to our nation. Anti-Trust legislation will be our first priority and we shall prosecute as many and as quickly as possible.
-The coffers of our treasury are overflowing, the workers deserve the bulk of this surplus, and therefore, we shall cut taxes on the low and middle brackets by 10% and on the upper class by 5%.
-The State Volunteer Service which has been so successful in New York shall be the new foundation of unemployment insurance across the nation. Money shall be made available to all the states to establish similar services.
-Due to recent developments in foreign affairs, it is our view that we should take a step back from activity in the Commonwealth and focus our efforts on building our influence independently of the Commonwealth in the Americas.
-We shall continue to maintain an open and accepting view towards immigration, allowing for all those who seek freedom and prosperity to come to our shores and make our nation stronger.
-We shall expand pension services to ensure that no person shall be incapable of caring for themselves after a full life of work. No person should have to work until death. Our elders have earned this basic right.
Election Manifesto of the American Conservative Party
Presidential Candidate: Richard Orleans
Vice-Presidential Candidate: Roderick Khur
Ladies and gentlemen of this great nation. The lifeblood of our nation; the factory worker, the simple farmer, the entrepreneur and businessman are under threat. They are threatened by being crushed into a life of subsistence work or unemployment due to inordinate taxation. Taxation which shall leave the investor without money to invest, the employer without money to employ, and the family provider without money to provide. This pattern, which has got only worse over the past several decades, in which the government interferes in the economy and builds up vast spending commitments amassing an inefficient and useless welfare system has to end. It was the cause for the crash, it was the cause for the rise of the monopolies that Harrison and Hayden feel need to be ridded with ever more interventionism. No more I say! It’s time for the people of America to cast off the shackles of ever increasing taxation and regulation that’s choking this economy to death.
That’s why I propose we slash taxation across the board, we slash regulation without mercy or remorse, and we slash the socialist welfare system and its cycle of unending growth. Tariffs will not be raised as they interfere in the market just as taxation and over-regulation do.
In foreign affairs I must say this is not the time for war, with anyone. This is the time for economic recovery and non-interference. However we must use our diplomatic might to stop the UPCA interfering in our sphere of influence which is essential to our economic wellbeing. The military shall neither grow nor shrink, it is at an acceptable level, and we needn’t waste yet more of the people’s money building a surplus army or navy.
I say to you, the people of America; vote Orleans-Khur and avoid a dark and socialist future as we enter the new century.
------------------------
Exceptional Situation(s):
A moment of silence for all those lost at Devine. I told you it wasn't going to be sunshine and lollipops.
Now, voting time.
Richard Orleans
His economic policy is strong (though his motives may be in question, they will help the country recover, and I have no problem with that). And my concern about his hawkishness was relieved by his much more moderate foreign policy (though Hayden's newfound coolness towards the Commonwealth is a welcome relief as well).
I certainly hope that America will elect the candidate that is best suited for an economic recovery, Mr. Orleans.
On the matter of this violent put down at Devine, I am greatly concerned, and would have n problem supporting legislation opposing such aggressive, brutal busts... Being pro-business and supportive of workers is not two separate spheres; the government's role in such negiations and legislation though must be watched like a hawk.
His economic policy is strong (though his motives may be in question, they will help the country recover, and I have no problem with that). And my concern about his hawkishness was relieved by his much more moderate foreign policy (though Hayden's newfound coolness towards the Commonwealth is a welcome relief as well).
I certainly hope that America will elect the candidate that is best suited for an economic recovery, Mr. Orleans.
On the matter of this violent put down at Devine, I am greatly concerned, and would have n problem supporting legislation opposing such aggressive, brutal busts... Being pro-business and supportive of workers is not two separate spheres; the government's role in such negiations and legislation though must be watched like a hawk.
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((I think this election is going to be very.... um... what's the word... decisive...
Of course, a turnaround is always possible, and seem to be the norm now...
Also, is it just me, or ha every party that's done well suddenly fall apart within ten years?))
Of course, a turnaround is always possible, and seem to be the norm now...
Also, is it just me, or ha every party that's done well suddenly fall apart within ten years?))
Remember, only well-known supporters of Mr. Orleans have voted.
As for that fall-apart thing: Republicans, New Democrats, Federals. Indeed, only the Whigs survived for 10 years post-victory.