LAD #19

Big Business was one of the major problems of the Gilded Age. The populist party was composed primarily of people against big business, most of them angry farmers. They did not fit the catagory of liberal or conservative, but represented themselves through an independent party. Those in the populist party stood against a concentration of wealth among the wealthy elite, and a more stable or fair system of electing officials. The populists were eager to rid monetary indulgences from the office of any politician. The Populist Party wanted to reduce the power of Big Business and its impact on the government, and wanted more power in the comman person's hands. Needless to say, they sided with abused workers who could not afford to buy the products they toiled away making. They wanted to see more wealth go to the workers, and were pro-union. Another main issue was income tax. Populists felt that income tax should be a gradual rate, so that those who could not afford to pay as much were not subjected to the same flat rate, and those who were wealthy did not get away with paying only microscopic portion of their earnings.
The populist party were against immigration, because they made working conditions worse for the common man, in that immigrants would work at a lower standard, for less pay. Like unions, they called for short hours and more pay.