After the Greenback party lost the place it had
for a fleeting moment obtained, labor once more
essayed the rôle of a third party. In 1886, for in-
stance, the Knights of Labor and the trades unions,
for once coöperating harmoniously, joined forces
locally with the moribund Greenbackers, and with
farmers' organizations and won notable successes
at the polls in various parts of the Union, particu-
larly in the Middle Atlantic and Western States.
Emboldened by such victories, the discontented
farmers were induced to cast in their lot with labor;
and for the next few years, the nation saw the man-
ifestoes of a party which combined the demands of
labor and agriculture in platforms constructed not
unlike a crazy-quilt, with Henry George, James
Buchanan, and Alson J. Streeter presiding at the
sewing-bee and attempting to fit into the patch-
work the diverse and frequently clashing shades of
opinion represented in the party. In 1888, Street-
er, ex-president of the Northwestern Alliance, was
nominated for President on the Union Labor ticket
and received 146,935 votes in 27 of the 38 States.
Despite its name and some support from the East-
ern workers, the new party was predominantly
Western: more than half of its total vote was polled
in Kansas, Texas, Missouri, and Arkansas. In the

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