A letter to the editor written by Reverend John L. Moore of the Colored Farmers’ National Alliance and Cooperative Union appeared in the National Economist newspaper, published in Washington, D.C., on March 7, 1891. It was reprinted from a newspaper in Jacksonville, Florida, that had featured an attack on leaders of the Colored Farmers’ National Alliance for its support of the Lodge election bill—a proposed congressional bill that would provide for the federal supervision of elections in the South. The letter, referred to here as “In the Lion’s Mouth” (usually noted as “Moore’s letter” in documents), is in reference to a metaphor used by Moore in which he saw African Americans and white independents increasingly placing themselves in a politically vulnerable situation by allowing professional politicians to represent their interests instead of fielding their own candidates.