THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE THE CONSTITUTION OF THE AND I All the Platforms of All Parties .~ Price 25 Cents

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The Platform v Text Book

CONTAINING

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES,

. . . AlvD . . . All the Platforms of All Parties,

PRICE 25 CENTS.

Entered as Second Class Matter at Post-Office, Omaha, Neb.

VINCENT PUBLISHING CO.,

I 812 Chicago Street, OMAHA, NEB. OOPYRIGHT, 1900

@. WANT. PREFACE. 7

This compilation is presented at this time because, for severA years last past, the trend of political events has been toward an abandon- ment of the traditions and simplicity and purity, and even of the form of government that was bequeathed to us at such a cost of blood and treasure, and has shown a tendency to react from those high ideals to a . closer pattern after and sympathy with old world models. It is believed that a perusal of all party platforms, in the light of the Declaration of Indepeudellce and the Constitution of our Country, will show clearly the point of divergence from a safe political course, and the point to which we must retrace our steps. Such a perusal will also show at least two complete changes or reversals in the principles of the parties dominant at the time of those changes, and will enable the young voters more clearly to discern the truth touching the claims of political parties to the support of the people. It is hoped that persons perusing these pages will put every party pledge and utterance to the test suggested in the ‘6 Preamble ta the Constitution,” and note whether the party pledges are Calculated to subserve the ends therein expressed. Omaha, July 6. 1900. THE COMPILEB, . TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE. Declaration of Independence...... 7 Oonstitution of the United States ...... Washington Elected ...... f i Virginia Resolutious...... ~ . 24 First Republican Platform ...... 26 First Federalist Platform ...... 28 Hartford Resolution ...... 29 Manufacturers’ Resolutions ...... 32 Democratic Platforms...... 1832-34; 1536-35; 1840-37; 1844-39; 1848-43; 1852-48; 185657; 1860-64; 1864-68; 1868-71; 1872-72; 1876-86; 1880-92; 1884-100 Republican Platforms...... 1800-26; 1856-54; 1860-61; 1864-66, 6’7; ...... 1868-69; 1872-78; 1876-83; 1880-89. Radical Republican Platform ...... 1864-66 Free Soil Platforms...... 46-51 Liberty Party Platform6 ...... 39 Platform...... 56-63 American National Platform...... 81 “Greenback” Platform ...... El-93 Platforms ...... -...... 75-8 2 Liberal Republican Platforms...... 76 Whig Platforms ...... 36-39-42-50 Prohibition Platform of 1880 ...... 90 Resultof Electionof 1880 ...... 97 Campaign of 1884...... 98 Democratic Platform of 1884...... 100 ProhibitiouPlatformof 1884 ...... 164 National (Greenback) Platform of 1884 ...... 107 American Platform...... 108 Equal Rights Platform ...... 109 Result of Election of 1884 ...... 111 Campaign of l&65 ...... 111 Republican Platform of 1888 ...... 111 Democratic Platform of 1888 ...... 115 Prohibition Platform of 1888 ...... 117 Union Labor Platform of 1888 ...... 118 Industrial ReformPlatformOf 1888 ...... 1lQ Result of Election of 1888 ...... 120 People’s Party Organized...... 120 People’s Party Platform...... 120 Resolution of St. Louis Conference ...... 122 Campaign of 1892 ...... 123 Republican Platform of 1892 ...... 124 4 COSTESTS. 3 _____ PAGE. Democratic Platform of 1892...... 126 Prohibition Platform of 1892 ...... 130 OmahaPlatform...... 131 UnionofthePeople...... 133 QuestionofFinance...... 133 Controlof Transportation...... 134 Reclaiming the Land...... 134 SocialisticPlatf0rmofl892...... 134 PoliticalDemands...... 135 ResultofElectionof1892...... 135 Campaign of 1896...... _ 136 ProhibitionPlatform of 1896...... 136 NationalParty Platform...... 136 Republican Platform of 1896 ..C.“...... _...... 137 Allegiance to Protection Renewed ...... #...... 138 Declaration on Reciprocity...... 138 Against Free Coinage...... 139 Armenian Massacresandcuba...... 139 Foreign Immigration...... -...... 140 Temperance and Woman’s Rights...... ,...... 140 DemocraticPlatformofl696...... 141 Platform...... 144 People’s Party Platform of 1896...... _ . . . , . , ...... ,...... 145 Finance...... 145 #I!rnyportatioa ...... 146 ...... 146 DirectLegislation...... 146 GeneralPropositions...... 147 Socialist Labor Platform of 1896 ...... L...... 147 Resolutions ...... 148 The Indianapolis Platform...... 149 Resultof ElectionNov. 3,1896...... 151 President McKinley’s Cabinet...... , ...... _ ...... 152 Campaignof1900...... 152 People’s Party Platform of 1900...... 153 DemocraticPlatformofl900...... 155 Republican PlatformoflSOO...... 159 SilverRepublicanPlatform...... 163 Middle-of-the-Road Populist Platform ...... 166 ProhibitionPlatformfor lgoo...... 167 Socialist Labor Platform for 1900 ...... 170 Socialist Platform of 1904...... 172 Republican Platform of 1904...... : . . . . 175 Democratic Platform of 1904...... 180 Prohibition Platform of 1904...... IS4 Socialist Platform of 1908...... 1S6 ‘&p~~b]jcan Platform of 1905...... lS9 ])elnocratic Pltxtform of 1908...... 196 proljjl,jtinj~ Platforlll Of 1908...... 202 Indepei~dencv Platform of 1905...... f 203

I c

THEDECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE,

On June 7th, 1776, in the ColoniaI “A DECLARATION BY THE REP- RESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED (Congress, Richard Henry Lee, of Vir- STATES OF AMERICA, IN CON- ginia, offered a resolution that, GRESS ASSEMBLED. “THESE UNITED COLONIES ARE, When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one AND OF RIGHT OUGHT ‘I’C BE, people to dissolve the political bands FREE AND INDEPENDENT which have connected them with an- STATES.” other, and to assume among the pow- ers of the earth, the separate and A committee was appointed to draft equal station to which the laws of a suitable declaration. The members nature and of nature’s God entitle of that committee were Thomas Jeffer- them, a decent respect to the opinions son, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, of mankind requires that they should Roger Sherman and Robert R. Living- declare the causes which impel them stone. Lee’s resolution having been to the separation. submitted to the several colonies was We hold these truths to be self-evi- favorably passed by twelve, dent, that all men are created equal; alone failing to unite in the action, that they are endowed by their Crea- and on July 2nd, the Congress having tor with certain inalienable rights; official notice of the action of the sev- that among these are life, liberty and eral colonies proceeded to discuss the the pursuit of happiness. That to se- declaration and on July 4th adopted cure these rights, governments are in- the same, which transaction is thus re- stituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the corded in the journal for that day. governed; that, whenever any form of “Agreeably to the order of the day, government becomes destructive of the Congress resolved itself into a com- these ends, it is the right of the people mittee of the whole. to take into their to alter or to abolish it, and to insti- further consideration the Declaration; tute a new government, laying its and, after some time, the President Fe- foundations on such principles, and or- sumed the chair, and Mr. Harrison re- ganizing its uowers in such form. as ported that the committee have agreed to them shall seem most likely to to a Declaration, which they desired effect their safety and happiness. Pru- him to report.” dence. indeed. will dictate-that govern- The Declaration being *read was ments long established should-not be agreed to as follows: changed for light and transient causes; % THE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK. -. = and, accordingly, all experience hath (3rs, incapable of annihilation, have re- shown that mankind are more dis- 1turned to the people at large for their posed to suffer, while ,eviLs are suffer- ,exercise; the State remaining in the able, than to right them by abolishing 1meantime exposed to all the danger of the -forms to which they are accus- 1invasion from without, and convul- tomed. But when a long train of sions within. abuses and usurpations, pursuing in- He has endeavored to prevent the variably the same object, evinces a de- 1population of these States; for that sign to reduce them under absolute I purpose, obstructing the laws for nat- despotism, it is their right, it is their Iuralization of foreizners: refusing to duty to throw off such government, pass others to encoirage’their migra- and to provide new guards for their tion hither, and raising the conditions future security. Such has been the ,of new appropriations of lands. patient sufferance of these colonies, He has obstructed the administ.ra- and such is now& the necessity which tfon of justice, by refusing his assent constrains them to alter their former to laws for establishing pow- systems of government. The history Iers. of the present King of Great Britain He has made judges dependent on is a history of repeated injuries and his will alone, for the tenure of their usurpations, all having in direct ob- offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. “~~iect the establishment af an absolute tyranny over these States. T,o prove He has erected a multitude of new this let facts be submitted to a can- offices, and sent hither swarms of offi- did world: cers to harass our people, ami eat out He has refused his assent to laws their substance. the most wholesome and necessary for He has kept among us in times of the public good. peace, standing armies, without the He has forbidden his Governors to consent of our legislature. uass laws of immediate and aressing He has affected to render the mili- importance, unless suspended -in their tary independent of, and superior to, operation till his assent should be the civil power. obtained; and when so suspended, he He has combined with others, to has utterly neglected to attend to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to them. our constitution, and unacknowledged He has refused to pass other laws by our laws; giving his assent to their for the accommodation of large dis- acts of pretended legislation. tricts of neonle. unless those ueonle For quartering large bodies of armed would relinquish the right of repre- trooas among us: sentation in the legislature; a right For protecting them, by a mock inestimable to them, and formidable trial, from punishment for any mur- to tyrants only. I ders which they should commit on the He has called together legislative inhabitants of these States: bodies at places unusual, uncomfort- For cutting off our trade with all able, and distant from the depository parts of the world: of their public records, for the sole For imposing taxes on us without measure of fatiguing them into com- our consent: pliance with his measures. For depriving us, in many cases, af He has dissolved representative the benefits of trial by jury: houses repeatedly ,for opposing, with For transporting us beyond the seas manly brmness, his invasions on the to be tried for pretended offenses: rights of the people. For abolishing the free system of He has refused, for a long time after English laws in a neighboring prov- such dissolution, to cause others to be ince, establishing therein an arbitrary elected; whereby the legislative pow- government, and enlarging its bounda- DE~L.~HATI~~~ OF INDEPENDENCE. 9 ries. 80 a8 tc render it at once an ex- md settlement here. We have appealed ample and fit instrument for intro- .o their native justice and magnanim- ducing the same absolute rule into ty and we have conjured them, by the these colonies: .ies of our common kindred to disavow For taking away our charters, abol- :hese usurpations, which .would inevi- ishing our -most -valuable laws, and :ably interrupt our connections and altering fundamentally the powers of :orrespondence. They, too, have been our government: leaf to the voice of justice and con- For suspending our own legislatures, languinity. We must, therefore, ac- and declaring themselves invested luiesce in the necessity which de- with power to legislate for us in all nands our separation, and hold them cases whatsoever. ts we hold the rest of mankind, ene- He has’ abdicated government here, nies in war, in peace, friends. by declaring us out of his protection, We, therefore, the representatives of and waging war against us. ;he UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, He has plundered our seas, ravaged n GENERAL CONGRESS assembled, our coasts, burnt our towns, and de- Lppealing to the Supreme Judge of the stroyed the lives of our people. World for the re.ctitude of our inten- He is, at this time, transporting ions, do, in the name, and by the au- large armies of foreign mercenaries to :hority of the good people of these col- complete the work of death, desola- mies. solemn’lv uublish and declare: tion. and tvrannv. alreadv begun. Ihat’ these United Colonies are, and with circumstances-of cruelty and per: If right ought to be FREE AND IN- fidy scarcely paralleled in the most DEPENDENT STATES; that they are barbarous ages, and totally unworthy sbsolved from all allegiance to the the head of a civilized nation. British crown, and that-political con- He has constrained our fellow-citi- rection between them and the State of zens, taken captive on the high seas, Great Britain is, and ought to be to- to bear arms against their country, to tally dissolved: and that, as FREE become the executioners of their AND INDEPENDENT STATES, they friends and brethren, or to fall them- have full power to levy war, conclude selves by their hands. peace, contract alliances, estaMish He has excited domestic insurrec- commerce, and do all other acts and tions amongst us. and has endeavored thinas which I N D E P E N D E N T to bring on the’ inhabitants of our STATES may of right do. And, for frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, the support of this declaration, and whose known rule of warfare is an’un- in a firm reliance upon the protection distinguished destruction of all ages, of DIVINE PROVIDENCE, we mutual- sexes and conditions. ly pledge to each other our lives, our In every stage of these oppressions fortunes, and our sacred honor.” we have petitioned for redress, in the The foregoing declaration was, by most humble terms; our repeated peti- order of Congress, engrossed,- and tions have been answerecl only by re- signed by the following members: peated injury. A prince, whose char- New Hampshire-Josiah Bartlett, acter is thus marked by every act William Whipple, Matthew Thornton. which mav define a tyrant. is unfit tc Massachusetts-Samuel Adams, John be the ruler of a free people. Adams, Robert T. Paine, Elbridge Nor have we been wanting in atten- Gerry. tion to our British brethren. We have Rhode Island-Stephen Hopkins, warned them from time to time. oi William Ellerv. attempts made by their Legislature tc ConnecticutLRoger Sherman, Sam- extend an unwarrantable jurisdictior uel Huntington, William Williams, OI- over us. We have reminded them 01 iver Wolcott. the circumstances of our emigratior New York-William Floyd, Philip 10 THE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK.

Livingstone, Francis Lewis, Lewis COCK, Charles Carroll, of Carrollton. Morris. Virginia-George Wythe, Richard New Jersev-Richard Stockton, John Henry Lee, , Benja- Witherspoon; Francis Hopkinson, John min Harrison, Thomas .Nelson, Jr., Hart, Abraham Clark. Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Bray- Pennsylvania-Robert Morris, Ben- ton. jamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, Jolin North Carolina-William Hooper, Morton, John Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Joseph Hewes, John Penn. Ross. South Carolina-Edward Rutledge, -, George Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Read, Thomas McKean. Jr., Arthur Middleton. Maryland-Samuel Chase, William Georgia-Button Gwinnett, Lyman Paca, Thomas Stone, JOHN HAN- Hall, George Walton.

t I CONSTlTUTIOh OF THE UNITED STATES.

We the People of the United States’, in and excluding Indians not taxed, three- order to form a more perrect Union, fifths of all’other persons. The actual establish justice, insure domestic enumeration shall be made within tranquillity, provide for the common three years after the lirst meef- defense, promote the general welfare, ing of the Congress of the United and secure the blessings of liberty States, and within every subsequent to ourselves and our posterity, do term of ten years, in suoh manner as ordain and establish this Constitu- they shall by law direct. The nu,mber tion for the United States of Amer- of representatives shall not exceed one ica. for every thirty thousand, but each ARTICLE I. State shall have at least one represen- Section I.-All legislative powers tative: and until such enumerafIon herein granted shall be vested in a shall be made the State of New Hamp- Congress of the United States, which shire shall be entitled to. choose three; shall consist of a Senate and House of Massachustts, eight; Rhode Island and Representatives. Providence Plantations, one: Connecti- Sec. 11.-l. The House of Represen- cut, five; New York, six; N 117Jersey, tatives shall be composed of members four; Pennsylvania, eight; =-telaware, chosen every second year by the peo- one; Maryland, six; Virginia, ten; ple of the several States, and electors North Carolina. five: South Carolina. in each State shall have the qualifica- five; and Georgia, three. tions requisite for electors of the most 4. When vacancies happen in the numerous branch of the State Legisla- representation from any State, the ex- ture. ecutive authority thereof shall issue 2. No person shall be a Representa- writs of election to fill such vacan- tive who shall not have attained to the cies. age of twenty-five years, and been 5. The House of Representatives seven years a citizen of the United shall choose their speaker and other States,-and who shall not, when elect- officers; and shall have the sole power ed, be an inh,abitant of that State in of im.peachment. which he shall be chosen. Sec. 111.-l. The Senate of the United 3. Representatives and direct taxes States shall be composed of two sena- shall be apportioned among the sev- tors from each State, chosen by the eral States w,hich ‘may be included legislature thereof, for six years; and within this Union, according to their each senator shall have one vote. resneotive numbers. which shall be de- 2. ‘Im~mediately after they shall be termined by adding to the whole num- assembled in consequence of the first ber of free persons, including those election; they shall be divided as equal- bound to service for a term of Years, ly as may be into three classes. The 1 1 12 THE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK. seats of the senators of the first-class time by law make or alter such regu- shall be vacated at the expiration of lations, except as to the places of the second year, the second-class at zhoosing senators. the expiration of the fourth year, and 2. The Congress shall assemble at of the third-class at the expiration least once in every year. and such of the sixth year, so that one-third meeting shall be on the first Monday may be chosen every second year; and in December, unless they shall by law if vacancies happen by resignation, or uppoint a different day. otherwise, during the recess of the Sec. V.--l. Each house shall be legislature of any State, the executive judge of the elections, returns and thereof may make temporary appoint- qualifications of its own members, aents until the next meeting of the %nd a majority of each shall constitute legislature, which shall then fill such i auorum to do business: but a smaller vacancies. number may adjourn from d’ay to day, 3. No person shall be a senator who and may be authorized to compel the shall not have attained the age of attendance of absent members, in such thirty years, and been nine years a manner, and under suoh penalties as citizen of the United States, and who each house may provide. g shall not, when elected, be an inhabi- 2. Each house may determine the tant of that State for which he shall rules of its proceedings, punish its be chosen. members for disorderly behavior, and 4. The Vice-President of the United with the concurrence of two-thirds, States shall be President of the Sen- expel a mem.ber. ate. but shall have no vote, unless they 3. Each house shall keep a journal of be equaliy divided. its proceedings, and from time to time 5. ‘The Senate shall choose their oth- publish the same, excepting such er officers, and also a, President pro parts as may in their judgment re- tempore, in the absence of the Vice- quire secrecy; and the yeas and nays President, or when he shall exercise of the members of either house on any the office of President of the United question shall, at the desire of one- States. tifth of those present,. be entered on 6. ,The Senate shall have the sole the journal. power to try all impeachments. When 4. Neither house, during the session sitting for that purpose they shall be of Congress, shall, without the consent on oath or affirmation. When the of the other, adjourn for more than President of the United States is tried, three days, nor to any other place than the Chief Justice shall preside; and that in which the .two houses shall be no person shall be convicted without sitting. the concurrence of two-thirds of the Sec. VI.-1. The senators and repre- members present. sentatives shall receive a compensa- 7. Judgment in cases of imneachment tion for their services, to be ascer- shall not extend further than to re- tained by law, and paid out of the moval from office, and disqualification Treasury of the United States. They to hold and enjoy any office of honor, shall in all cases, except treason, fel- trust or nrofit under the United States: ony, and breach of the peace, be priv- but the party convicted shall neverthe- ileged from arrest during their attend- less be liable and subject to indict- ance at the session of their respective ment, trial, judgment and punishment, houses, and going to and returning accordine to law. from the same; and for any speech or Sec. 1+.-l. The times, places and debate in either house, they shall not manner of holding elections for sena- be questioned in any other place. tors and representatives, shall be pre- 2. No senator or representative shalI, scribed in the State by the legislature during the time for which he was thereof; but the Congress may at any elected, be appointed to any civil o5ce CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 13 under the authority of the United 3f Representatives, according to the States, which shall have been created, rules and limitations prescribed in the or the emoluments whereof shall have :ase of a bill. been increased durina such ti,me: and .Sec. VIII.-The Congress shall have no person holding any office under the power- United States, shall be a member of 1. To lax and collect taxes, duties,‘ either house during his continuance in imposts and excises, to pay the debts office. and Drovide ,for the common defense Sec. VII.-1. All bills for raising rev- and general welfare of the United enue shall originate in the House of States; but all duties, imposts and ex- Representatives; but the Senate may cises shall be uniform throughout the propose or concur with amendments United States. as on other bills. 2. To borrow money on the credit of 2. Every bill which shall have passed the United States. the House of Representatives and the 3. To regulate commerce with for- Senate. shall. before it become a law. eign nations. and among the several be presented’ to the President of the States, and with the Indian tribes. United States; if he approve he shall 4. To establish an uniform rule of sign it; but if not he shall return it, naturalization, and uniform laws on with his objections. to that house in the subject of bankruptcies throughout which it shall have originated, who the Uni’ted States. shall enter the objections at large on 5. To coin money, regulate the value their journal, and proceed to recon- thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix sider it. If after such reconsideration the standard of weights and measures. two-thirds of that house shall agree to 6. To provide for the punishment of pass the bill, it shall be sent, together counterfeiting the securities and cur- with the objections, to the other house, rent coin of the United States. by which it shall likewise be recon- 7. To establish postoffices and post sidered, and if approved by two-thirds roads. of that house, it shall become a law. 8. To promote the progress of sci- But in all such cases the votes of both ence and useful arts, by securing for houses shall be determined by yeas limited times to authors and inventors and nays, and the names of the per- the exclusive right to their resaective sons voting for and against the bill writings and discoveries. - shall be entered on the journal of 9. To constitute tribunals inferior to each house respectively. If any bill the Supreme Court. shall not be returned by the President 10. To deflne and Dunish uiracies and within ten days (Sundays excepted) felonies committed: on the high seas, after it shall have been presented to and offenses against the law of na- him, the same shall be a law, in like tions. manner as if he had signed it, unless 11. To declare war, grant letters of ,the Congress by their adjournment marque and reprisal, and make rules prevent its return, in which case it concerning captures on land and shall not be a law. water. 3. Every order, resolution, or vote 12. To raise and support armies, bunt to which the concurrence of the Sen- no appropriation of money to that use ate and House of Representatives may shall be for a longer term than two be necessary (exce3t on a question of years. adjournment) shall be Dresented to 13. To provide and maintain a navy. the President of the United States: 14. To make rules for the govern- and before the same shall take effeot, ment and regulation of the land and shall be approved by hlm, or being naval forces. disapproved by him, shall be re-passed 15. To provide for calling forth the by two-thirds of the Senate and House militia to execute the laws of the 14 THE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK.

Union, suppress insurrections and re- any regulation of commerce or revenue pel invasions. to the ports of one State over those 16. To provide for organizing, arm- of another; nor shall vessels bound to, ing, and disciplining the militia, and or from, one State, be obliged to enter, for governing such part of them as clear, or pay duties in another. may be employed in the service of the 7. No money shall be drawn from the United States, reserving to the States treasury, but in consequence of appro- respectively, the appointment of the priations made by law; and a regular officers, and the authority of training statement and account of the receipts the militia according to the discipline and expenditures of all public money prescribed by Congress. shall be published from time to time. 1’7. To exercise exclusive legislation 8. No title of nobility shall be grant- in all cases whatsoever, over such dis- ed by the United States; and no per- trict (not exceeding ten miles square) son holding any office of profit and as may, by cession of particular States, trust under them, shall, without the and the acceptance of Congress, be- consent of the Congress, accept any come the seat of the government of present, emolument, office, or title! of the United States, and to exercise like any kind whatever, from any king, authority over all places purchased by prince, or foreign State. the consent of the legislature of the Sec. X.-l. No State shall enter into State in which the same shall be, for any treaty, alliance, or confederation; thn erection of forts. magazines, arse- grant letters of marque and reprisal; nals. docx-yards. and other needful coin money; emit bills of credit; make buildings; and ‘. anything but gold and silver coin a 18. To make all laws which shall be tender in payment of debts; pass any necessary and proper for carrying into bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or execution the foregoing powers, and impairing the obligation of contracts, other powers vested by this Constitu- or grant any title of nobility. tion in the government of the United 2. No State shall, without the con- States, or in any department or oiIlcer sent of the Congress, lay any imposts thereof. or duties on imports or exports, except Sec. 1X.-l. The migration or impor- what may be absolutely necessary for tation of such persons as any of the executing its inspection law; and the States now existing shall think proper net produce of all duties and imposts, to admit, shall not be prohibited by laid by any State on imports or ex- the Congress prior to the year one ports, shall be for the use of the Treas- thousand, eight hundred and eight, but ury of the United States; and all such a tax or duty may be imposed on such laws shall be subject to the revision importation, not exceeding ten dollars and control of the Congress. for each person. 3. No State shall, without the con- 2. The privilege of the writ of ha- sent of Congress, lay any duty of ton- beas corpus shall not be suspended, nage, keep troops, or ships of war in unless when in cases of rebellion or time of peace, enter into any agree- invasion the public safety may re- ment or compact with another State, quire it. or with a foreign power, or engage in 3. No bill of attainder or ex post war, unless actually invaded, or in facto law shall be passed. such imminent danger as will not ad- 4. No capitation, or other direct, tax mit of delay. shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration hereinbe- ARTICLE II. fore directed to be taken. Section I.-l. The executive power 5. No tax or duty shall be laid on shall be vested in a Preslcient of the articles exported from any State. United States of America. He shall 6. No preference shall be given by hold his of&e during the rerm of four CONBTITUTION OF THE UNITED BTATER. 15

years, and, together with the Vice- Senate shall choose from them the President, chosen for the same term, Vice-President. be elected as follows: Annulled. See Amendments, Article i 2. Each State shall appoint, in such XII. manner as the legislature thereof may 4. ‘The Congress may determine the direct, a number of electors, equal to time of choosing the electors, and the the whole number of senators and ren- dav on which thev shall give their resentatives to which the State may votes; which day shall be-the same be entitled in the Congress; but no throughout the United States. senator or representative, or person 5. No person except a natural-born holding an office of trust or profit un- citizen, or* a citizen of the United der the United States, shall be ap- States, at the time of the adoption of pointed an elector. this Constitution, shall be eligible to 3. The electors shall meet in their the office of President; neither shall respective States, and vote by ballot any nerson be eligible to that otlice for two uersons. of whom one at least who shall not have attained to the shall noi be an inhabitant of the same age of thirty-dve years, and been four- State with themselves. And they shall teen years a resident within the United make a list of all the persons voted States. for, and of the number of votes for 6. In case of the removal of the Pres- each; which list they shall sign and ident from oihce, or of his death, resig- certify, and transmit sealed to the nation or inability to discharge the seat of government of the United powers and duties of the said office, States, directed to the President of the the same shall devolve upon the Vice- Senate. The President of the Senate President, and the Congress may by shall, in the presence of the Senate law provide for the case of removal, and House of Representatives, open all death, resignation or inability, both of the certiilcates, and the votes shall the President and Vice-President, de- then be counted. The nerson having claring what officer shall then act as the greatest number of votes shall be President, and such omcer shall act the President, if such number be a accordingly, until the disability be re- majority of the whole number of elec- moved, or a President shall be elected. tors appointed; and if there be ‘more 7. The President shall, at stated than one who have such majority, and times, receive for his services, a com- have an equal number of votes, then pensation, which shall neither be in- the House of Representatives shall im- creased nor diminished during the pe- mediately choose by ballot one of riod for which he shall have been them for President; and if no person elected, and he shall not receive with- shall have a majority, then from the in that period any other emolument five highest on the list the said House from the United States, or any of shall in like manner choose the Presi- them. dent. But in choosing the President 8. Before he enter on the execution the votes shall be taken by States, the of his office, he shall take the follow- representation from each State h%ving ing oath or affirmation: one vote; a quorum for this purpose “I do solemnlv swear for a5rm) shall consist of a member or members that I will faithfully execute the office from two-thirds of the States, and a of President of the United States, and majority of all the States shall be will to the best of my ability, pre- necessary to a choice. In every case, serve, protect and defend the Constitu- after the choice of the President, the tion of the United States.” .person having the greatest number of Sec. 11.-l. The President shall be votes of the electors shall be the Vice- the Commander-in-Chief of the Army President. But if there should remain and Navy of the United States, and of two or more who have equal votes, the the militia of the several States, when 16 THE PLATFORM TEXT BOOR. called into the actual service of the of, treason, bribery, or other high United States; he may require the crimes and misdemeanors. opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive denart- ARTICLE III. men&, upon any subject relating to Section I.-The judicial power of me the duties of their respective oillces United States shall be vested in one and he shall have power to grant re- Supreme Court, and in such inferior prieves and pardons for offenses courts as the Congress may from time against the United States except in to time ordain and establish. The cases of impeachment. judges, both of the Supreme and infe\- 2. He shall have power, by and with rior courts, shall hold their offices dur- the advice and consent of the Senate, ing good behavior, and shall, at stated to make treaties. nrovided two-thirds times, receive for their services, a of the Senate present concur; and he compensation, which shall not be Iii- shall nominate, and by and with the minished during their continuance in advice and consent of the Senate, office. shall appoint ambassadors, and other Sec. 11.-l. The judicial power shalI public ministers and consuls, Judges extend to all cases, in law-and equity, of the Supreme Court, and all other arising under this Constitution, the officers of the United States, whose ap- laws of the United States, and treaties nointments herein are not otherwise made, or which shall be made, under provided for, and which shall be es- their authority; to al1 cases affecting tablished by law; but the Congress ambassadors, other rpublic ministers may by law vest the aqpointment of and consuls; to all cases of admiralty such inferior officers. as thev mav and maritime jurisdiction; to contro- think proper, in the ‘President- alone, versies to which the United States in the courts of law, or in the heads shall be a party; to controversies be- of departments. tween two or more States; between a State and citizens of another State; 3. ,The President shall have Dower to between citizens of different States: fill up al1 vacancies that may happen between citizens of the same State, during the recess of the Senate, by claiming lands under grants of differ- granting commissions which shall ex- ent States; and between a State, or the pire at the end of their next session. citizens thereof. and ,foreian States. Sec. III.-He shall from time to time citizens or subjects. give to the Congress information of 2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, the state of the Union, and recommend other public ministers and consuls, to their consideration such measures and those in which a State shall be as he shall judge necessary and ex- party, the Supreme Court shall have pedient; he may, on extraordinary oc- original jurisdiction. In all the other casions, convene both houses, or either cases before mentioned, the Supreme of them, and, in case of disagreement Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, between them. with resnect to the time both as to law anti fact, with such ex- of adjournment, he may adjourn them ceptions, and under such regulations to such time as he shall think proper; as the Congress shall make. he shall receive ambassadors and other 3. The trial of all crimes, except in public ministers; he shall take care cases of imneachment. shall be br that the laws be faithfully executed, jury; and such trial shall be held in and shall commission all the officers the State where the said crimes shall of the United States. have been committed; but when not Sec. IV-The President. Vice-Pres- committed within anv State. the trial ident and all civil of&era, of the United shall be at such place or ‘placee a8 States, shall be removed from ofilce the Congress may by law have dl- on impeachment for, and conviction rected.

. . CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 17

Sec. 111.-l. Treason against the 2. The Congress sh.all have power to United States, shall consist only in dispose of and make all needful rules levying war‘ against them, or in ad- and regulations respecting the terri- hering to their enemies, giving them tory or other property belonging to aid and comfort. No person shall be the United States; and nothing in this convicted of treason unless on the tes- Constitution shall be so construed as timony of two witnesses to the same to prejudice any claims of the United overt act, or on confession in open States, or any particular State. court. Sec. IV.-The United States shall 2. The Congress shall have power to guarantee to every State in this Union declare the punishment of treason, but a republican form of government, and no attainder of treason shall work cor- shall protect each of them against in- ruption of blood, or forfeiture except vasion; and, on application of the leg- during the life of the person attained. islature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) ARTICLE IV. against domestic violence. Section I.-Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the nublic ARTICLE V. acts, records and judicial proceedings The Congress, whenever two-thirds of every other State. And the Con- of both houses shall deem it necessary, gress may by general laws prescribe shall propose amendments to this Con- the manner in which such acts, rec- stitution, or, on the application of the ords and proceedings shall be proved, legislatures of two-thirds of the sev- and the effect thereof. eral States, shall call a convention for Sec. 11.-l. The citizens of each State proposing amendments, which, in shall be entitled to all privileges and either case, shall be valid to all iii‘- immunities of citizens in the several tents and uuruoses. as Dart of this States. Constitution, when ratified by the leg- 2. A person charged in any State islatures of three-fourths of the sev- with treason, felony, or other crime, eral States, or by conventions in three- who shall flee from justice, and be fourths thereof, as the one or the other found in another State, shall on de- mode of ratification may be propose?? mand of the executive authority of the by the Congress; provided that no State from which he fled, be delivered amendment which may be made prior up to be removed to the State having to the year one thousand eight hun- jurisdiction of the crime. dred and eight shall in any manner 3. No person held to service or la- affect the first and fourth clauses in. bor in one State, under the laws there- the ninth section of the Arst article; of. escauing into another. shall. in and that no State, without its consent, co’nsequence of any law or’ regulation shall be deprived of its equal suffrage therein, b,e discharged from such serv- in the Senate. ice or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such ARTICLE VI. service or IaboY may be due. 1. All debts contracted and engage- Sec. 111.--I. New States may be ad- ments entered into, before the adop- mitted by the Congress into this tion of this Constitution, shall be as Union; but no new State shall be valid against the United States un- formed or erected within the jurisdic- der this Constitution, as under the tion of any other State; nor any State Confederation. be formed by the junction of two or 2. This Constitution, and the lawn of more States, or parts of States, with- the United States which shall be made out the consent of the legislatures of in pursuance thereof; and all treaties the States concerned as well as of made, or which shall be made, under the Congress. the authority of the United Statea.

.-. 16 THJZ PLATFORM TEXT BOOK. shall be the supreme law of the land; Maryland, April 28th, 1788, by a vote and the judges in every State shall be of 63 to 12. bound thereby, any thing in the Con- South Carolina, May 23d, 1788, by a stitution or laws of any State to the vote of 149 to 73. contrary notwithstanding. New Hampshire, June 21st, 1788, by 3. The senators and representatives a vote of 57 to 47. ( before mentioned, and the members of Virginia, June 25th, 1788, by a vote the several State legislatures, and al1 of 89 to 79. y executive and judicial officers, both of New York, July 26th, 1788, by a vote the United States and of the several of 30 to 25. States, shall be bound by oath or af- North Carolina, November 21st, 1788, firmation, to suppdrt the Constitution; by a vote of 193 to 75. but no religious test shall ever be re- Rhode Island, May 29th, 1790, by a quired as a qualification to any office majority of 2. or pubIic trust under the United States. Vermont, January lOth, 1791, by a vote of 105 to 4. ARTICLE VII. Declared ratifled by resolution of the The ratification of the conventions of Congress, September 13th, 1788. nine States shall be sufficient for the The first Congress under its provi- establishment of this Constitution be- sions was to have met in New York, tween the States so ratifying the March 4th, 1789, but on that day no same. quorum was present in either House. Done in convention by the unani- The House of Representatives organ- . mous consent of the States present the ized on the 1st of April and the Senate seventeenth day of September in the ;;s;red a quorum on the 6th of April, year of our Lord one thousand, seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the twelfth. In witness AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITU- whereof, we have hereunto subscribed TION. our names. ‘ARTICLE I. (Signed by Geo. Washington, Presi- dent, and by Members of the Conven- Congress shall make no law respect- tion.) ing an establishment af religion, or The Constitution was adopted by the prohibiting the free exercise thereof; Convention on the 17th of September, or abridging the freedom of speech or 1787, appointed in pursuance of the of the press; or the right of the people ‘ResoIution of the Confederation of the peaceably to assemble, and to petition 21st of February, 1787, and ratified by the government for a redress of griev- the Conventions of the several States, ances. as follows: ARTICLE II. Delaware, December 7th. 1787, unani- mously. A well-regulated militia being neces- Pennsylvania, December 12, 1787, sary to the security of a free state, the by a vote af 46 to 23. right of the people to keep and bear New Jersey, December 18th, 1787, arms shall not be infringed, unanimously. Georgia, January 2d, 1788, unani- ARTICLE III. mously. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be Connecticut, January 9th, 1788, by a quartered in any house, without the vote of 128 to 40. consent of the owner, nor in time of Massachusetts,-February 6th, 1788, by war, but in a manner to be described a vote of 187 to 168. by law. CONSTITUTION OX’ THE UNITED STATES. 19

ARTICLE IV. ARTICLE VIII. The right of the people to be secure Excessive bail shall not be required, in their persons, houses, papers, and nor excessive fines imposed, nor -cruel effects, against unreasonable searches and unusual punishments inflicted. and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon prob- ARTICLE IX. able cause, supported by oath or af- The enumeration in the Constitution firmation, and particularly describing of certain rights, shall not be con- the place to be searched, and the per- strued to deny or disparage others re- sons or things to be seized. tained by the people. ARTICLE V. ARTICLE X. No person shall be held to answer The powers not delegated to the for a capital, or otherwise infamous United States by the.Constitution, nor crime, unless on a presentment or in- prohibited by it to the States, are re- dictment of a grand jury, except in served to the States respectively, or to cases arising in the.land or naval the people. forces, on in the militia, when in actu- ARTICLE XI. al service in time of war or public dan- (Proposed by Congress March 5th. ger: nor shall anv uerson be subject 1794, and declared in force January 8, for’tbe same offense to be twice but 1798.) in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall The judicial power of the United be compelled in any criminal case to States shall not be construed to extend be a witness against himself; nor be to anv suit in law or eauitv. com- deprived of life, liberty or property, menced or prosecuted against ‘one of without due process of law; nor shall the United States by citizens of anoth- private property be taken for public er State or by citizens or subjects of use without just compensation. any foreign state. ARTICLE VI. ARTICLE XII. In all criminal prosecutions, the ac- (Proposed December 12th, 1803, in cused shall enjoy the right to a speedy the first session of the Eighth Con- and public trial, by a impartial .jury gress, and declared in force September of the State and district wherein the 25th, 1804.) crime shall have been committed, The electors shall meet in their re- which district shall have been pre- spective States, and vote by ballot for viouslv ascertained bv law. and to be President and Vice President. one of informed of the nature and cause of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabi- the accusations; to be confronted with tant of the same State with them- the witnesses against him; to have selves; they shall name in their bal- compulsory process for obtaining wit- lots the person voted for as President, nesses in his favor, and to have the and in distinct ballots the person assistance of counsel for his defense. voted for as Vice Prestdent, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons ARTICLE VII. voted for as President, and of all per- In suits at common law, where the sons voted for as Vice President, and . value in controversy shall exceed twen- of the number of votes for each, which ty dollars, the right of trial by jury lists they shall sign and certify, and shall be preserved, and no fact tried by transmit sealed to the seat of the gov- a iurv shall be otherwise re-examined ernment of the United States, directed in- any court of the ,United States, to the President of the Senate;-The than according to the rules of the com- President of the Senate shall, in the mon law. presence of the Senate and House of 20 TEE PLATFOBM TEXT BOOK.

Representatives, open all the certifi- New Hampshire, New Jersey, ‘New cates and the votes shall then be York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, counted;-the person having the great- Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South est number of votes for President, Carolina. Tennessee. Vermont. Vir- shall be President, if such number be ginia, West Virginia,. and Wisconsin- a majority of the whole number of 32 States out of 36. Ratifled condi- electors appointed; and if no person tionally by Alabama and Mississippi. have such majority, then from the per- Reiected bv Delaware and Kentuckv- sons having the highest numbers not 2. -Not acted upon by Texas.) - exceeding three on the list of those Section 1. Neither slavery nor invol- voted for as President, the House of untary servitude, except as a punish- Representatives shall choose immedi- ment for crime whereof the party shall ately, by ballot, the President., But have been duly convicted, shall exist in choosing the President, the votes within the United States, or any place shall be taken by States, the repre- subject to their jurisdiction. sentation from each State having one Sec. 2. Congress shall have power to vote; a quorum for this purpose shall enforce this Article by appropriate leg- consist of a member or members from islation. two-thirds of the States, and a major- ity of all the States shall be necessary ARTICLE XIV. to a choice. And if the House of Reu- (Proposed by Congress June 16th, resentativ-s shall not choose a Pre& 1866, and declared in force July, 1868. dent whenever the right of choice shall Ratified by Alabama, Arkansas, Con- devolve upon them, before the fourth’ necticut, Florida, Georgia, , In- ’ day of March next following, then the diana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Vice President shall act as President, Massachusetts, Michigan, IMinnesota, as in the case of the death or other Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ne- constitutional disability of the Presi- vada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, dent. The person having the greatest New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Ore- number of votes as Vice President, gon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, shall be the Vice President, if such South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, number be a majority of the whole Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and number of electors appointed, and if no Wisconsin-33 States out of 37. nerson have a maioritv. then from the Of. the above, Arkansas, Florida, two highest members” on the list the Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Senate shall choose the Vice Presi- Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and dent; a quorum for the purpwe shall Virginia (9) first rejected the amend- consist of two-thirds of the whole num- ment, but finally ratifled it. New Jer- ber of senators, and a majority of sey and Ohio (2) rescinded their ratifi- the whole number shall be necessary cation. to a choice. But no person constitu- Rejected by Delaware, Kentucky and tionally ineligible to the.office of Presi- Maryland-3. dent shall be eligible to that of Vice- No final action was taken by Cali- President of the United States. fornia-l.) Section 1. All persons born or natur- ARTICLE XIII. alized in the United States, and sub- (Proposed by Congress February let, ject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citi- 1865, and declared in force December zens of the United States, and of the 18th. 1865. State wherein ther reside. No State Ratified by Arkansas, California, shall make or enforce any law which Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, shall abridge the privileges or immuni- , Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, ties of citizens of the United States: Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mich- nor shall any State deprive any person igan, , Missouri, , of life, liberty, or property, without CONBTITUTION OF THE UNITED t3TATE8. 21 due process of law; nor deny to any payment of pensions an’d bounties for person within its $rrisdiction the services in suppressing insurrection or equal protection of the laws. rebellion, shall not be questioned. But Sec. 2. Representatives shall be ap- neither the United States nor any State portioned among the several States ac- shall assume or pay any debt or obliga- cording to their respective numbers, tion incurred in aid of insurrection or counting; the whole number of persons rebellion against the United States, or in each State, excluding Indians not any claim for the loss or emancipation taxed. But when the right to vote at of any slaves; but all such debts, obli- any election for the choice of electors gations and claims shall be held illegal for President and Vice President of the and void. United States, representatives in Con- Sec. 5. The Congress shall have gress, the executive and judicial offi- power to enforce, by appropriate legis- cers of a State, or the memDers of the lation the provisions of this Article. legislature thereof, is denied to any of of the male inhabitants of such State, ARTICLE XV. being twenty-one years of age, and citi- (Proposed by Congress February zens of the United States, or in any 26th, 1869, and declared in force March way abridged, except for participation 30th.---mm. 1870.~- in rebellion, or other crime, the basis Ratified by Alabama, Arkansas, Con- of renresentation therein shall be re- necticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, In- duced in the proportion which the diana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, number of such male citizens shall Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, bear to the whole number of male citi- Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska. Ne- ens twenty,one years of age in such vada, New Hampshire, New York, State. North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Sec. 3. No person shall be a senator Rhode Island. South Carolina. Texas. or representative. in Congress, or elec- Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and tor of President and Vice President, or Wisconsin-30 states out of 37. hold any office, civil or military, under Of the above, Georgia and Ohio at the United States, or under any State; first rejected but finally ratified. New who, having previously taken an oath York re,scinded its ratification. as a member of Congress, or as an offi- Rejected by California, Delaware, cer of the United States. or as a mem- Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, and ber of any State legislature, or as an Oregon-6. executive or judicial officer of any No final action was taken by Ten- State, to support the Constitution oi nessee-l.) the United States, shall have engaged Section 1. The right of citizens of in insurrection or rebellion against the the United States to vote. shall not be same, or given aid or comfort to the denied or abridged by the United enemies thereof. But Congress may States or by any State on account of by a two-thirds vote of each house re. race, color or previous condition of ser- move such disability. vitude. Sec. 4. The validity of the public Sec. 2. The Congress shall have debt of the” United States, authorized power to enforce this article by appro- by law, including debts incurred for priate legislation. NATIONAL PLATFORMSOF PARTlES.

On November 15, 1777, the year fol- as follows: John Jay of New York, 9; lowing the issue of the “Declaration of R. H. Harrison of Maryland, 6; Jno. Independence,” a congress of delegates Rutledge of South Carolina. 6: John assembled in Philadelphia and adopted Hanc&k of Massachusetts, 4; George “Articles of Confederation and Per- Clinton of New York, 3; Samuel Hunt- petual Union,” declaring that: “The ington of Connecticut, 2; John Milton stv’le of this confederation shall .be of Georgia. 2: James Armstrong of ‘The United States of America.’ ” Georgia,?; ‘Edward Telfair of Georgia, This action was fully ratifled and 1; Benjamin Lincoln of Massachu-. confirmed by the Congress assembled setts, 1. Julv 9. 1778. and these articles of con- Washington was inaugurated on federation were the fundamental law April 30, 1789. until the adoption of the Constitution The President’s cabinet, &s at first nearly ten years later, which provided created, consisted of only three Secre- that all debts contracted and engage- taries : Secretary of State, Thomas ments entered into #before adoution of Jefferson of Virginia; Secretary of the Constitution were as valid-against Treasury, Alex. Hamilton of New the United States under the. Constitu- York; Secretary of War and Navy, tion as under ,the confederation. Un- Edmund Randolph of Virginia. der the Articles of Confederation, During Washington’s Erst term party power was vested in Congress but division began to exist. Hamiilton and there was no provision for a chief ex- Vice-President Adams were the ac- ecutive nor Senate. knowledged leaders of the “Federal- FIRST PRESIDENTIAL TERM. ists,” while the opposition, under the The ik-st election of President of the leadership of Jefferson and Randolph, United States occurred on Jan. 7, 1789. were called at times “Democrats,” Ten states participated i,n the elec- “Anti-Federalists,” and “Republicans,” tion and 69 presidential electors were which latter name was adopted, chosen. though no party convention was held Of the original thirteen states New nor platform made. York had not adopted the required election laws, while North Ca.rolina WASHINGTON’S SECOND TERM. and Rhode Island had not yet ratified In 1792 fifteen states voted and 132 the Constitution. electors were chosen. George Washington of Virginia was The entire vote was again cast for the unanimous choice for President, George Washington’s ae-election and and for Vice-President John Adams of John Adams was re-elected Vice-Presi- Massachusetts was elected, receiving dent, receiving 77 votes. 34 votes. Other votes for Vice-President were Other votes for Vice-President were as follows: George Clinton of New 22 . NATIONAL PLATFORMS OF PARTIES. 23

York, 50; Thomas Jefferson of Vir On Dec. 12, 1803, an amendment to ginia, 4; of New York, 1 the Constitution was proposed, and de- Edmund Randolph of Virginia wal clared in force Sept. 25, 1804, which’ appointed Secretary of State, but ir provided that presidential electors December, 1795, was succeeded by Tim should name in theis ballots the per- othy Pickering of Massachusetts. son voted for as President and in dls- Secretary of Treasury Alex. Hamil tinct ballots the person voted for as ton of New York succeeded by Olive] Vice-President. Wolcott of Connecticut. In 1796 there were 138 electors and Secretary of War and Navy, Henq each voted for two candidates, mak- Knox until January, 1795, when Tim, ing a total vote of 276 divided as fol- othy Pickering of Massachusetts wa: lows: Federalists: John Adams of appointed and held the position unti Massachusetts, 71; Thos. Pinckney of transferred to the state denartment ir South Carolina, 59; Oliver Elsworth of December of the same year, James MC. Connecticut, 11; John Jay of New Henry taking the place in the war de. York, 5; James Iredell of North Caro- partment. lina, 3; George Washington, 2; John Attorney-General, William Bradfor? Henry of Maryland, 2; S. Johnson ? of Virginia, succeeded by Charles Let South Carolina, 2; C. C. Pinckney of of the same &ate. South Carolina, 1. Anti-Federalists: Thomas Jefferson .of Virginia, 68; ELECTION OF 1796. Aaron Burr of New York, 30; Samuel The onnosition to the Federalists had Adams of Massachusetts, 15; George developed much strength and was led Clinton of New York, 7. by Thomas Jefferson, while John The electoral vote was counted on Adams, who had for two terms held Feb. 8, 1797, and the result announced: the office of Vice-President, was the John Adams, President; Thomas Jef- leader of the party in power. There ferson, Vice-President. Cabinet offi- were no nominating conventions held, cers from the former administration however, nor platforms adopted, were .retained. though party lines were being clearly In 1798 the navy department was es- drawn. tablished as a cabinet position and The Federalist sbrength in Congress Benjamin Stoddard of Maryland ap- was breaking and with the retirement pointed Secretary of the Navy. of Washington it was evident that John Marshall of Virginia, who had there was no one on whom the entire become leader of the Federalists in vote could concentrate for President. Congress, was Secretary of State dur- Under the Constitution as originally ing the closing months of the Adams’ adopted it was provided that electors Idministration. Samuel Dexter of chosen to vote for President and Vice- Massachusetts was Secretarv of the ’ President, should each vote for two Treasury at the same period.- persons, no designation being made as During this administration the between the two positions, but the one pow&h of pubiic sentiment in opposi- receiving the highest number of votes :ion to the Federalists was marked, was elected President and the next md while party lines had not assumed - highest was elected Vrce-,President. In lefinite shape, Jefferson, the acknowl- the two prior elections a unanimous edged leader, had decided on “Repub- vote had been given General Wash- ican” as the nartv name and Congress ington, while the second place only, vas becoming-A&i-Federalist. - had been a matter of contest. In the The Kentucky Legislature on Nov. election of 1796, the flrst position be- 10, 1798, passed a series of resolutions ing a matter of contention led to the getting forth the idea of state suprem- election of the opposing presidential ICY, in matters not especially dele- candidates to the two positions. rated to the general government and 24 THE PLATFORM TIGXT BOOK.

condemning certain a& of Congress faithful observance of them car alone which it wag claimed interfered with secure its existence and the public hap- the authoritv of the states and was a piness. nsurpation of federal authority. Dur- That this Assemblv doth exulicitlv ing the following month the Virginia and peremptorily deal-are, that it views Legislature passed resolutions of sim- the powers of the Federal Government, ilar pu.rport which attracted general as resulting from the compact to which attention, and was condemned by the states are parties, as limited by the seven state legislatures which took of- plain sense and intention of the in- ficial notice of them. The “Alien and strument constituting that compact, as Sedition” laws to which reference is no farther valid than they are author- made were extremely unpopular with ized by the grants enumerated in that the people and caused very general compact; and that in case of a delib- criticism of the adsministration and led erate, palipable, and dangerous exercise to the downfall of the Federalists. of other wwers. not granted bv said The “Alien” law authorized the Pres- comlpact, -the s&es, who are parties ident to expel from the country any thereto, have the right, and are in duty foreixners whom he might consider bound, to interpose, for arresting the dangerous to the United States. urosress of the evil. and for maintain- The “Sedition” law sulbjected to pun- ing-within their respective limits the ishment by fine and imprisonment any authorities, rights, and liberties ap- one convicted of speaking, writing, or pertaining to them. publishing anything false or malicious That the General Assembly doth also against the President or Congress. express its deep regret, that a spirit Kentucky and Virginia, in asserting has, in sundry instances, been mani- opposi,tion to these laws, laid the foun- fested by the Federal Government, to dation for a “States Rights” doctrine enlarge its uowers bv forced construc- which was asserted much more vigor- tions-of the Const-itution.al Charter ously at a later period. which defmes them; and, that indica- While in no sense a tions have appeared of a design to ex- platform, yet the resolutions adopted pound certain general phrases (which, by the Virginia Legislature had ,mucb having been copied from the very lim- to do in bringing about the political ited grant of powers in the former revolution of the time. Articles of Confederation, were the less liable to be misconstrued) so as to THE VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS. destroy the meaning and effect of the Resolved, That the General Assem- particular enumeration which neces- bly of Virginia doth unequivocally ex- sarily explains, and limits the genera1 * Dress a firm resolution to maintain and phases, so as to consolidate the states defend the Constitution of the United by degrees into one sovereignty, the States, and the Constitution ‘of thi: obvious tendency and inevitable result -state, against every ‘aggression either of which would be. to transform the Poreign or domestic, and that they will present republican system of the support the Government of the United United States into an absolute, or at States in all measures warranted by best, a mixed monarchy. the former. That the General Assemblv doth uar- That this Assembly most solemnly titularly protest against the palpable declares a warm attachment to the and alarming infractions of the Con- Union of the States, to maintain which stitution, in the two late cases of the it pledges its powers; and, that for “Alien and Sedition Acts,” passed at this end, it is their duty to watch the last session of Congress; the first over and oppose every infraction oi of which exercises a power nowhere those principles which constitute the delegated to the Federal Government, on1.y basis of that Union, because a and which, by uniting legislative and NATIOXAL PLATFORMS OF PARTIES. 21

judicial powers to those of executive, the acts aforesaid are unconstitutional subverts the general principles of free and that the necessary and proper government, as well as particular or- measures will be taken by each for ganization and nositive nrovisions of co-onerating with this state. in main- the Federal Constitution{and the oth- taining &mpaired the authorities, er of which acts exercises, in like rights and liberties, reserved to the manner, a power not delegated by the states respectively, or to the people. Constitution, but on the contrary, ex- That the governor be desired to pressly and positively forbidden by one transmit a copy of the foregoing reso- ’ of the amendments thereto; a power lutions to the executive authority of which, more than any other, ought to each of the ather stated with a produce universal alarm, because it Is reauest that the same mav be com- levelled against the right of freely ex- municated to the legislature thereof; amining public characters and meas- and that a copy be furnished to each ures, and of free communication among of the Senators and Representatives the people thereon, which has ever representing this state in the Con- been justly deemed the only effectual gress of the United States. guardian of every other right. Attest, JOHN STEWART. That this state having by its con- vention, w,hich ratitled the Federal 1798, December 24th. Agreed to by Constitution, expressly declared, that the Senate. H. BROOKS. among other essential rights, “the lib- A true copy from the original de- erty of conscience and the press can- posited in the office of the General not be cancelled, abridged, restrained, Assembly. or modified by any authority of the JOHN STEWART, Uni’ted States,” and from its extreme Keeper of Rolls. anxiety to guard these rights from every possible attack of sophistry and The Virginia resolutions were drawn ambition, having with other states rec- by , the intimate, life ommended an amendment for that long friend of Thomas Jefferson. purpose, which amendment was, in due Seven state legislatures indorsed the time, annexed to the Constitution, it general government in the construc- would mark a reproachful inconsist- tion placed on the Constitution and ency, and criminal degeneracy, if an denounced the sentiments expressed indifference were now shown to the in the resolutions which, however, most palpable violation of one of the were rapidly receiving the support of rights, thus declared and secured; and the ueoole. to the ‘establishment of a precedent The- l&slature osf Vermont rejected which may be fatal to the other. the Virginia Resolutions as beina‘un- That the good neonle of this com- constitutional in their nature anddan- monwealth, having ever felt and con- gerous in their tendency.” tinuing to feel the most sincere affec- The General Assembly of Connecti- tion. for their brethren of the other cut upheld the “Alien and Sedition states; the truest anxiety for establisli- Acts,” urged that they were author- ing and perpetuating the Union of all; ized by the Constitution and were and the most scrupulous fidelity to laws “which the exigency of the coun- that Constitution, whi’ch is the pledge itrv rendered necessarw.” of mutual friendship, and the instru- Delaware regarded th6 resolutions as ment of mutual happiness; the Gen- “unjustifiable interference with the eneral Assembly doth solemnly appeal General Government and constituted to the like disnosition in the other authorities of the United States.” states, in commence that they will Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New concuh with this commonwealth, in de- York and New H.am.pshire maintained claring, as it does hereby declare, that a similar position. 20 THE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK. < ELECTION OF 1800. the General Government, and all of those of that Government to the exeo- The Republicans at a meeting ix utive branch. Philadelphia adopted a platform am 4. A rigorously frugal administra- named their candidates: For Presi tion of theGovernmen< and the appli- dent, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia cation of all the possible savings of the for Vice-President, Aaron 3urr of Nev V public revenue to the liauidation of the York. public debt; and resistance, therefore, The Federalists renominated Johr 1 to all measures looking to a multipli- Adams of Massachusetts, with C. C cation of officers and salaries, merely Pinckney of South Carolina for Vice to create partisans and to augment the President, and made no platform. The public debt, on the principle of its electoral vote was: Jefferson 73, Burl r being a public blessing. 73, Adams 65, Pinckney 64, John Jai 7 1. The vote was counted Feb. 11, 1801 5. Reliance for internal defense Jefferson and Burr having received ar 1 solely upon the mibitia, till actual in- equal number of votes, the House pro, vasion, and for such a naval force only ceeded to ballot for President, and il t as may be sufficient to protect our was not until Feb. 17 and on the 360 I coasts and harbors from deoredations. ballot that Jefferson was chosen Presi. . and opposition, therefore, to- the policf; dent and Burr Vice-President. of a standing army in time of peace Jefferson’s Cabinet-Secretary ol e which may overawe the public senfi- State. James Madison ocfVirginia: Sec. ment, and to a navy. which. bv its . retary of Treasury, OI ,own expenses, and the wars into which Pennsylvania, Secretary of War it will imp&ate us, will grind us with of Massachusetts; public burdens and sink us under Secretarv of the Navv. Robert Smith 1 them. of Maryland, succeeded by Jacob , 6. Free commerce with all nations, Crowninshield of Massachusetts: At- political connection with none, and torney-General, Levi Lincoln of Massa- little or no diplomatic establishment. chusetts, succeeded by Robert Smith. 7. Opposition to linking ourselves, by new treaties, with the quarrels of REPUBLICAN PLATFORM OE‘ 1800. Europe, enmtering their fields of slaugh- 1. An inviolable preservation of the ! Iter to preserve their balance. or ioin- Federal Constitution. according to the ! ing in the confederacy of kings, to ” war true sense in which it was adopted by against the principles of liberty. _ the states, that in which it was ad- 8. Freedom of religion, and opposi- vocated by its friends, and not that '1 tion to all maneuvers to bring about a which its enemies apprehended, who, :legal ascendency of one sect against therefore, became its enemies. znother. 2. Opposition to monarchizing its fea- 9. Freedom of speech and of the tures by the forms of its administra- 1press, and opposition, therefore, to a11 tion, with a view to conciliate a trans- violations of the Constitution, to si- ition, first, to a President and Senate 1lence, by force and not by reason, the for life: and secondly, to an hereditary <:omplaints or criticisms, just or un- tenure of those offices, and thus to iust. of our citizens against the con- worm out the elective principle. Iluct of their public agents. 3. Preservation to the states of the 10. Liberal naturalization laws, un- powers not yielded by them to the ler which the well disposed of all na- Union, and to the Legislature of the I:ions who may desire to embark their Union its constitutional share in divi- Iiortunes with us and share with ue the sion of powers: and resistance, there- 1public burdens, may have that oppor- fore, to existing movements for trans- unity, under moderate restrictions, ferring all the powers of the state to 1br the development of honest inten- NATIONAL PLATFORMS OF PARTIES. 27

tion, and severe ones to guard against C. Pinckney of South Carolina for the usurpation of our flag. President and of New 11. Encouragement of science and York for Vice-President. The electoral the arts in all their branches, to the vote counted on Feb. 8, 1809, gave end that the American people may James Madison 122, C. C. Pinckney perfect their independence of all for- 4’7, and George Clinton 6 for Presi- eign monopolies, institutions and in- dent: George Clinton 113, Rufus King fluences. 47, James Madison 3, John Langdon 9, and 3 for Vice-Presi- dent. FIFTH PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN. President Madison appointed James In 1804 no platforms were adopted Monroe of Virginia Secretary of State, and candidates were named by caucus a position which he retained through of congressmen. this nresidential term as well as the There were 176 electoral votes. of following; in fact, until he was him- which Thomas Jefferson for President self elected President ‘in 1816. and George Clinton for Vice-Presi- Albert Gallatin, Secretary of Treas- dent received 162. being the entire urv.” and Charles A. Rodnev of Dela- vote of fift,een states, while only two ware, Attorney-General, retained their states, Connecticut and Delaware, vo- positions in the cabinet of Jefferson’s ted for Charles C. Pinckney and Rufus administration. of King. the Federalist candidates. cast- Massachusetts was appointed Secre- ing 24 electoral v&es. tary of War and Paul Hamilton of No change was made in the Cabinet. South Carolina. Secretary of the Naw. During this administration a move- Partv lines were beginning to be more ment was made to adopt the name closely drawn and-in th;? 12th Con- Democrat instead of Republican as the gress, 1811-1813, there were but 35 Fed- party name, and in many localities eralists in the House and only 3 in “this was done though both names were the Senate. of Kentucky used synonymously. was chosen Speaker of the House and It is believed that Jefferson had al- although but 34 years of age at the ways preferred the name Democrat, time, was recognized as a rising states- but it having been used in derision by man. War was declared against Eng- the Federalists and a charge of “mob land on June 19, 1812. rule” made in oonnection with the name, it was only after the party had ELECTION OF 1812. become strong and in power, that The Democratic connressional cau- the name was a.ssu,med which more cus nominated James Madison for re- perfectly represented a government by election, with of New the people. York as candidate for Vice-President. No nlatform. In 1812 the Federalists ELECTION OF 1808. held a national convention in New There were no party platforms nor York, the first ever held in the United conventions. States. Dewitt Clinton of New York The Democrats in conaressional cau- was nominated for President and Jared cus nominated for President, James Ingersoll of Pennsylvania for Vice- Madison, who had held the position President. The resolutions adooted of Secretary of State during the eight were known as the “Clintonian” plat- years of Jefferson’s administration. fOI3lI. Vice-President George Clinton was re- The election resulted in a ictory for nominated. Madison and Gerry, who r JEeived 128 The Federa&& wain plau& in eleotoral vokes, while ClHnZon and nomination tie same candidates that Ingersoll received 86. wm defwted four year8 before, C. During Madison’s second term Alex. 28 THE I’l.ATPORY TEXT ROOK.

J. Dallas of Pennsylvania was given men for long periods in of&es of deli- charge of the treasury department, cate trust and weighty responsibility the former secretary, Albert Gallatin, as the reward of public services, to going to Paris as United States Min- the detriment of all or any particular ister. interest in. or section of. the countrv: During both the 13th and 14th Con- and, consequently to the continua&e xress the Democrats were in full con- of Mr. Madison in an office which, trol of both House and Senate. Henry in view of our pending difficulties Clay was Speaker of the House during with Great Britain, requires an incum- the entire time. bent of greater decision, energy and efficiency. THE FEDERALIST PLATFORM. 5. Opposition to the lingering inad- Adopted at New York Federalist equacy of preparations for the war convention and known as the “Clin- with Great Britain now about to en-. tonian” platform: sue, and to the measure which ai- 1. Opposition to nominations of lows .uninterrupted trade with Spain chief ;magistra,tes by congressional and Portugal, which, as it cannot be caucuses, as well because such prac- carried on under our flag, gives to tices are the exercise of undelegated Great Britian the means of SUDD~V- authority, as of their repugnance to ing her armies with provisions, of the freedom of elections. which they would otherwise be desti- 2. Opposition to all customs and tute, and thus affording aid and com- usages in ‘both the executive and legis- fort to our enemy. lative departments which h#ave for 6. Averment of the existing neces- their object the maintenance of an sity for placing the country in a con- official regency to prescribe tenets of dition for agressive action for the political faith, the line of conduct conquest of the British American to, be deemed fidelity or recreancy to Provinces and for the defense of our republican principles, and to perpet- coasts and exposed frontiers: and of uate in themselves or families the the propriety of such a levy ‘of taxes offices of the Federal Government. as will raise the necessary funds for 3. Opposition to all these efforts on the emergency. 0 the part of the partimcular states to 7. Advocacy of the election of De monopolize the principal offices of the Witt Clinton as the surest method of Government as well because of their relieving the country from all the ,certainty ,to destroy ithe harmony evils existing and prospective, for which ought to prevail amongst all the reason that his great talents and the constituent parts of the Union, inflexible patriotism guarantee a firm as of their leanings toward a form and unyielding maintenance of our na- of oligarchy entirely at variance with tional sovereignty, and the protec- the theorv of reoublican government: tion of those commercial interests and, consequently, particular opposi- which were flagging under the weak- tion to continuing a citizen of Virginia ness and imbecility of the administra- in the executive office another term, tion unless she can show that she enjoys a corresponding monopoly of talents and patriotism, after she has been DECLINE OF THE FEDERALIST!?. honored with the presidency for twen- Under Madison’s administration the ty out of twenty-four years of our Federalists of the United States largely consti,tutional existence, and when it united with the Democrats, the war is obvious that the practice has ar- of 1812 engrossed the people’s atten- rayed the agricultural against the com- tion and party lines were being badly mercial interests of the country. shattered. 4. Opposition to continuing public With the election of Jefferson in lg@% NATIONAL PLATFORmi OF PARTIES. 29 2 the difference between the parties hai I Government of the United States, re- been practically wiped out, there be. questing their consent to some ar- ing no further reason for the party ir 1 rangement whereby the said states power to denounce usurpations of au may, separately or in concert, be em- thority and charge infraction of con. powered to assume upon themselves stitutional rights, nor reason for those the defense of their territory against out of power to urge a right to the the enemy, and a reasonable portion of exercise of greater authority by the ad- the taxes collected within said states ministration. may be paid into the respective treas- There was an element which de- uries thereof, and appropriated to the nounced the war policy of the admin- balance due said states. and to the fu- istration and in December, 1814, during ture defense of the same. The amount the second term of President Madison so paid into said treasuries to be cred- the Federalists who ODDOSed the war ited, and the disbursements made as met in convention at Hartford, Conn., aforesaid, to be charged to the United and adopted resolutions which served States. rather to promote the annihilation of Resolved, That is be and hereby is the party. recommended to the legislatures of the These resolutions, while not a party aforesaid states, to pass laws where it platform, are of interest as a matter has not already been done, authorizing of party history. the governors or commanders-in-chief The Hartford convention was com- of their militia to make detachments posed of the delegates from Massachu- from the same state, or to form volun- setts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New tary corps, as shall be most conveni- HamDshire and Vermont. The treatv ent and conformable to their ,Constitu- of peace between Great Britain and tions, and to cause the same to be the United States by which our gov- well armed, equipped, and held in ernment won the Doints contended readiness for service, and upon request. for by the administration left the 3f the governor of either of the other remnant of the Federalist organization states to employ the whole of such with slight following, and their reso- detachment or corps, as well as the lutions, passed so recently, only em- regular forces of the state, or such phasized in the minds of the people part thereof as may be required, and the wisdom of their opponents. :an be spared consistently with the safety of the state, in assisting the HARTFORD RESOLUTIONS. state making such request to repel any Resolved, That it be and is hereby nvasion thereof which shall be made recommended to the legislatures of the )r attemDted bv the DubliC enemy. several states represented in this con- Resolved, That the following amend- vention, to adopt all such measures as ments of the Constitution of the Uni- mav be necessarv effeCtUallV to DM)- ;ed States be recommended to the tech. the citizens -of said s&es from states represented as aforesaid, to be the operation and effects of all acts sroposed by them for adoption by the which have been or ,may be Dassed state legislatures, and in such cases by the Congress of the United States, ts may be deemed exDedient by a which shall contain provisions subject- Constitution chosen by the people of ing the militia or other citizens to ?ach state. And it is further rec- forcible drafts. conecriotions. or im- rmmended that the said states shall pressments not a&horized by the Con- rersevere in their efforts to obtain such stitution of the United States. Imendments, until the same shall be Resolved, that it be and is hereby 9fected. recommended to the said legislatures, 1. Representatives and direct taxez to authorize an immediate and an Ihall be apportioned among the sev- earnest application to be made to the ?ral states which may be included 30 THE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK. zz within this Union, according to their II Monday of June next, with such pow- respective numbers of free persons, 6?rs and instructions as the exigency of including those bound to serve for i crises so momentous may require. a term of years and excluding Indians Resolved. That the Honorable not taxed, and all other persons. tGeorge Cabot, the Honorable Chaun- 2. No new state shall be admitted ‘ :ey Goodrich, the Honorable Daniel into the Union by C*ongress, in virtue 1Lyman, or any two of them, be author- of the power granted in the Constitu- 1ized to call another meeting of this tion, without the concurrence of two- ,:onvention, to be holden in Boston thirds of both houses. It anv time before new delegates shal1 3. Congress shall not have power ibe chosen as recommended in the to lay an embargo on the ships or ves- above resolution, if in their judgment sels of the citizens of the United States, 1the situation of the country shall urg- in the ports or harbors thereof, for ,sntly require it. more than sixty days. 4. Congress shall not have power without the concurrence of two-thirds ELECTION OF 1816. of both houses, to interdict the com- Candidates were named by congrea- mercial intercourse between the Uni- sional caucus. No platforms were ted States and any foreign nation or Idopted. the dependencies thereof. The Federalists nominated Rufus 5. Congress shall not make nor de- King of New York for President, but clare war, nor authorize acts of hos- made no nomination for Vice-Presi- tility against any foreign nation, with- ,dent. out the concurrence of two-thirds of The Democrats-or Republicans as both houses, except such acts of hos- 1they were yet called to a great extent tility be in defense of the territories -nominated James Monroe of Vir- * of the United States when actually Iginia for President and Daniel D. invaded. Tomnkins of New York for Vice- 6. No person who shall hereafter President. be naturalized shall be eligible as a Nineteen states voted, choosing 221 member of the Senate or House of presidential electors. Monroe and Renresentatives of the United States. Tompkins received 183 votes. Rufus or capable of holding any civil office King received 34 cast by, the states of under the authority of the United Massachusetts, Connecticut and Dela- States. - ware. 7. The same nerson shall not be Monroe’s cabinet was composed as elected President-of the United States follows: Secretary of State, John a second time, nor shall the President Quincy Adams of Massaohusetts; Sec- be elected from the same state two retary of Treasury, Wm. H. Crawford terms in succession. of Georgia: Secretarv of War, John C. Resolved, That if the application of Calhoun, of South Carolina; Secretary these states to the Government of the of the Navy, of New United States, recommended in a fore- York; Attorney-General, Wm. Wirt of going resolution, should be unsuccess- Virginia. ful, and peace should not be concluded, During this presidential term there and the defense of these states should were but 6 Federalists in the Segate be neglected, as it has been since the and never more than 22 in the House. commencement of the war, it will, in l the opinion of this convention, be ex- pedient for the legislatures of the sev- ELECTION OF 1820. eral states to appoint delegates to an- No candidates whatever were nam& other convention, to meet in Boston, in nor platform adopted. the state of Massachusetts, on the third Twenty-four states voted and 2% NATIONAL PLATFORM9 OF PARTIES. ‘01

electoral votes were cast. Every state 1 administrations of eight years each voted for the re-electIon of Monroe. and the three Presidents wio had been who received 231 votes. One electo; re-elected were all citizens of Vir- “voted for John Q. Adams of Massa- ginia. chusetts. For re-election as Vice-President Tompkins received 218 electoral votes, ELECTION OF 1824. Riohard Stockton of New Jersey 8, The presidential contest in 1824 was Daniel Rodney of Delaware 4, Robert devoid of political significance; no Harper of Maryland 1, nominations were made nor ulatforms of Pennsylvania 1. announced. Twenty-four states voted There was no change in the cabinet and 261 presidential electors were except that in 1823 Samuel L. South- chosen. The electoral vote was divided ard of New Jersey was appointed Sec- as follows: For Presrcient-Andrew retary of the Navy. Jackson of Tennesee, 99; John Quincy During the administration of Presi- Adams of Massachusetts, 84; William _ dent Monroe history records the initial H. .Crawford of Georgia, 41; Henry moves toward a number of important Clay of Kentucky, 37. political changes. The vote for Vice-President was: Early in his first term, within a John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, month from his inauguration, a Uilited 182; Nathan Sanford of New York, 30; States bank was chartered’ Tfith w Nathaniel Mason of North Carolina, authorized capital of $35,000,000, in 24; , 13; Martin Van which the United States took paid up Buren of New York, 2, and Henry stock to the amount of $7,000,000, and Clay, 9. John C. Calhoun was de- this bank with its branches was made clared elected Vice-President and the the official depository of public money. House of Representatives proceeded to Subsequent events proved that when vote. by states for the election of Pres- the government deposits were called ident with the result that Adams was for and withdrawn the suspension of elected on the first ballot, receiving 13 the bank ensued and the capital stock states, Andrew Jackson ‘7 and Craw- had been exhausted. ford 4. Anti-slavery agitation reached a fn the earlier elections presidential noint of considerable imtnortance and electors Cere usually chosen by the organization was graduafiy spreading. state legislatures, but at this time In 1820 the admission of Missouri they were largely chosen by popular as a state was hotly contested and vote, which was divided a% follows: flnallv the act of adsmission was ac- Jackson 155,872, Adams 105,321, Craw- companied with a provision that slav- ford 44.282. Clav 46.687. ery should thereafter be forbidden in John’ Qiincy” Ad&s’ cabinet was: United States territory north of lati- Secretary of State, Henry Clay of Ken- tude 36, 30, this being the southern tucky; Secretary of Treasury, Richard boundary of Missouri. This action of Rush of Pennsylvania; Secretary of Congress was introduced by Henry War, of Virginia, suc- Clay and is known as the “Missouri ceeded by Peter B. Porter of New York, Compromise.” May 26, 1828; Secretary of the Navy, In 1818 slavery was abolished in Samuel L. Southard of New Jersey; Connecticut and during the same year Attorney-General, William Wirt of the slave trade was declared by Con- Virginia. gress to be piracy. During this administration the first ~The close of Monroe’s second term railroad enterprise In the United made twenty-four years in succession States was projected, and in 1826 a without change of party in the execu- charter was granted to the Mohawk tive department. There had been three and Hudson Company. The 33 THE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK. and Ohio Railroad was chartered in not be imported because of the high 1827. tariff. July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary That the manufacturer, who thus of American independence, was made gets a large price for the article hd- specially memorable by the deaths of makes, in consequence of lessened two eminent revolutionary patriots on competition is enabled and does pay that day, Thomas Jefferson, past a correspondingly high price to his eighty-three years of age, and John workmen. Adams, almost ninety-one. The coin- That workmen, receiving more for cidences of their lives were strikingly their labor because of shutting out the completed by the coincidence of their goods of foreign countries, are cnnse- passing away on the 4th of July, 1826. queqtly better supplied with all those Both had been resolute and unyielding comforts and luxuries which pertain in their devotion to the cause of Amer- to a higher civilization.’ ican liberty. Both were members of That the money which is paid to the committee to draw up and submit workmen in our own country, be the to the Colonial Congress, the Declara- price high or low, is kept at home,. tion of Independence. Both were earn- circulates in our midst and conse- est and fearless in their support of the quently makes money abundant and measure. Both had been Ministers times good. abroad, and both had tilled the posl- tions of Vice-President and President That the higher price for goods, of the United States. which results from protection, will in- The policy of protecting home manu- vite capital into the country; the cap- facturers by a high tariff on imported italist will bring a higher order of articles became an absorbing topic in mechanical talent with him to assist politics and on July 30, 1827, a meet- in his manufacturing than has been ing of manufacturers convened in Har- in the country before, the whole re- risburg. Pa.. adonted resolutions and sulting in better citizenship. submitted to the country arguments That the springing up of new in- which formed the base of action for dustries, the result of preventing goods political organization, and as such is coming in from abroad, tends not only of importance in defining the cot&e to bring in new and better mechanfcs and cause of political movements at from other countries. but it causes a that time. rapid settlement of the country, mak- ing a better home market for the far- ARGUMENTS FOR PROTECTION. mer and the manufacturer. That the United States, having the That if goods are allowed to come raw material for the manufacture of into the country comparatively free of any article in abundance, should be en- duty, the result will be that the labor- couraged to supply that material. That ing classes of this country must work to import a material or an article at the same price which is paid in from a foreign country, that can be Europe for like service. Thus if the obtained at home. is a waste of time. Swiss watchmaker can hire help at money and labor, to the extent of the one dollar a day and send his watch cost of transportation of such article here free of tariff duty, the watch- or material. maker in America, in order to com- To place a high custom duty on ar- pete with the Swiss watchmaker, can- ticles coming from abroad, making the not pay his workmen more than one article, which is thus protected, higher dollar per day. in price, is calculated to induce cap- . ! That if a high arotective dutv is italists from foreign lands to come tc , placed on watches or other goods com- this country and invest their money ing from foreign lands, the increased in the manufacture of that which will I comgensation to workmen will be b .

NATIONAL PiATRORX3 31 PARTiEd. 33 proportion ‘to the rate of tariff which ocrats. and ulaced in tlie race Andrew is charged. Jacks& of _ Tennessee for President That the nrotecting of young indus- and John C. Calhoun for Vice-Presi- tries in th^e beginning- will- aesult, dent. There were no conventions nor through the higher price of goods, in platforms. State legislatures indorsed developing factories in America to the choice of candidates made by com- such a great extent as will result in a mon consent of Senators and Repre- large supply of goods and ultimateiy sentatives in Congress. cheap prices through competition. Twentv-four states voted and 261 That a high protective tariff will not electors -were chosen. Election was only bring capital and desirable popu- held Nov. 4, 1828; electoral vote count- lation from abroad, but it will develop ed Feb. 11, 1829. Jackson received 178 our internal resources, will give high and Adams S3 for President. wages to workmen, will keep money For Vice-President: Calhoun 171, in circulation at home, and in time, William C. Smith of South Carolina 7, through universal develonment of and Richard Rush 83. Jackson and manufacturing interests, prices will Calhoun were declared elected. The go so low that the United States will popular vote was, Democrat 647,231, become the manufacturmg center of National Republican 509,097. the globe and will be able to export In New York, Delaware and South goods, compete with and undersell all Carolina electors were chosen by the the nations of the earth in any part 0: legislature. the world. Jackson’s cabinet: Secretary of State, of New York; Secretary of Treasurv. Samdel D. Inz- There seems to have been little if ham of- Pennsylvan”&; Secretary Gf any apposition to the raising of gov- War, John H. Eaton of Tennessee; ernment (revenue by means of this Secretary of Navy, John Branch of plan, which levied a tax on imported North Carolina: Attornev-General. articles that were consumed by our John W. Berrien’of Georgia: The of: own people, but the contest was made fice of Postmaster-General was made Qver the question whether this tax a cabinet position, and on March 9, should be a certain per cent on a?1 im- 1829. Wi!liam T. Barry of Kentucky portations, or a schedule of varied was appointed to this &ace. rates in the interests of establishing Jackson’s administration marks a or maintaining certain manufacturing period of more than ordinary political enterprises. antagonism and controversy. President Adams and his Secretarv Party spirit prevailed to an extent of State, Henry Clay were leaders in it had not previously attained and the cause of “protection” and Andrew President Jackson drew party lines in Jackson ‘was prominent in favor of a making appointments to office more tariff for revenue only. strictly than had any of his predeees- sors. In 1831 William Lloyd Garrison es- ELECTION OF 1828. tablished a strong anti-slavery paper in Boston. was the candi- Contention ‘in regard to the tariff date for Presideht and Richard Rush laws reached the highest point in of Pennsylvania for Vice-President on South Carolina, where the legislature the ti’cket supported by the friends of passed a “nullification” act, declaring a protective tariff, who were organ- the law contrary to the interests of the ized under the name National Repub- people, unconstitutional, null and !ican. void; also threatening to secede and The opposition were known as Dem- establish an independent government 34 THEPLATFOR~~TEXTBOOK. = if any a#empt was made to enforce ;upported by the General Govern- the laws in that state. Vice-President nent, is calculated to secure, in the Calhoun was a leader in this move- lighest degree, the harmony, the ment and resigned his seat as Vice- strength and permanency of the re- President that he might, on the floor mblic. of the Senate, defend the action and Resolved, That the indiscriminate advocate the measures proposed by his -emoval of public officers for a mere state. Martin Van Buren su’cceeded lifference of political opinion, is a him as Vice-President, and Edward :ross abuse of power; and that the Livingstone of Georgia was appointed doctrine lately boldly preached in the Secretary of State. Cnited States Senate, that “to the vic- Jackson took the most prompt and :ors belong the spoils of the van- vigorous steps to sustain federal au- luished,” is detrimental to the inter- thority; sent troops into the state, :sts, corrupting to the morals, and placed naval forces along the coast, dangerous to the liberties of the coun- and by his firmness and unflinching II xy. attitude in upholding the laws, won the admiration and respect of those who had been his political adversa- The National Republicans, or Whigs ries. as they were being called, held a con- On July 10, 1831, Jackson vetoed the vention in Baltimore. Md.. Dec. 12. bill rechartering the United States 1831, and nominated: ’ For ‘President; bank. Henry Clay of Kentucky; for Vice- Anti-Masonic agitation was active President, John Sargent of Pennsyl- and in 1830 and 1831 conventions were vania. No platform was adopted. held at which resolutions were adopt- The Anti-Masonic candidates namefi ed opposing secret societies and call- at the convention in Baltimore Sept. ing on the people to unite for political 26, 1831, were William Wirt, of Mary- action. In 1831 nominations were 1land for President, and Amos Ell- made for the campaign of the follow- maker of Pennsylvania for Vice-Presi- ing year. ,dent. Election occurred Nov. 6, 1832, and the vote was counted Feb. 13, 1833. NATIONAL CAMPAIGN OF 1832. ‘Twenty-four states voted and chose The Democrats renominated Andrew ’ :288 electors. The state of Vermont. Jackson for President, and nominated I cast 7 votes for Wirt and Ellmaker. Martin Van Buren for Vice-President South Carolina cast 11 votes for John in a convention held at Baltimore Floyd and Henry Lee. Henry Clay March 22. 1832. and John Sargent received 49 electoral At a ratification meeting held ii i votes cast by the states of Massachu- Washington City on May 11 the fol. setts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Dela- lowing resolutions were adopted: ware, Maryland and Kentucky. For Jackson there were 219 electoral NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC PLAT. votes, and for Van Buren 189. Thirty FORM OF 1832. votes were cast for William Wilkins Resolved, That an adequate protec for Vice-President. tion to American industry is indispens. The popular vote is reported as: able to the prosperity of the country Democratic, 687,502: National Republi- and that an abandonment of the pol can, 530,189; Anti-Mason, 33,108. - icy at this period, would be attendee ; Several changes occurred in Jack- with conseauences ruinous to the bes t son’s cabinet during his first term. interests of the nation. During the first vear of this term one Resolved, That a uniform system o fmnortant step was taken which in- internal improvements, sustained am : volved a cabinet change, and without a report of which, history would be glar- posits formed the only actual basis for ingly incomplete. the institution. When the charter was granted in In 1835 the public debt was practic- ‘1816 for a corporation to be known as ally extinguished, being reduced to “The United States Bank” it nrovided $37,600. that government funds, current re- In 1837 the banks of New York, ceipts, were to be deposited with the which was the commercial center of bank and withdrawn only as needed the country, suspended payment and for expenditures, unless otherwise or- refused to meet the demand for with- dered by the Secretary of the Treasury. drawal of deposits, and a general panic The government also was a stock- ensued, followed by widespread desti- holder in the institution, taking one- tution, suspension of business and an fifth the stock, putting in seven mil- era of bankruptcy and ruin. lion dollars cash against twenty-eight The Democraiic nartv was becoming millions of capital stock on the part of divided into factions while the oppose’: the managers. tion was united under the name Whig. General Jackson believed that a gi- One faction of the democracy known as - gantic monopoly was being established the radical wing of the party was in at the expense of the people and de- ridicule termed “loco-foco.” ‘sired the government deposits Ire- moved, but his Secretary of the Treas- -- urv. William J. Duane. refused to so order, and finally resigned his position THIRTEENTH PRESIDENTIAL on .a written request of the President, ELECTION, 1836. and Roger B. Taney of Maryland was, The Democrats in May, 1835, met in on Sept. 23, 1833, appointed to the Baltimore and nominated Martin Van place. Buren of New York for President, and The order was at once issued that Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky for deposits with “The United States Vice-President. No platform. Bank” should cease, and the funds al- In January, 1836, the radical wing in ready on deposit should be withdrawn New York named as candidates, Hugh as needed in government expenditures. L. White of Tennessee for President, The result was that the bank closed and William Smith of Alabama for its business in a short time and on Vice-President; adopting the follow- settling up it was found that its whole ing: capital was Iost; had been exhausted in payment of salaries and other ex- PLATFORM-“LOCO-FOCO.” penses; in large loans to congressmen, We hold these truths to be self-evi- editors of newspapers and other influ- dent: That all men %re created ential men; in the circulation of cam- eaual: that thev are endo>fed bv t,heir paign literature and in other ‘extra- Creator with certain inalienable”rights, ordinary expenditures in an effort to among which are life, liberty, and the prevent the re-election of President pursuit of happiness; that the true Jackson; yet with these facts plainly foundation of republican government evident, most historians have not only is the equal rights of every citizen in failed to make mention of the political his person and property, and. in their influence exerted by the corporation, management; that the idea is quite under the title “United States Bank,” unfounded that on entering into so- but have entirely overlooked the fact ciety we give up our natural rights; that the capital used was governmenf that the rightful power of all legisla- funds. tion is to declare and enforce only our It is a matter deserving of emphasis natural rights and duties, and to take in history, that the seven millions of none of them from us; that no man cash capital and the government de- has the natural right to commit ag- .

36 THE PLATFORQ TEXT BOOR,

gressions on the equal rights of an- Resolved, That the support we ren- other, and this is all from which tlie der to William H. Harrison is bv no law ought to restrain him; that every means given to him solely on account man is under the natural duty of con- of his brilliant and successful services tributing to the necessities of society, as leader of our armies during the last and this is all the law should enforce war, but that in him we view also the on him; that when the.laws have de- man of high intellect, the stern pat- cIared and enforced all this, they have riot, uncontaminated by the machinery fulfilled their functions. of hackneyed politicians-a man of the We declare unqualified hostility to school of Washington. banknotes and paper money as a cir- Resolved, That in culating medium, because gold and sil- we recognize one of our most distin- ver is the only safe and constitutional guished fellow-citizens, whose talents currency; hostility to any and all mo- we admire, whose patriotism we trust, nopolies by legislation; because they and whose principles we sanction. are violations of equal rights of the . people; hostility to the dangerous and unconstitutional creation af vested ELECTION NOV. 8, 1836-VOTE rights or prerogatives by legislation, . COUNTED FEB. 8, 1837. because they are usurpations of the Van Buren was elected, receiving a peoule’s sovereian rights: no leeisla- popular vote of 761,549, while the to- tive or other authority in the body pol- tal vote was 1,498,205. Electors chosen, itic can rightfully, by charter or other- 294; 170 voted for Van Buren, who car- wise, exempt any man or body of men, ried fifteen states, Maine, New Hamp- in any case whatever. from trial bv shire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New jury and the jurisdiction or operation York. Pennsvlvania. Virginia. North of the laws which govern the commun- Carolina, Louisiana; Mississippi, Illi- ity. nois, Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas and We hold that each and every law-or Michigan. act of incorporation, passed by preced- Vermont, New Jersey, Delaware, ing IegisIatures, can be rightfully al- Maryland, Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana tered and repealed by their successors; voted for Harrison, Casting 73 electoral and that they should be altered or re- votes. pealed, when necessary for the public Georgia and Tennessee cast 26 elec- good, or when required by a majority toral votes for White. of the people. South Carolina voted for W. P. Man- gum of North Carolina, and Daniel On Feb. 3, at Albany, N. Y., the Webster received the vote of Massa- Whigs nominated William Henry Har- chusetts. rison of Ohio for President, and Fran- For Vice-President Richard M. John- cis Granger of New York for Vice- son failed to have a majority, receiv- “resident.I ing 147 votes of the total 294, but was c&en for the position by the Senate. ‘ZHIG PLATFORM, 1836. Martin Van Buren retained almost Resolved, That in support of our entirely the cabinet from the former cause, we invite all citizens opposed administration. to Martin Van Buren and the Balti- Anti-slavery agitation was spreading more nominees. rapidly and on Nov. 7, 1837, Elijah P. Resolved, That Martin Van Buren, Lovejoy of Alton, Ill., publisher of an by intriguing with the executive to ob- Abolition paper, was killed by a mob tain his influence to elect him to the and his printing outfit destroyed. Presidency, has set an example danger- The government having lost heavily ous to our freedom and corrupting to by suspension of banks, holding public free institutions. funds, the establishment of a Treasury NATIONAL PLATF6RYS OF PARTIES. 37

at Washington and subt.reasuries a t ought to be strictly const.rued by all other principal points, under the cart the departments and agents of the of federal officers, was recommended 1 Government, and that it is inexpedient in Van Buren’s first message to Con. and dangerous to exercise doubtfu: gress, yet the measure, although the Constitutional powers. leading financial proposition of the 3 2. Resolved, That the Constitution administration, only became a law ir 1 does not confer upon the General Gov- 1840. ernment the power to commence and TheWhigs were becoming apowerfu 1 carry on a general system.of internal factor in politics, advocating a U. S improvements. bank and a protective tariff. The vat. 3. Resolved. That the Constitution ers generally labored under the im does not confer authority upon the pression that the so-called Unite{ i Federal Government, directly or indi- States bank was an institution actually T rectly, to assume the debts of the sev- conducted by the government. eral states, contracted for local inter- nal improvements or other state pur- poses; nor would such assumption be FOURTEENTH PRESIDENTIAL just or expedient. l ELECTION-1840. 4. Resolved, That justice and sound policy forbid the Federal Government On December 4, 1839, the Whigs mel t to foster one branch of industry to the at Harrisburg, Pa., and nominated for detriment of another, or to cherish the President, William H. Harrison ol e interests of one portion to the injury Ohio; for Vice-President, of another portion ‘of our common of Virginia. No platform was adopted country-that every citizen and every The Liberty party met in convention section of the country has a right to at Warsaw, N Y., on Nov. 13, 1838, and ; demand and insist upon an equality of after adopting the following resolution 1 rights and privileges, and to complete nominated James G. Birney of New and ample protection of persons and York for President: property from domestic violence or Resolved, That in our judgment, r foreign aggression. every consideration of duty and ex- 5. Resolved, That it is the duty of pediency which ought to control the every branch of the Government to action of Christian freemen requireI enforce and practice the most rigid of the Abolitionists of the United [ economy: in conducting our public af- States to organize a distinct and in- fairs, and that no more revenue ought dependent political party, embracing : to be raised than is required to defray all the necessary means for nominat- the necessary expenses of the Govern- ing candidates for o5ce and sustaining ; :ment. them by public suffrage. 6. Resolved, That Congress has no This nomination was indorsed at Al- 1Dower to charter a United States bank: bany, N. Y., April 1, 1840. that we believe such an institution one f3f deadly hostility to the best interests The Democratic convention was held ,3f the country, dangerous to our re- in Baltimore, May 5, 1840. Martin Van 1Dublican institutions and the liberties Buren was nominated for President, ;f the people, and calculated to place but no nomination was made for Vice- Ithe business of the country within the President. (:ontrol of a concentrated money power tnd above the iaws and the will of the DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM-1840. 1people. 1. Resolved, That the Federal Gov- ‘7. Resolved, That Congress has no ernment is one of limited powers, de- 3ower under the Constitution to inter- rived solely from the Constitution, and 1!ere with or control the domestic in- the grants of power shown therein !stitutions of the several states; and

. that such states are the sole and prop- as to secure the choice of a Vice-Presi- er judges of everything pertaining to dent by the electoral college. their own affairs, not prohibited by the Constitution; that all efforts by Aboli- tionists or others. made to induce Con- gress to interfere with questions of RESULT OF ELECTION NOVEMBER, slavery or to take incipient steps in re- 1840. lation thereto, are calculated to lead Harrison and Tyler received 234 elec- to the most alarminn and dangerous toral votes and Van Buren 60 cast by consequences, and that all such efforts seven states as follows: South Caro- have an inevitable tendency to dimin- lina, Virginia, Alabama, Arkansas, ish the happiness of the people, anti Missouri, IlIinois and New Hampshire. endanger the stability and perma- The remaining nineteen states voted nence-of the Union, and ought not to for the Whig party. be countenanced by any friend to our Popular vote: Harrison, 1,275,017; political institutions. Van Buren, 1,128,‘702; Birney, 7,059. 8. ,Resolved, That the separation of Early after Harrison was inaugur- the moneys of the Government from ated he called an extra session of Con- banking institutions IS indispensable gress to convene on May 31, 1841, to for the safety of the funds of the Gov- take action on “matters connected with ernment and the rights of the people. the finance of the country.” 9. Resolved, That the liberal princi- President Harrison died on April 4, ples embodied by Jefferson in the De- only one month after his inductioninto claration of Independence, and sanc- office, and John Tyler oecame Presi- tioned in the Constitution, which make dent April 6. ours the land of liberty and the asy- Congress passed two bills for the lum of the oppressed of every nation, establishing of a “United States Bank” have ever been cardinal principles in and both were vetoed bv President the Democratic faith; and every at- Tyler, who thereby incurred the dis- tempt to abridge the present privilege gust of his cabinet and the greatest dis- of becoming citizens, and the owners pleasure of the voters who elected him. of soil among us ought to be resisted The Cabinet which had been selected with the same spirit which swept the when Mr. Harrison came into office all Alien and Sedition L’aws from our resigned their positions except Daniel statute book. Webster of Massachusetts, Secretary of Whereas, Several of the states which State, who retained the place for two have nominated Martin Van Buren as years. a candidate for the Presidency, have John C. Calhoun of South Carolina put in nomination different individuals was Secretary of State the closing year as candidates for Vice-President, thus of Tyler’s administration. indicating a diversity of opinion as to the person best entitled to the nomina- tion: and CAMPAIGN OF 1844 Whereas, Some of the said states are not represented in this convention; Under the leadership of Samuel therefore, Houston, Texas had in 1836 declared Resolved. That the convention deem independence from the government of it expedient at the present time not Mexico and now sought annexation to choose between the individuals in to the United States. nomination, but to leave the decision This question was an issue in the to their reoublican fellow-citizens in campaign of 1844. President ‘Tyler the several states, trusting that before favored annexation, but it was opposed the election shall take place, their by the Whigs generally and in the opinions will become so concentrated presidential contest of 1844 James I$,

. NATIONAL PLATFORMS OF PARTIES. 39

Polk, Democratic candidate, favored tucky; for Vice-President, Theo. Fre- I the measure, while Henry Clay, the linghuysen of New Jersey. / Whig candidate, was opposed. A Democratic convention at Balti- WHIG PLATFORM-1844. more on May 27 nominated: For Pres- 1. Resolved, That these principles ident, James K. Polk of Tennessee; for may be summed as compromising a Vice-President. of New well-regulated national currency; a York was named, but he declined and tariff for revenue to defrav the neces- George M. Dallas of Pennsylvania was sary expenses of the Gove?nment, and placed on the ticket. discriminating with special reference to the protection of the domestic labor DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM. of the country; the distribution of the j The resolutions 1 to 9 inclusive of proceeds from the sales of public ! the Democratic platform of 1840 were lands; a single term for the Presi- i reaffirmed and the following added: dency; a reform of executive *usurpa- : 10. Resolved. That the nroceeds of tions; and generally such an adminis- the public lands ought to *be sacredly tration of the affairs of the country as applied to the national objects specified shall impart to every branch of the in the Constitution, and t,hat we are op- public service the greatest practical posed to the laws lately adopted, and efficiency, controlled by a well-regu- to any law for the distribution of such lated and wise economy..~ proceeds among the states, as alike in- The Liberty party he1.d their conven- ;expedient in policy and repugnant to tion at Buffalo, Aug. 30, 1843, making t the Constitution. James G. Birney again candidate for 11. Resolved, That we are decidedly President, and Thomas Morris of Ohio opposed to taking from the President candidate for Vice-President. I power by which he restrictions and re- LIBERTY PART PLATFORM-1844. amply sufficient to guard 1. Resolved, That human brother- the public interest, to suspend the pas- hood is a cardinal principle of true de- sage of a bill whose merits cannot mocracy, as well as pure Christianity, secure the aunroval of two-thirds of which spurns all inconsistent limita- the Senate and House of Representa- tions; and neither the political party tives, until the judgment of the peo- which repudiates it, nor the political ple can be obtained thereon, and which system which is not based upon it can has thrice saved the American people be truly democratic or permanent. from the corrupt and tyrannical dom- 2. Resolved, That the Liberty party, ination of tthe Bank of the United placing itself upon this broad principle, States. will demand the absolute and unquali- 12. Resolved, That our title to the fied divorce of the General Government whole of the Territorv of Oreeon is from slavery, and also the restoration clear and unquestionable; that G por- of equality of rights among men, in tion of the same ought to be ceded to every state where the party exists, or England or any other power, and that may exist. the reoccupation of Oregon and the re- 3. Resolved, That the Liberty Dart-v ;annexation of Texas at the earliest has not been organized for any-tern- Ipracticable period, are great American porary purpose by interested politi- ‘measures, which this convention re- cians, but has arisen from among the commends to the cordial support of the people in consequence of a conviction, iDemocracyi of the Union. hourly gaining ground, that no other party in the country represents the The Whig convention met in Balti- true principles of American liberty, or more May 1 and placed in nomination: the true spirit of the Constitution of For President, Henry Clay of Ken- the United States. 40 THE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK. --

I 4. Resolved, That the Liberty party ‘I has been shamefully violated by the has not been ornanizezd merely for the ,smission, on the part of many of the overthrow of slavery; its first decided states, to take any measures whatever effort must, indeed, be directed against iFor the abolition of slavery within, siave-holding as the grossest and most 1their respective limits; by the continu- revoltinn manifestation of desnotism. ance of slavery in the District of Co- but it &l also carry out the principle ;lumbia,and in the Territories of Louis- of equal rights into all its Practical iana and Florida; by the legislation of consequences and applications, and Congress; by the .protection afforded support every just measure conducive by national legislation and negotiation to individual and social freedom. to slaveholding in American- vessels, 5. Resolved, That the Liberty party on the high seas, employed in the is not a sectional party but a national coastwise slave traffic; and by the ex- party; was not originated in a desire tension of slavery far beyond its ori- to accomplish a single object, but in a ginal limits, by acts of Congress ad- comprehensive regard to the great in- mitting new slave states into the erests of the whole country; is not a Union. new party, nor a third party, but is the 9. Resolved, That ‘the fundamental party of 1776, reviving the principles of truths of the .Declaration of Independ- that memorable era, and striving to ence, that all men are endowed by carry them into practical application. their Creator with certain inalienable 6. Resolved, That it was understood rights, among which are life, liberty in the times of the Declaration and the and the pursuit of happiness, was Constitution, that the existence of made the fundamental law of our Na- slavery in some of the states was in tional Government, by that amend- derogation of the principles of Ameri- ment to the Constitution which de- can liberty, and a deep stain upon the clares that no person shall be deprived character of the country, and the im- of life, liberty, or property, without plied faith of the states and the Nation due process of law. was pledged that slavery should never 10. Resolved, That we recognize as be extended bevond its then existing sound the doctrine maintained bv limits, but should be gradually, and slaveholding jurists, that slavery -& yet, at no distant day, wholly abolished against natural rights, and strictly lo- by sta#te authority. cal, and that its existence and contin- 7. Resolved, That the faith of the uance rests on no other support than states and the Nation thus pledged,was state legislation, and not on any au- most nobly redeemed by the voluntary thority of Congress. abolition of slavery in several of the 11. Resolved, That the General Gov- states; and by the adoption of the or- ernment has under the Constitution no dinance of 1787, for the government of power to establish or continue slavery the territory northwest of the river anywhere, and therefore that all treat- Ohio, then the only territory in the ies and acts of Congress establishing, United States, and consequently the continuing or favoring slavery in the only territory subject in this respect tc District of Columbia. in the Territorv the control of Congress by which ordi- of Florida, or on the high seas, are un”- nance slavery was forever excluded constitutional, and all attempts t’o hold from the vast regions which now com- men as property within the limits of pose the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illi- exclusive national jurisdiction ought to nois, Michigan, and the Territory of be urohibited bv law. Wisconsin, and an incapacity to bear - 1% Resolved, “That the provision of up any other than freemen was im- the Constitution of the United States pressed on the soil itself. which confers extraordinary political 8. Resolved, That the faith of the powers on the owners of slaves, and states and the Nation thus pledeged, thereby constituting the two hundred NATIONAL PLATFORMS OF PABTIEB. 41 and fifty thousand slaveholders in the account of color, to employ their ut- slave states a privileged aristocracy; most energies to remove all such rem- and the provision for the reclamation nants and effects of the slave system. of fugitive slaves from service, are Whereas, The Constitution of the anti-republican in their chascter, dan- United States is a series of agreements, gerous to the liberties of the people covenants or contracts between the and ought to be abrogated. people of the United States, each with 13. Resolved, That the practical all. and all with each?and. operation of the second of these pro- Whereas, It is a principle of univer- visions, is seen in the enactment of the sal morality, that the moral laws of act of Congress respecting persons the Creator are paramount to all hu- escauina from their masters. which act. man laws; or, in the language of an if the &nstruction given to it by the Apostle, that “we ought to obey God Supreme Court of the United States in rather than men;” and, the case of Prigg vs. Pennsylvania be Whereas, The principle of common correct, nullifies the habeas corpus-acts law-that any contract, covenant or of all the states, takes away the whole agreement, to do an act derogatory to legal security of personal freedom, and natural righcts, is vitiated and an- ought, therefore, to be immediately re- nulled by its inherent immorality-has pealed. been recognized by one of the justices. 14. Resolved, That the peculiar pat- of the Supreme Court of the United ronage and support hitherto extended States, who in a recent case expressly to slavery and slaveholding by the holds that “any contract that rests up- General Government. ought to be im- on such a basis is void;” and, mediately withdrawn, and the example Whereas, The third clause of the sec- and influence of national authority ond section of the fourth article of the ought to be arrayed on the side of lib- Constitution of the United States,when ertv and free labor. construed as aroviding for the surren- li. Resolved, That the practice of der of a fugitive slave;does “rest upon the General Government, which pre- such a basis,” in that it is a contract to vails in the slave states, of employing rob a man of a natural right-namely, slaves upon the public works, instead his natural right to his own Iiberty- of free laborers, and paying aristo- and is therefore absolutely void. cratic masters, with a view to secure or Therefore, reward political services, is utterly in- 19. Resolved, That we hereby give defensible and ought to be abandoned. it to be distinctly understood by this 16. Resolved. That freedom of sueech Nation and the world that, as Aboli- and of the press, and the right of tionists, considering that the strength petition, and the right of trial by jury, of our cause lies in its righteousness, are sacred and inviolable; and that all and our hope for it, in our conformity rules. regulations and laws. in deroaa- to the laws of God. and our resaect for tion ‘of either, are oppressive, uncon- the rights of man, we owe it to the stitutional, and not to be endured by a Sovereign Ruler of the Universe, as a free people. proof of our allegiance to Him, in .a11 17. Resolved. ‘That we regard voting. our civil relations and offices, whether in an eminent’ degree, as a moral and as priv.ate citizens or public function- religious duty, which, when exercised aries sworn to support the Constitu- should be by voting for those who will tion of the United States, to regard and do all in their Dower for iimmediate to treat the third clause of the fourth emancipation. - article of that instrument, whenever 18. Resolved, That this convention applied to the case of a fugitive slave, recommend to the friends of liberty in as utterly null and void, and conse- all those free states where any inequal- quently as forming no part of the Con- ity of rights and privileges exists on stitution of the United States, when- 42 TBE PLATFORJf TEXT BOOK. ever we are called upon or sworn to come a law, but led to discussion support it. which strengthened the anti-slavery 20. Resolved. That the Dower given sentiment and promoted anti-slavery to Congress by’ the Constit;tion topro- organization which was now uniting vide for calling out the militia to sup- as the “Fr& Soil Party.” press insurrection does not make it the General Zachary Taylor, although duty of the government to maintain not an active participant in politics, slavery by FiliOary force, much less had won much popular favor by his does it make it the duty of the citizens military career in the war with Mex- to form a part of such military force; ico. when freemen unsheathe the sword it should be to strike for liberty, not for despotism. CAMPAIGN OF 1848. 21. Resolved, That to preserve the On June 7, 1848, at Philadelphia, the peace of the citizens, and secure the Whigs nominated for President, Zach- blessings of freedom, the legislature of ary Taylor of Louisiana, and for Vice- each of the free states ought to keep President, Millard Filmore of New in force suitable statutes rendering it York. penal for any of its inhabitants to The following resolutions were transport or aid in transporting from adopted at a ratification meeting held Such state, any person sought to be after adjournment of the convention: thus transported, merely because sub- WHIG RESOLUTIONS OF 1848. ject to the slave laws of any other 1. Resolved, That the Whigs of the state; this remnant of Independence United States, here assembled by their being accorded to the free states by the representatives, heartily ratify the decision of the Supreme Court, in the nomination of Gen. Zachary Taylor as case of Prigg vs. the State of Pennsyl- President, and Millard Filmore as Vice, vania. President of the United States, and DkdEe themselves to their sunoort. 2. -Resolved, That in the idoice of RESULT OF ELECTION. General Taylor as the Whig candidate Polk and Dallas received 170 elec- for President, we are glad to discover toral votes and Clay and Frelinghuy- sympathy with a great popul’ar senti- sen 105. ment throughout the nation-a senti- Popular vote: Democrats, 1,337,243; ment which, having its origin in ad- Whigs, 1,299,06S; Liberty party, 62,300. miration of great military success, has The Northwest boundary dispute been strengthened by the development, with Great Britain was settled under in everv action and every word. of Polk’s administration and the annexa- sound Conservative opinions, and of tion of Texas precipitated a war-with true fidelity to the great example of Mexico, although an independent gov- former days, and to the principles of ernment had been maintained by ,tlie the Constitution as administered by Texans for nearly ten years. its founders. In 1845 Cassius M. Clay established 3. Resolved, That General Taylor in an anti-slavery paper at Lexington. saying that, had he voted in 1844. he Ky., but was compelled by a mob to would have voted the Whia ticket. move the press to Cincinnati, Ohio. gives us the assurance-and no better In August, 1846, when it became evi- is needed from a consistent and truth- dent that the Mexican war would result speaking man-that his heart was with in a large acquisition of territory, us at the crisis of our uolitical des- David Wilmot of Pennsylvania intro- tiny, when Henry Clay was our can- duced in Congress a provision that didate, and when not only Whig prin- slavery should be excluded from all ciples were well defined and clearly territory acquired. This did pot be- asserted, but Whig measures depended NATIONAL PLATFORMS OF PARTIEB. 43

on success. The heart that was with Whig candidate. In the discharge of a us then is with us now, and we have painful duty-for his march into the a soldier’s word of honor, and a life 3nemy’s country was a reluctant one; of public and private virtue, as the in the command of regulars at one * securfty. Lime, and volunteers at another, and 4. Resolved, That we look on Gen- of both combined; in the decisive eral Taylor’s administration of the though nunctual discialine of his government as one conducive of peace, :amp, where all respected and loved prosperity and union; of peace, be- him; in the negotiation of terms for cause no one better knows, or has t dejected and desperate enemy; in the greater reason to deplore, what he has exigency of actual conflict when the seen sadly on the field of victory. the bal,ance was perilously doubtful-we horrors of war and especially of a for- we have found him the same-brave, eign and aggressive war; of prosper- distinguished, and considerate, no ity, now more than ever needed to re- heartless spectator of bloodshed, no lieve the nation from a burden of debt, triiier with human life or human hap- and restore industry-agricultural, piness; and we do not know which to manufacturing and commercial-to its admire most, his heroism in with- accustomed and peaceful functions and standing the assaults of the enemy in influences; of union, because we have the most honeless fields of Buena a candidate whose very position as a Vista-mourn&g in general sorrow southwestern man, reared on the banks over the graves of Ringgold, of Clay, of the great stream whose tributaries, Df Hardin-or in giving, in the heat natural and artificial. embrace the Df battle terms of merciful capitula- whole Union, render the protection of tion to the vanquished foe at Monte- the interests of the whole country his rey, and not being ,aashamed to avow first trust, and whose various duties that he did it to spare women and in past life have been rendered, not on children. helaless infancy and more the soil or under the flag of any state hel,pless’age, -against whom no Amer- or section, but over the wide frontier, ican soldier wars. Such a anilitary and under the broad banner of the man, whose triumphs are neither re- nation. mote nor doubtful; whose virtues these 5. Resolved. That standing. as the trials have tested, we are proud to Whig party does, on the broadand firm make our candidate. platform of the Constitution, braced 7. Resolved, That in support of this up by all its inviolable and sacred nomination, we ask our Whig friends guarantees and comnromises and cher- throuahout the nation to unite, to co- ished in the affections, because protec- operate zealously, resolutely, with tive of the interests of the people, earnestness, in behalf of our candiate, we are proud to have as the exponent whom calumny cannot reach, and with of our opinions one who is pledged to respectful demeanor to our adversa- construe it bv the wise and aenerous ries, whose candidates have yet to rule which Washington appli‘kd to it prove their claims on the gratitude of and who has said-and no Whig de- the nation. sires any other assurance-that he will make Washington’s administration his The Democrats met in convention at model. Baltimore on May 22, 1848, and nomi- 6. Resolved, That, as Whigs and nated of Michigan for Pres- Americans, we are proud to acknowl- ident, and William 0. Butler of ILen- edee our gratitude for the great mili- tucky for Vice-President. tary services, which, begin&g at Palo Alto, and ending at Buena Vista, first DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM OF 1848. awakened the American people to a 1. Resolved, That the American just estimate of him who is now our Democracy place their trust in the in- 44 THE PLATPORSi TEXT BOOK. _-- telligence, the patriotism, and the dis- Resolutions 7, 8 and 9 of the plat- criminating - .justice of the American form of 1840 were here inserted. people. 13. Resolved, That the proceeds of 2. Resolved, That we regard this as t.he uublic lands ounht to be sacredly a distinctive feature of our political applied to the National objects speci- creed, which we are proud to maintain fied in the Constitution; and that we before the world, as the great moral are opposed to any law for the distri- element in a form of government, bution of such proceeds among the springing from and upheld by the pop- States as alike inexpedient in policy ular will; and contrast it with the and repugnant to the Constitution. creed and practice of Federalism, un- 14. Resolved. ‘That we are decided- der whatever name or form, which ly opposed to taking from the Presi- seeks to palsy the will of the con- dent the qualified veto power by which stituent, and which conceives no im- he is enabled, under restrictions and posture too monstrous for the popular responsibilities amply sufficient to credulity. guard the public interests, to suspend 3. Resolved, Therefore, that enter- the passage of a bill whose merits taining these views, the Democratic cannot secure the anproval of two- uartv of this Union. through the dele- thirds of the Senate -and House of gates assembled in general conven- Representatives, until .the judgment of tions of the States, coming together in the people can be obtained thereon, a spirit of concord, of devotion to the and which has saved the American doctrines and faith of a free renresen- people from the corrupt and tyrannical tative government, and appealing to domination of the Bank of the United their fellow-citizens for the rectitude States, and from a corrupting system of their intentions, renew and reassert of general internal improvements. before the American people, tine dec- 15. Resolved, That the war with laration of principles avowed by them Mexico, provoked on her part by years on a former occasion, when, in gen- of insult and injury, was commenced eral conyention, they presented their by her army crossing the Rio Grande, candidates for the popular suffrage. attacking the American troops, and in- Resolutions 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the plat- vading our sister State of Texas, and form of 1840 were reaffirmed. upon all the principles of patriotism 8. Resolved, That it is the duty of and the laws of nations, it is a just every branch of the government to en- and necessary war on our part, in force and practice the most rigid econ- which every American citizen should omy in conducting our public affairs, have shown himself on the side of his and that no more revenue ought to be country, and neither morally nor phys- raised than is required to defray the ically by word or by deed, have given necessary expenses of the government, “aid and comforlt to the enema.” and for the gradual but certain ex- 16. Resolved, That we would be re- tinction of the debt created by the joiced at the assurance of peace with prosecution of a just and necessary Mexico, founded on the just principles war. of indemnitv for the coast and securitv Resolution 5 of the platform of 1844 for the future; but that while the rat{- was enlarged by the following: fication of the liberal treaty offered to And that the result of Democratic Mexico remains in doubt it-is the duty legislation, in this and all other finan- of the country to sustain the adminis- cial measures upon which issues have tration and to sustain the country in been made between the two political every measure necessary to provide for parties of the country, have demon- the vigorous nrosecution of the war. strated to careful and practical men should that treaty be rejected of all parties, their soundness, safety 17. Resolved, That the officers and and utility jn all business pursuits. soldiers who have carried the arms or NATIONAL PLATFORMS OF PARTIES. 45 .,- - their country into Mexico, have ity and fraternity, by continuing to crowned it with imperishable glory. resist all monopolies and exclusive Their unconquerable courage, their legislation for the benefit of the few at daring enterprise, their unfaltering the expense of the many, and by a perseverance and fortitude when as- vigilant and constant adherence to sailed on ail sides by innumerable foes those principles and compromises of and that more formidable enemy-the the Constitution, which are broad diseases of the climate-exalt their enough and strong enough to embrace devoted patriotism into the highest he- and uphold the Cnion or it was, the roism and give them a right to the Union as it is, and the Jnion as it profound gratitude of their country, shall be, in the full expansion of the and the admiration of the world. energies and capacity of this great and 18. Resolved, That the Democratic progressive people. national, convention of thirty Sltates 20. Resolved, That a copy of these comuosing the American Republic. resolutions be forwarded, through the tender their fraternal congratulations American minister at Paris, to the Re- to the national convention of the Re- public of France. public of France, now assembled as 21. Resolved, That the fruits of the the free suffrage representatives of the great political triumph of 1844, which sovereignty of thirty-five millions of elected James K. Polk and George M. republicans, to establish government Dallas President and Vice-President of on those eternal nrinciples of eaual the United States, have fulfilled the rights, for which- their La Fayette hopes of the Democracy of the Union and our Washington fought side by in defeating the declared purposes of side in the struggle for our national their opponents in creating a national independence; and we would especially bank; in preventing the corrupt and convey to them, and to the whole peo- unconstitutional distribution of the ple of France, our earnest wishes for land proceeds from #the common treas- the consolidation of their liberties, ury of the Union for local purposes; in through the wisdom that shall guide protecting the currency and labor of their councils, on the basis of a deml the country from ruinous fluctuations, ocratic Constitution, not derived from and guarding the money of the coun- the grants or concessions of kings or try for the use of the people by the dynasties, but originating from the establishment of the Constitutional only true source’ of political power treasury; in the noble impulse given to recognized in the States of this Union the cause of free trade by the repeal of -the inherent and inalienable right the tariff of ‘42. and the creation of of the people in their sovereign capac- the more equal, honest, and productive ity to make and to amend their forms tariff of 1846; and that in our opinion, of government in such manner as the it would be a fatal error ‘to weaken the welfare of the community may require. bands of a nolitical organization bv 19. Resolved, That in view of the which these great reforms have been recent development of this grand po- achieved, and risk them in the hands litical truth, of the sovereignty of the of their known adversaries, with what- people and their capacity and power ever delusive appeals they may solicit for self-government, which is pros- our surrender of that vigilance which trating thrones and erecting republics is the only safeguard of liberty. on the ruins of desnotism in the old 22. Resolved, That the confidence world, we feel that a high and sacred of the Democracy of the Union in the duty is devolved, with increased re- principles, capacity, firmness, I and in- sponsibility, upon the Democratic tegrity of James K. Polk, manifested party of this country, as the party of bvhis nomination and election in 1844. She PeOpie- ,:o sustain and advance has been signally justified by the among us Constitutional liberty, equal- strictness of his adherence to sound 46 THE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK. ~__ -- Democratic doctrines, by the purity of Whereas, These nominations so nuroose. the energy and ability, which made, furnish the occasion, and dem- have characterized his administration Instrate the necessity of the union of in all our affairs at home and abroad; the people under the banner of free that we tender to him our cordial Democracy, in a solemn and formal congratulations upon the brilliant sue-’ declaration of their independence of cess which has hitherto crowned his the slave power, and of their fixed patriotic efforts, and assure him in ad- determination to rescue the Federal vance, that at the expiration of his Government from its control. Presidential term, he will carry with 1. Resolved. Therefore. that we. the him to his retirement, the esteem, re- people here assembled, remembering spect and admira’tion of a grateful the example of our fathers in the days country. 3f the first Declaration of Independ- 23. Resolved, That this convention ence, putting OUF trust in God, for the hereby present .to the people of the iriumph of our cause, and invoking His United States, Lewis Cass, of Michi- guidance in our endeavors to advance gan, as the candidate of the Demo- it, do now plant ourselves upon the cratic party for the office of Presi- n.ational platform of freedom, in op- dent, and William 0. Butler, of Ken- position to the sectional platform of tucky, for Vice-President of the United slavery. States. 2. Resolved, ‘That slavery in the several States of this Union which rec- ognize its existence, depends upon the The met in conven- State laws alone, which cannot be re- tion at Buffalo. N. Y.. on Aug. 9. 1848. pealed or modified by the Federal Nominated for’ President, Martin Van Government and for which laws that Buren of New York; for Vice-Presi- Government is not responsible. We, dent, Charles Francis Adams of Mas- therefore, propose no interference by sachusetts. Congress with slavery within the lim- its of any State. FREE SOIL PLATFORM OF 1848. 3. Resolved, That the proviso of Whereas, We have assembled in con- Jefferson to nrohibit the existence of vention as a union of freemen, for the slavery after 1800 in all the Terri- sake of freedom, forgetting all political tories of the United States, southern difference, in a common resolve to and northern; the votes of six States maintain the rights of free labor and sixteen delegates to Congress of against the aggression of the slave 1784, for the proviso, to three States power, and to secure free soil to a free and seven delegates against it; the people: and actual exclusion of slaverv from the Whereas. The uolitical conventions Northwestern TerFitOFy, by the ordi- recently assembled at Baltimore and nance of 1787, unanimously adopted Philadelphia-the one stifling the voice by the States in Congress; and the of a great constituency. entitled to be entire history of that period, clearly heardin its deliberations, and the oth- show that it was the settle-d policy of er abandoning its distinctive principles the nation not to extend, nationalize for mere availability-have dissolved or encourage, but to limit. localize and the national nartv organization hereto- discourage, slavery: and to this policy, fore existing, by nominating for the which should never have been depart- chief magistracy of the United States, ed from, the Government ought to re- under the slaveholding dictation, can- turn. didates, neither of whom can be sup- 4. Resolved, That our fathers or- ported by the opponents of slavery ex- dained the Constitution of the United tension, wimthout a sacrifice of con- States, in order, among other great na. sistency, duty and self-respect; and, tional objects, to establish justice, prw NATIONAL PLATFORMB OF PARTIE& 47 mote the general welfare, and secure door to litigation and strife among the the blessings of liberty; but expressly future inhabitants thereof. to the ruin denied to the Federal Government of their peace and prosperity, was de- which they created, all Constitutional feated in the House of Representa- power to deprive any person of life, tives, its passage, in hot haste, by a liberty, or property without due legal majority embracing several Senators process. who voted in open viol,ation of the 5. Resolved, That in the judgment known will of their constitu@nts, of this convention, Congress has no should warn the people to see to it more power to make a slfave than to that their representatives be not suf- make a king; no more power to insti- fered to betray them. There must be’ tute or establish slavery than to in- no more compromises with slavery; if stitute or establish a monarchy; no made. they must be reoealed. such power can be found among those 10. ‘Resolved, That we demand free- specifically conferred by the Constitu- dom and established institution for our tion, or deprived by just implication brethren in Oregon, now exposed to from them. hardships, peril and massacre, by the 6. Resolved, That it is the duty of reckless hostility of the slave power the Federal Government to relieve it- to the establishment of free govern- self from all responsibility for the ment and free Territories: and not existence or continuance of slavery only for them but for our brethren in wherever the Government posses Con- California and New Mexico. stitutional power to legislate on that 11. Resolved, It is due not only to subject. and it is thus resaonsible for this occasion, but to the whole people its existence. of the United States, that we should 7. Resolved, That the true, and in also declare ourselves on certain othe,- the judgment of this convention, the questions of national nolicy; therefore, only safe measures of preventing the 12. Resolved, That ve demand cheap extension of slavery into the Territory postago for the people; a retrench. now free, is to prohibit its extension ment of the expenses and patronag,> in all such ‘Territory by an act of Con- of the Federal Goverr.ment; the aboli- gress. tion of all unnecessary offices and sal- 8. Resolved, That we accept the aries; and the election by the people issue which the slave power has forced of all civil officers in the service of the upon us; and to their demjand for more Government. so far a3 the same mav slave States, and more slave Territory, be practicable. our calm but final answer is, no more 13. Resolved, That river and harbor slave States and no more slave Terri- improvements when demanded by the tory. Let the soil of our extensive do- safety and convenience of commerce mains be kept free for the hardy pio- with foreign nations, GP among the neers of our own land, and the ap- several States, are object.3 of nationa pressed and banished of other lands, concern and that it is the duty of Con- seeking homes of comfort and fields of gress in the exercise of !ts constitu- dnterp;ise in the new world. tional power to provide thcrefor. 9. Resolved, That the bill lately re- 14. Resolved, That the free grant to ported by the committee of eight in actual settlers. in consideration of the the Senate of the United States, tias expenses they incur in making set- uo compromise but an absolute s-urren- tlements in the wilde’rness, wh!ch are der of the rights of the non-slavehold- usually fully equal to their acttral cost, ers of all the States: and while we re- and of the Dublic benefits resultine joice to know that’ a measure which therefrom, of reasonable portions of while opening the door for the intro- the public lands, under suitable limi- duction of slavery into the Territories tations, is a wise and just measure of now free, would also have opened the public policy, which will promote In 48 THE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK. various ways the interest of all the lic land grant of this character in the States of the Union; and we, there- United States. fore. recommend it to the favorable During this administration the num- consideration of the American people. ber of Flee Soilers in Congress reached 15. Resolved, That the obligations of eight in the House and two in the honor and natriotism reauire the ear- Senate. liest practical payment of the national debt, and we are, fherefore, in favor CAMPAIGN OF 1852. of such a tariff of duties as will raise The Democrats at Baltimore, June revenue adequate to defray the ex- 1, 1852, nominated: For President, penses of the Federal Government, and Franklin Pierce .of New Hampshire; to pay wp*z+I installments of our debt for Vice-President, William R. King and the fnte.& &if:., ? ~, of Alabama. 16. Resolved, That we inscribe on our banner, “Free Soil, Free Speech, DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM OF 1852. Free Labor and Free Men,” and under The first seven resolutions of the it we will fight on, and iight ever un- platform of 1848 were reaffirmed, with til a triumphant victory shall reward the following additions: our exertions. 8. Resolved, That it is the duty of RESULT OF ELECTION. every branch of the Government to The election resulted in a victory enforce and practice the most rigid for the Whigs. Taylor and Filmore re- economy in conducting ‘our public ceived 163 electoral votes; Cass and affairs, and that no more revenue Butler. 12’7. ought to be raised than is required to The ‘popular vote was: Whig, 1,360,-’ defray the necessary expenses of the 601; Democrat, 1,220,544; Free Soil, Government and for the gradual but 291,263. certain extinction of the public debt. President Taylor died July 9, 1850, 9. Resolved, That Congress has no when Millard Filmore succeded to power to charter a Natiorial Bank; the position of chief executive. that we believe such an institution one , Thomas Ewing and of deadly hostility to the best interests .Tohn J. Crittenden. who had been in of the country. d.angerous to our re- Harrison’s cabinet,’ were appointed to publican institutions and the liberties cabinet positions during this admin- of the people, calculated to place the istration; business of the country within the con- The slavery question was agitating trol of a concentrated money power, the public mind throughout the nation, and above the laws and will of the and in South Carolina a strong senti- people: and that the results of Demo- ment in favor of secession nrevailed. cratic legislation, in this and all other In September, 1850, a bill reported by financial measures, upon which issues Henry Cl.ay and intended as a compro- have been made between the two polit- mise measure, became a law. ical parties of the coutry, have dem- It prohibited slavery in the District onstrated to candid and practical men of Columbia, and admitted California of all parties, their soundness, safety as a free State, but the measure pro- and utility in all business pursuits. vided for the recovery of slaves by 10. Resolved, That the separation of their masters, when they had escaped the monevs of the Government from into a free state, and this law, known banking institutions is indispensable as the “Fugitive Slave Law,” became for the safety of the funds of the Gov- the source of violent onnosition in the ernment and the rights of the neoale. northern states. 11. Resolved, Th>t the liberal prin- In 1849 one million acres of land ziples embodied by Jefferson in the pere granted to the Mobile and Ohio Declaration of Independence, and sanc- Railroad Company, being the first pub- tioned in the Constitution, which NkflGNAL PLATFOFMB OF PARTIES. 49 make ours the land of liberty and applied to the National objects speci- I:he asylum of the oppressed of every fied in the Constitution; and that we nation, have ever been cardinal prin- are opposed to any law for the distri- ciples in the Democratic faith; and bution of such proceeds among the every attempt’ to abridge the privilege States as alike inexpedient in policy of becoming citizens and the owners and repugnant to the Constitution. of the soil among us ought to be re- 16. Resolved, That we are decid- sisted with the same

. 52 THE FLATFORM TEXT BOOK.

portunate demands of ,the slave power questions of which they are claimed to for more slave States, new slave Ter- be an adjustment. ritories, and the nationalization of 10. That no permanent settlement slavery, our distinct and final answer of the slavery question can be looked is-no more slave States, no slave Ter- for except in the practical recognition ritory, no nationalized slavery, and nc of the truth that slavery is sectional national legislation for the extradition and freedom national; by the total of slaves. - separation of the Gener.al Government 6. That slavery is a sin against from slavery, and the exercise of its God, and a crime against man, which legitimate and Constitutional influ- no human enactment or usage can ence on the side of freedom; and by make right; and that Christianity. leaving to the States the whole sub- humanity and patriotism alike demand ject of slavery and the extradition of its abolition. fugitives from service. 7. That the Fugitive Slave act ot 11. That all men have a natural 1850 is repugnant 61 the Constitution right to a nortion of the soil: and that to the principles of the common law. asthe use-of the soil is indispensable to the spiritt of Christianity, and to to life, the right of all men to the soil the sentiments of the civilized world; is as sacred as their right to life it- we, therefore deny its binding force on self. the American people and demand its 12. That the public lands of the immediate and total repeal. United States belong to the people 8. That the doctrine that any human and should not be sold to individuals la& is a finality, and not subject to n8r granted to corporations, but modification or repair, is not in ac- should be held as a sacred trust for cordance with the creed of the found- the benefit of the people, and shouId ers_-- of-- our Government, and is danger- be granted in limited quantities, free ous to the liberties of the people. of cost, to landless settlers. 9. That the acts of Congress, known 13. That due regard for the Fed- as the compromise measures of 1850, eral Constitution, a sound administra- by making the admission of a sover- tive nolicv. demand that the funds of eign State contingent upon the adop- the General Government be kept sep- tion of other measures demanded by arate from banking institutions: that the special interests of slavery; by inland and ocean postage should be their omission to guarantee freedom in reduced to the lowest possible point; the free Territories; by their attempt that no more revenue should be raised to impose unconstitutional limitations than is required to defray the strictly on the powers of Congress and the necessary expenses of the public serv- people to admit new States; by their ice and to pay off the public debt; provisions for the assumption of five and that the power and patronage of millions of the State debt of Texas, the Government should be diminished and for the payment of five millions bs the abolition of all unnecessarv of- more, and the cession of large terri- fices, salaries and privileges, and by tory to the same State under menace, the election by the people of all civil as an inducement to the, relinquish- officers in the service of the United ment of a aroundless claim: and bv States, so far as may be consistent their invasi& of the sovereignty of with the prompt and efficient transac- the States and the liberties of the tion of the public business. people, through the enactment of an 14. That river and harbor improve- unjust, oppressive, and unconstitu- ments, when necessary to the safety tional fugitive slave law, are proved to and convenience of commerce with for- be inconsistent with .a11 the nrincinles eign nations, or among the several 1 and maxims of democracy, and wholly States, are objects of national con- inadequate to the settlement of the cern; and it is the duty of Congress, NATiONAL PLATFORMS OF PAR&ES. 53 in the exercise of its Constitutional duction into all treaties hereafter to powers, to provide for the same. be negotiated between ths United 15. That emigrants and exiles from States and foreign nations, of some the old world should find a cordial provision for the amicable settlement welcome to homes of comfort and of difficulties bv a resort to decisive fields of enterprise in the new; and arbitrations. - every attempt to abridge their privi- 20. That the Free Democratic party lege of becoming citizens and owners is not organized to aid either the Whig of-soil among us ought to be resisted or Democratic wing of the great slave with inflexible determination. compromise party of the nation, but 16. That every nation has a clear to defeat them both; and that repudi- right to alter or change its own gov- ating and denouncing both as hooe- ernment and to administer its own lessiy corrupt and utterly unworthy*of concerns in such manner as may best confidence, the purpose of the Free secure the rights and promote the hap- Democracy is to take possession of the niness of the neonle: and foreign inter- Federal Government and administer it ference with that right is a dangerous for the better protection of the rights violation of the law of nations, against and interests of the whole people. which all independent governments 21. That we inscribe on our banner should nrotest. and endeavor bv all Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, proper means to prevent; and especial- and Free Men, and under it will fight ly is it the duty of the American Gov- on and fight ever, until a triumphant ernment, representing the chief repub- victory shall reward our exertions. lic of the world, to protest against 22. That upon this platform the con- and by all proper means to prevent, vention presents to the American peo- the intervention of kings and empe- ple, as a candidate for the office of rors against nations seeking to estab- President of the United States, John lish for themselves renublican or con- P. Hale, of New Hampshire, and as a stitutional governments. candidate for the office of Vice-Pres- 17. That the independence of Hayti id,ent of the United States George W. ought to be recognized by our Gov- Julian, of Indiana, and earnestly com- ernment, and our commercial relations mend them to the support of all free- with it placed on thd footing of the men and all parties. most favored nations. 18. That as by the Constitution, The election resulted in a victory “the citizens of each State shall be en- Car Pierce and King, who received 254 . titled to all the privileges arid immuni- electoral votes, cast by 27 states, while ties of citizens in the several States,” Scott and Graham received only 42 the practice of imprisoning colored electoral votes, cast by the states of seamen of other States, while the ves- Vermont, Massachusetts, Kentucky sels to which they belong lie in port, and Tennessee. and refusing the exercise of the right There were no electoral votes for the to bring such cases before the Su- Free Soil ticket. preme Court of the United States, to Popular vote: Democrat 1,601,474, test the legality of such proceedings, Whig 1,386,987, Free Soil 156,149. is a flagrant violation of the Consti- Vice-President King died April 18, tution, and an invasion of the rights 1853, and Jesse D. Bright of Indiana, of the citizens of other States, utterly President of the Senate, became acting inconsistent with the profession made Vice-President. by the slaveholders, that they wish the During this administration a reor- provisions of the Constitution faith- :anization of political parties occurred. fully observed by every State in the The Whigs ceased to exist as a politi- Union. :a1 factor and the slavery question be- 19. That we recommend the intro- :ame the dominant issue. 54 THE PLATFORM TEXT ROOK. - In 1854 organization of the anti- REPUBLICAN PLATFORM OF 1856. slavery element began under the name This convention of delegates. assem- Republican, and by 1856 it was sec- bled in pursuance of a call addressed ond in voting strength as a political to the people of the United States, party. without regard to past political dif- A national party came into the po- ferences or divisions, who are opposed litical field known as the American to the repeal of the Missouri Compro- party, receiving the support of a se- mise, to the policy of the present ad- cret organization whose members were ministration, to the extension of slav- called “Know Nothings,” their motto erv into free territorv: in favor of ad- being “Americans must rule America.” mitting Kansas as a-free State, of re- This party in 1856 made a platform, storing the action of the Federal Gov- and nominated a ticket that was in- ernment to the principles of Washing- dorsed by a Whig .convention held in ton and Jefferson: and who uronose to Baltimore, Sept. 13, 1856, which passed unite in presenting candidates for the resolutions deploring the sectional offices of President and Vice-President, strife to which the slavery question do resolve as follows: was leading, and urging the election of Resolved, That the maintenance of Millard Filmore, nominee of the the principles promulgated in the De- American party. claration of Independence, and em- bodied in the Federal Constitution. is In 1854 a bill was passed which in essential to the preservation of our effect repealed the Missouri compro- Republican institutions, and that the mise and organized the territories of Federal Constitution, the rights of the Kansas and Nebraska,’ leaving the States, and the Union of the States question whether they should be slave shall be meserved. or free to be determined in each terri- Resolved, That with our republican tory by the voters. fathers we hold it to be a self-evident This led to a bitter contest in Kan- truth that all men are endowed with sas between an.ti-slavery men of the the inalienable rights to life. libertv. North and pro-slavery men of the and the pursuit of-happiness, ‘and that South, each being determined to win. the primary object and ulterior design Hostile encounters and lawless vio- of our Federal Government were to se- lence was a natural result, and Kansas cure these rights to all persons within was the scene of a bloody strife for its exclusive iurisdiction: that as our - several years. republican .fathers, when -~they had Armed bands from Missouri would abolished slavery in all our national drive Free Soil voters f,rom th’e polls, territory, ordained that no person force an illegal count of ballots, and should be deprived of life, liberty, or try to secure a territorial government property, without due process of law, favorable to slavery. it becomes our duty to maintain this Throughout the entire nation the provision of the Constitution against slavery question was the all-absorbing all attempts to violate it for the pur- political topic. pose of establishing slavery in any Territory of the United States, by posi- tive legislation, prohibiting its exis- tence or extension therein. That we CAMPAIGN OF 1856. deny the authority of Congress, of a The Republicans met in national territorial legislature, of any individ- convention at Philadelphia, June 17, ual or association of individuals, to 1856, and nominated: For President, give existence to slavery in any Terri- John C. Fremont of California; for tory of the United States, while the Vice-President, William L. Dayton of present Constitution shall be main- New York. tained. NATIONAL PLATFORMS OF PARTIES. 55

Resolved, That the Constitution con- national administration, and that for fers upon Congress sovereign power this high crime against the Constitu- over the Territories of the United tion, the Union and humanity, we ar- States for their government, and that raign the administration, the Presi- in the exercise of this power it is both dent, his advisers, agents, supporters, the right and the imperative duty of apologists and accessories, either be- Congress to prohibit in the Territories fore or after the facts, before the coun- those twin relics of barbarism, poly- try and before the world, and that it gamy and slavery. is our fixed purpose to bring the actual Resolved, That while the Constitu- perpetrators of these atrocious out- pan of the United States was ordained rages, and their accomplices, to a sure yld established in order to form a and condign punishment hereafter. more perfect union, establish justice, Resolved, That Kansas should be im insure domestic tranquility, provide for mediately admitted as a State of the the common defense, promote the gen- Union with her present free Constitu- eral welfare, and secure the blessings tion, as at once the most effectual way of liberty, and contains ample provis- of securing to her citizens the enjoy- ions for the urotection of the life. lib- ment of the rights and privileges to erty and property of every citizen, the which they are entitled, and of ending dearest Constitutional rights of the the civil strife now raging in her ter- people of Kansas have been fraudu- ritory. lently and violently taken from them; Resolved, That the highwayman’s their Territory has been invaded by plea that “might makes right,” em- an armed force; spurious and pretend- bodied in the Ostend Circular, was in ed legislative, judicial and executive every respect unworthy of American officers have been set over them, by diplomacy, and would bring shame and whos#e usurped authority, sustained by dishonor upon any government or peo- the military power of the Government, ple who gave it their sanction. tyrannical and unconstitutional laws Resolved. That a railroad to the Pa- have been enacted and enforced; the cific ocean; by the most central and rights of the people to keep and bear practicable route, is imperatively de- arms have been infringed; test oaths manded by the interests of the whole of an extraordinary and entangling country, and that the Federal Govern- nature have been imposed, as a con- ment ought to render immediate and dition of exercising the right of suf- efficient aid in its construction, and, frage and holding office; the right of as an auxiliary thereto, the immediate an accused person to a speedy and pub- oonstruction of an emigrant route on lic trial by an impartial jury has been the line of the railroad. denied; the right of the people to be Resolved, That appropriations of secure in their persons, houses, papers Congress for the improvement of riv- and effects against unreasonable ers and harbors of a national charac- searches and seizures, has been vio- ter, required for the accommodation lated; they have been deprived of life, and security of existing commerce, are liberty and property without due pro- authorized by the Constitution, and cess of law; that thme freedom of speech justified by the obligation of the gov- . and of the press has been abridged; ernment to protect the lives and prop- that the right to choose their repre- erty of citizens. sentatives has been made of no effect; Resolved, That we invite the affilia- murders, robberies and arsons have tion and co-operation of the men of been instigated or encouraged, and the all parties, however differing from us offenders have been allowed to go un- in other respects, in support of the punished: that all these things have principles herein declared: and be- been done with the knowledge, sanc- lieving that the spirit of our institu- tion and procurement of the present tions, as well as the Constitution of 56 THE PLAI~ORM T&XT I3OOK.

our country, guarantees liberty of con- pertaining solely to the individual science and equality of rights among States, and non-intervention by each citizens, we oppose all prospective leg- State with the affairs of any other islation .affecting their security. State. . - 7. The recognition of the right of native-born and naturalized citizens of The American party held a conven- the United States, permanently resid- tion in Philadelphia, Feb. 21, 1856, and ing in any Territory thereof, to frame nominated Millard Filmore of New their Constitution and laws, and to York for President, and Andrew J. regulate their domestic and social af- Donelson of Tennessee for Vice-Presi- fairs in their own mode, subject only dent. to the provisions of the Federal Consti- tution, with the privilege of admission AMERICAN PARTY PLATFORM. into the Union whenever they have the 1. An humble acknowledgement to requisite population for one Represen- the Supreme Being for His protecting tative in Congress: Provided, always, care vouchsafed to our fathers in their that none but those who are citizens successful revolutionary struggle, and of the United States under the Consti- hitherto manifested to us, their des- tution and laws thereof, and who have cendants, in the preservation of the a fixed residence in any such Territory, liberties, the independence, and the ought to participate in the formation union of these States. of theconstitution or in the enactment 2. The perpetuation of the Federal of laws for said Territory or State. Union and Constitution as the palla- 8. An enforcement of the principle dium of our civil and religious liber- that no State or Territory ought to ad- ties, and the only sure bulwarks of mit others than citizens to the right American independence. of suffrage or of holding political of- 3. Americans must rule America; fices of the United States. and to this end native-born citizens 9. A change in the laws of naturali- should be selected for all State, Fed- zation, making a continued residence eral and municipal offices of govern- of twenty-one years, of all not hereto- ment employment, in preference to all fore provided for, an indispensable re- others. Nevertheless, quisite for citizenship hereafter, and 4. Persons born of American narents excluding all paupers and persons con- residing temporarily abroad, shbuld be victed of crime from landing upon our entitled to all the Dights of native-born shores; but no interference with the citizens. vested rights of foreigners. 5. No person should be selected for 10. Opposition to any union between political station (whether of native or church and state; no interference with foreign birth), who recognizes any al- religious faith or worship; and no test legiance or obligation of any descrip- oaths for office.. tion to any foreign prince, potentate, 11. Free and thorough investigation or power, or who refuses to recognize into any and all allege’d abuses of pub- the Federal and State Constitutions lic functionaries, and a strict economy . (each within its sphere) as paramount in public expenditures. to all other laws, as rules of political 12. The maintenance and enforce- action. ment of all laws constitutionally enact- 6. The unequaled recognition and ed, until said laws shall be repealed, maintenance of the reserved rights of or shall be decared null and void bv the several States, and the cultivation competent judicial authority. of harmony and fraternal good-will be- 13. Opposition to the reckless and tween the citizens of the several unwise policy of the present adminis- States, and to this end, non-interfer- tration in the general management of ence by Congress with questions ap- our national affairs, and more espe- ~~ATIONAL PLATFORMF~ OF PARTIES. 57 cially as shown in removing “Ameri- before the world as a great moral ele- cans” (by designation) and conserva- ment in a form of government spring- tives in principle, from office, and plac- ing from and uuheld by the DODU~.~ ing foreigners and ultraists in their wiil; and we contrast it with the creed places; as shown in a truckling sub- and practice of federalism, under what- serviency to the stronger, and an in- ever name or form, which seeks to solent and cowardly bravado towards palsy the will of the constituent, and the weaker powers; as shown in re- which conceives no imposture too mon- opening sectional agitation, by the re- strous for the popular credulty. peal of the Missouri Compromise; as Resolved, Therefore, That ,entertain- shown in granting to unnaturalized ing these views, the Democratic party foreigners the right of suffrage in of this Union, through their delegates Kansas and Nebraska; as shown in its assembled in national convention, vacillating course on the Kansas and coming together in a spirit of concord, Nebraska .qubstion; as shown in the of devotion to the doctrines and faith corruptions which pervade some of the of a free representative government, departments of the Government; as and appealing to their fellow citizens shown in disgracing meritorious naval for the recitude of ‘their intentions, re- officers through prejudice or caprice; new and reassert before the American and as shown in the blundering mis- people, the declaration of principles management of our foreign relations. avowed by them, on former occasions, 14: Therefore, to remedy existing in general convention, they have nre- evils and prevent the disastrous conse- sented their candidates for-the popular auences otherwise resulting therefrom. suffrage. we would build up the- “American (Here resolutions 1 to 4 inclusive Party” upon the principles hereinbe- from platform of 1840 were inserted.; fore stated. 5. Resolved, That it is the duty of 15. That each State council should every branch of the Government to en- haJe authority to amend their several force and practice the most rigid constitutions, so as to abolish the sev- economy in conducting our public af- eral degrees and substitute a pledge of fairs, and that no more revenue ought honor, instead of other obligations, for to be raised than is requird to defray fellowship and admission into the the necessary expenses of the Govern- party. ment and for the gradual but certain 16. A free and open discussion of all extinction of the public debt. political principles embraced in our 6. Resolved, That the proceeds of the platform. public lands ought to be sacredly ap- plied to the National objects specified in the Constitution: and that we are The Democratic convention met at opposed to any law for the distribu- Cincinnati, June 2, 1856, and nomi- tion of such proceeds among the States nated: For President, James Buch- as alike inexpedient in policy .and re- anan of Pennsylvania; for Vice-Presi- pugnant to the Constitution. dent, John C. Breckinridge of Ken- 7. Resolved, “rhat Congress has no tucky. power to charter a National Bank; that we believe such an institution one DEMOCRATIC PLATFGRM OF 1856. of deadly hostility to the best inter- Resolved, That the American Democ- ests of the country, dangerous to our racy place their trust in the intelli- republican institutions and the liber- gence, the patriotism, and the discrim- ties of the people, calculated to place inating justice of the American people. the business of the country within the Resolved, That we regard this as a :ontrol of a concentrated money power distinctive feature of our political ind above the laws and will of the peo- creed, which we are proud to maintain ple; and that the results of Demo-

c 58 THE I'LATFORV TEXT BOOK. cratic legislation, in this and all other political societies, by whatever name financial measures, upon which issues they may he called. have been made between the two po- Resolved, That the foundation of the litical uarties of the country, have Union of States having been laid in, demonstrated to candid and practical and its prosperity, expansion and pre- men of all parties, their soundness, eminent example in free government safety and utility in all business pur- built upon, entire freedom of matters suits. of religious concernment, and no re- 8. Resolved, ‘That the separation of spect of persons in regard to rank or place of birth, no party can justly be the moneys of the Government from deemed National, Constitutional, or in banking institutions is indispensable accordance with American principles, for the safety of the funds of the Gov- which bases its exclusive organization , ernment and the rights of the people. upon religious opinions and accidental 9. Resolved, That we are decidedly birth-mace. And hence a nolitical cru- opposed to taking from the President sade ins the nineteenth century, and the aualified veto Dower bv which he is in the United States of America, enabled, under restrictions and respon- against Catholics and foreign-born, is sibilities amply sufficient to guard the neither justified by the past history or pubiic interests, to suspend the passage future prospects of the country, nor in of a bill whose merits cannot secure unison with the spirit of toleration the approval of two-thirds of the Sen- and enlightened freedom which pecu- ate and House of Representatives, un- liarly distinguishes the American sys- til the judgment of the people can be tem of popular government. obtained thereon. and which has saved Resolved, That we reiterate with re- the American people from the corrupt newed energy of purpose the well con- and tyrannical domination of the Bank sidered declarations of former conven- of the United States, and from a cor- tions upon the sectional issue of do- rupting system of internal improve- mestic slavery, and concerning the re- ments. served rights of the States- 10. Resolved, That. the liberal prin- 1. Tha< Congress has no power un- ciules embodied bv Jefferson in the der the Constitution to interfere with, Declaration of Independence, and sanc- or control the domestic institutions of tioned in the Constitution, which the several States, and that such States makes ours the land of liberty and the are the sole and proper judges of ev- asvlum of the OnDressed of everv na- erything appertaining to their own _ tion, have ever -been cardinal princi- affairs, not prohibited by the Constitu- ples in the Democratic faith: and ev- tion; that all efforts of the Abolition- ery attempt to abridge the privilege of ists or others, made to induce Congress becomina citizens and the owners 01 to interfere with auestions of slaverv. the soil among us ought to be resisted or to take incipient steps in relation with the same spirit that swept the thereto, are calculated to lead to the Allen and Sedition laws from our most alarming and dangerous conse- statute books. quences: and that all such efforts have And Whereas, since tbe foregoing an inevitable tendency to diminish the declaration was uniformly adopted by happiness of the people, and endanger our predecessprs in national conven- the stahilitv and nermanencv of the tions, an adverse, political and relig- Union, and- ought hot to be counten- ious test has been secretly organized anced by any friend of our nolitical in- by a narty claiming to be exclusively stitutions. Americans, and it-is proper that th; 2. That the foregoing proposition American Democracy should clearly covers, and was intended to embrace, define its relation thereto; and declare the whole subject of slavery agitation its determined opposition to all secrel in Congress; and, therefore, the Demo- NATIONAL PLATFQBldfi OR PARWXI. 59 - cratic party of the Union, standing or of this whole country can repose in its this national platform, will abide by determined conservation of the Union, and adhere to, a faithful execution o and non-interference of Congress with the acts known as the Comuromost slavery in the Territories or in the measures settled by the Congress o District of Columbia. 1850, “the act for reclaiming fugitive! 2. That this was the basis of the from service labor” included: whicf compromise of 1850, confirmed by both act, being designed to carry. out ar the Democratic and Whig parties in express provision of the Constitution national conventions, ratified by the cannot, with fidelity thereto, be re. people in the election of 1852, and pealed, or so changed as to destroy OI rightly applied to the organization of impair its efficiency. the Territories in 1854. 3. That the Democratic party wil. 3. That by the uniform application resist all attempts at renewing in Con. of this Democratic principle to the gress, or out of it, the agitation of the organization of Territories and the ad- slavery question, under whatever mission of new States, with or without shape or col’or the attempt may bc domestic slavery, as they may elect, made. the equal rights of all the States will 4. ‘That the Democratic party will be preserved intact, the original com- faithfully abide by and uphold the pacts of the Constitution maintained orincinles laid down in the Kentucks inviolate, and the perpetuity and ex- and Virginia resolutions of 1798, and pansion of the Union insured to its ut- in the report of Mr. Madison to the most capacity of embracing, in peace Virginia legislature in 1799; that ii and harmony, every future American adopts those principles as constituting State that may be constituted or an- one of the main foundations of its po- nexed with a republican form of gov-, litical creed, and is resolved to carry ernment. them out in their obvious meaning and Resolved, ‘That we recognize the import. right of the pemople of all the Terri- And that we may more distinctly tories, including Kansas and Nebraska, meet the issue, on which a sectional acting through the legally and fairly party, subsisting exclusively on slav- expressed will of the maioritv of the erv agitation. now relies to test the actual residents, and whenever the fidelity of the’people, North and South, number of their inhabitants justifies it, to the Constitution and the Union. to form a Constitution, with or with-- 1. Resolved, That claiming fellow- cut domestic slaverv. and be admitted shin with and desirine the co-onera- into the Union upon terms of perfect tion of all who regard

NATIONAL PLATFORMS OF PARTIEB. 61 came prominent as a resolute and de- the North a sentiment in favor of se- termined free state leader. cession and “states rights” was taking He finally organized a company of Erm hold of the South, and before the 21 associates and captured the United close of this administration the initia- States arsenal at Harper’s Ferry and tory moves were completed which led and madly attempted to excite the to the four years’ war which imme- slaves of the locality to revolt and arm diately followed. themselves to secure their freedom. Brown and his band were ea.sily over- CAMPAIGN OF 1860. powered; thirteen of them were killed and only two escaped, while he and six The Republican convention met at of his followers were taken prisoners, Chicago on May 16, 1860. Abraham tried at Charleston, Va., committed Lincoln of Illinois was nominated for and hung. President, and of His move did not receive hearty in- Maine for Vice-President. dorsement in the North, yet helped to excite the public mind, and before the REPUBLICAN PLATFORM OF 1860. campaign of 1860 opened the most bit- Resolved. That we. the delegated ter feelings existed between the two representatives of the ‘Repubilcanel& sections of the country on the slavery tors of the United States, in conven- question. tion assembled, in discharge of the The Dred Scott decision, which was duty we owe to our constituents and rendered by the Supreme Court in our country, unite in the following 1857, helped to increase the feeling declarations: of opposition to the ‘party in power 1. That the history o> the nation, and to increase the bitterness of sec- during the last four years, has fully tional strife. established the propriety and necessity Dred Scott had gone with his master of the organization and nernetuation into free northern states, and resided of the Republican party, and-tha+ the outside of slave territory for nearly causes which called it into existence five years; married in Minnesota an- are permanent in their nature, and other of his master’s slaves, and with now more than ever before, deman: a child born on free soil, returned to its peaceful and Constitutional tri- Missouri, where he ten years later, umph. after his master’s death, brought suit 2. That thb maintenance of the prin- which involved the auestion of his cinles nromuleated in the Declaration freedom, winning the case in the lower of- Independence and embodied in the court, but the final decision in the Su- Federal Constitution, “That all men preme Court, besides refusing him and are created equal; that they are en- his family their liberty, declared that dowed bv their Creator with certain no colored person could be recognized inalienable rights; that among these as a citizen and that “they had no are life, liberty and the pursuit of hap- rights which wh’te persons were bound piness; that to secure- these rights, to respect.” governments are instituted among The court went further and declared men, deriving their just powers from the Missouri Compromise void and the oonsent of the governed,” is essen- that Congress had no right to exclude tial to the nreservation of our renubli- slavery from any territory. can instituiions; and that the Federal In 1857 the banks produced another Constitution, the rights of the States, nanic and an era of bankruutcy and and the Union of the States, must and Enancial disaster, by suspendin& pay- shall be preserved. ment of their debts to depositors and 3. That to the Union of the States other creditors. this nation owes its unprecedented in- As anti-slavery sentiment spread in crease in population, its surprising 63 ‘l-Ill% PLATFORJI TEX’r 1300K.

development of material resources, its pervades every department oi the rapid augmentatron of wealth, its hap- Federal Government; that a return to piness at home and its honor abroad; rigid economy and accountability is in- and we hold in abhorrence all schemes dispensable to arrest the systematic for disunion, come from whatever plunder of the public treasury by fav- source they may; and we congratulate ored partisans; while the recent start- the country that no Republican mem- ling developments of frauds and cor- ber of Congress has uttered or coun- ruptions at the Federal metropolis, tenanced the threats of disunion so show that an entire change of admin- often made by Democratic members istration is imperatively demanded. without rebuke and with applause 7. That the new dogma, that the from their political associates: and we Constitution, of its own force, carries denounce those threats of disunion, slavery into any or all of the Territo- in case of .a popular overthrow of their ries of the United States, is a danger- ascendency, as denying the vital prin- ous political heresy, at variance with cinles of free aovernment. and as an the explicit provisions of the instru- avowal of contemplated treason, which ment itself, with contemporaneous ex- it is the imperative duty of an indig- position, and with legislative and judi- nant people sternly to rebuke and for- cial precedent-is revolutionary in its ever silence. tendency, and subversive of the peace 4. That the maintenance inviolate of and harmony of the country. the rights of the States, and especially 8. ‘That the normal condition of all the right of each State to order and the territory of the United States is control its own domestic institutions that of freedom; that as our republi- according to”its own judgment exclu- can fathers, when they had abolished sively, is essential to that balance of slaverv in all our national territorv. powers on which the perfection and ordained that “no person shall be de- endurance of our political fabric de- prived of life, liberty or property, pends; and we denounce the lawless without due process of law,” it be- - . invasion, by armed force, of the soil comes our dutv bv legislation. when- of any State or Territory, no matter ever such legislation is necessary, to under what pretext, as among the maintain this provision of the Consti- gravest of crimes. tution against all attempts to violate 5. That the present Democrat& ad- it: and we denv the authoritv of Con- ministration has far exceeded our gress, of a Territorial legisiature, or worst apprehension, in its measureless of any individuals, to give legal exist- subserviency to the exactions of a sec- ence to slavery in any Territory of the tional interest; as especially evinced United States. in its desperate exertions to force the 9. That we brand the recent reopen- infamous Lecomptonconstitution upon ing of the African slave trade, under the protesting people of Kansas; in the cover of our national flag, aided by construing the personal relations be- perversions of judicial power, as a tween master and servant to involve crime against humanity and a burning an unequalified property in persons; shame to our country and age; and we in its attemated enforcement. everv- call unon Congress to take nromnt and where, on land and sea, through the efficient measures for the- total and intervention of Congress and of the final suppression of that execrable Federal courts, of the extreme preten- traffic. sions of a purely local interest; and 10. That in the recent vetoes. bv in its general and unvarying abuse of their Federal governors, of the acts of the power entrusted to it by a confid- the legislatures of Kansas and Ne- ing people. braska, prohibiting slavery in those 6. That the people justly view with Territories, we find a practical illustra- alarm the reckless extravagance which tion of the boasted Democratic princi- / NATIOIYAY I-lrAriWRYS OF PARTIES. 63

ule of non-intervention and popular ocean is imperatively demanded by the !I sovereignty, embodied in the Kansas- interest of the whole country; that the Nebraska bill, and a demonstration of Federal Government ought to render the deception and fraud involved immediate and efficient aid in its con- therein. struction; and that as preliminary 11. That Kansas should, of right, be thereto. a dailv overland mail should immediately admitted as a State under be promptly established. the Constitution recently rormed and 17. Finally having thus set forth our adopted by her people, and accepted by distinctive principles and views, we in- the House of Representatives. vite the co-operation of all citizens, 12. That, while providing revenue however differing on other questions, for the support of the General govern- who substantially agree with us in our ment by duties on imports, sound pal- affirmance and support. * icv reauires such an adjustment of thkse imports as to encourage the de- The American pa?ty, now called the velopment of the industrial interest of Constitutional Union party, held a I the whole country; and we commend convention in Baltimore, May 19, and that policy of n.ational exchanges nominated John Bell of Tennessee for which sezures to the working men lib- President, and Edward Everett of eral wages, to agriculture remunera- Massachusetts for Vice-President. tive prices, to mechanics and manu- facturers an adequate reward for their CONSTITUTIONAL UNION PLAT- skill, labor, and enterprise, and to the FGRM. nation commercial prosperity and in- Whereas, Experience has demon- deuendence. strated that platforms adopted by the i3. That we protest against any sale partisan conventions of the country or alienation to others of the public have had the effect to miglead and de- lands held by actual settlers, and ceive the people, and at the same time against any view of the homestead pol- to widen the political divisions of the icy which regards the settlers as pau- country, by the elevation and encour- pers or suppliants for public bounty; agement of geographical and sectional and we demand the passage by Con- parties; therefore, gress of the complete and satisfactory Resolved, That it is both the part of homestead measure which has already natriotism and of dumty to recognize passed the House. no political principles other than the 14. That the Republican p,arty is op- Constitution of the country, the Union posed to any change in our naturaliza- of the States, and the enforcement of tion laws, or any State legislation by the Laws; and that as representatives which the rights of citizenship hither- of the Constitutional Union men of the to accorded to emigrants from foreign country, in national convention as- lands shall be abridged or impaired; sembled, we hereby pledge ourselves and in favor of giving a full and effi- to maintain. nrotect. and defend. sen- cient protection to the rights of all arately and ‘unitedly; these great’prin- classes of citizens. whether native or ciples of public liberty and national naturalized, both at home and abroad. safety against all enemies at home and 15. That appropriations by Congress abroad, believing that thereby peaca for river and harbor improvements of may once more be restored to the a national character, required for the country, the rights of the people and accommodation and security of an ex- of the States re-established, and the isting commerce, are authorized by the Government again placed in that con- Constitution, and justified hv the ohli- dition of justice, fraternity, and equal- gations of government to protect the ity, which, under the example and lives and property of its citizens. Constitution omf our fathers, has sol- 16. That a railroad to the Pacific emnly bound every citizen of the 1

64 TEE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK.

United States to maintain a more per- whether at home or abroad, and fect union, establish justice, insure whether native or foreign. domestic tranquility, provide for the 4. Resolved, That one of the necessi- common defense, promote the general ties of the age, in a military, commer- welfare, and secure the blessings of cial, and postal point of view is speedy liberty to ourselves and our posterie. communication between the Atlantic and Pacific States; and the Democratic The Democratic national convention party pledge such Constitutional Gov- met at Charleston, S. C., on April 23, ernmen.t aid as will insure the con- 1860, but after a long, animated dis- struction of a railroad to the Pacific cussion between the two factions, one coast at the earlest practicable period. 5. Resolved, That the Democratic representing the ultra southern wing party are in favor of the acauisition of the party and the other the north- of the island of Cuba, on such terms as ern Democracy, the convention split shall be honorable to ourselves and and the southern wing adopted a plat- just to Spain. form. Both factions adjourned to meet 6. Resolved. That the enactments of at Baltimore in June. State legislatures to defeat the faithful The northern Democrats met June execution of the Fugitive Slave law 1% in Baltimore and nominated are hostile in character, subversive of Steuben A. DounIas of Illinois for the Constitution, and revolutionary in President, and Herschel V. Johnson of their effect. Georgia for Vice-President, and adopt- 7. Resolved, That it is in accordance ed the following platform: with the true internretation of the Cin- cinnati platform, that, during the ex- DEMOCRATIC, PLATFORM OF 1860 istence of the ‘Territorial gdvernments, _ (DOUGLAS). the measure of restriction, whatever 1. Resolved, ‘That we, the Democracy it may be,imposed by the Federal Con- of the Union, in convention assembled, stitution on the power of the Territo- hereby ,-clare our affirmance of the rial legislature over the subject of do- resolutions unanimously adopted and mestic relations, as the same has been, declared as a platform of principles by or shall hereafter be finallv determined the Democratic convention at Cincin- by the Supreme Court of the United nati, in the year 1856, believing that States, shall be respected by all good Democratic principles are unchange- citizens, and enforced with nrbmnt- able in their nature when applied to ness and fidelity by every branch-of the same subject matters; and we re- the General Government. commend, as the only further resolu- tions, the following: Inasmuch as differences of opinion On June 28. the southern faction of exist in the Democratic party as to the the Democratic party met in- Balti- nature and extent of the powers of a more and nominated John C. Breckin- Territorial legislature, and as to the ridge of Kentucky for President, and powers and duties of Congress, under Joseph Lane of Oregon for Vice-Presi- the Constitution of the United States, dent. over the institutio’n of slaverv within the Territories. DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM OF 1860 2. Resolved, That the Democratic (BRE’CKINRIDGE). nartv will abide by the decisions of the Resolved, That the platform adopted Supreme Court of-the United States on by the Democratic party at Cincinnati the question of Constitutional Iaw. be affirmed, with the following ex- 3. Resolved,That it is the duty of the planatory resolutions: United States to afford ample and com- 1. That the government of a Terri- plete protection to all its citizens, tory, organized by an act of Congress, * XATIONAL PLATFORMS OfE PARTIES. 6: t- is provisional and temporary; and, the passage of some bill to the extent of during its existence, all citizens of the the Constitutional authority of Con- United States have an equal right to gress, for the construction of a Pacific settle, with their property in the Ter- railroad, from the Mississippi river to ritory, without their rights, either of the Pacific ocean, at the ealiest practi- person or property, being destroyed cable moment. or impaired by Congressional or Ter- ritorial legislation. I 2. That it is the duty of the Federal RE’SULT OF ELECTION OF 1860. Government, in all its- departments, to Lincoln and Hamlin received 180 protect when necessary, the rights of electoral votes, Breckinridge and Lane persons and property in the Territo- 72, Douglas and Johnson 12, Bell and ries, and wherever else its Constitu- Everett 39. tional authority extends. The popular vote was: For Lincoln 3. That when the settlers in a Terri- and Hamlin, 1,865,913; for Douglas and I tory having an adequate population, Johnson, 1,374,664; for Breckinridge form a State Constitution in pursuance and Lane, 848,404; for Bell and Ever- of law; the right of sovereignty com- ett, 591,900. mences, and, being consummated by Sectional strife had grown very bit- admission into the Union, they stand ter. The Republicans had ,carried I on an eaual footing with the aeonle of every freestate except New JersEy, and the other States, and the State- thusor- secured three electors in that state. ganized ought to be admitted into the Douglas, representing the Democrats I Federal Union, whether its Constitu- who believed that the slavery question tion prohibits or recognizes the insti- should be left to the people of the ter- I tution of slavery. ritories without congressional interfer- 4. That the Democratic party are in ence, received half a million more favor of t.he acauisition of the island votes than Breckinridge, yet only se- Iof Cuba, on such terms as shall be cured the electoral votes of Missouri honrable to ourselves, and just to and three from New Jersey. Spain, at the earliest practicable mo- Kentucky, Tennessee a d Virginia ment. gave their electoral votes Por Bell and I 5. That the enactments of State leg- all the other slave states were carried islatures to defeat the faithful execu- fo. Breckenridge. tion of the Fugitive Slave law are hos- As soon as the re#sult of the election tile in character, subversive of the was known southern leaders began Constitution and revolutionary in their making a vigorous agitation in favor Ieffect. of withdrawal from the Union, and on 6. That the Democracv of the United Feb. 4, 1861, a month before the inau- I States recognize it as the imperative guration of President Lincoln a con- duty of this Government to protect the vention at Montgomery, Ala., proceed- naturalized citizens in all their rights, el to organize the “Confederate States whether at home or in foreign lands, Jf America.” I to the same extent as its native born The question of “states rights” had citizens. from the earliest days of the govern- Whereas, One of the greatest neces- ment been a matter of dispute and the 1I sities of the age, in a political, com- people were not agreed on the dividing I mercial, postal and military point of line between national and state au- view, is a speedy communication be- thority. Itween the Pacific and Atlantic coasts; In the South the belief was-prevalent %herefore be it that a state should have the right to Resolved, That the Democratic party withdraw from the union of states at do hereby pledge themselves to use will. every means in their power to secure Soon after the inauguration of Lin- coin it hecame evident that his hopes C. Cochran of New York for Vice-Pros of a settlement of the strife between ident. the contending sections by a peaceful reconciliation would not be realized. RADICAL REPUBLICAN PLATFOR1 and on April 15 a call was issued for 1. That the Federal Union shall b# 75,000 troops, and Congress was called preserved. to assemble on July 4 in extra session. 2. That the Constitution and laws o Within two weeks after this first call the United States must be observec for troops over 300,000 men had offered and obeyed. themselves in response to the call. 3. That the Rebellion must be sup Throughout the North a strong sen- pressed by force of arms, and withon timent existed in favor of more v&Jr- compromise. ous action on the part of the adminis- 4. That the rights of free speech, fret tration. In Julv. 1861. John C. Fre- press and the habeas corpus be helc mont was given command in Missouri inviolate; save in districts where mar and the following month he issued a tial law has been urocraimed. proclamation declaring the slaves of 5. That the Rebellion has destroyer all rebels to be free men. slavery: and the Federal Constitution Fremont was relieved from this should be so amended as to nrohibit iti comm d in November and his place re-establishment, and to secure to al given aeo General Hunter, who was men absolute equality before the law. shortly superseded by General Halleck. 6. That integrity and economy art General Hunter as commander in demanded at all times in the adminis South Carolina issued a similar pro- tration of the Government, and that ix clamation in 1862, but it was overruled time of war the want of them is trim by the President. inal. On Seut. 22, 1862, President Lincoln 7. That the right of asylum, excep issued a-uroclamation giving notice to for crime and subject to law, is a re the inhabitant’s of thestates in rebel- cognized principle of American lib lion, that unless they returned to their erty; and that any violation of it can allegiance w the end of the year, he not be overlooked, and must not go un would declare their slaves free. rebuked. On Jan. 1,1863, the proclamation was 8. That the national policy known a! issued, and it specifically declared that the “Monroe Doctrine” has become i it was issued as an act of “military recognized principle, and that the necessity.” establishment of an anti-republican The President had the most hearty government on this continent by an] approva! of the northern people in this foreign Dower cannot be tolerated. action which liberated the slaves. 9. ,That the gratitude and support o There had sprung up an element the nation are due to the faithful sol which complained at the deliberate diers and the earnest leaders of thr manner of President LincoIn, and in Union army and navy, for their heroic the next campaign were known as achievements and deathless valor ir Radical Republicans; they urged that defense of our imperiled country ant more vigorous and harsh measures be of civil libertv. adopted in dealing with questions at 10. That the-one-term policy for Zht issue. Presidency, adopted by the people, ic strengthened by the force of the exist. QAMPAIGN OF 1864. ing crisis, and should be maintained by Constitutional amendment. On, May 31, 1864, the Radical Repub- 11. That the Constitution should bf lican convention met at Cleveland, so amended that the President and Ohio, and nominated John C. Fremont Vice-President shall be elected by a of California for President, and John direct vote of the people. d .’

LX= 12. That the question of the recon- 1patriotism, the heroic valor, and the struction of the rebellious States be- 1mdying devotion of the American peo- I longs to the people, through their rep- 1ple to the country and to its free in- resentatives in Congress, and not to 3titutions. I the Executive. Resolved, That as slavery was the 13. That the confiscation of the lands ,:ause,and now constitutes the strength of the rebels, and their distribution ,af this Rebellion, and as it must be among the soldiers and actual settlers, always and everywhere hostile to the is a measure of justice. 1principles of republican government, ‘- justice and the national safety demand General Fremont afterwards with- its utter and complete extirpation from drew and recommended that the entire the soil of the Republic; and that we IRepublican strength be given the reg- upholdand maintain the acts and proc- ular ticket and this recommendation lamations by which the Government, I in its own defense, has aimed a death was followed. blow at the gigantic evil. We are in favor, furthermore, of such an amend- The Republicans met in convention ment to the Constitution, to be made at Baltimore on June 7, and renomi- by the people in conformity with its nated Abraham Lincoln for President, provisions, as shall terminate and for- and nominated Andrew Johnson of ever prohibit the existence of slavery Tennessee for Vice-President. within the limits or the jurisdiction of REPgBLICAN PLATFORM OF 1864. the United States. Resolved, That the thanks of the Resolved, That it is the highest duty American people are due to the sol- of everv American. citizen to maintain diers and sailors of the army and navy sgainst”al1 their enemies, the integrity who have periled their lives- in defense of the Union, and the paramount au- of their country and in vindication of Ithority of the Constitution and laws of the honor of its flag; that the nation the United States; and that, laying owes to them some-permanent recog- aside all differences of political opin- nition of their patriotism and their ions, we pledge ourselves, as Union valor, and ample and permanent pro- men. animated bv a common sentiment vision for those of their survivors who Iand’aiming at a-common object, to da have received disabling and honorable everything in our power to aid the wounds in the service of the country; Igovernment in auelling;, by force of and that the memories of those who [arms. the Rebellion nowracrine: against have fallen in its defense shalt1 be held its authority, and in bringing

t PLATFORY TEXT BOOK. tion against its open and secret foes: fraud the institutions of any repub. that we aspprove, especially, the Proc- lican government on the western con tic lamation of Emancipation and the tinent, and that they will view with t11 employment, as Union soldiers, of men extreme jealousy, as menacing to the e:l heretofore held in slavery; and that peace and independence of this OUI at we have full confidence in his deter- country, the efforts of any such power PC mination to carry these and all other to obtain new footholds for monar Constitutional measures essential to chical governments, sustained by E je the salvation c2 the country, into full foreign military force, in near proxim. se and complete effect. ity to the United States. of Resolved, That we deem it essential llc to the general welfare that harmony ‘The Democrats met in Chicago, Aup should prevail in the national councils, 29. 1864. and nominated George B. MC, fiE and we regard as worthy of public Clellan ‘of New Jersey for President confidence and official trust those only and George H. Pendleton of Ohio fol 5; who cordiallv indorse the urincinles Vice-President. in proclaimed in these resolufions, and bi which should characterize the adminis- DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM OF 1864 tr tration of the Government. Resolved, That in the future, as ir ee Resolved. That the Government owes the past, we will adhere with unswerv in to all me; employed in its armies, ing fidelity ,to the Union under the dc without regard to distinction of color, Constitution, as the only solid foun dt the full protection of the laws of war; dation of our strength, security am and that any violation of these laws happiness as a people, and as a frame Fi or of the usages of civilized nations in work of government equally conducive ar the time of war, by the rebels now in to the welfare and prosperity of al of arms. should be made the subiect of the states, both northern and southern ar prompt and full redress. - Resolved, That this convention doe! Resolved, That foreign immigration, explicitly declare, as the sense of the Fll which in the past has added so much American people, that after four year! ri to the wealth, development of re- of failure to resto-e the Union by the of sources, and increase of power tq this experiment of war, during which, nn nation-the asylum of the oppressed der the pretense of a military neces gr of all nations-should be fostered and sity of a war power higher than the in encouraged by a liberal and just policy. Constitution, the Constitution itsel Il( Resolved, That we are in favor of the has been disregarded in every par of speedy construction of the railroad to and public liberty and private righ se the Pacific coast. alike trodden down, and the materia SC Resolved, That the national faith, prosperity .of the country essentiall: m pledged for the redemption of the pub- impaired, justice, humanity, liberty lic debt, must be kept inviolate and and the public welfare demand tha for this purpose, we recommend econ- immediate efforts be made for a ces omy and rigid responsibility in the sation of hostilities, with a view tc public expenditures and a vigorous !an ultimate convention of all: athl and just system of taxation; and that States, or other peaceable means, tc it is the duty of every loyal State ta the end that, at the earliest practicable sustain the credit and promote the moment, peace may be restored on thl use of national currency. basis of the federal union of all ths Resolved that we approve the posi- States. tion taken by the Government, that Resolved, That the direct interfer the people of the United States can ence of the military authority of th never regard with indifference the at- United States in the recent election tempt of any European power to over- held in Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri throw by force, or to supplant by and Delaware, was a shameful viola. XATIOBAL PLATFORMS AND PARTIES. 69 tion of the Constitution: and the reDe election and 212 electoral votes were tltion of such acts in tde approachfni cast for Lincoin and Johnson. election will be held as revolutionary Twenty-one electoral votes were cast and resisted with all the means ant for the Democratic candidates,’ by the power under our control. states of Kentucky, New Jersey and Resolved, That the aim and ob Delaware. ject of the Democratic party is to pre Popular vote: Lincoln 2,216,067, Mc- serve the Federal Union and the right, Clellan, 1,808,725. of the States unimpaired; and the: On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln hereby deciare that they consider thl was assassinated and Andrew Johnson administrative usurpation of extraor became President. diiary and dangerous powers no The war being ended, the admisistra- granted by the Constitution; the sub tion addressed itself to the work of division of the civil and military law! reconstruction, and on May 29, 1865, in States not in insurrection; the ar, President Johnson issued a proclama- bitrary military arrest, imprisonment tion of amnesty, to all who had par- trial and sentence of American citi, ticipated in the rebellion, who would lens in States where civil law existr now take an oath to support the gov- In full force; the suppression of free. ernment; except certain specified lam of speech and of the press, the classes, who were permitted to make ienial of the right of asylum, the opeT appkatiOn for executive Dardon. md avowed disregard of States rights; A difference existed between the ;he employment of unusual test oaths President and a majority of Con- md the interference with and denis’ gress in regard to the -restoration If the rights of the people to beal of the southern States to their irms in their defense, as calculated tc former political rights; Congress Irevent a restoration of the Union and maintaining that they should not be :he perpetuation of a government de- fully restored until the freedmen *iving its just powers from the consenl were secured in all their rights, )f the governed. and precaution taken to prevent rebels Resolved, That the shameful disre- from participating in the control of :ard of the administration to its duty government. n respect to our fellow citizens who The work of reconstruction, how- IOW are and long have been, prisoners ever, progressed; loyal state govern- tf war, in a suffering condition, de- ments were established and by 1868 ,erves the severest reprobation on the >nly three states failed to take part core alike of public policy and com- n the Presidential election; these were non humanity. Virginia, Mississippi and Texas. Resolved, That the SvmDathv of the )emocratic party is heartily and ear- CAMPAIGN OF 1868. iest!y extended to the soldiery of our rmy and the sailors of our navy, who The Republicans met in Chicago, re and have been in the field and on May 20, 1868. and nominated IT. S. Pe Fe?, under the flag of their coun- 3rant of Illinois for President, and yv: and. in the event of our attaining 3chuyler Colfax of Indiana for Vice- l?wyFr. thev will receive all the care ‘resident. nrl nrotection, regard and kindness, iEPUBLICAN PLATFORM OF 1868. bat the brave soldiers of the Repub- !c E!av? FO nobly earned. 1. We congratulate the country on he assured success of the reconstruc- ion policy of Congress, as evinced by he adoption, in the majority of the RESULT OF ELECTION OF 1864. jtates lately in rebellion, of constitu- Only twenty-four states voted at this _ securing equal civil and political 50 THE r~blPOK.\1 TEXT BOOK. rights to all; and it is the duty of the lative and judicial functions; who has Government to sustain those institu- refused to execute the laws; who has tions and to prevent the people of such used his high office to induce other States from being remitted to a state officers, to ignore and violate the laws; of anarchv. who has employed his executive pow- 2. The- guarantee of Congress of ers to render insecure the property, equal suffrage to all loyal men at the the peabe, liberty, and life of the citi- south was demanded by every consid- zens; who has abused the pardoning eration of nub:ic safety.“, of gratitude.- power; who has denounced the nation- and of justice, and must be main- al legislature as unconstitutional; who tained; while the question of suffrage has persistently and corruptly resisted, to all the loyal States properly be- by every means in his power, every longs to the people of those states. proper attempt at the reconstruction of 3. We denounce all forms of re- the States lately in rebellion; who has pudiation as a national crime; and the perverted the public patronage into national honor reauires the navment an engine of wholesale corruption and of the public indebtedness in* the ut- who has been justly impeached for most good faith to all creditors at high crimes and misdemeanors, and home and abroad, not only according properly pronounced guilty thereof by to the letter but the snirit of the laws the vote of thirty-five Senators. under which it was constructed. 9. The doctrine of Great Britain and 4. It is due to the labor of the na- other European powers, that because a tion that taxation should be equalized man is once a subject he is always and reduced as ranidlv as the national .~ so, must be resisted at every hazard faith will permit.- _ by the United States, as a relic of feu- 5. The national debt, contracted as dal times not authorized by the laws it has been for the preservation of the of nations, and at war with our na- Union for all time to come, should be tional honor and independence. Natu- extended over a fair period of re- ralized citizens are entitled to protec- demption; and it is the duty of Con- tion in all their rights of citizenship gress to reduce the rate of interest as though they were native born; and thereon whenever it can be honestly no citizen of the United States, native done. or naturalized, must be liable to ar- 6. That the best policy to diminish rest and imprisonment by any foreign our burden of debts is to so improve power for acts done or words spoken our credit that capitalists will seek in this country; and if so arrested and. to loan us money (at lower rates of in- imprisoned, it is the duty of the GOV- terest than we now pay, and must ernment to interfere in his behalf. continue to pay, so long as repudia- 10. Of all who were faithful in the’ tion, partial or total, open or covert, trials of the late war, there were none is threatened or suspected. entitled to more special honor than the 7. The Government of the United brave soldiers and seamen who en- States should be administered with the dured the hardships of campaign and: strictest economy; and the corrup- cruise, and imperiled their lives in the/ tions which have been so shamefullv service of the country. The bounties nursed and fostered by Andrew John- and pensions provided by the laws son call loudly for radical reform. for these brave defenders of the nation 8. We profoundly deplore the tragic are obligations never to be forgotten; death of Abraham Lincoln, and regret the widows and orphans of the gallant the accession to the Presidency of An- dead are the wards of the people- drew Johnson, who has acted treach- sacred legacy bequeathed to the na-1 erously to the people who elected tion’s protecting care. him and the cause he was pledged to 11. Foreign immigration, which in support; who has usurped high legis- the past has added so much to the wealth, development, resources, and assembled, and never to be revived or increase of power of this Republic, the agitated, do, with the return of peace, asylum of the oppressed of all nations, demand- should be fostered and encouraged bv 1. Immediate restoration of all the Ia liberal and just policy. - - States to their rights in the Union I 12. This convention declares itself under the Constitution, and of civil in sympathy with all oppressed people government to the American oeonle. who are struggling for their rights. 2. Amnesty for all past political-of- 13. That we highly commend the fenses, and the regulation of the elec- spirit of magnanimity and forbearance tive franchise in the States by their with which the men who have served citizens. in the Rebellion, but who now frankly 3. Payment of all the public debt and honestly co-ogerate with us in re- of the United States as rapidly as prac- storing the neace of the country and ticable-all money drawn from the peo- recon&ucting the southern State gov- ple by taxation, except so much as is ernments upon the basis of impartial requisite for the necessities of the Gov- justice and equal rights are received ernment, economically administered, back into the communion of the loyal being honestly applied to such pay- people; and we favor the removal-of ment: and when the obligations of the the disqualifications and restrictions Government do not expressly state firnoosed- unon the late rebels, in the upon their face, or the law under which same measure as the spirit of disloy- thev were issued does not Drovide that alty shall die out and as may be con- they shall be paid in coin,-they ought, sistent with the safety of the loyal in right and justice, to be paid in the people. lawful money of the United States. 14. That we recognize the great 4. Equal taxation o,f every species principles laid down in the immortal of property according to its real value, Declaration of Independence as the including Government bonds and other ‘true foundation of democratic gov- public securities. ernment; and we hail with gladness 5. One currency for the Government every effort toward making these prin- and the people, the laborer and the ciples a living reality on every inch officeholder, the pensioner and the sol- of American soil. dier, .the producer and the bondholder. 6. Economy in the administration The Democrats met in New York, of the G.overnment; the reduction of .Tulv 4. 1868. and nominated Horatio the standing army and navy; the ab- of ‘New York for President, olition of the Freedman’s Bureau and Blair of Missouri for all political instrumentalities designed to secure negro supremacy; simplifi- cation of the system and discontinu- DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM OF 1868. ance of inquisitorial modes of assessing The Democratic party in national and collecting internal revenue: that convention assembled, reposing its the burden of taxation may be equal- trust in the intelligence, patriotism ized and lessened, and the credit of and discriminating justice of the neo- the Government and the currency ple, standing upon” the Constitution made good; the repeal of all enact- Ias the foundation and limitation of the ments for enrolling the State militia powers of the Government and the into national forces in times of peace; guarantee of the liberties of the citi- and a tariff for revenue upon foreign zen, and recognizing the questions of imports, and such equal taxation un- slavery and secession as having been der the internal-revenue laws as will settled, for all time to come, by the afford incidental protection to domestic war or voluntary action of the south- manufactures, and as will, without im- ern States in constitutional convention pairing the revenue, impose the least 72 THE PLATPORH TEXT BOOK. burden upon, and best promote and militarv trials and secret star cham- encourage the great industrial inter- ber inquisitions, for the Constitutional ests of the country. tribunals; it has disregarded, in time 7. Reform of abuses in the adminis- of peace, the right of the people to be tration; the expulsion of corrupt men free from searches an’d seizures; it has from office; the abrogation of useless entered the post and telegraph offices, offices; and the restoration of right- and even the private rooms of indivi- ful authority to, and the independ- duals, and seized their private papers ence of, the executive and judicial de- and letters, without any specific charge partments of the Government; the sub- or notice of affidavit, as required by ordination of the military to the civil the organic law. It has converted the power, to the end that the usurpations American capitol into a bastile; it of Congress aud the despotism of the has established a system of spies and sword may cease. official espionage to which no cons& 8. Equal rights and protection for tutional monarchv of Eurone would naturalized and native-born citizens. now dare to resort. It has abolished’ at home and abroad; the assertion of the right of a,ppeal on important Con-, American nationality which shall com- st:tutional questions to the supreme mand the respect of foreign powers, judicial tribunals, and threatens to and furnish an example and encourage- curtail or destroy its original juris-’ ment to people struggling for national diction, which is irrevocably vested: integrity, constitutional liberty and in- by the Constitution, while the learned) dividual rights: and the maintenance Chief Justice has been subjected to! 3f the rights of naturalized citizens the most atrocious calumnies, merely1 against the absolute doctrine of immu- because he would not prostitute his [able allegiance and the claims of high office to the support of the false foreign powers to punish them for al- and partisan charges preferred against leged crimes committed beyond their the President. Its corruption and ex- jurisdiction. travagance have exceeded anything~ In demanding these measures and known in history; and, by its frauds reforms we arraign the Radical party and monoaolies. it has nearlv doubled for its disregard of right and the un- the burden of the debt created by the paralleled oppression and tyranny war. It has stripped the President of which have marked its career. After the Constitutional power of appoint- the most solemn and unanimous ment, even of his own cabinet. Under pledge of both houses of Congress to its repeated assaults the pillars of the’ prosecute the war exclusively for the Government are racking on their base; maintenance of the government and and should it succeed in November the preservation of the Union under next, we will meet, as a subjected and the Constitution, it has repeatedly vi- conquered people, amid the ruins of olated the most sacred pledge under liberty and the scattered fragments which alone was rallied the noble of the Constitution. volunteer army which carried our flag And we declsrs and resolve that ever to victory. Instead of restoring the since the people of tile United Stat.es Union, it has. so far as in its power, threw off all subjection to the British dissolved it, and subjected ten States, crown, the -privilege and trust of suf- in time of profound peace, to military frage have belonged to the several despotism and negro supremacy. It States, and have been granted, regu- has nullified ,there the right of trial lated, and controlled exclusively by the. bv jurv: it has abolished the habeas political powers of each State respect- cor$us; that most sacred writ of lib- ively; and that any attempt by Con- erty; it has overthrown the freedom gress, on any pretext whatever, to de- of speech and press; it has substituted prive any State of this right, or inter- arbitrary seizures and arrests, and fere with its exercise, is a ilagrant, . NATIONAL PLATFORM8 OF PARTIBII. 73

usurpation of power which ccln find no they may have heretofore belonged, we warrant in the Constitution, and if extend the right hand of fellowship, sanctioned by the people, will subvert and hail all such, co-operating with our form of government, and can only us, as friends and brethren. end in a single, centralized, and con- Resolvefd, That this convention sym- solidated government, in which the pathizes cordially with the working- separate existence of the States will men of the United States, in their ef- be entirely absorbed, and an unquali- forts to protect the rights and inter- fied despotism be established in place ,asts of the laboring classes of the coun- of a Federai Union of co-equal States. try. And that we regard the re~construction Resolved. That the thanks of the acts (so-called) of Congress as usur- convention’are tendered to Chief Jus- oations and unconstitutional. revolu- tice Salmon P. Chase, for the justice, tionary and void. . dignity and impartiality with which That our soldiers and sailors, who he-presided over the court of impeach- carried the flag of our country to vic- ment on the trial of President Andrew tory against the most gallant and de- Johnson. termined foe, must ever be gratefully remembered, and all the guarantees RESULT OF ELECTION OF 1868. given in their favor must be faithfully Grant and Cdfax received 214 elec- carried into execution. toral votes cast by 26 states. That the public lands should be Seymour and Blair received 80 elec- distributed as widely as possible toral votes cast by 8 states-New among the people, and should be dis- Yo’rk, New Jersey, Delaware, Mary- posed of either under the pre-emp- land, Georgia, Louisiana, Kentucky tion of homestead lands or sold in rea- and Oreeon. sonable quantities, and to none but Popular vote: Republican 3,015,- actual occuuants. at the minimum 071, Democrat 2,709,613. price established ‘by the Government. During this administration the Re- When grants of public lands may be publican majority in Congress was allowed, necessary for the encourage- overwhelming and James G. Blaine ). ment of imuortant uublic imurove- was Speaker of the House. ments, the proceeds of-the sale of such lands, and not the lanads themselves, Among other acts of financial legis- shculd be so applied. lation which assisted in bringing : That the President of the United around an attempt at the new allign- States, Andrew Johnson, in exercising ment of political parties was the the power of his high office in resisting “Credit Strengthening Act” which the aggressions o,f Congress upon the made U. S. obligations payable in coin. Constitutional rights of the States and This act was passed five years after the peo’ple, is entitled to the gratitude the close of the war and at a time of the who’le American people; and, on when the creldit of the nation was un- behalf of the Democsratic party, we impaired and the people, through the tensder him our thanks for his uatriot- advantage of a large circulation of ic eEorts in that regard. monev. mere eniosing a degree of com- Upon this platform, the Democratic mercial prosperity never exceeded in party a.ppeals to every patriot, inclci- the history of the nation. This act in- ing all the conservative element and creased the value of obligations and all who desire to support the Constitu- made greater burdens to be borne by tion and restore the Union, forgetting the industries of the country. It was all past differences of opinion, to uuite recognized by many as a species of -vith us in tiie present great struggle class legislation, opposed to the wel- *or the liberties of the people; and fare of the people an’d dangerous in its that to all such, to whatever party tendencies. . 74 THE PI.ATFORM TEX’~ BOOK.

CAMPAIGN OF 1872. ,f the Government, without mortgag- ng the property of the people or the On Feb. 21, iS72, a Labor Reform :uture exigencies of labor to enrich a convention was held at Columbus, iew capitalists at home and abroad. Ohio, and a platform adopted. David 3. That justice demands that the Davis of Illinois was nominated for 3urdens of Government should be so President and Joel Parker of New tdjusted as to bear equally on all Jersey for Vice-President. :lasses, and that the exemption from These candidates declined and the ;axation of Government bonds bearing candidates of the straight-out Demo- extravagant rates of interest, is a vio- crats were afterward indorsed. ation of all just principles of revenue LABOR PLATFORM OF 1872. Laws. We hold that all political power is 4. That the public lands of the TJni- inherent in the people, and free gov- bed States belongs to the people, and ernment founded on their authority should not be sold to individuals nor and established for their benefit; that granted to corporations but should be held as a sacred trust for the benefit all citizens are equal in political rights, >f the people and should be granted entitled to the largest religious and uolitical liberty compatible with the :o the landless settlers only, in good order of society, as also the use amounts not exceeding one hundred and enjoyment of the fruits of their and sixty acres of land. labor and talents; and no man or set 5. That Congress should modify the of men is entitled to exclusive seuar- tariff so as to admit free such articles able endowments and privileges or im- of common use as we can neither pro- munities from the Government, but in duce nor grow, and lay duties for consideration of public services; and revenue mainly ulppan articles of lux- any laws destructive of these funda- ury and upon such articles of man- mental principles are without moral ufacture as will, we having the raw binding force and should be repealed. materials, assist in further developing And believing that all the evils result- the resources of the country. ing from unjust legislation now af- 6. That the presence in our country fecting the industrial classes can be of Chinese laborers, imported by capi- removed by the adoption of the prin- talists in large numbers for servile use ciples contained in the following dec- is an evil entailing want and its at- laration: therefore, ’ tendant train of misery and crime on all classes of the American people, Resolved, That it is the duty of the and should be arohibited by legislation. Government to establish a just stand- 7. That weask for the enactment of ard of distribution of capital and labor a law by which all mechanics and day by providing a purely national circu- laborers employed by or on behalf lating medium, based on the faith and of the Government, whether directly resources of the nation, issued directly or indirectly, through persons, firms to the people without the interventior or corporations, contracting with the of any system of banking corporations State, shall conform to the reduced which money shall be legal tender ir standard of eight hours per day, re- payment of all debts, public and pri. cently adopted by Congress for na- vate and interchangeable at the optior tional employes; and also for an of the holder for Government bond? amendment to the acts of incorpora- bearing a rate of interest not to exceec tion for cities and towns by which all 3.65 per cent, subject to future legis laborers and mechanics employed at lation by Congress. their expense shall conform to the 2. That the national debt should bc same number of hours. paid in good faith, according to the 3. That the enlightened spirit of the original contract, at the earliest optior age demands the abolition of the SYS- .

NATIOiYAT. PLATFORMS OF PARTIES. 75 tern of contract labor in our prisons and the confinement of its operations and other reformatory institutions. to national purposes alone. 9. That the protection of life, liber- 15. That we deem it expedient for ty, and property are the three cardinal Conaress to suaervise the natent laws principles of government, and the first so & to give- labor more fully the two are more sacred than the latter; ben.efit of its own ideas and inven- therefore, money needed for prosecut- tions. ing wars should, as it is required, be 16. That fitness, and not political or assessed and collected from the personal considerations, should be the wealthy of the country and not en- only recommendation to public office, tailed as a burden on posterity. either appointive or elective; and any 10. That it is the, duty of the GOV- and all laws looking to the establish- ernment to exercise its rights over ment of this principle are heartily railroads and telegraph corporations, approved. that they shall not in any case be m-ivilened to exact such rates of On Feb. 22, 1872, in Columbus, Ohio, freight: transportation, or charges, by the Prohibition convention nominated whatever name, as may bear unduly or James Black of Pennsylvania for Pres- unequally upon the producer or con- ident and John Russell pf Michigan for sumer. Vice-President. 11. That there should be such a re- form in the civil service of the Na- PROHIBITION PLATFORM. tional Government as will remove it The preamble recites that protection hevond all nartisan influence, and and allegiance are reciprocal duties; place it in the charge and under the and every citizen who yields obedient- direction of intelligent and competent ly to the full commands of government business men. should be protected in all enjoyment 12. That as both history and exue- of nersonal securitv. nersonal libertv rience teach us that power ever seeks and private propert;;. -That the traffic to perpetuate itself by every and all in intoxicating drinks greatly impairs means, and that its prolonged posses- the personal security and personal lib- sion in the hands of one nerson is al- erty of a gretit mass of citizens, and ways dangerous to the interests of a renders private property insecure. free people, and believing that the That all political parties are hope- spirit-of our organic laws and the sta- lessly unwilling to adopt an adequate bility and safety of our free institu- policy on this question. Therefore, as tions are best obeyed on the one hand, a national convention, we adopt the and secured on the other by a regu- following declaration of principles: lar Constitutional change in the That while we acknowledge the true chief of the country at each election; aatriotism and Drofound statesman- therefore, we are in favor of limiting ship of those patriots who laid the the occupancy of the Presidential foundation of this Government, secur- chair to one term. ing at once the rights of the States 13. That we are in favor of grant- severally and in their inseparable ing general amnesty and restoring the union by the Federal Constitution, we Union at once on the basis of equality would not merely garnish the sepul- of rights and privileges to all, the im- chres of our republican fathers, but we partial administration of justice being do hereby renew our pledges of sol- the only true bond of union to bind emn fealty to the imperishable princi- the States together and restore the ples of civil and religious liberty em- Government of the people. bodied in the Declaration of Independ- 14. That we demand the subjection ence and our Federal Constitution. of the military to the civil authorities, - That the traffic in intoxicating bev- 76 THE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK.

erages is a dishonor to Christian civil- That the removal of the burdens im- ization, a political wrong o,f unequaled posed in the traffic in intoxicating enormity, subversive of ordinary ob- drinks will emancipate labor, and will jects of government, not capable of practically promote labor reform. being regulated or restrained by any That suffrage should be granted to system of license whatever, and im- all persons without regard to sex. peratively demands for Its suppression That the fostering and extension of effective legal prohibition, both by common schools is a primary duty of State and national legislation. the Government. That there can be no greater peril That a liberal policy should be pur- to a nation than existing party com- sued to promote foreign immigration. petition for the liquor vote. That any party not opposed to the traffic, expe- On May 1, 1872, a convention was rience shows will engage in this com- held at Cincinnati, Ohio, of Liberal petition-will court the favor of crim- Republicans who nominated Horace inal classes, will barter away the pub- Greeley of New York for President lic morals, the purity of the ballot, and and B. Gratz Brown of Missouri for every object of good government, for Vice-President. This ticket and the party success. Liberal Republican platform was That, as Prohibitionists, we will in- adopted by the Democratic convention dividually use all efforts to persuade at Baltimore, July 9, 1872. men from the use of intoxicating liquors: and we invite all persons to LIBERAL RBPUBLICAN PLAT- assist in this movement.’ FORM. That competence, honesty and so- We, the Liberal Republicans of the briety are indispensable qualifications IJnited States, in national convention for holding office. assembled at Cincinnati, proclaim the That’ removals from public office for following principles as essential to mere political differences of opinion iust government: are wrong. 1. -We recognize the equality of all ‘That fixed and moderate salaries of men before the law, and hold that it public officers should take the place of is the duty of government in its deal- fees and perquisites, and that all ings with the people, to mete out equal means should be taken to prevent cor- jnd exact justice to all, of whatevef ruption and encourage economy. nativity, race, color or persuasion, re- That the President and Vice-Presi- ligious or political. dent should be elected directly by the 2. We piedge ourselves to maintain people. the Union of these States, emancipa- That we are in favor of a sound na- tion and enfranchisement, and to og- tional currencv.- adeauate to the de- pose any reopening of the questions mands of business, *and convertible settled by thirteenth, fourteenth and into gold and silver at the will of the Bfteenth amendments of the Constitu- holder, and the adoption of every tion. measure compatible with justice and 3. We demand the immediate and public safety to appreciate our pres- absolute removal of all disabilities im- ent currency to the . posed on account of the Rebellion, That the rates of ocean and inland which was finally subdued seven years postage, and railroad telegraph lines Lgo, believing that universal amnestv and water transportation should be cvill result in complete pacification in made as low as possible by law. tll, sections of the country. That we ard ODDOsed to all discrimi- 4. Local self-government, with im- nation in favor-of capital against la- partial suffrage, will guard the rights bor, as well as all monopoly and class of all citizens more securely than any legislation. centralized power. The public welfare NATIOHAI. PI.ATF~R~\IS OF Pbn~I~f3. 7? requires the supremacy of the civil highest considerations of commercial over the military authority, and the morality and honest government. freedom of person under the protec- 9. We remember with gratitude the tion of habeas corpus. We demand heroism and sacrifices of-the soldiers for the individual the largest liberty andsailors of the republic; and no act consistent with public order, for State of ours shall ever detract from their self-government, and for the nation a iustlv earned fame or the full rewards return to the methods of peace and of their patriotism. the Constitutional limitations of 10. We are opposed to all further power. grants ob lands to railroads or other 5. The civil service of the Govern- corporations. The public domain ment has become a mere instrument should be held sacred to actual set- of partisan tyranny and personal am- tlers. bition, and an object of selfish greed. 11. We hold that it is the duty of It is a scandal an’d reproach upon free the Government. in its intercourse institutions, and breeds a demoraliza- with foreign nations, to cultivate the tion danaerous to the nernetuitv of re- friendships of peace, by treating with publican-government.- We, therefore, all on fair and equal terms, regarding regard a thorough reform of the civil it alike dishonorable eitner to demand service as one of the most pressing what is not right or submit to what necessities of the hour; that honesty, is wrong. ca,pacity and fidelity constitute the 12. For the nromotion and success only valid cl,aims to public employ- of these vital p.rinciples and the sup- ment; that the offices of the Govern- port of the candidates nominated by ment cease to be a matter of arbitrary this convention, we invite and cordial- favoritism and patronage, and that ly welcome the co-operation of all pa- public station shall become again a triotic citizens, without regard to pre- post of honor. To this end it is im- vious political affiliations, nerativelv_~ _ reauired that no President shall be a candidate for re-election. Democrats who did not concur in the 6. We demand a system of Federal indorsement of the Liberal Republi- taxation which shall not unnecessarily cans met in conventiun at Louisville, interfere with the industry of the peo- Ky., Sept. 3, 1872, and nominated for ple, and which shall provid& the means necessary to pay the expenses President, Charles O’Connor of New of the Government, economrcalIy ad- York, and John Quincy Adams of ministered, the pensions, the interest Massachusetts for Vice-President. on the public debt, and a moderate re- These candidates both declined, yet duction annually of the principal received nearly thirty thousand votes thereof; and recognizing that there in the election. are in our midst honest and irrecon- eilable differences of opinion with re- PLATFORM (E;;U&ET-OUT) DEM- gard to the respective systems of pro- tection ,and free trade. We remit the Whereas, a frequent recurrence to discussion of the subject to the peopIe first principles and eternal vigilance in their Congressional districts and the against abuses are the wis,est provis- decision of Congress thereon, wholly ions for liberty, which is the source free from executive interference or of progress, and fidelity to our Con- dictation. stiltutional system is the only protec- 7. The public credit must be sa- tion for either; therefore, credly maintained, and we denounce Resolved, That the original basis of renudiatlon in everv form and auise. our whole political structure is con- a. A speedy return to the-specie sent in every part thereof. The people payment is demanded alike by the of each State voluntarily created their 78 TnE PLATFORM TEXT RooE. - State, and the States voluntarily U. S. Grant for President, with Henry formed the Union; and each State pro- Wil,son of Massachusetts for Vice- vided {by its written Constitution for President. everything a State could do for the protection of life, liberty, and prop- RESPUBLICAN PLATFORM OF 1872. erty within it; and each State, jointly with the others, provided a Federal The Republican party of the United Union for foreign and interstate rela- States, assembled in national conven- tions. tion in the city of Philadelphia, on the 5th and 6th days of June, 1872, Resolved, That all governmental again declares its fai,th, appeals to its powers, whether State or Federal, are history and announces its position trust powers coming from the people of each State, and that they are limit- upon the questions before,the country: ed to the written letter of the Consti- 1. During eleven years of suprem- tumtion and the laws nassed in pursu- acy it has accepted, with grand cour- ance of it, which powers must be ex- age, the solemn duties of the time. It ercised in the utmost good faith, the suppressed a gigantic rebellion, eman- Constitution itself stating. in what cipated four millions of slaves, decreed manner they may be altered and the equal citizermhip of all, and es- amende.d. tablished universal suffrage. exhibiting unparalleled magnanimity; it crimi- Resolved, That the interests of labor nally punished no man for political of- and capital should not be permitted to fenses, and warmly welcomed all who conflict. but should be harmonized bv moved their lovaltv bv obevina the judicious legislation. While such a iaws and dealing “jusily with -their conflict continues, labor, which is the neighbors. It has steadily decreased, parent of wealth, is entitled to para- with iirm hand, the resultant disorders mount consideration. of a areat war. and initiated a wise Resolved, That we proclaim to the and~himane policy toward the Indians. world that principle is to be preferred The Pacific railroad and similar vast to Dower: that the Democratic nartv enterprises have been generously aid- is held together by the cohesion of ed and successfully conducted, the pub- time honored principles, which they lic lvds freely given to actual set- will never surrender in exchange for tlers, immigration protected and en- all the offices which Presidents con- couraged and a full acknowledgment fer. The pangs of the minorities are of naturalized citizens’ righ,ts secured doubtless excruciating: but we wel- from European powers. . A uniform come an eternal minority, under the national currency has been provided, banner inscribed with our arincinles. repudiation ’ frowned down, the na- rather that an almighty and everiast- tional credit sustained under the most ing majority, purchased by their extraordinary burdens, and new bonds abandonment. negotiated at lower rates. The reve- Resolved, That having been betrayed nues have been carefully collected and at Baltimore into a false creed and a honestly applied. Despite annual large false leadership by the convention, we reductions of the rates of taxation, the repudiate both: and appeal to the peo- public debt has been reduced during ple to approve our platform, and to General Grant’s Presidencv at the rate rally to the polls and support the true of a hundred millions a- year, great platform and the candidates who em- financial crises have been avoided and body it. peace and plenty prevail throughout the land. Menacing foreign difficulties have been peacefully and honorably The Republicans met in Philadel- compromised, and the honor and phia, June 5, 1872, and renominated power of the nation kept in high re- SATIOSAI, I’I.h’TFORHS OF PARTIES. 79 __--~- .~ spect throughout the world. This glo- enue, except so much as may be de- rious record of the past is the party’s rived from a tax upon tobacco and best pledge for the future. We believe liquors, should be raised by duties the people will not entrust the Gov- upon importations, the details of which ernment to any party or combination should be so adjusted as to aid in se- of men composed chiefly of those who curing remunerative wages to labor, have resisted every step of this benefi- and promote the industries, prosperity, cent progress. and growth of the whole countrv. 2. The recent amendments to the 8. -We hold in undying honor the national Constitution should be cor- soldiers and sailors whose valor saved dially sustained because they are right, the Union. Their pensions are a sa- not merely tolerated because they are cred debt of the nation, and the wid- law, and should be carried out accord- ows and orphans of those who died for ing to their spirit by appropriate legis- their country are entitled to the care lation, the enforcement of which can of a generous and grateful people. We safely be entrusted only to the party favor such additional legislation as that secured those amendments. will extend the bounty of (the Govern- 3. Complete liberty and exact equal- ment to all our soldiers and sailors ity in the enjoyment of all civil, po- who were honorably discharged, and litical, and public rights should be es- who in the line of duty became dis- tablished and effectuallv maintained abled, without regard to the length of throughout the Union by efficient and service or the cause of such discharge. appropriate State and Federal leaisla- 9. The doctrine of Great Britain tion. Neither the law nor its admin- and other European powers concern- istration should admit any discrimina- ing allegiance-“once a subject always tion in respect to citizens by reason 5 subject”-having at last. through the of race, creed, color, or previous con- efforts of the Republican party, been dition of servitude. abandoned, and the American idea of 4. The National Government should the individual’s right to transfer alle- seek to maintain honorable peace with giance having been accepted by Euro- all nations, srotectina its citizens pean nations, it is the duty of our everywhere,.and sympathizing with all Government to guard with jealous care peoples who strive for greater liberty. the rights of adopted citizens against 5. Any system of civil service un- the assumption of unauthorized claims der which the subordinate positions of by their former governments, and we the Government are considered re- urge continued careful encouragement wards for mere party zeal is fatally and protection of voluntary immigra- demoralizing; and, we therefore, favor tion. a reform of the system, by laws which 10. The franking privilege ought to shall abolish the evils of patronage, be abolished, and a way prepared for a and make honesty, efficiency, and fi- speedy reduction in the rates of post- delity the essential aualifications for lge. public positions, without practically 11. Among the questions which press creating a life tenure of office. for attention is that which concerns 6. We are opposed to further grants ihe relaition of cauital and labor: and of the public lands to corporations and ‘he Republican party recognizes the monopolies, and demand that the na- duty of so shaping legislation as to tional domain be set apart for free secure full protection sand the amplest homes for the people. Seld for capital, and for labor, the 7. The annual revenue after paying creator of capital, the largest oppor- current expenditures, pensions and the tunities and a just share of the mutual interest on the public debt, should fur- profits of these two great servants of nish a moderate balance for the re- civilization. duction of the principal; and that rev- 12. We hold that Congress and the 86 THE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK.

President have only fulfilled an im- wt our head we start to-day upon a perative duty in their measures for new march to victory. the suppression of violence and treas- 19. , nominated for onable organizations in certain lately the Vice-Presidency, known to the rebellious regions, and for the protec- whole land from the early days of the tion of the ballot box; and therefore, great struggle for liberty as an inde- they are entitled to the thanks of the fatigable laborer in all campaigns, an nation. incorruptible legislator and represen- 13. We denounce renudiation of the tative man of American institutions, public debt, in any form or disguise, is worthy to associate with our great as a national crime. We witness with Leader and share the honors which we pride the reduction of the principal of pledge our best efforts to bestow upon the debt, and of the rates of in,terest them. rzpon the balance, and confidently ex- pect that our’excellent national cur- rencv will be perfected by a speedy RESULT OF ELECTION OF 1872. resumption of specie payment. Grant and Wilson received 286 elec- 14. The Republican party is mindful toral votes of a total 317 cast by 37 of its obligations to the loyal women states. of America for their noble devotion to Six states-Maryland, Georgia, Ken- the cause of freedom. Their admission tucky, Tennessee, Missouri and Texas to wider fields of usefulness is viewed ---voted for Greeley and Brown, but with satisfaction; and the honest de- the death of Horace Greeley occurred mand of any class of citizens for addi- on Nov. 29, and the electoral votes tional rights should ue treated with cast were for various persons. respectful consideration. For President, B. Gratz Brown re- 15. We heartily approve the action ceived 18, Thos. A. Hendricks 42, of Congress in extending amnesty to Chas. J. Jenkins 2 and David Davis 1. those lately in rebellion, and rejoice For Vice-President, B. Gratz Brown in the growth of peace and fraternal received 47, A. H. Colquit 5, Geo. W. feeling throughout the land. Julian 5, John M. Palmer 3, T. E. 16. The Republican party proposes Bramlette 3, W. B. Macken 1, N. B. to respect the rights reserved by the Banks 1, U. S. Groesbeck 1. people to themselves as carefully as The popular vote was: Grant 3,597.- the powers delegated by them to the 070, Greeley 2,834,079, O’Connor 29,489, States and to the Federal Government. Black 5,608. It disapproves of the resort ,to uncon- Financial legislation, which was in stitutional laws for the purpose of re- the direction of steadily reducing fhe moving evils, by interference with amounlt of money in circulation, led to rights not surrendered by the people the organization of a party demanding to either State or National Govqrn- monetary reform. ment. In X373 an act was passed which 17. It is the duty of the General suspended the coinage of silver dollars Government to adopt such measuree and this, coupled with the gradual re- as may tend to encourage and restore tirement of the outstanding “green- American commerce and ship-build- back” circulation, crested the well ing. founded apprehension that lower prices 18. We believe that the modest pa- of property would prevail, as the triotism. the earnest nurnose. the amount of money in circulation grew sound judgment, the prac&cal wisdom, less. the incorruptible integrity, and the il- In September a financial panic oc- lustrious services of Ulysses S. Grant curred which swept into bankrptcy have commended him to the heart of thousands of people and destroyed the American people; and with him Ceneral confidence. Money was drawn BAlIOh'AL PLATFORMS OF PARTE3S. 01 = from the banks by depositors ,to sucI 1 sure method of securing and perpetu- an extent that nearly all the leading : ating a perm2nent peace. banks were compelled to suspend. It 1 7. That to cultivate the intellect explaining the cause of this panic without improving the morals of men Barnes in his popular U. S. History is to make mere adents and exnerts: mentions as a principal one “the con. therefore, the Bible should be-ass& traction of .the currency from six bun ciated with books of science and lit- dred and ninety-nine million dollars ir erature in all our educational institu- 1865 to three hundred and fortv-sever tions. million dollars in 1873.” - 8. That land ,2nd other monopolies In 1874 a “Greenback” convention should be discountenanced. was held at Indianapolis and proposi- 9. That the Government should fur- tions were indorsed in favor of paper nish the people with an ample and money issued by the Governmenl sound currency and a return to specie based on the faith and resources 01 payment as soon as practicable. the nation; and opposing the issue of 10. The maintenance of the public currency by banking corporations, as credit, protection to all loyal citizens well as denouncing the policy of con- and justice to Indians, are essential to traction and bond issues. the honor 2nd safety of our nation. 11. And, finally, we demand for the American people the abolition of elec- CAMPAIGN OF 1876. toral colleges, and a direct vote for In September, 1875, a convention President 2nd Vice-President of the met at Pittsburg and adopted a plat- United States. form as the American National party; nominating for President, James B. Walker of Illinois, and for Vice-Pres- On May 17, 1876, a “Greenback” con- ident, Donald Kirkpatrick of New vention was held at Indianapolis; York. Peter’Cooper of New York was nomi- nated for President 2nd Samuel F. AMERICAN NATIONAL PLATFORM. :ary of Ohio for Vice-President. We hold: 1. That ours is a Christian and n.ot INDEPENDENT GREENBACK a heathen nation, and that the God of PLATFORM. the Christian Scriptures is the author The Independent party is called into of civil government. 6existence bv the necessities of the neo- 2. That God requires and man needs Ilie whose - industries are prostra’eb, a Sabbath. T#hose labor is deprived of its just 3. That the prohibition of the im- .eward by a ruinous policy which -the portation, manufacture, and sale of in- 3:Republican 2nd Democratic ,parties re- toxicating drinks as a beverage, is the f‘use to change; and, in view of the true policy on the temperance ques- f‘ailure of these parties to furnish re- tion. 1ief to the depressed industries of the 4. That charters of all secret lodges C:ountry, thereby disappointing the granted by our Federal and State leg- j ust hopes and expectations of a suf- islatures should be withdrawn. and fering people, we declare our prin- their oaths prohibited by law. ’ Ctiplea, and invite all independent 2nd D.r That the civil equality secured Ijatriotic men to join our ranks in this to all American citizens by Articles Inovement for financial reform and in- 13th, 14th and 15th of our amended 6lustrial emancioation. Constitution should be preserved in- 1. We demand the immediate and violate. Inconditional repeal of the specie re- 6. That arbitration of differences ,umption act of Janu2ry 14, 1875, 2nd with nztions is the most direct 2nd he rescue of our industries from ruin 8% Iflh: Pl.ATFORM TEXT BOOK.

and disaster resulting from its en- lated to enrich owners of silver mines, forcement; and we call upon all patri- yet in operation it will &ill further otic men to organize in every Con- oppress, in taxation, an already over- gressional district of the country, burdened people. with a view of electing representatives to Congress who will carry out the wishes of the people in this regard The Prohibition convention met in and stop to present suicidal and de- Cleveland, Ohio, May 17, 1876, and structive policy of contraction. nomin,ated of Ken- 2. We believe that a United States tucky for President and Gideon T. note. issued directlv bv the Govern- Stewart of Ohio for Vice-President. ment, and convertible, on demand, into United States obligations, bearing a PROHIBITION PLATFORM OF 1876. rate of interest not exceeding one cenlt The Prohibition Reform party of a day on each one hundred dollars and the United States, organized in the exchangeable for United States notes name of the people, to revive, enforce at par, will afford the best circulating and perpetuate in the Government the medium ever devised. Such United doctrines of the Declaration of Inde- States notes should be full legal tend- pendence. submit. in this centennial ers for all purposes, except for the year of the Repudlic, for the suffrages payment of such obligations as are, of all good citizens, the following - nlat-_ by existing contracts, especially made forms and measures: . payable in coin; and we hold that it 1. The legal prohibition in the Dis- is the duty of the Government to’prove trict of Columbia, the Territories, and such a circulating medium, and insist, in every other place subject to the laws in the language of Thomas Jefferson, of Congress, of the importation, ex- that “bank paper must be suppressed, portation, manufacture, and traffic of and the circulation restored to the na- all alcoholic beverages, as a high tion, to whom it belongs.” crime against society: an amendment 3. It is the paramount duty of the of the National Constitution, to render Government in all its legislation, to these prohibitory measures universal keep in view the full development of and permanent; and the adoption of all legitimate business, agricultural, treaty stipulations with foreign pow- mining, manufacturing and commer- ers, to prevent the importation of ,a11 cial. alcoholic beverages. 4. We most earnestly protest 2. The abolition of class legislation against any further issue of gold and of special pri,vileges in the Govern- bond.s for sale in foreign markets, by ment, and the adoption of equal suf- which we would be made, for a long frage and eligibility to office, without period, “hewers of wood and drawers distinction of Face, religious creed, of water” to foreigners, especially as property or sex. the American people would gladly and 3. The appropri,ation of the public promptly take at par all bonds the lands, in limited quantities to actual Government may need to sell, provided settlers only; the reduction of the rates they are made payable at the option of inland and ocean postage; of tele- of the holder, and bearing interest at graph communication; of railroad and ir.65 per cent per annum or even a water transportation and travel. to the lower rate. lowest practical point, by rfdrce of 6. We further protest against the laws, wisely and justly framed, with sale of Government bonds for the pur- reference, not only to the interest of Dose of nurchasinn silver to be used capital employed, but to the higher & a substitute for our more conve- claims of the general good. nient and less fluctuating fraction,al 4. The suppression by laws, of lot- currency, which, although well calcu- teries and gambling in gold, stocks, NATIONAL PLATFORMS OF PARTIES. 88 * produce and every form of money 12. The abolition of executive and and property, and the penal inhibition legislative patronage, and ,the election of the use of the public mails for ad- of President, Vice-President, United vertming schemes of gambling and States Senators, and all civil officers, lotteries. so far as practicable, by the direct vote 5 The abolition of those foul enor- of the people. mities, polygamy and the social evil; 13. The practice of a friendly and and the protection of purity, peace and liberal policy to immigrants from all happiness of homes, by ample and nations, the guarantee to them of efficient legislation. ample protection and of equal rights 6. The national observance of the and privileges. Christian Sabbath, established by law,s 14. The separation of the money of prohibiting ordinary labor and busi- the Government from all banking in- ness in all departments of public serv- stitutions. The National Government, ice and private employment (works only, should exercise the high prerog- of necessity, ch’arity and religion ex- ative of issuing paper money, and that cepted) on that day. should be .subject to prompt redemp- 7. The establishment, by mandatory tion on demand, in gold and silver, provisions in national and State consti- the only equal standards of value rec- tutions. and by all necessary legisla- ognized bv the civilized world. tion, of a system of free public schools -15. The reduction of Ithe sal,aries of for the universal and forced education public officers in a just ratio with the of all the youth of the land. decline of wages and market prices; 8. The free use of the Bible, not the abolition of sinecures, unnecessary as a ground for religious creeds, but offices, and official fees and perqui- as a text book of the purest morality, sites: the practice of strict economy in the best liberty, and the noblest litera- Government exnenses: and a free and ture. in our DubliC schools, that our thorough investigation into any and children may grow up in itslight, and all alleged abuses of public trust. that its spirit and principles may per- vade our nation. 9. The senaration of the Govern- The Republican convention met at ment in all its departments and insti- Cincinnati, June 14, 1876, and nomin- tutions, including the public schools ated Rutherford B. Hayes of Ghib for and all funds for their maintenance, President and William A. Wheeler of from the’control of every religious sect New York for Vice-President. r or other association, and the protec- tion alike of all sects by equal laws, REPUBLICAN PLATFORM OF 1876. with entire freedom and religious faith When, in the economy of Providence,‘ and worshin. this land was to be purged of human 10. The introduction into all treat- slavery, and when the strength of the ies hereafter negotiated with foreign Government of the people, by the peo- governments of a provision for the ple and for the *people was to be dem- amicable settlement of international onstrated. the Renublican wrtv came difficulties by arbitration. into power. Its deeds have passed into 11. The abolition of all barbarous history, and we look back to them. modes and instruments of punishment; with pride. Incited by their memories the recognition of the laws of God to high aims for the good of our coun- and the claims of humanity in the dis- try and mankind, and looking to the cipline of jails and prisons, and of future with unfaltering courage, hope that higher and wiser civilization and purpose, we, the representatives of worthy of our age and nation, which the party, in national convention as- regards the reform of criminals as a sembled, make the following doclara- ?e-‘“- for the pv?ventisn of crime. tion of principles: 84 THEPLATFORYTEXTBOOK.

1. The United States of America is .ional Government assumed to remove a nation, not a league. By the com- my doubt of its purpose to discharge bined workings of the national and ~11just obligations to the public credi- State Governments, under their re- ,ors, and “solemnly pledged its faith spective constitutions, the rights of ,o make provision at the earliest prac- every citizen are secured at home ,icable period for the redemption of and abroad, and the common welfare .he United States notes in coin.” Com- promoted. nercial prosperity, public morals, and 2. The Republican party has pre- lational credit demand that this prom- served these governments to the hun- se be fulfilled by a continuous and dredth anniversary of the nation’s ;taady progress to specie payment. birth and they are now embodiments 5. Under the Constitution, the Pres- of the great truths spoken at its cra- dent and heads of departments are to dle-“That all men are created equal; nake nominations for office, the Sen- that they are endowed by their Creator tte is to advise and consent to ap- with certain inalienable rights, among )ointments, and the House of Repre- which are life, liberty and-the. pursuit jentatives is to accuse and prosecute of happiness; that for the attainment Faithless officers. The best interests of these ends governments have been If the public service demand that instituted among men. deriving their these distinctions be respected; that just powers from the ‘consent -of the senators and Representatives who may governed.” Until these truths are le judges and accusers should not dic- cheerfully obeyed, or, if need be, vigor- ;ate appointments to office. The inva- ously enforced, the work of the Re- iable rule in appointment should have publioan party is unfinished. -eference to the honesty, fidelity and 3. The permanent pacification of :apaclty of the appointees, giving to the southern section of the Union, ;he Party in power those places when and the complete protection of all its iarmony and vigor of administration citizens in the free enjoyment of all “equire its policy to be represented, their rights, is a duty to which the 3ut permitting all others to be filled Republican party st,and’s sacredly 3~ persons selected with sole refer- pledged. The power to provide for the ?nce to the efficiency of the public enforcement of the principles em- service, and the right of all citizens bodied in the recent Constitutional :o share in the honor of rendering amendments is vested by those amend- faithful service to the country. ments, in the Congress by the United 6. We rejoice in the quickened con- States; and we declare it to be the science of the people concerning poli- solemn obligation of the legislative tical affaiiis, and will hold all public and executive departments of the Gov- 2fficerS to a rigid respcnsibility, and ernment to put into immediate and ‘ngage that the prosecution and pun- vigorous exercise ,a11 their Constitu- ishment of all who betray official tional powers for removing any just trusts shall be swift, thorough and un- causes of discontent on the part of sparing. any class, and for securing to every 7. The public school system of the American citizen complete liberty and several States is the bulwark of the exact equality in the exercise of all American Republic; and, with a view civil, political and public rights. Ta to its security and permanence, we this end we imperatively ,demand a recommend an amendment to the Con- . Conzress and Ia Chief Executive whose stitution of the United States, for- courage and fidelity to these duties bidding the application of any pub- shall not falter until these results arc lic funds or property for .the beneAt placed beyond dispute or recall. of any schools or institutions under 4. In the first act of Congress sectarian control. signed by President Grant, the na. 8. The revenue necessary for cur-

i NATIONAL PLATFORMB OF PARTIES. . 85 rent expenditures, and the obligations 14. The pledges which the nation of the public debt, must be largely has given to her soldiers and sailors derived from duties upon importations, must be fulfilled, and a grateful people which, so far as possible, should be will always hold those who imDeriled adjusted to promote the interests of their lives for the country’s pr&.erva- American labor and

ly enacted fresh hindrances thereto. the fruits of labor. It promotes fraud, As such hindrance we denounce the fosters smuggling, enriches dishonest resumption clause of 18’75, and we here officials, and bankrupts honest mer- demand its repeal. chants. We demand that all custom We demand a judicious system of house taxation shall be only for rev- ureuaration. bv uublic economies. bv enue. &&al retrenchments, and by wise Reform is necessary in the scale of finance, which shall en’able the nation public expense-Federal, State and soon to assure the whole world of its municipal. Our Federal taxation has nerfect abilitv and of its nerfect re’adi- swollen from sixty millions in gold, ness to meet any ,of its- promises at in 18G0, to four hundred and fifty the call of the creditor entitled to pay- millions currency, in 1870; our aggre- ment. We believe such a system, well gate taxation from one hundred and devised and, above all, intrusted to fifty-

It suppressed a rebellion which had nrovalr- - -~~ the following statement of the armed nearlv a million of men to sub- principles and purposes which will vert the national authority. It recon- continue to guide and inspire its ef- structed the Union of the States with forts: freedom instead of slavery, as its cor- 1. We affirm that the work of the ner-stone. It transformed four millions last twenty years has been such as of human beings from the likeness of to commend itself to the favor of things to the rank of citizens. It re- the nation, and that the fruits of the lieved Congress from the infamous costly victories which we have work of hunting fugitive slaves, and achieved through immense difficulties charged it to see that slavery does should be preserved; that the peace not exist. regained should be cherished; that the It has raised the value of our paper dissevered Union, now happily re- currency from thirty-eight per cent. stored, should be perpetuated, and that to the par of gold. It has restored, the liberties secured to this genera- upon a solid basis, payment in coin for tion should be transmitted, undimin- all the national obligations, and has ished. to future venerations: that the given us a currency absolutely good order established and the &edit ac- and equal in every part of our extend- quired should never be impaired; that ed country. It has lifted the credit the pensions promised should be paid; of the nation from the point where that the debt so much reduced should six per cent bonds sold at eighty-six be extinguished by the full payment to that where four per cent bonds are of every dollar thereof; that the reviv- eagerly sought at a premium. ing industries should be further pro- Under its administration railways moted; and that the commerce, al- have increa.sed from 21,000 miles in ready so great, should be steadily en- 1860, to more than 82,000 miIes in 1879. couraged. Our foreign trade has increased from 2. The Constitution of the United $700,000,000 to $1,150,000,000 in the States is a supreme law, and not a same time: and our exports, which mere contract; out of Confederate were $20,000,000 less than our imports States it made a sovereign nation. in 1869 were9264,000,000 more than our Some powers are denied to the nation, imports in 1879. while others are denied to States; but Without resorting to loans, it has, the boundary between the powers del- since the war closed, defrayed the or- egated and those reserved is to be de- dinary expenses of government, be- termined by national and not by State sides the accruing interest on the pub- tribunals. lic debt, and disbursed annually over 3. The work of uouular education is $SO,OOO,OOO for soldiers’ pensions. It one left to the care of the several has paid $SSS,OOO,OOO of the public debt States. but it is the duty of the nation- and. bv refunding the balance at lower al Government to aid that work to rates, has reduced the annual interest the extent of its Constitutional ability. charge from nearly $151,090,000 to less The intelligence of the nation is but than-$89,000,000. the aggregate of the intelligence in the All the industries of the country several States; and the destiny of the have revived, labor is in demand, nation must be guided, not by the wages have increased, and throughout genius of any one State, but by the the entire country there is evidence of average genius of all. a coming prosperity greater than we 4. The Constitution wisely forbids have ever enjoyed. Congress to make any law respecting Upon this record, the Republican an establishment of religion; but it is idle to hoge that the nation can be didate, have continued to inspire him protected against the influences of in his career as chief executive, and sectarianism while each State is ex- that history will accord to his admin- posed to its dominations. We, there- istrations the honors which are due to fore, recommend that the Constitution an efficient, just and courteous dis- be so amended as to lay the same charge of the public business, and will prohibition upon the le$slature of honor his interuos’ition between the each State, to .forbid the appropria- people and proposed partisan laws. tion of public funds to the support of 8. We* charge upon the Democratic . sectarian schools. party the habitual sacrifice of patriot- 5. We reaffirm the belief, avowed in ism and justice to a supreme and in- 1876. that the duties levied for the satiable lust for office and patronage. nurbose of revenue should so discrim- That to obtain possession of the na- inate as to favor American labor; that tional and State governments, and the no further grant of the public domain control of place and positions, they should be made to any railway or other have obstructed all efforts to nromote corporation; that slavery having per- the purity and to conserve the free- ished in the States its twin barbarity- dom of suffrage; have devised fraudu- polygamy-must die in the Territories; lent certifications and returns; have that everywhere the protection ac- labored to unseat lawfully elected corded to citizens of American birth members of Congress to secure, at all must be secured to citizens by Ameri- hazards, the vote of a majority of the can adoption. That we esteem it the States in the House of Representa- duty of Congress to develop and im- tives; have endeavored to occapy, by prove our water-courses and harbors, force and fraud, the places of trust but insist that further subsidies to given to others by the oeoole of Maine. private persons or corporations must and rescued by the courageous action cease. That the obligations of the of Maine’s patriotic sons; have, ‘by Republic to the men who preserved methods vicious in practice, attached its integrity in the day of battle are partisan legislation to appropriation undiminished by the lapse of fifteen bills upon whose passage the very years since their Enal victory-to do movements of government depend; them perpetual honor is, and shall have crushed the rights of the indi- forever be the grateful privilege and vidual; have advocated the principle sacred duty of the American people. and sought the favor of rebellion 6. Since the authority to regulate against the nation, and have endeav- immigration and intercourse between ored to obliterate the sacred memories the United States and foreign nations of the war, and to overcome its ines- rests with the Congress of the United timably valuable results of nationality. States and its treaty-making powers, personal freedom and individual equal- the Republican party, regarding the ity. Equal, steady and complete en- unrestricted immigration of the Chi- forcement of the laws and protection nese as an evil of great magnitude, in- of all our citizens in the eniovment of voke the exercise of that power to re- all privileges and immunities guaran- strain and limit that immigration by teed by the Constitution, are the first the enactment of such just, humane, duties of the nation. The danger of a and reasonable provisions as will pro- solid south can only be .averted by a duce that result. faithful performance of every promise 7. That the purity and patriotism which the nation made to the citizen. which characterized the earlv career The execution ‘of the laws and the pun- of Rutherford B. Hayes in peace ishment of all those who violate them, and war, and which guided the aFe the only safe methods by which thoughts of our immediate predecess- an enduring peace’can be secured, and ors to select him for a presidential can- line prosperity established throughout the South. Whatever DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM OE’ 1880. promises the nation makes, the na- The Democrats of the United States, tion must perform; and the nation can- in convention assembled, declare: not with safety relegate this duty to 1. We uledge ourselves anew to the the States. The solid South must be Constitutional doctrines and traditions divided by the peaceful agencies of the of the Democratic party, as illustrated ballot, and all opinions must there by the teethings and examnles of a find free expression; and to this end long line of Democratic statesmen and honest voters must be protected patriots, and embodied in the platform against terrorism, violence or fraud. of the last national convention of the And we affirm it to be the duty and party. the purpose of the Republican party to use all legitimate means to restore 2. Opposition to centralization, and all the States of this Union to the to that dangerous spirit of encroach- most perfect harmony which may be ment with tendls to consolidate the practicable; and we submit to the powers of all the departments in one, practical, sensible people of the United and thus to create, whatever the form States to say wlhether it would not be of government, a real despotism; no dangerous to the dearest interests of ‘sumptuary laws; separation of the our country, at this time, to surrender church and State for the good of eaoh; the administration of the national common schools fostered and pro- Government to a party which seeks to tected. overthrow the existing policy, under 3. Home rule; honest money, con- which we are so prosperous, and thus sisting of gold and silver, and paper bring distrust and confusion where convertible into coin on demand; and there is now order, confidence ,an#d strict maintenance of the public hope. faith, State and national: and a tariff 9. The Republican party, adhering td for revenue only; the subordination of a principle atllrmed by its last national the military to the civil power; and a convention, of respect for the Consti- general and thorough reform of the tUtiOna1 rUk covering aDDointments to civil service. office, adopts the deilaration of Pres- ‘4. The right to a free ball’ot is a ident Hayes, that the reform of civil right preservative of all rights; an.d service should be thorough, radical must and shall be maintained in every and complete. To this end it demands part of the United States. the co-operation of the legislative with 5. ‘T;he existing administration is the the executive department of the gov- representative or conspiracy only; and ernment, and that Congress shall so its claim of right to surround the bal- legislate that fitness, ascertained by’ lot boxes with troops and deputy mar- proper practical tests, shall admit to shals to intimidate and obstruct the the nublic service: and that the wwer elections, and the unprecedented use of removal for cause, with due respon- of the veto to maintain its corrupt sibility for the good conduct of sub- and despotic power, insults the people ordinates, shall accompany the power and imperil’s their institutions. We of appointment. execrate the course of this ladminis- tration in making places in the civil service a reward for uolitical crime: The Democratic convention met at and demand a reform by statute, which Cincinnati, June 22, 1880, and nomi- shall make, it forever impossible for a defeated candidate to bribe his way nated Winfleld S. Hancock of Pennsyl- to the seat of a usurper by billeting vania for President and W. H. Eng- villains upon the people. Hah of Indiana for Vice-President. 6. The great fraud of 1876-7, by . RATIOXAL PLATFORM.'4 em PAR-‘ 93 which. unon a false count of the elec- against the cormorants and the com- toral votes of two States, the candi- mune. date defeated at the polls was declared 12. we COUgratUhte the COUUt.rV UD: to be President, and for the first time on the honesty and thrift of a Demo- in American history the will of the cratic Congress, which has reduced the people was set aside under a threat of public expenditure $lO,OOO,OOOa year; military violence, struck a deadly blow upon the continuation of prosperity at to our system ‘of representative gov- home and abroad; and, above all, upon ernment. The Democratic party to pre- the promise of such a change in the serve the country from the horrors of a administration of the Government as civil_...~ war.~.~, submitted for the time. in shall insure a genuine and lasting re- the firm and patriotic belief that ‘the form in every department of the public neonle would punish the crime in 1880. service. ?hii issue &cedes and dwarfs every other. It imposes a more sacred duty unon the people of the Union than ever The National Greenback convention addressed the consciences of a nation at Chicago on June 9, 1880, placed in of freemen. nomination for President James B. 7. The resolution of Samuel J. Til- W(aaver of Iowa, and for Vice-Presi- den not again to be a candidate for the dent B. J Chambers of Texas. exalted place to which he was elected by a majority of his countrymen, and NATIONAL GREENBACK PLAT- from which he was excluded by the FORM OF 1880. leaders of the Reoublican narty. is re- The civil Government should guar- ceived by the Democrats of the United antee the divine right of every laborer States with deep sensibility: and they to the results of his toil thus enabling declare their confidence in his wisdom, the producers of wealth to provide patriotism, and integrity unshaken by themselves with the means for physi- the assaults of ,the common enemy; cal comfort, and facilities for mental, and they further assure him that he is social and moral culture; and we con- followed into the retirement he has demn, as unworthy of our civilization, chosen .for himself by the sympathy the barbarism which imposes upon and respect of his fellow-citizens, who wealth-producers a state of drudgery regard him as one who, by elevating as the price of a bare animal &xi& the standard *of the public morality, tence. Notwithstanding the enormous and adorning and purifying the public increase of productive power by the service, merits the lasting gratitude of universal introduction of labor-saving his country and his party. machinery and the discovery of new 8. Free ships and a living chance for agents for the increase of wealth, the American commerce upon the seas; task of the laborer is scarcelv liaht- and on the land, no discrimination in ened, the hours of toil are but lrttle favor of transportation lines, corpora- shortened, and few producers are lifted tions, or monopolies. from poverty into comfort and pecuni- 9. Amendments ‘of the Burlingame ary independenca The associated mo- treaty, no more Chinese immigration, nopolies, the international syndicates, except for travel, education, and for- and other income classes demand dear eign commerce, and, therein, carefully money, cheap labor, and a strong gov- guarded. ernment, and, hence a weak people. 10. Public money and public credit Corporate control of the volume of for public purposes solely, and public money has been the means of dividing land for actual settlers. society into hostile classes, of an un- 11. The Democratic party is the just distribution of the products of friend of labor and the laboring man, labor, and of building up monopolies and pledges itself to protect him alike of associated capital endowed with power to confiscate private property. employment of children under fourteen It has kept money scarce; and the years of age fopbidden, and wages ‘ecarcity of money enforces debt trade, paid in cash. and public and corporate loans; debt 4. Slavery being simply cneap labor, engenders usury, and usury ends in the and cheap labor being simply slavery, bankruptcy of the borrower. Other the importation and presence of Chi- results are der.anged markets, uncer- nese serfs tends to brutalize and de- tainty in manufacturing enterprises grade American labor; therefore, im- and agriculture, precarious and inter- mediate stens should be taken to abro- mittent employment for the laborer, gate the B&lingame treaty. industrial war, increasing pauperism 5. Railroad land grants forfeited by and crime, and the consequent intimi- reason of non-fulfillment of contra&. dation and disfranchisement of the should be immediately reclaimed producer, and a rapid declension into by the Gove’rnment, and, henceforth, corporate feudalism. Therefore, we the public domain reserved exclusively declare, as homes for actual settlers. 1. That the right to make and issue 6. It is the duty of Congress to regu- money is a sovereign power, to be late inter-state commerce. All lines maintained by the people for their of communication and transportation common benefit. The delegation of this should be brought under such legisla- right to corporations is a surrender tive control as shall secure moderate,

of the central attribute of sovereignty, fair. and uniform rates for _nasseneer I~~ void of Constitutional sanction and and’ freight traffic. conferring upon a subordinate and ir- 7. We denounce as destructive to, responsible power an absolute domin- property .and dangerous to liberty the ion over industry and commerce. All action of the old parties in fastening money, whether metallic or paper, and sustaining gigantic land, railroad, should be issued, and its volnme con- and money corporations, and monopo- trolled. bv the Government. and not lies invested with and exercising pow- by or through banking corporations; ers belonging to the Government, and and, when so issued, should be a full yet not responsible to it for the man- legal tender for debts, public and pri- ner of their exercise. vate. 8. That the Constitution in giving 2. That the bonds of the United Congress the power to borrow money, States should not be refunded, but paid to declare war, raise and support as rapidly as practicable, according to armies, to provide and maintain a contract. To enable the Government navy, never intended that the men who to meet these obligations, legal tender loaned their money for an interest cujrrency should be substituted for consideration should be preferred to the notes of the national banks, the the soldiers and sailors who periled national-banking system abolished, their lives and shed their blood on and the unlimited coinage of silver. as land and sea in defense of their coun- well as gold established by law, try; and we condemn the cruel class 3. That labor shsould be so protected legislation of the Republican party, by national and State authority as to which, while professing great grati- equalize its burdens and insure a just tude to the soldier has most unjustly distributions of the results. The eight- discriminated against him and in favor hour law of Congress should be en- of the bondholder. forced, the sanitary condition of indus- 9. All property should bear its just trial establishments placed under rigid proportion of taxation, and we demaaa control, the competition of contract a graduated income tax. convict labor abolished, a bureau of 10. We denounce as dslngerouo tht labor statistics established, factories, efforts everywhere manifested to rc. mines and workshops inspected, the --strict the right of suffrage, i NATIONAL I’LATFORMB OF PARTIES. 95

11. We are opposed to an increase 01 mented, brewed or distilled. are nois- the standing army in time of peace onous to the healthy human body, the and the insidious scheme to establish drinking of which is not only needless an enormous military power under the but hurtful, necessarily tending to guise of militia laws. form intemperate habits, increasing 12. We demand absolute democratic greatly the number, severity and fatal rules for the government of Congress, termination of diseases, weakening placing all representatives of the peo- and deranging the intellect, polluting ple upon an equal footing, and taking the affections, hardening the heart and away from committees a veto power corrupting the morals, depriving many greater than that of the President. of reason and still more of its health- 13. We demand a government of the ful exercise,, and annually bringing people, by the people, and for the peo- down large numbers to untimely ple, instead of a government of the graves, producing, in the children of bondholder. by the bondholder, and for many who drink, a predisposition to the bondholder; and we denounce intemperance, insanity, and various every attempt to stir up sectional bodily and mental diseases, causing strife as an effort to conceal monstrous diminution of strength. feebleness of crimes against the neonle. vision, fickleness of-purpose and pre- 14. In furtherance of these ends we mature old age, and inducing in all ask the co-operation of all fair-minded future generations deterioration of people. We have no quarrel with indi- moral and physical character. Alco- viduals, wage no war on classes, but holic drinks are thus the implacable only against vicious institutions. We foe of man as an individual. are not content to endure further dis- 1. The legalized importation, manu- cipline from our present actual rulers, facture, and sale of intoxicating drinks who, having dominion over money, ministers to their use, and teaches the over transportation. over land and erroneous and destructive sentiment labor, over the press .and the machin- that such use is right, thus tending to ery of the government, wield unwar- produce and perpetuate the above rantable power over our institutions mentioned evils. : and over life and property. 2. To the home it is an enemy- proving itself to be a disturber and destroyer of its peace, prosperity and The Prohibition convention was held happiness; taking from it the earn- ; at C’leveland, Ohio, on June 17, 1880, ings of the husband: dearivinz the : and the candidate named for President dependent wife and children of e’sen- was of Maine. A. M. Thomp- tial food, clothing and education: j son of Ohio was placed on the ticket bringing into it nrofanitv. abuse and : for Vice-President. violence: setting -at naught the vows 3f the marriage altar; breaking up the PROIIIBITION PLATFORM OF 1880. family and sundering the children ’ The Prohibition Reform party of the from the parents, and thus destroying United States, organized in the name me of the most beneficent institutions of the people, to revive, enforce, and If our Creator, and removing the sure Fperpetuate in the Government the doc- Foundation of good government, na- trines of the Declaration of Independ- iional prosperity and welfare. ence, submit, for the suffrage of all 3. To the community it is equally an good citizens, the following platform memy-producing vice, demoralization of nat,lonal reforms and measures: and wickedness: ite nlaces of sale hn- In the examination and discussion of ing resorts of gaming, lewdness and ‘the t,emperance question, it has been debauchery, and the hiding-place of kproven. and it is an accepted truth, those who prey upon society: counter- ithat slcoholic drinks, whether fer- acting the efficacy of religious effort, 96 TEE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK. __- and of all means of intellectual eleva- in all places and ways over which, un tion, moral purity, social happiness, ! der the Constitution, Congress ha: and the eternal gond of mankind, with- control and Dower. is a nolitical issue out rendering any counteracting or of the first -importance to the peace compensating benefits; being in its and prosperity of the nation.- There influence and effect evil and only - evil. can be no stable neace and nrotectior and that continually. to personal liberty, life, or-property 4. To the State it is equally an ene- until secured by national or Statf my-legislative inquiries, judicial in- Constitutional provisions, enforced bj vestigatiors, and official reports of all adequate laws. penal, reformatory and dependent in- 7. All legitimate industries require stitutions showing that the manu- deliverance from the taxation and losr facture and sale of such beverages is which the liquor traffic imposes up01 the promoting cause of intemperance, them; and financial and other legisla. crime, and pauperism, and of demands tion could not accomplish so much tc upon public and private charity, im- increase production and cause a de posing the larger part of taxation, mand for labor and, as a result, for the paralyizing thrift, industry, manufac- comforts of living, as the suppression tures and commercial life, which, but of this traffic would bring to thou- for it, would be unnecessary; disturb- sands of homes as one of its blessings ing the peace of streets and highways; 8. The administration of the govern. filling prisons and poorhouses; cor- ment and the execution af the laws arc rupting politics, legislation, and the through political parties; and we ar. execution of the laws; shortening raign the Republican party, which ha$ lives; diminishing health, industry, been in continuous power in the na a#nd the productive power of manu- tion for twenty years, as being false tc factures and art; and is manifestly duty, as false to loudly proclaimed unjust as well as injurious to the princimes of equa1 justice to a11 and community upon which it is im- special favors to none, and of protec- posed, and is contrary to all just tion to the weak and dependent, in- views of civil liberty, as well as a vio- sensible to the mischief which the lation of the fundamental maxim of trade in liquor has constantly inflicted our common law, to use your own upon industry, trade, commerce, and property or liberty so as to not injure the social hanoiness of the neoole: others. that 5,652 distilleries, 3,830 breweries 5. It is neither right nor politic for and 175,266 places for the sale of these the State to afford legal protection to poisonous liquors, involving an an- anv traffic or anv svstem which tends nual waste to the nation of one mil- to -waste the resburces, to corrupt the lion five hundred thousand dollars, social habits, and to destroy the health and the sacrifice of one hundred thou- and lives of the people; that the im- sand lives, have under its legislation portation, manufacture and sale of in- grown up and been fostered as a legiti- toxicating beverages is proven to be mate source of revenue; that during inimical to the true interests of the its history, six territories have been individual home, community and organized-and five States been admit- State, and destructive to the order and ted to the Union, with constitutions welfare of society, and ought, there- provided and approved by Congress, fore, to be classed among crimes to be but the prohibition

law been passed by any State that wa ments. We ,also demand, as a right, controlled by it, while in four States that women, having the privileges of so governed, the laws found on its citizens in other respects, be clothed advent to power have been repealed with the ballot for their protection, At its national convention in 1872, ii and as a rightful means for the proper declared, as part of its party faith settlement of the liquor question. that “it disapproves of the resort tc 12. To remove the aDDrehension of unconstitutional laws for the purpose some who allege that aloss of ,public of removing evils, by interference with revenue would follow the suppression rights not surrendered by the. people of the direct trade, we confidently point to either State or nati#onal Govern- to the experience of governments ment.” which. the author of this nlank abroad and at home, which shows that says,’ was adopted by the platform thrift and- revenue from the consump- committee with the full and implicil tion of legitimate manufactures and understanding that its purpose was commerce have so largely followed the the discountenancing of all so-called abolition of drink as to fuily supply temperance, prohibitory and Sunday all loss of liquor taxes. laws. 13. We recognize the good provi- 9. We arraign, also, the Democratic dence of Almighty God, who has pre- party as unfaithful and unworthy of served and prospered us as a nation; reliance on this question; for, al- and, asking for His Spirit to guide us though not clothed with power, but to uitimate success, we all look for it, occupying the relation of an opposi- relying upon His omnipotent arm. tion party during twenty years past, strong in numbers and organization, RESULT OF ELECTION OF 1’sSO. it has allied itself with liquor traffick- ers, and become, in all the States of Garfield and Arthur received 214 the Union, their special political de- eiectoral votes. fender, and in its national convention Hancock and English received 155. in 1876, as an article of its political The popular vote was as follows: faith, declared against prohibition and Republican 4,449,053, Democratic just laws in restraint of the trade in 4,442,035, Greenback 307,306, Prohibi- drink, by saying it was opposed to tion 10,305. what it was pleased to call “all sump- Early after the inauguration of Gar- tuary laws.” The National party has field the contention between factions been dumb on this question. of the dominant party became very 10. Drink traffickers, having the his- bitter: not from any variance of opin- tory and experience of all ages, climes, ion, but from a disagreement as to the and conditions of ‘men, declaring their disposition’of the spoils of office; and bu$ness destructive of all good-find- on May 16. 1881. both the New York ing no sunnort in the Bible. morals. Senators resigned their seats in the or- reason--appeal to misapplied law , alleging as the for their justification, and intrench chief reason for such action the fact themselves behind the evil elements that certain appointments made by the of political party for defense, party President was opposed by them, and taclics and party inertia become bat- antagonistic to their political interests. tling forces, protecting ‘this evil. The disagreement of the two fac- 11. In view of. the foregoing facts tions became a matter of general in- and history, we cordially invite all terest and public excitement and dur- voters without regard to former affil- ing this period of contention. on Julv iations. to unite with us in the use of 2, 1883., President Garfield was’shot an& the, ballot for the abolition of the mortally wounded, while at a railroad drinking system, under the authoritS depot in Washington. of our nat.ional and State Govern. The assassin, Charles J. Guiteau, , 98 TIIE I’I.hTROR31 TEST BOOK. was arrested, and after a tedious trial, President Garfield, whose sound states- , was sentenced and hung. manship, long conspicuous in Con- , The President lived until Sent. 19. gress, gave promise of strong and sue- i when he d,ied at Long Branch. l?. J. cessful administration. a aromise fullv I , On September 20 &ester A: Arthur realized during the short-period of hi8 ’ took the oath of office as President, at ofiice as President of the United States. I .’ his New York residence. and two davs His distinguished services in war and ] later at Washington, D.‘C., was sworn peace have endeared him to the hearts I in by the Chief Justice of the Supreme of the American people. In the ad- , Court. ministration of President Arthur we Congress came under Democratic recognize a wise. conservative and na- I ,1 control during the latter part of Ar- trio& policy, unher which the coun& 1 thur’s administration and the Repub- has been blessed with eremarkable I , licans outnumbered the Democrats in prosperity and we believe his eminen ; the Senate by only three, and in 1882 services are entitled to and will re , Grover Cleveland was elected Governor ceive the hearty approval of every tit , of New York by the unprecedented izen. majority of 192,854 votes. It is the first duty of a good ment to protect the rights and pro CAMPAIGN OF 1884. The Republicans met in convention at Chicago, June 3, 1884, and nomi- nated James G. Blaine of Maine for of the people. We therefore demand President and John A. Logan of Illi- that the imposition of duties on fl noiS for Vice-President. eign imports shall be made not “ REPUBLICAN PLATFORM OF 1884. revenue only,” but that in raising 1 The Republicans of the United requisites revenues for the Govei States in national convention assem- merit, such duties shall be so levied bled, renew their allegiance to the to afford security to our diversified principles upon which they have tri- dustries and protection to the rig’ umphed in six successive Presidential and wages of the laborer, to the E elections and congratulate the Ameri- that active and intelligent labor can people on the attainment of sc, well as capital may have-its just aw: tr many results in legislation and admin- and the laboring man his full share istration by which the Renublican the national prosperity. Against 1tl: ‘I party has, after saving the- Union, so-called economic svstem of the De done so much to render its institutions ocratic party which -would degrade ( just, equal and beneficent; the safe- labor to the foreign standard, we I guard of liberty and the embodiment ter our earnest protest. The Democr of the best tkdught and highest pur- ic party has failed completely to ’ pose of our citizens. The Republican lieve the people of the unnecessi party has gained its strength by quick taxation by a wise reduction of I and faithful response to the demands surnlus. The Reuublican party pled; of the people for the freedom and itself to correct the inequalities of ; equality of all men; for a united na- tariff and to reduce the surplus, I tion, assuring the rights of all citi- by a vicious and indiscriminate pr zens; for the elevation of labor, for an ess of horizontal reduction, but honest currency, for purity in legisla- such methods as will relieve the t: tion, and for integrity and accounta- payer without injuring the laborer bility in all departments of the GOV- great productive interests of the COI ernment, and it accepts anew the duty try. of leading in the work of progress We recognize the importance and reform. We lament the death ol sheep husbandry in the United St-al I i

NATIONAL PLATFORM8 OF PARTIES. 99

the serious depression which it is now labor whether from Eurone or Asia. as experiencing and the danger threaten- an offense against the spirit of Ameri- ing its future prosperity, and we there- can institutions. We pledge ourselves fore respect the demands of the rep- to sustain the present law restricting resentatives of this important agri- Chinese immigration and to provide cultural interest for a readjustment of such further legislation as is neces- duty upon foreign wool, in order that sary to carry out its purposes. such industry shall have full and ade- The reform of the civil service so quate protection. We have always conspicuously begun under Republican recommended the beet money known administration, should be completed to the civilized world, and we urge by the further extension ob the re- that efforts should be made to unite formed svstem alreadv established bv all commercial nations in the estab- law, to all the grades of the service lishment of an international standard, to which it is applicable. ‘The spirit which shall fix for all the relative and purpose of the reform should be value of gold and silver coinage. ‘The observed in all executive appoint- regulations of commerce with foreign ments, and all law,s at variance with the object of exi’sting reformed legis- lation should be repealed, to the end that damage to free institutions which lurks in the power of official patron- age map be wiselv and effectivelv a;oided.- The public lands are a her- itage of the people of ,the United States, and should be reserved as far as possible for holdings by actual ay corporations is a wise and salu- settlers. We are opposed to the ac- ry one for the prot,ection of all quisition of large tracts of these lands of the people, and we favor by corporations or individuals, espe- that shall nrevent uniust cially where such holdings are in the i&riminaOion and excessive ch.arges hands of non-resident aliens, and we or transportation and that shall se- will endeavor to obtain such legisla- Pure to the people and the railways tion as will tend to correct this evil. Plike a fair and eaual orotection of the We demand of Congress the speedy favor the establishment of forfeiture of all land, grants which national bureau of labor; the en- have lapsed by reason of non-compli- of the eight hour law; a ance with the act of incorporation; in ise and judicious system of general all cases where there has been no at- by adequate appropriations tempt in good faith to perform the rom the national revenue wherever condition of such grants. t he same is needed. We believe that The grateful thanks of the American the protection to citizens people are due to the Union soldiers f American birth must be secured to and sailors of the late war. and the by American adoption and we Republican party &uds piedged to vor the settlement of national dif- suitable pensions for a11 who were dis- rences by arbitration. The Repub- tbled, and for the widows and orphans party having its birth in the If those who died in the war. The ratred of slave labor. and a desire Republican party also pledges itself to all men may be’ by. truly free :he repeal of the limitation contained equal, is unutterably opposed to n the arrears act of 1879. so that all competit,ion with nvalid soldiers shall share alike and labor, whether at :heir pensions begin with the date of ome or abroad. In this spirit we de- iisability or discharge, and not with the importation of contract ;he date of application. 100 TEE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK.

The Republican party favors a Policy southern States, by which the will of which shall keep -us from entangling the voter is defeated, as dangerous to alliances with foreign nations, and the preservation of free institutions, which gives us the right to expect and we soiemnly arraign the Demo- foreign nations shall refrain from cratic party as being the guilty re- meddling in American affairs; the cipient of the fruits of such fraud and policy which seeks peace and trade violence. We extend to Republicans with all powers, but especially with of the South, regardless of their for- those of the Western hemisphere. mer party affiliations, our cordial sym- We demand the restoration of our pathy and pledge to them our most navy to its old-time strength and effi- earnest efforts to promote the passage ciency, that it may in any high sea of such legislation as will secure to protect the rights of American citizens every citizen of whatever race and and the interest of American com- color, the full and complete recogni- merce, and we call upon Congress to tion, possession and exeroise of all remove the burden under which Amer- civil and political rights. ican shipping has been depressed, so that it may again be true that we have a commerce which leaves no sea un- The Democratic convention met in explored and a navy which takes no Chicago, July 8, 1884, and nominated law from superior force. Grover Cleveland of New York for Resolved, That appointments by the President and Thomas Hendricks of President to offices in the Territories Indiana for Vice-President. should be made from the bona fide cit- DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM OF 1884. izens and residents of the Territories wherein they are to serve. The Democratic party of the Union Resolved, That it is the duty of Con- through its representatives in the na- gress to enact such laws as shall tional convention assembled, recog- promptly and effectually su;liu;;; nizes that as the nation grows older the system of polygamy new issues are born of time and prog- our territorv and divorce the PO- ress, and the old issues perish, but the litical from- the ecclesiastical pow- fundamental principles of Democracy, er of the so-called Mormon church, approved by the united voice of the and the law so enacted should be people, remain and will ever remain rigidly enforced by the civil author- as the best and only security for the ities, if possible, and by the miltiary continuance of free government. the if need be. preservation of personal rights; the The people of the United States in equality of all citizens before the law, their organized capacity constitute a the reserved rights of the States and nation and not a mere confederacy of the supremacy of the Federal Govern- States. The National Government is ment, within the limi,ts of the Consti- sunreme within the snhere of its na- tution, will ever form the true basis tional duty, but the States have re- of our liberties, and can never be sur- served rights which should be faith- rendered without destroying that bal- fully maintained. Each should be ance of rights and power which en- guarded with jealous care, so that the ables a continent to be developed in harmony of our system of Government neace and social order. to be main- may be preserved and the Union kept tained by means of local self-govern- inviolate. The perpetuity of our insti- ment. But it is indispensable for the tutions rests upon the maintenance of practical application and enforcement a free ballot and an honest count and of these fundamental principles that correct returns. the Government should not always be We denounce the fraud and violence controlled by one political party. Fre- practiced by the Democracy in the quent change of administration is as NATIOXAL PLATFORMS OF PARTIES. 101 necessary as the constant recurrence aliens, ind’ividual and corporate, pos- to the popular will. Otherwtise abuses sess a larger area than that of all our grow, and the Government, instead farms between the seas. It professes of being carried on for the general a nreference for free institutions. It welfare, becomes the instrumentality organized and tried to legalize a con- for imposing heavy burdens on the trol of State elections by Federal many who are governed for the benefit troops. It professes a desire to ele- of the few who govern. Public serv- vate labor; it has subjected the Ameri- ants thus become arbitrary rulers. can workingmen to the competition This is now the condition of the coun- of convict and imported contract labor. try, hence a change is demanded. The It professes gratitude to all who were . Republican party, so far as principle disabled or died in the war, leaving is concerned, is a reminiscence. In widows and orphans; it left to a Dem- practice, it is an organization for en- ocratic House of Representatives the riching those who control its machin- first one to equalize both bounties and ery. The frauds and jobbery which pensions. It proffers a pledge to cor- have been brought to light in every rect the irregularities of our tariffs; department of the Government are it created and has continued them. Its sufficient to have called for reform own tariff commission confessed the within the Republican party, yet those need of more than 20 per cent reduc- in authority, made reckless by the long tion; its Congress gave a reduction of possession of power, have succumbed less than 4 per cent. It professes the to its corrupting influence, and have protection of American manufacturers; placed in nomination a ticket against it has subjected them to an increasing which the independent portion of the flood of manufactured goods, and a party are in open revolt. hopeless competition with manufac- Therefore, a change is demanded. turing nations, not one of which taxes Such a change was alike necessary in raw materials. It professes to protect 1876, but the will of the people -was all American industries;. it has im- then defeated by a fraud which can poverished many to subsidize a few. never be forgotten nor condoned. It professes the protection of Ameri- Again, in 1880, the change demanded can labor: it has dealeted the returns by the people was defeated by the of Ameridan agriculture, an industry lavish use of money contributed by followed by half our people. It pro- unscrunulous contractors and shame- fesses the eauality of all men before less jobbers, who had bargained for the law; attempting to fix the status unlawful profits or for high office. The of colored citizens. The acts of Con- Republican party, during its legal, its gress were overset by the decisions of stolen and it,s bought tenure of Dower its courts. It “accepts anew the duty has steadily decayed in moral charac- of leading in the work of progress ter and political capacity. Its plat- and reform.” Its caught criminals are form promises are now a list of past permitted to escape through contrived failures. It demands the restoration delays or actual connivance in the of our navy. It has squandered hun- prosecution. Honeycombed with cor- dreds of millions to create a. nav’y ruption, outbreaking exposures no that does not exist. It calls uuon longer shock its moral sense. Its hon- Congress to remove the burdens under est members, its independent journals, which American shipping has been de- no longer maintain a successful con- pressed. It imposed and has continued test for authority in its councils, or a these burdens. It urofesses the nolicv veto upon its bad nominations. That of reserving the public lands for-s-mail a change is necessary is proven by holdings by actual settlers. It has an existing surplus of more than given away the people’s heritage till $lOO,OOO,OOO,which has yearly been col- now a few railroads and non-resident lected from a suffering people. Un- 103 THE I’LATFOBM TEXT BOOK. necessary taxation is unjust taxation. ent system of taxation, from custom We denounce the Republican party house taxes on fewer imported articles, for having f.ailed to relieve the peo- bearing heaviest on articles of luxury, ple from crushing war taxes, which and bearing lightest on the articles of have paralyzed business, crippled in- necessity. -We therefore denounce the dustry, and deprived labor of em- abuse of existing tariff, and, subject to ployment and of just reward. The the preceding limitations, we demand Democracy pledges itself to purify that Federal taxation shall be exclu- the administration from corruption, to sively for public purposes, and shall restore economy, to revive respect for not exceed the needs of the govern- the law, and to reduce taxation to the ment economically administered. The lowest limit consistent with due re- system of direct taxation known as the gard to the preserv.ation of the faith “internal revenue” is a war tax, and of the nation to its creditors and pen- so long as the tax continues, all the sioners. Knowing full well, however. money derived therefrom should be that legislation affecting the occupa- sacredly devoted to the relief of the tions of the people should be cautious people from the remaining burdens of and conservative in method, not in ad- the war. and made a fund to defray vance of uublic oninion. but resuon- the expenses of the care and comfort sive to its demands, the Democratic of worthy soldiers disabled in the line party is pledged to revise the tariff of duty in the wars of the republic, in a spirit of fairness to all interests. and for the uavment of such nen- But in making a reduction in taxes sions as Cong;e& may from time to it is not proposed to injury any of time grant to such soldiers, a like fund the domestic industries, but rather for the sailors having been already to promote their healthy growth. From provided, and any surplus should be the foundation of this Government, paid into the treasury. taxes collected at the custom house We favor an American continental have been the chief source of Fed- oolicv. based uuon more intimate com- eral revenue. Such they must con- me&al and pol-itical relations with the tinue. Moreover, many industries fifteen sister republics of North, Cen- have come to rely upon legislation for tral and South America, but an en- a successful continuance. so that any taneline: alliance with none. change of law must be at every step We believe in honest money, the regardful of the labor and capital gold and silver coinage of the Con- thus involved. The process of re- stitution, and a circulating medium form must be subiect in its execution convertible into such money without to the plain dictates of justice. All loss. taxation shall be limited to the re- Asserting the equality of all men quirements of an economical govern- before the law, we hold that it is the ment. The necessary reduction in tax- duty of the Government in its dealings ation can and must be effected without with the people, to mete out equal depriving American labor of the ability and exact justice to all citizens of to comuete successfully with foreign whatever nativitv. race. color or uer- labor, and without imposing lower s’uasion, religious or ‘political. -We rates of duty than will be ample to believe in a free ballot and a fair cover any increased cost of production count, and we recall to the memory which may exist in consequence of the of the oeoule the noble struaale of the higher rate of wages prevailing in this Demo&a& in the 45th and-&h Con- country. Sufficient revenue to pay all gresses by which a reluctant Republi- expenses of the Federal Government :an opposition was compelled to assent economically administered, including to legislation making everywhere ille- pensions, interest and principal. of the gal the presence of troops at the polls, publid debt, can be got under our pres- xs conclusive proof that a Democratic 103

iadministration will preserve liberty liberal principles embodied by Jeffer- !with order. The selection of Federal son in the Declaration of Independ- officers for the Territories should be ence, and sanctioned by the Constitu- restricted to citizens previously resi- tion which makes ours the land of lib- dents therein. erty and the asylum of the oppressed We oppose sumptuary laws which of every nation, have ever been the vex the citizens and interfere with in- cardinal principles of the Democratic dividual liberty. We favor honest civil faith,” we nevertheless do not sanction service reform, and the compensation the importation of foreign labor, or the of all United States officers bv fixed admission of servile races, unfitted bp salaries; the separation of church and habits, training, religion or kindred State, and the diffusion of free educa- for absorption into the great body tion by the common schools, so that of our people, or for the citizenship leverv child in the land mav be taught which our laws confer. American civi- the rights and duties of citizenship, lization dem.ands that against the im- While we favor all legislation which migration or importation of Mongo- Iwill tend to the equitable distribution lians to these shores our gates shall of property, the prevention of monop- be closed. oly and. to the strict enforcement of The Democratic party insists that it individual rights against corporate is the duty of this Government to abuses. we hold that the welfare of protect with equal fidelity and vigil- society depends upon a scrupulous re- ance the rights of its citizens, native gard for the rights of property as de- and naturalized, at home and abroad, Ifined by law. and to the end that this protection I We believe that labor is the best may be assured, United States paoers rewarded where it is freest and most of naturalization issued by courts of enlightened. It should therefore be competent jurisdiction must be re- 1I fostered and cherished. We favor the spected by the executive and legis- repeal of all laws restricting the free lative departments of our Government, action of labor, an.d the enactment and by all foreign powers. It is an Iof laws by which labor organizations imperative duty of this Government to I mav be incornorated and of all such efficiently protect all the rights of per- legislation as-will tend to enlighten sons and pro+perty of every American the people as to the true relations of citizen in foreign lands, and demand Icauital and labor. and enforce full reparation for any in- We believe that the public lands vasion thereof. An American citizen ought, as far as possible, to be kept is only responsible to his own Gov- as homesteads for actual settlers; that ernment for any act done in his own all unearned lands heretofore imnrov- country, or under her flag and is only Iidently granted to railroad corpora- to be tried therefor on her own soil tions by the action of the Republican and according to her laws; and no 1I uatrtv should be restored to the nublic power exists in this Government to domains, and that no more grant of expatriate an American citizen to be lands shall be made to corporations tried in any foreign land for any such Ior be allowed to fall into the owner- act. This country has never had a ship of alien absentees. we11 defined and executed foreign pol- We are opposed to all propositions icy save under a Democratic adminis- which upon any pretext would con- tration; that policy has ever been, vert the General Government into a in regard to foreign nations, so long Imachine for collecting taxes to be dis- as they do not act detrimental to the tributed ,among the States or chizens interest of the country or hurtful to I thereof. our citizens, to let them alone; that as In reaffirming the declaration of the the result of this policy we recall the Democratic platform of 1856, that “the acquisition of Louisiana, Florida, Cali- 104 THE PLATFORM TEST nooIi. fornia, and of the adjacent Mexican pressed by imposing taxes, we demand territory by purchase alone, and con- in behalf of the Democracy, freedom trast these grand acquisitions of Yemo- for American labor by reducing taxes, cratic statesmanship with the purchase to the end that these United States of Alaska, the sole fruit of a Repub- may compete with unhindered powers lican administration of nearly a for the primacy among nations in all auarter of a century. the arts of peace and fruits of liberty. The Federal Government should care With profound regret we have been for and improve the Mississippi river apprised by the venerable statesman rmd other great wa.terways of the Re- through whose uerson was struck that public, so as to secure for the interior blow at the vital principle of Repub- States easy ‘and cheap transportation licans (acquiescence in the will of the to the tide water. majority),. that he cannot permit us Under a long period of Democratic again to place in his hands the leader- rule and policy our merchant marine ship of the Democratic hosts, and for was fast overtaking and on the point the reason that the achievement of of outstripping that of Great Britain. reform in the administration of the Under twenty Nears of Renublican rule Federal Government is an undertaking and policy our-commerce has been left too heavy for his age and failing to British bottoms and almost has the strength. Rejoicing that his life has American flag been swept off the high been prolonged until the judgment of seas. Instead of the Reuublican our fellow countrymen is united in the party’s British policy, we demand for wish that that wrong were righted in the people of the United States an his person, for the Democracy of the American policy. Under Democratic United States, we offer to him in his rule and policy our merchants and withdrawal from public life not only sailors flying the stars and stripes in our respectful sympathy and esteem, every port, successfully searched out bud also that best homage of freemen, a market for the varied products of the nledae of our devotion to the urin- American industry. Under a quarter ciples and cause, now inseparable in of a century of Republican rule the history of the Republic from the and policy, despite our manifest labors and the name of Samuel J. advantage over all other nations Tilden. With this statement of the in high paid labor, favorable climates, hopes, principles and purposes of the and teeming soils; despite the freedom Democratic party, the great issue of of trade among all these United States; reform and change of administration despite their population by the fore- is submitted to

Almighty God as the rightful sovereign of government for the continuation of all men, from whom the just pow- of the business so destructive to the ers of government are derived, and to moral and material welfare of the whose laws human enactments should people, together with the fact that conform as an absolute condition of they have turned a deaf ear to re- peace, prosperity and happiness. monstrance and petition for the cor- 2. ‘That the importation, manufac- rection of this abuse of civil govern- ture, supply and sale of alcoholic bev- ment, is conclusive that the Republi- erages, created and maintained by the can party is insensible to, or impotent laws of the National and State gov- for, redress of these wrongs, and ernments during the entire history of should no longer be entrusted with the such laws, is everywhere shown to be powers and responsibilities of govern- the promoting cause of intemperance, ment, that although this party, in its with resulting crime and pauperism, late national convention was silent making large demands upon public and on the liquor questlon, not so its can- private charity; Bmposing large and didates, Messrs. Blaine and Logan. unjust taxation for the support of With the past year Mr. Blaine has rec- penal and sheltering institutions, upon ommended that the revenue derived thrift, industry, manufactures and from the liquor traffic be distributed commerce; endangering the public among the States; and Senator Logan peace; desecrating the Sabbath; cor- has by bill proposed to devote these runting our uolitics, legislation and revenues to the suuaort of the nublic admi&stration of ,the laws; shorten- schools. Thus, both‘ virtually recom- ing lives, impairing health and dimin- mend the perpetuation of the trafllc, ishing productive industry; causing and that the States and their citizens education to be neglected and desoised: become partners in the Iiquor crime. nullifying the teachings of the Bible; 4. That the Democratic party has the church and the school, the stand- in its national deliverances of party ards and guides of our fathers and policy arrayed itself on the side of their children in the founding and drink-makers and sellers by declaring growth of our widely extended coun- against the policy of prohibition under try; and which, imperiling the per- the false name of “sumptuary laws,” petuity of our civil and religious lib- that when in Dower in anv of the erties, are baleful fruits by which we States it has refused remedial legis- know that these laws are contrary lation; and that in Congress it has ob- to God’s laws and contravene our hap- structed the creation of a commission piness. We, therefore, call upon our of inquiry into the effects of this fellow citizens to aid in the repeal of traffic, proving that it should not be these laws and in the legal suppression entrusted with power and place. of this baneful liquor traffic. 5. That there can be no greater 3. During the twenty-four years in peril to the nation than the existing which the Republican party has con- competition of the Republican ana trolled the General Government and Democratic p.arties for the liquor vote. many of the States, no effort has been Experience shows that any party not made to change this policy. Territories onenlv onnosed to the traffic will en- have been created, governments for gage “in ‘this competition; will court them established, States admitted to the favor of the criminal classes; will the onion, .and in no instance in either barter the public morals, the purity case has this traffic been forbidden, or of the ballot, and every trust and ob- the people been permiltted to prohibit ject of good government for party suc- it: t&at there are now over 200.000 cess. Patriots and good citizens distilleries, breweries, wholesale and should, therefore, immediately with- retail dealers in their products, holding draw from all connection with these certificates and cl,ai:ming the authority parties. 106 TEE PLATFORM TEXT Bc.-13.

6. We favor reforms in the aboli- gress shi?uld exercise its undoubted tion of all sinecures with useless of- Dower bv nrohibiting the manufacture fices and officers, and in elections by and sale ,‘f intoxicating beverages in the people instead of appointments by the District of Columbra, the Territor- the President; that as competency, ies of the ‘I’aited States, and all places honesty and sobriety are essential over which the Government has exclu- qualifications for office, we oppose re- sive juristilction; that hereafter no movals except when absolutely neces- State should be admitted to the Union sary to secure effectiveness in vital is- until its crnstitution shall expressly sues; that the collection of revenues and forever prohibit polygamy and the from alcoholic liquor and tobacco manufacturs and sale of intoxicating should be abolished, since the vices of beverages, and that Congress shall men are not proper subjects d tax- submit to the States an amendment ation; that revenue from custom du- to the Constitution forever prohibiting ties should be levied for the support the impof tation, exportation, manu- of the Government economically ad- facture and sale of alcoholic drinks. ministered, and in such manner as 7. We earnestly call the attention will foster American industries and of the mechanic, the miner and manu- labor; that the public lands should facturer to the investigation of the be held for homes for the people, and baneful effects uoon labor and indus- not bestowed as gifts to corporations, try of the neediess liquor business. or sold in large tracts for speculation It will be found the robber who less- upon the needs of actual settlers; that ens wages and profits, foments dis- grateful care and suppart should be content and strikes, and the destroyer given to our soldiers and sailors dis- of family welfare. Labor and all le- abled in the service of their country, gitimate industries demand deliverance and to their d,ependent widows and from the taxation and loss whi,ch this orphans; that we repudiate as un- traffic imposes; and no tariff or other American and contrary to and subver- legislation cali so healthfully stimu- sive of the principles of the Declara- late production, or increase the de- tion of Independence, that any persons mand for capital and labor, or insure or people should be excluded from resi- so much of comfort and content to the dence or citizenship who may desire laborer, mechanic and capitalist, as the benefit which our institutions con- would the suppression of this traiIlc. fer upon the oppressed of all nations; 8. That the activity and co-opera- that while these are important reforms tion of the women of America for the and are demanded for purity of ad- promotion of temperance has, in all ministration and ihe welfare of the the history of the past, been a strength people, their importance sinks into in- and encouragement which we grate- significance when compared witah the fully acknowledge and record. In drink traffic, which now annually the later and present phase of the wastes $800.000.000 of the wealth cre- movement for the prohibition of the ated by toil.and thrift, dragging down traffic, the purity of purpose and thousands of families from comfort to method, earnestness, zeal, intelligence poverty, filling jails, penitentiaries, in- and devotion of the mothers and sane asylums. hosaitals and institu- daughters of the Woman’s Christian tions for dependency, impairing the Temperance Union have been eminent- health and destroying the lives of ly blessed of God. Kansas and Iowa thousands, lowering intellectual vigor, have been given them as “sheaves” of and dulling the cunning hand of the rejoicing, and the education and the artisan, causing bankruptcy, insolv- arousing of the public mind, and the ency and loss in trade, and by its cor- now prevailing demand for the Con- rupting power endangering the per- stitutional amendment are largely the petuity of free institutions; that Con- fruit of their prayers and labors. NATIONAL PLATFORM3 OF PARTIES. .107

Sharing in the efforts that shall bring sion, and to defend the Constitution the question of the abolition of this against alterations or amendments in- traffic to the polls, they shall join tended to deprive the people of any In the grand “Praise God from Whom rights or privileges conferred by that All Blessings Flow,” when by law vic- instrument. We demand the issue of :ory shall be achieved. such money in sufficient quantities to 9. That belisving in the civil and supply the actuai demand of trade and political equality of the sexes, and commerce, in accordance with the in- that the ballot in the hands of woman crease of population and the develop- IS her right for protection, and would ment of our industries. We demand prove a powerful ally for the aboli- the substitution of greenbacks for na- tion of the liquor tragic, the execu- tional bank notes and the prompt pay- iion of law, the promotion of reform ment of the public debt. We want .n civil affairs, and the removal of cor- that money which saved our country ruption in public life, we enunciate the in time of war and which has given principle and relegate the practical it prosperity and happiness in peace. mtworkings of this reform to the We condemn the retirement of the liscretion of the Prohibition party in fractional currency and the small de- :he several States according to the nominations of greenbacks and de- :ondition of public sentiment in those mand their restoration. We demand states. tmheissue of the hoards of money now 10. That we gratefully acknowledge locked up in the United States Treas- :he presence of the Divine Spirit ury, by applying them to the payment guiding the counsels and granting the of the public debt now due. success which has been vouchsafed in 2. We denounce as dangerous to our the progress of the temperance re- republican institutions, those methods Form, and we earnestly ask the voters and policies of the Democratic and If these United States to make the Republican parties which have sanc- principles of the. above declaration tioned or permitted the establishment lominant in the Government of the of land, railroad, money, and other nation. gigantic corporate monopolies; and we demand such governmental action as may be necessary to take from such The Greenback national convention monopolies the powers they have so net at Indianapolis, lnd., May 28,1884, corruptly and unjustly usurped, and lnd nominated Beniamin F. Butler restore them to the people to whom >f Massachusetts for ‘President and A. they belong. X. West of Mississippi for Vice-Presi- 3. The public lands being the n&u- ’ lent. ral inheritance of the people, we de- nounce that policy which has granted NATIONAL (GREENBACK) PLAT- to corporations vast tracts of land,. FORM OF 1884. and we demand that immediate and We, the National party of the United vigorous measures be taken to reclaim States, in national convention assem- from such corporations for the peo- bled, this 29th day of May, A. D. 1884, ple’s use and benefit, all such land declare: grants as have been forfeited by rea- 1. That we hold the late decision son of non-fulfillment of contract, or ?f the Supreme Court on the legal ten- that may have been wrongfully ac- der question to be a full vindication quired by corrupt legislation, and that 3f the theory which our party has such reclaimed lands and other public always advocated on the right and au- domain be henceforth held as a sa- thority of Congress over the issue of cred trust, to be granted only to actual the legal tender notes, and we hereby settlers in limited quantities; and we pledge ourselves to uphold said deci- also demand that the alien ownership 108 THE PLABTFOHM TEXT BOOE -- .~Y of land, individual or corporate, shall necessaries, we insist that as .an eco- be prohibited. nomic question its importance is insig- 4. We demand Congressional regula- nificant when compared with financial tion of our inter-state commerce. We issues; for whereas we have suffered denounce “pooling,” stock watering our worst panics under low and also and discrimination in rates and under high tariffs, we have never charges, and demand that Congress suffered from a panic nor seen our fac- shall correct these abuses, even. if tories and workshops closed while the necessary, by the construction of .na- volume of money in circulation was tional railroads. We also demand the adequate to the needs of commerce. establishment of a Goverment postal Give our farmers and manufacturers telegraph system. money as cheap as you now give it to 5. All private property, all forms our bankers, and they can pay high of money and obligations to pay wages to labor, and compete with all money, should bear their just propor- the world. tion of the public taxes. We demand 11. For the purpose of testing the a graduated income tax. I sense of the people upon the subject, 6. We demand the amelioration of we are in favor of submitting to a vote the condition of labor bv enforcing of the people an amendment to the the sanitary laws in industrial estabx Constitution in favor of suffrage re- lishments, by the abolition of the gardless of sex, and also on the sub. convict labor system, by a rigid inspec- ject of the liquor traffic. tion of mines and factories. bv a re- 12. All disabled soldiers of the late duction of the hours of labor- in in- war should be equitably pensioned, dustrial establishments, by fostering and we denounce the policy of keeping educational institutions, and by abol- a small army of office-holders whose ishing child labor. only business is to prevent, on technic- 7. We condemn all importations of al grounds, deserving soldiers from contract labor, made with a view of obtaining justice from the Government reducing to starvation wages the they helped to save. workingmen of this country, and de- 13. As our name indicates, we are mand laws for its prevention. a National pari.y, knowing no east, no 8. We insist upon a Constitutional west, no north, no south. Having no amendment reducing the terms of sectional prejudices, we can properly United States Senators. place in nomination for the high of- 9. We demand such rules for the fices of State as candidates, men from government of Congress as shall place any section of the Union. ‘ail representatives of the people upon i4. We appeal to all people who be- an equal footing, and take away from lieve in our princi,ples to aid us by committees a veto power greater than voice, pen and votes. that of the President. 10. The question as to the amount On June 19, 1834, a convention as- of duties to be levied upon various sembled in Chicago as the American articles of import has been agitated narty and nominated Samuel C. Pom- and quarreled over and has divided eroy-of Kansas for President and John communities for nearly a hundred A. Conant of Connecticut for Vice- years. It has not now and never will President. be settled unless by the asbolition of indirect taxation. It is a convenient AMERICAN PLATFORM. issue-always raised when people are We hold: excited over abuses in their midst. 1. That ours is a Christian and not a While we favor a wise revision of the heathen nation, and that the God of tariff laws, with a view to raising the Christian Scriptures is the author a revenue from luxuries rather than of civil government. NATIONAL PLATFOkXS OF’ PAR’i’IES. 109 = __-_- - 2. That the Bible should be associ- President and Vice-President of the ated with books of science and litera- ; United States. ture in all our educational institutions. 3. That God requires and man needs a Sabbath. On September 20, 1884, a convention 4. That we demand the prohibition was held at San Francisco, Cal., under of the importation. manufacture and the name of the “Equal Rights Party” sale of intoxicating drinks. It which the prime object was the urg- 5. That the charters of all secret ing of the rights of women to a voice lodges granted by our Federal and in the affairs of government. State Legislatures should be with- This convention nominated Belva drawn and their oaths prohibited by A. Lockwood of Washington, D. C., law. for President, and Marietta L. Snow 6. We are opposed to putting prison of California for Vice-President. labor or depreciated contract labor from foreign countries in competition EQUAL RIGHTS PLATFORM. with free Iabor to benefit manufactur- 1. We pledge ourselves, if eIected to ers, corporations and speculators. Dower. so far as in us lies. to do eanal ‘7. ,We are in favor of a thorough re- and exact justice to every class of-our vision and enforcement of the law citizens, without distinction of color, concerning patents and inventions for sex or nationality. the prevention and punishment of 2. We shall recommend that the laws - frauds either upon inventors or the of the several States be so amended general public. that women will be recognized as vot- 8. We hold to and will vote for ers, and their property rights made woman suffrage. equal with that of the male popula- 9. We hold that the civil equality tion, to the end that they may become secured to all American citizens by self-supporting, rather than a depend- Articles 13, 14 and 15 of our amended ent class. NationaI Constitution should be pre- 3. It will be our earnest endeavor to served inviolate, and the same equality revive the now lagging industries of should be extended to Indians and the country by encouraging and Chinamen. strengthening our commercial rela- 10. That international differences tions with other countries, especially should be settled by arbitration. with the Central and South American 11. That land and other monopolies States, whose wealth of productions .are should be discouraged. now largely diverted to England and 12. That the General Government other European countries for lack of should furnish the people with an am- well-established steamship lines and ple and sound currency. railroad communications between these countries and our own, encour- 13. That it should be the settled pol- age exports by an effort to create a icy of the Government to reduce the demand for our home nroductions: and tariffs and taxes as rapidly as the to this end we deem that a moderate necessities of revenue and vested busi- tariff-sufficient to protect the labor- ness interests will allow. . ing classes, but not so high as to keep 14. That nolynamy should be imme- our goods out of the market, as most diately suppressed by law, and that the likely to conserve the best interests of Republican party is censurable for its our whole people. That is to say, we long neglect of its duty in respect to shall avoid as much as possible a high this evil. protective tariff on the one hand and 15. And, Anally, we demand for the free trade on the other. We shall also American people the abolition of elec- endeavor by all laudable means to in- toral colleges and a direct vote for crease the wages of laboring men and 110 TEE PLATP~RM *EXT BOO&. women. Our protective system will be 10. We shall endeavor to aid in most earnestly exerted to protect the every laudable way the work of edu- commonwealth of the country from cating the masses of the people, not venality and corruption in high places. only h book knowledge, but in physi- 4. It will be our earnest effort to see cal, moral and social culture, in such tJhat the solemn contract made with a manner as will tend to elevate ,the the soldiers of the country on enlist- standard of American manhood and ment into the United States service, womanhood-that the individual may viz.: that if disabled therein they receive the highest possible develop- should be pensioned, is strictly car- ment. ried out, and that without unnecessary 11. We recommend a uniform sys- expense or delay to them; and a re- tem of laws for the several States as enactment of the “Arrears Act.” desirable as far as practicable; and 6. We shall discountenance by every especially the laws relating to the legal means the liauor traffic. because descent of property, marriage and di- its tendency is to demoralize the youth vorce, and the limitation of contracts. of the land; to lower the standard of 12. We will endeavor to maintain morality among the people; and we the peaceable relations which now ex- do not believe that the revenue derived ist between the various sections of our from it would feed and clothe the pau- vast country, and strive to enter ‘into pers that it makes, and the money ex- a compact of peace with the other Bended on its account in the courts, American as well as European na- workhouses and prisons. tions, in order that the peace which 6. We believe that the only solution we now enjoy may become perpetual. of the Indian question is, to break up We believe that war is a relic of bar- all of their small principalities and barism belonging to the past, and chieftainships, that have ever pre- should only be resorted to in the dir- sented the anomaly of small kingdoms ,est extremity. scattered through a republic and ever 13. That the dangers of a solid liable to break out in some unexpect- South or a solid North shall be avert- ed locality; and which have been hith- ,ed by a strict regard to the interests erto maintained at such great expense ,of every section of the country, a fair to the Government, and treat the In- ,distribution of nublic offices. and such dian like a rational human being, as a distribution of the public’ funds for we have the negro-make him a citi- 1the increase of the facilities of inter- zen, amenable to the laws, and let him ,commercial relations as will restore manage his own private affairs. 1the South to her former industrial 7. That it is but just that every pro- 1prestige, develop the exhaustless re- tection granted to citizens of the sources of the West, foster the iron, United States by birth should also be ,zeal, and woolen interests of the Mid- secured to the citizens of the United 3le States, and revive the manufac- States by adoption. 1tures of the East. 8. We shall continue gradually to 14. We shall foster civil service, be- pay the public debt and to refund the 1lieving that a true civil service re- balance, but not in such manner as to jcorm, honestly and candidly adminis- curtail the circulating medium of the 1Lered will lift us out of the imputa- country so as to embarrass trade, but 1tion of having become a nation of of- pledge ourselves that every dollar 1fice seekers, and have a tendency to shall be paid in good time. ,develop in candidates for office an 9. We oppose monopoly, the tend- fearnest desire to make themselves ency of which is to make the rich worthy and capable of performing the richer, and the poor poorer, as op- duties of the office that they desire to posed to the genius and welfare of 1Fill, and in order to make the reform republican institutions. 2t permanent one, recommend that it l;rATI

purpose to harass innocent settlers lation asserting the sovereignty of with spies and prosecutions under the the Nation in all Territories where the false pretense of exposing frauds and same is questioned, and in furtherance vindicating the law. of that end to place upon the statute The government by Congress of the books legislation stringent enough to Territories is based upon necessity, divorce the political from the ecclesi- only to the end that they may become astical power, and thus stamp out the States in the Union. Therefore, when- attendant wickedness or polygamy. ever the conditions of popul,ation, ma- The Republican party is in favor of terial resources, public intelligence the use of both gold and silver as and morality are such as to insure a money, and condemns the policy of stable local government therein, the the Democratic administration in its people of such Territories should be efforts, to demonetize silver. .permitted as a right inherent in them We demand the reduction of letter to form for themselves Constitutions postage to one cent per ounce. and State Governments and be ad- In a republic like ours, where the mitted into the Union. Pending the citizen is the sovereign. and the offi- preparation for Statehood, all officers cial the servant, where no power is thereof should be selected from the exercised except by ,the will of the peo- bona fide residents and citizens of the ple, it is important that the sovereign Territory wherein they are to serve. -the neonle-should nossess intelli- should of right be im- gence. -The free school ?s the promoter mediately admitted as a State in the of that intelligence which is to pre- ‘Union. under the constitution framed serve us as a free nation, therefore the and adopted by her people, and we State. or Nation. or both combined. heartily indorse the action of the Re- should support ‘free institutions of publican Senate in twice passing bills learning sufficient to afford to every for her admission. The refusal of the child growing in the land the oppor- Democratic House of Representatives, tunity of a good common school edu- for partisan purposes, to favorably :ation. /consider these bills, is a willful viola- We earnestly recommend that tion of the sacred American urincinle prompt action be taken by Congress on of local self-government, and merits the enactment of such legislation as the condemnation of all just men. The will best secure the rehabilitation of pending bills in the Senate to enable our American merchant marine, and the neonle of Washington. North Da- we nrotest against the nassage bv Con- kotaand Te&itories to form gress of a fr.ee-ship biil, as-calculated Constitutions and establish State gov- to work injustice to labor by lessening ernments, should be passed without the wages of those engaged in pre- unnecessary delay. The Republican paring materials, as well as those di-- party pledges itself to do all in its rectly employed in our shipyards. We power to facilitate the admi,ssion of ,3emand appropriation for the early re- the Territories of New Mexico, Wyo- building of our navy, for the construc- ming, and Arizona to the enjoy- tion of coast fortifications and modern ment of self-government as States, ordnance and other approved modern such of them as are now qualified as means of defense for the protection of soon as DOSSible and the others as aur defenseless harbors and cities; for soon as they may become so. the payment of just pensions to our The political power of the Mbrmon soldiers; for necessary works of na- Church in the Territories, as exer- tional importance to the improvement cised in the oast. is a menace to free 3f harbors and the channels of inter- institutions, a danger no longer to be nal, coastwise and foreign commerce; suffered. Therefore we pledge the lor the encouragement of the shipping Republican party to appropriate legis- interests of the Atlantic, Gulf and Pa- 114 * T E PLATFORM TEXT BJOR

I cific States, as well as for the pay- unpatriotic, and as tending to destroy ment of the maturing public debt. a v(aluable national industry and an This policy will give employment to indispensable source of defense against our labor, activity to our various in- a foreign enemy. dustries, increase the security of our The name of American applies alike country, promote trade, open new and to all citizens of the republic, and im- direct markets for our produce and poses upon all alike the same obliga- cheapen the cost of transportation. We tion of obedience to the laws. At the affirm this to be far better for our same time that citizenship is and country than the Democratic policy must be the panoply and safeguard. of of loaning the Government’s money, him who wears it, and protect him, without interest, to “pet banks.” whether high or low, rich or poor, in The conduct of affairs bv the nres- all his civil rights. It should and must ent administration has been distin- afford him protection at home and fol- guished by its inefficiency and cow- low and protect him abroad, in what- ardice. Having withdrawn from the ever land he may be, on a lawful Senate all pending treaties effected by errand. Republican administrations for the re- The men who abandoned the Repub- moval of foreign burdens and restric- lican party in 1884 and continue to tions upon our commerce, and for its adhere to the Democratic party, have extension into better markets. it has deserted not onlv the cause of honest neither effected nor proposed any government, of sound finance, of free- others in their stead. Professing ad- dom, of purity of the ballot, but espe- herence to the Monroe Doctrine. it has ciallv have deserted the cause of re- seen, with idle complacency, the exteo- form in the civil service. We will not sion of foreign influence in Central fail to keep our pledges because they Amerioa and of foreign trade every- have broken theirs or because their where among our neighbors. It has candidate has broken his. We there- refused to charter, sanction or encour- fore repeat our declaration of 1884, to- age any American organization for wit: “The reform of the civil service constructing the Nicaragua canal, a auspiciously begun under the Repub- work of vital imuortance to the main- lican administration should be com- tenance of the Monroe Doctrine, and of pleted by the further extension of the our national influence in Central and reform systems already established by South America, and necessary for the law to all the grades of service to develoament of trade with our Pacific which it is applicable. The spirit and territory, with South America and purpose of the reform should be ob- with the islands and farther coasts of served in all executive appointments, the Pacific ocean. and all laws at variance with the ob- We arraign the present Democratic ject of existing reform legislation administration for its weak and unpa- should be repealed, to the end that triotic treatment of the fisheries ques- the dangers to free institutions which tion. and its nusillanimous surrender lurk in the power of official patronage of the essential privileges to which may be wisely and effectively avoid- our fishing vessels are entitled in Ca- ed.” nadian ports under the treaty of 1818, The gratitude of the nation to the the recinrocal maritime leaislation of defenders of the Union cannot be 1830 and the comity of nations, and measured My laws. The legislation which Canadian fishing vessels re- of Congress should conform to the ceive in the ports of the United States. aledges made by a loval peonle. and We condemn the policy of the present be so enlarged and extended as to pro- administration and the Democratic vide against the possibility that any majority in Congress toward our fish- man who honorably wore the Federal eries as unfriendly and conspicuously uniform shall become an inmate of an NATIONAL PLATFORMi OF PARTIES. 116 - almshouse or depenc upon private lance, directed to all who have been chosen for brief terms to enact and ex- ecute the laws and are charged with the duty of preserving peace, insuring equality and establishing justice. The Democratic party welcomes an exacting scrutiny of the administration of the executive power which, four years ago, was committed to its trust in the selection of Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, and it challenges the most searching inquiry concerning its fidelity and devotion to the pledges which then invited the suffrages of the people. During a most critical period of our financial affairs, resulting from overtaxation, the anom- alous condition of our currency, and a public debt unmatured, it has by the adoption of a wise and conservative course not only averted disaster but greatly promoted the prosperity of the people. It has reversed the unwise and im- provident policy of the Republican par- ty touching the public domain, and has reclaimed from corporations and syndicates, alien and domestic, and re- stored to the people nearly one hun- dred millions of acres of valuable land to be sacredly held as homesteads for our citizens. While carefully _ guarding- the inter- ests of the taxpayers and-conforming strictly ta the’principles of justice and equity, it has paid out more for pen- sions and bounties to soldiers and sail- ors of the Republic than was ever paid before during an equal period. By intelligent management and a judicious and economical expenditure * of the public money, it has set on foot the reconstruction of the American navy upon a system which.forbids the recurrence of scandal and insures suc- cessful results. It has adopted and consistently pur- sued a firm and prudent foreign pol- icy, preserving peace with all nations, while scrupulously maintaining all the rights and interests of our own Gov- ernment and people at home and abroad. The exclusion from our shores of Chinese laborers has been . 116 TBE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK.

effectually secured under the provis- platform, indorsed at the ballot-box by ions of a treaty, the operation of the suffrages of the people. which has been postponed by the ac- Of al1 the industrious freemen of our tion of a Republican majority in the land an immense majority, including Senate. every tiller of the soil, gain no advan- Honest reform in the civil service tage from the tax laws, but the price has been inaugurated and maintained of nearly everything they buy is in- by President Cleveland and he has creased by the favoritism of an un- brought the public service to the high- equa1 system of tax legislation. est standard of efficiency, not only by All unnecessary taxation is unjust rule and precept, but by the example taxation. of his own untiring and unselfish ad- It is repugnant to the creed of De- ministration of public affairs. mocracy that by such taxation the cost In every branch and deaartment of of the necessaries of life should be un- the Government under ‘Democratic justifiably increased to all our people. contro1 the right and the welfare of Judged by Democratic principles, the all the people have been guarded and interests of the people are betrayed defended: every Dublic interest has when bv unnecessarv taxation. trusts been protected and the equality of all and combinations are permitted and our citizens before the law, without fostered, which, while unduly enrich- regard to race or color, has been ing the few that combine, rob the steadfastly maintained. bo>y of our citizens by depriving them Upon its record thus exhibited and as purchasers, of the benefits of natu- upon the pledge of a continuance to ral competition. Every Democratic the people of the benefits of good gov- rule of governmental action is violated ernment, the National Democracy in- when, through unnecessary taxation, a voke a renewal of popular trust by vast sum of money, far beyond the the re-election of a Chief Magistrate needs of an economical administra- who is faithful, able and prudent. tion, is drawn from the people and, They invoke an addition to that the channels of trade, and accumu- trust by the transfer also to the De- lated as a demoralizing surplus in the mocracy of the entire legislative National Treasury. power. The money now lying idle in the The Republican party, controlling Federal Treasury, resulting from su- the Senate and resisting in both perfluous taxation, amounts to more Houses a reformation ef injust and than $125,000,000, and the surplus col- unequa1 tax laws which have outlasted lected is reaching the sum of more the necessities of war and are now un- than $60,000,000 annually. I dermining the abundance of a long Debauched by this immense tempta- neace. deny to the neonle eaualitv be- tion, the remedy of the Republican’ . fore the law and tde f^airne& ana the party is to meet and exhaust by ex-/ justness which are their right. Thus travagant appropriations and expendi-’ the cry of American labor for a better tures, whether Constitutional or not, share in the rewards of industry is the accumulations of extravagant tax-; stifled with’false pretenses; enterprise ation. is fettered and bound down to home The Democratic policy is to enforce’ markets; capital is discouraged with frugality in public expense and abol- doubt, and unequal, unjust laws can ish unnecessary taxation. neither be properly amended nor re- Our established domestic industries pealed. should not, and need not, be endan-! The Democratic party wiII continue, gered by a reduction and correction of with all the power confided to it, the the burdens of taxation. On the con- struggle to reform these laws in ac- trary, a fair and careful revision of our cordance with the pledges of its last tax laws, with due allowance for the NA-PIONAL PLATFORMS OF PARTIES, 117

difference between the wages of Amer- The Prohibition convention at In- ican and foreign labor, must promote dianapolis on May 31, 1888, nominated and encourage every branch of such Clinton B. Fisk of New Jersey for industries and enterprises by giving President and John A. Brooks of them assurance of an extended market Missouri for Vice-President. and steady and continuous operation. In the interest of American labor, PROHIBITION PLATFORM OF 1888. which should in no event be neglected, The Prohibition narty. in national the revision of our tax laws contem- convention assembled, acknowledging plated by the Democratic party would Almighty God as the source of all promote the advantage of such labor power in Government, do hereby de- by cheapening the cost of the necessa- clare: ries of life in the home of every work- 1. That the manufacture, importa- ingman, and at the same time secure tion, exportation, transportation and to him steady and remunerative em- sale of alcoholic beverages should be ployment. made public crimes, and prohi’bited .as Upon this question of tariff reform, such. so closelv concerning every. nhase of 2. That such prohibition must be se- our national life, and upon every cured through amendmen.ts to our Na- question involved in the problem of tional and State Constitutions, en- good government, the Democratic par- forced by adequate laws adequately ty submits its principles and profes- supported by administrative authori#ty; sions to the intelligent suffrage of the and to this end the organization of the American people. Prohibition party is imperatively de- manded in State and Nation. Resolved, That this convention here- 3. That any form of license, taxa- by indorses-and recommends the early tion, or regulation of the liquor traffic passage of the bill for the reduction is contrary to good government; that of the revenue now pending in the any party which supports regulation, House of Representatives. license or taxation enters into alliance Resolved, That a just and liberal with such traffic and becomes the ac- policy should be pursued in reference tual foe of the State’s welfare, and that to the Territories; that right of self- we arraign the Republican and Dem- government is inherent in the people ocratic parties for their persistent at- and guaranteed under the Constitu- titude in favor of the license iniauitv. tion;that. the Territories of Washing- whereby they oppose the demand of ton, Dakota, Montana, and New Mex- the people for prohibition, and, ico are by virtue of population and through open complicity with the development entitled to admission into liquor crime, defeat the enforcement the Union as States, and we unquali- of law. fiedly condemn the course of the Re- 4. For the immediate abolition oP publican party in refusing statehood the internal revenue system, whereby and self-government to their people. our National Government is deriving Resolved, That we express our cor- support from our greatest national dial sympathy with the struggling peo- vice. ple of all nations in their efforts to se- 5. That an adequate nublic revenue cure for themselves the inestimable being necessary, it may properly be blessings of self-government and civil raised by import duties; but import and religious liberty, and we especlal- duties should be so reduced that no ly declare our sympathy with the ef- surplus shall be accumulated in the forts of those noble patriots who, led treasury, and that the burdens of tax- bv Gladstone and Parnell. have con- ation shall be removed from foods, ducted their grand and -peaceful con- clothing and other comforts and nec- test for Home Rule in Ireland. essaries of life, and imposed on such 118 THE PI.ATPOBM TEXT BOOK s articles of import as will give protec- should be so enforced as to prevent the tion both to the manufacturing em- introduction into our country of al.1 ployer and producing laborer against convicts, inm.ates of other dependent the competition of the world. institutions, and others physically in- 6. That the right of suffrage rests capacitated for self-support, and that on no mere circumstances of race, no person should have the ballot in color, sex, or nationality; ,and that any Sate who is not a citizen of the where, from any cause, it has been United States. withheld from citizens who are of 13. Recognizing and declaring that suitable age, and mentally and morally prohibition of the liquor traffic has qualified for the exercise of an intelli- become the dominant issue in national gent ballot, it should be restored by politics, we invite to full party fel- the people through the Legislatures of lowship all those who, on this one the several States, on such educational dominant issue, are with us agreed, in basis as they may deem wise. the full belief that this party can and 7. That civil service appointments will remove sectional differences, pro- for all civil offices, chiefly clerical in mote national unity and insure the their duties, should be based upon best welfare of our entire land. moral, intellectual and physical quali- fications, and not upon party service or party necessity. The Union Labor party met in con- 8. For the abolition of polygamy vention at Cincinati, Ohio, May 16, and the etablishment of uniform laws 1888, and nominated A. J. Streator of governinfg marriage and divorce. Illinois for President, and Charles E. 9. For prohibiting all combinations Cunningham of Arkansas for Vlce- of capital to control and to increase President. the cost of products for popular con- sumption. UNION LABOR PLATFORM OF 1888. 10. For the preservation and defense 1. While we believe that the proper of the Sabbath as a civil institution, solution of the financial system wilI without oppressing any who religious- greatly relieve those now in danger ly observe the same on other than the of losing their homes by mortgage first day of the week. foreclosure and enable all industrious 11. That arbitration is the Christian, persons to secure a home as the high- wise and economical method of set- est result of civilization, we oppose tling national differences, and the land monopoly in every form, demand same method should, by judicious leg- the forfeiture of unearned grants, the islation, be applied to the settlement limitation of land ownership, and such of disputes between large bodies of other legislation as will stop specula- employes and their employers; that tion in land and holding it unused. the abolition of the saloon would re- from those whose necessities require move the burdens moral, physical, pe- it. We believe the earth was made cuniary and social, which now oppress for the people and not to enable an labor and rob it of its earnings. and idle aristocracy to subsist through would prove to be a wise and &dcess- rents upon the toil of the industrious, ful way of promoting labor reform, and and that,“corners” in land are as bad we invite labor and capital to unite as “corners” in food, and that those with us for the accomulishment there- who are not residents or citizens of; that monopoly in land is wrong should not be allowed to own land in to the people, and the public lands the United States. A homestead should should be reserved to actual settlers: be exempt to a limited extent from and that men and women should re- execution or taxation. ceive equal wages for equal work. 2. The means of communication and 12. That our immigration laws transportation should be owned by the NATIONAL PLATFORMS OF PARTIES. 119 people, as is the United States postal exempting millionaire bondholders system. and corporations. 3. The establishing of a national 7. We demand a Constitutional monetary system in the interest of the amendment making United States Sen- producers instead of the speculators ators elective by a direct vote of the and usurers, by which the circulating people. medium in necessary quantity and full 8. We demand a strict enforcement legal tender should be issued directly of laws prohibiting the importation of to the people without the intervention subjects of foreign countries unde; of banks, or loaned to citizens upon contracts. land security at a low rate of interest. 9. We demand the passage and en- To relieve them from extortions of usury and enable them to control the forcement of such legislation as will money supply, postal savings banks absolutely exclude the Chinese from should be established. While we have the United States. free coinage of gold we should have 10. The right to vote is inherent in free coinage of silver. We demand the citizenship, irrespective of sex, and is immediate auplication of all the idle properly within the province of State money in the- United States Treasury legislation. to the payment of the bonded debt, and 11. The paramount issues to be condemn the further issue of interest- solved in the interests of humanity are bearing bonds either by the National the abolition of usury, monopoly and Government or by States, Territories, trusts, and we denounce the Democrat- or municipalities. ic and Republican parties for creating 4. Arbitration should take the place and perpetuating these monstrous of strikes and other injurious methods evils. of settling labor disputes. The let- ting of convict labor to contractors should be prohibited, the contract sys- The Industrial Reform party met in tem be abolished in public works, the Washington, Feb. 22, 1888. and nomi- hours of labor in industrial establish- nated Albert E. Redstone for Presi- ments be reduced commensurate with dent and John Calvin for Vice-Presi- the incre’ased production by labor- dent. saving machinery, employes- be pro- tected from bodily injury, equal pay INDUSTRIAL REFORM PLATFORM given for equal work for both sexes OF 1888. and labor. agricultural and co-oaera- Whereas, It is possible to secure tive associations be fostered and en- many needed reforms under a correct couraged by law. The foundmation of financial and industrial system; there- a republic is in the intelligence of its fore, citizens. and children who are drawn Resolved, By the Industrial party, in into workshops, mines and factories, national convention assembled. at the are deprived of the education which City of Washington, D. C., on ‘the 22d should be secured to all by proper leg- day of February, 1888: islation. 5. We demand the passage of a serv- 1. That the Government shall pro- ice pension bill to pension every hon- vide full legal tender money sufficient orably discharged soldier and sailor of in volume to meet the requirements of the United States. the people. 6. A graduated income tax is the 2. That the Secretary of the Treas- most equitable system of taxation, ury shall immediately redeem all pub- placing the burden of government up- lic interest-bearing bonds. on those who are best able to pay, in- 3. That all banks of issue shall be stead of lavine it unon the farmpm and nhnlishd 120 TRE PLATFORJI =TEXT ROUX. 4. That the privilege of voting is in- PEOPLE’S PARTY ORGANIZED. ~ herent in citizenship and the right to I In accordance with a call issued for vote should be accorded to woman. a conference of Reform organizations, over 1,300 delegates me: at Cincinnati, RESULT OF ELECTION OF’,1888. Ohio. Mav 19. 1891. and formed a new Harrison and Morton were elected, national organization, “The People’s receiving 233 electoral votes. Cleveland Party of the United Statee,” and adopt- and Thurman received 168. ed a platform as follows: Ponular vote: Reaublican 5.439.853. PEOPLE’S PARTY PLATFORM. Democrat 5,540,329, -Prohibition 249,: 506, Union Labor 146,935, Industrial Adopted at Cincinnati, Ohio, May 21, Reform 13,254. 1891. Mr. Harrison’s cabinet was made up 1. That in view of the great social, as follows: industrial, and economical revolution Secretary of State. James G. Blaine now dawning upon the civilized world, of Maine. succeeded -on June 22. 1892. and the new and living issues con- by J. W.‘Foster of Indiana; Secretary fronting the American people, we be- of the Treasury, William H. Windom lieve that the time has arrived for a of Minnesota. succeeded on February crystallization of the political reform 25, 1891, by Charles Foster of Ohio; forces of our country and the forma- Secretary of War, of tion of what is known as the “People’s Vermont; Secretary of the Navy, Benj. Party of the United States of Amer- F. Tracv of New York: Secretary of ica.” Interior; J. W. Noble of Missouri; 2. That we most heartily indorse Postmaster-General, John Wanamaker the demands of the platforms as adopt- of Pennsylvania: Attorney-General, ed at St. Louis, MO., in 1889; and Ocala, W. H. H. Miller of Indiana; Secretary Fla., in 1890, by industrial organiza- of Agriculture, J. M. Rusk of Wiscon- tions there represented, summarized sin. as follows: During the exciting campaign of A-The right to make and issue 1888, political passions were unusually money is a sovereign power to be -oused and an incident occurred that maintained by the people for the com- in many respects was similar to that mon benefit; hence we demand the in Van Buren’s administration, when abolition of national banks as banks of Elijah P. Lovejoy was mobbed and his issue, and as a substitute for national printing press destroyed. The Vincent bank notes we demand that legal ten- brothers published a paper at Winfield, der treasury notes be issued, in sufil- Kansas, which so forcibly attacked the cient volume to transact’the business administration of the Republicans, of the country on a cash basis, without National, State, and local, that an at- damage or special advantage to any tempt was made to destroy the paper class or calling, such notes to be legal and its publishers, by the use of a tender in the payment of all debts, dynamite bomb or “infernal machine.” public and private, and such notes The box containing the “infernal ma- when demanded by the people shall be chine” was deposited with the express loaned to them at not more than 2 per company at Coffeyville, Kan., and be- cent per annum upon non-perishable fore shipment accidentally exploded, products as indicated in the sub-treas- destroying the agent’s residence and ury plan, and also upon real estate nearly killing himself and family. Two with proper limitation upon the quan- years later a legislative investigation tity of land and the amount of money. was made wherein the Republican B-We demand the free and unlimit- state central committee and others ed coinage of silver. were implicated. C-We demand the passage of laws NATIONAL PLATFORMS OF PARTIES. 121 prohibiting alien ownership of land, shall call a national convention not and that Congress take prompt action later than June 1, 1892, for the pur- to devise some ulan to obtain all lands pose of nominating candidates - for now owned by-alien and foreign syn- President and Vice-President. dicates, and that all lands held by 6. That the members of the central railroads and other corporations in committee for each State where there excess of such as is actually used and is no indenendent nolitical oraaniza- needed by them be reclaimed by the tion, conduct an active system-of po- Government and held for actual set- litical agitation in their respective tlers 0~1s. States. . D-Believing the doctrine of equal Resolved, That the question of uni- rights to all and special privilege to versal suffrage be recommended to the none, we demand that taxation-Na- favorable consideration of the various tional, State or municipal-shall not be States and Territories. used to build up one interest or class Resolved, That while the party in at the expense of another. power in 1889 pledged the faith of the E-We demand that all revenues- nation to pay a debt in coin that had National, State or county-shall be been contracted on a denreciated cur- limited to the necessary expenses of rency basis and payable in currency, the Government, economically and thus adding nearly one billion dollars honestly administered. to the burdens of the people, which F-We demand a just and equit’able meant gold for the bondho’lder and de- system of graduated tax on incomes. preciated currency for the soldier, and G-We demand the most rigid, hon- holding that the men who imperiled est and just national control and su- their lives to save the life of a nation pervision of the means of public com- should have been paid in money as munication and transportation, and if good as that paid to the bondholder, this control and supervision does not we demand the issue of legal tender remove the abuses now existing, we treasury notes in sufficient amount to demand the Government ownership of make the pay of the soldiers equal to such means of communication and par with coin or such other legisla- transoortation. tion as shall do equal and exact justice H-We demand the election of Pres- to the union soldiers osf this country. ident, Vice-President and United Resolved, That as eight hours con- States Senators by a direct vote of the stitutes a legal day’s work for Gov- people. ernment emnloses in mechanical de- 3. That we urge united action of all partments, we -believe this principle progressive organizations attending should be further extended so as to the conference called for February 22, apply to all corporations employing la- 1892, by six of the leading reform or- bor, in the different States of the ganizations. Union. 4. That a national central commit- Resolved, That this conference con- tee be auwinted bv this conference. to demns in unmeasured terms the ac- be composed of a chairman, to ‘be tion of the directors of the World’s elected by this body, and of three Columbian Exposition on May 19, in members from each State represented, refusing the minimum rate of wages to be named by each State delegation. asked for by the labor organizations 5. That this central committee shall of Chicago. represent this body, attend the na- Resolved, That the Attorney Gen- tional conference on February 22,1892, eral submit the act of March 2. 1889, and if possible unite with that and nrovidina for the onenina of Oklahoma all other reform organizations there to homestead skttiement, to the su- assembled. If no satisfactory arrange; preme court of the United States at ment can be effected, this committee the earliest possible moment, that the 122 TEE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK. 5-- unhappy settlers of that afflicted Ter- despise the republic and endanger lib- ritory may understand the law and erty. From the same prolific womb of Constitutional meaning of said act and governmental injustice breed the two thus put a /stop to so much litigation great classes-paupers and million- and expense. aires. The national power to create money is appropriated to-enrich bond- holders; silver, which has been ac- On Feb. 22, 1892, the action of the cepted as coin since the dawn of his- Cincinnati conference was ratified by tory, has been demonetized to add to a conference of industrial organiza- the purchasing power of gold by de- tions ai St. Louis, MO., and the fol- creasing the value of all forms of lowing resolutions were adopted: property, as well as human labor, and the supply of currency is purposely RESOLUTIONS OF THE ST. LOUIS abridged to fatten usurers, bankrupt CONFERENCE. enterprise and enslave industry. A This, the first great labor oonfer- vast conspiracy against mankind has ence of the United States and of the been organized on two continents, and world, representing all divisions of ur- is taking possession of the world. If ban and rural organized irrdustry, as- not met and overthrown at once it sembled in national congress, invoking forebodes terrible social convulsions, upon its action the blessing and pro- the destruction of civilization, or the tection of Almighty God, puts forth establishment of an absolute despot- to and for the producers of the na- ism. tion this declaration of union and in- In this crisis of human affairs intel- dependence. The conditions which ligent working people and producers of surround us best justify our co-opera- the United Sta’tes have come together tion. We meet in the midst of a na- in the name of peace, order and society tion brought to the verge of moral. to defend liberty, prosperity and jus- political and material r&i. Corrup: tice. tion dominates the ballot-box, the We declare our union and independ- Legislatures, the Congress, and ence. We assert our purpose to sup- touches even the ermine of the bench. port the political organization which The people are demoralized. Many of represents our principles. the States have been eom’pelled to iso- We charge that the controlling influ- late the voters at the polling places in ence dominating the old political par- order to prevent universal intimida- ties has allowed the existing dreadfu1 tion or bribery. The newspapers arc conditions to develop without serious subsidized or muzzled, public opinion effort to restrain or prevent them. silenced, business prostrated, OUI They have agreed together to ignore, homes covered with mortgages, labor in the coming campaign, every issue impoverished, and the land concen- but one. They propose to drown the trating in the hands of capitalists. The outcries of a olundered neonle with urban workmen are denied the right the uproar of a sham battle over the of organization for self-protection; im- tariff; so that corporations, national ported pauperized labor beats down banks, rings, trusts, “watered stock,” their wages; a hireling standing army. the demonetization of silver, and the unrecognized by our laws, is estab- oppression of usurers, may all be lost lished to shoot them down: and they sight of. They propose to sacrifice are rapidly degenerating to Europeah our homes and children upon the altar conditions. of mammon: to destroy the hones of The fruits of the toil of milliom the multitude in order-to secure cor- are boldly stolen to build up colossal ruption funds from the great lords of fortunes, unprecedented in the history plunder. of the world, while their possessore We assert that a political organiza- NATIONAL PLATFOBXS OF PARTIES. 123 tion, representing the political princi- 4. We demand free and unlimited ples herein stated, is necessary to re- coinage of silver. dress the grievances of which we com- 5. We demand that the amount of plain. circulating medium be speedily in- Assembled on the anniversary of the creased to not less than $50 per capita. birth of the illustrious man who led the first great revolution on this con- 6. We demand a graduated income tinent against oppression, filled with tax. the sentiments which actuated that 7. We believe that the money of the grand generation, we seek to restore country should be keut as much as the government of the republic to the possible in the hands- of the people, hands of the “plain people” with whom and hence we demand all national and it originated. Our doors are opened State revenue shall be limited to the to all points of the compass. We ask necessary expenses of the govern- all honest men to join with and hel,p ment economically and honestly ad- us. ministered. In order to restrain the extortions 8. We demand that postal savings of aggregate canital. to drive the banks be established by the Govern- mon&&hangers but of the temple, to ment for the safe deposit of the earn- form a perfect union, establish justice, ings of the people and to facilitate insure domestic tranquillity, provide exchange. for the common defense, promote the 9. The land, including all the natu- general welfare, and secure the bless- ral resources of wealth, is the heritage ings of liberty for ourselves and our of all the people and should not be posterity we do ordain and establish monopolized for speculative purposes, the following platform of principles: and alien ownership of land should be 1. We declare the union of the la- prohibited. All land now held by the bor forces of the United States this railroads and other corporations in day accomplished permanent and per- excess of their actual needs, and all petual. May its spirit enter into all lands now owned by aliens, should be hearts for the salvation of the repub- reclaimed by the Government and held lic and the uplifting of mankind. for actual settlers only. 2. Wealth belongs to him who cre- 10. Transportation being a means ates it. Every dollar taken from in- of exchange and a public necessity, dustry without an equivalent is rob- the Government should own and op- bery. If any one will not work, neith- erate the railroads in the interest of er shall he eat. The interests of rural the people. and urban labor are the same, their 11. The telegraph and the telephone enemies are identical. like the postoffice system, being a 3. We demand a national currency, necessity for transmission of news, safe, sound and flexible, issued by the should be owned and operated by the general Government only, a full legal Government in the interest of the tender for all debts, public and pri- people. vate; and that without issue of bank- ing corporations a just, equitable and efficient means of distribution direct CAMPAIGN OF 1892. to the people at a tax not to exceed 2 per cent. be provided, as set forth The Republican convention at Min- in the sub-treasury plan of the farm- neapolis, Minn., June 7, 1892, renomin- ers’ Alliance. or some better svstem: ated Benjamin Harrison for President, also, by payments in discharge of and placed on the ticket as candidate its obligations for public improve- for Vice-President, of ments. New York. 124 'i!UE PLATFOBY TEXT BOOIt.

REPUBLICAN PLATFORM OF 1892. The American people from tradition and interest favor , and The representatives of the Republi- the Republican party demands the cans of, the United States, assembled use of both gold and silver as standard in general convention on the shores of money, such restrictions to be de- the Mississippi river, the everlasting termined by contemplation of values bond of an indestructible Republic of the two metals, so that the pur- whose most glorious chapter of history :hasing and debt paying power of the is the record of the Republican party, dollar. whether of silver. gold or paper.--, congratulating their countrymen on shall be equal at all time%. the majestic march of the nation under The interests of the producers of the the banners inscribed with the prin- country. its farmers and its work- ciples of our platform of 1888, vindi- ingmen,’ demand that every dollar- cated by victory at the polls and pros- paper or gold-issued by the Govern- perity in our fields, workshops and ment, shall be as good as any other. mines, make the following declaration We commend the wise and patriotic of Iprinciples: steps already taken by our Govern- We reaffirm the American doctrine ment to secure an international parity of protection. We call attention to of value between gold and silver for its growth abroad. We maintain that use as monev throughout the world. the prosperous condition of our coun- We demand that every citizen of the try is largely due to the wise revenue United States shall be allowed to legislation of the Renublican Con- cast one free and unrestricted ballot gress. We believe that all articles in all public elections, and that such which cannot be produced in the Uni- ballot shall be counted and returned as ted States, except luxuries, should be cast; that such laws shall be enacted admitted free of duty; and that on all and enforced as will secure to every imports coming into competition with citizen, be he rich or poor, native or the products of American labor there foreign born, white or black, this SOV- should be duties levied equal to the ereign right, guaranteed by the Con- ~ difference between wages abroad and stitution, the free and honest popular at home. We assert that the prices of ballot, the just and equal representa- manufactured articIes of general con- tion of all the people, as well as just : sum&ion have been reduced under the and equal protection under the laws operation of the tariff act of 1890. We as the foundation of our republican in- denounce the efforts of the Democratic stitutions, and the party will never re- majority of the House to destroy our lax its efforts until the integrity of the tariff laws by piecemeal, as manifested ballot and the purity of elections by their attacks on wool, lead and shall be fully guaranteed and protec- lead ore, and we ask the people for ted in every state. their judgment ‘thereon. We denounce the continued inhu- We point to the success of the Re- man outrages DerDetrated on American publican policy of reciprocity under citizens for poiitical reasons in certain which our export trade has vastly in- southern States of the Union. creased and new and enlarged markets We favor the extension of our for- have been. opened for the products of eign commerce; the restoration of our our farms and workshops. We re- mercantile marine by home-built ships mind the people of the bitter opposi- and the construction of a navy for tion of the Democratic party to thie the protection of our national inter- practical business measure, and claim ests and the honor of our flag; the that, executed by a Republican admin- maintenance of the most friendly re- istration, our present laws will event- lations with all foreign powers, en- ually give us control of the trade of the tangling alliances with none, and the world. p,rotection of the rights of our flsh- NATIONAL PLATROHMS OF PARTIES. 125 - ermen. We reaffirm our approval of platform of 1888, pledging the reduc- the Monroe Doctrine and believe in the tion of .letter postage to one cent at achievement of the manifest destiny the earliest possible moment. of the Republic in its broadest sense. We commend the.spirit and evidence We favor the enactment of more strin- of reform in the civil service and the gent laws and regulations for the wise and consistent enforcement by the restriction of criminal, pauper and Republican party of the laws relating contract immigration. to the same. We favor efficient legislation by The construction of the Nicaragua Congress to protect the life and limbs canal is of the highest imnortance to of employes of railroad comp.anies en- the American people, both-as a meas- gaged in carrying inter-state com- ure of national defense and to build merce. and recommend legislation by up and maintain American commerce, the respective States that will pro- and it should be controlled by the tee+ employes engaged in inter-state United States Government. commerce, in mining and in manufac- We favor the admission of the re- turing. maining Territories at the earliest The Republican party has always possible moment, having due regard been the champion of the oppressed, to the interests of the people of the and recognizes the dignity of man- Territories and for the United States. hood, irrespective of faith, color or na- All the federal office-holders appointed tionality. It sympathizes with the in the Territories should be selected cause of home rule in Iretana, and pro- from the residents thereof, and the tests against the persecution of the right of self-government should be ac- Jews in Russia. The ultimate reliance corded as far as possible. of free, popular government is the in- We favor the cession, subject to the telligence of the people and the main- homestead laws, of the arid public tenance of freedom among men. lands to the States and Territories in We declare anew our -devotion to which they lie, under such Congres- liberty of thought and conscience, of sional restrictions as to disposition, speech and of the press, and approve reclamation and occupancy by settlers all aeencies and instrumentalities as will secure the maximum benefits which contribute to the education of for the people. the children of the land; but while The World’s Columbian Exuosition insisting upon the fullest measure is a great national undertaking and of religious liberty, we are opposed to Congr&s should promptly enact- such any union of church and state. reasonable legislation in aid thereof We reaffirm our opposition declared as will insure a discharge of the ex- in the Reuublican ulatform of 1888, penses and obligations incident there- to all combinations of capital organ- to, and the attainment of results com- ized to control arbitrarily the condi- mensurate with the dignity and prog- tion of trade among our citizens. We ress of the nation. heartily indorse the action taken on We sympathize with all wise and this issue and ask for such further legitimate efforts to lessen and pre- legislation as mq be required to vent the evils of intemperance and remedy any defects in existing laws nromote morality. and to render their enforcement more Ever mindful of the services and sac- complete and effective. rifices of the men who saved the life We approve of the policy of extend- of the nation, we pledge anew to the ing towns and rural comunities, the veteran soldiers of the republic a advantages of the free delivery serv- watchful care and recognition of their ice now enjoyed by the large cities just claims upon a grateful people. of the country, and reaffirm the dec- We commend the able, patriotic, laration contained in the Republican and thoroughly American administra- L

126 THE PLATFOBN TEXT BOOK. tion of President Harrison. Under it even more than the white. It means the country has enjoyed remarkable a horde of deputy marshals at every prosperity and the dignity and honor uollinn mace armed with Federal of the nation, at home and abroad, power,reiurning boards appointed and have been faithfully maintained, and controlled by Federal authority, the we offer the record of pledges kept as outrage of the electoral rights of the a guarantee of faithful performance people in the several States, the SUD- in the future. jugation of the colored people to the control of the party in power and the reviving. of race antagonisms now The Democratic convention met at happily abated, of the utmost peril Chicago, June 21, 1892, and nominated to the safety and happiness of all; a Grover Cleveland of New York for measure deliberatelv and justlv de- President, and Adlai Stevenson of Illi- scribed by a leading Repubiica.n&en- nois for Vice-President. ator as “the most infamous bill that ever crossed the threshold of the Sen- DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM OF 1892. ate.” Such a policy, if sanctioned 1. The representatives of the Demo- by law, would mean the dominance cratic party of the United States in na- of a self-perpetuating oligarchy of tional convention assembled. do reaf- office-holders, and the party first in- firm their allegiance to the principles trusted with its machinery could be a of the party, as formulated by Jeffer- dislodged from power only by an ap- ; son and exemplified by the long and il- peal to the reserved rights of the peo- lustrious line of his successors in Dem- ple to resist oppression, which is in- ocratic leadership from Madison to herent in all self-governing commu- Cleveland; we believe the public wel- nities. Two years ago this revolu- fare demands that these principles be tionary policy was emphatically con- applied to the conduct of the Federal demned by the people at the polls; Government through the accession to but in contempt of that verdict the; power of the party that advocates Republican party has definitely de- / them; and we solemnly declare that clared in its latest authoritative utter- : the need of a return to these funda- ante that its success in the coming mental principles of a free popular elections will mean the enactment of government, based on home rule and the Force bill, and the usurpation of individual liberty was never more urg- despotic control over elections in all ent than now when the tendency to the States. Believing that the preser- centralize al1 power at the Federal vation of Republican Government in Capital has become a menace to the the United States is denendent uuon reserved righIts of the States that the defeat of this policy of legalized strikes at the very roots of our Govern- force and fraud, we invite the support ment under the Constitution as framed of all citizens who desire to see-the by the fathers of the republic. Constitution maintained in its integ- 2. We warn the people of our com- rity with the laws pursuant thereto mon country, zealous for the preserva- which have given our country a hun- tion of their free institutions. that the dred years of unexampled prosperity; policy of Federal control of’ elections and we pledge the Democratic party, to which the Republican party has if it be intrusted with power, not only committed itself is fraught- with the to the defeat of the Force bill, but also/ greatest dangers, scarcely less moment- to relentless opposition to the Repub- ous than would result from a revo- lican policy of profligate expenditure Iution practically establishing mon- which, in the short space of two years, archy on the ruins of the republic. It has squandered an enormous surplus, strikes at the north as well as the and emptied an overflowing treasury, south, and injures the colored citizens after piling new burdens of taxation I NATIONAL PLATFOR319 3F P4RTIES. 127 I- upon the already overtaxed labor of population, and that similar condi- the country. tions and tendencies are shown to ex- 3. We denounce the Republican pro- ist in the other agricultural exporting tection as a fraud, a robbery of the States. We denoun?e a policy which great majority of the American neoule fosters no industry so mqch as it does for the benefit of the few. We declare that of the sheriff. it to be a fundamental principle of 4. Trade interchange on the basis the Democratic party that the- Fed- of reciprocal advantage to the coun- eral Government has no Constitutional tries participating is a time-honored power to impose and collect tariff du- doctrine of the Democratic faith. but ties, except for the purposes of revenue we denounce the sham reciprbcity only, and we demand that the collec- which juggles with the people’s de- tion of such taxes shall be limited to sires for enlarged foreign markets and the necessities of the government freer exchanges by pretending to es- when honestly and economically ad- tablish closer trade relations for a ministered. country whose articles of export are We denounce the McKinley tariff almOSt exclusively agricultural arod- law enacted by the Fif,ty-first Congress ucts with other-co&tries that are Ias the culminating atrocity of class also agricultural, while erecting a cus- legislation; we endorse the efforts tom house barrier of prohibitive tariff made by the Democrats of the present taxes against the richest countries of Congress to modify its most oppressive the world that stand ready to take features in the direction’ of free raw our entire surplus of products, and to materials and cheaper manufactured exchange therefor commodities which goods that enter into general con- are necessaries and comforts *‘f life sumntion. and we nromise its reneal among our own people. as one of the beneficent results that 5. We recognize in the trusts and will foliow the action of the people combinations. which are designed to in intrusting power to the Democratic enable capital to secure more than its nartv. Since the McKinlev tariff went just share of the joint product of capi- into- operation there ha;e been ten tal and labor, a natural consequence reductions of the wages of laboring of the prohibitive taxes which prevent lmen to one increase. We deny that the free competition which is the life there has been any increase of pros- of honest trade, but we also believe perity to the country since that tariff their worst evils can be abated by went into operation, and we point to law, and we demand the rigid enforce- the dullness and distress, the wages, ment of .the laws made to prevent and reductions and strikes in the iron trade control them, together with such fur- as the best possible evidence that no ther legislation in restraint of their such prosperity has resulted from the abuses as experience may show to be McKinley act. necessary. We call the attention of thoughtful 6. The Republican party while pro- Americans to the fact that after thirty fessing a policy of reserving the ;pub- years of restrictive taxes against the lit lands for small holding by actual importation cf foreign wealth in ex- settlers, has given away the people’s change for our agricultural surplus, the heritage till now a few railroads and homes and farms of the country have non-resident aliens, individual and become burdened with a real estate rorporate, possess a larger area than mortgage debt of over $2,500,000.000, that of all OLTT farms between the two exclusive of ail other forms of indebt- seas. The last Democratic adminis- edness; that in one of the chief agri- tration reversed the improvident and cultural States of the west there ap- tmwise policy of the Republican party pears a real estate mortgage debt av- touching the public domain, and re- eraging $165 per capita of the total zlaimcd from corporations and syndi- 128 _ TEE PLATFORSl TEXT BOOK. cates, alien and domestic, and restored a policy under which Federal office- to the people nearly 100,000,000 acres holders usurp control of party conven- of valuable land, to be sacredly held tions in the States, and we pledge as homesteads for our citizens, and we the Democratic uarty to the reform of pledge ourselves to continue this policy these and all -other abuses which until every acre of land so unlawfully threaten individual liberty and local held shall be reclaimed and restored self-government. to the people. 10. The Democratic party is the 7. We denounce the Republican only party that has ever given the legislation known as the Sherman act country a foreign policy consistent of 1890 as a cowardly makeshift, and vigorous, compelling respect fraught with possibilities of danger in abroad and inspiring confidence at the future which should make all of home. While avoiding entangling al- its supporters, as well as its author, liances, it has aimed to cultivate anxious for its speedy repeal. We friendly relations with other nations, hold to the use of both gold and silver and especially with our American as the standard money of the country, neighbors on the American continent and to the coinage of both gold and whose destiny is closely linked with silver without discrimination against our own, and we view with alarm the either metal or charge for mintage, tendency to a policy of irritation and but the dollar unit of coinage of both bluster which is liable at anv time metals must be of equal intrinsic and to confront us with the alternative of exchangeable value or be adjusted humiliation or war. We favor the through international agreement, or by maintenance of a navy strong enough such safeguards of legislation as shall for all purposes of National defense insure the maintenance of the parilty and to properly maintain the honor of the two metals, and the eaual Dower and dignity of the country abroad. of every dollar at.all times in the mar- 11. This country has always been kets and in the payments of debts; and the refuge of the oppressed from every we demand that all paper currency land-exiles for conscience’ sake- shall be kept at par with and redeem- and in the sairit of the founders of our able in such coin. We insist upon this Government-we condemn the oppres- policy as espeiially necessary for the sion practiced by the Russian Govern- protection of the farmers and labor- ment upon its Lutheran and Jewish ing classes, the first and most defense- subjects. and we call uuon our na- less victims of unstable money and a tional Government, in the interests of fluctuating currency. justice and humanity by all just and 8. We recommend that the prohibi- proper means, to use its prompt and tory 10 per cent tax on State bank best efforts to bring about a cessation issues be repealed. of these cruel persecutions in the do- 9. Public office is a public trust. We minions of the Czar, and to secure to reaffirm the declaration of the Demo- the oppressed equal rights. We tender cratic national convention of 1876 for our profound and earnest sympathy the reform of the civil service, and we to those lovers of freedom who are call for the honest enforcement of a11 struggling for home rule and the great laws regulating the same. The nomi- cause of local self-government in Ire- nation of a President, as in the recent land. Republican convention, by delegations 12. We heartily approve of all legi- composed largely of his appointees, timate efforts to prevent the United holding office at his pleasure, is a scan- States from being used as a dumping dalous satire upon free popular insti- ground for the known criminals and tutions, and a startling illustrat.ion of professional paupers of Europe; and the methods by which a Preside:rt nl~v we demand the rigid enforcement of gratify his ambition. We denounr? i 1. ~? laws against Chinese immigration NATIONAL PLATFORMS OF PARTIES. 129 I- or the importation of foreign work- 17. Popular education being the men under contract to degrade Ameri- only safe basis of popular suffrage, can labor and lessen its wages; but we we recommend to the several States condemn and denounce anv and all at- most liberal appropriations for the I tempts to restrict the immigration of public schools. Free common schools the industrious and worthy of foreign are the nursery of good government, I lands. and they have always received the 13. This convention hereby renews fostering care of the Democratic party, the expression of appreciation of the which favors every means of increas- uatriotism of the soldiers and sailors ing intelligence. Freedom of educa- of the Union in the war for its preser- tion being an essential of civil and vation, and we favor just and liberal religious liberty, as well as a necessity pensions for all disabled Union sol- for the development of intelligence, diers. their widows and deoendents: must not be interfered with under any I,ut we demand that the work of the pretext whatever. We are opposed to pension office shall be done industri- State interference with parental rights &sly, impartially and honestly. We and rights of conscience in the educa- denounce the present administration tion of children as an infringement of of that office as incompetent, corrupt, the fundamental Democratic doctrine disgraceful and dishonest. that the largest individual liberty con- 14. The Federal Government should sistent with the rights of others in- care for and improve tlie Mississippi sures the highest type of American river and other great waterways of the citizenship and the best government. I Renublic. so as to secure for the in- 18. We approve the action of the ter;or States easy and cheap trans- aresent House of Renresentatives in portation to the tidewater. When any iassing bills for the ad-mission into the waterway of the Republic is of suffi- Union as States of the Territories of cient imnortance to demand the aid New Mexico and Arizona, and we fa- Iof the Government such aid should vor the early admission of all the Ter- be extended for a definite plan of con- ritories having necessary population I tinuous work until permanent im- and resources to admit them to State- provement is secured. - hood, and, while they remain Terri- 15. For the purposes of national de- tories, we hold that the officials ap- fense and the promotion of com- pointed to administer the government merce between the States. we recognize of any Territory, together with the Ithe early construction of the Nicara- Districts of Columbia and Alaska, gua Canal and its protection against should be bona fide residents of the Iforeign control as of great importance Territory or District in which their to the United States. - duties are to be nerformed. The Demo- 16. Recognizing the World’s Colum- cratic party belikves in home rule and bian Exposition as a national under- the control of their own affairs by the taking of vast imaortance, in which people of the vicinage. Ithe general Government has invited 18. We favor legislation by C&- the co-operation of all the powers of gress and State legislatures to protect I the world, and appreciating the ac- the lives and limbs of railway em- ceptance by many of such powers of nloyes and those of other hazardous the invitation extended, and the broad- transporta’tion companies, and de- est liberal efforts being made by them nounce the inactivity of the Republi- to contribute to the grandeur of the can party, and particularly the Repub- Iundertaking, we are -of the opinion lican Senate for causing the defeat of that Congress should make such neces- measures beneficial and protective to sary financial provisions as shall be this class of wage-workers. requisite to the maintenance of the na- 30. We are in favor of the enact- tional honor and public faith. ment by the States of laws for abolish- 130 THE PLATFOHX TEXT BOO& ing the notorious sweating system, for egislation, and the full powers of gov- abolishing contract convict labor, .and ?rnment should be exerted to secure for prohibiting the employment in fac- :his result. No party that fails to tories of children under 15 years of recognize the nature of tbis issue in age. American nolitics is deserving of the 21. We are opposed to all sumptu- support of- the people. ary laws as an interference with the No citizen should be denied the individual rights of the citizen. right to vote on account of sex,. and 22. Upon -this statement of prin- equal labor should receive equal wages ciples and policies, the Democratic without regard of sex. party asks the intelligent judgment The money of the coun.try should be of the American people. It asks a issued by the General Government change of administration and a change only and in sufficient quantity to meet of party in order that there may be a :he demands of business and give full change of system and a change of Ipportunity for the employment of methods, thus assuring the mainte- labor. To this end an increase in the nance unimpaired of institutions under volume of money is demanded. No in- which the Republic has grown great iividual or corporation should be al- and powerful. lowed to make any molit throuah its issue. It should be made a legal ten- ier for the payment of all debts, pub- The Probibition convention at Cin- lic and private. Its volume should be cinnati, Ohio, June 28, 1892, nomin- tlxed at a definite sum ner canita and ated of California for made to increase with population. President and J. B. Cranfill of Texas Tariff should be levied only as a de- for Vice-President. Pense against foreign governments which levy tariff upon or bar our PROHIBITION PLATFORM OF 1892. products from their markets, revenue The Prohibition party, in national being incidental. The residue of means convention assemmed. acknowledging necessary to an economical administra- Almighty God as the source of all True tion of- the Government should be government and His law as the stand- raised by levying the burden on what ard to which business enactments must the people possess instead of upon conform to secure the blessings of what we consume. peace and prosperity, presents the fol- Railroads, telegraphs, and other pub- lowing declaration of principles: lic corporations should be controlled The liquor trafilc is the foe to civili- by the government in the interest of zation, the arch-enemy of popular gov- the people, and no higher charges al-’ ernment and a public nuisance. It is lowed than necessary to give fair in- the citidal of the forces that corrupt terest on the capital actually invested. politics, promote poverty and crime, Foreign immigration has become a degrade the nation’s home life, thwart burden upon industry, one of the fac- the will of the people, and deliver our tors in decreasing wages and causing country into the hands of rapacious discontent: therefore our immigration class interests. All laws that under laws should be revised and strictly en- the guise of regulation legalize and forced. The time of residence for nat- protect this traffic, or make the gov- uralization should be extended and no ernment share in its ill-gotten gains, naturalized person should be allowed are vicious in principle and powerless to vote until one year after he becomes of a remedy. We declare anew for a citizen. No resident aliens should be the entire suppression of the manufac- allowed to acquire land in this country, ‘ture, sale, importation, exportation and we favor the limitation of indivi- and transportation of -‘~holic liquors dual and corporate ownership of land as a beverage by federai and State -all unearned grants to railroads, 131 companies or other corporations should ernment, but is a mere catering to be reclaimed. Years of inaction and different sectional and class interests. treachery on the part of the Repub- The attempt in many States to wrest lican and Democratic parties have re- the Australian ballot system from sulted in the present reign of mob law its true purpose and to so deform it and we demand that every citizen be as to render it extremely difficult for protected by law in their right to one new parties to exercise the ri,ghts of day of rest in seven. suffrage is an outrage upon popular Arbitration is the wisest and most government. The competition of both economical and humane method of set- these parties ror the vote of the slums tling national differences. and their assiduous courting of the Speculation in margins, the corner- liquor power, and subserviency to the ing of grain, money and products, money power, has resulted in placing and the formation of pools, trusts and those powers in the position of prac- combinations for the arbitrany ad- tical arbiter ‘of the destinies of the vancement of prices, should be sup- nation. We renew our arotests aeainst pressed. these personal tendeniies and invite We arraign the Republican and Dem- all citizens to join us in the upbuild- ocratic parties as false to the stand- ing of a party that has shown in five ards reared by their founders and national campaigns that it prefers faithless to the nrincinles of the illus- temporary defeat to an abandonment trious leaders of the- past, to whom of claims of justice, sobriety, per- they do homage with their lips, as sonal rights and the urotection of recreant to the higher law, which is American homes. We piedge that the as inflexible in political affairs as in Prohibition party, if elected to power. personal life, and as no longer em- will ever grant just pensions to dis- bodying the aspirations of the Ameri- abled veterans of the Union army and can people or inviting the confidence navy, their widows and orphans. of enlightened, progressive patriot- We stand unequivocally for the Am- ism. Their protest against the admis- erican public school and otmosed to sion of “moral issues” into politics is any appropriation of publi>* moneys a confession of their own moral de- for sectarian schools. We believe that generacy. The declaration of an em- only by united support of such com- inent authority that municipal misrule mon schools taught in the English is “the one conspicuous failure of Am- language can we hope to become and erican politics” follows as a natural remain a homogeneous and harmoni- consequence of such degeneracy, and is ous people. true alike of cities under Republican and Democratic control. Each ac- cuses the other of extravagance in The People’s Party convention met Congressional appropriations and both in Omaha, Neb., July 4, 1892, and nom- are alike guilty. Each protests when inated for President. James B. Weaver out of power against infractions of the of Iowa, and James G. Field of Vir- civil service laws, and each when in ginia for Vice-President. power violates those laws in letter and OMAHA PLATFORM. in spirit. Each professes fealty to the toiling masses, but both covertly Assembled upon the one hundred and truckle to the money power in the sixteenth anniversary of the Declara- administration of Dublic affairs. Even tion of Independence, the People’s the tariff issue as-represented in the Party of America in their first national Democratic Mills bill and the Repupb- convention, invoking upon their ac- lican McKinley bill is no longer tions the blessing of Almighty God, treated by them as an issue between puts forth in the name and in behalf great and divergent principles of gov- the the people of the country the fol- 132 TILE PLATFORJI TEXT BOOK. ___- lowing preamble and declaration of lot met and overthrown at once it principles: Yorebodes terrible social convulsions, The conditions which surround us :he destruction of civilization, or the best justify our co-operation; we meet establishment of an absolute despot- in the midst of a nation brought to sm. We have witnessed for more than the verge of moral, poittrcal and mate- t quarter of a century the struggle of rial ruin. Corruption dominates the the two great politmal parties for ballot-box, the leg:s!atures, the Con- ?ower and plunder, while grevious gress and touches even the ermine on wrongs have been inflicted upon the the bench. The people are demoral- suffering people. We charge that the ized; most of the States have been :ontrolling influences dominating both compelled to isolate the voters at the these parties have permitted the ex- nollinz maces to urevent universal in- sting dreadful conditions to develop timidLt;on or bribery. The newspa- without serious effort to prevent or pers are largely subsidized or muz- restrain them. zled, public opinion silenced, business Neither do they now promise us any mostrated. our homes covered with substantial reform. They’have agreed mortgages; labor impoverished and .the together to ignore in the coming cam- land concentrating in the hands of the paign, every issue but one. They pro- capitalists. The urban workmen are pose to drown the outcries of a plun- denied the right of organization for dered people with the uproar of a sham self-protection; imported pauperized battle over the tariff, so that capital- labor beats down their wages; a hire- ists, corporations, national banks, ling army, unrecognized by our laws, trusts, watered stock, rne demoneti- is established to shoot them down, and zation of silver, and the oppressions they are rapidly degenerating into Eu- of the usurers may 211 De Iost sight of. ropean conditions. The fruits of the They propose to sacrifice our homes, toil of millions are boldly stolen to lives and children on the altar of build up colossal fortunes for a few, mammon, to destroy the multitude in unprecedented in the history of man- order to secure corruption funds from kind, and the possession of these in the millionaires. Assembled on the an- turn despite the Republic and en- niversary of the birthday of the nation danger liberty. From the same proli- and filled with the spirit of the grand fic womb of government21 injustice we general chief, who established our in- breed the two great classes-tramps dependence, we seek to restore the gov- and millionaires. ernment of the Republic to the hands The national power to create money of “the plain people” with whose class is appropriated to enrich bondholders; it originated. We assert our purposes a vast uublic debt. savable in legal to be identical with the purposes of the tender currency, has been funded into n’ational Constitution, ro form a more gold-rbearing bonds, thereby adding perfect union and establish justice, millions to the burdens of the people. insure domestic tranquillity, provide Silver, which has been accepted as for the common defense, promote the coin ever since the dawn of history, general welfare, and secure the bless- has been demonetized to add to the ings of liberty for ourselves and our purchasing power of gold, by decreas- posterity. ing the value of all forms of property We declare that this Republic can as well as human labor, and the sup- only endure as a free government ply of currency is purposely abridged while built upon the love of the whole to fatten usurers, bankrupt enterprise neoule for each other and for the na- and enslave industry. A vast conspi- iion; that it cannot be pinned together racy against mank’nd has been organ- by bayonets, that the civil war is ized on two continen-a, and it is rapid- over and that every passion and re- ly taking possession of the world. If sentment which grew out of it must NATIONAL I’LATFORMS OF PARTIES. 133

die with it. and that we must be ir UNION OF THE PEOPLE. fact, as we are in name, one united First. That the union of the labor brotherhood. Our country finds itsell forces of the United States this dav j confronted by conditions for which consummated shall be permanent anb. ~ there is no precedent in the hi&or] penpetual; may its spirit enter into of the world. Our annual agricultural all hearts for the salvation of the Re- productions amount to billions of dol- public and the uplifting of mankind. lars in value which must in a few Second.. Wealth belongs to him who weeks or months be exchanged fox creates it, and every dollar taken from billions of dollars of commodities con- industry without an equivalent is rob- sumed in their production; the exist- bery. “If any man will not work’ ing currency supply is wholly inade- neither shall he eat.” The interests quate to make this exchange. The of rural and civil labor ate the same; results are falling prices, the forma- their enemies are identical. tion of combines and rings. the im- Third. We believe that the time has poverishment of the prodicing class. come when the railroad corporations We pledge ourselves that if given will either own the people or the peo- power we will labor to correct these ple must own the railroads, and should evils by wise and reasonable legislation the government enter upon the work in accordance with the terms of our of owning and managing all railroads, platform. we should favor an amendment to the We believe that the powers of Gov- Constitution by which all persons en- ernment-in other words, of the peo- gaged in the Government service shall ple-should be expanded (as in the be placed under a civil service regula- case of the postal service) as rapidly tion of the most rigid character, so as and as far as good sense of an intelli- to prevent the increase of the gent people and the teachings of ex- power of national administration perience shall justify, to the end that by the use of such Government em- oppression, injustice and poverty shall ployes. eventually cease in the land. THE QUESTION OF FINANCE. While our sympafhies as a party of reform are naturally upon the side of We demand a national currency, every proposition on which will tend safe, sound and flexible, issued by the to make men intelligent, virtuous and General Government only. a full leaal temperate, we nevertheless regard tender for all debts, public and private these questions-important as they and that without the use of banking are-as secondary to the great issues corporations, a just, equitable and effi- now presstng for solution, and upon cient means of distribution direct to which not only our industrial prosper- the people at a tax not to exceed 2 ppr ity, but the very existence of free in- cent per annum, to be provided as set stitutions depend, and we ask all men forth in the subtreasury plan of the to first helu us to determine whether farmers’ alliance, or a better system; we are to save a Republic to admin- also by payments in discharge of its ister, before we differ as to the con- obligations for public improvements. ditions upon which it is to be admin- We demand free and unlimited istered, believing that the forces of coinage of silver and gold at the pres- reform this day organized will never ent legal ratio of 16 to 1. cease to move forward until every We demand that the amount of cir- wrong is righted and equal rights and :ulating medium be speedily increased privileges established for all the men to not less than $50 per capita. and women of this country; we de- We demand a graduated income tax. clare therefore We believe that the money of the 134 THE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK. - country should be kept, as much as our ports to the pauper and criminal nossible. in the hands of the neonle. classes of the

136 THE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK. I CAMPAIGN OF 1896. rust our representatives to take such action upon other political questions The Prohibition convention met at is the changes occasioned by Prohibi- Pittsburg, May 27, 1896, and after much tion and the welfare of the whole contention split and nominated two people shall demand.” tickets. The faction which bolted the con- vention adopted the name National The National party nominated C. E. party. Bentley of Nebraska for President The Prohibition nominees were Jos- %nd J. H. Southgate of North Carolina * hua Levering of Maryland for Presi- for Vice-President. dent and Hale Johnson of Illinois for Vice-President. NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORM. PROHIBITION PLATFORM OF 1896. The National party, recognizing God as the author of all just power in gov- “We, the members of the Prohibi- srnment, presents the following dec- tion oartv. in national convention as- laration of principles, which it pledges sembied, -renewing our declaration of itself to enact into effective legisla- allegiance to Almighty God as the tion when given the power to do so: rightful ruler of the universe, lay down 1. The suppression of the manufac- the following as our .declaration of po- ture and sale, importatron, exportation litical purpose. and transportation of intoxicating “The Prohibition party, in national Liquors for beverage purposes. We ut- convention assembled, declares its terly reject all plans for regulating or firm conviction that the manufacture, compromising - with this traffic, exportation, importation, and sale whether such plans be called. local of alcoholic beverages has produced option, taxation, license or public such social, commercial, industrial, control. The sale of liauors for med- and political wrongs, and is now SO icinal and other legitimate uses should threatening the perpetuity of all our be conducted by the State, without social and political institutions, that profit, and with such regulations as the suppression of the same by a will prevent fraud or evasion. national party organized therefor, is 2. No citizen should be denied the the greatest object to be accomplished right to vote on account of sex. by

i NATIONAL PLATFORMS OF PARTIER. 139

ican labor, employed in American trolled by the United States, and no shipyards, sailing under the stars and foreign power should be permitted to stripes, and manned, officered and interfere with them; the Nicaraguan owned by Americans-may regain the canal should be built, owned and oaer- carrying of our foreign. commerce. ated by the United States; and by-the The Republican party is unreserved- purchase of the Danish islands we ly for sound money. It caused the en- should secure a proper and much need- actment of the law Drovidina for the ed naval station in the West Indies. resumption of specie payments in 1879; since then every dollar has been ARMENIAN MASSACRES AND as good as gold. CUBA. The massacres in Armenia have AGAINST FREE COINAGE. aroused the deep sympathy and just We are unalterably opposed to every indignation of the American people, measure calculated to debase our cur- and we believe that the United States rency or impair the credit of our coun- should exercise all the influence it can try. We are therefore opposed to the properly exert to bring these atrocities free coinage of silver except by inter- to an end. In Turkey, American resi- national agreement with the leading dents have been exposed to the grav- commercial nations of the world, est dangers and American property de- which we pledge ourselves to promote, stroyed. ,There and everywhere Amer- and until such agreement can be ob- ican citizens and American property tained the existing gold standard must must be absolutely protected at a11 be preserved. All our silver and paper hazards and at any cost. currency must be maintained at a par- We reassert the Monroe doctrine in itv with gold. and we favor all meas- its full extent, and we reaffirm the ures designed to maintain inviolably right of the United States to give the the obligations of the United States doctrine effect by responding to the and all our money, whether coin or appeals of any American state for paper, at the present standard-the friendly intervention in case of Euro- standard of the most enlightened na- pean encroachment. We have not in- tions of the earth. terfered and shall not interfere with The veterans of the Union army de- the existing possessions of any Euro- serve and should receive fair treatment pean powers in this hemisphere, but and generous recognition. Whenever those possessions must not, on any practicable they should be given the pretext, be extended. We hopefully preference in the matter of employ- look forward to the eventual with- ment, and they are entitled to the en- drawal of the Europeau powers from : actment of such laws as are best cal- this hemisphere, and to the ultimate culated to secure the fulfillment of the union of all the English-speaking part pledges made to them in the dark days of the continent by the free consent of of the country’s peril. We denounce its inhabitants. the practice in the pension bureau, so From the hour of achieving their in- recklessly and unjustly carried on by dependence the people of the United the present administration, of reducing States have regarded with sympathy : pensions and arbitrarily dropping the struggles of other American peo- 1 names from the rolls as deserving the ples to free themselves from European i severest condemnation of the Ameri- domination. We watch with deep and can people. abiding interest the heroic battle of Our foreign policy should be at all the Cuban patriots against cruelty and times firm, vigorous and dignified, and oppression, and our best hopes go out all our interests in the western hemi- for the full success of their determined sphere carefully watched and guarded. contest for liberty. The government The Hawaiian islands should be con- of Spain, having lost control of Cuba, 140 THE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK. and being unable to protect the prop- age by congress of the satisfactory erty or lives of resident American cit- free homestead measure which has al- izens, or to comply with the treaty ob- ready passed the House and is now ligations, we believe that the govern- pending in the Senate. ment of the United States should ac- We favor the admission of the re- tively use its influence and g00a of- maining territories at the earliest fices to restore peace and give inde- practicable date, having due regard to uendence to the island. the interests of the ueoule of the ter- The peace and security of the Re- ritories and of the United States. All public and the maintenance of its the federal officers appointed for the rightful influence among the nations territories should be elected from bona of the earth. demand a naval Dower fide residents thereof, and the right of commensurate with its position and self-government should be accorded respectability. We therefore favor the as far as practicable. continued enlargement of the navy and We believe the citizens of Alaska a complete system of harbor and sea- should have representation in the con- coast defenses. gress of the United States, to the end that needful legislation may be intel- FOREIGN IMMIGRATION. ligently enacted. For the protection of the quality of our American citizenship and the TEMPERANCE AND WOMAN’S wages of our workingmen against the RIGHTS. fatal competition of low priced labor, We sympathize with all wise and we demand that the immigration laws legitimate efforts to lessen and prevent be thoroughly enforced and so extend- the evils of intemperance and promote ed as to exclude from entrance to the morality. United States those who can neither The Republican party is mindful of read nor write. the rights and interests of women. The civil service law was placed on Protection of American industries in- the statute book by the Republican cludes equal oppor$unities, equal pay party, which has always sustained it, for equal work, and protection to the and we renew and repeat our declara- home. We favor the admission of tions that it shall be thoroughly and women to wider spheres of useful- honestly enforced and extended wher- ness, and welcome their co-operation ever practicable. in rescuing the country from Demo- We demand that every citizen of the cratic and Populist mismanagement United States shall be allowed to cast and misrule. one free and unrestricted ballot and Such are the principles and politics that such ballot shall be counted and of the Republican party. By these returned as cast. principles we will abide and these pol- We proclaim our unqualified condem- itics we will put into execution. We nation of the uncivilized and barbarous ask for them the considerate judg- practice, well known as lynching or ment of the American people. Confi- killing of human beings, suspected or dent alike in the history of our great charged with crime without process of party and in the justice of our cause, law. we present our platform and our can- We favor the creation of a national didates in the full assurance that the board of arbitration to settle and ad- election will bring victory to the Re- just differences which may arise be- publican party and prosperity to the tween employers and employed en- people of the United States. gaged in interstate commerce. We believe in an immediate return The Democratic convention met in to the free homestead policy of the Chicago, Ill., July 7, 1896. William Republican party; and urge the pass- Jennings Bryan of Nebraska was nom- NALPIoNAL ~L4~Foims or PARTIES. 141 c- mated for President and Arthur Se- We declare that the act of 1873 de- wall of Maine for Vice-President. monetizing silver without the knowl- DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM OF 1896. edge or approval of the American peo- ple has resulted in the appmiation of We, the Democrats of the United gold and a corresponding fall in the States, in national convention assem- prices of commodities produced by the bled, do reaffirm our allegiance to people; a heavy increase in the bur- those great essential principles of jus- den of taxation and of all debts, nub- tice and liberty upon which our insti- lit and private; the enrichment of the tutions are founded and which the money-lending class at home and Democratic party has advocated from abroad; the prostration of industry Jefferson’s time to our own-freedom and.imnoverishment of the neonle. of speech, freedom of the press, free- We are unalterably opposed to mon- dom of conscience. the nreservation of ometallism which has locked fast the personal rights, the equality of all cit- prosperity of an industrial people in izens before the law, and the faithful the paralysis of hard times. Gold observance of constitutional limita- monometallism is a British policy, and tions. its adoption has brought other nations During all these years the Demo- into financial servitude to London. It cratic party has resisted the tendency is not onlv un-American. but it is anti- of selfish interests toward the centrali- American-, and it can be fastened on zation of governmental power and the United States only by the stifling steadfastly maintained the integrity of of that snirit and love of liberty which the dual scheme of government estab- proclaimed our political independence lished by the founders of this repub- in 1776 and won it in the war of the lic of republics. Under its guidance revolution. and teachings the great principle of We demand the free and unlimited local self-government has found its coinage of both silver and gold at the best expression in the maintenance of present legal ratio of 16 to 1 without the rights of the states and in its as- waiting for the aid or consent of anv sertion of the- necessity of confining other nation. We demand that the the general government to the exercise standard silver dollar shall be a full of the powers granted by the constitu- legal tender, equally with gold, for tion of the United States. all debts. Dublic or nrivate. sand we The constitution of the United States favor such-legislation as will prevent guarantees to every citizen the rights for the future the demonetization of of civil and religious liberty. The any kind of legal tender money by Democratic party has always been the private contract. exponent of political liberty and re- We are opposed to the policy and ligious freedom and it renews its ob- practice of surrendering to the hold- liga’tion and reaffirms its devotion to ers of the obligations of the United these fundamental principles of the States the option reserved by law to constitution. the government of redeeming such ob. Recognizing that the money ques- ligations in either silver coin or gold tion is paramount ‘to all others at this coin. time, we invite attention to the fact We are opposed to the issuing of in- that the federal constitution names sil- terest-bearing bonds of the United ver and gold together as the money States in time of peace, and condemn metals of the United States, and that the trafficking with banking syndi- the first coinage law passed by Con- cates, which, in exchange for bonds gress under the constitution made the and at an enormouse nroEt to them- silver dollar the monetary unit and selves, supply the federal treasury with admitted gold to free coinage at a ra- gold to maintain the policy of gold tio based upon the silver dollar unit. monometallism. 142 lIIE PI.ATPOXJI TEXT BOOK.

Congress alone has the power to coin power which remains after that decis- and issue money, and President Jack- ion, or which may come from its rever- son declared that this power could sal by the court as it may hereafter be not be delegated to corporations or tc constituted, so that the burdens of in,dividuals. We, therefore, denounce taxation may be equally and impartial- the issuance of notes intended to cir- ly laid, to the end that wealth may culate as money by national banks as bear its due proportion of the expenses in derogation of the constitution, and of the government. we demand that all paper which is We hold that the most efficient way made a legal. tender for public and pri- of protecting American labor is to pre- vate debts, or which is receivable for vent the importation of foreign pau- dues to the United States, shall be is- per labor to compete with it in the sued by the government of the United home market, and that the value of States, land shall be redeemable in the home market to our American coin. farmers and artisans is greatly re- We hold lnat tariff duties should be duced by a vicious monetary system levied for purposes of revenue, such which depresses the prices of their duties to be so adjusted as to operate product below the cost of production equally throughout the country and and thus deprives them of the means not discriminate between class or sec- of purchasing the products of our ‘tion, and that taxation should be lim- home manufactories; and as labor cre- ited by the needs of the government ates the wealth of the country, we de- honestly and economically adminis- mand the passage of such laws as tered. We denounce as disturbing to may be necessary to protect it in all business the Republican threat to re- its rights. store the McKinley law, which has We are in favor of the arbitration twice been condemned by the people in of differences between employers en- national elections, and which, enacted gaged in interstate commerce and under the false plea of protection to their employes, and recommend such home industry, proved a prolific breed- legislation as is necessary to carry out er of trusts and monopolies, enriched this principle. the few at the exuense of the manv. The absorption of wealth by the few, restricted trade and deprived the pro: the consolidation of our leading rail- ducers of the great American staples way systems, and the formation of of access to their natural markets. trusts and ~001s reauire a stricter con- Until the money question is settled trol of the federal government of we are opposed to any agitation for those arteries of commerce. We de- further changes in our tariff laws, ex- mand the enlargement of the powers cept such as are necessarv to meet of the interstate commerce commis- the deficit in revenue caused by the sion, and such restriction and guaran- ad=erse decision of the supreme court tees in the control of railroads as will Dh the income tax. But for this de- protect the people from. robbery and cision by the supreme court there oppression. would be no deficit in the revenue un- We denounce the profligate waste of der the law passed by a Democratic money wrung from the people by op- Congress in strict nursuance of the pressive taxation and the lavish ap- uniform decisions of that court for propriations of recent Republican nearly 100 years, that court having in Uongresses, which have kept taxes that decision sustained constitutional high while the labor that pays them objections to its enactment which had is unemployed and the products of the previously been overruled by the ablest people’s.toil are depressed in price till judges who have ever sat on that they no longer repay the cost of pro- bench. We declare that it is the duty of duction. We demand a return to that Congress to use all the constitutional simplicity and economy which befits NATION-AL PLATI‘ORMS OF PARTIES. 143

a Democratic government and a reduc- and that all nublic lands of the United tion in the number of useless offices, States should be appropriated to the the salaries of which drain the sub- establishment of free homes for Amer- stance of the people. ican citizens. We denounce arbitrary interference We recommend that the territory of by federal authorities in local affairs Alaska be granted a delegate in Con- as a violation of the constitution of gress, and that the general land and the United States and a crime against timber laws of the United States be ex- free institutions, and we especially ob- tended to said territory. iect to aovernment by injunction as a The Monroe doctrine as originally new and highly dangerous form of op- declared and as interpreted by suc- pression, by which federal judges in ceeding Presidents is a permanent part contempt of the laws of the States of the foreign policy of the United and the rights of citizens become at States and must at all times be main- once legislators, judges and execution- tained. ers, and we approve the bill passed We extend our sympathy to the peo- at the last session of the United States ple of Cuba in their heroic struggle for Senate, and now pending in the House liberty and independence. of Representatives, relative to con- We are opposed to life tenure in the tempts in federal courts, and providing public service except as provided in for trials by jury in certain cases of the constitution. We favor appoint- contempt. No discrimination should ments based upon merit, fixed terms be indulged in by the government of of office, and such an administration the United States in favor of any of its of the civil service laws as will afford debtors. We approve of the refusal of equal opportunities to all citizens of the Fifty-third Congress to pass the ascertained fitness. Pacific Railroad Funding bill, and de- We declare it to be the unwritten nounce the efforts of the present Re- law of this republic, established by publican Congress to enact a similar custom and usage of 100 years, ‘and measure. sanctioned by the examples of the Recognizing the jnst claims of de- greatest and wisest of those who serving Union soldiers, we heartily in- founded and maintained our govern- dorse the rule of ‘the present commis- ment, that no man should be eligible sioner of pensions, that no names for a third term to the presidential of- shall be arbitrarilv dronned from the fice. the pension roll; and the fact of en- The federal government should care listment and service should be deemed for and improve the Mississippi River conclusive evidence against disease and and other great waterways of the re- disabilitv before enlistment. public, so as to secure for the interior We fa;or the admission of the terri- states easv and cheat transnortation tories of New Mexico, Arizona and Ok- to tide water. Whenever any water- lahoma into the Union as :tates, and way of the republic is of su2icient im- we favor the early admission of all portance to demand aid of the gov- the territories having the necessary ernment such aid should be extended population and resources to entitle upon a definite plan of continuous them to statehood. and while they re- work until a permanent improvement main territories we hold that the offi- is secured. ’ cials appointed to administer the gov- Confiding in the justice of our cause ernment of any territory, together and the necessity of its success at the with the District of Columbia and polls, we submit the foregoing declara- i Alaska, should be bona fide residents tion of nrincinles and run-noses to the of the territory or district in which considerate judgment of the American I their duties are to be performed. ;The people. We invite the support of all Democratic,party believes in home rule citizens who approve them and who 144 THE PLATEwKM TEXT BOOKS. __~ ; desire to .have them made effective coin to be a full legal tender equally! through legislation for the relief of the with gold for all debts and dues, pub-( people andthe restoration of the coun- lib and private, and we favor such-leg-i try’s prosperity. islation as will prevent for the future/ the demonetization of any kind of\ Early in 1896 many politicians in legal tender money by private con-: each of the majority parties opposed tract. the tendencies of both toward the es- We hold that the power to control. tablishment of a “gold standard.” The and regulate a paper currency is in-: leadership of both denied any such in- separable tram ‘the power to coin! tention and neither would avow such money; and hence that all currency purpose in its platform. However, a intended to circulate as money should large number of nrominent men in be issued and its volume controlled by both parties prepared to abandon the general government only, and their political homes unless specific should be legal tender. disavowal of such purpose were de- We are unalterably opposed to the is- clared. and a call was made for a con- sue by the United States of interest- vention of such persons as should not bearing bonds in time of peace, and be satisfied with the positions taken by we denounce as a blunder worse than the leading oarties in their resoective a crime the present treasury policy, conventions -on June 16 and July 7. concurred in by a Republican House, This convention was called to meet at of plunging the country in debt by St. Louis on July 22, the date and hundreds of millions in the vain at- place set for the People’s Party con- tempt to maintain the gold standard vention. by borrowing gold; and we demand the About three hundred delegates as- payment of all coin obligations of the sembled and indorsed the nominations United States, as nrovided bv existing of W. J. Bryan and , laws, in either in-gold or silver coin: candidates of the Democratic party. at the option of the government, and not at the option of the creditor. SILVER PARTY PLATFORM. 2. That over and above all other The National Silver party, in con- questions of policy, we are in favor of< vention assembled, hereby adopts the restoring to the people of ,the United/ following declaration of nrlncinles: States the time-honored money of the1 1. lithe-paramount issue-at this time constitution-gold and silver, not one, in the United States is undisputably but both-the money of Washington,~ the money question. It is between the and Hamilton, and Jefferson, and Mon- gold standard, gold bonds, and bank roe, and Jackson, and Lincoln, to the currency on the one side, and the bi- end that the American people may re-1 metallic standard, no bonds, and gov- ceive honest pay ‘for an honest prod-~ ernment currency on the other. uct; that the American debtor may pay On this issue we declare ourselves his just obligations in an honest stand- to be in ,favor of a distinctively Amer- ard and not in a standard that has ap- ican financial system. We are unal- preciated 100 per cent above all the terably opposed- to the single gold great staples of our country: and to standard and demand the immediate the end further that silver standard return to the constitutional standard countries may be deprived of the un- of gold and silver by the restoration just advantage they now enjoy in the by this government, independently of difference in exchange between gold any foreign power, of the unrestricted and silver-an advantage which tariff coinage of both gold and silver into legislation alone cannot overcome. standard money at the ratio of 16 to We therefore contldently appeal to 1, and upon terms of exact equality the people of the United States to leave as they existed prior to 1873, the silver in abeyance for the moment all other NATIONAL I’LATFORJIS OF PARTIES. 146 Iquestions, however important and even thereby been enthroned upon the ruins momentous they may appear, to sun- of Democracy. To restore the Govern- Ider, if need be: all former party ties ment intended by the fathers and for and affiliations and unite in one su- the welfare and prosperity of this and Ipreme effort to free themselves and future generations, we demand the their children from-the domination of establishment of an economic and fi- the money power-a power more de- nancial system which shall make us structive than any which has ever been masters of our own affairs and inde- fastened upon the civilized men of any pendent of European control by the race or in any age. And upon the con- adoption of the following declaration summation of our desires and efforts of pridiples: e invoke the gracious favor of di- FINANCE. ne providence. First-We demand a national money, safe and sound, issued by the general government only, without the inter- vention of banks of issue, to be a full legal tender for all debts, public and private; also a just, equitable and effi- cient means of distribution direct to the aconle and through the lawful dis- bursements of the Government. PLATFORM OF Second-We demand the free and unrestricted coinage of silver and gold at the present legal ratio of 16 to 1, without waiting for the consent of for- eign nations. Third-We demand that the volume of circulating medium be speedily in- creased to an amount sufficient to meet the demands of the business and pop- hrough the connivance of the present ulation of this country and to restore nd preceding administrations, the the just level of prices of labor and ountry has reached a crisis in its na- production. a li,fe as predicted in our declara- Fourth-We denounce the sale of four years ago, and that prompt bonds and the increase of the public patriotic action is the supreme interest-bearing debt made by the of the hour. We realize that while present administration as unnecessary e -have politica. independence our and without authority of law, and de- and industria1 independence mand that no more bonds be issued be attained bv restoring to except by specific act of Congress. ur country the constitutional control Fifth-We demand such legislation nd exercise of the functions necessary as will prevent the demonetization of the lawful money of the United States by private contract. public servants to corporate mo- Sixth-We demand that the Govern- ment, in payment of its obligations, The influence of Eurouean money shall use its option as to the kind of hangers has been more potent in lawful money in which they are to be haping legislation than the voice of paid, and we denounce the present and bhe American people. -Executive pow- preceding administrations for surren- r and patronage have been used to dering this o&ion to the holders of orrupt our legislatures and defeat the Gov&nment obligations. ill of the people, and plutocracy has Seventh-We demand a graduated i 146 THlc: ~I..~T~~OXSI TEXT 1500~. income tax to the end that aggregated protection of life and property, giving wealth shall bear its just proportion to all transportation interests equal of taxation, and we regard the recent privileges and equal rates for fares and decision of the Supreme Court relative freights. to the income tax law as a misinter- Third-We denounce the present in- pretation of the Constitution and an famous schemes for refunding these invasion of the rightful powers of Con- debts and demand that the laws now gress over the subject of taxation. applicable thereto be executed and ad. Eighth-We demand that postal sav- ministered according to their true in- inzsbanks be established bv the Gov- tent and spirit. ernment for the safe deposit of the Fourth-The telegraph, like the post- savings of the people and to facilitate office system, being a necessity for the exchange. transmission of news, should be owned and operated by the Govern. TRANSPORTATION. ment in the interest of the people. First - Transportation, being a means of exchange and a public neces- LAND. sity, the Government should own and First-The true policy demands that operate the railroads in the interest national and State legislation shall be of the people and on a non-partisan such as will ultimately enable every basis; to the end that all may be ac- prudent and industrious citizen to se- corded the same treatment in trans- cure a home, and therefore the land portation and that the tyranny and should not be monopolized for specu- political power now exercised by the lative purposes. All lands now held great railroad cornorations. which re- by railroads and other corporations in sult in the impairment, if not the de- excess of their actual needs should by struction of the political rights and lawful means be reclaimed by8the Gov- personal liberties of the citizen, may ernment and held for actual settlers be destroyed. Such ownership is to only; and private land monopoly as be accomplished gradually in a man- well as alien ownership should be pro- ner consistent with sound public pol- hibited. iCY. Second-We condemn the frauds by Second-The interest of the United which the land grants to Pacific Rail- States in the public highways built road companies have, through the con- with public moneys and the proceeds nivance of the Interior Denartment. of extensive grants of land to the Pa- robbed multitudes of actual bona fide cific Railroads should never be alien- settlers of their homes and miners of ated, mortgaged or sold, but guarded their claims, and we demand Iegisla- and protected for the general welfare, tion by Congress which will enforce as Drovided bv the laws oreanizina the exemption of mineral land from such railroads. The foreclosure oyf such grants after as well as before existing liens of the United States patent. on these roads should at once follow Third-We demand that bona fide default in the payment thereof by the settlers on all public lands be granted debtor companies: and at the foreclos- f.ree homes as provided in the national ure sales of said roads the Gove,rnment homestead law; and that no exception shall purchase the same if it becomes be made in the case of Indian reser- necessary to protect its interests there- vations when opened for settlement, in, or if they can be purchased at a and that all lands not now patented reasonable mice: and the Government c;rme under this demand. shall operaie said railroads as public highways for the benefit of the whole DIRECT LEGISLATION. people, and not in the interest of the We favor a system of direct legis- few, under suitable provisions for the lation through the initiative and refer- NATIONAL PiATFORMB OF PARTIES. * 14 endum under proper constitutional present presidential election will turn, safeguards. is the financial question. And upon this great and specific issue between GENERAL PROPOSITIONS. the parties we cordially invite the aid First-We demand the election of and co-operation of all ‘organizations President, Vice-President and United and citizens agreeing with us upon this States Senators by a direct vote of the vital question. people. Second-We tender to the patriotic people of Cuba our deepest sympathy On July 4, 1896, the Socialists met in in their heroic struggle for political New York and nominated Charles H. freedom and independence, and we be- Matchett of New York for President lieve the time has come when the and Matthew McGuire of New Jersey United States, the great Republic of for Vice-President. the world, should recognize that Cuba is, and of .righC ought to be, a free and SOCIALIST LABOR PLATFORM OF independent State. 1896. Third-We favor home rule in the The Socialist Labor party of the Territories and the District of Colum- United States, in convention assem- bia. and the earlv admission of the bled, reasserts the inalienable rights Territories as States. of all men to life, liberty, and the pur- Fourth-All public salaries should suit of happiness. be made to corresnond to the nrice of With the founders of the Ameridan labor and its products. - republic we hold that the purpose of Fifth-In times of great industrial government is to secure every citizen denression idle labor should be em- in the enjoyment of this right; but in ployed on public works as far as prac- the light of our social conditions we ticable. hold, furthermore, that no such right Sixth-The arbitrary course of the can be exercised under a system of courts in assuming to imarison citi- economic inequality, essentially de- zens for indirect contempt-and ruling structive of life, of liberty and of hap- them by injunction, should be prevent- piness. ed by proper legislation. With the founders of this republic Seventh-We favor iust oensions for we hold that the true theory of poli- our disabled Union soldiers. tics is that the machinery of govern- ‘Eighth-Believing that the elective ment must be owned and controlled by franchise and untrammeled ballot are the whole ueonle: but in the light of essential to a government of, fo,r and our industrial- development we- hold, by the people, the People’s party con- furthermore, that the true theory of demns the wholesale system of dis- economics is that the machinery of franchisement adopted in some of the production must likewise belong to the States as un-Republican and un-Dem- people in common. ocratic, and we declare it to be the To the obvious fact that our despotic duty of the several State Legislatures evs!cm of economics is the direct OD- to take such action as will secure a l&site of our democratic system of full, free and fair ballot, and an hon- politics, can plainly be traced the ex- est count. istence of a privileged class, the cor- Ninth-While the foreging proposi- ruotion of aovernment bv that class. tions constitute the platform upon the alienation of public property, pub- which our party stands, and for the lic franchises and public functions to vindication of which its organization that class, and the abject dependence will be maintained, we recognize that of the mightiest of nations upon that the great and pressing issue of the class. Pending campaign upon which the Again, through the perversion of de- 148 THE PLATF0Br.i TEXT BOOR. mocracy to the ends of plutocracy, la- disorder; a commonwealth in which bor is robbed of the wealth which it everv worker shall have the free exer- alone produces, is denled the means of cise -and full benefit of his faculties, self-emuloyment. and, by compulsory multiplied by all the modern factors idleness in wage slavery, is even de- of civilization. prived of the necessaries of life. Human power and natural forces are RESOLUTIONS. thus wasted, that the plutocracy may With a view to immediate improve- rule. ment in the condition of labor we nre- Ignorance and misery, with all their sent the following demands: - concomitant evils, are perpetuated, 1. Reduction of the hours of labor that the people may be kept in bond- in proportion to the progress of pro- age. duction. Science and invention are diverted 2. The United States shall obtain from their humane purposes to the en- possession of the ,railroads, canals, tel- slavement of women and children. egraphs, telephones and all other Against such a system the Socialist means of public transportation and Labor party once more enters its pro- communication; the employes to oper- test. 6nce~ more it reiterates its iun- ate the same co-operatively under con- damental declaration that private trol of the Federal government and to property is the natural sources of pro- elect their own superior otllcers, but duction and in the instruments of la- no employe shall be discharged for po- bor is the obvious cause of all eco- litical reasons. nomic servitude and political depend- 3. The municipalities shall obtain ence. possession of the local railroads, fer- The time is fast coming when, in the ries, water works, gas works, electric natural course of social evolution, this plants and all industries requiring system, through the destructive ac- municipal franchises; the employes to tion of its failures and crises on the onerate the same co-onerativelv under one hand, and the constructive tend- control of the municjpal administra- * encies of its trusts and other capital- tion and to elect their own superior istic combinations on the other hand, officers, but no employes shall be dis- , shall have worked out its own down- charged for nolitical reasons. fall. 4. ‘The public lands declared inalien- : We, therefore, call upon the wage able. Revocation of all land grants to : workers of the United States. and unon corporations or individuals the co% i all other honest citizens, to organize ditions of which have not been corn- ; under the banner of the Socialist La- plied with. bor party into a class-conscious body, 5. The United States to have the ex- 1 aware of its rights and determined to elusive right to issue money. i conquer them by taking possession of 6. Congressional legislation provid- 1 the public powers; so that, held to- ing for the scientific management of 1 gether by an indomitable spirit of soli- forests and waterways, and prohibit- ; darity under the most trying condi- ina the waste of the natural resources 1 tions of the present class struggle, we of-the country. may put a summary end to that bar- 7. Inventions to be free to all; the barous struggle by the abolition of inventors to be remunerated by the classes. the restoration of the land and nation. of all the means of production, trans- 8. Progressive income tax and tax portation and distribution to the peo- on inheritances: the smaller incomes ple as a collective body, and the sub- to be exempt. qtitution of the Co-operative Common- 9. School education of all children wealth for the present state of planless under fourteen years of age to be com- production, industrial war and social pulsory, gratuitous and accessible to . ETATIONAL PLATFORMS OF PARTIES. 149 all by public assistance in meals, cloth- body was called to meet at Indianapo- ing, books, etc.; where necessary. lis. Ind.. Sent. 2. 1896. This conven- 10. Repeal of all pauper, tramp, con- tion claimed the name “National Dem- spiracy. and sumptuary laws. Una- Borat” and nominated: For President. bridged right of combination. John McAuley Palmer of Illinois; for 11. Prohibition of the employment Vice-President, Simon B. Buckner of of children of school age and the em- Kentucky. olovment of female labor in occuna- iions detrimental to health or moral- THE INDIANAPOLIS PLATFORM. ity. Abolition of the convict labor This convention has assembled to contract system. uphold the principles upon which de- 12. Employment of the unemployed pend the honor and welfare of. the by the public authorities (county, city, American people, in order that demo- state and nation). crats throughout the union may unite 13. All wages to be paid in lawful their patriotic efforts to avert disaster money of the United States. Equali- to their country and ruin to their zation of woman’s wages to those of party. The Democratic party is pledged men where equal service is performed. to .equal and exact justice to all men 14. Laws for the mote&ion of life of every creed and condition; to the and limb in all occupations, and an largest freedom of the individual, con- efficient employers’ liability law. sistent with good government; to the 15. The people to have the right to preservation of the federal government propose laws and to vote upon all in its constitutional vigor, and to the measures of importance according to support of the states in all their just the referendum principle. rights; to economy in public expendi- 16. Abolition of the veto power of tures, to the maintenarme of the public the Executive (national, state and credit and sound money, and it is op- municipal), wherever it exists. posed to paternalism and to all class 17. Abolition of the United States legislation. The declarations of the Senate and all upper legislative cham- Chicago convention attack individual bers. freedom, the right of private contract, 18. Municipal self-government. the independence of the judiciary, and 19. Direct vote and secret ballots in the authority of the president to en- all elections. Universal and equal force federal laws. right of suffrage without regard to They advocate a reckless attempt to color, creed or sex. Election days to increase the price of silver by legisla- be legal holidays. The principle of tion, to the debasement of our mone- proportional representation to be in- tary standard, and threaten unlimited troduced. issues of paper money by the govern- 20. All public officers to be subject ment. They abandon, for republican to recall by their respective constitu- allies the democratic cause of tariff encies. reform to court the favor of protec- 21. Uniform civil and criminal law tionists. In view of their fiscal heresy throughout the United States. Admin- and other grave departures from dem- istration of justice free of charge. Abo- ocratic principles we cannot support lition of capital punishment. the candidates of that convention nor be bound by its acts. The democratic Following the Democratic conven- party has survived many defeats, but tion, which convened in Chicago on could not survive a victory won in be- July 7, there were many expressions of half of the doctrine and policy pro- dissatisfaction at the position assumed claimed in its name at Chicago. The on the silver question and a conven- conditions, however, which make pos- _s tion of Democrats who were opposed to sible such utterances from a national 150 THE PI.ATFOIM TEXT BOOR. . -~ class legislation by the republican par- and liberal policies. toward Ameri- ty. It still proclaims, as *it has for can shipping shall take the place of years, the power and duty of govern- our imitation of the restricted stat- ment to raise and maintain prices by utes of the eighteenth century. which law, and it proposes no remedy for ex- were long ago abandoned by every isting evils except oppressive and un- maritime power but the United States just taxation. and which, to the nation’s humiliation, The national democracy here con- have driven American capital and en- vened, therefore renews its declaration terprise to the use of alien flags and of faith in democratic nrincinles. esne- alien crews, have made the stars and cially as applicable td the conditions stripes an almost unknown emblem of the times. Taxation tariff, excise or in foreign ports, and have virtually ex- direct, is rightfully imDOSed onlv for tinguished the race of American sea- public purposes, and not for private men. gain. Its amount is justly measufed We oppose the pretense that discrim- by public expenditures, which should inating duties will promote shipping,

be limited bv- scrunulous_ economv.-I the That scheme is an invitation to com- sum derived by the treasury from tar- mercial warfare upon the United iff and excise levy is affected by the States, un-American in the light of our state of trade and volume of con&mp- great commercial treaties, offering no tion. The amount required by the gain whatever to American shipping, treasury is determined by the sppro- while greatly increasing ocean freights priation made by Congress. The ae- on our agricultural and manufactured mand of the Republican party for an products. increase in tariff taxation has its pre- The experience of mankind has text in the deficiency of revenue, which shown tha.t by reason of their natural has its causes in the stagnation of aualities gold is the necessarv monev trade and reduced consumption, due of the large affairs of commerce and entirely to the loss of confidence that business, while silver is conveniently has followed the populist threat of adapted to minor transactions, and the free coinage and depreciation of our most beneficial use of both together money, and the Republican practice can be insured only by the adoption of extravagant appropriations be- of the former as a standard of mon- yond the needs of good government. etary measures and the maintenance We arraign and condemn the popu- of silver at a parity with gold by its listic conventions of Chicago and St. limited coinage under suitable safe- Louis for their co-oneration with the guards of law. Thus the largest pos- Republican party in creating -these sible enjoyment of both metals is conditions, which are pleaded in justi- gained with a value universally ac- fication of a heavy increase of the cepted throughout the world, which burdens of the people by a further constitutes the only practical bimetal- resort to protection. We therefore lic currency assuring the most stable denounce protection and its ally, free standard and especially the best and coinage of silver, as schemes for the safest money for a11 who earn their personal profit of a few at the expense livelihood by labor or the product of of the masses, and oppose the two husbandry. They cannot suffer when parties which stand for these schemes paid in the best money known to man, as hostile to the people of the republic, but are the peculiar and most defense- whose food and shelter, comfort and less victims of a debased and fluctuat- prosperity, are attacked by higher ing currency which offers continual taxes and denreciated monev. In fine. profits to the money changer at their we reaffirm the historic democratic cost. doctrine of tariff for revenue only. Realizing these truths, demonstrated We demand that henceforth modern by long public inconvenience and loss, .

NATIONAL- PLATFORXS OF PARTIES. * 15; the democratic party, in the interest We demand strict economy in the of the masses and of eaual justice appropriations and in the administra- to all, practically established by the tion of the government. legislation of 1834 and 1853 the gold We favor arbitration for the settle- standard of monetary measurements ment of international disputes. and likewise entirely divorced the gov- We favor a liberal policy of pen- ernment from banking and currency sions to deserving soldiers and sailors issue. To this long established dem- OT the United States. ocratic policy we adhere and insist up- The Supreme Court of the United on the maintenance of the gold stand- States was wisely established by the ard and of the parity therewith of framers of our Constitution as one everv dollar issued by the government. of the three co-ordinate branches of and are firmly opposed to the free and the government. Its independence unlimited coinage of silver and to the and authority to interpret the law of compulsory purchase of silver bullion. the land without fear or favor must be But we denounce also the further maintained. We condemn all efforts maintenance of the present costly to defame that tribunal or impair the patchwork system of national paper confidence and respect which it has cumency as a constant source of in- deservedlv had. jury and peril. We assert the necessity The democratic party ever has main- of such intelligent currency reform tained and ever will maintain the su- as wi,ll confine the government to its nremacv of law. the indeuendence of legitimate functions, completely sep- its judicial administration-the inviola- arated from the banking business, and bility of contract, and the obligations afford to all sections of our country, of all good citizens to resist every il- a uniform, safe, and elastic bank cur- legal trust. combination. and attemnt rency, under governmental supervi- against the just rights of property and sion, measured in volume by the needs the good order of society, in which are of business. bound up the peace and happiness of The fidelity, patriotism and courage our neonle. with which President Cleveland has Believing these principles to be es- fulfilled his great public trust, the sential to the well being of the repub- high character of his administration, lic we submit them to the considera- its wisdom and energy in the mainte- tion of the American people. nance of civil order and the enforce- - ment of the laws, its equal regard for the rights of every class and every RESULT OF ELECTION NOVEMBER section. its firm and dignified conduct 3, 1896. of foreign affairs, and ;ts sturdy per- sistence in umpholding the credit and After one of the most exciting cam- honor of the nation are fully recog- naigns in the historv of the countrv nized by the democratic party, and the-result on election day was a vi& will secure to him a place in history tory for the Republican ticket. beside the fathers of the republic. The nonular vote was as follows: We also commend the administra- Republican (McKinley) 7,104,779, Dem- tion for the great progress made in the ocrat (Bryan) 6,502,925, Prohibition reform of the public service, and we (Levering) 132,007, National Prohibi- indorse its effort to extend the merit tion (Bentley) 13,969, Socialist (Match- system still further. ett) 36,274, National Democrat (Pal- We demand that no backward step mer) 133,148. be taken, but that the reform be sup- The electoral vote was as follows: ported and advanced until the undem- For President, William McKinley re- ocratic spoils system of appointments ceived 2’71 votes and William J. Bryan shall be eradicated. 176 votes. 152 THE PLATFORM TEXT BOOI;.

For Vice-President, Garrett A. Ho- rTavy, John D. Long of Massachusetts; bart received 271 votes; Arthur Sewall, secretary of the Interior, Cornelius N. 149; and Thomas E. Watson, 27. 31iss of New York; Secretary of Agri- McKinley and Hobart received the :ulture, James Wilson of Iowa. electoral vote of Connecticut 6, Dela- ware 3, Illinois 24, Indiana 15, Iowa 13, CAMPAIGN OF 1900. Maine 6, Maryland 8, Massachusetts 15. Michigan 14. Minnesota 9, New The People’s party met in conven- Hampshire 4, New Jersey 10, New ;ion at Sioux Falls, S. D., May 10, York 36, North Dakota 3, Ohio 23, 1900 and nominated Wm. J. Bryan of Oregon 4, Pennsylvania 32, Rhode Nebraska for President and Chas. A. Island 4, Vermont 4, West Virginia 6, l!owne of Minnesota for Vice-Presi- Wisconsin 12, eight votes from Cali- lent. fornia and twelve from Kentucky. PEOPLE’S PARTY PLATFORM OF Bryan received the electoral vote of 1900. Alabama 11, Arkansas 8, 4, Florida 4, Georgia 13. Idaho 3, Kansas The Populist party of the United 10, Louisiana 8, Mississippi 9, Missouri States. in convention assembled, con- 1’7. Montana 3. Nebraska 8. Nevada 3. gratulating its supporters on the wide North Carolina 11, South ‘Carolina 9 extension of its principles in all di- South Dakota 4, Tennessee 12; Texas rections, does hereby reaffirm its ad- 15, 3, Virginia 12, Washington herence to the fundamental principles 4, Wyoming 3, one vote from Cali- proclaimed in its two prior platforms fornia and one from Kentucky; the and calls upon all who desire to avert electoral vote for Sewall being the the subversion of free institutions by same as Brvan’s. exceut. that the fol. corporate and imperialistic power, to lowing stat& g&e p&t of the vote unite with it in bringing the govern- to Watson as follows: Arkansas 3 ment. back to the ideals of Washing- Louisiana 4, Missouri 4, Montana 1 ton, Jefferson, Jackson and Lincoln. Nebraska 4, North Carolina 5, Soutk It extends to its allies in the strug- Dakota 2, Utah 1, Washington 2, Wy cle for financial and economic free- oming 1. dom, assurances of its loyalty to the nrinciples which animate the allied iorces-and the promise of honest and Immediately following the inaugura, hearty co-operation in every effort for tion of President McKinley he caller their success. a special session of Congress which To the people of the United States convened on March 15, 1897, and a we offer the -present platform as the once proceeded to the consideration o exnres.sibn of our unalterable con- proposed radical revision of the rev, victions: enue laws, making many very impor, Resolved, That we denounce the act tant changes in tariff schedules. of March 14, 1900, as the culmina- tion of a long series of conspiracies to deprive the people of their con- PRESIDENT MCKINLEY’S CABINET stitutional rights over the money of Secretary of State, o the nation and relegate to a gigantic Ohio, succeeded by John A. Day o money trust the control of the purse, Ohio; Secretary of Treasury, Lyman and hence of the people. J. Gage of Illinois; Secretary of War We denounce this act, first, for mak- Russcl A. Alger of Michigan, succeeded ing all money obligations, domestic by of New York; Attorney and foreign payable in gold coin, or General, Joseph McKenna, of Cali- its equivalent, enormously increasing fornia; Postmaster General, James A. the burdens of the debtors and en- Gary of Maryland; Secretary of the riching the creditors.

, --- NATIONAL PLATFORYB OF PARTIEB. 153

Second, for refundtng “coin bonds” notes issued by private corporations not to mature for years, into long under special priveleges granted by time gold bonds so as to make their law of March 14, 1900, and prior na- payment improbable and our debt per- tional banking laws, the remaining petual. portion of the bank notes replaced Third, for taking from the treasury with full legal tender government pa- over $50,000,000 in a time of war and per money and its volume so controlled presenting it as a premium to bbnd- as to maintain at all times a stable holders to accomplish the refunding money market and a stable price level. of bonds not due. We demand a graduated income and Fourth, for doubling the capital of inheritance tax to the end that wealth bankers -by returning to them the shall bear its just proportion of tax- face value of their bonds in current ation. money notes, so that they may draw We demand that postal savings one interest from the government and banks be established by the govern- another from the people. men for the safe deposit of the sav- Fifth, for allowing banks to expand ings of the people and to facilitate and contract their circulation at pleas- exchange. ure, thus controlling prices of all prod- With Thomas Jefferson. we declare ucts. the land, including all natural sources Sixth, for authorizing the secretary of wealth, the alienable heritage of of the treasury to issue new gold ‘the people. The Government should bonds to an unlimited amount when- so act as to secure homes for the peo- ever he deems it necessary to replenish ple and prevent land monopoly, The the gold hoard, thus enabling usurers original homestead policy should be to secure more bonds and more bank enforced and future settlers upon the currency, by drawing gold from the public domain should be entitled to treasurer, thereby creating an “endless a free homestead while all who have chain” for perpetually adding to a paid an acreage price rto the govern- perpetual debt. ment under existing laws should have Seventh, for striking down the their homestead rights restored. greenback in order to force the peo- Transportation being a means of ex- ple to borrow $346,000,000 more from change and a Dublic necessity. the EOV- the banks, at an annual cost of over ernn& should own and o&rate-the $20,000,000. railroads in the interest of the people While barring out the money of the and on a nonpartisan basis, to the e$d consti,tution, this law opens the print- that all may be accorded the same ing mints of the treasury to the free treatment in transportation and that coinage of bank paper mbney, to en- the extortion, tyranny and political rich ,the few and impoverish the many. power now exercised by the great rail- We pledge anew the people’s party, road corporations, which result in the never to cease the agitation until this impairment if not the destruction of financial conspiracy is blotted from the nolitical rights and nersonal lib- the statute books, the Lincoln green- erties of the people, may be destroyed. back restored, the bonds all paid and Such ownership is to be accomplished all corporation money forever retired. in a manner consistent with the sound We reaffirm the demand for the re- public policy. opening of the mints of the United Trusts, the overshadowing evil of States to the free and unlimited coin- the age, are the result and culmination age of silver and gold at the present of the private ownership and control legal ratio of 16 to 1, the immediate of the three great instruments of com- increase in the volume of silver coins merce-money, transportation and the and certificates thus created to be sub- means of transmission of information, stituted dollar for dollar for bank which instruments of commerce are 154 l'Hn:PLATFORM~ESTBOoli. = -, public functions and which our fore- the people of the Philippines, springs fathers declared in the constitution the un-American cry for a large stand-, should be control’led by the people ing army. Nothing in the character or through their congress for the public purposes of our people justifies us in welfare. The one remedy for the ignoring the plain lesson of history trusts in that the ownership and con- and putting our liberties in jeopardy trol be assumed and exercised by the by assuming the burden of militar&m, people. which is crushing the people of the old We further demano that all tariffs world. We denounce the administra- on goods controlled by a trust should tion for its sinister efforts to substitute be abolished. a standing army for the citizen sol- To cope with the trust evil, the peo- diery, which is the best safeguard of ple must act directly without the in- the reoublic. tervention of representatives who may We extend to the brave Boers of be controlled or influenced. We, there- South Africa our sympathy and moral fore, demand direct .legislation, giv- support in their patriotic struggle for ing the people the lawmmaking and veto the right of self-government, and we power under the initiative and refer- are unalterably opposed to any al- endum. A majority of the people can liance open or covert, between the never be corruptly influenced. United States and any other nation Applauding the valor of our army that will tend to the destruction of hu- and navy in the Spanish war, we de- man liberty. nounce the conduct of the administra- And a further manifestation of im- tion in changing a war for humanity perialism is to be found in the mining into a war of conquest. The action of districts of Idaho. In the Couer d’Al- the administration in the Philippines ene, soldiers have been used to over- is in contlict with all the precedents of awe miners striving for a greater our national life; at war with the dec- measure of industrial independence. laration of independence and the plain And we denounce the state govern- precepts of humanity. ment‘ of Idaho and the federal zov- Murder and arson have been our re- ernment for employing the miliT;Lry sponse to the appeals to the people arm of the government to abridge the who asked only to establish a free gov- civil rights of the people and to en- ernment in their own land. We de- force an infamous permit system, mand a stoppage of this war of exter- which denies to laborers their inherent mination by the assurance to the Fil- liberty and compels them to foreswear ipinos of independence and protection their manhood and their right before under a stable government of their being permitted to seek employment. own creation. The importation of .Japanese and The Declaration of Independence, the other laborers under contract to serve constitution and the Am&can flag are monopolistic corporations is a noto- one and inseparable. The island of rious and flagrant violation of the i,m- Porto Rico is a part of the territory migrant laws. We demand that the of the United States and by levying federal government shall take cogni- special and extraordinary customs du- zance of this menacing evil and re- ties on the commerce of that island, press it under existing-laws. the administration has violated the We further pledge ourselves to strive I constitution, abandoned the fundamen- for the enactment of more stringent tal principles of American liberty, and laws for the exclusion of Mongolian has striven to give the lie to the con- and Malayan immigration. tention of our fathers that there should We indorse municipal ownership of I be no taxation without representation. public utilities and declare that the Out of the imperialism_ . . - which. would vantages which have accrued to an undesirable dominion upon public under that system would t .

NATIONAL PLATFORMS OF PARTIES. 155

multiplied a hundred fold by its ex- affirm our faith in that immortal proc- tension to natural interstate monopo- lamation of the inalienable rights of Ilies. man and our allegiance to the con- We denounce the practice of issuing stitution framed in harmony there- injunction in the cases of disputes be- with by the fathers of the republic. tween the employers and employes, We hold with the United States su- making criminal acts by organizations preme court that the declaration of which are not criminal when per- independence is the spirit of our gov- formed by individuals, and demand ernment, of which the constitution is legislation to restrain the evil. the form and letter. We declare again We demand that United States sen- that all governments instituted among ators and all other officials, as far as men derive their just powers from the practicable, be elected by direct vote consent of the governed; that any of the people. government not based upon the con- Believing that the elective franchise sent of the governed is a tyranny; and I and untrammeled ballot are essential that to impose upon any people a gov- to a government of, for and by the ernment of force is to substitute the people, the People’s party condemns methods of imperialism for those of a the wholesale system of disfranchise- republic. We hold that the consti- Iment by coercion and intimidation tution follows the flag and denounce adopted in some states, as unrepubli- the doctrine that an executive or con- Ican and undemocratic. And we declare gress deriving their existence and their Iit to be the dutv of the several state powers from the constitution can ex- legislatures to take such action as will ercise lawful authoritv bevond it. or secure a full, free and fair ballot and in violation of it. We assert that no an honest count. nation can long endure half republic We favor home rule in the Terri- and half empire and we warn the Am- tories and District of Columbia and the erican people that imperialism abroad early admission of the Territories as will lead quickly and inevitably to des- I states. potism at home. IWe denounce the expensive red tape Believing in these fundamental system, political (favoritism, cruel and principles,- we denounce the Porto unnecessary delay and criminal eva- Rico law, enauted by a Republican sion of the statutes in the management congress against the protest and oppo- ‘of the pension office and demand the sition of the Democratic minority, as simple and honest execution of the a bold and open violation of the na- laws and the fulfillment by the nation tion’s organic law and a flagrant of its pledges of service pensions to all breach of the n.ational good faith. It its honorably discharged veterans. imposes upon the people of Porto Rico a government without their consent and taxation without representation. The Democratic convention met in It dishonors the American neonle bv Kansas City, MO., July 4, 1900 and repudiating a solemn pledge-made in nominated Wm. J. Bryan for President their behalf by the commanding gen- and A. E. Stevenson of Illinois for eral of our army, which the Porto .Vice-President. Ricans welcomed to a peaceful and un- resisted occupation of their land. 1.t DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM OF 1900. doomed to poverty and distress a peo- ple whose helplessness appeals with We, the representatives of the Demo- neculiar force to our iustice and cratic party of the United States, as- magnanimity. In this, ut of the Spanish war involves the4 out endangering our civilization; they very existence of the republic and the; cannot be subjects without imperiling ,lestruction of our free institutions.; our form of government and since 1We regard it as the paramount issue of! we are. not willing to surrender '1 the campaign. -our civilization or to convert The declaration in the Republican{ th6 T&@?lic into an empire, we ! 1olatform adoDted at the Philadelnhiai favor an ipmediate declaration ,ionvention, held in June, 1900, that the! of the nation’s puln~%e, .to give the ! :Republican party “steadfastly adheres 1 FiliDinos: first. a stable folm of gov- to the policy announced in the Mon--! ernment; second, independency, and ; :roe doctrine,” is manifestly insincere i third, protection from outside in~X- . ;and deceptive. This profession is con-2 ference. such as has been niven fol ‘cadicted by the avowed policy of ] nearly .a century to the republics o ; th$ party in opposition to the spirit; Central and South America. of tI-e Monroe doctrine, to acquire and The greedy commercialism whicl 1 hold sovereignty over large areas of- dictated the PhiliuDine Dolicv of the territotv and large numbers of people Republican administratibn attempt: 3 in the eastern hemisphere. We insist; to justify with the plea that it wil 1 on the st

We condemn the Dingley tariff law election of United States senators bv as a trust-breeding measure, skillfully direct vote of the ,people, and we favor devised to give the few favors which direct legislation wherever practicable. they do not deserve and to place umpon We are opposed to government by the many burdens which they should injunction; we denounce the blacklist not bear. and favor arbitration as a means of We favor such an enlargement of the settling disputes between corporations scope of the interstate commerce law and their employes. as will enable the commission to pro- In the interest of American labor tect individuals and communities from and the upbuilding of the workingman discriminations and the public from as the corner stone of the prosperity unjust and unfair transportation rates. of our country, we recommend that We reaffirm and indorse the princi- congress create a department of labor, ples of the national Democratic plat- in charge of a secretary, with a seat form adopted at Chicago in 1896, and in the cabinet, believing that the ele- we reiterate the demand of that plat- vation of the American laborer will form for an American financial sys- bring with it increased production and tem made by the American people increased prosperity to our country at for themselves, which shall restore home and to our commerce abroad. and maintain a bimetallic price level, We are proud obf the courage and and as part of such system the im- fidelity of the American soldiers and mediate restoration of the free and sailors in all our wars; we favor lib- unlimited coinage of silver and gold eral pensions to them and their de- at the present legal ratio of 16 to 1 pendents, and we reiterate the posi- without waiting for the aid or consent tion taken in the Chicago platform in of any other nation. 1896 that the fact of enlistment and We denounce the currency bill en- service shall be deemed conclusive evi- acted at the last session of congress dence against disease and disability as a step forward in the Republican before enlistment. policy which aims to discredit the sov- We *favor the immediate construc- ereign right of the national govern- tion, ownership and control of the ment to issue all money, whether Nicaraguan canal by the United States of coin or paper, and to bestow upon and we denounce the insincerity of the national banks the power to issue plank in the Republican national plat- and control the volume of paper money form for an isthmian canal in the for their own benefit. A penmanent face of the failure of the Republican national bank currency, secured by majority to pass the bill pending in government bonds, must have a per- congress. manent debt to rest upon, and if the We condemn the Hay-Pauncefote bank currency is to increase with treaty as a surrender of American population and business, the debt must rights and interests, not to be tolerated also increase. The Republican currency by the American people. scheme is, therefore, a scheme for fas- We denounce the failure of the Re- tening unon the taxnavers a nernetual publican party to carry out its pledges and growing debt for the benefit bf the to grant statehood to the territories banks. We ar+ opposed to this pri- of Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma, vate cornoration naner circulated as and we promise the people of those money, but without legal tender qual- territories immediate statehood and ities, and demand the retirement 01 home rule during their condition as the national bank notes as fast as territories, and we favor home rule government naner or silver certificates and a territorial form of government can be substituted for them. for Alaska and Porto Rico. We favor an amendment to the fed- We favor an intelligent system of eral constitution providing for the im’proving the arid lands of the west, 0 NATIONAL PLATFORBIS OR PARTIES. 159 --- storing the waters for purpose of ir- Believing that our most cherished gation and the holding of such lands institutions are in great peril that the for actual settlers. very existence of our constitutional re- We favor the continuance and strict public is at stake and that the de- enforcement of the Chinese exclusion cision now to be rendered will deter- law and its application to the same mine whether or not our children are classes of all Asiatic races. to enjoy those blessed privileges of Jefferson said: “Peace. commerce free government which have made the and honest friendship with all nations, United States great, prosperous and entangling alliances with none.” We honored, we earnestly ask for the fore- approve this wholesome doctrine and going declaration of principles the earnestlv nrotest against the Renubli- hearty support af the liberty-loving can departure which has involved us American people, regardless of previ- in so-called world politics, including ous party affiliations. the diplomacy of Europe and the in- trigue and land grabbing of Asia and we- especially condemn the ill-con- The Republican party met in conven- cealed Republican alliance with Eng- tion in Philadelphia, Pa., June 19. land, which must mean discrimination 1900 and nominated Wm. McKinley of against other friendly nations, and Ohio for President and Theodore Roos- which has already stifled the nation’s evelt of New York for Vice-President. voice while liberty is being strangled in Africa. REPUBLICAN PLATFORM OF 1900. Believing ‘in the principles of self- The Republicans of the United government, and rejecting, as did our States, through their chosen represent- forefathers, the claim of monarchy, we atives met in national convention, view with indignation the purpose of looking back upon an unsurpassed England to overwhelm with force the record of achievement and looking South Africa republics. Speaking, as forward into a great field of duty and we believe, .for the entire American opportunity, and appealing to the judg- nation, except its Republican office ment of their countrymen, make these holders, and for all free men every- declarations: where, we extend our sympathies to ‘The expectation in which the Ameri- the heroic burghers in their unequal can people, turning dram the Demo- struggle to maintain their liberty and cratic party, intrusted its power four independence. years ago to a Republican chief magis- We denounce the lavish appropria- trate and a Republican Congress, has tion of recent Republican congresses, been met and satisfied. When the peo- which have kept taxes high and which ple then assembled at the polls, after threaten the perpetuation of the op- a term of Democratic legislation and pressive war levies. We oppose the administration, business was dead, in- accumulation of a surplus to be squan- dustry paralyzed, and the national dered in such bare faced frauds unon credit disastrously impaired. The coun- the taxpayers as the shipping subsidy try’s capital was hidden away and its bill, which, under the false pretense labor distressed and unemployed. The of fostering American shipbuilding, Democrats had no other plan with would nut unearned millions into the which to improve the ruinous con- pockets of favorite contributers to the ditions which they had themselves pro- Republican campaign fund. We favor duced than to coin silver at the ratio the reduction and sneedy reneal of the of 16 to 1. The Republican party, de- war taxes and a return to the time nouncing this plan as sure to produce honored Democratic policy of strict conditions even worse than those from economy in govermental expendi- which relief was sought, promised to tures. restore prosperity by means of two 160 THE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK. I

legislative mea&es-a protective William McKinley. Its acts have been tariff and a law making gold the stand- established in wisdom and in patriot- ard of value. ism, and at home and abroad it has The people by great majorities issued distinctly elevated and extended the to the Renublican narty a commission influence of the American nation. to enact these laws. The commission Walking untried paths and facing un- has been executed, and the Repub- foreseen responsibilities, President lican promise is redeemed. Prosperity McKinley has been in every situation more general and more abundant than the true American patriot and the up- we have ever known has followed right statesman, clear in vision, strong these enactments. There is no longer in judgment, ilrm in action. alwavs in- controversy as to the value of any spiring and deserving the confidence government obligations. Every Amer- of his countrvmen. ican dollar is a gold dollar, or its as- In asking the American people to in- sured .equivalent, and American credit dorse this Republican record, and to stands higher than that of any na- renew their commission to the Repub- tion. Capital is fully employed, and lican party, we remind them of the everywhere labor is profitably occu- fact that the menace to their prosper- pied. No single fact can more strik- ity has always resided in Democratic ingly tell the story of what Repub- principles, and no less in the general lican government means to the coun- incapacity of the Democratic party try ,than this-that while, during the to conduct public affairs. The prime whole period of 107 years, from 1790 essential of business prosperity is pub- to 1897, there was an excess of exports lic confidence in the good sense of the over imports of only $383,028,497, government and its ability to deal in- there has been in the short three telligently with each new problem of years of the present Republican ad- administration and legislation. That ministration an excess of exports over confidence the Democratic party has imports in the enormous sum of $l,- never earned. It is hopelessly inade- 483,537,094. And while the American quate, and the country’s prosperity people, sustained by this Republican when Democratic success at the ~011s legislation, have been achieving these is announced halts and ceases in mere splendid triumphs in their business anticipation of Democratic blunders and commerce, they have conducted, and failures. and in victory concluded, a war for We renew our allegiance to the prin- liberty and human rights. No thought ciple of the gold standard and de- : of national aggrandiiement tarnished clare our confidence in the wisdom of the high purpose with which the Am- the legislation of the Fifty-sixth Con- erican standards were unfurled. It gress, by which the parity of all our was a war unsought and patiently re- money and the stability of our cur- sisted, but when it came the American rency on a gold basis has been se- government was ready. cured. We recognize that interest rates Its fleets were cleared for action. Its are a potent factor in the production armies were in the field, and the quick and business activity, and for the pur- and signal triumph of its forces on pose of further equalizing and of fur- land and sea bore equal tribute to the ther lowering the rates of interest. we courage of American soldiers and favor such monetary legislation as’will sailors and to the skill and foresight enable the varying needs of the sea- : of Republican statesmanship. To lO,- son and of all sections to be promptly j 000,000 of the human race there was met, in order that trade may be evenly given “a new birth of freedom” and sustained, labor steadily employed, and to the American people a new and no- commerce enlarged. i ble responsibility. The volume of money in circulation ! We indorse the administration of was never so great per capita as it is / i,’ NATIONAL PLATFORXS OF PARTIES. L today. We declare our steadfast oppo- enter the markets of the world. We sition to the free and unlimited coin- favor the associated policy of reciproc- age of silver. No measure to that end ity, so directed as to open our markets could be considered which was without on favorable terms for what we do the support of the leading commercial not ourselves produce in return for free countries of the world. However firm- foreign markets. ly Republican legislation may seem to In the furt,her interest of American have secured the country against the workmen, we favor a more effective re- peril of base and discredited currency, striction of the immigration of cheap the election of a Democratic President labor from foreign lands, the extensloti could not fail to impair the country’s of opportunities of education for work- credit and to bring once more into ing children, the raising o>f the age question the intention of the American limit for child labor, the protection of p,eople to maintain upon #the gold free labor as against contract convict standard the parity of their money cir- labor, and an effective system of labor culation. The Democratic party must insurance. be convinced that the American people Our present dependence upon foreign’ will never tolerate the Chicago plat- shipping for nine-tenths of our for- form. eign carrying is a great loss to the We recognize the necessity and pro- industry of this country. It is also a priety of the honest co-operation of serious danger to our trade, for its capital to meet new business condi- sudden withdrawal in the event of Eu- tions, and especially to extend our ronean war would seriouslv crinnle our rapidly increasing foreign trade, but expanding foreign commerce. *The na- we condemn all conspiracies and com- tional ddense and naval efficiency of binations intended to restrict business, this country, moreover, supply a com- to create monopolies, to limit produc- pelling reason for legislation which tion, or to control prices, and favor will enable us to recover our former such legislation as will effectually re- place among the trade-carrying fleets strain and prevent a11 such abuses, of the world. The nation owes a debt protect and promote competition;and of profound gratitude to the soldiers secure the rights of producers, labor- and sailors who have fought its ers, and all wno are engaged in in- battles, and it is the government’s duty dustry and commerce. to provide for the survivors. and for We renew our faith in the nolicy of the-widows and orphans of those who protection to American labor.- In that have fallen in the country’s wars. The policy our industries have been estab- pension laws, founded in this just lished, diversified, and maintained. By sentiment, should be liberal, and protecting the home market the com- should be liberally administered, and petition has been stimulated and pro- preference should be given, wherever duction cheapened. Opportunity to the practicable with respect to employ- inventive genius of our people has ment in the Dublic servisce. to soldiers been secured, and wages in every de- and sailors, and to their widows and partment of labor maintained at high , orphans. We commend the policy of the rates, higher now than ever before, Republican party in maintaining the always distinguishing -our working ,efficiency of the civil service. The ad- people in their better conditions of life ministration has acted wisely in its from those of any competing country. , efforts to secure for public service in Enjoying the blessings of the Ameri- t Cuba, Porto Rico, Hawaii, and the can common school, secure in the right Philippine islands only those whose of selif+overnment. and Drotected in L iitness has been determined by train- the occupancy of their own markets. ing and experience. We believe that their constantly increasing knowledge employment in the public service in and skill have enabled them to finallyI these territories should be confined as 162 THE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK. - far as practicable to their inhabitants. idministration is warmly to be com- It was ‘the plain purpose of the fif- 1nended for its successful effort to com- teenth amendment to the constitution mit all trading and colonizing nat.ions to prevent discrimination on account ;:o the policy of the open door in China. of race or color in regulating the elec- 1ln the interest of our expanding com- tive franchise. Devices of state gov- 1merce, we recommend that Congress ernments, whether by statutory or ,:reate a department of commerce and constitutional enactment, to avoid the 1industries in the charge of a secretary purpose of this amendment, are revo- with a seat in the Cabinet. lutionary and should be condemned. The United States consular system Public movements looking to a per- should be reorganized under the super- manent improvement of the roads and vision of this new department upon highways of the country meet with such a basis of appointment and tenure our cordial approval,, and we recom- as will render it still more serviceable mend this subject to the earnest con- Ito the nation’s increasing trade. sideration of the people and of the The American government must pro- Legislatures of the several states. tect tht? person and property of every We favor the extension of the rural Icitizen wherever they are wrongfully free delivery service wherever its ex- violated or placed in peril. tension may be justified. We congratulate the women of In further pursuance of the constant America upon their splendid record of policy of the Republican party to pro- public service in the Volunteer Aid vide free homes on the public domain, association, and as nurses in camp and we recommend adequate national legis- hospital during the recent campaigns lation to reclaim the arid lands of the of our armies in the Eastern and West United States, reserving control of the ern Indies, and we appreciate their distribution of water for irrigation to faithful co-operation in all works of the respective states ana territories. education and industrv. We favor home rule for, and the President McKinley has conducted early admission to statehood of, the the foreign affairs of the United States territories of New Mexico, Arizona, with distinguished credit to the Ameri- and Oklahoma. can people. In releasing us from thf The Dingley act, amended to pro- vexatious conditions of a European al. vide sufficient revenue for the conduct liance for the government of Samoa, oi the war, has so well performed its his course is esnecially to be com- work that it h.as been possible to re- mended. By securing-to our undi- duce the war debt in the sum of $40,- vided control of the most important 000,000. So ample are the govern- island of the Samoan group, and the ment’s revenues, and so great is the best harbor in the Southern Pacific, public confidence in the integrity of every American interest has been safe- its oblizations that its newly funded guarded. We approve the annexation 2 per cent. bonds sell at a premium. of the Hawaiian islands to the United The country is now justified in expect- States. ing, and it will be the policy of the We commend the part taken by our Republican party to bring about, a re- government in the peace conference duction of the war taxes. at the Hague. We assert our stead- We favor the construction, owner- fast adherence to the policy announced shin. controI. and nrotection of an L in the Monroe doctrine. The provis- isthmian canal by the government of ions of the Hague convention were the United States. New markets arc wiselv regarded when President Mc- necessary for the increasing surplus 01 Kinley tendered his friendly oftlces in our farm products. Every effort should the interest of peace between Great he made to open and obtain new mar- Britain and the South African repub- kets, especially in the orient, and tne lic. While the American government NATIONAL PLATFORYB OF PARTIES. 163 must continue the policy prescribed by SILVER REPUBLICAN PLATFORM. Washington, affirmed by every succeed- We, the , in ing President and imposed upon us by national convention assembled, de- the Hague treaty of non-intervention clare these as our principles and in- in European controversies, the Ameri- vite the co-operation of all who agree can people earnestly hope that a way therewith: m.ay soon be found, honorable alike to both contending parties, to terminate We recognize that the principles set the strife between them. forth in the declaration of independ- In accepting by the treaty of Paris ence are fundamental and everlasting- the just responsibility of our victories Iv true in their annlication of govern- in the Spanish war, the President and ments among men. We believe th8 the Senate won the undoubted ap- patriotic words of Washington’s fare- proval of the American people. No well to be words of soberness and wis- other course was possible than to de- dom, inspired by the spirit of right stroy Spain’s sovereignty throughout and truth. We treasure the words of the Western Indies and in the Philip- Jefferson as priceless gems of Ameri- nine islands. can statesmanship. That course created our responsibi- We hold in sacred remembrance the lity before the world and with the un- broad philanthrophy and patriotism of organized nooulation whom our inter- Lincoln, who was the great interpre- vention had freed from Spain, to pro- ter of American history and the great vide for the maintenance of law and apostle of human rights and of indus- order, and for the establishment of trial freedom, and we declare, as was good .government and for the Iperform- declared by the conventi,on that nomi- ante of international obligations, our nated the great emancipator, that the authority could not be less than our maintenance of the principles pro- responsibility, and wherever sovereign mulgated in the declaration of inde- rights were extended it became the pendence and embodied in the federal high duty of the government to main- constitution, “that all men are cre- tain its authority, to put down armed ated equal; that they are endowed by insurrection, and to confer the bless- their Creator with certain inalienable ings of liberty and civilization upon all rights; that among these are life, lib- the rescued peoples. The largest meas- erty and the pursuit of happiness; ure of self-government consistent with that to secure these rights govern- their welfare and our duties shall be ments ‘are instituted among men, de- secured to them by law. To Cuba in- riving their just powers from the con- dependence and self-government were sent of the governed,” is essential to assured in the same voice by which the preservation of our republican in- war was declared, and to the letter this stitutions. uledae shall be nerformed. ’ We declare our adherence to the The Republic& party upon its his- principle of bimetallism as the right tory and upon this declaration of its basis of a monetary system under our principles and policies confidently in- national constitution, a principle that vokes ,the considerate and approving found place repeatedly in republican judgment of the American people. platforms from the demonetization of silver in 1873 to the St. Louis repub- The Lincoln (or silver) Republi- lican convention in 1896. cans met in convention in Kansas Since that convention a republican City, MO., on July 4, 1900 and nomin- ,congress and a republican president, ated Wm. J. Bryan of Nebraska for at the dictation of the trusts and President and A. E. Stevenson of Illi- Imoney power, have passed and ap- nois for Vice-President and adopted 1proved a currency bill which in itself the following. iis a repudiation of the doctrine of bi- 164 THE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK.

metallism advocated theretofore by the upon incomes, and if necessary to ac- president and every great leader of his complish this we favor an amendment : party. to the constitution. This currency law destroys the full We believe that United States sen- money power of the silver dollar, pro- ators ought to be elected by a direct vides for the payment of all govern- vote of the people, and we favor such ment obligations and the redemption amendment of the constitution and of all forms of paper money in gold such legislation as may be necessary alone-retires the time-honored and to that end. patriotic greenbacks, constituting one- We favor the maintenance and the sixth of the money in circulation, and extension wherever practicable of the surrenders to banking corporations a merit system in the ‘public service, ap- sovereign function of issuing all paper pointments to be made according to money, thus enabling these corpora- fitness, competitively ascertained, and tions to control the price of labor and nublic servants to be retained in office property by increasing or diminishing only so long as shall be compatible the volume of money in circulation, with the efficiency of the service. thus giving the banks power to create Combinations, trusts and monoaolies panics and bring disaster upon busi- contrived and arranged for the purpose ness enterprises. of controlling the prices and quantity The urovisions of this currency law of articles supplied to the public are making the bonded debt of the repub- uniust. unlawful and onnressive. lic payable in gold alone changes the Not .only do these uniawful conspi- contract between the government and racies fix the prices of commodities in the bondholders to the advantage of many cases, but they invade every the latter and is in direct oppo&ion branch of the state ‘and national gov- to the declaration of the Matthews ernment with their polluting influence resolution passed by congress in 1878, and control the actions of their em- for which resolution the present re- ployes and dependents in private life publican president, then a member of until their influence actualls imnerils congress, voted, as did also all leading society and the liberty of the citizen. republicans, both in the house and sen- We declare against them. We de- ate. mand the m’ost stringent laws for their We declare it to be our intention to destruction and the most severe pun- lend our efforts to the relpeal of this ishment of their promoters and main- currency law, which not only repudi- tainers and the energetic enforcement ates the ancient and time-honored of such laws by the courts. principles of the American people be- We believe the Monroe doctrine to fore the constitution was adopted, but be sound in principle .and a wise na- is violative of the principles of the con- tional policy and we demand a firm stitution itself, and we shall not cease adherence thereto. We condemn acts our efforts until there has been estab- inconsistent with it and that tend to lished in its place a monetary system make us parties to the interests and to based upon the free and unlimited involve us in the controversies of Eu- coinage of silver and aold into monev ropean nations and to recognition by at the present legal ratio of 16 to 1 by pending treaty of the rights of Eng- the independent action of the United Land to be considered in the construc- States, under which systems all paper’ tion of an interoceanic canal. We de- money shall be issued by the govern- :lare that such canal. when construct- ment and all such money coined or ed, ought to be controlled by the Uni- issued shall be a full legal tender in ted States in the interests of American payment of all debts, public and pri- nations. vate, without exception. We observe with anxiety and regard We are in favor ot a graduated tax with disappproval the increasing own- I NATIONAL PLATFORMS OF PARTIES. 165 ership of A’merican lands by aliens and government by the consent of the gov- their growing control over our inter- erned-and are unalterably 0DDOSe.d to national transportation, nartural re- a government based upon-force. It is sources and the public utilities. We clear and certain that the inhabitants demand legislation to protect our pub- of the PhiliDDine archiDelago cannot be Xc domain, our natural resources, our made citizens of the United States franchises and our internal commerce without endangering our civilization. and to keep them free and maintain We are therefore in favor of applying their independence of all foreign mo- to the Philippine archipelago the prin- nopolies, institutions and influences, ciple we are solemnly and publicly and we declare our opposition to the pledged to observe in the case of Cuba. leasinz of the Dublic lands of the There no longer being any necessity United States whereby corporations for collecting war taxes, we demand and syndicates will be able to secure the repeal of the war taxes levied to control thereof and thus monopolize carry on war with Spain. the public domain, the heritage of the We favor the immediate admission people. into the union of states the territories We are in favor of the principles of of Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahomo. direct legislation. In view

people by every honest and peaceful munication, transportation and pro- means. Our creed and our history duction which the people may elect, justifies the nations of the earth in such as railroads, telegraphs and tele- expecting that wherever the American phone lines, coal mines, etc. flag is unfurled in authority human 3. The land, including all natural libertv will be found.’ We arotest sources of wealth, is a heritage of the against the adoption of any -policy aeonle and should not be mononolized that will change in the thought of the for- speculative purposes, and- alien world the meaning of our flag. ownership of land should be prohibit- We are opposed-to the importation ed. All land now held by railroads and of Asiatic laborers in competition with other corporations in excess of their American labor and a more rigid en- actual needs and all lands now owned forcement of the laws relatina! thereto. by aliens should be reclaimed by the The silver republican party of the government and held for actual set- United States in the foregoing prin- tlers only. ciples, seeks to perpetuate the spirit 4. A scientific and absolute paper and to adhere to the teachings of Ab- money, based upon the entire wealth raham Lincoln. and nonulation of the nation. not re- deemable in any specific commodity, but made a full legal tender for all The middle-of-the-road populists debts, and receivable for all taxes and met in Cincinnati and on May lOth, public duties, and issued by the gov- 1900, nominated Wharton Baker of ernment only, without the intervention Pennsylvania for President and Ig- of banks, and in sufficient quantity natius Donnelly of Minnesota for to meet the demands of commerce. is Vice-President, and adopted the fol- the best currency that can be devised; lowing. but, until such a financial system is Isecured, which we shall press for MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD POPULIST ado&ion. we favor the free and un- PLATFORM. limited coinage of both silver and gold The People’s party of the United at the legal ratio of 16 ‘to 1. States, assembled in national conven- 5. We demand the levy and collec- tion this 10th day of May, 1900 affirm- tion of a graduated tax on incomes ing our unshaken belief in the cardinal and inheritances, and a constitutional tenets of the People’s party as set amendment to secure the same if forth in the Omaha platform, and necessary. oledaina ourselves anew to continued 6. We demand the election of Presi-‘ advocacy of those grand principles of dent, Vice-President, Federal Judges human liberty until right shall tri- and United States Senators by direct umph over might and love over greed, vote of the neonle. do adopt and proclaim this declaration 7. We are-opposed to trusts, and de- of fai,th: clare the contention between the old 1. We demand the initiative and parties on the monopoly question is a referendum and the imperative man- sham battle, arid that no solution of date for such changes of existing fun- this mighty problem is possible with- damental and statute laws as will en- out the adoption of ,the principle of ahble ‘the people in their sovereign ca- public ownership of public ulitilies. pacity to propose and compel the en- actment of such laws as they desire; to reject such as they deem injurious The Prohibition party met in Chi- to their interests. and to recall un- cago, Ill., on June 28, 1900, and nomi- faithful public servants. nated John G. Woolley of Minnesota 2. We demand the public ownership for President and Henry B. Metcalf d and operation of those means of com- Rhode Island for Vice-President. .

NATIONAL PLATFORXS OF PARTIES. 167

PROHIBITION PLATFORM FOR 1900. L)ower to enforce it and to insure its Inoral and material benefits. The National Prohibition uartv. in We insist that such a party, a.greed convention represented at -Chicago, ipon this principle and policy, hav- June 27 and 28, 1900, acknowledging ng sober leadership, without any obli- Almighty God as the supreme source Fation for success to the saloon vote of all just government, realizing that tnd to those demoralizing political this renublic was founded upon Chris- :ombinations of men and money now tian principles, and can endure only allied therewith and suppliant thereto, as it embodies justice and righteous- :an successfully cope with all other ness, and asserting that all aathority lnd lesser problems of government, should seek the best good of all the n legislative halls and in the execu- governed, to this en.d wisely prohibit- ;ive“chair, and ,that it is useless for any ing what is wrong and permitting only larty to make declarations in its plat- what is right, hereby records and pro- lorm as to any questions concerning claims: which there may be serious differences 1. We accept and assert the defini- If opinion in its own membership and tion given by Edmund Burke, that as to which, because of such differ- “a party is a body of men joined to- snces, the party could legislate only gether for the purpose of promoting by cn a basis of mutual concessions when their joint endeavor the national inter- coming into Dower. est upon some partmular principle We submit that ,the Democratic and upon which they are all agreed.” Republican parties are alike insincere We declare that there is no principle in their assumed hostility to trusts now advocated, by any other party P iand monopolies. They dare not and do which could be made a fact in govern- . :not attack the most dangerous of them ment with such beneficent moral and I all, the liquor power. So long as the material results as the principal oi t saloon debauches the citizen and prohibition applied to the beverage breeds the purchasable voter, money iiquor traiilc; that the national in- will continue to buy its own way to terest could be promoted in no other power. Break down this traffic, ele- way so surely an,d widely by its adop. vate manhood, and a sober citizenship tion and assertion through a nationa’ will find a way to ,control dangerous policy and a co-operation therein by combinations of capital. every state, forbidding the manufac We nurnose. as a first steu. in the ture, sale, erportation, importatior I financial problem of the nation to save and transportation of intoxicating : more than a billion of dollars every liquors for beverage purposes; that w( year, now annually expended to sup- stand for this as the only principh nort the liauor traffic. and to demoral- proposed by any party anywhere foi r ize our people. When that is accomp- the settlement of a question greatei r lished, conditions will have so im- and graver than any other before thl proved that with a clearer atmosphere American people, and involving more the country can address itself to the profoundly ,than any other their mora questions as to the kind and quantity future and financial welfare; and tha, of currency needed. all the .patriotic citizenship of thi: 2. We reaffirm as true indisnutably country agreed upon this principle the declaration of , however much disagreeme& there ma3 when Secretary of the Treasury in be as to the minor considerations am the cabinet of Presideut Arthur, that issues, should stand together at the “considered socially, financially, pol- ballot box from this time forward unti itically or morally, the licensed liquor prohibition is the established policy o traffic is or ought to be the overwhelm- the United States, with a party ir ing issue in American politics,” and .

168 THE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK.

“that the destruction of this iniquity ity for the army canteen, with all its stands next on the ,calendar of the dire brood of disease, immorality, sin worla’s progress.” We hold that the and death in this country, in Cuba, in existence of our party ‘presents this Porto Rico and the Philippines; and issue squarely to the American peo- we insist that by his attitude con- ple, and lays upon ,them the responsi- cerning the canteen, and his apparent bility of choice between the two par- contempt for the vast number of peti- ties, dominated by distillers and brew- tions and petitioners protesting against ers, with their policy of saloon per- it, he has outraged and insulted the petuation, breeding waste, wickedness, moral sentiment of this country in woe. nauuerism. taxation. corruntion such a manner and to such a degree and’crime, and our one party of l&i- as calls for its righteous uprising and otic and moral principle, with a policy his indignant and effective rebuke. which defends it from domination by We challenge denial of the fact that corrupt bosses, and which insures it our chief executive, as commander-in- forever against the blighting control chief of the Imili.tary &forces of the of saloon politics. United States, at any-time prior to or We face with sorrow, shame and since March 2, 1899, could have closed fear the awful fact that this liquor every army saloon, called a canteen, traffic has a grip on our government, by executive order, as President Hayes municipal, state, and national, through in effect did before him, and should the revenue system and a saloon sov- have closed them, for the same reasons ereignty, which no other party dares which actuated President Haves: we to dispute: a grip which dominates assert that the act of congress, passed the party now in power, from caucus March 2, 1899, forbidding the sale of to congress. from nolicemen to uresi- liquors, %n any post, exchange or can- dent, from the rum shop to the white teen,” by any “officer or private sol- house; a grip which compels the chief dier,” or by “any person, on any prem- executive to consent that law shall be ises used for militarv munoses bv the nullified in behalf of the brewer, that United States,” was -and is as explicit the canteen shall curse our army and an act of prohibition as the English spread intemfperance across the seas, language can frame; we declare our and that our flag shall wave as the solemn belief that the Attorney-Gen- symbol of partnership, at home and eral of ,the United States, in his inter- abroad, between this government and pretation of that law, and the Secre- the men who defy and defile it for their tary of War, in his acceptance of that unholy gain.- interpretation and his refusal to en- 3. We charge upon President Mc- force the law, were and are ‘guilty of Kinley, who was elected to his high treasonable nullification thereof, and office by appeals to Christian senti- that President McKinley, through his ment and patriotism almost unpreced- assent to and indorsoment of such in- ented and by a combination of moral terpretation and refusal on the part of influences never before seen in this officials appointed by and responsible country, that, by his conspicuous ex- to him, shares responsibility in their ample as a wine-drinker at public guilt; and we record our conviction banquets and as a wine-serving host that a new and serious peril confronts in the white house, he has done more our country, in the fact that its Pres- to encourage the liquor business, to de- ident, at the behest of the beer power, moralize the temperance habits of dares and does abrogate a I’aw of con- young men, and to bring Christian gress. through subordinates remova- uractices and reauirements into disre- ble at will by him and whose acts be- pute, that any -other president this come his, and thus virtually confesses republic has had. We further charge that laws are to be administered, or upon President McKinley responsibil- to be nullified, in the interest of 8 NATIONAL PLATFORM8 OF PARTIEB. 169 law-defying business, by an adminis- the American grogshop, and because it tration under mortagage to such busi- has entered upon a license policy in ness for support. our new possessions by incorporating 4. We deplore the fact that an ad- the same in the recent act of congress ministration of this republic, claiming in the code of laws for the aovern- the right and power to carry our flag ment of the Hawaiian islands, - across the seas, and to conquer and an- We call general attention to the fear- nex new territory, should admit its ful fact that the exDortation of lack of ‘Dower to Drohibit the American liquors from the United States to the saloon bn subjugated soil, or should Philippine islands increased from $337 openly confess itself subject to liquor in 1898 to $467,198 in the first ten sovereignty under that flag. We are months of the fiscal year ending June humiliated. exasDerated and grieved. 1, 1900; and that whiie our exportation by the evidence- painfully abindant; of liquors to Cuba never reached $30,- that this administration’s policy of ex- 000 a year, previous to American occu- mansion is bearing so raDidlv its fruits Dation of that island. our exDorts of of drunkenness, insanity and crime such liquors to Cuba; during-the fis- under the hot-house sun of the tropics; cal year of 1899, reached the sum of and that when the president of the $629,655. first PhiliDDine commission said: “It 6. One great religious body (the was unfor&mte that we introduced Baptist) having truly declared of the and established the saloon there, to liquor traffic “that it has no defensi- corrupt the natives and to exhibit the ble righ.t to exist, that it can never be vices of our race.” we charge the in- reformed, that it stands condemned by humanity and unchristianicy of this its unrighteous fruits as a thing un- act on the administration of William christian, un-American and perilous McKinley, and upon the party which utterly to every interest of life;” an- elected and would perpetuate the other great religious body (the Meth- same. odist) having as truly asserted and re- 5. We declare that the only policy iterated that “no political party has a which the government of the United right to expect, nor should it receive, States can of right uphold as to the the votes of Christian men so long as liquor traffic, under the national con- it stands committed to the license sys- stitution, upon any territory under the tem or refuses to put itself on record militarv or civil control of that ROV- in an attitude of open hostility to the ernment, is the policy of prohibition: saloon; ” other great relimgious bodies that, “to establish justice, insure do- having made similar deliverances, in mestic tranquillity, provide for the language plain and unequivocal, as to common defense, promote the general the liquor traffic and the duty of Chris- welfare and insure the blessings of tian citizenship in opposition thereto; liberty to ourselves and our poster- and the fact being plain and unde- itv.” as the constitution Drovides, the niable that the Democratic party liquor traffic must neither be sanc- stands for license, the saloon and the tioned nor tolerated, and that the rev- canteen, while the Republican party, enue policy, which makes our govern- in policy and administration, stands ment a partner with distillers and for the canteen. the saloon and reve- brewers and bar-keepers, is a disgrace nue therefrom,. we declare ourselves to our civilization, an outrage upon hu- justified in expecting that Christian manity and a crime against God. voters everywhere shall cease their We -condemn the present adminis- comDlicitv with the liauor curse bv tration at Washington because it has refusing to uphold a liqnor party, and repealed the prohibitory laws in Alas- shall unite themselves with the only ka, and has given over the partly civ- party which upholds the prohibition ilized tribe8 there to be the prey of policy, and which for nearly thirty 170 THE PLATFOBM - TEXT BOOK. years has been the faithful defender and the capitalist class for the pos- of the church, the state, the home ant I session of the power of government. the school against the saloon, its ex. We affirm our steadfast purpose to use panders and perpetuators, their actua 1 those powers, once achieved, to de- and persistent foes. stroy wage slavery, abolish the insti- We insist that no differences of be. tution of private property in the lief, as to any other question or con means of production and distribution, tern of government, should stand ir and to establish the Co-operative Com- the way of such a union of moral ani t monwealth. Christian citizenship as we hereby in. In the United States, as in all other vite, for the speedy settlement of this civilized countries, the natural order paramount moral, industrial, financial L of economic development has separated and political issue, which our party society into two antagonistic classes- presents; and we refrain from declar- the capitalists, a comparatively small ing ourselves upon all minor matters class, the possessors of all the modern as to which differences of opinion may means of production and distribution exist, that hereby we may offer to the (land, mines, machinery and means of American people a platform so broad I transportation) and the large and that all can stand upon it who desire ever-increasing class of wage earners, to see sober citizenship actually sov- possessing no means of production. ereign over the allied hosts of evil This economic supremacy has se- sin and crime, in a government of the cured to the dominant class the full people, by the people, and for the peo- control of the government, the pulpit, ple. the schools, and the public press, We declare that there are but two thereby making them the arbiters of real narties todav concernine the the fate of the working class, while liquor- traffic-pecpetuationists- and it is reducing it to a condition of de- prohibitionists-and that patriotism, pendence, economically exploited and Christianity, and every interest of oppressed, intellectually and physical- genuine republicanism and of pure de- ly crippled and degraded, and its po- mocracy, besides the loyal demands of litical equality rendered bitter mock- ery; and the contest between these our common humanity, ‘require the two classes grows ever sharper. Hand sneedy union. in one solid nhalanx at in hand with the growth of monopo- the b&lot-box, of all who oppose the lies, goes the annihilation of small in- liquor traffic’s perpetuation, and who dustries and the middle class depend- covet endurance for this republic. ing upon them. Ever larger grows the multitude of destitute wage workers The Socialist Labor Party met in and of the unemployed, and ever convention at Indianapolis, Ind., and fiercer the struggle between the class nominated Eugene V. Debs of Illinois of the exploiter and the exploited, the for President and Job Harriman of capitalists and the wage ‘workers. The evil effects of canitalistic nro- California for Vice-President. duction are intensified by the recurring SOCIALIST LABOR PLATFORM FOR industrial crises, continually render- 1900. ing the existence of the greater part of the population more precarious and The Socialist Labor party of the uncertain, which amply proves that the United States. in convention assem- modern means of production have out- bled reaffirms its allegiance to the rev- grown the existing social order based olutionary principles of international on production for profit. socialism and declares the supreme po- Human energy and natural resources litical issue in America today to be are wasted for individual gain. the contest between the working class Ignorance is fostered, that wage

. 5, NATIOSAL PLATFORIS OF PARTIES. 171 slavery may be perpetuated. Science act as a class in its struggle against and invention are perverted to the ex- the collective power of the capitalist ploitation of men, women, and chil- class except by constituting itself into dren. a political party, distinct and opposed The lives and liberties of the work- to all parties formed by the propertied ing class are recklessly sacrificed for classes. profit. We, therefore, call upon the wage Wars are fomented between nations; worker8 of the United States, without indiscriminate slaughter is encour- distinction of color, race or sex, and aged; the destruction of whole races is upon all citizens in sympathy with the sanctioned, in order that the capitalist historic mission of the working class. class may extend its commercial do- to organize under the banner-of the minion abroad and enhance its su- Socialist Labor party, as a party truly premacy at home. representing the interests of the toil- The introduction of a new and high- ing masses and uncompromisingly er order of society is the historic mis- waging war upon the exploiting class, sion of the working cIass. All other until the system of wage slavery shall classes despite their-apparent or actual be abolished and the Co-onerative conflicts are interested in the uphold- Commonwealth shall be established. ing of the system of private owner- Pending the accomplishment of this shin of the Imeans of nroduction. We our ultimate purpose, we pledge every therefore charge that-in this country effort of the Socialist Labor party for the Democratic, Republican and all the immediate improvement of the other parties which do not stand for condition of labor, and also for the se- the complete overthrow of the capital- curing of its nroaressive demands. ist system of production are alike the “Workingmen ofall countries, unite! tools of the capitalist class. You have nothing to lose but your The working class cannot, however, chains, and have a world to gain!” 1Pa TIFE PLATFO&M TEXT BOOK.

SOCIALIST PLATFORM. af protest against the passing of liberty and the coming of tyranny. It com- (,Adopted at Chicago, May 6, 1904.) eletelv controls the university and pub- ik school, the pulpit and the- press,-and I. the arts and literatures. Ry making these economically dependent upon it- The Socialist Party, in convention as- aelf, it has brought all the forms of pub- -bled, makes its appeal to the Amer- lic teaching into servile submission to ican people as the defender and preserver its own interests. of the idea of liberty and self-govern- Our political institution8 are also being ment, in which the nation was born; a8 used as tlhe destrows of +hat individual Qe only political movement standing property upon which all liberty and op for the program and principles by which eortunitv deuend. The uromise of eco- the liberty of the individual may become homic in”depehdence to each man was one a fact; as the only political organization 3f the faiths upon which our institutions that is democratic, and that has for its were founded. But, under the guise of purpose the democratizing of the whole lefending private pioperty, capitalism. is of societv. using our political institutions to make To thi’J idea of liberty the Republican it impossible for the vast majority of and Democratic parties are equally false. human being8 ever to become possessors They alike struggle for power to main- 8f private property in the mean8 of life. tain and profit by an industrial system Capitalism is the enemy and destroyer which can be preserved only by the com- 2f essential private property. Its de- #ete overthr6w of such liberties as we velopment is through the legalized con- already have, and by the still further fiscation of all that the labor of the work- enslavement and degradation of labor. ina class uroduces. above its subsistence- Our American institutions came into wage. fhe private ownership of the the world in the name of freedom. They means of employment ground8 society have been seized upon by the capitalist in an economic slavery which renders class as the means of rooting out the intellectual and political tyranny in idea of freedom from among the people. evitable. Our state and national legislatures have Socialism comes so to organize in become the mere agencies of great ,dustrv and sociek that everv individua: These interests DroDertiedA I inte&sts. shall “be Secure iu* that private property eont.rol the appointments and decisions in the means of life upon which hi: of the iudges of our courts. They have liberty of being, thought and action de. come into-what is practically a private pend. It comes to rescue the people ownership of all the functions and forces from the fast increasing and successfu: ef government. They are using these to assault of capitalism upon the liberty 01 betray and conquer foreign and weaker the individuaL peoples, in order to establish new mar- kets for the surplus goods which the II. people make, but are too poor to buy. They are gradually so invading and re- A8 an American Socialist party, we stricting the right of suffrage as to take pledge our fidelity to the principles of away unawares the right of the worker international socialism, as embodied in to a vote or voice in public affairs. By the united thought and action of the enacting new and misinterpreting old socialist8 of all nations. In the in- laws, they are preparing to attack the dustrial development already accom- libertv of the individual even to speak nlished. the interests of the world% or thbk for himself, or for the common &orkers are separated by no national good. boundaries. The condition of the most By controliing all the Sources of so- exploited and oppressed workers, in the cial revenur, t!ie possessing class is most remote places of the earth, in- able to silence what might be the voice evitably tend8 to drag down all the NATIONAL PLATFOBYS OF PARTIES. 173

workers of the world to the same level. labor of scores. or even thousands. enters IThe tenclencv of the comnetitive waee into almost every article produced. Pro- system is to” make labor’s -lowest con& duction is now social or collective. Prao- tion the measure or rule of its universal tically everything is made or done by condition. Industry and. finance are no manv men--sometimes senarated bT longer national but international. In seas- or continents-working toget& hot< organization and results. The chief for the same end. But this co-operation significance of national boundaries, and in production is not for the- direct use of Iof the so-called natriotisms which the the thigs made by the workers who Iruling class of ea;h nation is seeking to make them, but for the profit of the revive, is the power which these give to owners of the tools and means of pro- capitalism to keep the workers of the duction; and tb this is due the present world from uniting, and to throw them division of society into two classes; and against each other in the struggles of from it have sprung all the miseries, contending capitalist interests for the. inharmonies and contradictions of our control of the yet unexploited markets civilization. of the world, or the remaining sources Between these two classes there can of profit. , be no possible compromise or identity The socialist movement, therefore, is of interests, any more than there can a world-movement. It knows of no be peace in the midst of war, or liglit. conflicts of interests between the work- in the midst of darkness. A society era of one nation and the workers of an- based upon this class division carries in Iother. It stands for the freedom of the itself the seeds of its own destruction. workers of all nations; and, in so atand- Such a society is founded in fundament- Iins. it makes for the full freedom of all al injustice. There can be no possible humanity. basis for social peace, for individual III. freedom, for mental or moral harmony, I except in the conscious and complete I The socialist movement owes its birth triumph of the working class as the and growth to that economic develop- only class that has the right or power ment or world-process which is rapidly to be. separating a working or producing class from a possessing or capitalist cIa9s. IV. The class that produces nothing pos- sesses labor’s fruits, and the opportuni- The Socialist nrogramme is not 8, ties and enjoyment9 these fruits afford, theory imposed upog society’ for its a& while the class that does the world’s real ceptance or rejection. It is but the in- work has increasing economic uncer- terpretation of what is, sooner or later, taintv, and physical and intellectual inevitable. Canitalism is alreadv strue- misery for its-portion. gling to its destruction. It is n> long& The fact that these two classes have competent to organize or administer the not yet become fully conscious of their work of the world, or even to preserve distinction from each other, the fact itself. The captains of industry are ap- that the lines of division and interest palled at their own inability to contro1 may not yet be clearly drawn, does not or direct the rapidly socializing forces change the fact of the class conflict. of industry. The so-called trust is but This class struggle is due to the a sign and form of the developing so- nrivate ownershin of the means of em- cialization of the world’s work. The iloyment, or thi tools of production. universal increase of the unoertaintv of Wherever and whenever man owned his employment, the universal capitalist” de- own land and tools, and by them pro- termination to break down the unity of duced only the things which he used, labor in the trades unions, the wide- economic independence was possible. spread apprehensions of impending But production, or the making of goods, change, reveal that the institution9 of has long ceased to be individual. The capitalist society are passing under the 174 THE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK.

power of inhering forces that will soon v

To the end that workers may seize all noliticalI Dower.A r as fast as it shall be every possible advantage that may intrusted to us by our fellow-workers, strengthen them to gain complete con- both for their immediate interests and trol of the powers of government, and for their ultimate and complete eman- thereby the sooner establish the co- citation. To this end we anneal to all operative commonwealth, tLe Socialist td to the public em- rep&en;, t’b be faithf;l to the appeal ployment and improvement of the con- which we make, we believe that we are ditions of the workers; for the cnm- but preparing the soil of that economic plete education of children, and their freedom from which will spring the free. freedom from the workshop; for tbo pre- dom of the whole man. -= NATIONAL PLATFORbG3 OF PARTIES. 175 REPUBLICAN PLATFORM. consistent protective tariff, and industry freed from opposition and stimulated bv I (Adopted at Chicago June 23, 1904.) the encouragement of wise laws hss es- Fifty years ago the republican party panded to a degree never before known, came into existence dedicated among has conquered new markets and has other purposes to the great task of ar- created a volume of exports which has resting the extension of human slavery. surpassed imaginatiou. Under the Ding- In lSG0 it elected its first President. ley tariff labor has been fully employed. During twenty-four of the forty-four Wages have risr:n and all industries years which have elapsed since the elec- have revived and l’r3~~Pered. tion of Lincoln the Republican par’,y has We firmly established the cold stand- held complete control of the governumnt. ard, which-was then menace’d with de- For eighteen more of the forty-four strution. ConfZence returned to buai- years rt has held partial control through ness, and with confidence an unexampled the possession of one or two branches prosperity. of the government, while the Democratic Fir d&ient revenues, supplemented party, during the same period, has had by improvident issues of bonds, we gave complete control for only two years. the country an income which. prod&ed This long tenure of power by the Re- a large surnlus and which enabled us publican party is not due to chance. It only vfour years after the Spanish war is a demonstration that the Republican had closed to remove over $lOO,OOO,OOO party has commanded the contideucz of of annual war taxes, reduce the public the American people for nearly t.;vo gen- debt and lower the interest charges of erations to a degree never equaled in the eovernuent. our history, and has displayed a high Th> public credit, which had been so capacity for rule and government which lowered that in time of ueaoe a Demo- has been made even more conspicuous cratic administralti’on made large loan3 by the incapacity and infirmity of pur- at extravagant rates of interest in order pose shown by its opponents. to pay current expenditures, rose under The Repubhcan party entered upon its Republican administration to its highest present period of complete supremacy in point and enabled us to borrow at 2 per 1897. We hare everv riaht to conuratu- cent. even in time of war. late ourselves upon ihe ‘;vork since” then We refused to palter longer with the accomplished, for it has added luster miseries of Cuba. We fought a quick even to the traditions of the party which and victorious war with Spain. We set

carried the government throurrh 0 the Cuba free, eoverned the island for three storms of the-civil war. years and %hen gave it to the Cuban We then found the country, after four people Tvith order restored, with ample years of Democratic rule, in evil pligllt, revenues, with education and public oppressed Tvith misfortune and doubtful health established, free from debt. and of the future. Public credit had been connected with the United States by whe lowered, the revenues were declining, provisions for our mutual interests. the debt n-as growing, the adu~iui&a.- We have organized the government of tion’s attitude toward Spain was feeble Porto Rico, and its people now enjoy and mortifying, the standard of values peace, freedom, order and prosperity. was threatened and uncertain, labor was In the Philippines we haye suppressed unemployed, business was sunk in the insurrection, established order and given depression which had succeeded the panic tn life and property a security never I of 1893, hope was faint and confidence known there before. We have organized was p,ne. - civil government, made it effective and We met these unhappy conditions vig- strong in administration and have con- orously, effectively and at once. ferred upon the people of those islands I We replaced a Democratic tariff Iaw the largest civil liberty they have e;er based on-free trade princhiples and gar- enjoyed. rished with sectional protection by a By our possession of the Philippines 176 THE PLATFOBM TEXT BOOK. we were enabled to take prompt and the difference in the cost of production effective action in the relief of the leea- at home and abroad. tions at Pekin and a decisive art-in We insist upon the maintenance of preventing the participation and A e pre- the principles of protection, and, there- serving of the integrity of China. fore, rates of duty should be adjusted The possession of a route for an only when conditions have so changed isthmian canal. so lone the dream of that the nublic interest demands their American statesmanshi; is now an ac- alteration.* But this work cannot safely complished fact. The great work of be committed to any other hands than connecting the Pacific and Atlantic those of the Republican party. To in- oceans by a danal is at last begun, and trust it to the Democratic party is to it is due to the Republican party. invite disaster. Whether, as in 1892, the We have passed laws which will bring Democratic party declared the protec- the arid lands of the United States with- tive tariff unconstitutional or whether in the area of cultivation. 6. demands tarit reform or tariff re- We have reorganized the army and vision, its real objert is always the de- put it in the highest state of efficiency. struction of the protective system. We have passgd laws for the improve- However specious the name, the pur- ment and support of the militia. pose is ever the same. A Democratic tariff has always been followed by busi- We have pushed forward the building ness adversity, a Republican tariff by of the navy, the defense and the protec- busincsa nrosneritv. tion of our honor and our interests. To a Republican Congress and a Re- Our administration of the great de- publican President this great question partments of the government has been can be safely intrusted. When the only honest and e5cient, and wherever free trade country among the great na- wrongdoing has been discovered the Re- tions agitates a return to protection tha publican administration has not hesi- chief protective countrv should not faI- tated to probe the evil and bring offend- ter in’ maintainina it. ” ers to justice without regard to party or We have extended widely our foreign political ties. markets and we believe in the adoption Laws enacted by the Republican party of all practicable methods for their which the Democratic party failed to further -extension, including commercial enforce and which were intended for the reciprocity whenever reciproca1 agree- protection of the public against the un- ments can be effected consistent with just discrimination or the illegal en- the principles of protection and without croachment of vast aggregations of capi- injury to American agriculture, Ameri- tal have been fearlesslv enforced by a can labor or any American industry. Republican President and new laws- in- We believe it to be the duty of the suring reasonable publicity as to the Renublican nartv to unhold the gold operation of great corporations and pro- stindard and the integrity and -the viding additional remedies for the pre- value of our national currency. The venti& of discrimination in freight maintenance of the gold standard, ea- rates have been passed by a Republican tablished bv the Renublican nartv. can- Congress. not safely -be committed to -the ‘Demo- In this record of achievements during cratic party, which resisted its adoption the last eieht vears mav be read the and has never given any proof since pledges wh&h the Republ”ican party has that time of belief in it or fidelity to it. fulfilled. We propose to continue these While every other industry has pros- nolicies and we declare our constant pered under the fostering aid of Repub- adherence to the following principles: iican leeislation, American shipping- en- Protection which guards and develops gaged i”n foreign trade in co-mpetition our industries is a ‘cardinal policy of the with the low cost of construction, low Republican party. The measure of pro- and heavy subsidies of foreign tection should always, at least, equal z:%&rnents has not for many years NATIONAL PLATFORMS OF PARTIES. 177

received from the government of the any State has been unconstitutionally Cnited States adequate encouragement limited and if such is the case we de- .lt :iuy ii111l. \Ve, therefxrt?. favor legi5- mand that representation in Congress latiou which wili enc-‘lxage and build and in the electoral colleges shall be up the American merchant marine, anti nronortionatelv reduced as directed bv I me cordiallv annrove the legislation of the*Constitu& of the United States.~” the last eon&&s which &eated the Combinations of capital and labor are Imerchant marilie commission to investi- the results of the economic movement of gate and report upon this subject. the age, but neither must be permitted A navy powerful enough to defend the to infringe upon the rights and interests United States against any attack, co of the people. Such combinations when uphold the Monroe doctrine and watch lawfully formed for lawful purposes are Io?er our commerce is essential to the alike entitled to the protection of the safety and the welfare of the American laws, but both are subject to the laws people. To maintain such a navy is the and neither can be permitted to break fixed policy of the Republican party. them. T\‘e cordially approve the attitude of The great statesman and patriotic President Roosevelt and Congress in re- American, William McKinlev. who was gard to the exclusion ‘of Chinese labor re-elected by the Republi& party to and promise a conlinuance of the Xc- the presidency four years ago, was, as- publican pn!‘cay in that, direct,~on. sassinated just at the threshold of his The civil service law was pl:tced on second term. The entire Nation the statute books by the R:spublican mourned his untimely death and did party, which has always susGnn.1 it, that justice to his great qualities of and we renew our former de:,arn.tions mind and character which history will that it shall be thoroughly and honestly confirm and repeat. enforced. The American Deonle were fortunate 1Ve are also mindf;l of the country’s in his successor, to %hom they turned Idebt to the soldiers and sailors of the with a trust and confidence mgich have United States and we believe in making been fullv iustified. President Roose- ample provision for them in the liberal velt brouihc to the great responsibili- administration of the pension laws. ties thus sadly forced upon him a clear Q-e favor the peaceful settlement of lead, a brave-heart, an earnest patriot- international difference by arbitiation. ism and high ideals of public duty and 1Ve commend the vigorous efforts 3ublic service. True to the principles of made by the administration to protect :he Republican party and to the policies ilmerican citizens in foreign lands and which that nartv had declared. he has pledge ourselves to insist upon the just 11~0 shown -himself readv for everv and equal protect,ion of all our citizens mergency and has met hew and vit&l ahroad. It is the unquestioned duty of Juestions with ability and with suc- the government to procure for all our :ess. ritizens, without distinction,, the rights The confidence of the people in his jus- of travel and. sojourn in friendly coun- ;ice inspired by his public career enabled tries, and we declare ourselves in favor lim to render personallv an inestimable of all proper efforts tending to that end. service to the cbuntrv ” b”vI brineine 0 about Our great interests and our growing t settlement of the coal St&e which rommerce in the Orient render the con- threatened such disastrous results at the dition of China of high importance to opening of the winter of 1902. the United States. We cordially com- Our foreign DOliCV under his adminis- mend the policy pursued in that direc- Oration has ‘Lot’ only been able, vigorous, tion by the administration of Presi- tnd dignified, but in the highest degree dent McKinley and President Roosevelt. 3LLccess-~ul. The complicatevd quest‘ions We favor such congressional action as which arose in Venezuela were settled in shall determine whether by special dis- mch a may by President Roosevelt that criminations the elective franchise in the Monroe doctrine was signally vindi- 178 THE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK.

cated and the cause of peace and arbi- tration greatly advanced. His prompt and vigorous action in Panama, which we commend in the high- The People’s party re est terms, not only secured to us the herence to the basic truth canal route but avoided foreign compli- platform of 1892, and of cations which might have been of a se- platforms of 1896 and 1 rious character. in its fourth national He has continued the policy of Presi- July 4, 1904, in the city dent McIiinley in the Orient and our Ill., it draws inspiration position in China, signalized by our re- that saw the birth of the cent commercial treaty with that em- as its own birth as a party, and a pire, has never been so high. He secured from the soul of him who lived at the tribunal by which the vexed and per- present place of meeting. ilous question of Alaskan boundary-was We renew our allegiance to th finally settled. fashioned American spirit that gav nation existence and made it disti Whenever crimes against humanity among the peoples of the earth. have been perpetrated which have again sound the keynote of the De shocked our people, his protest has been tion of Independence, that all me .made and our good offices have been ten- created equal in a political sense, dered, but always with due regard to in- is the sense in which that instru ternational obligations. being a political document, Under his guidance we find ourselves that the utterance should be understood at peace with the world, and never were We assert that the departure from th we more respected or our wishes more fundamental truth is responsible for tl regarded by foreign nations. ills from which we suffer as a nation Pre-eminently successful in regard to that the giving of special privilrgcs t our foreign relations, he has been equal- the few has enabled them to dominnt ly fortunate in dealing with domestic the many, thereby tending to destro questions. The country has known that the political equality which is the corn the public credit and the national cur- stone of democratic government. rency were absolutelv safe in the hands We call for a return to the truths of gis administratio;. In the enforce- the fathers, and we vigorously prote ment of the laws he has shown not only against the spirit of mammonism a courage but the wisdom which under- of thinly-veiled monarchy that is in stands that to permit laws to be rio- rading certain sections of our ratio lated or d®arded opens the door to life and of the very administration anarchy, while the just enforcement of self. This is a nation of peace, ancl the law is the soundest conservatism. He deplore the appeal to the spirit of fo has held firmly to the fundamental and militarism which is shown in American doctrine that all men must advised and vainglorious boasting a obey the law, that there must be no dis- in more harmful ways, in the denial o tinction between rich and poor, between strong and weak: but that justice and equal protection under the law must be secured to every citizen without regard to race, creed, or condition. His administration has been through- out vigorous and honorable, high minded and patriotic. We commend it without lished their cial agents in the reservation to the considerate judgment ‘tional government. We submit tha of the 4merican people. is better for the government to own NATIONAL PLATFOBMB OF PARTIES. 179 railroads than for the railroads to own from American shores of foreign pauper the government; and that one or. the labor. other alternative seems inevitable. We favor the shorter workday, and We call the attention of our fellow- declare that if eight hours constitutes citizens to the fact that the surrender a day’s labor in government service that of both of the old parties to corporate eight hours should constitute a day’s influences leaves the Peoule’s nartv the labor in factories, work shops and mines. only party of reform in the nation. As a means of placing all public ques- Therefore, we submit the following tions directly under the control of the platform of principles to the American people, we demand that legal provision people: be made under which the people may ex- ercise the initiative, I’eferendum and The issuing of money is a function of proportional representation, and direct government, and should never be dele- vote for all public officers, with the right gated to corporations or individuals. The of recall. Constitution gives to Congress alone power to coin money and regulate its Land, including all the natural sources value. of wealth, is a heritage of all the people and should not be monouolized for snec- We demand, therefore, that all money ulative purposes; and alien ownership PDF shall be issued by the government “In land should be prohibited. such quantity as shall maintain stabil- We demand a return to the original ity in prices, every dollar to be a full interpretation of the Constitution and legal tender, none of which shall be a a fair and impartial enforcement of debt redeemable in other money. laws under it; and denounce government We demand that postal savings banks by injunction and imprisonment without be established by the government for the right of trial by jury. the safe deposit of the savings of the To prevent unjust discrimination and people. monopoly, the government should own We believe in the rieht of labor to and control the railroads and those nub- organize for the benefit and protection lit utilities which in their nature’are of those who toil; and pledge the efforts monopolies. To perfect the postal serv- of the People’s party -to preserve this ice, the government should own and op- right inviolate. Capital is organized, erate the general telegraph and tele- and has no right to deny to labor the phone systems and provide a parcels privilege which it claims for itself. We post. feel that intelligent organization of la- As to those trusts and monopolies bor is essential; that it raises the stand- which are not public utilities or natural ard of workmanship and promotes the monopolies, we demand that those spe- efficiency, intelligence, independence and cial privileges which- they now enjoy, character of the wage earner. We be- and which alone enable them to exist, lieve with Abraham Lincoln that labor should be immediately withdrawn. Cor- is prior to capital, and is not its slave, porations being the creatures of govern- but its companion; and we plead for ment should be subjected to such nov- that broad snirit of toleration and ius- ernmental reeulations and control- as tice which will promote industrial place will adequately protect the public. We through the observance of the princi- demand the taxation of monopoly nrivi- ples of voluntary arbitration. leges, while they remain in -private We favor the enactment of legislation hands, to the extent of the value of the looking to the improvement 07 condi- privileges granted. tions for wage earners, the abolition of We demand that Congress shall enact ! child labor, the suppression of sweat- a general law uniformly regulating the shops and of convict labor, in competi- power and duties of all incorporated ! tion with free labor, and the exclusion companies doing interstate burinerr. 180 THE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK. - DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM. of the Nation, and they should be con- stantly invoked and enforced. (Adopted at St. Louis, MO., July 8, We favor the enactment and admin- 1904.) istration of laws giving labor and capi- tal impartially their just rights. Capi- The Democratic party of the United tal and labor ought not to be enemies. States, in national convention assem- Each is necessary to the other. Each bled, declares its deroiion to the essen- has its rights, but the rights of labor tial principles cf the Democratic faith are certainly no less “vested,” no less which brings it t-gether in party corn- “sacred” and no less “inalienable” than , munion. Uader them loc>al self-govern- the rights of capital. ment and national unity and prosperity Constitutional guaranties are violated were alike established. They underlaid whenever any citizen is denied the right. our independence, the structure of our to labor, acquire and enjoy property or ’ free republic and every Democratic ex- reside where interest or inclination may tension from Louisiana to California determine. Any denial thereof by indi- and Texas to Oregon, which preserved viduals, organizations or governments faithfully in all the States the tie be- should be summarily rebuked and pun- tween taxation and representation. ished. They yet inspire the masses of our peo- ple, guarding jealously their rights and We deny the right of any executive liberties and cherishing their fraternity, to disregard or suspend any constitu- peace and orderly development. They tional privilege or limitation. Obedience remind us of our dulics and responsibib- to the laws and respect for their require- ties as citizens and impress upon us, ments are alike the supreme duty of the particularly at this time, the necessity citizen and the official. The military of reform and the rescue of the admin- should be used only to support and istration of government from the hend- maintain the law. We unqualifiedly etrong, arbitrary and spasmodic meth- condemn its employment for the sum- mary banishment of citizens without ods which distract business by unecr- trial or for the control of elections. tainty and pervade the public mind with dread, distrust and perturbation. We approve the measure which passed I. The application of these funda- the United States Senate in 1896, but mental principles to the living issues of which a Republican Congress has ever the day is the first step toward the as- since refused to enact, relating to con- sured peace, safety and progress of our tempts in federal courts and providing Nation. Freedom of the press, of con- for trial by jury in cases of indirect science and of speech; equality before contempt. the law of all citizens; right of trial by We are in favor ‘of the arbitration of jury; freedom of the person defended differences between corporate employers by the writ of habeas corpus; liberty of and their employes and we favor a personal contract untrammeled by sump- strict enforcement of the eight-hour day tuary laws; supremacy of the civil over law on all government work. military authority; a well-disciplined We favor liberal appropriations for militia; the separation of church and the eare and improvement of the water state; economy in expenditures: low ways of the country. When any water taxes, that labor may be lightly bur- way like the Mississippi River is of euf- dened; prompt and sacred fulfillment of ficient importance to demand special aid public and private obligations: fidelity of the government, such aid should be to treaties; peace and friendship with extended with a definite plan of continu- cl1 nations ; entangling alliances with ous work until permanent improvement none; absolute acquiescence to the will is secured. of the majority, the vital principle of We oppose the Republican policy of republics-these are the doctrines which starving home development in order to Democracy has established as proverba feed the greed of conquest and the appe- NATIONAL PLATFORMS OF PARTIES. 131 __ - tite for national “prestige” and display jars entanglement in Oriental and Euro- Iof strength. oean affairs, and without arbitrary, un- Large reductions can easily be made !imited, irresponsible and absolute gov- in the annual expenditures of the gov- :rnment anywhere within our jurisdic- ernment without impairing the effici- tion. We oppose, as fervently as did ency of any branch of the public service, jleorge Washington himself, an indefin- and we shall insist upon the strictest ite, irresponsible, discretionary and economy and frugality compatible with vague absolutism and a policy of colo- vigorous and efficient civil, military and nial exnloitatien. no matter where or naval administration as a right of the Sy whom evoked or exercised; we be- people too clear to be denied or with- lieve with Thomas Jefferson and John held. Adams that no government has a right II. We favor the enforcement of hon- to make one set of laws for those “at esty in the public service, and to that home” and another and a different set of end a thorough legislatrve investiga- Laws, absolute in their character, for tion of those executive departments of those “in the colonies.” All men under the government already Known to teem the American flag are entitled to the with corruption, as well as other depart- protection of the institutions whose em- ments suspected of harboring corruption, blem the flag is; if they are inherently I and the punishment of ascertained cor- unfit for those institutions, then they ruptionists without fear or favor or re- are inherently unfit to be members of gard to persons. The persistent and de- the American body politic. TT’herever liberate refusal of both the Senate and there may exist a people incapable of t+e House of Representatives to permit being governed under American laws, such investigation to be made demon- in consonance with the American Con- strates that only by a change in the stitution, that people ought not to be executive and in the legislative depart- part of the American domain. ments can comnlete exnosure. nunish- We insist that we ought to do for the ment and correciion be 6btained.A Filipinos what we have done already for We condemn the action of the Repub- the Cubans, and it is our duty to make lican party in Congress in refusing to that promise now, upon suitable guar- nrohihit an executive denartment from antees of protection to citizens of our .&e&g into contracts with convicted own and other countries resident there trusts or unlawful combinations in re- at the time of our withdrawal, set the straint of interstate trade. We believe Filipino people upon their feet, free and that one of the best methods of procur- independent to work out their own des- ing economy and honesty in the public tiny. service is to have public officials, from The endeavor of the Secretary of War, the occupant of the White House down by pledging the government’s indorse- to the lowest of them, return as nearly ment for “promoters” in the Phillippine as may be to Jeffersonian simplicity of Islands, to make the United States a living. partner in speculative legislation of the III. We favor the nomination and elec- archipelago, which was only temporarily tion of a President imbued with the held up by the opposition of the Demo- principles of the Constitution, who will cratic senators in the last session will, set his face sternly against executive if successful, lead to entanglements from usurnation of legislative and iudicial which it will be difficult to escape. fun&ions. whether that usurpation be The Democratic nartv has been. and veiled under the guise of executive con- will continue to he.& the” consistent oppo- ‘struction of existing laws or whether it nent of that class of tariff legislation takes refuge in the tyrant’s pleas of by which certain interests haie been necessity or superior wisdom. permitted, through congressional favor, We favor the preservation, so far as to draw a heavy tribute from the Amer- we can, .of an open door for the world’s ican people. This monstrous perversion commerce in the Orient, without unnec- of those equal opportunities which our 152 THE PLATFORY TEXT BOOK.

political institutions were established to potent agency, in promoting and secure has caused what may once have strengthening these unlawful conspira- been infant industries to become the cies against trade. We demand an en- greatest combinations of capital that largement of the powers of the inter- the world has ever kaown. These spe- state commerce commission, to the end cial favorites of the government have, that the traveling public and shippers through trust methods, been converted of this country may have prompt and into monopolies, thus bringing t.0 an end adequate relief from the abuses t,o which domestic competition, which leas the they are subjected in the matter of only alleged check upon the extravagant transportation. We demand a strict en- profits made possible by the protective forcement of existing civil and criminal ,;rstem. These industrial combinations, statutes against all such trusts, com- b’v the financial assistance they can binations and monopolies; and we de- give,. nom control the policy of the Re- mand the enactment of such further publman party. legislation as may be necessary -to &fee- We denounce protection as a robbery tually suppress them. of the many to enrich the few, and we Any trust or unlawful combination favor a tariff limited to the needs of the engaged in interstate commerce lvhich is government, economically administered monopolizing any branch of business or and so levied as not to discriminate production should not be permitted to against any industry, class or section, transact business outside of the State to the end that the burdens of taxation of its origin. Whenever it shall be es- shall be distributed as equally as possi- tablished in any court of competent ble. TVe favor a revision and a gradual jurisdiction that such monopolization ex- reduction of the tariff by the friends of ists such prohibition should be enforced the masses for the common weal, and through comprehensive 1aTvs to be en- not by the friends of its abuses, its ex- acted on the subject. tortions and its discriminations, keep- We congratulate our Western citizens ing in view the ultimate ends of “equal- upon the passing of the law knolvn as ity of burdens and equality of oppor- the Sewlands irrigation act for the irri- tunities:’ and the constitutional purpose gation and reclamation of the arid lands of raising a revenue by taxation, to-wit, of the West; a measure framed by a the support of the federal government Democrat, passed in the Senate by a in all its integrity and virility, but in nonpartisan vote and passed in the simplicity. House against the opposition of almost U-e recopnize that the gigantic trusts all the Republican leaders by a vote the and combinations designed to enable majority of which was Democratic. canital to secure more than its just We call attention to this great Demo- share of the joint products of capital cratic measure, broad and comprehen- and labor: and n-hich have been fostered sive as it is, working automatically and promoted under Republican rule, throughout all time without further ac- are a menace to beneficial competition tion of Congress, until the reclamation and an obstacle to permanent businesa of all the lands in the arid West capable prosperity. A private monopoly is in- of reclamation is accomplished. reserv- defensible and intolerable. Individual ing the lands reclaimed for homeseekers equality of opportunity and free com- in small tracts, and rigidly guarding petition are essential to a healthy and against land monopoly, as an evidence permanent commercial prosperity. and of the policy of domestic development any trust, combination or monopoly contemplated by the Democratic party, tending to destroy these by controllin,g should it be placed in power. production, restricting competition or The Democracy when intrusted with fixing prices should be prohibited and power will construct the Panama Canal punished by law. We especially de- speedily, honestly and economically, nounce rebates and discrimination by thereby giving to our people what Dem- transportation companies as the most 1 ocrats have always contended for-a NATIONAL PLATFORMS OF PARTIRK 18% great interoceanic canal, furnishing public funds for private purposes and a shorter and cheaper lines of transporta- wasteful, illogical and useless attempt tion and broader and less trammeled to overcome by subsidy the obstructions trade relations with the other peoples raised by Republican legislation to the of the world. growth and development of American We pledge ourselves to insist upon the commerce on the sea. We favor the up-. just and lawful protection of our citi- building of a merchant marine without zens at home and abroad, and to use all new or additional burdens upon the peg- proper measures to secure for them, ple and without bounties from the pti whether native born or naturalized, and lit treasury. without distincti,on of race or creed, the We favor liberal trade arrangementa equal protection of laws and the enjoy- with Canada, and with peoples of other ment of all rights and priviteges open countries where they can be enteredinto to them under the covenants of our with benefit to American agriculture, treaties of friendship and commerce; manufactures, mining or commerce. and if, under existing treaties, the right We ‘favor the maintenance of tie of travel and sojourn is denied to Ameri- Monroe doctrine in its full integrity. can citizens or recognition is withheld We favor the reduction of the armr from American passports by any coun- rnd navy expenditures to the point tries on the ground of race or creed, we historically demonstrated to be safe and favor the beginning of negotiations with sufficient. the governments of such countries to, The Democracy would secure to the secure by treaties the removal of these surviving soldiers and sailors and their unjust discriminations. dependents generous pensions, not by We demand that all over the world a an arbitrary executive order, but bg duly authenticated passport issued by lgislation which a grateful people eta& the government of the United States to ready to enact. Our soldiers and eaii- an American citizen shall be proof of 3r.s who defend with their lives the Con- the fact that he is an American citizen stitution and the laws have a sacred and shall entitle him to the treatmen, due him as such. interest in their just administration. We favor the election of United States They must therefore share with us the senators by the direct vote of the peo- humiliation with which we have wit- ple. nessed the exaltation of court favor- We favor the admission of the Terri- ites, without distinguished service, over tories of Oklahoma and the Indian Ter- the scarred heroes of many battles, or ritory. We also favor the immediate aggrandized by executive appropriations admission of Arizona and ru’ew Mexico out of the treasuries of a prostrate peo- as separate States and a territorial gov- ple in violation of the act of cOngr888 ernment for Alaska and Porto Rico. We which fixed the compensation and al- hold that the officials appointed to ad- lowances ,of military officers. minister the government of any terri- The Democratic party stands commit- tory, as well as that of the District of ted to the principles of civil service re- Alaska, should be bona fide residents at form, and we demand their honest, juet the time of their appointment of the and impartial enforcement. territory or district in which their duties We denounce the Republican party for are to be performed. its continuous and sinister encroach- We demand the extermination of po- ments upon the spirit and operation of lygamy within the jurisdiction of the civil service rules, whereby it has arbi- United States and the complete separa- tarily dispensed with examinations for tion of church and state in political af- office in the interests of favorites and fairs. empIoyed all manner of device to over- We denounce the ship subsidy bill re- reach and set aside the principles upon cently passed by the United States Sen- which the civil service was established. \te as an iniquitous appropriation of The race question has brought count- 184 THE PLATFORM TEXT BOOK.

lese woes to this country. The calm convictions, while it threw a broad cov-1 wisdom of the American people should erlet over the bureaus which had been1 see to it that it brings no more. To re- their chosen field of ooerative. abuses. vive the dead and hateful race and sec- and kept in power the superior officers i tional animosities in any part of our under whose administration the crimes ! sommon country means confusion, dia- had been committed. i traction of business, and the reonenine It ordered assault upon some monop- ! of wounds now happily healed. horthY, olies, but, paralyzed by its firat vic- South, East and West have but recently tory, it flung out the tlag of truce and stood. together in line of battle from cried out that it would not “run amuck” the walls of Peking to the hills of San- --leaving its future purposes beclouded tiago, and as sharers of a common glory by its vacillations. and a common destiny we should share Conducting the campaign upon this fraternally the common burdens. declaration of our principles and pur- We therefore deprecate and condemn poses, we invoke for our candidates the the Bourbon-like, selfish and narrow support not only of our great and time- spirit of the recent Republican conven- honored organization, but also the active tion at Chicago, which sought to kindle assistance of all of our fellow citizens anew the embers of racial and sectional who, disregarding past differences upon strife, and’ we .appeal from it to the questions no longer in issue, desire the perpetuation of our constitutional gov- sober common sense and natriotic sniritI of the American people. * ernment as framed and established by The existing Republican administra- the fathers sf the Republic. tion has been spasmodic, erratic, sen- sational, spectacular and arbitrary. It has made itself a satire upon the Con- PROHIBITION PLATPORM. gress, the courts, and upon the settled (Adopted at $dianmrF In& June practices and usages of national and in- ternational law. It summoned the Con- I gress into hasty and futile extra session The Prohibition party, in national and virtually adjourned it, leaving be- convention assembled, at Indianapolis, hind its flight from Washineton uncalled June 30, 1904, recognizing that the chief calendars lnd unaccomplishid tasks. end of all government is the establish- It made war, which is the sole power ment of those nrincioles riohteousness of Congre3s, without its authority, and justice that’ have* been -Revealed to therebv usuruine one of its fundamental men as the will of the ever living God prerogitires.’ It” violated a plain statute desiring His blessing upon our naTiona of the United States as well as plain life, and believing in the perpetuation treaty obligations, international usages of the high ideals of government of the and constitutional law and has done people., by the people and for the people, so under pretense by executing a great established by our fathers, makes the pablic policy which could have been following declaration of principles and more easily effected lawfully, constitu- purposes: I tionally and with honor. 1. The widelv nrevailine svstem of i It forced strained and unnatural con- the licensed and legalized sale’ of alco- structions upon statutes, usurping holic beverages is so ruinous to indi- judicial interpretation, and substituting vidual interests, so inimical to public for congressional enactment its decree. welfare, so destructive to national It withdrew from Congress their cus- wealth and so subversive to the rights tomary duties of investigation which of great masses of our citizenship, that have beretofore made the representatives the destruction of the traffic is, and for of the people and the states the terror years has been, the most important of evil-doers. question in American politics. It conducted a secretive investigation 2. We denounce the lack of statee- of its own and boasted of a few sample manship exhibited by the leaders of the NATIONAL PLATFORMS OF PARTIES. 185 - Democratic and Republican parties in public concern, we declare ourselves in their refusal to recognize the para- favor’ of: mount importance of this question and The impartial enforcement of all law. the cowardice with which the leaders of The safe guarding of the peoples’ these parties have courted the favor of rights by rigid application of the princi- those whose selfish interests are ad- ples of justice to all combinations of vanced by the continuation and aug- capital and labor. mentation of the traffic, until to-day The recognition of the fact that the the influence of the liquor traffic prac- right of suffrage should depend upon the tically dominates national, state and mental and moral qualifications of the local government throughout the Nation. oitizen. 3. We declare the truth, demon- A more intimate relation between the strated by the experience of half a cen- people and government by a wise appli- tury, that all methods of dealing with cation of the principles of the initiative the liquor traffic which recogmzes its and referendum. right to exist, in any form, under any Such changes in our laws as will place system of license or tax or regulation, tariff schedules in the hands of an omni- have proved powerless to remove its partisan commission. evils and useless as checks upon its The application of uniform laws for growth, while the insignificant public all our country and dependencies. revenues which have accrued therefrom The election of United States senators have seared the public conscience against by vote of the people. a recognition of its iniquity. The extension and honest administra- 4. We call public attention to the tion of the civil service laws. fact, proved by the experience of more The safe guarding of every citizen, in than fifty years, that to secure the every place under the government of enactment and enforcement of prohibit- the people of the United States, in all ory legislation, in which alone lies the the rights guaranteed by the laws and hope of the protection of the people from the Constitution. the liquor traffic, it is necessary that the International arbitration, and we de- legislative, executive and judicial clare that our Nation should contribute branches of the government should be in in every manner consistent with na- the hands of a political party in har- tional dignity to the permanent estab- mony with the Prohibition principle, and lishment of peace between all nations. pledged to its embodiment in law and The reform of our divorce laws, the to the execution of those laws. final extirpation of polygamy and the 5. We pledge the Prohibition party total overthrow of the present shameful wherever given power by the suffrages system of the illegal sanction of the so- of the people to the enactment and en- cial evil, with its unspeakable traffic in forcement of laws prohibiting and abol- girls by the municipal authorities of al- ishing the manufacture, rmportation, most all our cities. transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages. 6. We declare that there is not only RESULT OF THE ELEC! ‘i ‘ION. no other issue of equal importance be- 1900. 190:. fore the American people to-day, but 7,620,3Gl that the so-called issues upon which the 5,0n4,0n1 Democratic and Republican parties seek 24s,411 332,557 to divide the electorate of the country 33,519 are, in large part, subterfuges under People’s ...... 124,3’<1 the cover of which they wrangle for the Continental ...... 830 spoils of office. Scattering ...... 7. Recognlzmg that the intelligent Totals ...... 13,963,653 13,514,650 voters of the country may properly ask Decrease ...... 446,003 iour attitude upon other questions sf Rep. plurality ...... 849,790 2,526,470 186 THE PLATFORM TEST EOOK.

SOCIALIST PLATFORM-1908. The ruling minority is steadily becom-i ing useless and parasitic. - The Socialist Bational Convention met A bitter struggle over the division of, 1 at Chicago, Ill., May 10-17, 1908, and the products of?abor is waged between the exploiting propertied classes on the nominated Eugene V. Debs, of Indiana, one hand and the exploited, property- for President, and Benjamin Hanford, less class on the other. In this strug- of New York, for Vice-President. The gle the wage working class cannot expect adequate relief from any reform of the following platform was adopted: present order at the hands of the domi-1 Human life depends upon food, cloth- nant class. ing and shelter. Only with these as- The wage workers are therefore the- sured are freedom, culture and higher most determined and irreconcilable an-. human development possible. To pro- tagonists of the ruling class. They suf- duce food, clothing or shelter, land and fer most from the curse of class rule. machinery are needed. Land alone does The fact that a few capitalists are per- not satisfy human needs. Human labor mitted to control all the country’s in- creates machinery and applies it to the dustrial resources and social tools for land for the production of raw materials their individual profit, and to make the and food. Whoever has control of land production of the necessaries of life the and machinery controls human labor, object of competitive private enterprise and with it human life and liberty. and speculation is at the bottom of all To-day the machinery and the land the social evils of our time. used for industrial nurnoses are owned In spite of the organization of trusts, by a rapidlg decre&ing minority. So pools and combina.tlons, the capitalists long as machinery is simple and easily are powerless to regulate production for han?lled bv one man, its -owner canndt social ends. Industries are largely con- : dominate “the sources of life of others. ducted in a planless manner. Through i But when machinerv becomes more com- periods of feverish activity the strength plex and espensiredand requires for its and health of the workers are merci- effective operation the organized effort of lessly used up, and during periods of en-- many woikers its influence reaches over forced idleness the workers are fYe- wide circles of life. The owners of quently reduced to starvation. such machinery become the dominant The climaxes of this srstem of pro- class. duction are the regularly- recurring‘ in- In proportion as the number of such dustrial depressions and crises which machine owners compared to all other paralyze the nation every fifteen or twen- classes decreases, their power in the na- ty years. tion and in the world increases. They The canitalist class in its m8d race bring ever larger masses of working peo- for profits, is bound to exploit the work- ple under their control, reducing them ers to the very limit of their endurance to the point where muscle and brain are and to sacrifice their physical, moral and their only productive property. Millions mental welfare to its own insatiable of formerly self-employing workers thus 0greed. CanitalismI keens the masses of become the helpless wage slaves of the workingmen in po&ty destitution, industrial masters. nhvsical exhaustion and ignorance. It 1 As the economic power of the ruling &rags their wives from t&ir homes to class arrows it becomes less useful in the mill and factory. It snatches their the lif” of the nation. &411 the useful children from the playgrounds and work of the nation falls upon the shoul- schools and grinds their slender bodies ders of the class whose only property and unformed minds into cold dollars. It i3 its manual and mental labor power- disfimlres. maims and kills hundreds of , the wage worker-or of the class who tho&ands of workingmen annually in i hare but little land and little effective mines, on railroads‘and in factories. It machinery outside of their labor power drives millions of workers into the ranks i -the small traders and small farmers. of the unemployed and forces large num- , SATIOSAL PLhTFORXS OF PARTIES. 187 -- bers of them into beggary, vagrancy and ufacture. Modern production is already all forms of crime and vice. very largely a collective and social proc- 1 To maintain their rule over their fel- ess. The great trusts and mononolies low men, the capitalists must keep in which have sprung up in recent ‘years their pav all organs of the public pow- have organized the work and mahage- ers, pubiic mind and public conscience. ment of the principal industries on a They control the dominant parties and, national scale,‘and have fitted them for 1 through them, the elected public officials. collective use and oneration. They select the executives, bribe the leg- The Socialist Patty is primarily an islatures and corrupt the courts of jus- economic and political movement. It is tice. They own and censor the press. not concerned -with matters of religious They dominate the educational institu- belief. tions. They own the nation politicaHy In the struggle for freedom the in- and intellectually just as they own it terests of all modern workers are ident- industrially. ical. The struggle is not only national The strueele between wage workers but international. It embraces the world and capital%ts grows ever ?iercer, and and will be carried to ultimate victory has nom become the only vital issue be- by the united workers of the world. fore the American people. The-wage- To unite the workers of the nation work&g class therefore, has the most and their allies and svmnathizers of all direct Interest in abolishing the capital- other classes to this end: is the mission ist system. But in abolishing the pres- of the Socialist party.. In this battle * ent system, the workingmen will free for freedom, the Socralist party does not only their own class, but also all not strive to substitute working class other classes of modern society; the rule for cauitalist class rule. but bv I small farmer, who is to-day exploited working class victory, to free all human- by large capital more indirectly but not ity from class rule and to realize the less effectively than is the wage laborer; international brotherhood of man. the small manufacturer and trader, who The Socialist part)-, in national con- is engaged in a desperate and losing vention assembled, again declares itself struggle for economic independence in the as the party of the working class, and face of the all-conquering power of con- appeals for the support of all workers of centrated capital; and even the capital- the United States and of all citizens ist himself, who is the slave of his who sympathize with the great and just wealth rather than its master. The cause of labor. struggle of the 1vorkin.g class against We are at this moment in the midst the capitalist class, while it is a class of one- of those industrial breakdowns struggle, is thus at the same time a that periodically paralyze the life of struggle for the abolition of all classes the nation. The much-boasted era of and class privileges. our national prosperity has been fol- The private ownership of the land and lowed bv one of nrneral miserv. Fac- means -of production used fer exploita- tories, mills and n&es are closkd. Mil- tion. is the rock uuon which class rule lions of men, ready, willing and ‘able is built; political government is its in- to provide the nation with all the neces- dispensable instrument. The wage-work- saries and comforts of life are forced ers- cannot be freed from exploitation into idleness and starvation. without conquering the political power Within recent times the trusts and

and substitutinn n collective for nrivate monopolies have attained an enormous ownership of the land and means of and menacing development. They have production used for exploitation. acquired the power to dictate the terms The basis for such transformation is upon which xv-e shall be allowed to live. rapidly developing within present capi- The trusts fix the prices of our bread, talist society. The factory system, with meat and sugar, of our coal, oil and its complex machinery and minute divi- clothing, of our raw material and ma- sion of labor, is rapidly destroying all chinery, of all the necessities of life. vestiges of individual production in man- The present desperate condition of the la3 TINE PLATFORM 'TEXT UCCK. -__-___-__ workers has been made the opportunity Political parties are but the expression for a renewed onslaught on organized of economic class interests. The Repub- labor. The highest courts of the coun- lican. the Democratic. and the so-called try have mithm the last year rendered Independence parties and all parties other decision after decision depriving the than the Socialist party, are financed, workers of rights which they had won directed and controlled bv the renresent- by generations of struggle. atives of different group”s of td ruling The attempt to destroy the Western class. Federation of Xiners, although defeated In the maintenance of class govern- by the solidarity of organized labor ment both the Democratic and Repub- and the Socialist movement, revealed lican parties have been equally guilty. the existence of a far-reaching and un- The Republican party has had control scrupulous conspiracy by the ruling class of the national government and has been against the organizations of labor. directly and actively responsible for these In their efforts to take the lives of wrones. The Democratic uartv. while the leaders of the miners the conspira- saved from direct responsibility ’ bv its tors violated state lams and the federal political impotence, has shown itself constitution in a manner seldom equaled equallv subservient to the aims of the even in a countrv Y so comoletelvI Y domi- capitalist class whenever and wherever nated by the profit-seeking class as is it has been in power. The old chattel the United States. slave owning aristocracy of the south The congress of the United States has which was the backbone of the Demo- shown its contempt for the interests of cratic party, has been supplanted by a labor as plainly and unmistakably as child slave plutocracy. In the great have the other -branches of government. cities of our country the Democratic The laws for which the labor organiza- party is allied with the criminal element tions have continually petitioned have of the slums as the Republican party is failed to pass. Lams ostensibly enacted allied with the predatory criminals of for the benefit of labor have been dis- the palace in maintaining the interest torted against labor. of the possessing class. The working class of the United The various “reform” movements and States cannot expect any remedy for its parties which have snrung UD within re- wrongs from the present ruling class cent years are but the clumsy expression or from the dominant parties. So long of wrdespread popular discontent. They as a small number of individuals are are not based on an intelligent under- permitted to control the sources of the standing of the historical development nation’s wealth for their nrivate nrofit in of civilization and of the economic and competition with each Xother &d for political needs of our time. They are the exploitation of their fellowmen, in- bound to perish as the numerous middle dnstria~l depressions are bound to occur class reform movements of the past have at certain intervals. No currency re- perisbed. forms or other leeislative measures nro- -4s measures calculated to strenethen posed by capita& reformers can airail the working class in its fight for the against these fatal results of utter an- realization of this ultimate aim, and to archv in production. increase its power of resistance against Individual competition leads inevitably capitalist oppression, we advocate and to combinations and trusts. No am&t pledge ourselves and our elected officers of government regulation, or of public- to the, following program: itv, or of restrictive legislation will ar- 1. The immediate government relief rest the natural course of modern in- for the unemployed xyorkers by build- dustrial development. ing schools, by reforesting of cutover While our courts, legislatures and ex- and waste lands, by reclamation of arid ecutive offices remain in the hands of the tracts, and the building of canals, and ruling classes and their agents, the gov- by extending all other useful public ernment will be used in the interests of works. 911 persons employed on such these classes as against the toilers. works shall be employed directly by th8 NATIOXF.4L PLATFORNS OF PARTIES. 189

government under an eight-hour work- graduated in proportion to the amount day and at the prevailing union wages. of the bequests and to nearness of kin. The government shall also loan money 9. A graduated income tax. to states and municipalities without in- 10. Unrestricted and equal suffrage terest for the purpose of carrying on for men and women, and we pledge our- public works. It shall contribute to the selves to engage in an active campaign funds of labor organizations for th,e in that direction. purpose of assisting their unemployed 11. The initiative and referendum, members, and shall take such other proportional representation and the right measures within its power as will lessen of recall. the widespread misery of the workers 12. The abolition of the senate. caused by the misrule of the capitalist 13. The aboIition of the power class. usurped by the supreme court of the 2. The collective ownership of rail- United States to pass upon the consti- roads, telegraphs, telephones, steamship tutionality of legislation enacted by lines and all other means of social trans- Congress. National laws to be repealed portation and communication, and all or abrogated only by act of Congress or ‘land. by a referendum of the whole people. 3. The collective ownership of all in- 14. That the constitution be made dustries which are organized on a na- amendable by majority vote. tional scale and in which competition 15. The enactment of further meas- has virtually ceased to exist. ures for general education and for the 4. The extension of the public domain conservation of health. The bureau of to include mines, quarries, oil wells, education to be made a department. The forests and water power. creation of a department of public health. 5. That occupancy and use of land 16. The separation of the present be the sole title to possession. The bureau of labor from the department of scientific reforestation of timber lands, commerce and labor, and the establish- and the reclamation of swamp lands. ment of a department of labor. The land so reforested or reclaimed to 17. That all judges be elected by the i be permanently retained as a part of people for short terms, and that the ! the public domain. power to issue injunctions shall be curbed i 6. The absolute freedom of press, by immediate legislation. speech and assemblage. 18. The free administration of jus- 7. The improvement of the industrial tice. condition of the workers. Such measures of relief as we may be ’ (a) By shortening the workday in able to force from capitalism are but keeping with the increased productive- a preparation of the workers to seize i the whole powers of government, in order that they may thereby lay hold of the jne;t)of ~~“~%%g to every worker a whole system of industry and thus come ! rest period of not less than a day and to their rightful inheritance. /a half in each week. / (c) By securing a more effective in- REPUBLICAN PLATFORM-1908. spection of workshops and factories. - (d) By forbidding the employment of The Republican Sational Convention children under sixteen years of age. met at Chicago, Ill., June 16, 1908, and (e) By forbidding the interstate trans- nominated William H. Taft of Ohio for portation of the products of child labor, President and James S. Sherman of New of convict labor and all uninspected fac- York for Vice-President. The following tories. platform was adopted: (f) By abolishing official charity and Once more the Republican party, in substituting in its place compulsory in- national convention assembled, submits surance against unemployment, illness, its cause to the people. This great his- accidents, invalidism, old age and death. toric organization, that destroyed slav- 8. The extension of inheritance taxes, ery, preserved the union, restored credit, 190 THE PLATFORM TEXT BbOK. -i expanded the national domain, estab- liberty and property. These are th lished a sound financial system, developed achievements that will make for Theo- the industries and resources of the coun- dore Roosevelt his place in history; but try and gave to the nation its seat of more than all else the great things he“i honor in the councils of the world, now has done will be an inspiration to those; meets new problems of government. with who have yet greater things to do. We the same courage and capacity with declare our unfaltering adherence to the which it solved the old. policies thus inaugurated and pledge their In this, the greatest era of American continuance under a Republican adminis- advancement, the Republican party has tration of the government. reached its highest service under the Under the guidance of Republican prin- leaclership of . His ciples the American people have become administration is an epoch in American the richest nation in the world. Our i history, in no other period since national wealth today exceeds that of England sovere*ignty was won, under Washington, and all her colonies, and that of France, i or nreserved under Lincoln. has there and Germany combined. When the Re-’ beed such mighty progress in’those ideals publican party was born the total i of government which make for justice, wealth of- the country was $16,000,-’ equalit\ and fair dealing among men. 000,000. It has leaned $llO.OOO.- I The hiihest aspirations of the American 000,000 in a generatio:. while h&t! people have found a voice. Their most Britain has gathered but $XO,OOO,OOO,OOO exalted servant represents the best aims in 500 years. The United States now and worthiest purposes of all his coun- owns one-fourth of the world’s wealth/ trvmen. American manhood has been and makes one-third of all modern manu- lifted to a nobler sense of duty and factured products. In the greatness of obligation. Conscience and courage in civilization, such as coal, the motive public station and his standards of power of all activity, iron the chief basis right and wrong in private life have be- of all industry, cotton the staple founda- come cardinal principles of political tion of all fabrics; wheat, corn and all I faith; capital and labor hare been the agricultural products that feed man-! brought into closer relations of ‘con- kind, America’s supremacy is undisputed.’ fidence and interdependence, and the And yet her natural wealth has been: abuse of wealth, the trranny of power scarcely touched. Te have a vast do-j and all the evils of nrcvileee and faror- main of 3,000,OOO square miles literally’ itism ha\-e been put to scorn by the bursting with latent treasure still wait-: simple, manly virtues of justice and ing the magic of capital and industry to/ fair-play. ” be converted into the practical uses of! The great accomplishments of Presi- mankind; a country rich in soil and\ dent Roosevelt have been. first and fore- climate, in the unharnessed energy oft most. a brave and impartial enforcement its rivers and in all the varied products; of the law; the prosecution of illegal of the field, the forest and the factory.; trust3 and monopoiies, the exposure &d Kith gratitude for God’s bounty, with/ punishment of evil doers in the public pride in the splendid productiveness of, service, the more effective regulation of the past and with confidence in the] the rates and service of the great trans- plenty and prosperity of the future, the! portation lines, the romplete overthrow Republican party declares Ior the prin-1 of nreferences. rebates and disrrimina- ciple that in the development and en- tioni; the arbitration of labor disputes, joyment of wealth so great and blessings the amelioration of the condition of so benign there shall be equal opportu- wa$e xx-orkers everywhere, the conser- nitv for all. vatlon of the natural resources of the $othinm so clearly demonstrates the country, the forward step in the im- sound baiis upon which our commercial, provement of the inland waterways and industrial and agricultural interests are always the earnest support and defense founded and the necessity of promoting of every wholesome safeguard which has the present continued welfare through made more secnre the guarantees of life, the operation of Republican policies as NATIOSAL PLATFORMS OF PARTIES. 191 the recent safe passage of the American Ire favor the establishment of maxi- people through a financial disturbance, mum and minimum rates, to be adminis- which, if appearing in the midst of tered by the President under limitations Democratic rule or the mentlce of it, fixed under the law, the maximum to be might have equaiied the familiar Demp- available to meet discriminations by for- eratic panics of the past. We congratu- eign countries against American goods late the people upon this renewed evi- entering their markets, and the mini- dence of American supremacy and hail mum to represent the normal measure with confidence the signs now manifest of protection at home; the aim and pur- of a complete restoration of business pose of the policy of the Republican prosperity in ail lines of trade, commerce party being not only to preserve with- and manufacturing. out excessive duties, that security Since the election of William Mc- against foreign competition to which Kinley, in 1S96, the people of this coun- American manufacturers, farmers and try have felt anew the wisdom of en- producers are entitled, but also to main- trusting to the Republican party tain the high standard of living of the through decisive majorities the control wage earners of this country, who are the and dlrection of national legislation. The most direct beneficiaries of the protective many wise and progresslre measures system. Between the United States and adopted at recent sessions of Congress the Philippines we believe in a free in- have demonstrated the patriotic resolve terchange of products, Tvith such iimi- of Republican leadership in the iegisia- tations as to sugar and tobacco as Iv-ill tire department to keep step in the for- accord adequate protection to domestic ward march to better government. interests. Notwithstanding the indefensible fiii- We approve the emergency measures bustering of a Democratic minority in adopted by the government during the the House of Representatives during the recent financial disturbance and especi- last session, many wholesome and pro- ally commend the passage by C,ongress gressive laws were enacted, and we es- at the last session of the law designed pecially commend the passage of the to protect the country from a repetition emergency currency bill, the appoint- of such stringency. The Republican ment of the national monetary commis- party is committed to the development sion, the employers and government iia- of a permanent currency system, re- bilitv lams. the measures for the greater sponding to our greater needs, and the efficiencr of the arms and the navy, appointment of the national monetary the widbu-s’ pension bill, the child labor commission by the present Congress, law for the District of Columbia, the new which will impartially investigate ail statutes for the safety of railroad engi- proposed methods, insures the early necrs and firemen and many-other acts realization of this purpose. The pres- conserving the public welfare. ent currency laws have fully justified The Republican party declares unequiv- their adoption, but an expanding com- ocally for a revision of the tariff by a merce, a marvelous .gro\vtb in wealth special session of Congress immediately and population, multlpiring the centers following the inauguration of the next of distribution, increasing the demand President and commends the steps ai- for movement of crops in the west and ready taken to this end in the work as- south and entailing periodic changes in signed to the appropriate committees of monetary conditions, disclose the need Congress which are now investigating of more elastic and adaptable systems. the operation and effecting of schedules. Such a system must meet the require- In ail tariff legislation the true prin- ments of agriculturists, manufacturers, ciples of protection is best maintained by the imposition of such duties as will merchants and business generally; must equal the difference between the cost of be automatic in operation, minimizing production at home and abroad. to- the fluctuations in interest rates, and, gether with a reasonable profit to above all, must be in harm0n.y with that American industries. republican doctrine which msists that 192 THE PLA’TFORM TEXT BOOK.

every dollar shall be based upon and as mediation and arbitration between inter- good as gold. state railroads and their employes and 1Ve favor the establishment of a pos- the law making a beginning in the policy tal savings bank system for the conveni- of compensation for injured employes ence of the people and the encourage- of the government are among the most ment of thrift. commendable accomplishments of the The republican party passed the Sher- present session. But there is further man anti-trust law over democratic op- work in this direction to be done and position and enforced it after democratic the republican party pledges its con- dereliction. It has been a wholesale in- tinued devotion to every cause that strument for good in a wise and fear- makes for safety and the betterment less administration; but the experience of conditions among those whose labor has shown that its effectiveness can be zontributes so much to the progress and strengthened and its real objects better welfare of the country. attained by such amendments as mill The same wise policy which has in- give to the federal government great su- Iuced the republican party to maintain pervision over and secure publicity in protection to American labor; to estab- the management of that class of cor- lish an eight-hour day on the construc- porations engaged in interstate commerce tion of all public works; to increase the having power and opportunity to effect list of employes who shall have pre- monopolies. ferred claims for wages under the bank- We approve the enactment of the rail- ruptcy laws; to adopt a child labor stat- road rate law and the vigorous enforce- ute for the District of Columbia; to metn by the present administration of Sirect an investigation into the condi- the statutes against, rebates and dis- tion of working women and children criminations as a result of which the tnd later, of employers of telephone and advantages formerly possessed b+y the telegraph compames engaged in inter- large shipper over the small shipper state business; to appropriate $ISO,OOO, have substantially disappeared; and in tt the recent session of congress in order this connection we commend the appro- Lo secure a thorough inquiry into the :auses of catastrophes and loss of life . priation by the present congress to en- able the Interstate Commerce Commis- mn mines; and to amend and strengthen sion to thoroughly investigate and give the law forbidding the importation of publicity to. the accounts of interstate contract labor will be pursued in every j railroads. We believe, however, that legitimate direction within federal au- the interstate commerce law should be hority to lighten the burdens and in- furthrr amended so as to give railroads :rease the opportunity for happiness and the right to make and publish traffic advancement of all who toil. The re-’ agreements subject to the approval of publican party recognizes the special the commission, but maintaining always ‘reeds of wage workers gencrallr, for’ the principle of competition between nat- iheir well-bemg means the well-being of urally competing lines and avoiding the tll. common control of such lines by any Rut more important than all other con-’ means whatsoever. We favor such na- Gderations, is that of good citizenship! tional legislation and supervision as will md we especially stand for the needs] prevent the future overissue of stocks whatever his occu-i and bonds by interstate, carriers. The enactment in constitutional form at the present session of congress of the employers liability law; the passage and enforcement of the safety appliance stat- utes, as well as the additional protec- tion secured for engineers and firemen; the reduction in the hours of labor of trainmen and railroad telegraphers; the \j7e believe, however, that the rule 04 successful exercise of the powers oB procedure in the federal courts with ret SATIOSAL PLATFORYS OF PARTIES. 19.3 -__ -- -_____ ~. spect to the issuance of the writ of alone, as unfair, un-American and re- injunction should be more accurately de- pugnant to the supreme law of the land. fined by statute and that no injunction We endorse the movement inaugurated or temporary restraining order should by the administration for the conserva- be issued wrthout notice except irrepara- tion of natural resources; we approve ble injury would result from delay, in all measures to prevent the waste of which case a speedy ‘hearing thereafter timber; we commend the work now go- should be granted. ing on for the reclamation of arid lands, Among those whose welfare is as vital and reaffirm the republican policy of the to the welfare of the whole country as free distribution of the available areas that of the wage earner is that of the of the public domain to the landless set- American farmer. The prosperity of the tler. No obligation of the future is more country rests peculiarly on the pros- insistent and none will result in greater perity of agriculture. The republican blessings to posterity. In line with this party during the last twelve years has splendid undertaking is the further duty, accomplished extraordinary work in equally imperative, to enter upon a sys- bringing the resources of the national tematic improvement upon a large and government to the aid of the farmer, not comprehensive plan, just to all portions onlv in advancing agriculture itself but of the country, of the waterways, har- in “increasing the conveniences of rural bors and great lakes, whose natural life. Free rural mail delivery has been adaptability to the increasing traffic of established; it now reaches millions of the land is one of the greatest gifts of our citizens and we favor its extension a benign providence. until every community in the land re- The sixtieth congress passed many ceives the full benefits of the postal ser- commendable acts increasing the effici- vice ; we recognize the social and eco- ency of the army and navy, making the nomic advantages of good country roads, militia of the states an integral part maintained more and more largely at of the national establishment, authoriz- public expense, and less and less at the ing joint maneuvers of army and militia, expense of the abutting owner. In this fortifying new naval bases and complet- work we commend the growing practice ing the construction of coaling stations; of state aid and we approve the efforts instituting a female nurse corps for of the national agricultural department naval hospitals and ships, and adding two by experiments otherwise to make clear new battleships, ten torpedo boat de- to the public the best methods of road stroyers, three steam colliers and eight construction. submarines to the strength of the navy. The republican party has been for more Although at peace with all the world than fifty years the consistent friend of and secure in the consciousness that the the American negro. It gave him free- American people do not desire and will dom and citizenship. It wrote into the not provoke a war with any other coun- organic law the declarations that pro- try, we nevertheless declare our un- claim his civil and political rights and it alterable devotion to a policy that will believes today. that his noteworthy prog- keep this republic ready at all times to ress in intellrgence, industry and good defend its traditional doctrines and as- citizenship has earned the respect and en- sure it an appropriate part in prompting couragement of the nation. We demand permanent tranquility among the nation. equal justicefor all men, without regard We commend the vrgorous efforts made for race or color; we declare once more by the administration to protect Ameri- and without reservation for the enforce- can citizens in foreign lands and pledge ment of the letter and spirit of the thir- ourselves to insist upon the just and teenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amend- equal protection of all our citizens ments to the constitution, which were abroad. It is the unquestioned duty of designed for the advancement and pro- the government to procure for all our tection of the negro, and we condemn all Gtizens, without distinction, the rights devices which have for their real aim ,f travel and sojourn in frrendly coun- his disfranchisement, for reasons of color tries, and we declare ourselves in favor 194 THE PLATFORM TEST BOOK. --- ___ of all proper efforts tending to that end. country’s battles and for the widows Under the administration of the re- and orphans of those who have fallen. publican party the foreign commerce of 1X-e commend the increase in the widows’ the United States has experienced a re- pensions made by the present congress markable growth, until it has a present and declare for a liberal administration annual valuation of approximately $3,- of all pension laws, to the end that the OOO,OOO,OOO and gives employment to a people’s gratitude may grow deeper as vast amount of labor and capital which the memories of heroic sacrifice grow would otherwise be idle. It has inaugu- more sacred with the passing years. rated through the recent visit of the sec- We reaffirm our former declaration retary of state to South America and that the civil service lalvs, enacted, ex- Mexico a new era of pan-American com- tended and enforced by the republican merce and comity which is bringing us party shall continue to be maintained into closer touch with our twenty sister and obeyed. American republics, having a common We commend the efforts desianed to historical heritage, a republican form of secure greater efficiency in national pub- government and offering us a limitless lic health agencies and favor such legis- field of legitimate commercial expansion. lation as will effect this purpose. The conspicuous contributions of Amer- In the interest of the great mineral ican statesmanship to the great cause of industries of our country, we earnestly international peace, signally advanced in favor the establishment of a bureau of The Hague conferences, are an occa- mines and mining. sion for just pride and gratification. At The American government, in republi- the last session of the senate of the can hands, has freed Cuba, given peace United States eleven conventions were and protection to Porto Rico and the ratified, establishing the rights of neu- Philippines under our flag and begun the trals, laws of war on land, restriction construction of the Panama canal. The of submarine mints, limiting the use of present conditions in Cuba vindicate the force. for the collection of contractural wisdom of maintaining, between that re- debts, governing the opening of hostili- public and this, imperishable bond of ties, extending the application of Ge- mutual interest, and the hope is now neva principles, and in many ways les- expressed that the Cuban people will sening the evils of war and promoting soon a.gain be ready to assume complete the peaceful settlement of international sovereignty over their land. controversies. At the same session In Port0 Rico the government of the tlvelre arbitration conventions with great United States is meeting loyal and pa- nations were confirmed, and extradition, triotic support; order and prosperity pre- boundary and neutralization treaties of vail, and the well-being of the people is supreme importance were ratified. We in every respect promoted and conserved. endorse such achievements as the high- We believe that the native inhabitants est duty a people can perform and pro- of Porto Rico should be at once col- claim the obligation of further strength- lectively made citizens of the United ening the bonds of good friendship and States, and that all others properly quali- good will with all the nations of the fied under existing laws residing in said world. island should have the privilege of be- Ve adhere to the republican doctrines coming naturalized. of encouragement to American shipping In the Philippines insurrection has been and urge such legislation as will revive suppressed, law established and life and the merchant marine prestige of the property made secure. Education and country, so essential to national de- practical experience are there advancing fense; the enlargement of foreign trade the capacity of the people for govern- and the industrial prosperity of our own ment, and the policies of BfcKinle;y and people. Roosevelt are leading the inhabitants Another republican policy which must step by step to ever Increasing measure be ever maintained is that of generous of home rule. provision for those who have fought the Time has justified the selection of the NATIOSAL PLATFORJIS OF PARTIES. 195 -___ __ -~-__ ~__ Panama route for the great isthmian ca- great issues before the people, the other nal, and events have shown the wisdom has held and vindicated all. of securing authority over the zone In experience the difference between through which it is to be built. The democracy and republicanism is that one work is now progressing with a rapidity means adversity, while the other means far beyond expectation, and already the prosperity ; one means low wages, the realization of the hopes of centuries has other means high; one means doubt a.nd come within the vision of the near fu- debt, the other means confidence and ture. thrift. 1Ve favor the immediate admission of In principles the difference between the territories of New hlexico and Ari- democracy and republicanism is that one zona as separate states in the union. stands for vacillation and timidity in February 12, 1909, will be the cme hun- government, the other for strength and dredth anniversary of the birth of Abra- purpo?e; one stands for obstruction, the ham Lincoln,. an immortal spirit whose other for construction; one promises, the fame has brightened with the receding other performs; one finds fault, the other years, and whose name stands among the finds work. first of those given to the world by the The present tendencies of the two par- great republic. 11-e recommend that this ties are even more marked by inherent centennial anniversary be celebrated differences. The trend of democracy is throughout the confines of the nation, by toward socialism, while the republican all the people thereof and, especially, party stands for a wise and regulated by the public scl~ools, as an exercise to individualism. Socialism would destroy stir the patriotism of the youth of the wealth; republicanism wauld prevent its land. abuse. Soci&ism would give to each an 1Ve call the attention of the Ameri- equal right to take; republicanism would can people to the fact that none of the give to each an equal right to earn; great measures here advocated by the Socialism would offer an equality of pos- republican party could be enacted, and session, which would soon leave no one none of the steps forward here proposed a!lything to possess; republicanism would could be taken, under a democratic ad- ylve equality of opportunity, which ministration or under One in which party would assure to each his share of a eon- responsibility is divided. The continu- stantly increasing sum of possessions. ance of present policies, therefore, abso- In line with this tendency, the demo- lutely requires the continuance in power cratic party of today believes in govern- of that party which believes in them and ment ownership, while the republican which possesses the capacity to put them party believes in government regulation. into operation. Ultimately democracy Jvould have the Beyond all pIatform declarations there nation own the people while republiean- are fundamental differences between the i$m would have the people own the na- republican party and its chief opponent tion. which make the one worthy and the other Upon this platform of principles and unworthy of public trust. purposes, reaffirming our adherence to In history the difference between de- every republican doctrine proclaimed mocracy and republicanism is that the since the birth of the party, x1-r-e go be- one stood for debased currency, the other fore the country asking the support not ’ for honest currency; the one for free sil. only of those Tvho have acted with us rer, the other for sound money; the heretofore, but of all our fellow citizens one for free trade, the other for pro- who, regardless of past political differ- tection; the one for the contraction of ences, unite in the desire to maintain the American influence, the other for its policies, perpetuate the blessings and expansion; the one has been forced to make secure the achievements of a abandon every position taken on the greater America. DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM-1308. increasing the number of its retainers and dependents. Such procedure we de- The Democratic Xational Convention clare to be no less dangerous and corrupt met at Denver, Cal., July 7, 1905, and than the open purchase of votes at the nominated William J. Bryan of Nebraska polls. for President and John \V. Kern of Indi- The Republican Congress in the session ana for Vice-President. The following is just ended has made appropriations the platform adopted: amounting to $l,OOS,OOO,OOO, exceeding We, the representatives of, the De- the total expenditures of the past fiscal mocracy of the United States in national year by $90,000,000, and leaving a de- convention assembled, reaffirm our be- ficit of more than $60,000,000 for the lief in, and pledge our loyalty to, the fiscal year. We denounce the needless principles of the party. waste of the people’s money which has We rejoice at the increasing signs of resulted in this appalling increase as a an awakening throughout the country. shameful violation of all prudent condi- The various mrestigations have traced tions of government as no less than a graft and political corruption to the crime against the millions of workin,men representatives of predatory wealth, and and women from whose earnings the laid bare ‘the unscrupulous methods by great proportion of these colossal sums which they bare debauched elections and must be extorted through excessive tariff preyed upon a defenseless public through exactions and other indirect methods. the subservient officials whom they have It is not surprising that, in the face of raised to place and power. this shocking record, the Republican plat- The conscience of the nation is now form contains no reference to economical aroused to free the government from the administration or promise thereof in the grip of those who have made it a busi- future. We demand that a stop be put ness asset of the favor-seeking corpora- to this frightful extravagance and insist tions; it must become again a people’s upon the strictest economy in every. government, and be administered in all department compatible with frugal and its -departments according to the .Jeffer- eflicient administration. sonian maxim of “equal rights to all and The House of Representatives was de- special privileges to none.” signed by the fathers of the Constitu- “Shall the people rule?” is the over- tion to be the popular branch of our shadowing issue which manifests itself government, responsive to the public in all the questions now under discus- n-ill. sion. The House of Representatives, as con- Coincident with the enormous increase trolled in recent years by the Republi- in expenditures is a like addition to the can party, has ceased to be a delibera- number of office-holders. During the last tive and legislative body, responsive to year 23,781 were added! costmg $lG,- the will of a majority of its members, 156,000. and in the la%t six years of the hut has come under the absolute domiua- Republican administration the total num- tion of the speaker, who has entire con- ber of new offices created, aside from trol of its deliberations and powers of many commissions, has been 99,319, en- legislation. tailing an additional expenditure of 11-e have observed with amazement the nearly $70,000,000, as against only 10; popular branch of our federal govern- 279 new offices created under the Clere- ment helpless to obtain either. the con- land and McKinley administrations, sideration or enactment of measures de- which involved an expenditure of only sired by a majority of its members. $S,OOO.OOO. We denounce this great and T.egislative government becomes a fail- growing increase in the number of office- ure when one member in the person of holders as not only unnecessary and the speaker is more powerful than the wasteful but also as clearly indicating entire body. a deliberate purpose on the part of -the We demand that the House of Repre- administration to keep the Republican sentatives shall again become a delibera- party in power at public expense by thus tive body, controlled by a majority of I NATlOXAL PLATFORMS OF PARTIES. 19r the people’s representatives and not by 1 We denounce the .action of the Re- the speaker, and we pledge ourselves / publican party, having complete control !/ to adopt such rules and regulations to of the federal government, for its fail- ; govern-the House of Representatives as ure to pass th; bill introduced in the will enable a majority of its members to last Congress to compel the publication direct its deliberations and control legis- of the names of contributors and the lation. amounts contributed toward campaign We condemn, as a violation of the funds, and point to the evidence of spirit of our institutions, the action of their insincerity when they sought by the present chief executive in using the an absolutely irrelevant and impossible patronage of his high office to secure the amendment to defeat the passage of the nomination of one of his cabinet officers. bill. As a further evidence of their in- A forced succession in .the presidency tention to conduct their campaign in is scarcely less repugnant to public sen- the coming contest with vast sums of timent than is life tenure in that office. money wrested -from favor-seeking cor- No good intention on the part of the porations, we call attention to the fact execu&e and no virtue in the one se- that the recent Republican national eon- lected can justify the establishment of a vention at Chicago refused when the dynasty. The right of the people to plank, was prksented to it to declare freely select their ofirials is inalienable against such practices. and cannot be delegated. We pledge the Democratic party to We -demand federal legislation forever the enactment of a law preventing any terminating the partnership which has corporation contributing to a campaign existed between corporations of the fund and any individual from contribut- country and the Republican party under ing an amount above a reasonable maxi- the expressed or implied agreement that mum and providing for the publication in return for the contribution of great before election of all such contributions sums of money wherewith to purchase above a reasonable minimum. elections they should be allowed to con- Believing, with ,Jefferson, in “the sup- tinue substantially unmolested in their port of the state governments in all their efforts to encroach upon the rights of rights as the most competent adminis- the people. tration for our domestic concerns and Any reasonable doubt as to the exist- the surest bulwark against anti-republi- ence of this relation has been forever can tendencies,” and in “the preserva- dispelled by the sworn testimony of wit- tion of the general government in its nesses examined in the insurance inves- whole constitutional vigor -as the sheet tigation in Kew York, and the open anchor of our peace at home and safety admission unchallen.ged by the Republi- abroad,” we are opposed to the centrali- can national commIttee of a single in- zation implied in these suggestions, dividual, that he himself at the per- now frequently made, that the powers of sonal request of the Republican candi- the general government should be ex- ’ date for the presidency raised over a tended by judicial construction. There quarter of a million dollars to be used is no twilight zone between the nation in a single state durin.g the closing and the state in which exploiting inter- hours of the last campaign. In order ests can take refuge from both; and that this practice shall be stopped for it is necessary that the federal govern- all time, we demand the passage of a ment shall esercise the powers delegated statute punishing with imprisonment any to it as it is the state governments shall off[cer of a corporation who shall either use the authority reserved to them, but contribute on behalf of, or consent to we insist that federal remedies for the the contribution by, a corporation of regulation of. interstate commerce and any money or thing of value to be used for the prevention of private monopoly in furtherin the election of a President shall be added to, not substituted for, or Vice-Preiident of the United States state remedies. or of any member of the Congress 1Te welcome the belated promise of thereof. tariff reform now affected by the Repub-

- 198. THE PLATFORM TEST BOOK. --.-~ _~ lican party in tardy recognition of the right of each state to create corporations, righteousness of the Democratic position or its right to regulate as it will foreign on this question; but these people can- corporations doing business within its not safely intrust the execution of this limits, make it necessary for a manu- important work to a party which is so facturing or trading corporation engaged deeply obligated to the highly protected in interstate commerce to take out a, interests as is the Republican party. federal license before it shall be per- We call attention to the significant fact mitted to control as much as 25 per cent that the promised relief was. postponed of the product in which it deals, the li- until after the coming election-an elec- cense to protect the public from watered tion to succeed in whrch the -Republican stock and to prohibit the control by party must have that same support such corporation of more than 50 per from the beneficiaries of the high pro- cent of the total amount of any product tective tariff as it has always heretofore consumed in the United States; and received from them; and to the further third, a law compelling such licensed cor- fact that during years of uninterrupted poration to sell to all purchasers in all power no action whatever has been taken parts of the country on the snmaerms, by the Republican Congress to correct after making due allowance for cost of the admittedly existing tariff iniquities. transportatron. We favor immediate revision of the We assert the right of Congress to tariff by the reduction of import duties. exercise complete control over interstate Articles entering into competition with commerce and the right of each state trust-controlled products should be to exercise like control over commerce placed upon the free list, and material within its borders. reductions should be made in the tariff TI’e demand such enlargement of the upon the necessaries of life, especially powers of the interstate commerce com- upon articles competing with such mission as may be necessary to compel Amerilcan manufactures as are sold railroads to perform their duties as com- abroad more cheaply than at home; and mon carriers and prevent discrimination graduate redurtions should be made in and extortion. such other schedules as may be neces- We favor the efficient supervision and sarv to restore the tariff to a revenue rate regulation of railroads engaged in basis. interstate commerce, and to this end we Existing duties have given to the recommend the valuation of railroads manufacturers of naorr. _ a shelter behind by the interstate commerce commission, which they have organized combinations such valuation to take into considera- to raise the price of pulp and of paper, tion the physical value of the property, thus imposing a tax upon the spread of the original cost, cost of production and knowledge. all elements of value that will render Ke demand, the immediate repeal of the valuation made fair and just. the tariff on pulp print paper, lumber, We favor such legislation as will pro- timber and logs and that these articles hibit the railroads from engaging in be placed upon the free list.. business which brings them into com- A private monopoly is indefensible petition with their shippers, also legis- and intolerable. We, therefore, favor the lation which will assure such reduction vigorous enforcement of the criminal in transportation rates as conditions will law against guilty trust magnates and permit, care being taken to avoid re- officials, and demand the enactment of ductions that would compel a reduction such additional legislation as may be of wages, prevent adequate service or necessary to make it impossible for a do injustice to legitimate investments. private monopoly to exist in the United IITe heartily anprove the laws prohibit- States. Among the additional remedies ing the pass and the rebate, and we we specify three: First. a law prevent- favor anr further necessary legislation ing a duplication of directors among to restrain, control and prevent such competing corporations; second, a license abuses. system which will, without abridging the We favor such legislation as will in- crease the power of the interstate com- to legislation under which the nationa merce commission, giving to it the initia- banks shall be required to establish a I twe. with reference to rates and trans-, guaranty fund for the prompt payment portation charges put into effect by the of the depositors of any insolvent na- railroad companies and permitting the tional bank under an equitable system interstate commerce commission on its which shall be available to all state own initiative to declare a rate illegal banking institutions wishing to use it. and as being more than should be charged We favor a postal savings bank, if for such service. That the present law the guaranteed bank cannot be secured, relating thereto is inadequate by rea- and that it be constituted so as to keep son of the fact that the interstate com- the deposited money in theccommunities merce commission is without power to where it is established. Rut me con- fix or investigate a rate until complaint demn the policy of the Republican party has been made to it by the shipper. in roposing postal savings banks under We further declare that all agreements a p f an of conduct by which they will ag- of traffic or other associations of rail- gregate the deposits of rural communi- mav agents affecting interstate rates, ties and re-deposit the same while under se&ice or classification shall be unlaw- government charge in the banks of Wall ful unless filed with and approved by the street, thus depleting the circulating interstate commerce commission. medium of the producing regions and We favor the enactment of a law giv- unjustly favoring the speculative mar- ing to the interstate commerce commis- kets. sion the power to inspect proposed rail- Ye favor an income tax as. part of road tariff rates or schedules before our revenue system, and me urge the they shall take effect, and, if they be submission of a constitutional amend- found to be unreasonable, to initiate an ment specifically authorizing Cqngress adjustment thereof. to levy and collect a tax upon indlridual The panic of 1907, coming without any and corporate incomes, to the end that legitimate excuse, when the Republican wealth may bear its proportionate share party had for a decade been in complete of the burdens of the federal gorrnment. control of the federal government, fur- The courts of justice are the bulwark nishes addition01 proof that it is either of our liberties, and me yield to none unwilling or incompetent to protect the in our purpose to maintain their dignity. interests of the general public. It has Our party has given to the bench a so linked the country to Wall street that long line of distinguished judges. who the syndicate sins of the speculators are have added to the respect and confidence visited upon the whole people. While in which this department must be jeal- refusing to rescue the wealth producers ously maintained. We resent the at- from spoliation at the hands of the stock tempt of the Republican party to raise gamblers and speculators in farm prod- false issues respecting the judiciary. It ucts, it has deposited treasury funds, is an unjust reflection upon a great hody ,vithout interest and without competi- of our citizens to assume that thw lack ’ tion, in favorite banks. It has used respect for the courts. It is the f&ction an emergency for which it is largely of the courts to interpret the lams which responsible to force through Congress the people create, and if the lams ap- i’ a bill changing the basis of bank cur- pear to work economic, social or politi- rency and inviting market manipulation, cal injustice it is our duty to change and has failed to give to the 15,OOO.OOO them. The only basis upon which the / depositors of the country protection in integrity of our courts can stand is that their savings. of unswerving justice and protection of i Wbl’ehe e lev t at in so far as the needs life. personal liberty and property. If ( of commerce require an . emergencp._. cur- ‘_judicial . . processes. . may . he abused me rency, such currency shoulli be ~sswd, shoukl puarcl agamst ahu~e. controlled by the federal government and l?xprrienre has proven the necessity of loaned on adequate security to national a modification of the present lax relat- and state banks. We pledge ourselves ing to in,iunctions;and we reiterate the

/’ I 200 THE PLATFORJI TEXT BOOK. - pledge of our national platforms of lS96 whether native born or naturalized, andhe and 1901 in favor of the measure which without distinction of race or creed, th;g” passed the United States Senate in 1896, equal protection of law and the but which a Republican Congress has ment of all rights and privileges ever since refused to enact, relating to to them under our treaty; and if contempts in federal courts and provid- existing treaties, the right of travel ing for trial by jury in cases of indirect and sojourn is denied to American citi- P.n contempt. Questions of judicial pram- zens or recognition is withheld from !s tice have arisen,. espeCially in connec- American passports by any countries on (a tion wi .i$dustrral disputes. We deem the ground of race or creed, we favor .e that 8 artres to all judicial proceedings prompt negotiations with the govern- ie should be treated with rigid impartiality ments of such countries to secure the re- ‘1 and that injunctions should not be is- moval of these unjust discriminations. iO1 sued in any case in which injunctions We demand that all over the world iti would not issue if no industrial dispute a duly authorized passport issued by the ‘m were involved. government of the United States to an it. The expanding organization of industry American citizen shall be proof of the lY makes it essential that there should be fact that he is an American citizen and:‘J no abridgement of the right of wage- shall entitle him to the treatment due, earners and producers to organize for him as such. I M the protection of wages and the improve- The laws pertaining to the civilf t ment of labor condrtrons to the end that servide should be honestly and rigidly”r such labor organizations and their mem- enforced to the end, that merit andfatc bers should not be regarded as illegal ability shall be the standard of an-, Lrlle combinations in restraint of trade. pointment and promotion rather thanke We favor the eight-hour day on all services rendered to a political party. Fl government work. We favor a generous pension policy,‘ate We pledge the Democratic party to both as a matter of justice to the sur-f”d the enactment of a law by Congress, as viving veterans and their dependents‘eu’ far as the federal jurisdiction extends, and because it tends to relieve the coun-7 -ab for a general employers’ liability act try of the necessity of maintaining a$ covering injury to body or loss of life large standing army. of employes. We advocate the organization of al\r3e in We pledge the Democratic party to existing national public health agenciesfe.” the enactment of a law creating a de- into a national bureau of public health,‘:Fe, partment of labor, represented sepa- with such power over sanitary condi-, rately in the President’s cabinet, which tions connected with factories, mines,,ater department shall include the subject of tenements, child labor and other such:$z mines and mining. subjects as are properly within the juris- We believe in the upbuilding of the diction of the federal government ati’rous. American and merchant marine with- do not interfere with the power of th?ectPc out new or additional burdens upon the states controlling public health agencie e *11 people and without bounties from the The Democratic party favors the ex-:% n c public treasury. tension of agricultural, mechanical an~u~ds~ The constitutional provision that a industrial education. We, therefore, _ ahall : navy shall be provided and maintained vor the establishment of district a& means an adequate navy, and we be- cultural experiment stations, the secone of. a c< lieve that the rnterests of this country ary agricultural and mechanical c ‘“YVi: would be best served by having a navy leges in the several states. sufficient to defend the coasts of this country and protect Smerican citizens We favor the election of United St

f F---l XATIOR’AL PLATEORMS OF PARTIES. 201 --___ -. 1 r on the auspicious beginning of a under the jurisdiction of the interstate eat career. commerce commission. The national Democratic party has We repeat the demand for internal de- . the last sixteen years labored for velopment and for the conservation of : admission of Arizona and New Mexi- our national resources contained in pre- as senarate states of the federal vious platforms, the enforcement of ion, and, recognizing that each pos- which Mr. Roosevelt has vainly sought ses every qualification to successfullv from ‘a reluctant party; and to that end intain separate state governments, we insist upon the preservation, protec- favor the immediate admission of tion and replacement of needed forests, se territories as separate states. the preservation of the public domain ‘he establishment of rules and repula- for homeseekers, the protection of the 75, if any such are necessary, in re- national resources in timber, coal, iron on to free grazing upon the public and oil against monopolistic control, the 1s outside of forest or other reser- development of our water waps for ions, until the same shall eventu- navigation and every other useful pur- be disposed of should be left to the pose, including the irrigation of arid >le of the states respectively in which lands, the recl$mation of swamp lands, r lands may be situated. the clarification of streams, the develop- ‘ater furnishes the cheapest means ment of water power and the preserva- ransportation and the national gov- tion of electric power generated by this nent, having control of navigable natural force from the control of mo- ?rs. should imorore them to their nopoly j and to such end we urge the st’ capacity. ‘We earnestly favor exercise of all powers, national, state immediate adoption of a liberal and and municipal, both separately and in nehcnsive plan for improving. every co-operation. r course in the Union, which IS jus- We insist upon a policy of adminis- I by the needs or commerce, and, to tration of our forest reserves whfich ‘e that end, we favor, when prac- shall relieve it of the abuses which have le, the connection or the great lakes arisen thereunder, and which shall, as t‘ne navigable rivers and with the far as practicable, conform to the police through ‘the Nississippi River, and regulations of the several states where avigable rivers with each other, and they are located, which shall enable ivers, bays and sounds of our coasts homesteaders as of right to occupy and each other bv artificial canals. with acouire title to all portions thereof which w to perfectmg a svstem of inland ari esneciallv ad&ted to agriculture. . ways, to be navigated by vessels and which shill fur&sh a syste”m of tim: rndard draught. ber sales available as well to the private favor the co-ordination of the va- citizen as to the -larger manufacturer services of the government con- and consumer. 1 with water ways in one service, We favor the application of principles e purpose of aiding in the comple- of the land laws of the United States to )f such a system of inland water our newly acquired territory, Hawaii, and we favor the creation of a to the end that the public lands of that tmple for continuous work, which territorv mav be held and utilized for be conducted under the direction the be&fit o? bona fide homesteaders. )mmission of experts to be author- We condemn the experiment in im- y law. perialism as an inexcusable blunder which favor federal aid to state and lo- has involved us in an enormous expense, thorities in the construction and brought us weakness instead of strength, nance of post roads. and laid our nation open to the charge nledpe the Democratic uartv to of abandoning .a fundamental doctrine &n&t of a law to regulate the of self -government. We favor an im- nd services of telegraph and tele- mediate declaration of the nation’s pur- companies engaged in the trans- pose to recognize the independence of of messages between the states the Philippine Islands as soon as a 202 TIIE PLATFORM TEXT BOOR. 1_ -__ --- stable government can be established, The Democratic party is the champid such independence to be guaranteed by of civil rights and opportunities to a us as we guarantee the independence of the Republican party is the party $ Cuba, until the neutralization of the privilege and private monopoly. Th,“Q islands can be secured by treaty with Democratic party listens to the voicg other powers. In recognizing the inde- of the whole people and gauges progres pendence of the Philippines our gorern- by the prosperity and advancement o 1 ment should retain such land as may be the average man; the Republican party! necessary for coaling stations and naval is subservient to the comparatively few bases. who are the beneficiaries of governmental 1Ye demand for the people of Alaska favoritism. We invite the co-operation and Porto Rico the full enjoyment of of all, regardless of previous political af- the rights and privileges of a territorial filiation or past differences, who desirg form of government, and the officials to preserve a government of the people, appoin d to administer the government by the people, and for the people, and of all \ ou- territories and the District who favor such an administration of the of Columbia should be thorou&hly quali- government as will insure, as far as fied by previous bona fide resrdence. human wisdom can, that each citizen We believe the Panama Canal will shall draw from society a reward com- prove a great value to our country and mensurate with his contribution to the favor its speedy completion. welfare of society. 1) The Democratic party recognizes the importance of and advantage of develop- PROHIBITION PLATFORM-1908. ing closer ties of pan-&~erican friend- ship and commerce ‘between the United The Prohibition party assembled in. States and her sister nations of Latin cenvention at‘Columbus, Ohio, July 15 America and favors the taking of such 1 steps, consistent with Democratic poli- 16, 1908, and nominated Eugene WV1 cies for better acquaintance, greater Chafin, of Illinois, for President and mutual confidence and larger exchange Aaron S. Watkins, of Ohio, for Vice- of trade, as will bring lasting benefit not President. The following is the platform only to the United States but to this group of American republics having con- adopted: stitutions, forms of government, am- The Prohibition party of the United bitions and interests akm to our own. States, assembled in convention at Co- We favor full protection, by both na- lumbus, Ohio, July 15-16, 1905, express- tional and state governments within ing gratitude to rllmighty God for the their respective spheres, of all foreign- vmtories of our principles in the past, ers residing in the United States under for encouragement at present and for the treaty, but we are opposed to the admis- confidence of early and triumphant suc- sion of Asiatic immigrants who cannot cess in the future, makes the folloming be amalgamated with our population, declaration of principles and pledges them or whose presence among us would raise enactment into law when placed in a race issue and involve us in diplomatic power: controversies with oriental powers. 1. The submission by Congress to the, We believe that where an American several states of an amendment to th ’ citizen holding a patent in a foreign federal Constitution prohibiting th 3 country is compelled to manufacture un- manufacture, sale, importation or trans? der his patent within a certain time, portation of alcoholic liquors for bever:’ similar restrictions should be applied age purposes. in this country to the citizen or subjects 2. The immediate prohibition of th of such a conntrv. liquor traffic for beverage purposes in the:4 The Democratic party stands for De- District of Columbia, in the territoriesi mocracy; the Republican has drawn to and all places over which the nationalj itself all that is aristocratic’ and pluto- government has jurisdiction, the repeal! cratic. of the internal revenue tax on alcoholic! XATIOSAL PLITFORJIS OF PARTIES. 203 ___- - > liquors and the prohibition of the inter- forty-four states and two territories, t state tratllc therein.. have met in national convention to nom- 3. The election of United States Sen- inate, absolutely independent of all other ators by direct vote of the people. political parties, candrdates for Presi- i-q 4. Equitable graduated income and dent and Vice-President of the United 3 inheritance taxes: States. 5. The estabhshment of postal sav- Our action is based upon a determina- ings banks and the guaranty of deposits tion to wrest the conduct of public affairs ~P- rn banks. from the hands of selfish interests, politi- 6. The regulation of all corporations cal trirksters and corrupt bosses, and n11 doing an interstate commerce business. make the government, as the founders Ye 7. The creating of a permanent tariff intended, an agency for the common e commission. good. :, 8. The strict enforcement of law, in- At a period of unexampled national 4 stead of the official tolerance and prac- prosperity and promise, a staggering e tical license of the social evil which blow was dealt to legitimate business by s prevails in many of our cities, with its the unmolested practice of stock Tvater- a unspeakable traffic in girls. ing and ‘dishonest financiering. IIulti- _ 9. Uniform marriage and divorce tudes of defenseless investors, thousands ? laws. of honest business men and an army of , 10. -in equitable and constitutional idle workingmen are paying the penalty. employers’ liability act. Year by year, fostered by wasteful and 11. Court review of postofhce depart- reckless governmental extravagance, by ment decisions. the manipulation of trusts and by a 12. The prohibition of child labor in privilege creating tariff, the cost of liv- mines, workshops and factories. ing mounts higher and higher. Day by i 13. Legislation basing. suffrage on1.v day the control of the government drifts \ upon intelligence and abihty to read and further away from the people and more write the English language. firmly into the grip of machine politi- 14. The preservation of the mineral cians and party bosses. and forest resources of the country and The Republican and Democratic par- the improvement of the highways and ties are not only responsible for these waterwars. conditions, but are committed to their Believing in the righteousness of our indefinite continuance. Prodigal of cause and the final triumph of our prin- promises, they are so barren of perform- ciples and ronvinced of the unwillingness ance that to a new party of independent of the Republican and Democratic parties voters the country must look for the to deal with these issues, we invite to establishment of a new policy and a re- full party fellowship all citizens who are turn to genuine popular government. agreed with us. Our object is not to introduce violent innovations or startlingly new theories. X-e of the Independence party look back, INDEPENDENCE PARTY-1908. as Lincoln did, to the Declaration of In- dependence as the fountain head of all The Independence party assembled in political inspiration. It is not our pur- convention at Chicago, July 27-28, 1908, pose to attempt to revolutionize the and nominated Thomas L. Hisgen, of American system of government, but to Massachusetts, for President, and John restore the action of the government to Temple Graves, of New York, for Vice- the principles of V7ashington and Jeffer- President. The following platform was son and Lincoln. It is not our purpose, adopted: either, to effect a radical change in‘ the Ke, independent American citizens, American system of government, but to representing the Independence party in conserve for the citizens of the United States their privileges and liberties won remove from oflice any official who dem. for them by the founders of this gov- onstrates his unfitness or betrays thf ernment and to perpetuate the principles public trust. and policies upon which the nation’s Of next importance in destroying thi greatness has been built. power of selfish special interests and the The Independence party is, therefore, a corrupt political bosses whom they con- conservative force in American politics, trol is to wrest from their hands their devoted to the preservation of American main weapon, the corruption fund. We liberty and independence, to honesty in demand severe and effective legislation elections, to opportunity in business and against all forms of corrupt practices at to equality before the law. Those who elections and advocate prohibiting the believe in the Independence party and use of any money at elections except work with it are convinced that a gen- for meetings, literature and the neces- uine democracy should exist; that a sary traveling expenses of candidates. true republican form of government Bidding for votes, the Republican and should continue; that the power of gov- Democratic candidates are making an ernment should rest with the majority outcry about publicity of contributions, of the people, and that the government although both the Republican and Demo- should be conducted for the benefit of cratic parties have for years consistently the whole citizenship, rather than for the blocked every effort to pass a corrupt special advantage of any particular class. practices act. Publicity of contributions As of first importance, in order to re- is desirable and should be required, but store the power. of government to the the main matter of importance is the use people, to make their will supreme in the to which contributions are put. We be- primaries. in the elections and .in the lieve that the dishonest use of monev in control of public officials after they have the past, whether contributed by hdi- been elect&I we declare for direct nom- viduals or by corporations, has been inations, the initiative and referendum cMefly responsible for the corruption and the right of recall. which has undermined our system of It is idle to cry out against the evil popular government. of bossism while we perpetuate a system We demand honest conduct of public under which the boss in inevitable. The office and businesslike and economical destruction of an individual boss is of administration of public affairs, and we little value. The people in their politics condemn the gross extravagance of fed- must establish a system whirh will elim- eral administration and its appalling inate. not only an objectionable boss, annual increase in appropriations. Un- but the system of bossism. Representa- necessary appropriations mean unneces- tive government is made a mockery by sary taxes, and unnecessary taxes, the system of modern party conventions whether direct or indirect, are paid by dominated by bosses and controlled by the people and add to the ever increasing cliques. We demand the natural remedy cost of living. of direct nominations by which the peo- We condemn the evil of overcapitali- ple not only elect. but, which is far more zation. Modern industrial conditions important, select their representatives. make the corporation and stock company We believe in the principles of the a necessity, but overcapitalization in initiative and referendum and we partic- corporations is as harmful and criminal ularlv demand that no franchise grant as is personal dishonesty in an individ- go into operation until the terms and ual. Compelling the payment of divi- i conditions have been approved by popu- dends upon great sums that have never /* lar vote in the locality interested. been invested, upon masses of watered I We demand for the people the right stock not justified by the property, over- \ to recall public officials from the public capitalizatron prevents the better wages, service. The power to make officials the better public service and the lower resides in the people, and in them also cost that should result from American should reside the power to unmake and inventive genius and that wide organi- NATIONAL PLATFORMS OF PARTIES. 205 :I ---- . lzation which is replacing costly indi- The Independence party believes that vidual competition. The collapse of dis- the distribution of wealth is as impor- honestly inflated enterprises robs in- tant as the creation of wealth, and in- -esters, closes banks, destroys confidence dorses those organizations among farm- 4 nd engenders panics. The Independence ers and workers which tend to bring arty advocates as a primary necessity about a just distribution of wealth , f or sounder business conditions and im- through good wages for workers and good ’ roved public service the enactment of prices for farmers and which protect the Paws, state and national, to prevent employer and the consumer through kvatering of stock, dishonest issues of equality of price for labor and for prod- h onds and other forms of corporation uct and we favor such legislation as will Frauds. remove them from the operation of the ; 1Te denounce the so-called labor planks Sherman anti-trust law. bf the Republican and Democratic plat- We indorse the eight-hour day, favor forms as ‘political buncombe and con- its application to all government em- temptible clap-trap unworthy of national ployes and demand the enactment of parties claiming to be serious and sincere. laws requiring that all work done for The Republican declaration that “no the government, whether federal or state, ,injunction or temporarv restraining or- and ~vhether done directly or indirectly der should be issued without notice, es- through contractors or sub-contractors, eept where irreparabIe injury would re- shall be done on an eight-hour basis. :sult from delay” is empty verbiage, for We favor the enactment of a law con- ‘a showing of irreparable injury can al- demning as illegal any combination or ways be made and is always made in ex conspiracy to blacklist employes. parte affidavits. We demand protection for workmen i The Democratic declaration that “in- through enforced use of standard safety i’junctions should not be issued in any appliances and provision of hygienic 1 case in which injunctions should not issue conditions in the operation of factories, :if no industrial dispute w?re involved” railnxys, mills, mines and all industrial is meaningless and worthless. undertakings. Such insincere and meaningless dec- 11-e advocate state and federal inspec- larations place a low estimate upon the tion of railways to secure a greater intelligence of the average American safety for railxT-ay employes and for the ~vorkingman and eshihit either ignorance traveling public. ‘of or indifference to the real interests of We call for the enactment of stringent labor. Inws fixing employers’ liabilities and a The Independence party condemns the rigid prohibition of child labor through arbitrary use of the writ of injunction co-operation between the state govern- and contempt proceedings as a violation ments and the national government. of the fundamental American right of 11-e condemn the manufacture and sale trial by jury. of prison-made goods in the open market j From the foundation of our govern- in competition with free labor manufac- : ment down to 1872 the federal judiciary tured goods. We demand that convicts act prohibited the issue of any injunc- be employed-direct by the different states 3 tion without reasonable notice until after in the manufacture of products for use j a hearing. in state institutions and in making good We assert that in all actions growing roads, and in no ease shall convmts be out of a, dispute between employers and hired out to contractors or sub-contrac- employes concerning terms or conditions tors. of employment, no injunction should is- We favor the creation of a department - sue until after a trial upon the merits, of labor, including mines and mining, : that such trial should be had before a the head of which shall be a member of ; jury and that in no case of alleged con- the President’s cabinet. tempt should any person be deprived of The great abuses of grain inspection, ; liberty without a trial by jury. by which the producers are plundered, 206 THE l&LATFORM TEXT BOOK, - 1 demand immediate and vigorous correc- labor and declare that such combination ’ tion. To that end we favor federal in- are not combinations for production, b spection ‘under a strict civil service law. for extortion, and that activity in tq- The Independence party declares that the right to issue money is inherent in the go\-ernment and it favors the estab- lishment of a central governmental bank act, we believe in the enforcement of through which the money so issued shall prison penalty against the guilty and re] be put into general circulation. sponsible individuals controlling the man< TYe demand a revision of the tariff, agement of the offending corporations: not br the friends of the tariff, but by rather than a fine imposed upon stock:. the f;ends of the people, and declare for holders. a gradual reduction of tariff duties with We advocate the extension of the prin-, just consideration for the rights of the ciple of public ownership of public utily consuming public and of established in- ities, including railroads, as rapidly as’ dustry. There should be no protection municipal, state or national governments for oppressive trusts which sell cheap!y shall demonstrate ability to conduct pub- abroad and take advantage of the tariff lic utilities for the public benefit. We at home to crush competition, raise favor specifically government ownership: prices, control production and limit work of the telegraphs. such as prevails ini and wages. every other civilized country in the\ The railroads must be kept open to all morld, and demand as an immediate : upon exactly equal terms. Every form measure that the government shall pur-: of rebate and discrimination in railroad chase and operate the telegraphs in con-1 rates is a crime against business and nection with the postal service. must be stamped out. We demand ade- .quate railroad facilities and advocate a bill empowering shippers in time of need to compel railroads to provide suffi- tablished where the people’s deposits wilb cient cars for freight and passenger be secure, the monev to be loaned to the trafhc and other railroad facilities people in the locality of the several ‘+ through summary appeal to the courts. banks and at a rate of interest to be -Ke favor the creation of an Interstate fixed by the government. Coinnierce Court, whose sole function it 11’e favor the immediate derelopmen#\ , shall be to review speedily and enforce, of a national system of good roads conb summarily, the orders of the Interstate nectinw all states and national aid to ! Commerce Commission. The Interstate statesDin the construction and mainte- : Commerce Commission should have the mince of post roads. power to initiate investigation into the TALC favor a court review of the ten- reasonableness of rates and practices, sorship and arbitrary rulings of the and no increase of rates should be put Postoflice Department. into effect until opportunity or such in- TJ7e favor the admission of Arizona and vestigation is afforded. The Interstate New Nesico to separate statehood. Commerce Commission should proceed at We advocate such legislation, both i once with a physical valuation of rail- state and .national, as will suppress the roads engaged m interstate commerce. bucket shop and prohibit the fictitious We believe that le.gitimate organiza- selling of farm products for future de- tions in business, designed to secure an livery. economy of operation and increased pro- We favor the creation of a national de- duction, are beneficial wherever the pub- partment of public health to be presided lic participates in the advantages which ?rer bv a member of the medical profes- result. sion, this department to exercise such au- We denounce all combinations for re- horitp over matters of public health, straint of trade and for the establish- iygiene and sanitation which comes prop- ment of monopoly in all products of xly within the jurisdiction of the na- SATIONAL PLATFOXJIS OF PACTIEB. 207 tionnl government’ and does not intcrfcrc devastation and waste, but against fall- with the right of states or municipali- ing into the control of monopoly. ties. The abuses growing out of the admin- 7f7e oppose Asiatic immigration, which j i&ration of our forest preserves must does not amalgamate with our 1~oln~la- , be correckd, and provision should be tion. creates 12132 issues and un-Ameriran / made for free grazing from public lands conditions and which reduces wages and , outSide of forest or other reservation. tends to lower the high standard of li\-- In behalf of the people residing in arid ing and the high stantlard of morality portions of our 1YrStern states we pro- which American civilization has estab- test rigorously against the policy of the lished. federal govrrnmrnt in selling the exclu- We demand the passage of an exelu- sive use of water and electric power de- sion act which shall protect American rived from public works to private cor- workingmen ‘from competition with porations, thus creating a monopoly and Asiatic cheap labor and which shall pro- sabjccting citizens living in those see- tect American civilization from the con- tions to exorbitant charges for light and tamination of Asiatic conditions. power and diverti@ enterprises origin- The Independence party tlrclar~s fol ally started for pliblir benefit into chan- peace and against aggrwsion and I\-ill nt.1~ for corporate greed and oppression, promote the morrment for the scttlr- and we d~innnd that no more exclusive ment of international disputes br arbi- contracts br made. tmtion. ;1merican citizens abroad, whether na- IYe believe, liow-crer, that a small nav) tive born or naturalized, and of what- is poor economy, and that a strong navy ever race or creed, must bc secured in t!le is the best protection in time of war and enjoyment of all rights and privileges ;he best .preventive of n-ar. we there- nnclrr our treaties, and wherever such fore favor the speedy building of a narp rights are withheld by any country on sniiicientl~ strong to protect at the the ground of race or religious faith, same time both the Atlnntir and Pacific steps shonltl be taken to secure the re- roasts of the ITnited States. moval of such unjust discrimination. Wit rrjoice in the adoption by both Ke advocate the popular election of the Democratic and Republican platforms T-nited Ptntes Senators and of judges, of the demand of the Indrpendence party 110th state and federal, and favor a grad- for improved national waterways and the uated income tax and and constitutional Mississippi Inland Deep Waterways pro- ammdment~s necessary to these ends. ject, to complete a ship canal from the Equa,lity and opportunity, the largest (:ulf to the Great Lakes. T1-e favor the measnrc of individual liberty consistent extension of this srstem to the tribu- with equal rights; the overthrow of the tariei of the JIissi~sippi, by nwans of rnlc of special interest and the restorw which thirty states shall be served and tion of government by the majority es- twenty thousand miles added to the crcisrd for the benefit of the whole com- coast iine of the I’nited States. The rc- nrnnitv-thrsc are the purposes to which clantation of arid lands should be con- the Independence party is pledged, and tinnrtl and the irrigation l~rogrnn~mc nom we invite the co-oprratlon of all patriotic contemplated by the government es- and progrrssive citizens, irrespective of tcndcd and steps taken for the conserva- partv. who are in sympathy with these tion of the country’s natural resources, lwin~iplca and in favor of their practical which should be guarded not only against enforcement.