Jasper County Democrat, Volume 3, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 July 1900 — DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM [ARTICLE]

DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM

Full Text of the Resolutions Adopted by the National Convention at Kansas City*

CjpIIE official text of the platform as w l| adopted by the Democratic national convention at Kansas City is as follows; * We, the representatives of the Democratic party of the United States assembled la national convention on the anniversary of the adoption of the declaration of Independence, do reaffirm our faith lu that Immortal proclamation of the Inalienable rights of man, and oar allegiance to the Constitution, framed In harmony therewith by the fathers of the republic. We hold with the United States Supreme Court that the declaration of Independence Is the spirit of our government, of which the Constitution is the form and letter. We declare again that all governments Instituted among men derive their lust powers from the consent of the governed; that any government not* based upon the consent ol the governed Is a tyranny, and that to impose upon any people a form of government of force Is to substitute the methods of Imperialism for those of a republic. We hold that the Constitution follows the flag und denounce the, doctglpe that an executive or Congress dcrlvingihelr existence and tbelr powers from the Constitution can exercise lawful authority beyond It or In violation of It. We assert that no nation can long endure half republic and half empire, and we warn the American people that Imperialism abroad will lead quickly aud Inevitably to despotism at home. Denounce Porto Rican Law. Believing lit these fundamental principles, we denounce the Porto Itleo law, enacted by a Republican Congress, against the protest and opposition of the Democratic minority, us a hold and open violation of the nation's organic law and a flagrant breach of the national good faith. It Imposes upon the people of Porto Itleo a government without their consent, and taxation without representation. It dishonors the Auiericau people by repudiating a.solemn pledge made In their behalf by the commanding general of our army, which the Porto Ricans welcomed to a peaceful and-unie-Uti d occupation of their land. It doomed to poverty und distress a people whose helplessness appeals with pe--eu+tar fcTee-to-tmr jwtHctrntid magnanimb y. In this, the first act of Its Impetlalistic program. the Republican party seeks to commit the United States to a colonial pol.ey, Inconsistent with republican institutions and condemned liy tlie Supreme Court In numerous decisions'. Demands flood Faith with Cuba. We dtmnnd the prompt an l honest fulfillment of our pledge to the Cuban people and' the world that the United States has no Uis position nor Intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over the Island of Cuba, except for its pacification. The war ended nearly two years ago, profound peace reigns over all the Island, and atlil the administration keeps the g rvernment of the Island from its people while Republican carpetbag officials plunder its revenues aud exploit the colonial theory, to the disgrace cf the American people. We condemn and denounce the Philippine policy of the present administration, ft has Involved the republic In unnecessary war. sacrificed the live* of many of cur noblest sons, and placed the United States, previously known and applauded throughout the world as the champion of freedom. In the false aud un-Amertcau position of crashing with military fort e the efforts of our former gibes to achieve liberty and self-government. The Filipinos cannot be citizens without endangering our civilization; they cannot be subjects without impellllug our form of government, and as we are not willing to surrender our civilization or to convert the republic Into an empire, we saver au immediate declaration of the nation's purpose of give to the Filipinos first a stable form of government: second, independence, and third, prt>tet*:h>u from cut-dde Interference such as has been given for nearly a century to the republics of Central and south America. Scores Philippine Policy. The greedy ccnimerola jsm which dictated the Philippine policy of the Republican administration attempts to justify it with the plea that It will pay, but even this sordid ami unworthy plea falls wheu brought ,to the test of facts. The war of criminal aggression against the Filipinos, entailing :.u annual expense of many millions, has sjreudy cost more than any possible profit that could accrue from the entire Phlilpp.ne tra»lo for years to come. Furthermore, wheu traj* Is extended at the t xpense of liberty tat, price Is always too high. We are not opposed to territorial expansion when It takes In desirable terrltyr/ which can be erected into States In t'uiou aud whose people are willing and fit to become American citizens. We favor trade expansion by every peaceful aud legitimate means. But we are unalterably opposed to the seizure or purchase of distant Islands to be governed outside the Constitution and whose people can never become citizens. Holds Imperialism I*ar amo lint.

The dishonest paltering with the trust evil by the Republican party In State and national platforms Is conclusive proof of the truth of the charge that trusts are the legitimate product of Republican policies; that they are fostered by Republican policies; that they are protected by the Republican administration in return for campaign subscriptions and political support. Pledge War on Monopoly. We pledge the Democratic party to an unceaslug warfare in nation, State and city against private monopoly In every form. Existing laws against trusts must be enforced and more stringent ones must be enacted, providing for publicity as to the affairs of corporations engaged In Interstate commerce, and requiring all coruoratlons to show, before doing business outside of the State of their origin, that they have no water In their stock, and that they have hot attempted, and are not attempting, to monopolize atiy branch ot business or the production of any articles of merchandise, aud the whole constitutional power of Congress over Interstate commerce, the malls, and all modes of Interstate communication shall be exercised by the enactment of comprehensive laws upon the subject of trusts. To Amend Jrust Law*. Tariff inws should be amended by putting the products-of trusts upon the free list to prevent monopoly under the plea of proieotiou. The failure of the present Republican administration, with an absolute control over all the branches of the national government, to enact any legislation designed (o prevent or even curtail the absorbing power of trusts ami Illegal combinations, cr to enforce tbe anti-trust laws already on the statute books, proves the Insincerity of the high-sounding phrases of the Uepubllcun platform. Corporations should be protected In all tbelr rights and their legitimate interests should be respected, but any attempt by corporations to interfere with the public affairs of rhe people, or to control the sovereignty which creates them, shouUl he forbidden under such penalties as will make such attempts impossible. W c condemn the Dingley tariff law as a trust breeding measure, skillfully devised to give the few favors which they da not deserve and to place uputi tlie many the—burdens which they should not bear. We favor such au enlargement of the scope of the Interstate commerce law us will enable the commission to protect individuals and communities from fllscrhnluatlous und the public from unjust and unfair transportatjou rates. The IG-to-1 Plunk. We reaffirm and_ludorse the principles of the national Democratic platform adopted at Chicago lu ISUU, and we reiterate the demand ot that platform for an American niiaueial system made by the American peopie for themselves, which shall rcstoie amt maintain a bimetallic price-level, and as pari of such system the Immediate restoration of the free aud unlimited coinage of s 1Vcr and gold at the present legal ratio of ltt to 1 without waiting for the aid or consent of any other nation. We denounce the currency bill enacted at the last session of Congress us a step forward in the. Republican policy which aims to discredit the sovereign right of the ualloual government to Issue all money, whether coin or paper, ami to bestow upon national bank* the power to issue aud control the ve.urne of paper money for their own benefit. A permanent national bank currency, secured by government bonds, must have a permanent debt to test upon, and If the bank currency is to increase with population und business the debt must also increase, the Republican currency scheme is therefore a scheme for fastening upon the taxpayers * perpetual and growing debt. Demand Retirement of Bank Notes. We arc opposed to this private corporation paper circulated as money, but without legal tender qualities, and demand the retirement of the national bank notes as fast as government paper or silver certificates can be substituted for them. We favor au amendment to the Federal Constitution provlulug for the e.eotiou of United States Senators by direct vote of the peopie, and we saver direct legislation w herever practicable. We are opposed to government by Injunction; we denounce the blacklist and tavor arbitration as a means of settling di-put#* between corporations aud their employes. In the Interest of American labor and the uplifting of the Workingman, as ihe corner stone cf the prosperity of our country, we recommend that Congress create a department of labor In charge of a secretary, with a seat in the cabinet, believing that the elevation of the American laborer will bring with It Increased production and Increased prosperity to otir country at home aud to our commerce abroad. We are proud of the courage and fidelity of the American soldiers and sailors In all our wars; we favor liberal peuslons to them and their dependents, and we re'terate the position taken In the Chicago platform In INHH that the fact or enlistment aud service shall be deemed conclusive evidence against disease and disability before enlistment. We favor the immediate construction,ownership aud control cf the Nicaragua caual by the United States, and we denounce the Insincerity of the plank In the national Republican platform for an Isthmian canal, in face of the failure of the Republican majority to pass the bill pending In Congress. We condemn the Hay-Pauucefnte treaty ns a surrender of American rights and interests, not to be tolerated by the American people.

We are in favor of extending ttie republic's lntlueuce among the nations, but believe that iuttufuce should be extended not by force and violence, but through the persuasive power es a high and honorable example. The importance of other questions now pending before the American people is in no wise diminished, and tbe Democratic party takes no backward step from its position on them, but the burning Issue of Imperialism,, growing out of the Spanish war, involves tbe very existence of the republic nud the destruction of our free institutions. We regard it as the paramount Issue of the campaign. ■ The declaration In th’ Ri ptib'.lcin platform adopted at the Philadelphia convention, held in June. IiXK), that the Republican party ‘•steadfastly adheres to the policy an non u el In the Monroe Uoetrlue" is mau.festly lut.-lu-cere and deceptive. This profession Is contradicted by the avowed policy of that party In opposition to the spirit of the Monroe doetiiue to acquire and bold sovereignty over large areas of territory and large numbers of people in the eastern hemisphere. Must Uphold Monroe Doctrine. We insist on tbe strict maintenance of the Monroe doctrine and In all its integrity, both In letter and In spirit, as necessary to prevent the extension of European authority on this continent nud as essential to our so premaey in American affairs. At the Mine time we ileclure that no Amerlcau people shall ever be held by fotxe In unwllllug subjection to Europmu j® tborlty. We oppose militarism. It means conquest abroad and Intimidation nud oppression at home. It menus the strong army which has ever been fatul to free Institutions. It Is what millions of our dtlaenn have fled from in Europe. It will Impose upon our pcacc-lovluK people n large standing army and nn unnecessary burden of tsxntlon and a constant menace to their liberties. A small standing army and a well disci pllned Htatc mllltin arc amply sufficient In time of peaice. This republic lias no place for a vast military service nud conscription. When the nation Is In danger the voluuteer soldier Is his country's best defender. The National Guard of the t'nlti-d States should ever be cherished In tbe patriotic hearts of a free people. Huch organizations are ever an element of strength and safety. For the first time In our history and eoevll with the Philippine conquest has there been a wholesale departure from our timehonored aud approved system of voluntacr organization. We denounce It a* un-Amerlean, tin-demo-cratic and un-republlean, and ns a subversion of the ancleut and fixed principles of u free people. a- n l > "■ Trusts Arc Scored. Private monopolies are ludefpnntble nnd Intolerable. They destroy competition, control the price of ail material, and of the finished product, thus robbing both producer and consumer. They lessen the employment of labor nnd arbitrarily fix the terms and conditions thereof, nud deprive Individual energy asd small capital of their ■ opportunity for betterment. They are the most efficient means yet devised for appropriating the frdlts of Industry to the benefit of the few at the expense of the many, and nnlesa their Insatiate greed Is checked all wealth will be aggregated In a lew bands and the republic destroyed. -

Pledge to Territories. We denounce the failure cf tbe Republican party to carry out its pledg -s to grant Statehood to the Territories of Arizona. New Mexico and Oklahoma, and we promise the people of those Territories immediate Statehood and home rule during their condition a.< Territories. and we favor home rule au.l a Territorial form of government for Alaska and Porto Kieo. We favor an Intelligent system of improving the arid lands of the West, storing the waters for purposes of irilg itl n and the bolding of such lauds for actual sutlers. We favor the eontinuauce and strict enforcement of tbe Chinese exclusion law nnd its nppitcntloii to the same classes of all Asiatic races. Jofferson said: .'‘Peace, commerce- and honest friendship with all nations; entangling allluuccs with none.” We approve the wlic letouie doctrine amt earnestly protest against the Republican de parture which has Involved us In so-called politics, Including the diplomacy of Europe nnd the intrigue am! land grabbing cf Asia, and we especially coujleinu the 111-concealed Itepubilcnn alliance with England which must mean discrimination against other friendly notions and which baa already stifled the nation's voice, while liberty la being strangled In Africa. Pro-liner Plunk. Relieving In the principles of self government, nnd rejecting, us did our forefathers, the claim of monarchy, we view «lih Indignation the purpose of England to overwhelm with force the South Afitean republics. Speaking as we do for tbe entire American nation except Its Republican office-holders, and for ail free men everywhere, we extend our sympathies -to the heroic burghers In their unequal struggle to maintain their liberty und Independence. We denouucr the Invinh appropriations of recent Republican Congresses, which have kept taxes high and which threaten the perpetuation of the oppressive war levies. We oppose the accumulation of a surplus to be squandered in such barefaced frauds upon the tnxpnyers as the shipping subsidy bill, which, under the false pretense of prospering American shipbuilding. would nut unearned millions Into tbe pocketr of favorite contributors to the Republican campaign fund. We favor the reduction nnd speed* repeal of the war taxes, and a return to the limehonored Democratic policy of strict economy In governmental expenditures. Relieving that our most cherished Institutions are in great peril: that the very existence of our constitutional republic la at stake, and that the decision now to be rendered will determine whether or not bur eblldreu are to enjoy those bleared'privileges or free government which have made the United Btales great, prosperous and honored, we earnestly ask for the foregoing declaration of principles the hearty support of the t!b-erty-lovlng American people, regardless of 1 previous party affiliations.