People's Pilot, Volume 6, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 July 1896 — SILVER THE ISSUE [ARTICLE]

SILVER THE ISSUE

Democratic Platform Declares for Free, Independent Coinage. _ Tariff and Taxatioq Plaqks. Bond Issues DeQounced.

The full text of the platform as adopted is as follows: “We. the democrats of the United States, in national convention assembled, do reaffirm our allegiance to those great essential principles of justice and liberty upon which our institutions are founded and 'which the democratic party has advocated from Jefferson’s time to our own—freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of conscience, the preservation of personal rights, the equality pf all citizens-before the law, and the faithfpl observance of constitutional limitations. “During all these years the democratic party has resisted the tendency of selfish interests to the centralization of governmental power, and st adfastly'maintained the integrity of the dual scheme of government established by the founders of this republic of republics Under itsguidance and teachings the great principle of local self-government has found its best expression in the maintenance of the rights of the states and its assertion of the necessity of confining the general government to the exercise of the powers granted by the constitution of the United States.

“The constitution of the United States guarantees to every citizen the rights of civil and religious liberty. The democratic party has always been the exponent of political liberty and religious freedom and it renews its obligations and reaffirms Its devotion to these fundamental principles of the constitution. Financial Flank. “Recognizing that the money question is paramount to all others at this time, we invite attention to the fact that the federal constitution names silver and gold together as the money metals of the United States, and that the first coinage law passed by congress under the constitution made the silver dollar the unit of value and admitted gold to free coinage at the ratio measured by the silver dollar unit. “We declare thrt the act of 1873 demonetizing silver without the knowledge or approval of the American people has resulted in the appreciation of gold and a corresponding fall In the prices of commodities produced by the people; a heavy Increase in the burden of taxation and of all debts, public and private; the enrichment of the money lending class at home and abroad; prostration of industry and impoverishment of the people. “We are unalterably opposed to the single gold standard. Which has locked fast the properlty of an industrial people in the paralysis of hard times. "Gold monometallism is a British policy, and its adoption has brought other nations into financial servitude to London. It is not only un-Aiuerlcan. but anti-American, and it can be fastened on the United States only bv the stifling of that indomitable spirit and love-bf liberty which proclaimed our political independence in 1776 and won it in tne war of the revolution. “We demand the free and unlimited coinage of both silver and gold at the present legal ratio of sixteen to one without waiting for the aid or consent of arfy other nation. We demand that the standard silver dollar shall be a full legal tender, equally with gold, for all debts, public and. private, and we favor such legislation as will prevent the demonetization of any kind of legal tender money by private contract. “We are opposed to the policy and practice 1 of surrendering to the holders of the obligations of the United States the option reserved by law to the government of redeeming such obligations in either silver or gold coin. Bonds. “We are opposed to the issuing of interest bearing bonds of the United States in time of peace, and condemn the trafficking with banking syndicates, which, in exchange for bonds and at an enormous profit to themselves, supply the federal treasury* with gold to maintain the policy of gold monometallism. "Congress alcne has the power to coin and issue money, and President Jackson declared that this power could not be delegated to corporations or individuals. We. therefore denounce the Issuance of .notes Intended to circulate as money by national banks as in derogation of the constitution, and we demand that all paper which is made a legal tender for public and private debts, or which is receivable for dues to the United States, shall bo issued by the government of the United States, and shall be redeemable in coin.

Tariff and Tajration. “We hold that tariff-duties should be levied for purposes of revenue, and that taxation should be limited by the needs of the government honestly and economically administrated. We denounce as disturbing to business the republican threat to restore the McKinley law, which has been twice condemned by the people in national elections and which enacted under the false plea of protection of home ihdustry, proved a prolific breeder of trust and monopolies, enriched the few at the expense of the many, restricted ft'ade and deprived the producers of the great American staples of access to their natural markets. Until the money question is settled we are opposed to any agitation for further changes in our tariff laws, except such as are necessary to meet the deficit in revenue caused by the adverse decision of the supreme court on the income tax. There would be no deficit in the revenue but for the annulment, by the supreme court of a law passed by a democratic congress in strict pursuance of the uniform decisions of that court for 100 years, that court having sustained constitutional objections to its enactment, which has been overruled by the ablest judges who had ever sat on that bench. We declare that it Is the duty of congress to use all the constitutional power which remains after that decision, or which may come from its reversal by the couit as it may hereafter be constituted, so that the burdens of taxation may be equally and impartially laid, to the end that wealth may bear its proportion of the expenses of the government Pauper Labor Plank. •‘We hold that the most efficient'way of protecting American labor is to prevent the importation of foreign pauper labor to c mpete with it in the home market, and that the value of the home market to our American farmers and artisans is greatly reduced by a viscipus monetary system which depresses the prices of their products below |

I the cost of production and thus deprives | them of the means of purchasing the productsof our home manafacturies. and as la- | bor creates the wealth of the country, we demand the passage of such laws as may be necessary to protect it in all its rights. “We are in of the arbitration of differences between employers engaged in interstate commerce and their employers and recommend such legislation as is necessary to carry out this principle. Bestraint on Bailroad Corporations. "The absorption of wealth by the few, the consolidation of our leading railroad systems and the formation of trusts* and pools require a stricter control by the federl government of those arteries of commerce. We ’ demand the enlargement of the powers of the interstate commerce commission and such restrictions and guarantees in the control of railroads as will protect the people from robbery and oppressions. Bepublican Congresses. We denounce the prolifigate waste of the monpy wrung from the people by the oppresive taxation and the lavish appropriations of recent republican congresses, which have kept taxes high while the labor that pays them is unemployed and the products of the people’s toil are depressed in price till they no longer repay the cost of production. We demand a return to that simplicity and economy which best benefits a democratic government and a reduction in the number, of useless officers, the salaries of which drain the substance of the people. Federal Interference. “We denounce the arlbitrary interference by federal authorities in local affairs as a violation of the constitution of the United States and a crime against free institutions and we especially object to government by injunction as a new and highly dangerous form of oppression by which federal judges, in contempt of the laws of the states and rights of the citizens, become at once legislators, judges and executioners; and we approve the bill passed at the last session of the United States senate and now pending in the house relative to contemuts in fedral courts and providing for trials by a jury in certain cases of contempt.

Admission of Territories.

‘•We favor the admission of the territories of New Mexico. Arizona and Oklahoma into the union as states and w§ favor the admission of all the territories having the necessary population and resource to entitle them to statehood and While they remain territories we hold that the offiicals appointed to administer the government of any territory, together with the District of Columbia and Alaska, should be bona fide residents of the territories or district in which the duties are to be performed. The democratic party believes in home rule and that all public lands of the United States should be appropriated to the establishment of free homes for American citizens. ‘•We recommend that the territofy of Alaska be.granted a delegate in congress, and that the general land and timber laws of the United States be extended to said territory. Pacific Funding Bill. “No discriminations should be indulged in by the government of the United States in favor of its debtors. We approve of the refusal of the Fifty-third congress 1.0 pass the Pacific railroad funding bill; denounce the effort of the present republican congress to enact a similar measure, Pensions. “Recognizing the just claims of deserving union soldiers, we heartily indorse the rule of Commissioner Murphy that no names shall be arbitrarily dropped from the pension role avd the fact of enlisAient and service should be deemed conclusive evidence against disease and disability before enlistment. The Monroe Boctrine. “The Monroe doctrine as originally declared and as Interpreted by succeeding presidents, is a permanent part of the foreign policy of the United States, and must at all times be maintained. Sympathy For Cuba. "We extend our symyathy to the people of Cuba in their heroic struggle for liberty and independence. Civil Service. “We are opposed to life tenure in the pnblic service.. We favor appointments based upon merits, fixed teyms of office, and such an administration of the civil service laws as will afford equal opportunities.to all citizens of ascertained fitness. Against Third Term. “We declare it to be the unwritten law of this republic, established by custom and usage of 100 years and sanctioned by the examples of the greatest and wisest of those who founded and have maintained our government, that no man should be eligible for the third term of the presidential office. Waterways Improvement “The federal govern uent should care for and improve the Mississippi river and other great waterways of the republic, so as to secure for the interior states easy and cheap transportation to tide water. When any waterway of the republic is of sufficient importance to demand aid of the government such aid should be extended upon a definite plan of continuous work until permanent improvement is secured. "Confiding in the justice of our cause and the necessity of its success at the polls we submit the foregoing declaration of principle and purposes to the considerate judgment of the American people. We invite the support of all citizens w ho approve thjem and who desire to have them made effective through legislation for the relief of the peole and the restoration of the country’s prosperity.

Il is said that yellow fever is being successfully treated in Brazil by a refrigerating process. The patient is placed for three years in a box, the ’temperature of which is only one or two degrees above freezing point—the theory being that the bacilli of the disease cannot reproduce themselves except at high temperature. It is strange that this system has never been tried in this country.