Rensselaer Republican, Volume 15, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 September 1882 — PARTY CONVENTIONS. [ARTICLE]

PARTY CONVENTIONS.

Synopsis of the Doings of a Few of Them. Their Declarations of Principles, Candidates, Etc.

MASSACHUSETTS REPUBLICANS. The Republican State Convention of Maasachusetts, which convened at Worcester, was presided over by Senator Hoar. The following ticket was nominated: Governor,Robert R. Bishop; Lieutenant Governor, Oliver Ames; Secretary of State, Henry B. Pearce; Treasurer and Receiver, Gen. Daniel A. Gleason; Auditor, Charles R Ladd; Attorney General, Edgar J. Sheridan. The platform condemns fraud in elections, expresses admiration for the action of the Republicans in Congress in the contested-election cases, asks for a revision of the tariff and a reduction of taxation, and indorses the administration of President Arthur as “wise, honest and patriotic.” The following is the civil-service reform plank of the platform: “The work of reforming the civil service, which was commenced by the Republican party, and in favor of which it alone stands committed in declaration and in any measure of practice, is becoming more generally recognized as of paramount importance and essential to the security and permanence of our institutions. While indiscriminate censure of our civil-service servants is flagrantly unjust, the evils inseparable from the present system are confessedly grave. Merit, not patronage, must be the basis of official tenure. As initiatory to a complete remedy, we earnestly demand such legislation concerning subordinate offices as shall embrace the following provisions: 1. Appointments shall be made only upon open, impartial, practical tests of the fitness of applicants, giving due preference to persons disabled in the military or naval service of the country. 2. No removals shall be made without cause, or fctr partisan reasons, or for the failure to perform partisan service. 8. Superior qualifications and real merit, demonstrated by the actual performance of duty, shall constitute the best title to continuance and promotion in the service. 4. We unhesitatingly disapprove of any political assessments or demands for contributions, under the express or implied threat of removal from office as the penalty for non-com-pliance, or under any other pretext whatever. The salary of the offloe-holder is his compensation for services, not a fund subject to draft for party uses. And we go further. Free government can be maintained only when the convictions and choice of the voter find expression in his ballot, uncontrolled by fear or purchase. NEW TOBK REPUBLICANS, The State Convention of the New York Republicans was held at Saratoga. The first ballot for Governor gave Charles J. Folger 223, Alonzo B- Cornell 180, James W. Wads'vorth 69, John H. Starin 19, and John C. Robinson 6, with 249 necessary to a choice. On the second ballot, after innumerable changes bad been announced, Folger was nominated by 257 votes, Cornell receiving 222, and Wadsworth 18. The result was greeted with tumultuous cheers. Warner Miller, United States Senator, said the friends of Gov. Cornell had labored incessantly to secure his nomination, and moved that the nomination of Judge Folger be made unanimous. This was done. The ticket was completed as follows: Lieutenant Governor, B. Platt Carpenter; Chief Justice Court of Appeals, Judge Andrews; Congressman-at-Large, A. B. Hepbum. The platform declares in favor of “honest money, pure elections, the regulation of traffic in intoxicating liquors, the protection of home industry, and the necessity of restricting the power and influence of corporations;” declares that “monopolies oppressing the people or unfairly discriminating against focal interests are wrong in principle and should not be tolerated; that stringent legislation should be enacted to secure purity and honesty in the primary elections, and that all possible safeguards should be thrown about these sources of political action of the people; that, while there are varying opinions on the sale of liquors, we subscribe to the principle that the propositions on that subject, like all other propositions for change in the fundamental la,w, ought to submitted to popular vote; that the civil service should be placed upon a proper basis by adequate legislation, so as to give facilities for the execution of the law now upon the statute book, with a competitive test, for admission. to the service so arranged as to secure the necessary* qualification for the position, together with a fixed term for the incumbent, removal from office during the term of his appointment to be only for cause. ” The national and State administrations are indorsed, and President Arthur is lauded for his veto of the River and Harbor bill CONNECTICUT BEFUBLICANS. Marshall Jewell presided over the Connecticut Republican State Convention at New Haven, and the following ticket was placed in the field: Governor, Gen. William H. Bulkplv; Lieutenant Governor, John D. Candee; Secretary of State, 8. T. Stanton; Treasurer, Julius Converse; Comptroller Frank D. Short The platform declares adherence to the principles of the party; refers ,to the record of the Republicans in the past; promises support to President Arthur and praises his course; favors the submission to the people, at a special election to be held for the purpose, of an amendment to the constitution relative to the prohibition and sale of intoxicating liquors, and of enforcing the people’s willj-asksfor the regulation of the expenditures by yearly appropriations; and, after thanking the State officers, declares that the growing influences of the gre§t corporations should be jealously watched, and the assumption of undue rower should be promptly checked. w * MASSACHUSETTS DEMOCRATS. The Democratic State Convention of Massachusetts convened at Boston and nominated Gen. B. F. Butler for Governor by acclamation. The remainder of the ticket is as follows: Lieutenant Governor, Samuel W. Bowerman; Secretary of State, D. N. Skilling; Treasurer and Receiver General, William A. Hodges; Auditor, John P. Sweeney; Attorney General, George T. Very. The platform 'declares in favor of the nation’s supremacy within constitutional limits, without touching upon the State’B integrity; demands equal rights, protection, privileges and burdens for all citizens, regardless of Bex or race; a free ballot and a fair count; honest and economical expenditure of public moneys: radical reform of the civil service, based upon Pendleton’s bill and Willis’ anti-assess-

ment measure; declares against sumptuary laws which infringe upon “the sacred rights of public liberty,” and pledges the pi rty to support all reasonable legislation tend ng to ' lessen hours of labor and to Increase and protect the wages of laborers. Following is tile tariff plank: “We demand thorough and immediate reform of the tariff. We call upon Congress to reform the present war taxes, that hundreds of millions may not be, as now, needlessly extracted from the earnings of our people to lie in the treasury as a temptation to wicked and reckless appropriations for extravagant public buildings and useless and wasteful river fend harbor bills; that no taxes should be levied upon the necessaries of life or upon raw material which is not found or produced in our country; that the tariff shall be so judiciously adjusted that American commerce shall be fostered, and, above all, American labor elevated and amply rewarded We affirm that all these results can be fully realized under a tariff limited in amount to the sum necessary and adequate for revenue.” MISSOURI REPUBLICANS. The Republican State Convention of Missouri, called in opposition to the decision of the State Central Committee, convened at Jefferson City and chose Judge Chester H. Krum, of St. Louis, as presiding officer. David Wngner, of St Louis, was nominated for Supreme Judge and Col. R. H. Hunt, of Kansas City, for Railroad Commissioner. The following platform was adopted: The Republican party in Missouri, in convention assembled, do hereby declare their political faith as follows: 1. We reaffirm our allegiance to the fundamental principles heretofore announced and successfully put in practice by the' Republican party of the nation, to-wit: Equal civil and political rights for every adult citizen,'without distinction of race/color or religion; the maintenance of the national Union as the indispensable condition of national and individual freedom and prosperity; the faithful discharge of . every pecuniary obligation of the nation; a stable and uniform currency, based not on promises, but on convertibility on demand with the recognized standard of values of the world; duties fo'r revenue to be imposed so as to give all needed and reasonable protection to American industry without favoring monopolies; faith in the progress of civilization, and, as a necessary mean* tow rd and resultof such progress, thecontinued improvement, reformation and readjustment of our political and civil institutions. 2. We add the tribute of an unfeigned sorrow to the universal testimony of mingled grief and respect borne by the civilized world to the exalted personal worth and statesmanlike qualities of President Garfield, whose illustrious career was cut short by an assassin’s hand. To President Arthur we tender assurances of our heart.v support in all efforts to conduct the administration of public affairs for public good, and express our gratification at the broad and national views set forth In his special message of April 17, 1882, recommending the improvement of the navigation of the Mississippi river. 3. It is a cardinal principle of our political faith as a nation that all power is derived from the people. From this it necessarily follows that ’ the powers and duties of the committees of party organizations have no greater scope than that Implied and understood in their appointment, the time limit of their authority being the management of a State or local canvass in obedience to express Instructions, if any, from the party appointing them, and calling the party together in council or convention upon the eve of an election. 4. We affirin that the undivided liberty of the citizens should be subject to Governmental control only so far as demanded by the general welfare; that it is the duty of the State to so legislate as to do the greatest good to the greatest number of its inhabitants. Recognizing these principles, and recognizing that the intemperate use of intoxicating’ liquors jeopardizes the safety, health and morality of any people among whom they are tolerated, we believe and declare’ that 'it is the duty of the State to restrain the use of intoxicating liquor and reduce its harmful effect to a minimum. To this end we demand a vigorous enforcement of the existing license laws and the immediate enactment and faithful execution of such further statutes as shall enable the people of the several localities and subdivisions of the State to determine for themselves whether dram-shops shall exist among them or not; also, a large increase of the cost of licenses, so that the liquor traffic shall bear its just proportion of taxation and be conducted by responsible persons; also that persons engaged in said traffic shall be made civilly liable at law in damages for injuries to persons resulting therefrom, and for the effective punishment by imprisonment of all persons violating said laws, so that a strict and adequate control of said traffic may be maintained wherever it Is permitted, and we further believe that •a rigid and impartial enforcement of laws, such as are above proposed, would furnish a more complete and practical i emedy for the evils of intemperance than any attempt to enforce general prohibitory laws against adverse local sentiment. 6. We denounce as destructive, not only to the welfare and permanence of the party, but also to free republican institutions, the vicious and corrupt system of “boss” rule, by means of which designing men have sought to pervert and abuse, for their personal profit, the party organization, whose only legitimate end is the combined action of free men in support of definite political principles sincerely held, and, since bossism,” the ulcer of American politics, has notoriously grown out of abuses of political patronage, commonly known as the spoils system, we hereby emphasize and renew the demand that the civil service, State and national, be so reformed by law that the appointments to subordinate civil offices shall In no case be bestowed in payment for party service, but shall be open to every citizen for tbPfeole condition of merit and ascertained fitness therefor, and that removal from office shall not be •at caprice or for the benefit of would-be autocrats, but solely for good and sufficient and public cause. 6. We believe*that the safety and perpetuity of republican government depends upon the intelligence and education of the citizens, and. that it is the duty of the State to afford the amplest facilities for the education of the masses at public expense, and we demand that the pub-lic-school system of this State be made so comprenensive as to afford in all parts good school facilities for at least eight months’ school in every year. We arraign the Democratic party for their shameful neglect to provide suitable ’ legislation for the public schools of the State, by reason of which the revenqe necessary for their support has become depleted and the law left in such a confuse# condition as to greatly hamper the working or any system. 7. We also arraign the iJemooratic party of this State for a notorious disregard of the institutions and statutory provisions of the State against the consolidation of railroad corporations operating and controlling parallel and competing lines, in open violation of unmistakable and plain constitutional enactments. We have seen in onr State parallel and therefore competing line* practically consolidated, to the injury of the people and in defiance of their expressed will, without any attempt upon the Sart of the Democratic executive officers of the tate to prevent or undo the wrong or bring the transgressors to justice. NEBRASKA REPUBLICANS. The Republicans of Nebraska met In State Convention at Omaha and placed in the field the fo.lowing ticket: Governor, James W. Dawes, Crete; Lieutenant Governor, A. W. Agee, Hamilton county; Secretary of State, K. P. Raggeu, Lancaster; State Auditor, John W a Hick 4; Superintendent of Public Instruction, W. W. Jones; Commiss oner of Public Lam is and Buildings, Glen Ketidafl; State Treasurer, Lorain Clajtkf. Attorney General, I-aac Powers, Jr.; Regent of the State University, C. H. Gere. The convention indorsed the nomination of A. J. Weaver in the First and E. JL Valentine hi the Third Congressional districts by the regular Republican Conventions,and adopted the following platform: i Resolved, That the Republicans of Nebraska, in convention assembled, stand by the fundamental principles of the Republican party as

enunciated in an unbroken line of national and State platform#, the chief of which are free labor, free speech, the right of every qualified citizen to vote once in every election under the restriction of just and equitable election laws, free, non-sectarian schools, a sound currency on a specie basis under national control, the raising of national revenues by taxation of luxuries and articles of consumption not essential to the comfort and well-being of the people and from a tariff on imports, so adjusted as to protect the investment of capital in home industries, and legislative control of corporations. Resolved, That we uphold and maintain the enforcement, by well-considered legislation, of the change in onr great organic law that prohibits unjust discrimination and extortion by railroad corporations. We look to the honesty and courage of the people in their political capacity to repel the encroachments of corporat e power upon the rights mid principles of citizens on the one hand, and on the other to deal justly and fairly with all property interests under whatever name and form, without unjust discrimination or extortion in the matter of levying taxes or regulating prices of commodities or charge for services. Resolved, That the policy of the State Board of Lands and Buildings favoring the leasing for terms of years of our school, university and Agricultural College lands at a fair rental, in preference to selling the same under the option given by law, meets with our approval as the best possible method of preserving the heritage of our children, and providing regular and increasing revenues for educational purposes. NEW TOBK DEMOCRATS. The Democrats of New York held their State Convention at Syracuse. Rufus W. Peckham w§s made temporary President* A Committee on Credentials was made up by the selection of a member from each Congressional district. Lester B. Faulkner was chosen as permanent Chairman A Committee on Contested Seats listened to arguments by representatives'of the various Democratic organizations of New York city, and reported in favor of admitting thirty-eight members of the County Democracy, twenty-four from Tammany and ten from Irving HalL The report was adopted unanimously amid vociferous applause. A resolution from the State Committee was adopted, recommending that in che future all primary elections shall be held by election districts for the election of delegates to the convention in the city of New York, under the auspices and direction of the State Committee, until such time as the various factions in that city may agree as to the proper mode of electing delegates. Seven names were mentioned for Governor, the first ballot resulting in 98 votes for Gen. Slocum, 97 for Hon. R. P. Flower, and 66 for Grover Cleveland. The second ballot gave Flower and Slocum 123 each, and Cleveland 71. The Tammany delegates then changecr to Cleveland, who was nominated on the fourth ballot, after a scene of the greatest disorder. David B. Hill. Mayor of Elmira, was placed on the ticket for Lieutenant Governor, William C. Rugei for Judge of the Court of Appeals, and Gen. Henry W. Slocum for Congressman-a£.J*rge. A platform was adopted, which arraigns the Republican party for its gift of lands to railroad jobbers; arraigns the Republican majority in Congress for failing to reduce taxation, and favors such tariff as shall best serve the interests of all classes. It condemns the River and Harbor biUL and declares that in nominating the Secret tary of the Treasury for Governor “we see the alarming power of the Government to control State elections;” holds the Republican administration responsible for unredressed wrongs upon our foreign-bora citizens; charges the Republican party in the State with having refused to renominate its Governor because he dared to use the veto power against the demands of the dangerous moneyed element of the State; favors the local self-government of cities; favors the passage of general laws providing for seourity against frauds at elections; declares that all monopolies and corporations should be held subject to the laws of the States, and that corporate property should pay a fair proportion of public burdens. It supports the constitutional amendments in favor of free canals, reaffirms the policy of the Democracy that labor shall be held free, and condemns convict labor; declares that labor shall have the same right as capital to combine for its own protection, and declares that the Government, State and national should be restored to the condition it was in during the primitive days of the republic. COLORADO DEMOCRATS. The Colorado Democratic Convention assembled at Denver and named the following ticket: Governor, James B. Grant; Lieutenant Governor, John R. Powers; Judge of the Supreme Court, Vincent D. Markham; Secretary of State, F. J. Johnson; State Treasurer, Dennis Sullivan; Coiyjressman-at-Large, S. J. Wallace. The resolutions declare that reform in the civil service is absolutely necessary, and personal merit should alone be the criterion by which the bestowal and tenure of office are determined. The spoils system and the assessment of public servants for political purposes is denounced. The remnant of the public domain shall be reserved elclußlvely for actsettlers as homesteads; the Binking of artesian wells and the construction of reservoirs in arid portions of the public domain under appropriations by Congress is asked; the remonetization of silver Is commended; condemns such unnecessary and oppressive taxation as results in an annual surplus of over #150,000,000; the * present tariff is unequal and oppressive, favoring certain interests and localities; the main purpose of a tariff should be for revenue and not for the special protection of any class of persons, industries or manufacturers; condemns as cowardly and evasive the recent action of Congress in attemptirig-to delegate the performance of a duty respecting the tariff to a packed and itinerant commission.