Rensselaer Republican, Volume 24, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 July 1892 — THE PROHI’S [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE PROHI’S

Meet at Cincinnati and Nominate Candidates. General Bid well, of California, for Prf *i dent—The Platform and / Proceedings, The Sixth National Convention of the Prohibition party convened at Music Hail, in Cincinnati, at 10:30. a. m., 29th. The proceedings opened with the singing of the hymn Chairman Dickie, of the National Committee, called the Convention to order, and introduced Dr. J. G. Evans, of Hadding College, 111,, who formally opened the Convention wi th prayer, in the course-of which he entreated that rum be driven from the country and the saloon cease to exist. -1 '1 Rev. Dr. Lockwood, of Cincinnati, then

ou behalf of the city and Stat of Ohio, welcomed the delegates in a few well chosen remarks. Ex-Governor Sti-John was chosen temporary chairman amid wild enthusiasm. Touching upon the vital questions in his opening remarks, he said: The expenses of government should be levied upon the wealth instead of the necessities of the people. We claim that any system which imposes a high tariff on'the food, fuel and clothing of the poor, and lets the diam,ond3 of the rich come in free,,is legalized robbery under the guise of “protection,” and ought to be forever abolished; that all money should be issued by the general Government, and every dollar, whether gold, silver or paper, should stand upon an equality before the law for all purposes, and ° that the coinage of both metals should be free; that railway and telegraph lines (should be under the control of the Government, to be operated at cost in the interest of all the people; that President, Vice-President and United States Senators should be elected by adirect vote of the people, and that the term for President be extended to six years with nc( second successive term for any man. That all monopolies which oppress the people aught to be suppressed. That tlie legalized liquor traffic for tfeverage purposes is the greatest monopoly that ever existed.

It destroys 150,000 lives and cqsts $1,500,800,000 annually, and sends misery, poverty, crime and heartache broadcast among the people. It is the product of Democratic and Republican rule; a damning blot upon oilr civilization a sin against God, and ought to be made a crime against humanity, and driven from the face of the earth. The new National committee reelected Chairman Dickie. At the afternoon session the committee an permanent organization recommended Eli F. Ritter, of Indianapolis, for permachafffifari, And ! Rwr Sam- Small- for Secrefary.' RFtter was escorted io the chair amid great cheers. His speech was forceful on the party line, and was received with great enthusiasm, especially when he said: “Childhood can sing for prohibition, women can pray for it, old age can yearn for it and the strength of manhood can strike fpr it.” Thursday’s sessions were more or less -acrimonious; A resolution was adopted leploring references to slavery and sectional differences. Mrs. Williard was accorded an ovation and in acknowledging it declared she was opposed

to fusion with any other political party. Subscriptions for campaign purposes wero taken up and about S2O,(XX) pledged. There tvere a majority and a minority report on the platform and more or less wrangling [considerable more) continued all day and until the matter was disposed of. The differences were upon a silver planlc, proposed by the minority and not adopted, a financial plank and the tariff plank. The platform as finally adopted is as follows: The Prohibition party, in national convention assembled, acknowledging Almighty God as the source of all true government and his law as the standard to which all human enactments must conform to secure the blessings at peace and prosperity, presents'the following declaration of principles: '4'he liquor traffic is a foe to’civlllzatlon, the arch enemy of popular government aud a public uuisauco. It is the citadel of the forces that corrupt politics, promote poverty and crime, degrade the Nation’s home life, thwart the will of the people and deliver our country into the hands of rapacious class interests. All laws that under the guise of regulation legalize and protect this traffic or make tho government share in Its ill-gotten gains are ■‘vicious In principle and powerless as a remedy,” We declare anew for the entire suppression of the manufacture, salo, Importation, exportation and transportation oFaTeblfollc liqnors as a beverage by fedoral aud State legislation, and tho full powers of the government should be exerted to secui‘b*tids result. Any party that fails to recognize the dominant nature of this issue in American politics is undeserving of the support of the people. Wo citizen should be denied the right to vote on account -if aex, and equal labor should receive equal wages without regurd to sex. The money of the country should be Issued by the general government only, and

insufficient quantities to meet the demands of business and give a fall opportunity for the employment of labor. To this end an increase in the volume of money is demanded and no individual or corporation should be allowed tomake any profit through its issue. It should be made a legal tender for the payment of all public and private. Its volume should be fixed at adeflnitesnm per capita and made to increase with our increase in population. We favor the free and tmlimited coinage of silver and gold. Tariff should bh levied only as a defense against foreign governments which levy upon or bar out our products from their markets,,revenue being incidental. The residue of means necessary to an economical administration of the government should be raised by levying a burden on what pthe people possess, instead of npon what we consume. > Railroad, telegraph and other public corporations should be controlled by the government in the interest of the people, and no higher charges allowed than necessary to give fair interest on the capital actually invested. Foreign immigration has becornga burden upon industry, one of the factors in depressing wages and causing discontent; therefore, c<ur immigration laws should be revised and strictly enforced. The time of residence for naturalization should be extended, and no naturalized person should be allowed to vote until one year after he becomes a citizen. Non-resident aliens should not be allowed to acquire land in this countiy, and we favor the limitation of individual and corporate ownership of land. All unearned grants of lands to railroad companies or other corporations should be reclaimed. Years of inaction and treachery on the part of the Republican and Democratic parties have resulted in the present reign of mob law, and we demand that every citizen be protected in the night of trial by constitutional tribunals. Ail men should be protected by law in their right to one day’s rest luseven. Arbitration is the wisest and most economical and humane method of settling national differences. XU Speculations in grain, the cornering of grain, money and products, and the formation of pools, trusts and combinations for the arbitrary 'advancement of prices should be suppressed. We pledge that the Prohibition party, If elected to power, will ever grant just pensions to disabled' veterans of the Union army and navy,their widows and orphans; We stand unequivocally for the -American public school, and opposed to any appropriation of public moneys for sectarian schools. We declare that only by united support of such common schools,taught in the English language, can we hope to become and remain a homogeneous and harmonious people. We arraign the Republican and Democratic parties as false to the standards reared by their founders; as faithless to tho principles of the illustrious leaders of the past, to whom they do homage with tiie lips; as recreant to the higher law, which is as inflexible in political affairs as in personal life, and as no longer embodying the aspirations of the American peo-

pie or inviting the confidence of enlightened, progressive patriotism. Their pro- . tost against the admission of “moral issues” into politics is a confession of their own moral degeneracy. Tho declaration of an eminent authority that municipal misrule is “the one conspicuous failure of American politics” follows as a natural consequence of such degeneracy, and is true alike of cities under Republican and Democratic control. Each accuses the other of extravagance in congressional appropriations, and both are alike guilty; each protests when out of power against the Infraction of the civil-service laws, ..aud, each, when in power, violates those laws In letter and spirit; each professes fealty to the interests of the toiling masses but both covertly truckle to the money power in their administration of public affairs. Even the tariff issue, ar represented in the Democratic Mills bill, and the McKinley bill, is no longer treated by them as an issue upon great and divergent -principles of government, bat is a mere catering to different sectional and class interests. The attempt in many States to wrest, the Australian ballot system from Its true purpose and to so deform"■ it astar render it extremely difficulty for new parties to exercise the rights of suffrage is an outrage upon popular government. The competition of both the parties for the -vote of the slums, and their assiduous courting of the liquor power and subserviency to the money power has resulted in placing those powers in the position of practical arbiters of the destinies of the Nation. We renew our protest against these perilous tendencies, and invite all citizens’to join us in the upbuilding of a party that has shown in five national campaigns that it prefers temporary defeat to an abandonment of claims of justice, sobriety, personal rights and the protection of American homes. Recognizing and declaring that prohibits tion of the liquor traffic has become the dominant issue in National politics, we invite to full party fellowship all those who, on this one dominant issue, are with us agreed, in the full belief that this party can and will removeeectional differences, promote National Unity and insure the best welfare of our entire land. Resolved, That wefavor a liberal appropriation by the Federal Government for the World’s Columbian Exposition, but only on condition that the sale of intoxicating drinks upon the exposition grounds is prohibited, and that the Exposition be kept closed on Sunday. AG the night session nominations for President were made. John P. St. John nominated Gen. John Bidwell, of California; John Li Thomas nominated W. Jennings Demorest; L. B. Logan nominated Gideon T. Stewart, of Ohio. The ballot resulted: Bidwell, 590: Demorest, 139; Stewart, 179, and Bidwell was declared the nominee. .

GEN. BIDWELL.

N. J. DEMOREST.

REV. A. B. LEONARD.