Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 June 1896 — REPUBLICAN GOSPEL. [ARTICLE]

REPUBLICAN GOSPEL.

TEXT OF THE PARTY’S DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES. Reaffirm* Allegiance to Tariff Protection—Reciprocity One of the Cardinal Points—Gold Standard for Currency Demanded. Text of the Document. Following is the platform upon which Republicans will make the fight f0r,1896: The Republicans ot the United States, assembled by their representatives, in national convention, appealing for the'popular and historical'justification ot their claims to the matchelss achievements of thirty years of Republican rule, earnestly and confidently address themselves to the awakened Intelligence, experience and conscience of their countrymen In the following declaration ot facts and principles: For the flfst time since the civil war’ihe American people have witnessed the calamitous consequences of full and unrestricted Democratic control of the government. It has been a record of unparalleled Incapacity, dishonor and disaster, In administrative management It has ruthlessly sacrificed Indispensable revenue, entailed an increasing deficit, eked out ordinary current expenses with borrowed money, plied up the pnbllc debt by $262,000,000 In time of peace, forced an adverse balance of trade, kept a perpetual menace hanging over the redemption fulfil, pawned American Credit to alien syndicates, and reversed all the measures and results of successful Republican rule. In the broad effect of Its policy It has precipitated panic, blighted Industry and trade with prolonged depression, closed factories, reduced work and wages, halted enterprise and crippled American production while stimulating foreign production for the American market. Every consideration of public safety and Individual Interest demands that the Government shall be rescued from the hands of those who have shown themselves incapable to conduct It without disaster at home and dishonor abroad, and shall be restored to the party which for thirty years administered It with unequaled success and prosperity. Renews Allegiance to Protection, We renew and emphasize our allegiance to the policy of protection as the bulwark of American Industrial independence and the foundation of American development and prosperity. This true American policy taxes foreign products and encourages home Industry; ft puts the burden of revenue on foreign goods; It secures the American market for the American producer; It upholds the American standard of wages for the Amerlcair workingman:, Lt puts the. factory by the side of the farm and makes the American farmer less dependent oh foreign demand and price; It diffuses general thrift and founds th.e strength of all, on the strength of each. In Its reasonable application It is just, fair and impartial, equally opposed to foreign control and domestic monopoly; to sectional discrimination and Individual favoritism. We denounce the present Democratic tariff’ as sectional. Injurious to the public credit and-destructive to business enterprise. We demand such an equitable tariff on foreign Imports which come Into competition with American products as will not only furnish adequate revenue for the neeessary expenses of the Government, but will protect American labor from degradation to the wage level of other lands. We are not pledged to any particular schedules. The question of rates is a practical question, to be governed by the conditions of the time and of production; the ruling and uncompromising principle Is the protection and development of American labor and Industry. The country demands a right settlement and theu It wants rest. We believe the repeal of the reciprocity arrangements negotiated by tlie last Republican administration wa» a national calamity, and we demand their renewal and extension on such terms as will equalize our trade with other nations, remove the restrictions which now obstruct the sale of American products in the ports-of other Countries,- and secure enlarged markets for the products of our farms, forests and factories. Protection and reciprocity are twin measures of Republican policy and go hand in hand. Democratic rule has recklessly struck down both and both must be re-established. Protection for what we..produce; free admission for the necessaries of life which we do not produce" reciprocal agreements of mutual Interests which gain open markets for us in return for our open market for others. Protection builds up domestic industry and trade and secures our own market for ourselves; reciprocity builds up foreign trade and finds an outlet for our surplus. We condemn the present affinlnlstrtWon for not keeping faith with the' sugar producersof this country. The Republican party favors such protection as will lead to the production on American soli of all the sugar which the American people use, and for which they pay other countries more than $100,000,000 annually. To all our products—to those of the mine and the field as well as to those of the shop and the factotv—to hemp, to wool, the products of the great Industry of sheep husbandry, as well as to the finished woolens of the mill—we promise . the most ample protectlop. We favor restoring the early American nolcy of discriminating duties for the upbul’dIng of our merchant marine and the protection of our shipping In the forelgu carrying trade, so that American ships—the products of American labor employed In American shipyards, sailing under the stars and stripes and manned, officered and owned bv Americans—may regain the carrying ot o.ir foreign com me rce. The Republican party is unreservedly for sound money. It caused the enactment of .the law providing for the resumption of specie payments In 1879; since then every dollar has been as good ns gold. We are unalterably opposed to every measure calculated to debase our currency or impair the credit of our country. We are therefore opposed to the free coinage of silver except by international agreement with the leading Commercial nations of the world, which we pledge ourselves to promote, and until such agreement can be obtained the existing gold standard must be preserved. AU our sliver and paper currency must be maintained at parley with gold, and we favor all measures designed to maintain Inviolably the obligations of the United States and a’ll our money whether coin or paper, at the present standard. the standard of the most enlightened nations of the earth. The veterans of the Union army deserve nnd should receive fair treatment and generous recognition. Whenver practicable they should be given the preference In the matter of employment.’and they are entitled to the enactment of such laws as are best calculated to secure the fulfillment of the pledges made to them In the dark days of the country’s peril. We denounce the practice In the pension bureau, so recklessly and unjustly barrled out by the present administration, ot reducing pensions and arbitrarily dropplug names from the rolls, as deserving the severest condemnation of the American people. Our foreign policy should be at all times firm, vigorous and dignified, and all our Interests In the western hemisphere carefully watched and guarded. The Hawaiian Islands should be controlled by the United States, and no foreign power should be permitted to Interfere with them the canal should be built, owned and operated by the United States and by the purchase of the Danish Islands we should secure a proper and much-needed naval station In the West Indies. The massacres In Armenia have aroused the deep sympathy and just indignation of the American people, and we believe that the United States should exercise all the Influence LL can properly exert to bring these atrocities to an .end. In Turkey American residents have been exposed to the gravest dangers, and American property destroyed. There and everywhere American citizens and American property must be absolutely protected at all hazards and at any coat. We reassert the Monroe doctrine la Its full extent, and we reaffirm the right of the United States to give the doctrine effeot by responding to the appeals of any American state for friendly intervention In case of European encroachment. We have not Interfered and shall not Interfere with the existing posscsslona ot any Eurepeku power In this hemisphere, but those ’possessions must not on any pretext be extended. We hopefully look forward to the eventual withdrawal of the European powers from this hemisphere and to the ultimate union of all Engllsli-speakiug parts of the continent’ by the free consent ot Its Inhabitants. Front the hour of achieving their owtz Independence the people of the United States have regarded with sympathy the struggles of other American peoples to free themselves from European domination. We watch with deep and abiding Interest the heroic battle of the Cuban patriots against cruelty aud oppression, and our best hopes go out for the full success of their determined contest for liberty. The govbrument of Spain, having lost control of Cuba, and being unable to protect the property or Ilves of resident American citizens, or to comply with Its treaty obligations, we believe that the Government of the United States should actively use its Influence and good offices to restore peace and give Independence to the IMand. The pqace aud security of the republic and the maintenance of Its rightful Influence among the uatlons of the earth demand a naval power commensurate with Its position nnd responsibility. We therefore favor the continued enlargement of «the ii*vy and a Complete system of harbor aud sea coast defenses. For the protection of the quality of our

American citizenship and of the wages of our workingmen against the fatal competition of low-priced labor, we demand that the immigration laws be thoroughly enforced, and so extended as to exclude' from entiknce to the United- States those who can neither read nor write; » —• The civil-service law was placed "on the statute book by the Republican party, which has always sustained It, and we renew ottr repeated declarations that It shall be thoroughly and honestly enforced and extended wherever practicable’ ~ For a Free Ballot, We demand that every citizen of the United States shall be allowed to cast one free and unrestricted ballot, and that such balk)t shall be counted and returned as cast; We proclaim our unqualified condemnation of the uncivilized and barbarous practice, well known as lynching or killing of human beings, suspected or charged with crime, without process of law. We favor the creation of a national board of arbitration to settle and adjust differences which may arise between employers and employed engaged In Interstate merceWp bel.lqve in an [mediate return. to the frep homestead policy of the Republican party, and urge the passage by Congress of the satisfactory free homestead measure which has already passed the House and is now pending In the Senate. We favor the admission of the remaining Territories at the earliest practicable date, haying due regard to the interests of the people of the Territories and of the United States. All the Federal officers appointed for the Territories should be elected from bona-fide residents thereof, and the right of self-government should be accorded as far as practicable. We believe the citizen? of Alaska should have representation in the Congress of the United States to the end that needful legislation may be intelligently enacted. We sympathize with all wise and legitimate efforts to lessen and prevent the evils of Intemperance and promote morality. The Republican party is mindful of the rights and interests of women. Protection of American Industries Includes equal opportunities, equal pay for equal work and protection to the home. We favor the admission of women to wider spheres of usefulness, and we need their co-operation in resculngthecountry from Democratic and Populist mismanagement and misrule. Such are the principles and policies of tne Republican party. By these principles we will abide, and these policies we will put Into execution. We ask for them the considerate Judgment of the American people. Confident alike In the history party and In the justice of our cfifisC, we present our platform and our candidates in the full assurance that the election will bring victory to the Repu’dlcan prosperity to the people of the United States.