Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 August 1896 — REPUBLICAN PLATFORM. [ARTICLE]

REPUBLICAN PLATFORM.

% A Masterly Declaration of Principles that Will Insure Victory. The Republicans of the United States, assembled by their representatives in national convention. appealing for the popular and historical justification of th.eir .claims to th.e matchless 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 of facts and principles: For the first time since the Civil War the American people have witnessed the calamitous consequences of full and undestriefed 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 unceasing deficit, eked out ordinary current expenses with borrowed money, piled up the public debt by;$203,000,000 in time of peace, forced an adverse balance of trade, kept a perpetual menata’ lmmging over-the red emption fund, pawned American credit to alien syndicates and reversed all the measures aiid result's 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. TEvery 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, and in this connection we heartily indorse the. wisdom, patriotism and success of the administration of _l’resident Harrison. Protection Is Reaffirmed. We renew and emphasize our allegiance to the policy of protection as the bulwark of American industrial independence and-the foundation of Ameri-

can developuieiit and prosperity. This true American policy' taxes foreign products and encourages pome'•industry; it 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 American workingman; it puts the factory by the side of the farm, and makes the American farmer less dependent on foreign demand and price; it diffuses general thrift and founds the strength of all on the strength of each. In its reasonable application it is just, fair and impartial, equally opposed to foreign control aud domestic monopoly, to sect iomil 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 <ebme into competition with American products as will not only furnish adequate revenue for the necessary 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 she time and of production; the riding ami uncompromising principle is protection and development of American labor and industry. The country demands a right settlement and then it wants rest. Protection and Reciprocity. We believe the repeal of the reciprocity arrangements negotiated by the last Republican administration was 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 lias recklessly struck down both, and both must bo re-established. Protection for what we produce: free admission for the necessaries of life which we do not produce: reciprocal agreemflts of mutual interests which gain open markets for us in return for our open market to 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. Sugar Attitude Stated. We condemn the present administration for not keeping faith with the sugar producers of this country. The Republican party favors such protection as will lead to the production on American soil of all the sugar which the American people use. and for which they pav other countries more than $100,000,000 annually. American Product* Favored. To all our products—to those bFUic mine and the field, as well as to those of the shop and the factory—to hemp to wool, the product of the great industry of sheep husbandry, as well as to the finished woolens of the mill—we promise the most ample protection. Merchant Marine Restoration. We favor restoring the early American policy Of dlscnmmuttng duties for the upbuilding of our merchant marine mid the protection of our shipping in the foreign carrying trade, so that American ships—the product of American labor employed iir American shipyards, sailing under the Stars and Stripes and manned, officered and owned by Americans—may regain the carrying o f O ur foreign commerce. For Sound Money. The Republican party is unreservedly for sound money. It caused the enactment of the law providing- for the resumption of specie 's payment in 18711 since then every dollar has been as good ns gold. We are unalterably opposed toTverv 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 eommerical nations of the world, which we pledge ourselves to promote, and until such agreement can be obtained the existing gold -standard must be preserved All our silver mid paper rtirjrency must be maintained nt parity with gold, mid we fnvor all measures designed to maintain invoilably the obligations of the United States, and all our money, whether coin* or paper, at the present standard the standard of the most enlightened nations of the earth. - -i Matter of Pensions. Tire- veterans of the Union army deserve and slibuld receive fair treatment and generous recognition. Whenever practicable they should lie given the preference in the matter of employment, and

they are entitled to .‘the enactment -.f 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 carried on by the present administration, of reducing pensions and arbitrarily dropping names from the rolls as deserving the severest condemnation of the American people. A Vigorous Foreign Policy. Our foreign policy should beat 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 Nicaraguan 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. To Stop Armenian Massacres. The massacres in Armenia have aroused the deep sympathy and just indigjUition of the American people, and we believe that the United States should exercise all the influence it*can properly i Xe ‘n 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 hazard, and at any cost; Monroe Doctrine Reasserted. We reassert the Monroe doctrine in its ful! extenLJuul we—reaffirm—the-righ tof the I nited States to give the doctrine effect by responding to the appeals of any American state for friendly intervention in case of European encroachment. We have not interfered and shall not inter sere with the existing possessions of anj European 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 hemissphere and to the ultimate union of all the English-speaking part of the - continent by the free consent of its inhabitants. Independence for Cuba. . From the hour of achieving their own independence the people of the United States have regarded with sympathy- the struggles of other American peoples to free themselves from European domination. Wejwatch with deep and abiding interest the heroic battle of the Cuban patriots against cruelty and oppression, and ,our best hopes go out for the full success of their determined contest for liberty. - The govermnent=of -Spain, having lost control of Ciihn, ”and being unable to protect the property and lives 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 gwte independence to the island. Enlargement of Navy. The peace and security of the republic and the maintenance of its rightful ’»■ fluence among the nations' of the earth demand a naval'power commensurate with its position and responsibility. We therefore favor the continued enlargement of the navy and a.complete system of harbor and seacoast defenses. limitation of Immigration. 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 thoroughlyenforced and so extended as to exclude from entrance to the United States those who can neither read nor write. Civil Service Enforcement. Th'e civl service law was placed on th« statute book by the Republican party, which has always sustained it, and we renew pur repeated deelaratiq^— shall be thoroughly and honestly enforced and extended wherever practicable. Fair Ballot* for Citizens. We demand that every citizen of the United States shall be allowed to cast one free and unrestricted ballot, and that such ballot shall be counted and returned as cast. Lynching is Condemned. IVe 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. National Arbitration Board, Wo favor the creation of a National Board of Arbitration to settle and adjust differences which may arise between employers and employed engaged in interstate commerce. •• »• Free Homesteads Favored. We believe in an immediate return to the free 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. To Admit Territories. We favor the admission of tire remaining territories at the earliest practicable date, having due regard to the interests of the people of the Territories and of the United States. All tin* Federal officers appointed for the Territories should be elected from bona-fide residents thereof. and the right of self-government should be accorded as Tar as practicable. Representation for Alaska. We believe the citzeus of Alaska should have representation in the Congress of the United States. to the end that needful legislation nifiy be iutelligently enacted. Stand for Temperance. We sympathize with all wise and legitimate efforts to lessen and prevent the evils of intemperance and promote morality. ‘ Welcome to Women. The Republican party is mindful of the rights and interests of Women. Protection of American industries includes equal-.,x>pportunities. equal pay for equal work, and protection to the home. We favor the admission of women Jo wider spheres of usefulness, and welcome their co-operation itr rescuing the country from Democratic and Populist mismanage meat and misrule. Appeal to Voters. Such aretbe principles and i>oliciesbf the 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 of our great party and in the justice of our <ause. we present our platform and our candidates in the full assurance that the election will bring victory to the Republican party and prosperity to the people of the United States.