^^Vtv,^ 
 

 THE WtRNER COUfANr, AK«OH, O. 
 
NATIONAL 
 
 PARTY pLATPOEn^ 
 
 OF THE UNITED STATES 
 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES 
 ELECTORAL AND POPULAR VOTES 
 
 COMPILKD BY 
 
 J. M. 11. FREDERICK. 
 J896 
 
 COPYRIGHTED 
 1S96 
 
 BY J. M. H. Fr]';dkrick 
 
 AKRON, O. 
 
JK 
 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 N the preparation of this little book it has been my aim 
 to supply certain historical information concerning political 
 parties, in a more convenient and more popular form than 
 it has been hitherto presented. From the platforms it will 
 be possible to learn the attitude of any party in a given campaign in 
 which platforms were adopted, and it has been my purpose to allow 
 these to speak for themselves rather than to enter upon an elaborate 
 discussion of them. 
 
 Among the works to which I am indebted in collecting the 
 matter from which this book is made, are: Cooper's American Poli- 
 tics, The Writings of Prof. Alexander Johnston, L,alor's Encyclopedia 
 of Political Science, Political Economj' and United States History ; 
 Stanwood's History of Presidential Elections, The Political Prohi- 
 bitionist for iS'Sq, the Hand-Book of Prohibition for 18S5, and various 
 statistical works and newspaper almanacs. 
 
 J. M. H. F. 
 
National Party Platforms, 
 
 THE FIRST PLATFORM. 
 
 What is ])roperly considered the first platform 
 of a political party in the United States after 
 the adoption of the Constitntion is that enun- 
 ciation of principles known as the Virginia 
 Resolutions. They were drawn by James Madi- 
 son and adopted by the Virginia House of 
 Delegates in 1798, and were the direct result of 
 the enactment of the Alien and Sedition Laws by 
 Congress. The Federalists were in power in 
 Congress, and their attempts to form a strong 
 central government and to nationalize the United 
 States met with serious opposition from the 
 Republicans, or anti-Federalists, and especially 
 from the representatives of the new French 
 republic in ^his countrj\ The latter became a 
 source of much annoyance to the Government, 
 and never missed an opportunity to stir up 
 feeling against it. The Alien and Sedition Laws 
 were designed to put an end to the attempts on 
 the part of the French to make trouble. In 
 creating these laws, the Federalists took their 
 first long stride toward a liberal construction of 
 the Constitution, and the upshot of their action 
 was a declaration of principles by the strict- 
 constructionists, in the Virginia Resolutions. 
 By their transmission to each of the State gov- 
 ernments and to the members of both branches 
 of Congress these resolutions came into general 
 notice and became the first definite embodiment 
 of the principles of the strict-constructionist 
 party. On the principles of strict construction 
 embodied in these resolutions the Republicans 
 took their stand, while the Federalists, who be- 
 lieved in greater latitude in interpreting the 
 Constitution, declared in favor of the action of 
 Congress in making laws against the French 
 disturbers. 
 
 Virginia Resolutions, 1798. 
 
 J^esohrd, That the Oeneral As.sembly of Vir- 
 ginia doth unequivocally express a firm resolution 
 to maintain and defend the Constitution of the 
 United States, and the Constitution of this State, 
 against every aggression either foreign or do- 
 mestic ; and that they will support the govern- 
 ment of the United States in all measures war- 
 ranted by the former. 
 
 That tiiis Assembly most solemnly declares a 
 warm attachment to the Union of the States, to 
 maintain which it pledges its powers ; and, that 
 for this end, it is their duty to watch over and 
 oppose every infraction of tnose principles 
 which constitute the only basis of that Union, 
 because a faithful observance of them can alone 
 secure its exi.stence and the public happiness. 
 
 That this Assembly doth explicitly and per- 
 emptorily declare, that it views the powers of 
 the Federal Government, as resulting from the 
 compact to which the States are parties, as lim- 
 ited by the plain sense and intention of the in- 
 strument constituting that compact, as no farther 
 valid than they are authorized by the grants 
 enumerated in that compact ; and that in case 
 of a deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise 
 of other powers, not granted by said compact, 
 the States, who are parties thereto, have the right, 
 and are in dut}- bound, to interpose, for arresting 
 the progress of the evil, and for maintaining 
 within their respective limits the authorities, 
 rights, and liberties appertaining to them. 
 
 That the General Assembly doth also express 
 its deep regret, that a spirit has, in sundry in- 
 stances, been manifested by the Federal Gov- 
 ernment, to enlarge its powers by forced con- 
 structions of the Constitutional Charter w^iich 
 defines them ; and that indications have ap- 
 peared of a design to expound certain general 
 phrases (which having been copied from the very 
 limited grant of powers in the former Articles of 
 Confederation, were the less liable to be mis- 
 construed) so as to destroy the meaning and 
 effect of the particular enumeration which nec- 
 essarily explains, and limits the general phrases, 
 and .so as to consolidate the States b)^ degrees 
 into one sovereignty, the obvious tendency and 
 inevitable result of which would be, to transform 
 
 9i849V 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 the present republican system of the United States 
 into an absohite, or at best, a mixed monarchy. 
 
 That tlie (ieneral Asscni])ly doth particularly 
 ])rc)test at^ainst the ])alpable and alarming infrac- 
 tions of the Constitution, intlie two late cases of 
 the "Alien and Sedition Acts," passed at the last 
 session of Congress; the first of which exercises 
 a power, nowhere delegated to the Federal Gov- 
 ernment, and which, by uniting legislative and 
 judicial powers to those of executive, sxibverts 
 the general principles of free government, as well 
 as ])articular organization and positive provisions 
 of the Federal Constitution; and the other of 
 which acts exercises, in like manner, a power 
 not delegated by the Constitution, but, on the 
 contrary, expressly and positively forbidden by 
 one of the amendments thereto; a power which, 
 more than any other, ought to produce universal 
 alarm, because it is levelled against the right of 
 freely examining pul^lic characters and measures, 
 and of free communication among the people 
 thereon, which has ever been justly deemed the 
 only effectual guardian of ever}^ other right. 
 
 That this State having by its Convention, which 
 ratified the Federal Constitution, expressly de- 
 clared, that among other essential rights, "the 
 liberty of conscience and the press cannot be can- 
 celled, abridged, restrained, or modified by any 
 authority of the United States," and from its 
 extreme anxiet}^ to guard these rights from every 
 ]30ssible attackof sophistry and ambition, having 
 with other States recommended an amendment 
 for that purpose, which amendment was, in due 
 time, annexed to the Constitution, it would mark 
 a reproachful inconsistency, and criminal degen- 
 eracy, if an indifference were now shown to the 
 most palpable violation of one of the rights, thus 
 declared and secured ; and to the establishment of 
 a precedent which may be fatal to the other. 
 
 That the good people of this commonwealth 
 having ever felt and continuing to feel the most 
 sincere affection for their brethren of the other 
 vStates; the truest anxiety for establishing and 
 perpetuating the Union of all ; and the most scrup- 
 ulous fidelity to that Constitution, which is the 
 ])ledge of mutual friendship, and the instrument 
 of mutual happiness; the General Assembly doth 
 solenmly appeal to the like dispositions in the 
 other vStates, in confidence that they will concur 
 with this connnonwealth in declaring, as it does 
 hereljy declare, that the acts aforesaid are uncon- 
 stitutional; and that the necessary and proper 
 measures will be taken by each for co-operating 
 with this State, in maintaining unimpaired the 
 authorities, rights and liberties reserved to the 
 States respectively, or to the people. 
 
 That the governor 1)e desired to transmit a copy 
 of the foregoing resoh;tions to the executive 
 authority of eacli of the other States, with a re- 
 quest that the same may be communicated to 
 the legislature thereof ; and that a copy be 
 
 furnished to each of the Senators and Represent- 
 atives representing this State in the Congress of 
 the United States. 
 
 Attest, JOHN STEWART. 
 
 1798, December 24th. Agreed to by the Senate. 
 H. BROOK. 
 
 A true copy from the original deposited in the 
 office of the General Assembly. 
 
 JOHN vSTEWART, 
 
 Keeper of Rolls. 
 
 Relation of the Virginia and Kentucky 
 Resolutions. 
 
 The Kentucky Resolutions of 179S, although 
 adopted over a month before the Virginia Res- 
 olutions were enacted, did not attract general 
 attention until later, and then primarily for their 
 declaration of what may be considered supple- 
 mentary principles. The Virginia Resolutions 
 were accepted by the anti-Federalists as embod}'- 
 ing the fundamental idea of their platform. 
 While the Kentucky Resolutions expressed the 
 same general idea, they are remembered princi- 
 pally for having gone further and assumed a 
 bolder attitude. The Re.solutions which passed 
 the Kentuck}' legislature in 1798, contained the 
 additional declaration, not only that the relation 
 between the States and the Federal Government 
 was a compact, but that the parties thereto were 
 invested with co-equal rights and pow'ers, and 
 that each party had the right to judge of infrac- 
 tions of the agreement and of the proper redress. 
 The resolutions which that body adopted the 
 following year, went even further and pro- 
 nounced nullification the rightful remedy. It is 
 for these more radical declarations that the Ken- 
 tucky Resolutions are chiefly remembered. 
 
 Kentucky Resolutions. 
 
 The following resolutions passed the House of 
 Representatives of Kentuck}', Nov. 10, 1798: 
 
 I. Resolved, That the several States compos- 
 ing the United States of America are not united 
 on the principle of unlimited submissio|i to their 
 General Government; but that by compact under 
 the style and title of a Constitution for the United 
 vStates, and of amendments thereto, they consti- 
 tuted a General Government for special purposes, 
 delegated to that Government certain definite 
 pow ers, reser\-ing, each State to itself, the resid- 
 uary mass of right to their own self-government; 
 and, that whensoever the General Government 
 assumes undelegated powers, its acts are vmau- 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 thoritative, void, and of no force; that to this 
 compact each State acceded as a State, and is an 
 integral party; that this Government, created by 
 this compact, was not made the exclusive or final 
 judt^e of the extent of the powers delegated to 
 itself; since that would have made its discretion, 
 and not the Constitution, the measure of its 
 powers; but, that as in all other cases of compact 
 among parties having no common judge, each 
 party has an equal right to judge for itself, as 
 well of infractions as of the mode of redress. 
 
 2. Reso/i'fd, That the Constitution of the 
 United States having delegated to Congress a 
 power to punish treason, counterfeiting the se- 
 curities and current coin of the United States, 
 piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, 
 and offences against the laws of nations, and no 
 other crimes whatever; and it being true, as a 
 general principle, and one of the amendments to 
 the Constitution having also declared, "that the 
 powers not delegated to the United States by the 
 Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, 
 are reserved to the States, respectively, or to the 
 people," therefore also the same act of Congress, 
 passed on the I4tli day of Jul}', 179S, and en- 
 titled "An act in addition to the act entitled An 
 act for the punishment of certain crimes against 
 the United States;" as also the act passed by 
 them on the 27th day of June, 1798, entitled "An 
 act to piniish frauds committed on the Bank of 
 the United States," (and all other their acts 
 which assume to create, define or punish crimes 
 other than those enumerated in the Constitu- 
 tion), are altogether void and of no force, and 
 that the power to create, define and punish such 
 other crimes is reserved, and of right appertains 
 solely and exclusively to the respective States, 
 each within its own territory. 
 
 3. Resoli'cd, That it is true, as a general 
 principle, and is also expressly declared by one 
 of the amendments to the Constitution, that "the 
 powers not delegated to the United States by 
 the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the 
 States, are reserv'ed to the States, respectively, or 
 to the people;" and that no power over the free- 
 dom of religion, freedom of speech, or freedom 
 of the press being delegated to the United States 
 by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the 
 States, all lawful powers respecting the same did 
 of right remain, and were reserved to the States 
 or to the people; that thus was manifested their 
 determination to retain to themselves the right 
 of judging how far the licentiousness of speech 
 and of the press may be abridged without less- 
 ening their useful freedom, and how far those 
 aljuses which cannot be separated from their use 
 should be tolerated rather than the use be de- 
 stroyed; and thus also they guarded rgainst all 
 abridgment by the United States, of the freedom 
 of religious principles and exercises, and retained 
 to themselves the right of protecting the same. 
 
 as this, stated by a law passed on the general 
 demand of its citizens, had already protected 
 them from all hmnan restraint or interference; 
 and that, in addition to this general principle 
 and express declaration, another and more spe- 
 cial provision has been made by one of the 
 amendments to the Constitution, which ex- 
 pressly declares, that "Congress shall make no 
 laws respecting an establishment of religion, or 
 prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridg- 
 ing the freedom of speech, or of the press," 
 thereby guarding in the same sentence, and 
 under the same words, the freedom of religion, 
 of speech, and of the press, insomuch that 
 whatever violates either, throws down the sanc- 
 tuary f,ihich covers the others; and that libels, 
 falsehood, and defamation, equally with heresy 
 and false religion, are withheld from the cog- 
 nizance of Federal tribunals. That therefore 
 the act of the Congress of the United States, 
 passed on the 14th day of July, 1798, entitled 
 "An act in addition to the act entitled An act 
 for the punishment of certain crimes against the 
 United States," which does abridge the freedom 
 of the press, is not law, but is altogether void 
 and of no force. 
 
 4. Resolved, That alien friends are tinder the 
 jurisdiction and protection of the law^s of the 
 State wherein they are; that no power over them 
 has been delegated to the United States, nor 
 prohibited to the individual States distinct from 
 their power over citizens; and it being true, as 
 a general principle, and one of the amendments 
 to the Constitution having also declared, that 
 " the powers not delegated to the United States 
 by the Constitution, nor prohibited to the 
 States, are reserved to the States, respectively, 
 or to the people," the act of the Congress of the 
 United States, passed the 22d day of June, 1798, 
 entitled "An act concerning aliens, ' which as- 
 sumes power over alien friends not delegated by 
 the Constitution, is not law, but is altogether 
 void and of no force. 
 
 5. Resolved, That in addition to the general 
 principle as well as the express declaration, that 
 powers not delegated are reserved, another and 
 more special provision inferred in the Constitu- 
 tion, from abundant caution, has declared, "that 
 the migration or importation of such persons as 
 any of the States now existing shall think proper 
 to admit, shall not be prohilnted by the Con- 
 gress prior to the year 1808." That this com- 
 monwealth does admit the migration of alien 
 friends described as the subject of the said act 
 concerning aliens; that a provision against pro- 
 hibiting their migration, is a provision against 
 all acts equivalent thereto, or it would be nuga- 
 tory; that to remove them when migrated is 
 equivalent to a prohibition of their migration, 
 and is, therefore, contrary to the said provision 
 of the Constitution, and void. 
 
6 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 6. A\so/2rc/, Tluit the imprisonment of a per- 
 son inuk-r the protection of the la-\vs of this com- 
 monwealth on his faihire to obey the simple 
 order of the President to depart ont of the 
 United States as is undertaken by the said act, 
 entitled "An act concerning aliens," is contrar)' 
 to the Constitution, one amendment in which 
 has provided that " no person shall be deprived 
 of libert}' without due process of law," and that 
 another having provided "that in all criminal 
 prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right 
 to a pul)lic trial by an impartial jury, to be in- 
 formed as to the nature and cause of the accusa- 
 tion, to be confronted with the witnesses against 
 him, to have compulsory process for obtaining 
 witnesses in his favor, and to have assistance of 
 counsel for his defense," the same act under- 
 taking to authorize the President to remove a 
 person out of the United States who is under the 
 protection of the law, on his own suspicion, with- 
 out jury, without public trial, without confron- 
 tation of the witnesses against him, without 
 having witnesses in favor, without defence, 
 without comisel, is contrary to these provisions 
 also of the Constitution, is therefore not law, 
 Init utterl}' void and of no force. 
 
 That transferring the power of judging any 
 person who is imder the protection of the laws, 
 from the courts to the President of the United 
 States, as is undertaken by the same act con- 
 cerning aliens, is against the article of the Con- 
 stitution which provides ' ' that the judicial power 
 of the United States shall be vested in the courts, 
 the judges of which shall hold their office during 
 good behavior," and that the said act is void for 
 that reason also ; and it is further to be noted 
 that this transfer of judiciary power is to that 
 magistrate of the General Government who al- 
 ready possesses all the executive and a qualified 
 negative in all the legislative powers. 
 
 7. Resolved, That tlie construction applied by 
 the General Government ( as is evident by sundry 
 of their proceedings) to those parts of the Con- 
 stitution of the United States which delegate to 
 Congress power to lay and collect taxes, duties, 
 imposts, excises; to pay the debts and provide 
 for the common defence and general welfare of 
 the United States, and to make all laws which 
 shall be necessary and proper for carrying into 
 execution the powers vested b}' the Constitution 
 in the Government of the United States or any 
 department thereof goes to the destruction of all 
 the limits prescriljed to their power by the Con- 
 stitution. That words meant by that instrument 
 to be subsidiary only to the execution of the 
 limited powers ought not to be so construed as 
 themselves to give unlimited powers, nor a part 
 so to be taken as to destro}^ the whole residue of 
 the instrument. That the proceedings of the 
 General Government under color of these articles 
 will be a fit and necessar}- subject for revisal and 
 
 correction at a time of greater tranquillity, while 
 those specified in the jjreceding resolutions call 
 for immediate redress. 
 
 8. Resolved, That the preceding resolutions 
 be transmitted to the Senators and Representa- 
 tives in Congress from this commonwealth, who 
 are enjoined to present the same to their respect- 
 ive Houses and to use their best endeavors to 
 procure at the next session of Congress a repeal 
 of the aforesaid unconstitutional and obnoxious 
 acts. 
 
 9. Resolved, lastly. That the Governor of this 
 commonwealth be, and is hereb}- authorized and 
 requested to comnmnicate the preceding resolu- 
 tions to the legislatures of the several States, to 
 assure them that this commonwealth considers 
 union for special national purposes, and partic- 
 idarly for those specified in their late federal 
 compact, to be friendly to the peace, happiness 
 and prosperity of all the States — that, faithful 
 to that compact, according to the plain intent 
 and meaning in which it was understood and 
 acceded to by the several parties, it is sincerely 
 anxious for its preservation; that it does also 
 believe, that to take from the States all the 
 power of self-government, and transfer them to 
 a general and consolidated Government, without 
 regard to the special flelegations and reserva- 
 tions solemnly agreed to in that compact, is not 
 for the peace, happiness or prosperity of these 
 States; and that, therefore, this commonwealth 
 is determined, as it doubts not its co-states are, 
 to submit to undelegated and consequently un- 
 limited powers in no man or body of men on 
 earth; that if the acts before specified should 
 stand, these conclusions would flow from them; 
 that the ( Jeneral Government may place an}- act 
 they think proper on the list of crimes and 
 punish it themselves, whether enumerated by 
 the Constitution as cognizable by them; that 
 they may transfer its cognizance to the President 
 or any other person, who may himself be the 
 accuser, counsel, judge and jury, whose suspi- 
 cions may be the evidence, his order the sen- 
 tence, his officer the executioner, and his breast 
 the sole record of the transaction; that a very 
 numerous and valuable description of the inhab- 
 itants of these States, being by this precedent 
 reduced as outlaws to the absolute dominion of 
 one man and the barriers of the Constitution 
 thus swept from us all, no rampart now remains 
 against the passions and the power of a majority 
 of Congress, to protect from a like exportatioii 
 or other grievous punishment the minority of 
 the same body, the legislators, judges, governors 
 and counsellors of the States, nor their other 
 peaceable inhabitants who may venture to re- 
 claim the Constitutional rights and liberties of 
 the vStates and people, or who, for other causes, 
 good or bad, may be obnoxious to the view or 
 marked by the suspicions of the President, or to 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 be thought dangerous to his or their elections or 
 other interests, pubUc or personal; that the 
 friendless alien has been selected as the safest 
 subject of a first experiment, but the citizen -will 
 soon follow, or rather has already followed; for, 
 already has a sedition act marked him as a prey; 
 that these and successive acts of the same char- 
 acter, unless arrested on the threshold, ma}- tend 
 to drive these States into revolution and blood, 
 and will furnish new calumnies against re- 
 publican governments, and new pretexts for 
 those who wish it to be believed, that man can- 
 not be governed bvit by a rod of iron; that it 
 woiild be a dangerous delusion were a con- 
 fidence in the men of our choice to silence our 
 fears for the safet}' of our rights; that confidence 
 is everywhere the parent of despotism; free gov- 
 ernment is found in jealousy and not in confi- 
 dence; it is jealousy and not confidence which 
 prescribes limited constitutions to bind down 
 those whom we are obliged to trust with power; 
 that our Constitiition has accordingly fixed the 
 limits to which, and no farther, our confidence 
 may go; and let the honest advocate of confi- 
 dence read the alien and sedition acts, and say 
 if the Constitution has not been wise in fixing 
 limits to the Government it created, and whether 
 we should be wise in destroying those limits? 
 Let him say what the Government is, if it be 
 not a tyranny which the men of our choice have 
 conferred on the President, and the President of 
 our choice has assented to and accepted over the 
 friendly strangers, to whom the mild spirit of 
 our country and its laws had pledged hospitality 
 and protection; that the men of our choice have 
 more respected the bare suspicions of the Presi- 
 dent than the solid rights of innocence, the 
 claims of justification, the sacred force of truth, 
 and the forms and substance of law and justice. 
 In questions of power, then, let no more be said 
 of confidence in man, but bind him down from 
 mischief by the chains of the Constitution. That 
 this commonwealth does therefore call on its co- 
 states for an expression of their sentiments on 
 the acts concerning aliens, and for the punish- 
 ment of certain crimes hereinbefore specified, 
 plainly declaring whether these acts are or are 
 not authorized by the Federal Compact. And 
 it doubts not that their sense will be so an- 
 nounced as to prove their attachment to limited 
 government, whether general or particular, and 
 that the rights and liberties of their co-states 
 will be exposed to no dangers by remaining 
 embarked on a common bottom of their own ; 
 but they will concur with this commonwealth 
 in considering the said acts as so palpably 
 against the Constitution as to amount to an un- 
 disguised declaration, that the compact is not 
 meant to be the measure of the powers of the 
 General Government, but that it will proceed in 
 the exercise over these States of all powers what- 
 
 soever. That they will view this as seizing the 
 rights of the States and consolidating them in 
 the hands of the General Government, with a 
 power assumed to bind the States (not merely in 
 cases made federal), but in all cases whatsoever, 
 by laws made, not with tlieir consent, but by 
 others against their consent; that this woidd be 
 to surrender the form of government we have 
 chosen, and live under one deriving its power 
 from its own will, and not from our authority; 
 and that the co-states recurring to their natural 
 rights in cases not made federal, will concur in 
 declaring these void and of no force, and will 
 each unite with this commonwealth in request- 
 ing their repeal at the next session of Congress. 
 
 Edmund Bullock, S. H. R. 
 
 John Campbell, S. P. T. 
 
 Passed the House of Representatives Nov. lo, 
 1798. 
 
 Attest, Thos. Todd, C. H. R. 
 
 In Senate, Nov. 13, 1798. — Unanimously con- 
 curred in. 
 
 Attest, B. Thurston, C. S. 
 
 Approved Nov. 19, 1798. 
 
 Jas. Garrard, Gov. of Ky. 
 By the Governor, 
 
 Harry Toulmin, Sec. of State. 
 
 House of Representatives, 
 
 Thursday, Nov. 14, 1799. 
 
 The House, according to the standing order of 
 the day, resolved itself into a committee of the 
 whole House, on the state of the commonwealth, 
 Mr. Desha in the chair; and after some time 
 spent therein, the speaker resumed the chair, 
 and Mr. Desha reported that the committee had 
 taken under consideration sundry resolutions 
 passed by several State legislatures, on the sub- 
 ject of the Alien and Sedition laws, and had 
 come to a resolution thereupon, which he de- 
 livered in at the clerk's table, where it was read 
 and unanimously agreed to by the House, as 
 follows : 
 
 The representatives of the good people of this 
 commonwealth, in the General Assembly con- 
 vened, having materially considered the an- 
 swers of sundry States in the Union, to their 
 resolutions passed the last session, respecting 
 certain unconstitutional laws of Congress, com- 
 monly called the Alien and Sedition Laws, 
 would be faithless, indeed, to themselves and 
 to J those they represent, were they silently 
 to acquiesce in the principles and doctrines at- 
 tempted to be maintained in all those answ-ers, 
 that of Virginia only excepted. To again enter 
 the field of argument, and attempt more fully 
 or forcibly to expose the unconstitutionality of 
 those obnoxious laws, would, it is apprehended, 
 be as unnecessary as unavailing. We cannot, 
 however, but lament that, in the discussion of 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 those interesting subjects bj' sundry of the legis- 
 latures of our sister States, unfounded sugges- 
 tions and uncandid insinuations, derogatory to 
 tlie true character and principles of this com- 
 monwealth, have been substituted in place of 
 fair reasoning and sound argument. Our opin- 
 ions of these alarming measures of the General 
 Government, togetiier with our reasons for those 
 opinions, were detailed with decency and with 
 temper and submitted to the discussion and 
 judgment of our fellow-citizens throughout the 
 Union. Whether the like decency and temper 
 have been observed in the answers of most of 
 these States, who have denied or attempted to 
 obviate the great truths contained in those res- 
 olutions, we have now only to submit to a candid 
 world. I'aithful to the true principles of the 
 Federal Union, unconscious of any designs to 
 disturb the harmony of that Union, and anxious 
 only to escape the fangs of despotism, the good 
 people of this commonwealth are regardless of 
 censure or calumniation. I^est, however, the 
 silence of this commonwealth should be con- 
 strued into an acquiescence in the doctrines and 
 principles advanced and attempted to be main- 
 tained by the said answers, or lest those of our 
 fellow-citizens throughout the Union who so 
 widely differ from us on those important subjects, 
 should be deluded by the expectation, that we 
 shall be deterred from what we conceive our 
 duty, or shrink from the principles contained in 
 these resolutions — therefore, 
 
 A'eso/i'cd, That this commonwealth considers 
 the Federal Union, upon the terms and for the 
 ])urposes specified in the late compact, as con- 
 ducive to the liberty and happiness of the several 
 States ; that it does now unequivocally declare 
 its attachment to the Union, and to that com- 
 pact, agreeably to its obvious and real intention, 
 and will be among the last to seek its dissolution ; 
 that if those who administer the General Gov- 
 ernment be permitted to transgress the limits 
 fixed by that compact, by a total disregard to 
 the special delegations of ]jower therein con- 
 tained, an annihilation of vState governments and 
 the creation upon their ruins of a general con- 
 solidated government, will be the inevitabe con- 
 sequence ; that the princi])le and construction 
 contended for by sundry of the State legislatures, 
 that the General Crovernment is the exclusive 
 judge of the extent of the powers delegated to 
 it, stop nothing short of despotism — since the 
 discretion of those who administer the govern- 
 ment, and not the Constitution would be the 
 measure of their powers ; that the several States 
 who formed that instrument being sovereign and 
 independent, have the iiuquestionable right to 
 judge of the infraction, and that a nullification 
 of those sovereignties of all unauthorized acts 
 done under color of that instrument is the right- 
 ful remedy ; that this commonwealth does, under 
 
 the most deliberate reconsideration, declare that 
 the .said Alien and Sedition Laws are, in their 
 opinion, palpable violations of the said Consti- 
 tution ; and, however cheerfully it may be dis- 
 posed to surrender its opinion to a majority of 
 its sister JStates, in matters of ordinary or doubt- 
 ful policy, yet in momentous regulations like the 
 present, which so vitally wound the best rights 
 of the citizen, it would consider a silent acqui- 
 escence as highly criminal ; that although this 
 commonwealth, as a party to the federal com- 
 pact, will bow to the laws of the Union, yet it 
 does at the same time declare that it will not now 
 or ever hereafter, cease to oppose in a Constitu- 
 tional manner every attempt at what quarter 
 soever offered, to violate that compact. And, 
 finally, in order that no pretext or arguments 
 may be drawn from a supposed acquiescence on 
 the part of this commonwealth in the Constitu- 
 tionality of those laws, and l)e therel)y used as 
 precedents for similar future violations of the 
 federal compact, this commonwealth does now 
 eMter against them in solemn protest. 
 Extract, Slc. Attest, 
 
 T. TODD, C. H. R. 
 
 In Senate, Nov. 22, 179^-Read and concurred 
 in. 
 
 Attest, B. THURSTON, C. S. 
 
 Replies to theVirginia Resolutions. 
 
 Seven of the States, through their legislatures, 
 replied to the Virginia Resolutions. In every 
 case the sentiments contained therein were de- 
 nounced, and the construction placed upon the 
 Federal Constitution by the General Government 
 was endorsed and defended. 
 
 The Delaware Legislature declared that " they 
 consider the resolutions from the State of Vir- 
 ginia as a very unjustifiable interference with the 
 General Government and constituted authorities 
 of the United States, and of dangerous tendency, 
 and, therefore, not fit subject for the further con- 
 sideration of the General Assembly." 
 
 The Legislature of Rhode Island cited the 
 Constitution, second section of the third article, 
 in support of the action of Congress, and for the 
 reason therein contained "this Legislature, in 
 their pu1)lic capacity, do not feel themselves au- 
 thorized to consider and decide on the Consti- 
 tutionality of the Sedition and Alien Laws (so 
 called); yet they are called upon by the exi- 
 gency of this occasion to declare that in their 
 private opinions these laws are within the powers 
 delegated to Congi-ess. " 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 9 
 
 The Massachusetts Legislature deemed it 
 " their duty solemnly to declare, that while they 
 hold sacred the principle that consent of the 
 people is the only pure source of just and legiti- 
 mate power, they cannot admit the right of the 
 State Legislatures to denounce the administra- 
 tion of that Government to which the people 
 themselves, bj' a solemn compact, have exclu- 
 sively committed their national concerns." 
 , The New York Senate resolved "that while 
 the Senate feel themselves constrained to bear 
 vmequivocal testimony against such sentiments 
 and doctrines, thej' deem it a duty no less indis- 
 pensable, explicitly to declare their incompe- 
 tency, as a branch of the Legislature of this 
 Slate, to supervise the acts of the General Gov- 
 ernment." 
 
 The sentiments of the General Assembly of 
 Connecticut are substantially set forth in its res- 
 olutions, "that it views with deep regret, and 
 explicitly disavows the principles contained in 
 the aforesaid resolutions, and particularly the 
 opposition to the 'Alien and Sedition Acts ' — 
 acts which the Constitution authorized; which 
 the exigency of the country rendered necessary; 
 which the constituted authorities have enacted, 
 and which merit the entire approbation of this 
 Assembly." 
 
 The New Hampshire General Assembly con- 
 sidered that "the State Legislatures are not the 
 proper tribunals to determine the Constitution- 
 ality of the laws of the General Government; 
 that the duty of such decision is properly and 
 exclusively confided to the Judicial Deparment." 
 
 The General Asseml:)ly of Vermont in its reply 
 disapproved the Virginia Resolutions "as being 
 unconstitutional in their nature and dangerous 
 in their tendency. It belongs not to the State 
 Legislatures to decide on the Constitutionality 
 of the laws made by the General Government, 
 this power being exclusively vested in Judiciary 
 Courts of the Union." 
 
 1800. 
 
 A " convention " of Republican Congrescmen, 
 held in Philadelphia in 1800, nominated Thomas 
 Jefferson for President and adopted the first 
 national platform ever issued by a political party 
 
 in a Presidential campaign. The Federali.sts, 
 among whose leaders a serious rupture had oc- 
 curred, adopted no platform. 
 
 Republican Platform. 
 
 1. An inviolable pre.servation of the Federal 
 Constitution, according to the true sense in which 
 it was adopted by the vStates, that in which it 
 was advocated by its friends, and not that which 
 its enemies apprehended, who, therefore became 
 its enemies. 
 
 2. Opposition to monarchizing its features by 
 the forms of its administration, with a view to 
 conciliate a transition, first, to a President and 
 Senate for life; and, secondly, to an hereditary 
 tenure of those offices, and thus to worm out the 
 elective principle. 
 
 3. Preservation to the States of the powers not 
 yielded by them to the Union, and to the Legis- 
 lature of the Union its Constitutional share in 
 division of powers; and resistance, therefore, to 
 existing movements for transferring all the pow- 
 ers of the States to the General Government, and 
 all of those of that Government to the executive 
 branch. 
 
 '(/4. A rigorously frugal administration of the 
 Government and the application of all the pos- 
 sible savings of the public revenue to the liquida- 
 tion of the public debt; and resistance, therefore, 
 to all measures looking to a nmltiphcation of 
 officers and salaries, merely to create partisans 
 and to augment the public debt, on the principle 
 of its being a public blessing. 
 V5. Reliance for internal defense solely upon 
 the militia, till actual invasion, and for such a 
 naval force only as may be sufficient to protect 
 our coasts and harbors from depredations ; and 
 opposition, therefore, to the policy of a standing 
 army in time of peace which may overawe the 
 public sentiment, and to a navy, which, by its 
 own expenses, and the wars into which it will 
 implicate us, will grind us with public burdens 
 and sink us under them. 
 
 i/6. Free commerce with all nations, political 
 connection with none, and little or no diplo- 
 matic establishment. 
 
 ^7. Opposition to linking ourselves, by new 
 treaties, with the quarrels of liurope, entering 
 their fields of slaughter to preserve their balance, 
 or joining in the confederacy of kings to war 
 against the principles of liberty. 
 
 8. Freedom of religion, and opposition to all 
 maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendancy of 
 one sect over another. 
 
 9. Freedom of speech and of the press ; and 
 opposition, therefore, to all violations of the 
 Constitution, to silence, by force, and not by 
 reason, the complaints or criticisms, ju.st or un- 
 just, of our citizens against the conduct of their 
 public agents. 
 
10 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 / lo. Liberal naturalization laws, under which 
 the well disposed of all nations who may desire 
 to enit)ark tlieir fortunes with us and share with 
 us the public burdens, may have that opportu- 
 nity, under moderate restrictions, for the devel- 
 ()])ment of honest intention, and severe ones to 
 j^uard aj^ainst the usurpation of our flajr. 
 
 II. Phicoura.ijement of science and the arts in 
 all their brandies, to the end that the American 
 people may perfect their independence of all for- 
 eign monopolies, institutions and influences. 
 
 1804-8-12 
 
 In 1804 and also in iSoS both Republicans and 
 Federalists nominated Presidential candidates 
 in Congressional caucuses, but no platform was 
 adopted in either year. The Republicans fol- 
 lowed the Congressional caucus plan of nomina- 
 tions again in 1812, but presented no platform 
 of principles to the country. The Federalists, 
 however, held a convention in New York. It 
 was the first national convention of a represent- 
 ative partisan character held in the United 
 Suites. It nominated De Witt Clinton for Pres- 
 ident and adopted what is known as the Clinto- 
 nian platform. 
 
 Clintonian Platform. 
 
 1 . Opposition to nominations of chief magis- 
 trates b}' Congressional caucuses, as well because 
 such practices are the exercise of undelegated 
 authority, as of their repugnance to the freedom 
 of elections. 
 
 2. Opposition to all customs and usages in 
 both the executive and legislative departments 
 which have for their object the maintenance of 
 an official regency to prescribe tenets of political 
 faith, the line of conduct to be deemed fidelity 
 or recreancy to republican principles, and to 
 perpetuate in themselves or families the offices 
 of the Federal Government. 
 
 3. Opposition to all efforts on the part of par- 
 ticular States to monopolize the principal offices 
 of the Cjovermnent, as well because of their 
 certainty to destroy the harmony which ought to 
 prevail among.st all the constituent parts of the 
 Union, as of their leanings toward a form of 
 oligarchy entirely at variance with the theory' of 
 republican government; and, consequently, par- 
 ticular opposition to continuing a citizen of 
 Virginia in the executive office another term, 
 unless she can show that she enjoys a corre- 
 sponding monopoly of talents and patriotism, 
 after she has been honored with the Presidency 
 for twenty out of twenty-four years of our Con- 
 stitutional existence, and when it is obvious that 
 
 the practice has arrayed the agricultural against 
 the commercial interests of tlie country. 
 
 4. Opposition to continuing public men for 
 long })eriods in offices of delicate trust and 
 weighty responsibility as the reward of public 
 services, to the detriment of all or any particular 
 interest in, or section of, the country; and, con- 
 sequently, to the continuance of Mr. IMadison 
 in an office which, in view of our pending diffi- 
 culties with Great Britain, requires an incum- 
 bent of greater decision, energy and efficiency. 
 
 5. Opposition to the lingering inadequacy of 
 preparations for the war with Great Britain now 
 about to ensue, and to the measure which allows 
 uninterrupted trade with Spain and Portugal, 
 which, as it cannot be carried on under our flag, 
 gives to Great Britain the means of supplying 
 her armies with provisions, of which they would 
 otherwise be destitute, and thus affording aid 
 and comfort to our enem}-. 
 
 6. Averment of the existing necessity for 
 placing the country- in a condition for aggressive 
 action for the conquest of the British American 
 Provinces and for the defense of our coasts and 
 exposed frontiers; and of the propriety of such 
 a levy of taxes as will raise the necessary funds 
 for the emergency. 
 
 7. Advocacy of the election of De Witt Clinton 
 as the surest method of relieving the country 
 from all the evils existing and prospective, for 
 the reason that his great talents and inflexible 
 patriotism guarantee a firm and unyielding 
 maintenance of our national sovereignty, and 
 the protection of those commercial interests 
 which were flagging under the weakness and 
 imbecilitv of the administration. 
 
 1812-30. 
 
 After the Clintonian Platform nothing fitting 
 the character of a national platform was present- 
 ed by any party until 1830, with the single ex- 
 ception of resolutions adopted by the Hartford 
 Convention, which was composed of the Feder- 
 alists opposed to the War of 1812 with England. 
 
 Resolutions Adopted by the Hartford 
 Convention, January 4, 1S15. 
 
 Resolved, That it be and is hereby recom- 
 mended to the legislatures of the several States 
 represented in this convention, to adopt all such 
 measures as may be necessary effectually to pro- 
 tect the citizens of said States from the operation 
 and effects of all acts which have been or may 
 be passed by the Congress of the United States, 
 which shall contain provisions subjecting the 
 militia or other citizens to forcible drafts, con- 
 scriptions, or impressments not authorized by 
 the Constitution of the United States. 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 11 
 
 A'iSo/iTd, That it be and is hereby recom- 
 mended to the said legislatnres, to authorize an 
 inune(Hate and an earnest a])])Uc-ation to be made 
 to the ( Tovernnient of the United States, request- 
 ing their consent to some arrangement whereby 
 the said States may, separately or in concert, be 
 empowered to assume upon themselves the de- 
 fense of their territor^^ against the enemy, and a 
 reasonable portion of the taxes collected within 
 said States may be paid into the respective treas- 
 uries thereof, and appropriated to the balance 
 due said States, and to the future defense of the 
 same. The amount so paid into said treasuries 
 to be credited, and the dislnirsements made as 
 aforesaid to be charged to the United States. 
 
 Rfsoli'cd, That it be and hereby is recom- 
 mended to the legislatures of the aforesaid States, 
 to pass laws where it has not already been done, 
 authorizing the governors or commanders-in- 
 chief of their militia to make detachments from 
 the same, or to form voluntary corps, as shall be 
 most convenient and conformable to their Con- 
 stitutions, and to cause the same to be well 
 armed, equipped, and held in readiness for ser- 
 vice, and upon request of the governor of either 
 of the other States, to employ the whole of such 
 detachment or corps, as well as the regular for- 
 ces of the State, or such part thereof as may be 
 required, and can be spared consistently with the 
 safety of the vState, in assisting the State making 
 such request to repel any invasion thereof which 
 shall be made or attempted by the public enemy. 
 
 Fi'solird, That the following amendments of 
 the Constitution of the United States be recom- 
 mended to the States represented as aforesaid, 
 to be proposed by them for adoption by the 
 State Legislatures, and in such cases as may be 
 deemed expedient by a Constitution chosen by 
 the people of each State. And it is further 
 recommended that the said States shall persevere 
 in their efforts to obtain such amendments until 
 the same shall be effected. 
 
 1. Representatives and direct taxes shall be 
 apportioned among the several States which may 
 be included within this Union, according to their 
 respective numbers of free persons, including 
 those bound to serve for a term of years and ex- 
 cluding Indians not taxed, and all other persons. 
 
 2. No new State shall be admitted into the 
 Union by Congress, in virtue of the power 
 granted in the Constitution, without the con- 
 currence of two-thirds of both houses. 
 
 3. Congress shall not have power to lay an 
 embargo on the ships or vessels of the citizens 
 of the United States in the ports or harbors 
 thereof for more than sixty days. 
 
 4. Congress shall not have power, without the 
 concurrence of two-thirds of both houses, to in- 
 terdict the commercial intercourse between the 
 United States and any foreign nation or the 
 dependencies thereof. 
 
 5. Congress .shall not make nor declare war 
 nor authorize acts of hostility against any foreign 
 nation without the concurrence of two-thirds of 
 both houses, except such acts of hostility be in 
 defense of the territories of the United States 
 when actually invaded. 
 
 6. No person who shall hereafter be natural- 
 ized shall be eligible as a member of the Senate 
 or House of Representatives of the United States 
 or capable of holding any civil office under the 
 authority of the United States. 
 
 7. The same person shall not be elected Presi- 
 dent of the United States a second time, nor 
 shall the President be elected from the same 
 State two terms in succession. 
 
 Resolved, That if the application of these 
 States to the Government of the United States, 
 recommended in a foregoing resolution, should 
 be unsuccessful and peace should not be con- 
 cluded, and the defense of these States should 
 be neglected, as it has been since the commence- 
 ment of the war, it will, in the opinion of this 
 convention, be expedient for the Legislatures of 
 the several States to appoint delegates to another 
 convention, to meet at Boston, in the State of 
 Massachusetts, on the third Monday of June 
 next, with such powers and instructions as the 
 exigency of a crisis so momentous may require. 
 
 Resolved, That the Honorable Geo. Cabot, the 
 Honorable Chauncey Goodrich, the Honorable 
 Daniel Lyman, or any two of them, be author- 
 ized to call another meeting of this convention, 
 to be holden in Boston at any time before new 
 delegates shall be chosen as recommended in 
 the above resolution, if in their judgment the 
 situation of the country shall urgently require it. 
 
 DECLINE OF THE FEDERALISTS. 
 
 The mystery which surrounded the Hartford 
 Convention and the ambiguous language in 
 which its resolutions were couched, made the 
 narne "Federalist" odious. This in connec- 
 tion with the speedy termination of the war of 
 181 2 completed the downfall of the Federalist 
 party. Since their defeat in iSoo the Federalists 
 had been steadily going over to the Republicans. 
 The difference between the parties had been 
 practically removed, and there remained no im- 
 portant reason for the existence of two parties. 
 Jefferson and Madison, once in power, had 
 broken over the limitations which they had 
 previously declared the Constitution placed upon 
 the Federal Government. The Federalists, on 
 the other hand, being shorn of their power, 
 were not so desirous of a loose construction, 
 
12 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 especially since their opponents were in position 
 to profit most by it. They did not hesitate to 
 denounce the war, narrow the powers of the 
 General Government and enlarge upon the rights 
 of the States, any more than the Republicans 
 had hesitated to violate the principles which 
 they had pronounced with the utmost emphasis 
 at the time when the Government was in the 
 hands of the Federalists, i)* 
 
 Though the Federalist party was dead and its 
 membership had been ""ahsofbed into the all- 
 powerful Republican party, the most of the main 
 principles for which it had stood in the days of 
 power, were still alive. It was impossible that 
 the Republican party should long remain un- 
 divided. Henry Clay with his ideas of loose 
 construction of the Constitution was sure to 
 break away from the party which was the leg- 
 itimate child of Thomas Jefferson. He had 
 either headed or advocated, to use the words of 
 Prof. Johnston, "every attempt to increase the 
 army and navy, to make the tariff protective, to 
 begin a system of general public improvements at 
 national expense, or to make the Federal Govern- 
 ment prominent in foreign affairs, as the guard- 
 ian of the infant republics of South America." 
 The strict constructionists, of course, objected to 
 the principles which Clay advocated, and the 
 breach widened until the election of John Quincy 
 Adams as President. Clay was appointed Sec- 
 retary of State by Adams, and their respective 
 followings soon united and became known as 
 National Republicans. The followers of Andrew 
 Jackson (who, though receiving a larger number 
 of votes than Adams, was defeated in the House 
 of Representatives) about the same time as- 
 sumed the name of "Jackson Men," but soon 
 laid this aside and adopted the name of Demo- 
 crats, by which the members of that party have 
 l)een known ever since. 
 
 ANTI- MASONIC RESOLUTIONS— 
 1830. 
 
 The Anti-Masonic party agreed with the 
 National Republicans on most points, but as 
 Clay was a Free Mason, it was opposed to him 
 personally, and in return was opposed by him 
 and his followers. In September, 1830, the Anti- 
 
 Masons having secured a considerable member- 
 ship in several States, the leaders held a con- 
 vention in Philadelphia and adopted a resolution 
 recommending "to the people of the United. 
 States, opposed to secret societies," to meet in 
 national convention one j'ear later at Baltimore 
 to make suitable nominations for President and 
 Vice-President and to transact such other busi- 
 ness as the cause of Anti-Masonry may require. 
 
 1832. 
 
 In the national campaign of 1832, the National 
 Republicans adopted no platform. The Demo- 
 crats, however, at a ratification meeting in Wash- 
 ington, May II, adopted the following: 
 
 National Democratic Platform. 
 
 '^Rt'so/i'cd, That an adequate protection to 
 American industry is indispensable to the pros- 
 perity of the country, and that an abandonment 
 of the policy at this period would be attended 
 with consequences ruinous to the best interests 
 of the nation. 
 
 Resolved, That a uniform system of internal 
 improvements, sustained and supported by the 
 General Government, is calculated to secure, in 
 the highest degree, the harmony, the strength 
 and permanency of the republic. 
 ^ Resolved, That the indiscriminate removal of 
 public officers for a mere difference of political 
 opinion is a gross abuse of power, and that the 
 doctrine lately boldly preached in the United 
 States Senate, that "to the victors belong the 
 spoils of the vanquished," is detrimental to the 
 interests, corrupting to the morals and danger- 
 ous to the liberties of the countrv. 
 
 THE PARTIES IN 1836. 
 
 Preparatory to the Presidential campaign of 
 1836 the Democrats met in delegate convention 
 at Baltimore, May, 1835, but adopted no plat- 
 form. In Januar}-, 1836, the radical faction, how- 
 ever, in convention at New York, adopted what 
 is known as the " loco-foco " platform. The 
 National Republicans by this time had adopted 
 the name of " Whigs," and in their convention 
 at Albany, February 3, adopted a platform. 
 
 " liOco-'Foco " Platform. 
 
 We hold these truths to be self-evident, that 
 all men were created free and equal; that they 
 are endowed l)y their Creator with certain in- 
 alienable rights, among which are life, liberty and 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 13 
 
 the jnirsuit of happiness; that the true founda- 
 tion of republican government is the equal rights 
 of every citizen in his person and property, and 
 in their management; that the idea is quite lui- 
 founded that on entering into society we give up 
 our natural rights; that the rightful power of all 
 legislation is to declare and enforce only our 
 natural rights and duties and to take none of 
 them from us; that no man has the natural 
 right to commit aggressions on the equal rights 
 of another, and this is all from which the law 
 ought to restrain him; that every man is imder 
 the natural duty of contributing to the necessi- 
 ties of society, and this is all the law should en- 
 force on him; that when the laws have declared 
 and enforced all. this they have fulfilled their 
 fiuictions. 
 
 We declare iniqualified hostility to bank notes 
 and paper money as a circulating medium, be- 
 cause gold and silver is the onh- safe and Con- 
 stitutional currency; hostility to any and all 
 monopolies by legislation, because they are vio- 
 lations of equal rights of the people; hostility to 
 the dangerous and iniconstitutional creation of 
 vested rights or prerogatives bj- legislation, be- 
 cause they are usurpations of the people's sov- 
 ereign rights; no legislative or other authority 
 in the body politic can rightfully by charter or 
 otherwise exempt any man or body of men in 
 any case whatever from trial by jury and the 
 jurisdiction or operation of the laws which gov- 
 ern the community. 
 
 We hold that each and every law or act of in- 
 corporation passed by preceding legislatures can 
 be rightfully altered and repealed by their siic- 
 cessors, and that they should be altered or re- 
 pealed when necessary for the public good or 
 when required by a majority of the people. 
 
 Whig Platform. 
 
 Resolved, That in support of our cause we in- 
 vite all citizens opposed to Martin Van Buren and 
 the Baltimore nominees. 
 
 Resolved, That INIartin Van Buren, by intrigu- 
 ing with the executive to obtain his influence to 
 elect him to the Presidency, has set an ex- 
 ample dangerous to oui freedom and corrupting 
 to our free institutions. 
 
 Resolved, That the support we render to Wil- 
 liam H. Harrison is by no means given to him 
 solely on account of his brilliant and successful 
 sendees as leader of our armies during the last 
 war, but that in him we view also the man of 
 high intellect, the stern patriot, uncontaminated 
 by the machinery of hackneyed politicians — a 
 man of the school of Washington. 
 
 Resolved, That in Francis Granger we recog- 
 nize one of our most distinguished fellow-citizens, 
 whose talents we admire, whose patriotism we 
 trust and whose principles we sanction. 
 
 PARTIES IN 1840. 
 
 The Abolitionists met in national convention 
 at Warsaw, N. Y., Nov. 13, 1839; nominated a 
 Presidential ticket and adopted a resolution that 
 in their judgment " every consideration of duty 
 and expediency which ought to control the 
 action of Christian freemen, requires of the Ab- 
 olitionists of the United States to organize a dis- 
 tinct and independent political party, embracing 
 all the necessar}^ means for nominating candi- 
 dates for office and sustaining them by public 
 suffrage." The nominations made by this con- 
 vention were confirmed by the convention at 
 Albany, N. Y., April I, 1840. At the latter con- 
 vention a platform was adopted favoring aboli- 
 tion of slavery in the District of Columbia and 
 the Territories, of the inter-State slave trade, 
 and, in general, opposition to human slavery to 
 the full extent of Constitutional power. The 
 Whig national convention met at Harrisburg, 
 Pa., December 4, 1839, but adopted no platform. 
 The national convention of Democrats, which 
 met at Baltimore May 5, 1840, on the other hand, 
 adopted a strict constructionist platform. 
 
 Democratic Platform. 
 
 1 . Resolved, That the Federal Government is 
 one of limited powers, derived solely from the 
 Constitution, and the grants of power shown 
 therein ought to be strictly construed by all the 
 departments and agents of the Government, and 
 that it is inexpedient and dangerous to exercise 
 doiibtful Constitutional powers. 
 
 2. Resolved, That the Constitution does not 
 confer upon the General Government the power 
 to commence and carry on a general system of 
 international improvements. 
 
 3. Resolved, That the Constitution does not 
 confer authority upon the Federal Government, 
 directly or indirectly, to assume the debts of the 
 several States, contracted for local internal im- 
 provements or other State purposes; nor wotild 
 such assumption be just or expedient. 
 
 4. Resolved, That justice and sound policy 
 forbid the Federal Government to foster one 
 branch of industry to the detriment of another, 
 or to cherish the interests of one portion to the 
 injury of another portion of our common country 
 — that every citizen and every section of the 
 country has a right to demand and insist upon 
 an equality of rights and privileges and to com- 
 plete and ample protection of persons and prop- 
 erty from domestic violence or foreign aggres- 
 sion. 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 5. Resolved, That it is the duty of every 
 branch of the Government to enforce and prac- 
 tice the most rigid economy in conducting our 
 public affairs, and that no more revenue ought 
 to be raised than is required to defray the neces- 
 sary expenses of the Government. 
 
 6. Resolved, That Congress has no power to 
 ch arter a U nited States ban k ; that we believe such 
 an institution one of deadly hostility to the best in- 
 terests of the country, dangerous to our republican 
 institutions and the liberties of the people, and 
 calculated to place the business of the country 
 within the control of a concentrated money power 
 antl above the laws and the will of the people. 
 
 7. Resoli-ed, That Congress has no power 
 under the Con.stitution to interfere with or con- 
 trol the domestic institutions of the several 
 States; and that such vStates are the sole and 
 proper judges of everything pertaining to their 
 own affairs not prohibited by the Constitution; 
 that all efforts by Abolitionists or others, made 
 to induce Congress to interfere with questions of 
 slavery, or to take incipient steps in relation 
 thereto, are calculated to lead to the most alarm- 
 ing and dangerous consequences, and that all 
 such efforts have an inevitable tendency to di- 
 minish the happiness of the people and endanger 
 the stability and permanence of the Union, and 
 ought not to be countenanced by any friend to 
 our political institutions. 
 
 S. Resolved, That the separation of the moneys 
 of the Government from banking institutions is 
 indispensable for the safety of the funds of the 
 Government and the rights of the people. 
 
 9. Resolved, That the liberal principles em- 
 bodied by Jefferson in the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence and .sanctioned in the Constittition, 
 which makes ours the land of liberty and the 
 asylum of the oppressed of every nation, have 
 ever been cardinal principles in the Democratic 
 faith; and ever}' attempt to abridge the present 
 privilege of becoming citizens and the owners of 
 soil among us ought to be resisted with the same 
 spirit which swept the Alien and Sedition Laws 
 from our statute books. 
 
 Whereas, Several of the States which have 
 nominated Martin Van Buren as a candidate for 
 the Presidency, have put in nomination differ- 
 ent individuals as candidates for Vice-President, 
 thus indicating a diversity of opinion as to the 
 I)erson best entitled to the nomination; and, 
 
 Whereas, Some of the said States are not 
 represented in this convention : Therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the convention deem it expe- 
 dient at the pre.sent time not to choose between 
 the individuals in nomination, but to leave the 
 decision to their Repul)lican fellow-citizens in 
 the .several States, tru.sting that before the elec- 
 tion .shall take place their ()])inions will become 
 so concentrated as to secure the choice of a Vice- 
 President by the electoral college. 
 
 PARTY PLATFORMS IN 1844. 
 
 The Abolitionists, or Liberty Party, as they 
 were now called, were the first in the field for 
 the national contest of 1844, having held their 
 convention at Buffalo, August 30, 1S43, more 
 than a year before the Presidential election, and 
 adopted a platform consistent with their beliefs. 
 The Whig national convention met in Baltimore, 
 May I, 1844, and adopted a loose constructionist 
 platform. The Democratic national convention, 
 which met in Baltimore, May 27, adopted a 
 strict constructionist platform. 
 
 liiherty Platform. 
 
 1. Resolved, That human brotherhood is a 
 cardinal principle of true democracy, as well as 
 pure Christianity, which spurns all inconsistent 
 limitations; and neither the political party which 
 repudiates it, nor the political system which is 
 not l)ased upon it, can be truly democratic or 
 permanent. 
 
 2. Resolved, That the Liberty party, placing 
 itself upon this broad principle, will demand the 
 absolute and unqualified divorce of the General 
 Government from slaver}-, and also the restora- 
 tion of equality of rights among men, in every 
 State where the party exists, or may exist. 
 
 3. Resolved, That the Liberty party has not 
 been organized for any temporary purpose by 
 interested politicians, but has arisen from among 
 the people in consequence of a conviction, 
 hourly gaining ground, that no other party in 
 the country represents the true principles of 
 American liberty, or the true spirit of the Con- 
 stitution of the United States. 
 
 4. Resolved, That the Liberty part}- has not 
 been organized merely for the overthrow of 
 slavery; its first decided effort must, indeed, be 
 directed against slave-holding as the grossest 
 and most revolting manifestation of despotism, 
 but it will also carry out the principle of equal 
 rights into all its practical consequences and 
 applications, and support every just measure 
 conducive to individual and social freedom. 
 
 5. Resolved, That the Libert}- party is not a 
 sectional party but a national party; was not 
 originated in a desire to accomplish a single 
 object, but in a comprehensive regard to the 
 great interests of the whole country; is not a 
 new party, nor a third party, but is the party of 
 1776, reviving the principles of that memorable 
 era, and striving to carry them into practical 
 application. 
 
 6. Resolved, That it was understood in the 
 times of the Declaration and the Constitution, 
 that the existence of slavery in some of the 
 States was in derogation of the principles of 
 American liberty, and a deep stain upon the 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 15 
 
 character of the country, and the implied faith 
 of the States and the Nation was pledged that 
 slavery should never be extended beyond its 
 then existing limits, but should be gradually, 
 and yet, at no distant day, wholly abolished by 
 State authority. 
 
 7. Rt'solvfd. That the faith of the States and 
 the Nation thus pledged, was most nobly re- 
 deemed by the voluntary abolition of slavery in 
 several of the States; and by the adoption of the 
 ordinance of 1787, for the' government of the 
 territory northwest of the river Ohio, then the 
 only territory in the United States, and conse- 
 quently the only territory subject in this respect 
 to the control of Congress, by which ordinance 
 slavery was forever excluded from the vast 
 regions which now compose the States of Ohio, 
 Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and the Territory of 
 Wisconsin, and an incapacity to bear up any 
 other than freemen was impressed on the soil 
 itself. 
 
 S. Resolved, That the faith of the States and 
 the Nation thus pledged, has been shamefully 
 violated by the omission, on the part of man}' of 
 the States, to take any measures whatever for 
 the abolition of slavery within their respective 
 limits; by the continuance of slavery in the 
 District of Columbia, and in the Territories of 
 I^uisiana and Florida; by the legislation of 
 Congress ; by the protection aiforded'by national 
 legislation and negotiation to slaveholding in 
 American vessels, on the high seas, emploved in 
 the coastwise slave trafiBc; and by the extension 
 of slavery far beyond its original limits, by acts 
 of Congress admitting new slave States into the 
 Union. 
 
 9. Resolved, That the fundamental truths of 
 the Declaration of Independence, that all men 
 are endowed by their Creator with certain in- 
 alienable rights, among which are life, liberty 
 and the pursuit of happiness, was made the 
 fundamental law of our National Government, 
 by that amendment of the Constitution which 
 declares that no person shall be deprived of life, 
 liberty, or property, without due process of law. 
 
 10. Resolved, That we recognize as sound the 
 doctrine maintained by slaveholding jurists, that 
 slavery is against natural rights, and strictly 
 local, and that its existence and continuance 
 rest on no other support than State legislation, 
 and not on any authority of Congress. 
 
 11. Resolved, That the General Government 
 has under the Constitution no power to establish 
 or continue slavery anywhere, and therefore that 
 all treaties and acts of Congress establishing, 
 continuing or favoring slaverv in the District of 
 Columbia, in the Territory of Florida, or on the 
 high seas, are unconstitutional, and all attempts 
 to hold men as property within the limits of ex- 
 clusive national jurisdiction ought to be pro- 
 hibited by law. ^ ^ 
 
 12. Resolved, That the provision of the Con- 
 stitution of the United States which confers 
 extraordinary political powers on the owners of 
 slaves, and thereby constituting the two hun- 
 dred and fifty thousand slaveholders in the slave 
 States a privileged aristocracy; and the pro- 
 visions for the reclamation of fugitive slaves 
 from service, are anti-republican in their char- 
 acter, dangerous to the liberties of the people 
 and ought to be abrogated. 
 
 13. Resolved, That the practical operation of 
 the second of these provisions is seen in the en- 
 actment of the act of Congress respecting per- 
 sons escaping from their masters, which act, if 
 the construction given to it by the Supreme 
 Court of the United States in the case of Prigg 
 vs. Pennsylvania be correct, nullifies the habeas 
 corpus acts of all the States, takes away the 
 whole legal security of personal freedom and 
 ought, therefore, to be immediately repealed. 
 
 14. Resolved, That the peculiar patronage and 
 support hitherto extended to slavery and slave- 
 holding by the General Government ought to be 
 immediately withdrawn, and the example and 
 influence of national authority ought to be ar- 
 rayed on the side of liberty and free labor. 
 
 15. Resolved, That the practice of the Gen- 
 eral Government, which prevails in the slave 
 States, of employing slaves upon the public 
 works instead of free laborers and paying aristo- 
 cratic masters, with a view to secure or reward 
 political services, is utterly indefensible and 
 ought to be abandoned. 
 
 16. Resolz'ed, That freedom of speech and 
 of the press and the right of petition and the 
 right of trial by jury are sacred and inviolable, 
 and that all rules, regulations and laws in der- 
 ogation of either'are oppressive, unconstitutional 
 and not to be endured by a free people. 
 
 17. Resolz'ed, That we regard voting in an em- 
 inent degree as a moral and religious duty, which, 
 when exercised, should be by voting for those 
 who will do all in their power for immediate 
 emancipation. 
 
 18. Resolved, That this convention recom- 
 mend to the friends of liberty in all those free 
 States where any inequality of rights and priv- 
 ileges exists on account of color, to employ their 
 utmost energies to remove all such remnants 
 and effects of the slave system. 
 
 Whereas, The Constitution of the United 
 States is a series of agreements, covenants or 
 contracts between the people of the United 
 States, each with all and all with each; and, 
 
 W^HERE.A.S, It is a principle of universal mor- 
 ality, that the moral laws of the Creator are par- 
 amount to all human laws; or, in the language 
 of an Apostle, that ' ' we ought to obey God 
 rather than men;" and. 
 
 Whereas, The principle of common law — 
 thftt any contract, covenant or agreement to do 
 
16 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 an act derogatory to natural right is vitiated and 
 annulled by its inherent immorality — has been 
 recognized by one of the justices of the Supreme 
 Court of the L'nited States, who, in a recent case, 
 expressly holds that "■any contract that rests 
 upon such a basis is void;''' and, 
 
 Whereas, The third clause of the second sec- 
 tion of the fourth article of the Constitution of 
 the I'nited vStates, when construed as providing 
 for the surrender of a fugitive slave, docs " rest 
 upon such a basis," in that it is a contract to rol) 
 a man of a natural right— namely, his natural 
 right to his own liberty — and is therefore abso- 
 lutel)- void : Therefore, 
 
 19. Resolved, That we hereby give it to be 
 distinctly understood by this Nation and the 
 world that, as Abolitionists, considering that the 
 strength of our cause lies in its righteousness, 
 and our hope for it, in our conformity to the 
 laws of God and our respect for the rights of 
 man, we owe it to the vSovereign Ruler of the 
 Universe, as a proof of our allegiance to Him, in 
 all our civil relations and offices, whether as 
 l)rivate citizens or public functionaries sworn to 
 support the Constitution of the United States, to 
 regard and to treat the third clause of the fourth 
 article of that instrument, whenever applied to 
 the case of a fugitive slave, as utterly null and 
 void, and consequently as forming no part of the 
 Constitution of the United States whenever we 
 are called upon or sworn to support it. 
 
 20. Resolved, That the power given to Con- 
 gress by the Constitution to pro\-ide for calling 
 out the militia to suppress insurrection does not 
 make it the duty of the Government to maintain 
 slavery by military force, nuich less does it make 
 it the duty of the citizens to form a part of such 
 military force; when freemen unsheathe the 
 sword it should be to strike for liberty, not for 
 despotism. 
 
 21. Resolved, That to preserve the peace of the 
 citizensiand secure the blessings of freedom, the 
 Legislature of each of the free States ought to 
 keep in force suitable statutes, rendering it penal 
 for any of its inhalntants to transport or aid in 
 transporting from such State any person sought 
 to Ije thus transported, merely because subject 
 to the slave laws of any other State; this rem- 
 nant of independence being accorded to the free 
 States by the decision of the vSupreme Court in 
 the case of Prigg vs. The State of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Whig Platform. 
 
 I. Resolved, That these principles may be 
 svmmied as comprising a well-regulated na- 
 tional currency; a tariff for revenue to defray the 
 necessary expenses of the Government and dis- 
 criminating with special reference to the protec- 
 tion of the domestic labor of the country; the 
 distribution of the proceeds from the sales of the 
 public lands; a single tenn for the Presidency; 
 
 a reform of executive usurpations; and generally 
 such an administration of the affairs of the 
 country as shall impart to ever}' branch of 
 the public ser\-ice the greatest practical effi- 
 ciency, controlled by a well-regulated and wise 
 economy. 
 
 Democratic Platform. 
 
 Resolutions i, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 of the 
 platform of 1840 were reaffirmed, to which were 
 added the following: 
 
 10. Resolved, That the proceeds of the public 
 lands ought to be sacredly applied to the national 
 objects specified in the Constitution, and that 
 we are opposed to the laws lately adopted, and to 
 any law for the distribution of such proceeds 
 among the States, as alike inexpedient in policy 
 and repugnant to the Constitution. 
 
 11. Resolved, That we are decidedly opposed 
 to taking from the President the qualified veto 
 power by which he is enabled, under restrictions 
 and responsibilities amply sufficient to guard 
 the public interest, to suspend the passage of a 
 bill whose merits cannot secure the approval of 
 two-thirds of the Senate and House of Repre- 
 sentatives, until the judgment of the jieople can 
 be obtained thereon, and which has thrice saved 
 the American people from the corrupt and tyran- 
 nical domination of the Bank of the United 
 States. 
 
 1 2. Resolved, That our title to the whole of the 
 Territory of Oregon is clear and unquestion- 
 able; that no portion of the same ought to be 
 ceded to England or any other power, and that 
 the reoccupation of Oregon and the reannexation 
 of Texas at the earliest practicable period are 
 great American measures, which this convention 
 recommends to the cordial support of the De- 
 mocracv of the Union. 
 
 ATTITUDE OF PARTIES IN 1848. 
 
 The Democrats opened the battle of 1848 by 
 their convention at Baltimore, May 22, of that 
 year, in which they renewed in their platform 
 their adherence to the strict constructionist idea. 
 The Whigs held their convention in Philadel- 
 phia June 7, but adopted no platform. On June 
 9, however, the resolutions given below were 
 adopted at a Whig ratification meeting in Phila- 
 delphia. The Free Soilers, a branch of the Dem- 
 ocratic party, who were opposed to any further 
 extension of slavery into the Territories, met in 
 convention at Buffalo Aiigust 9 and adopted the 
 so-called " Buffalo platform. " The Free Soil- 
 ers were joined by the members of the old Lib- 
 erty party. 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 17 
 
 Democratic Platform. 
 
 1. JKCSolird, That the Aniericati Democracy 
 place their trust in the intelHt^aMice, the patriot- 
 i-siu and the discriminating justice of the Amer- 
 ican people. 
 
 2. Resolved, That we regard this as a distinct- 
 ive feature of our political creed, which we are 
 proud to maintain before the world as the great 
 moral element in a form of government, spring- 
 ing from and upheld by the popular will; and 
 contrast it with the creed and practice of Feder- 
 alism, under whatever name or form, which 
 seeks to palsy the will of the constituent, and 
 which conceives no imposture too monstrous for 
 the popular credulity. 
 
 3. Resolved, Therefore, that entertaining these 
 views, the Democratic party of this Union, 
 through the delegates assembled in general con- 
 ventions of the States coming together in a spirit 
 of concord of devotion to the doctrines and faith 
 of a free representative government, and appeal- 
 ing to their fellow-citizens for the rectitude of 
 their intentions, renew and reassert before the 
 American people, the declaration of principles 
 avowed by them on a former occasion, when in 
 general convention they presented their candi- 
 dates for the popular suffrage. 
 
 Resolutions i, 2, 3 and 4 of the platform of 
 1840 were reaffirmed. 
 
 8. Resolved, That it is the duty of every 
 branch of the Government to enforce and prac- 
 tice the most rigid economy in conducting our 
 public affairs, and that no more revenue ought 
 to be raised than is required to defray the neces- 
 sary expenses of the Government and for the 
 gradual but certain extinction of the debt cre- 
 ated by the prosecution of a just and necessary 
 war. 
 
 Resolution 5 of the platform of 1840 was en- 
 larged by the following: 
 
 And that the result of Democratic legislation 
 in this and all other financial measures upon 
 which issues have been made between the two 
 political parties of the country have demon- 
 strated to careful and practical men of all par- 
 ties, their soundness, safety and utility in all 
 business pursuits. 
 
 Resolutions 7, 8 and 9 of the platform of 1840 
 were here inserted. 
 
 13. Resolved, That the proceeds of the public 
 lands ought to be sacredly applied to the National 
 objects specified in the Constitution; and that 
 we are opposed to any law for the distribution 
 of such proceeds among the States as alike in- 
 expedient in policy and repugnant to the Con- 
 stitution. 
 
 14. Resolved, That we are decidedly opposed 
 to taking from the President the qualified veto 
 power by which he is enabled, under restrictions 
 and responsibilities amply sufficient to guard 
 
 the public interests, to suspend the passage of 
 a bill whose merits cannot secure the approval 
 of two-thirds of the vSenate and House of Repre- 
 sentatives until the judgment of the peojjle can 
 be obtained thereon, and which has saved the 
 American people from the corrupt and tyran- 
 nical donnnation of the Bank of the United 
 States, and from a corrupting system of general 
 internal improvements. 
 
 15. Resolved, That the war with Mexico, 
 provoked on her part by years of insult and 
 injury, was commenced by her army crossing 
 the Rio Grande, attacking the American troops, 
 and invading our sister State of Texas, and 
 upon all the principles of patriotism and the 
 laws of nations, it is a just and necessary war on 
 our part, in which every American citizen should 
 have shown himself on the side of his country, 
 and neither morally nor physically by word or 
 by deed, have given ' ' aid and comfort to the 
 eneni)'." 
 
 16. Resolved, That we would be rejoiced at 
 the assurance of peace with Mexico, founded on 
 the just principles of indemnity for the past 
 and security for the future; but that while the 
 ratification of the liberal treaty offered to Mexico 
 remains in doubt it is the duty of the country to 
 sustain the administration and to .sustain the 
 country in every measure necessary to provide 
 for the vigorous prosecution of the war, should 
 that treaty be rejected. 
 
 17. Resolved, That the officers and soldiers 
 who have carried the arms of their country into 
 Mexico, have crowned it with imperishable 
 glory. Their unconquerable courage, their dar- 
 ing enterprise, their unfaltering perseverance 
 and fortitude when assailed on all sides by in- 
 numerable foes and that more formidable enemy 
 — the diseases of the climate — exalt their de- 
 voted patriotism into the highest heroism, and 
 give them a right to the profound gratitude of 
 their country, and the admiration of the world. 
 
 18. Resolved, That the Democratic national 
 convention of thirty States composing the Amer- 
 ican Republic, tender their fraternal congratula- 
 tions to the national convention of the Republic 
 of France, now assembled as the free suffrage 
 representative of the severeignty of thirty-five 
 millions of republicans, to establish government 
 on those eternal principles of equal rights, for 
 which their La Fayette and our Washington 
 fought side by side in the struggle for our 
 national independence; and we would especially 
 convey to them, and to the whole people of 
 France, our earnest wishes for the consolidation 
 of their liberties, through the wisdom that shall 
 guide their councils, on the basis of a demo- 
 cratic Constitiition, not derived from the grants 
 or concessions of kings or dynasties, but orig- 
 inating from the only true source of political 
 power recognized in the States of this Union — 
 
18 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 the inherent and inalienable right of the people 
 in their sovereign capacity to make and to 
 amend their forms of government in such man- 
 ner as the welfare of the community may require. 
 
 19. J\csol:rd, That in view of the recent de- 
 velopment of this grand ])olitical truth, of the 
 sovereignty of the peojilc and their capacity 
 and power of self-government, which is prostrat- 
 ing thrones and erecting republics on the ruins 
 of despotism in the Old AVorld, we feel that a 
 high and sacred dut}- is devolved, with in- 
 creased responsibility, iipon the Democratic 
 party of this country, "as the party of the people, 
 to sustain and advance among us Constitutional 
 liberty, equality, and fraternity, by continuing 
 to resist all monopolies and exclusive legislation 
 for the benefit of the few at the expense of the 
 many, and by a vigilant and constant adherence 
 to those principles and compromises of the Con- 
 stitution, which are broad enough and strong 
 enough to embrace and uphold the Union as it 
 was, the Union as it is, and the Union as it shall 
 be, in the full expansion of the energies and 
 capacit}' of this great and progressive people. 
 
 20. Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions 
 be forwarded, through the American minister at 
 Paris, to the national convention of the Re- 
 public of France. 
 
 21. Resolved, That the fruits of the great 
 political triumph of 1844, which elected James 
 K. Polk and George M. Dallas, President and 
 Vice-President of the United States, have ful- 
 filled the hopes of the Democracy of the Union 
 in defeating the declared purposes of their op- 
 ponents in creating a national bank; in prevent- 
 ing the corrupt and unconstitutional distribution 
 of the land proceeds from the common treasury 
 of the Union for local purposes; in protecting 
 the currency and lal)or of the country from 
 ruinous fluctuations, and guarding the money of 
 the country for the use of the people by the es- 
 tablishment of the Constitutional treasury; in 
 the noble impulse given to the cause of free 
 trade by the repeal of the tariff of '42, and the 
 creation of the more equal, honest, and pro- 
 ductive tariff of 1846; and that in our opinion, 
 it would be a fatal error to weaken the bands of 
 a political organization by which these great 
 reforms have been achieved, and risk them in 
 the hands of their known adversaries, with 
 whatever delusive appeals they may solicit our 
 surrender of that vigilance which is the only 
 safegviard of libert)-. 
 
 22. Resolved, That the confidence of the De- 
 mocracy of the Union in the principles, capacity, 
 firmness and integrity of James K. Polk, mani- 
 fested by his nonunation and election in 1844, 
 has been signally justified by the strictness of 
 his adherence to sound Democratic doctrines, b}' 
 the purity of purpose, the energy and ability, 
 which have characterized his administration in 
 
 all our affairs at home and abroad; that we tender 
 to him our cordial congratulations upon the bril- 
 liant .success which has hitherto crowned his 
 patriotic efforts, and assure him in advance, that 
 at the expiration of his Presidential term he will 
 carry with him to his retirement the esteem, 
 respect and admiration of a grateful country. 
 
 23. Resolved, That this convention hereby 
 present to the people of the United States, Lewis 
 Cass, of Michigan, as the candidate of the Demo- 
 cratic party for the oflfice of President, and 
 William O. Butler, of Kentucky, for Vice-Presi- 
 dent of the United States. 
 
 Whig Resolutions. 
 
 1. Resolved, That the Whigs of the United 
 States, here assembled by their representatives, 
 heartily ratify the nomination of General Zach- 
 ary Taylor as President, and INIillard Fillmore 
 as Vice-President of the United States, and 
 pledge themselves to their support. 
 
 2. Resolved, That in the choice of General 
 Taylor as the W^hig candidate for President, we 
 are glad to discover sympathy with a great pop- 
 ular sentiment throughout the Nation — a senti- 
 ment which, having its origin in admiration 
 of great military success, has been strengthened 
 by the development, in every action and every 
 word, of sound conservative opinions, and of 
 true fidelity to the great example of former days, 
 and to the principles of the Constitution as ad- 
 ministered by its founders. 
 
 3. Resolved, That General Taylor in saying 
 that, had he voted in 1844, he would have voted 
 the Whig ticket, gives us the assurance — and no 
 better is needed from a consistent and truth- 
 speaking man — that his heart was with us at the 
 crisis of our political destiny, when Henry Clay 
 was our candidate, and when not only AVhig 
 principles were well defined and clearly asserted, 
 but Whig measures depended on success. The 
 heart that was with us then is with us now-, and 
 we have a soldier's word of honor, and a life of 
 piiblic and private virtue, as the security. 
 
 4. Resolved, That we look on General Taylor's 
 administration of the government as one con- 
 ducive of peace, prosperity and union; of peace, 
 because no one better knows, or has greater 
 reason to deplore, what he has seen sadly on the 
 field of victory, the horrors of war, and especially 
 of a foreign and aggressive war; of prosperity, 
 now more than ever needed to relieve the Nation 
 from a burden of debt, and restore industry — 
 agricultural, manufacturing and commercial — to 
 its accustomed and peaceful functions and influ- 
 ences; of union because we have a candidate 
 whose very position as a Southwestern man, 
 reared on the banks of the great stream whose 
 tributaries, natural and artificial, embrace the 
 whole Union, render the protection of the inter- 
 ests of the whole country' his first trust, and 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 19 
 
 whose various duties in past life have been 
 rendered, not on the soil or under the iia<^ of any 
 State or section, but over the wide frontier, and 
 under the broad banner of the Nation. 
 
 5. Rcsolvai, That standing, as the Whig party 
 does, on the broad and firm platform of the Con- 
 stitution, braced up by all its inviolable and 
 sacred guarantees and compromises and cher- 
 islied in the affections, because protective of the 
 interests of the people, we are proud to have as 
 the exponent of our opinions one who is pledged 
 to construe it by the wise and generous rules 
 which Washington applied to it and who has 
 said — and no Whig desires any other assurance — 
 that he will make Washington's administration 
 his model. 
 
 6. Rfsoltrd, That, as Whigs and Americans, 
 we are proud to acknowledge our gratitude for 
 the great military services, which, beginning at 
 Palo Alto and ending at Buena Vista, first awak- 
 ened the American people to a just estimate of 
 him who is now our Whig Candidate. In the 
 discharge of a painful duty^for his march into 
 the enemy's country was a reluctant one; in the 
 command of regulars at one time and volunteers 
 at another and of both combined; in the decisive 
 though punctual discipline of his camp, where 
 all respected and loved him; in the negotiation 
 of terms for a dejected and desperate enemy; in 
 the exigency of actual conflict when the balance 
 was perilously doubtful — we have found him the 
 same — brave, distinguished and considerate, no 
 heartless spectator of bloodshed, no trifler with 
 human life or human happiness; and we do not 
 know which to admire most, his heroism in 
 withstanding the assaults of the enemy in the 
 most hopeless fields of Buena Vista — mourning 
 in general sorrow over the graves of Ringgold, of 
 Clay, of Hardin — or in giving in the heat of bat- 
 tle terms of merciful capitulation to the van- 
 quished foe at ]\Iontere3% and not being ashamed 
 to avow that he did it to spare women and chil- 
 dren, helpless infanc}- and more helpless age, 
 against whom no American soldier wars. Such 
 a military man, whose triimiphs are neither re- 
 mote nor doubtful, whose virtues these trials 
 have tested, we are proud to make our candidate. 
 
 7. Resolved, That in support of this nomina- 
 tion we ask our Whig friends throughout the 
 Nation to unite, to co-operate zealovisly, reso- 
 lutely, with earnestness, in behalf of our candi- 
 date, whom calumny cannot reach, and with re- 
 spectfiil demeanor to our adversaries, whose 
 candidates have yet to prove their claims on the 
 gratitude of the Nation. 
 
 Buffalo Platform. 
 
 Whereas, We have assembled in conven- 
 tion as a luiion of freemen, for the sake of free- 
 dom, forgetting all political difference in a com- 
 mon resolve to maintain the rights of free labor 
 
 against the aggression of the slave power, and to 
 secure free soil to a free people; and, 
 
 WheRE.\vS, The political conventions recently 
 assendjled at Baltimore and Philadelphia — the 
 one stifling the voice of a great constituency, 
 entitled to be heard in its delil)erations, and the 
 other abandoning its distinctive principles for 
 mere availabilit}- — have di.ssolved the national 
 party organization heretofore existing, by nom- 
 inating for the chief magistracy of the United 
 States, under the slaveholding dictation, can- 
 didates, neither of whom can be supported by 
 the opponents of slavery extension, without a 
 sacrifice of consistency, duty and self-respect; 
 and. 
 
 Whereas, These nominations so made, fur- 
 nish the occasion, and demonstrate the ne- 
 cessity of the union of the people imder the 
 banner of free Democracy, in a solemn and 
 formal declaration of their independence of the 
 slave power, and of their fixed determination to 
 rescue the Federal Government from its control: 
 
 1. Resolved, Therefore, that we, the people 
 here assembled, remembering the example of 
 our fathers in the days of the first Declaration 
 of Independence, putting our trust in God for 
 the triumph of our cause, and invoking His 
 guidance in our endeavors to advance it, do now 
 plant ourselves upon the national platform of 
 freedom, in opposition to the sectional platform 
 of slavery. 
 
 2. Resolved, That slavery in the several States 
 of this Union which recognize its existence, de- 
 pends upon the State laws alone, which cannot 
 be repealed or modified by the I'ederal Govern- 
 ment, and for which laws that Government is 
 not resjjonsible. We therefore propose no inter- 
 ference by Congress with slavery within the 
 limits of any State. 
 
 3. Resolved, That the proviso of Jefferson to 
 prohibit the existence of slavery after 1800 in 
 all the Territories of the United States, Southern 
 and Northern; the votes of six States and six- 
 teen delegates in Congress of 1784, for the pro- 
 viso, to three States and seven delegates against 
 it; the actual exclusion of slavery from the 
 Northwestern Territory, by the ordinance of 
 1787, unanimously adopted by the States in 
 Congress; and the entire history of that period, 
 clearly show that it was the .settled policy of the 
 Nation not to extend, nationalize or encourage, 
 but to limit, localize and discourage slavery; 
 and to this policy, which should never have 
 been departed from, the Government ought to 
 return. 
 
 4. Resolved, That our fathers ordained the 
 Constitution of the United States, in order, 
 among other great national objects, to establish 
 justice, promote the general welfare, and secure 
 the blessings of liberty; but expressly denied to 
 the Federal Government which they created, all 
 
20 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 Constitutional power to deprive any person of 
 life, liberty, or property- without due legal pro- 
 cess. 
 
 5. Resolved, That in the judi^nient of this 
 convention. Congress has no more jjower to 
 make a slave than to make a king; no more 
 power to institute or esta1)lish slavery than to 
 institute or establish a monarchy; no such power 
 can be found among those specifically conferred 
 by the Constitution, or derived by just impli- 
 cation from them. 
 
 6. Resolved, That it is the duty of the Fed- 
 eral Government to relieve itself from all re- 
 sponsibility for the existence or continuance of 
 slavery wherever the Government possesses 
 Constitutional power to legislate on that subject, 
 and it is thus responsible for its existence. 
 
 7. Resolved, That the true, and in the judg- 
 ment of this convention, the only safe measures 
 of preventing the extension of slavery into the 
 Territory now free, is to prohibit its extension 
 in all such Territory by an act of Congress. 
 
 S. Resolved, That we accept the issue which 
 the slave power has forced upon us; and to 
 their demand for more slave vStates, and more 
 slave territor}-, our calm but final answer is. 
 No more slave vStates and no more slave ter- 
 ritory. Let the soil of our extensive domains 
 be kept free for the hardy pioneers of our own 
 land, and the oppressed and banished of other 
 lands, seeking homes of comfort and fields of 
 enterprise in the New World. 
 
 9. Resolved, That the bill lately reported by 
 the committee of eight in the Senate of the 
 United States, was no compromise, but an abso- 
 lute surrender of the rights of the non-slave- 
 holders of all the States; and while we rejoice 
 to know that a measure which, while opening 
 the door for the introduction of slavery into the 
 Territories now free, would also have opened 
 the door to litigation and strife among the future 
 inhabitants thereof, to the ruin of their peace 
 and prosperity, was defeated in the House of 
 Representatives, its passage, in hot haste, by a 
 majority embracing several Senators who voted 
 in open violation of the known will of their con- 
 stituents, should warn the people to see to it 
 that their representatives be not suffered to be- 
 trav them. There must be no more compromises 
 with slavery; if made, they must l)e repealed. 
 
 10. Resolved, That we demand freedom and 
 establi.shed in.stitutions for our brethren in 
 Oregon, now exposed to hardships, peril and 
 massacre, by the reckless hostility of the slave 
 power to the establishment of free government 
 and free territories; and not only for them but 
 for our brethren in California and New Mexico. 
 
 11. Resolied, It is due not only to this occa- 
 sion, but to the whole ])eople of the United States, 
 that we should also declare ourselves on certain 
 other questions of national policy: Therefore, 
 
 12. Resolved, That we demand cheap postage 
 for the people; a retrenchment of the expenses 
 and ])atronage of the Federal Government; the 
 abolition of all unnecessary offices and salaries: 
 and the election by the people of all civil officers 
 in the service of the Government, so far as the 
 same may be practicable. 
 
 13. Resolved, That river and harbor improve- 
 ments, W'hen demanded by the safety and con- 
 venience of commerce with foreign nations, or 
 among the several States, are objects of national 
 concern, and that it is the duty of Congress, in 
 the exercise of its Constitutional power, to pro- 
 vide therefor. 
 
 14. Resolved, That the free grant to actual 
 settlers, in consideration of the expenses they 
 incur in making settlements in the wilderness, 
 which are usually fully equal to their actual cost, 
 and of the public benefits resulting therefrom, 
 of reasonable portions of the public lands, under 
 suitable limitations, is a wise and just measure 
 of public policy, which will promote in various 
 ways the interest of all the States of this Union; 
 and we, therefore, recommend it to the favorable 
 consideration of the American people. 
 
 15. Resolved, That the obligations of honor 
 and patriotism require the earliest practical pay- 
 ment of the national debt; and we are, therefore, 
 in favor of such a tariff of duties as will raise 
 revenue adequate to defray the expenses of the 
 Federal Government, and to pay annual install- 
 ments of our debt and the interest thereon. 
 
 16. Resolved, That we inscribe on our banner 
 " Free Soil, Free vSpeech, Free Labor and Free 
 Men," and under it we will fight on, and fight 
 ever until a triumphant victory shall reward our 
 exertions. 
 
 IN 1852. 
 
 There was little notable change in 1852 from 
 the attitude of the parties to the issues of the day 
 four j-ears previous. The Democratic National 
 Convention at Baltimore June i, 1852, adopted 
 a platform framed on the principle of strict con- 
 struction. The Whig convention, which met in 
 the .same city June 16, adhered to the liberal ideas 
 of its party and adopted a loose constructionist 
 platform. The Free Soil Democrats met in con- 
 vention in Pittsburgh August 1 1 of the same year 
 and presented their principles formulated in the 
 customary platform. 
 
 Democratic Platform. 
 
 Resolutions, i, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of the plat- 
 form of 1848 were reaffirmed, to wliich were 
 added the following: 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 21 
 
 8. Ri-soli'fd, That it is the duty of every 
 branch of the Governineut to enforce and prac- 
 tice the most rigid economy in conducting our 
 piibUc affairs, and that no more revenue ought 
 to be raised than is required to defray the neces- 
 sary expenses of the Government and for the 
 gradual but certain extinction of the pubHc debt. 
 
 9. Rt'solxrd, That Congress has no power to 
 charter a National Bank; that we believe such 
 an institution one of deadly hostility to the best 
 interests of the countrs', dangerous to our repub- 
 lican institutions and the liberties of the people, 
 calculated to place the business of the country 
 within the control of a concentrated money 
 power, and that above the laws and will of the 
 people; and that the results of Democratic leg- 
 islation in this and all other financial measures 
 upon which issues have been made between the 
 two political parties of the country, have dem- 
 onstrated to candid and practical men of all par- 
 ties their soundness, safety and utility in all 
 business pursuits. 
 
 10. Resolved, That the separation of the mon- 
 eys of the Government from banking institutions 
 is indispensable for the safety of the funds of the 
 Government and the rights of the people. 
 
 11. Resolved, That the liberal principles em- 
 bodied by Jefferson in the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence and sanctioned in the Constitution, 
 which makes ours the land of liberty and the 
 asylum of the oppressed of every nation, have 
 ever been cardinal principles in the Democratic 
 faith ; and every attempt to abridge the privilege 
 of becoming citizens and the owners of the soil 
 among us ought to be resisted with the same 
 spirit that swept the Alien and Sedition laws 
 from our statute books. 
 
 12. Resolved, That Congress has no power 
 under the Constitution to interfere with or con- 
 trol the domestic institutions of the several 
 vStates, and that such States are the sole and 
 proper judges of even,-thing appertaining to their 
 own affairs not prohibited by the Constitution; 
 that all efforts of the Abolitionists or others, 
 made to induce Congress to interfere with ques- 
 tions of slavery, or to take incipient steps in re- 
 lation thereto, are calculated to lead to the most 
 alarming and dangerous consequences; and that 
 all such efforts have an inevitable tendency to 
 diminish the happiness of the people and en- 
 danger the stability and permanency of the 
 Union, and ought not to be countenanced by any 
 friend of our political institutions. 
 
 13. Resolved, That the foregoing proposition 
 covers and is intended to embrace the whole 
 subject of slavery agitation in Congress; and, 
 therefore, the Democratic party of the Union, 
 standing on this national platform, will abide by 
 and adhere to a faithful execution of the acts 
 know-n as the Compromise measures settled by 
 the last Congress, " the act for reclaiming fugi- 
 
 tives from service labor" included; which act, 
 Ijeing designed to carry out an express provi.sion 
 of the Constitution, cannot, with fidelity thereto, 
 be repealed nor so changed as to destroy or im- 
 pair its efficiency. 
 
 14. Resolc'ed, That the Democratic party will 
 resist all attempts at renewing in Congress or 
 oiit of it the agitation of the slavery question 
 under whatever shape or color the attempt may 
 be made. 
 
 [Here resolutions 13 and 14 of the platform of 
 1848 were inserted.] 
 
 17. Resolved, That the Democratic party will 
 faithfully abide by and uphold the principles 
 laid dowai in the Kentucky and Virginia resolu- 
 tions of 1792 and 1798, and in the report of Mr. 
 Madison to the Virginia Legislature in 1799; 
 that it adopts those principles as constituting 
 one of the main foundations of its political 
 creed and is resolved to carry them out in their 
 obvious meaning and import. 
 
 18. Resolved, Thatthe war with Mexico, upon 
 all the principles of patriotism and the law of 
 nations, was a just and necessary war on our part, 
 in which no American citizen should have .shown 
 himself opposed to his countrj', and neither mor- 
 ally nor physically, by word or deed, given aid 
 and comfort to the enemy. 
 
 19. Resolved, That w^e rejoice at the restora- 
 tion of friendly relations with our sister Republic 
 of Mexico, and earnestly desire for her all the 
 blessings and prosperity which we enjoy under 
 republican in.stitutions; and we congratulate the 
 American peojile on the results of that war, 
 which have so manifestly justified the policy and 
 conduct of the Democratic party and insured 
 the United States indemnity for the past and se- 
 curity for the future. 
 
 20. Resolved, That in view of the condition 
 of popular institutions in the Old World, a high 
 and sacred duty is devolved with increased re- 
 sponsibility upon the Democracy of this country 
 as the party of the people, to uphold and main- 
 tain the rights of every State, and thereby the 
 union of States, and to sustain and advance 
 among them Constitutional liberty, by continu- 
 ing to resist all monopolies and exclusive legis- 
 lation for the benefit of the few at the expense 
 of the many, and by a vigilant and constant ad- 
 herence to those principles and compromises of 
 the Constitution which are broad enough and 
 strong enough to embrace and uphold the Union 
 as it is and the Union as it should be, in the full 
 expansion of the energies and capacity of this 
 great and progressive people. 
 
 Whig Platform 
 
 The Whigs of the United States, in convention 
 assembled, adhering to the great conservative 
 principles by which they are controlled and 
 governed, and now as ever relying ujjon the 
 
22 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 inlclliifcnce of the American people, with an 
 al)i(lint( confidence in their capacit}- for self-gov- 
 ernment and their devotion to the Constitution 
 and the Union, do proclaim the following as the 
 political sentiments and determination for the 
 establishment and maintenance of which their 
 national organization as a party was effected: 
 
 1. The Government of the United States is of 
 a limited character, and is confined to the exer- 
 cise of powers expressly granted by the Constitu- 
 tion and such as ma)- be necessary and proper 
 for carrying the granted powers into full execu- 
 tion, and that powers not granted or necessarily 
 implied are reserved to the States, respectively, 
 and to the people. 
 
 2. The State governments should be held 
 secure to their reserved rights, and the General 
 Government sustained in its Constitutional pow- 
 ers, and that the Union should be revered and 
 watched over as the palladium of our liberties. 
 
 3. That while struggling freedom everj^where 
 enlists the warmest sympathy of the Whig party, 
 we still adhere to the doctrines of the Father 
 of his Country, as announced in his farewell 
 address, of keeping ourselves from all en- 
 titngling alliances with foreign countries, and of 
 never quitting our own to stand upon foreign 
 ground; that our inission as a republic is not to 
 propagate our opinions, or impose on other coun- 
 tries our form of government, by artifice or force, 
 but to teach by example, and show by our suc- 
 cess, moderation and justice, the blessings of 
 self-government, and the advantages of free in- 
 stitutions. 
 
 4. That, as the people make and control the 
 Government, they should obey its Constitu- 
 tion, laws, and treaties as they would retain their 
 self-respect and the respect which they claim 
 and will enforce from foreign powers. 
 
 5. Governments should be conducted on the 
 principles of the strictest economy; and rev- 
 enue sufficient for the expenses thereof, in 
 time of peace, ought to be derived mainly from 
 a duty on imports, and not from direct taxes; 
 and on laying such duties sound policy requires 
 a just discrimination, and, when practicable, by 
 s]K'cific duties, whereby suitable encouragement 
 may be afforded to American industry, equally 
 to all classes and to all portions of the country. 
 
 (>. The Constitution vests in Congress the 
 power to open and repair har1)ors and remove 
 o])structions from navigable rivers, whenever 
 such improvements are necessary for the com- 
 mon defense, and for the protection and facility 
 of commerce with foreign nations or among the 
 States, said improvements being in every in- 
 stance national and general in their character. 
 
 7. The Federal and State governments are 
 parts of one system, alike necessary for the com- 
 mon prosperity, peace and security, and ought 
 to be regarded alike with a cordial, habitual and 
 
 innnova1)le attachment. Respert for the au- 
 tliority of each, and acquiescence in the just Con- 
 stitutional measures of each, are duties required 
 by the plainest considerations of National, State 
 and individual welfare. 
 
 8. That the series of acts of the 32nd Con- 
 gress, the act known as the Fugitive Slave Law 
 included, are received and acquiesced in by the 
 Whig party of the United States as a settlement 
 in principle and substance of the dangerous and 
 exciting questions which they embrace, and so 
 far as they are concerned, we will maintain 
 them, and insist upon their strict enforcement, 
 until time and experience shall demonstrate the 
 necessity of further legislation to guard against 
 the evasion of the laws on the one hand and the 
 abuse of their powers on the other — not impair- 
 ing their present efficiency; and we deprecate 
 all further agitation of the qi:estion thus settled 
 as dangerous to our peace, and will discounte- 
 nance all efforts to continue or rencAV such 
 agitation whenever, wherever or however the 
 attempt may be made; and we will maintain the 
 system as essential to the nationality of the 
 Whig party and the integritj' of the Union. . 
 
 Free- Soil Platform. 
 
 Having assembled in national convention as 
 the free Democracy of the United States, united 
 by a conmion resolve to maintain right against 
 wrong, and freedom against slavery; confiding 
 in the intelligence, patriotism and discrimina- 
 ting justice of the American people; putting our 
 trust in God for the triumph of our cause, and 
 invoking His guidance in our endeavor to ad- 
 vance it, we now submit to the candid judgment 
 of all men the following declaration of princi- 
 ples and measures: 
 
 1. That governments deriving their just pow- 
 ers from the consent of the governed, are insti- 
 tuted among men to secure to all those inalien- 
 able rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of 
 happiness, with which they are endowed by 
 their Creator, and of which none can be deprived 
 by valid legislation, except for crime. 
 
 2. That the trvie mission of American Democ- 
 racy is to maintain the liberties of the ]>eople, 
 the sovereignty of the States, and the perpetuity 
 of the Union, by the impartial application to pub- 
 lic affairs, without sectional discriminations, of 
 the fundamental principles of human rights, 
 strict justice and an economical administration. 
 
 3. That the Federal Government is one of lim- 
 ited powers, derived solely from the Constitu- 
 tion, and the grants of power therein ought to 
 be strictly construed by all the departments and 
 agents of the Government, and it is inexpedient 
 and dangerous to exercise doubtful Constitu- 
 tional powers. 
 
 4. That the Constitution of the United States, 
 ordained to form a more perfect union, to estab- 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 23 
 
 lish justice, and secure the blessings of liberty, 
 expressly denies to the General Govennnent all 
 power to deprive any person of life, liberty or 
 property, without due process of law; and, there- 
 fore, the Government, having no more power to 
 make a slave than to make a king, and no more 
 power to establish slavery- than to establish a 
 monarchy, should at once proceed to relieve it- 
 self from all responsibility for the existence 
 of slavery wherever it possesses Constitutional 
 power to legislate for its extinction. 
 
 5 . That to the persevering and importunate de- 
 mands of the slav e power for more slave States, 
 new slave territories, and the nationalization of 
 slavery, our distinct and final answer is. No 
 more slave States, no slave territory, no nation- 
 alized slaver}-, and no national legislation for 
 the extradition of slaves. 
 
 6. That slavery is a sin against God, and a 
 crime against man, which no human enactment 
 or usage can make right; and that Christianity, 
 humanity and patriotism alike demand its abo- 
 lition. 
 
 7. That the Fugitive Slave act of 1850 is re- 
 pugnant to the Constitution, to the principles of 
 the common law, to the spirit of Christianity, 
 and to the sentiments of the civilized world; we, 
 therefore, deny its l)inding force on the American 
 people and demand its immediate and total 
 repeal. 
 
 8. That the doctrine that any human law is a 
 finality, and not subject to modification or re- 
 peal, is not in accordance with the creed of the 
 founders of our Government, and is dangerous 
 to the liberties of the people. 
 
 9. That the acts of Congress, known as the 
 compromise measures of 1850, by making the 
 admission of a sovereign State contingent upon 
 the adoption of other measures demanded by the 
 special interests of slavery; by their omission to 
 guarantee freedom in the free Territories; by 
 their attempt to impose unconstitutional limita- 
 tions on the powers of Congress and the people 
 to admit new States; by their provisions for the 
 assumption of five millions of the State debt of 
 Texas, and for the payment of five millions more, 
 and the cession of large territory to the same 
 State under menace, as an inducement to the re- 
 linquishment of a groundless claim; and by their 
 invasion of the sovereignty of the States and the 
 liberties of the people, through the enactment 
 of an unjust, oppressive, and unconstitutional 
 fugitive slave law, are proved to be inconsistent 
 with all the principles and maxims of Democ- 
 racy, and wholly inadequate to the settlement of 
 the questions of which they are claimed to be 
 an adjustment. 
 
 10. That no permanent settlement of the slavery 
 question can be looked for except in the prac- 
 tical recognition of the truth that slavery is 
 sectional and freedom national; by the total 
 
 separation of the General Government from 
 slavery, and the exercise of its legitimate and 
 Constitutional influence on the side of freedom; 
 and by leaving to the States the whole suljject 
 of slavery and the extradition of fugitives from 
 service. 
 
 11. That all men have a natural right to a 
 portion of the soil; and that as the use of the 
 soil is indispensable to life, the right of all men 
 to the soil is as sacred as their right to life itself. 
 
 12. That the public lands of the United States 
 belong to the people and should not l)e sold to 
 individuals nor granted to corporations, but 
 should be held as a sacred trust for the benefit 
 of the people, and should be granted in limited 
 quantities, free of cost, to landless settlers. 
 
 13. That due regard for the Federal Constitu- 
 tion, a sound administrative policy, demand that 
 the funds of the General Government be kept 
 separate from banking institutions; that inland 
 and ocean postage should be reduced to the 
 lowest possible point; that no more revenue 
 should be raised than is required to defray the 
 strictly necessary expenses of the public service 
 and to pay off the public debt; and that the 
 power and patronage of the Govennnent should 
 be diminished by the abolition of all unnecessary 
 offices, salaries and privileges, and by the elec- 
 tion of the people of all civil officers in the service 
 of the United States, so far as may be consist- 
 ent with the prompt and efficient transaction of 
 the public business. 
 
 14. That river and harbor improvements, when 
 necessary to the safety and convenience oif com- 
 merce with foreign nations, or among the several 
 States, are objects of national concern; and it 
 is the duty of Congress in the exercise of its 
 Constitutional powers, to provide for the same. 
 
 15. That emigrants and exiles from the Old 
 World should find a cordial welcome to homes 
 of comfort and fields of enteqarise in the New; 
 and every attempt to abridge their privilege of be- 
 coming citizens and owners of soil among us ought 
 to be resisted with inflexible determination. 
 
 16. That every nation has a clear right to 
 alter or change its own government and to ad- 
 minister its own concerns in such manner as 
 may best secure the rights and promote the 
 happiness of the people; and foreign interfer- 
 ence with that right is a dangerous violation of 
 the law of nations, against which all independ- 
 ent governments should protest, and endeavor 
 by all proper means to prevent; and especially is 
 it the duty of the American Government, repre- 
 senting the chief republic of the world, to pro- 
 test against and by all proper means to prevent, 
 the intervention of kings and emperors against 
 nations seeking to establish for themselves re- 
 publican or constitutional governments. 
 
 17. That the independence of Hayti ought to 
 be recognized by our Government, and ovir com- 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 inercial relations with it placed on the footing 
 of the most favored nations. 
 
 18. That as b}- the Constituti(5!i, "the citizens 
 of each State sliall be entitled to all the privi- 
 leges and immunities of citizens in the several 
 States," the practice of imprisoning colored 
 seamen of other States, while the vessels to 
 which they belong lie in port, and refusing the 
 exercise of the right to bring such cases before 
 the Supreme Court of the United States, to test 
 the legality of such proceedings, is a flagrant 
 violation of the Constitution, and an invasion of 
 the rights of the citizens of other States, utterly 
 inconsistent with the profession made by the 
 slaveholders, that they wish the provisions of 
 the Constitution faithfully obser\'ed by every 
 State in the Union. 
 
 19. That we recommend the introduction into 
 all treaties hereafter to be negotiated between 
 the United States and foreign nations, of some 
 provision for the amicable settlement of difficul- 
 ties Ijy a resort to decisive arbitrations. 
 
 20. That the Free Democratic party is not 
 organized to aid either the Whig or Democratic 
 wing of the great slave compromise party of the 
 nation, but to defeat them both; and that re- 
 pudiating and denouncing both as hopelessly 
 corrupt and utterly unworthy of confidence, the 
 purpose of the I'ree Democracy is to take posses- 
 sion of the Federal Government and adniinister 
 it for the better protection of the rights and 
 interests of the whole people. 
 
 21. That we inscribe on our banner Free Soil, 
 Free Speech, Free Labor, and Free Men, and 
 under it will fight on and fight ever, until a 
 triumphant victory shall reward our exertions. 
 
 22. That upon this platform the convention 
 presents to the American people, as a candidate 
 for the office of President of the United States, 
 John P. Hale, of New Hampshire, and as a 
 candidate for the office of Vice-President of the 
 United States, George W. Julian, of Indiana, and 
 earnestly commend them to the support of all 
 freemen and all parties. 
 
 PLATFORMS OF 1856. 
 
 In the national campaign of 1856 a new party 
 made its appearance. The Northern Whigs had 
 previously assumed the name of Anti-Nebraska 
 Men, and now they adopted the name Repub- 
 lican party. The new party was thus little more, 
 than the Northern branch of the old Whig party, 
 adhering to the .same general principles with the 
 addition of more pronounced views on the slav- 
 ery- question. Its first platform was adopted at 
 the National Convention, which met in Phila- 
 delphia June 17, 1856, The Democratic National 
 
 Convention had met in Cincinnati the 2d of the 
 .same month, and on the 6tli had adopted a plat- 
 form. The American or Know-Nothing Con- 
 vention met February 21 in Philadelphia and 
 made the usual platform declarations. The 
 name of Whig was kept alive after the Northern 
 branch of the party bearing that name had be- 
 come known as Republicans by the Southern 
 wing of the old party. Its platform of this year 
 was adopted at the National Convention held at 
 Baltimore September 13. 
 
 The American Platform. 
 
 1. An humble acknowledgment to the Su- 
 preme Being for His protecting care vouchsafed 
 to our fathers in their successful revolutionary 
 struggle and hitherto manifested to us, their de- 
 scendants, in the preservation of the liberties, 
 the independence and the union of these States. 
 
 2. The perpetuation of the P'ederal Union and 
 Constitution as the palladium of oiu: civil and 
 religious liberties, and the only sure bulwarks 
 of American independence. 
 
 3. Americans must rule America; and to this 
 end na{ive-\yox\\ citizens should be selected for 
 all State, Federal and municipal offices of Gov- 
 ernment employment, in preference to all others. 
 Nevertheless, 
 
 4. Persons born of American parents residing 
 temporarily abroad should be entitled to all the 
 rights of native-born citizens. 
 
 5. No person should be selected for political 
 station (whether of native or foreign birth) who 
 recognizes any allegiance or obligation of any 
 description to any foreign prince, potentate or 
 power, or who refuses to recognize the F'ederal 
 and State Constitutions (each within its sphere) 
 as paramount to all other laws, as rules of po- 
 litical action. 
 
 6. The unequivocal recognition and mainte- 
 nance of the reserved rights of the several States 
 and the cultivation of harmony and fraternal 
 good will between the citizens of the several 
 States, and to this end, non-interference by Con- 
 gress with questions appertaining solely to the 
 individual States and non-inter\-ention by each 
 State with the affairs of any other State. 
 
 7. The recognition of the right of native-born 
 and naturalized citizens of the United States, 
 permanently residing in any Territory thereof, 
 to frame their Constitution and laws and to reg- 
 ulate their domestic and social affairs in their 
 own mode, subject ©idy to the provisions of the 
 Federal Constitution, with the privilege of ad- 
 mission into the Union whenever thej- have the 
 requisite population for one Representative in 
 Congress : Provided, ahvays. That none but 
 those who are citizens of the United States under 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 25 
 
 the Constitution and laws thereof, and who have 
 a fixed residence in any such Territory, ought to 
 participate in the formation of the Constitution 
 or in the enactment of laws for said Territory or 
 State. 
 
 8. An enforcement of the principle that no 
 State or Territorj^ ought to admit others than 
 citizens to the right of suffrage or of holding 
 political offices of the United States. 
 
 9. A change in the laws of natiiralization, 
 making a continued residence of twenty-one 
 3-earsof all not heretofore provided for an indis- 
 pensable requisite for citizenship hereafter, and 
 excluding all paupers and persons convicted of 
 crime from landing upon our shores; but no in- 
 terference with the vested rights of foreigners. 
 
 10. Opposition to any union between church 
 and state; no interference with religious faith or 
 worship, and no test oaths for office. 
 
 11. Free and thorough investigation into any 
 and all alleged abuses of public functionaries 
 and a strict economy in public expenditures. 
 
 12. The maintenance and enforcement of all 
 law.*? constitutionally enacted until said laws 
 shall be repealed or shall be declared null and 
 void by competent judicial authority. 
 
 13. Opposition to the reckless and unwise 
 polic}' of the present administration in the gen- 
 eral management [of our national affairs, and 
 more especially as shown in remo\ang "Ameri- 
 cans" (by designation) and conservatives in 
 principle from office and placing foreigners and 
 ultraists in their places; as shown in a truckling 
 subserviency to the stronger and an insolent and 
 cowardl}' bravado towards the weaker powers; 
 as shown in reopening sectional agitation by the 
 repeal of the Missouri Compromise; as shown in 
 granting to unnaturalized foreigners the right of 
 suffrage in Kansas and Nebraska; as shown in 
 its vacillating course on the Kansas and Ne- 
 braska question; as shown in the corruptions 
 which pervade some of the departments of the 
 Government; as shown in disgracing meritorious 
 naval officers through prejudice or caprice, and 
 as shown in the blundering mismanagement of 
 our foreign relations. 
 
 14. Therefore, to remedy existing evils and pre- 
 vent the disastrous consequencesotherwise result- 
 ing therefrom, we would build up the "American 
 Party" upon the principles hereinbefore stated. 
 
 15. That each State council should have au- 
 thority to amend their several constitutions, so 
 as to abolish the several degrees and substitute 
 a pledge of honor, instead of other obligations, 
 for fellowship and admission into the party. 
 
 16. A free and open discussion of all political 
 principles embraced in our platform. 
 
 Democratic Platform. 
 
 Resolved, That the American Democracy place 
 their trust in the intelligence, the patriotism, 
 
 and discriminating justice of the American 
 people. 
 
 Resolved, That we regard this as a distinctive 
 feature of our political creed, which we are proud 
 to maintain before the world as a great moral 
 element in a fonn of government springing from 
 and upheld by the popular will; and we contrast 
 it with the creed and practice of federalism, 
 under whatever name or form, which seeks to 
 palsy the will of the constituent, and which con- ' 
 ceives no imposture too monstrous for the pop- 
 ular credulity. 
 
 Resolved, there/ore. That entertaining these 
 views, the Democratic party of this Union, 
 throiigli their delegates assembled in national 
 convention, coming together in a spirit of con- 
 cord, of devotions to the doctrines and faith 
 of a free representative government, and appeal- 
 ing to their fellow-citizens for the rectitude of 
 their intentions, renew and reassert before the 
 American people, the declaration of principles 
 avowed by them, when, on former occasions, in 
 general convention, they have presented their 
 candidates for the popular suffrage. 
 
 1. That the Federal Government is one of 
 limited power, derived solely from the Constitu- 
 tion, and the grants of power made therein 
 ought to be strictly construed by all the depart- 
 ments and agents of the Government, and that 
 it is inexpedient and dangerous to exercise 
 doubtful Constitutional powers. 
 
 2. That the Constitution does not confer upon 
 the General Government the power to connnence 
 and carry on a general s^-stem of internal im- 
 provements. 
 
 3. That the Constitution does not confer au- 
 thority upon the Federal Government, directly 
 or indirectly, to assume the debts of the several 
 States, contracted for local and internal im- 
 provements or other State purposes; nor would 
 such assumption be just or expedient. 
 
 4. That justice and sound policy forbid the 
 Federal Government to foster one branch of in- 
 dustry to the detriment of another, or to cherish 
 the interests of one portion of our common 
 country; that every citizen and every section of 
 the country has a right to demand and insist 
 upon an equality of rights and privileges, and a 
 complete and ample protection of persons and 
 property from domestic violence and foreign 
 aggression. 
 
 5. That it is the duty of ever>^ branch of the 
 Government to enforce and practice the most 
 rigid econoni}- in conducting our public affairs, 
 and that no more revenue ought to be raised 
 than is required to defraj- the necessary e.x- 
 penses of the Govermnent and gradual but 
 certain extinction of the public debt. 
 
 6. That the proceeds of the public lands ought 
 to be .sacredly applied to the national objects 
 specified in the Constitution, and that we are 
 
26 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 opposed to ail}' law for the distribution of such 
 ]iroceeds among the States, as aUke inexpedient 
 in ])oUcy and repugnant in the Constitution. 
 
 7. That Congress has no power to charter a 
 national bank; that we believe such an institu- 
 tion one of deadly lio.stility to the best interests 
 of the countn,', dangerous to our republican in- 
 stitutions and the liberties of the American peo- 
 ple, and calculated to place the business of the 
 country within the control of a concentrated 
 money power and above the laws and will of the 
 people; and the results of the Democratic legis- 
 lation in this and all other financial measures 
 upon which issues have been made between the 
 two political parties of the country, have demon- 
 strated to candid and practical men of all parties 
 their soundness, safety, and utility in all busi- 
 ness pursuits. 
 
 8. That the separation of the moneys of the 
 Government from banking institutions is indis- 
 pensable to the safety of the funds of the Gov- 
 ernment and the rights of the people. 
 
 9. That we are decidedly opposed to taking 
 from the President the qualified veto power, by 
 which he is enabled, under restrictions and re- 
 sponsibilities amply sufficient to guard the pub- 
 lic interests, to siispend the passage of a bill 
 whose merits cannot secure the approval of two- 
 thirds of the Senate and House of Representa- 
 tives, until the judgment of the people can be 
 obtained thereon, and which has saved the 
 American people from the corrupt and tyranni- 
 cal dominion of the Bank of the United States, 
 and from a corrupting system of internal im- 
 provements. 
 
 10. That the liberal principles embodied by 
 Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, 
 and sanctioned in the Constitution, which makes 
 ours the land of liberty and the asylum of the 
 oppressed of every nation, have ever been cardi- 
 nal principles in the Democratic faith; and every 
 attempt to abridge the privilege of becoming 
 citizens and owners of soil among us ought to 
 be resisted with the same spirit which swept the 
 Alien and Sedition laws from our statute books; 
 and, 
 
 \Vhp:reas, Since the foregoing declaration 
 was uniformly adopted by our predecessors in 
 national conventions, an adverse, political and 
 religious test has been secretly organized by a 
 party claiming to be exclusively Americans, and 
 it is proper that the American Democracy should 
 clearly define its relation thereto, and declare its 
 determined opposition to all secret political so- 
 cieties by whatever name they may be called, 
 
 Resolved, That the foundation of the Union of 
 States having been laid in, and its prosperity, 
 expansion and pre-eminent example in free gov- 
 ernment built upon, entire freedom of matters 
 of religious concernment, and no respect of per- 
 sons in regard to rank or place of birth, no party 
 
 can justly be deemed National, Constitutional 
 or in accordance with American principles, 
 which bases its exclusive organization upon re- 
 ligious opinions and accidental birth-place. And 
 hence a political crusade in the nineteenth cen- 
 tury and in the United States of America against 
 Catholics and foreign born is neither justified by 
 the past history or future prospects of the coun- 
 try, nor in unison with the spirit of toleration and 
 enlightened freedom which peculiarU- distin- 
 guishes the American system of popular gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 Rcsolc'cd, That we reiterate w-ith renewed en- 
 ergy of ptirpose the well considered declarations 
 of former conventions upon the sectional issue 
 of domestic slavery and concerning the reserved 
 rights of the States — 
 
 1. That Congress has no power under the 
 Constitution to interfere with or control the do- 
 mestic institutions of the several States, and 
 that all such States are the sole and proper 
 judges of everything appertaining to their own 
 affairs not prohibited by the Constitution; that 
 all efforts of the Abolitionists or others made to 
 indiice Congress to interfere with questions of 
 slavery or to take incipient steps in relation 
 thereto are calculated to lead to the most alarm- 
 ing and dangerous consequences, and that all 
 such efforts liave an inevitable tendency to di- 
 minish the happiness of the people and endanger 
 the stability and permanency of the Union and 
 ought not to be countenanced by any friend of 
 our political institutions. 
 
 2. That the foregoing proposition covers and 
 was intended to embrace the whole subject of 
 slavery agitation in Congress, and therefore the 
 Democratic party of the Union, standing on this 
 national platform, will abide by and adhere to a 
 faithful execution of the acts known as the Com- 
 promise measures, settled by the Congress of 
 1850 — "the act for reclaiming fugitives from 
 servnce or labor" included; which act, being de- 
 signed to carry out an express provision of the 
 Constitution, cannot, with fidelity thereto, be 
 repealed or so changed as to destroy or impair 
 its efficiency. 
 
 3. That the Democratic party will resist all 
 attempts at renewing in Congress or out of it 
 the, agitation of the slavery question under what- 
 ever shape or color the attempt may be made. 
 
 4. That the Democratic part}' will faithfully 
 abide by and uphold the principles laid down in 
 the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions of 1792 
 and 1798 and in the report of Mr. Madison to 
 the Virginia legislature in 1799, that it adopts 
 these principles as constituting one of the main 
 foundations of its political creed and is resolved 
 to carry them out in their obvious meaning and 
 import. 
 
 And that we may more distinctly meet the 
 issue on which a sectional party, subsisting 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 27 
 
 exclusively on slavery agitation, now relies to 
 test the fidelity of the people, North and South, 
 to the Constitution and the Union, 
 
 1. J^rso/ird, That claiming fellowship with 
 and desiring the co-operation of all who regard 
 the preservation of the l^nion under the Constitii- 
 tion as the paramount issue and repudiating all 
 sectional parties and platforms concerning do- 
 mestic slavery which seek to embroil the States 
 and incite to treason and armed resistance to law 
 in the Territories, and whose avowed purpose, if 
 consimimated, must end in civil war and dis- 
 union, the American Democracy recognize and 
 adopt the principles contained in the organic 
 laws establishing the Territories of Nebraska and 
 Kansas as embodying the only sound and safe 
 solution of the slavery question, upon which the 
 great national idea of the people of this whole 
 country can repose in its determined conserva- 
 tion of the Union, and non-interference of Con- 
 gress with slavery in the Territories or in the 
 District of Columbia. 
 
 2. That this was the basis of the compromise 
 of 1850, confirmed by both the Democratic and 
 Whig parties in national conventions, ratified by 
 the people in the election of 1852 and rightly ap- 
 plied to the organization of the Territories in 
 1S54. 
 
 3. That by the uniform application of the 
 Democratic principle to the organization of Ter- 
 ritories and the admission of new States, with or 
 without domestic slavery, as they may elect, the 
 equal rights of all the States will be preserved 
 intact, the original compacts of the Constitution 
 maintained inviolate, and the perpetuit}- and 
 expansion of the I'nion insured to its utmost ca- 
 pacity of embracing in peace and harmony every 
 future American State that may be constituted or 
 annexed with a republican form of government. 
 
 Reso/z'rd, That we recognize the right of the 
 people of all the Territories, inckiding Kansas 
 and Nebraska, acting through the legally and 
 fairly expressed will of the majority of the 
 actual residents, and whenever the number of 
 their inhabitants justifies it, to form a Constitu- 
 tion, with or M-ithout domestic slavery, and be 
 admitted into the Union upon terms of perfect 
 equality with the other States. 
 
 Reso'lc'ed, finally. That in view of the condi- 
 tion of the popular institutions in the Old World 
 (and the dangerous tendencies of sectional agita- 
 tion, comlnned with the attempt to enforce civil 
 and religious disabilities against the rights of ac- 
 quiring and enjoying citizenship in our own land ) 
 a high and sacred duty is devolved, with in- 
 creased responsibility, upon the Democratic 
 party of this country, as the party of the I'nion, 
 to uphold and maintain the rights of every 
 State, and thereby the union of the States, and 
 to sustain and advance among us Con.stitutional 
 liberty, bj- continuing to resist all monopolies 
 
 and exclusive legislation for the benefit of the 
 few at the expense of the many, and by a vigi- 
 lant and constant adherence to these principles 
 and compromises of the Constitution which are 
 broad enough and strong enough to embrace 
 and uphold the Union as it was, the Union as it 
 is, and the Union as it shall be, in the full ex- 
 pression of the energies and capacity of this 
 great and progressive ])eople. 
 
 1. Resolved, That there are questions con- 
 nected with tlie foreign policy of this country 
 which are inferior to no domestic questions 
 whatever. The time has come for the people of 
 the United States to declare themselves in favor 
 
 ^of free seas and progressive free trade through- 
 out the world, and by solemn manifestations, to 
 place their moral influence at the side of their 
 successful example. 
 
 2. Resolved, That our geographical and poli- 
 tical position with reference to the other vStates 
 of this continent, no less than the interest of 
 our commerce and the development of our 
 growing power, requires that we should hold 
 sacred the principles involved in the Monroe 
 Doctrine. Their bearing and import admit of 
 no misconstruction, and should be applied with 
 unbending rigidity. 
 
 3. Resolved, That the great highway which 
 nature, as well as the assent of States most im- 
 mediately interested in its maintenance, has 
 marked out for free communication between the 
 Atlantic and Pacific oceans, constitutes one of 
 the most important achievements realized by the 
 spirit of modern times, in the unconquerable 
 energy of our people; and that result would be 
 secured by a timely and efficient exertion of the 
 control which we have the right to claim over 
 it; and no power on earth should be suffered to 
 impede or clog its progress by au}- interference 
 with relations that may suit our policy to estab- 
 lish between our Government and the govern- 
 ments of the States within whose dominions it 
 lies; we can under no circumstances surrender 
 our preponderance in the adjustment of all ques- 
 tions arising out of it. 
 
 4. Resolved, That in view of so commanding 
 an interest, the people of the United States 
 cannot but sympathize with the efforts which 
 are being made by the people of Central America 
 to regenerate that portion of the continent 
 which covers the passage across the interoce- 
 anic isthmus. 
 
 5. Resolved, That the Democratic party will 
 expect of the next administration that every 
 proper effort be made to insure our ascendancy 
 in the Gulf of Mexico, and to maintain perma- 
 nent protection to the great outlets through 
 which are emptied into its waters the products 
 raised out of the soil and the commodities 
 created by the industry of the people of our 
 
 I western valleys and of the Union at large. 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 6. A't'so/trd, That the administration of Frank- 
 Un Pierce has been true to Democratic' principles, 
 and, therefore, true to the great interests of the 
 country; in the face of violent opposition he 
 has maintained the laws at home and vindicated 
 the rights of American citizens abroad, and, 
 therefore, we proclaim our unqualified admira- 
 tion of his measures and policy. 
 
 Republican Platform. 
 
 This convention of delegates, assembled in 
 pursuance of a call addressed to the people of 
 the United States, without regard to past politi- 
 cal differences or divisions, who are opposed to 
 the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, to the 
 policy of the present administration, to the ex- 
 tension of slavery into free territory; in favor of 
 admitting Kansas as a free State, of restoring 
 the action of the Federal Government to the 
 principles of Washington and Jefferson; and 
 who propose to unite in presenting candidates 
 for the offices of President and Vice-President, 
 do resolve as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That the maintenance of the prin- 
 ciples promulgated in the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence, and embodied in the Federal Consti- 
 tution, is essential to the preservation of our 
 Republican institutions, and that the Federal 
 Constitution, the rights of the States, and the 
 Union of the States shall be preserved. 
 
 Resolved, That with our repviblican fathers 
 we hold it to be a self-evident truth that all 
 men are endowed with the inalienable rights to 
 life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and 
 that the primary object and ulterior design of 
 our Federal Government were to secure these 
 rights to all persons within its exclusive juris- 
 diction; that as our republican fathers, when 
 they had abolished slavery in all our national 
 territory, ordained that no person should be de- 
 prived of life, liberty, or propert}', without due 
 process of law, it becomes our duty to maintain 
 this provision of the Constitution against all 
 attempts to violate it for the purpose of estab- 
 lishing slavery in any Territory of the United 
 States, by positive legislation, prohibiting its 
 existence or extension therein. That we deny 
 the authority of Congress, of a territorial legis- 
 lature, of any individual or association of indi- 
 viduals, to give legal existence to slavery in any 
 Territory of the United States, while the present 
 Constitution shall be maintained. 
 
 Resolved, That the Constitution confers upon 
 Congress sovereign power over the Territories of 
 the United States for their Government, and that 
 in the exercise of this power it is both the right 
 and the imperative duty of Congress to prohibit 
 in the Territories those twin relics of barbarism, 
 polygamy and slavery. 
 
 Resolved, That while the Constitution of the 
 United States was ordained and established, in 
 
 order to form a more perfect union, establish jus- 
 tice, insure domestic trancjuillity, provide for the 
 connnon defense, promote the general welfare, 
 and secure the blessings of liberty, and contains 
 ample provisions for the protection of the life, 
 liberty and property of every citizen, the dearest 
 Constitutional rights of the people of Kansas 
 have been fraudulently and violently taken from 
 them; their Territory has been invaded by an 
 armed force; .spuriovis and pretended legislative, 
 judicial and executive officers have been set over 
 them, by whose usurped authority, sustained by 
 the military power of the Government, tyranni- 
 cal an unconstitutional laws have been enacted 
 and enforced; the rights of the people to keep 
 and bear arms have been infringed; test oaths of 
 an extraordinary and entangling nature have 
 been imposed, as a condition of exercising the 
 right of suffrage and holding office; the right of 
 an accused person to a speedy and public trial 
 by an impartial jury has been denied; the right 
 of the people to be secure in their persons, 
 houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable 
 searches and seizures, has been violated; they 
 have been deprived of life, libertj^ and property 
 without due process of law-; that the freedom of 
 speech and of the press has been abridged; the 
 right to choose their representatives has been 
 made of no effect; murders, robberies and arsons 
 have been instigated or encoviraged, and the 
 offenders have been allowed to go unpunished; 
 that all these things have been done with the 
 knowledge, sanction, and procurement of the 
 present national administration, and that for this 
 high crime against the Con.stitution, the Union 
 and humanity, we arraign the administration, 
 the President, his advisers, agents, supporters, 
 apologists and accessories, either before or after 
 the facts, before the country and before the 
 world, and that it is our fixed purpose to bring 
 the actual perpetrators of these atrocious out- 
 rages and their accomplices, to a sure and con- 
 dign punishment hereafter. 
 
 Resolved, That Kansas should be immediately 
 admitted as a State of the Union with her pres- 
 ent free Constitution, as at once the most effect- 
 ual way of securing to her citizens the enjoy- 
 ment of the rights and privileges to which they 
 are entitled, and of ending the civil strife now 
 raging in her territor)'. 
 
 Resolved, That the highwayman's plea that 
 "might makes right," embodied in the Ostend 
 Circular, was in every respect unworthy of Amer- 
 ican diplomacy, and would bring shame and 
 dishonor upon any government or people who 
 gave it their sanction. 
 
 Resolved, That a railroad to the Pacific ocean, 
 by the most central and practicable route, is im- 
 peratively demanded by the interests of the 
 whole country, and that the Federal Govern- 
 ment ought to render immediate and efficient 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 29 
 
 aid in its construction, and, as an auxiliary 
 thereto, the immediate construction of an emi- 
 grant route on the line of the railroad. 
 
 A'cso/ird, That appropriations of Congress for 
 the improvement of rivers and har])ors of a 
 national character, required for the acconnnoda- 
 tion and security of our existing connnerce, are 
 authorized l^y tlie Constitution, and justified hy 
 the obligation of the government to protect the 
 lives and property of citizens. 
 
 Resolzrd, That we in^-ite the affiliation and 
 co-operation of the men of all parties, however 
 differing from us in other respects, in support of 
 the principles herein declared; and believing 
 that the spirit of oiu: institutions, as well as the 
 Constitution of our countr}', guarantees liberty 
 of conscience and equality of rights among citi- 
 zens, we oppose all prospective legislation affect- 
 ing their security. 
 
 Whig Platform. 
 
 J^esoh'cd, That the ^Vhigs of the United States, 
 now here assembled, liereb)- declare their rever- 
 ence for the Constitution of the United States, 
 their unalterable attachment to the national 
 Union, and a fixed determination to do all in 
 their power to preserv-e them for themselves and 
 their posterity. They have no new principles to 
 announce; no new platform to establish; but are 
 content to broadly rest — where their fathers 
 rested — upon the Constitution of the United 
 States, wishing no safer guide, no Higher law. 
 
 Rcsoli'cd, That' we regard with the deepest 
 interest and anxiety the present disordered con- 
 dition of our national affairs — a portion of the 
 country ravaged by civil war, large sections of 
 our population embittered by nmtual recrimina- 
 tions; and we distinctly trace these calamities 
 to the culpable neglect of duty by the present 
 national administration. 
 
 Resolz'ed, That the Government of the United 
 States was formed by the conjunction in political 
 unity of ^\'idespread geographical sections, ma- 
 terially differing, not only in climate and prod- 
 ucts, but in social and domestic institutions; 
 and that any cause that shall iDennanently sway 
 the different sections of the Union in political 
 hostilit}- and organize parties founded only on 
 geographical distinctions, must inevitably prove 
 fatal to a continuance of the national Union. 
 
 Resolved, That the Whigs of the United 
 States declare, as a fundamental article of polit- 
 ical faith, an absolute necessity for avoiding geo- 
 graphical parties. The danger so clearly dis- 
 cerned by the Father of his Country has now 
 become fearfully apparent in the agitation now 
 convulsing the Nation, and must be arrested at 
 once if we would presen-e our Constitution and 
 our Union from dismemberment and the name of 
 America from being blotted out from the family 
 of civilized nations. 
 
 Resolved, That all who revere the Constitution 
 and the Union must look with alarm at the par- 
 ties in the field in the present Presidential cam- 
 ])aign — one claiming only to represent .si.xteen 
 Northern vStates and the other appealing mainly 
 to the passions and prejudices of the Southern 
 States; that the success of either faction must 
 add fuel to the flame which now threatens to 
 wrap our dearest interests in a connnon ruin. 
 
 Resolz'ed, That the only remedy for an evil so 
 appalling is to support a candidate pledged to 
 neither of the geographical sections nor arrayed 
 in political antagonism, but holding both in a 
 just and legal regard. We congratulate the 
 friends of the Union that such a candidate exists 
 in Millard Uillmore. 
 
 Resolved, That withoiit adopting or referring 
 to the peculiar doctrines of the party which has 
 already selected Mr. Fillmore as a candidate, we 
 look to him as a Mell-tried and faithful friend of 
 the Constitution and the Union, eminent alike 
 for his wisdom and firmness, for his justice and 
 moderation in our foreign relations — calm and 
 pacific temperament, so well becoming the head 
 of a great nation — for his devotion to the Con- 
 stitution in its true spirit — his inflexibility in 
 executing the laws, but beyond all tliese at- 
 tributes, in possessing the one transcendent 
 merit of being a representative of neither of the 
 two sectional parties now struggling for political 
 supremacy. 
 
 Resoli'ed, That in the present exigency of po- 
 litical affairs we are not called upon to discuss 
 the subordinate questions of administration in 
 the exercising of the Constitutional powers of 
 the Government. It is enough to know that a 
 civ-il war is raging and that the Union is in peril; 
 and we proclaim the conviction that the restora- 
 tion of Mr. Fillmore to the Presidency will fur- 
 nish the best if not the only means of restoring 
 peace. 
 
 PLATFORMS OF 1860. 
 
 The Democratic party met in delegate con- 
 vention at Charleston, S. C, April 23, i860, but 
 owing to a wide divergence of opinion between 
 the Northern and Southern wings the result was 
 a split of the party into two distinct factions. 
 The Southern faction at once organized a new 
 convention and adopted a platform, but did not 
 nominate a Presidential ticket until it reassembled 
 at Baltimore on June 28. The Northern Demo- 
 crats met in Baltimore June 18 and adopted 
 what is known as the Douglas platform. The 
 American, now calling itself the Constitutional 
 Union party, held its national convention in 
 
30 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 Baltimore May 9. The Republican party met in 
 national convention at Chicago May 16 and on 
 the following daj^ adopted a platform. 
 
 Constitutional Union Platform. 
 
 WhivRHAs, Experience has demonstrated that 
 platforms adopted In- the partisan conventions 
 of the country have had the effect to mislead and 
 decei\e the people, and at the same time to 
 widen the pohtical divisions of the countr}- by 
 the elevation and encouragement of geographical 
 and sectional parties: Therefore, 
 
 A'i'so/ird, That it is both the part of patriotism 
 and of duty to recogtiizi' no political principles 
 other than the Constitution of The Country, 
 THK Union of thk States and the Enforce- 
 ment of the; Laws; and that as representa- 
 tives of the Constitutional Union men of the 
 country, in national convention assembled, we 
 hereby pledge ourselves to maintain, protect 
 and defend, separately and unitedly, these great 
 principles of public liberty and national safety 
 against all enemies at home and abroad, believ- 
 ing that thereby peace may once more be re- 
 stored to the country, the rights of the people 
 and of the States re-established and the Govern- 
 ment again placed in that condition of justice, 
 fraternity and equality which under the example 
 and Constitution of our fathers has solemnly 
 bound everj' citizen of the United States to 
 maintain a more perfect union, establish justice, 
 insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the 
 common defense, pronjote the general welfare 
 and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves 
 and our posterity. 
 
 Republican Platform. 
 
 Resolved, That we, the delegated representa- 
 tives of the Repul:)lican electors of the United 
 States, in convention assembled, in discharge of 
 the duty we owe to our constituents and our 
 country, unite in the following declarations: 
 
 1. That the history of the Nation, during the 
 last four years, has fully established the pro- 
 priety and necessity of the organization and per- 
 petuation of the Republican party, and that the 
 causes which called it into existence are perma- 
 nent in their nature, and now, more than ever 
 before, demand its peaceful and Constitutional 
 triumph. 
 
 2. That the maintenance of the principles pro- 
 mulgated in the Declaration of Independence and 
 embodied in the Federal Constitution, "That all 
 men are created equal; that they are endowed by 
 their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that 
 among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of 
 happiness; that to secure these rights, govern- 
 ments are instituted among men, deriving their 
 just powers from the consent of the governed," 
 is essential to the preservation of our republican 
 
 institutions; and that the Federal Constitution, 
 the rights of the States, and the Union of the 
 States, must and shall be preserved. 
 
 3. That to the union of the States this Nation 
 owes its unprecedented increase in population, 
 its surpri.sing development of material resources, 
 its rapid augmentation of wealth, its happine.ss 
 at home and its honor abroad; and we hold in 
 abhorrence all schemes for disunion, come from 
 whatever source they may; and we congratulate 
 the country that no Republican member of Con- 
 gress has uttered or countenanced the threats of 
 disunion so often made by Democratic members 
 without rebuke and with applause from their po- 
 litical associates; and we denounce those threats 
 of disunion, in case of a popular overthrow of 
 their ascendancy, as denying the vital principles 
 of free government, and as an avowal of con- 
 templated treason, which it is the imperative 
 duty of an indignant people sternly to rebuke 
 and forever silence. 
 
 4. That the maintenance inviolate of the 
 rights of the States, and especially the right of 
 each State to order and control its own domestic 
 institutions according to its own judgment ex- 
 clusively, is essential to that balance of powers 
 on which the perfection and endurance of our 
 political fabric depends; and we denounce the 
 lawless invasion, by armed force, of the soil of 
 an}' State or Territory, no matter under what 
 pretext, as among the gravest of enemies. 
 
 5. That the present Democratic administra- 
 tion has far exceeded our wcwst apprehensions, 
 in its measureless subserviency to the exac- 
 tions of a sectional interest; as especially evinced 
 in its desperate exertions to force the infamous 
 Lecompton constitution upon the protesting peo- 
 ple of Kansas; in construing the personal rela- 
 tions between master and servant to involve an 
 unqualified property in persons; in its attempted 
 enforcement, everywhere, on land and sea, 
 through the intervention of Congress and of the 
 Federal courts, of the extreme pretensions of a 
 purely local interest; "and in its general and un- 
 varying abuse of the power entrusted to it by a 
 confiding people. 
 
 6.« That the people justly view with alarm the 
 reckless extravagance which pers-ades every de- 
 partment of the Federal Government; that a re- 
 turn to rigid economy and accountability is in- 
 dispensable to arrest the systematic plunder of 
 the public treasury by favored partisans; while 
 the recent startling developments of frauds and 
 corruptions at the Federal metropolis, show that 
 an entire change of administration is impera- 
 tively demanded. 
 
 7. That the new dogma ,|that the Constitution, 
 of its own force, carries slavery into any or all 
 of the Territories of the United States, is a dan- 
 gerous political heresyl at variance with explicit 
 provisions of the instrument itself, with con- 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 31 
 
 tetnporaneous exposition, and with legislative 
 and judicial precedent — is revolutionary in its 
 tendency, and subversive of the peace and har- 
 mony of the country. 
 
 8. 'That the nornial condition of all the terri- 
 tory of the United States is that of freedom; that 
 as our Republican fathers when they had abol- 
 ished slavery in all our national territory, or- 
 dained that " no person shall be deprived of life, 
 liberty or property, without due process of law," 
 it becomes our duty by legislation, whenever 
 such legislation is necess:iry, to maintain this 
 provision of the Constitution against all attempts 
 to violate it;land we deny the authority of Con- 
 gress, of a Territorial legislature, or of any in- 
 dividuals, to give legal existence, to slavery in 
 airy territory of the United States.) 
 
 fg) That we brand the recent reopening of the 
 Arncan slave trade, under the cover of our na- 
 tional ^ag, aided by perversions of judicial 
 power, as a crime against humanity and a burn- 
 ing shame to our country and age; and we call 
 upon Congress to take prompt and efficient 
 measures for the total and final suppression of 
 that execrable traffic. 
 
 ^o/ That in the recent vetoes, by their Federal 
 governors, of the acts of the legislatures of Kan- 
 sas and Nebraska, prohibiting slavery in those 
 Territories, we find a practical illustration of the 
 boasted Democratic principle of non-interven- 
 tion and popular sovereignty, embodied in the 
 Kansas-Nebraska bill, and a demonstration of the 
 deception and fraud involved therein. 
 
 ^J^. That Kansas should, of right, be immedi- 
 ately admitted as a State under the Constitution 
 recently formed and adopted by her people, and 
 accepted by the House of Representatives. 
 
 (^ That, while providing revenue for the 
 support of the General Government by duties 
 on imports, sound policj' requires such an adjust- 
 ment of these imports as to encourage the 
 development of the industrial interest of the 
 whole country; and we commend that policy of 
 national exchanges which secures to the working 
 men liberal wages, to agriculture remunerative 
 prices, to mechanics and manufacturers an ade- 
 quate reward for their skill, labor, and enter- 
 prise, and to the Nation commercial prosperity 
 and4"(iependence. 
 
 (j^ That we protest against any sale or aliena- 
 tion to others of the public laiitis held by actual 
 settlers, and against any view of the homestead 
 policy which regards the settlers as paupers or 
 suppliants for public bounty; and we demand 
 the passage by Congress of the complete and sat- 
 isfactory homestead measure which has already 
 pasged the Hou.se. 
 
 ^^Hyfriiat the Republican party^is opposed to 
 any change in our naturalizatiofT' lawfi or any 
 State legislation by^-vvfitcff the rights of citizen- 
 ship hitherto accorded to immigrants from 
 
 foreign lands shall be abridged or impaired; and 
 in favor of giving a full and efficient protection 
 to the rights of all classes of citizens, whether 
 native or naturalized, both at home and abroad. 
 
 (^{ That appropriations by Congress for river 
 ana harbor improvements of a national character,! 
 required for the accommodation and security of 
 an existing commerce, are authorized by the 
 Constitution and justified by the oljligations of 
 government to protect the lives and property of 
 its citizens. 
 
 C^ That a railroad to the Pacific ocean is 
 iiVr^ratively demanded l)y the interest of the 
 whole country; that the Federal Government 
 ought to render immediate and efficient aid in 
 its construction ; and that as preliminary thereto, 
 a daily overland mail should be promptly estab- 
 lished. 
 
 17. Filially, having thus set forth our dis- 
 tinctive principles and views, we invite the co- 
 operation of all citizens, however differing on 
 other questions, who substantially agree with us 
 in our affinnance and support. 
 
 Democratic (Douglas) Platform. 
 
 I. Rcso/i'L'd, Jlliat we, the Democracy of the 
 Union, in convention assembled, hereby declare 
 our affirmance of the resolutions unanimously 
 adopted and declared as a platform of principles 
 by the Democratic convention at Cincinnati, in 
 the year 1856I believing that Democratic prin- 
 ciples are unchangeable in their nature when 
 applied to the same subject-matters; and we 
 recommend, as the only further resolutions, the 
 following: 
 
 Inasmuch as differences of opinion exist in 
 the Democratic party as to the nature and extent 
 of the powers of a Territorial legislature, and as 
 to the powers and duties of Congress, under the 
 Constitution of the United States, over the in- 
 stitution of slavery within the Territories, 
 
 (2^ Resolved, That the Democratic party will 
 abide by the decisions of the Supreme Court of 
 the United States on the question of Constitu- 
 tional law. 
 
 (Xj Resolved, That it is the duty of the United 
 States to afford ample and complete protection 
 to all its citizens, whether at home or abroad, 
 and whether native or foreign. 
 
 (^ Resolved, That one of the necessities of 
 the age, in a military, commercial, and postal 
 point of view.Jis speedy communication between 
 the Atlantic and Pacific States;| and the Demo- 
 cratic party pledge such Constitutional Govern- 
 ment aid as will insure the construction of a 
 railroad to the Pacific coast at the earliest 
 practicable period. 
 
 {S^ Resolved, That the Democratic party are in 
 faror of the acquisition of the Island of Cuba, 
 on such terms as shall be honorable to ourselves 
 and just to Spain. 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 (Jr^Rcsolvt'd, That the enactments of vState 
 leji^slatures to defeat the faithful execution of 
 the Futfitive Slave law are hostile in character, 
 sul)versive of the Constitution, and revolution- 
 ary in their effect. 
 
 7. Kcso/ird, That it is in accordance with the 
 true interpretation of the Cincinnati platform, 
 tliat, durinj^rthe existence of the Territorial Gov- 
 ernments, the measure of restriction, whatever 
 it mav be, imposed b\^ the Federal Constitution 
 on the power of the Territorial legislature over 
 the subject of domestic relations, as the same 
 has been, or shall hereafter be, finally deter- 
 nuned by the Supreme Court of the United 
 States, shall be respected by all good citizens, 
 and enforced with promptness and fidelity by 
 every branch of the General Government. 
 
 Democratic ( Breckinridge ) Platform. 
 
 J\csol-c'ed, That the platform adopted by the 
 Democratic part}- at Cincinnati be affirmed, with 
 the following explanatory resolutions: 
 /r^ That the government of a Territory', organ- 
 ized by an act of Congress, is provisional and 
 temporary; and, during its existence, all citizens 
 of the United States have an equal right to 
 settle, with their property in the Territory, with- 
 out their rights, either of person or property, 
 being destroj-ed or impaired by Congressional or 
 Territorial legislation. 
 Q; That it is the duty of the Federal Govern- 
 ment in all its departments to protect when 
 necessary the rights of persons and property in 
 the Territories and wherever else its Constitu- 
 tional authority extends. 
 
 3. That when the settlers in a Territory hav- 
 ing an adequate population form a State Consti- 
 tution in pursuance of law, the right of sov- 
 ereignty commences, and, being consummated 
 by adtnission into the Union, they stand on an 
 equal footing with the people of the other 
 States, and the State thus organized ought to be 
 admitted into the Federal Union whether its 
 Constitution prohibits or recognizes the institu- 
 tion of slavery. 
 
 ,^. That the Democratic party are in favor of 
 tfee acquisition of the Island of Cuba on such 
 terms as shall be honorable to ourselves and just 
 toiipain at the earliest practicable moment. 
 
 (^ That the enactments of State Legislatures to 
 defeat the faithful execution of the Fugitive 
 vSlave law are hostile in character, subversive of 
 the Constitution and revolutionary- in their effect. 
 
 s^ That the Democracy of the United States 
 recognize it as the imperative duty of this Gov- 
 ernment to protect the naturalized citizens in all 
 their rights, whether at home or in foreign lands, 
 to the same extent as its native born citizens. 
 v^Whereas, One of the greatest necessities of 
 the age in a political, commercial, postal and 
 military' point of \-iew, is a speedy communica- 
 
 tion between the Pacific and Atlantic coasts: 
 Therefore, be it 
 
 Resolved, That the Democratic party do hereby 
 pledge themselves to use every means in their 
 power to secure the passage of .some bill to the 
 extent of the Constitutional authority of Con- 
 gress for the construction of a Pacific railroad 
 from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean 
 at the earliest practicable motnent. 
 
 PLATFORMS OF 1864. 
 
 In the campaign of 1S64 only the loyal States 
 took part. Three parties — Radical, Republican 
 and Democratic — took part in the political con- 
 test of this 3-ear. The Radicals, who wished to 
 deal with rebellion and rebels more harshly, tnet 
 in Cleveland May 31 and adopted a platform. 
 The Republican party platform was framed and 
 adopted in the national convention which as- 
 sembled in Baltimore June 7." The Democratic 
 convention met in Chicago August 29 and 
 adopted the " peace " platform. 
 
 Radical Platform. 
 
 1. That the Federal Union shall be preserv-ed. 
 
 2. That the Constitution and laws of the 
 United States must be observed and obeyed. 
 
 3. That the Rebellion must be suppressed by 
 force of arms and without compromise. 
 
 4. That the rights of free speech, free press 
 and the habeas eorpiis be held inviolate, save in 
 districts where martial law has been proclaimed. 
 
 5. That the Rebellion has destroyed slavery; 
 and the Federal Constitution should be so 
 amended as to prohibit its re-establishment and 
 to secure to all men absolute equality before the 
 law. 
 
 6. That integrity and economy are demanded 
 at all times in the administration of the Govern- 
 ment, and that in time of war the want of them 
 is criminal. 
 
 7. That the right of asylum, except for crime 
 and subject to law, is a recognized principle of 
 American liberty, and that any violation of it 
 cannot be overlooked and must not go unre- 
 buked. 
 
 8. That the national policy known as the 
 "Monroe Doctrine" has become a recognized 
 principle, and that the establishment of an anti- 
 republican government on this continent by any 
 foreign power cannot be tolerated. 
 
 9. That the gratitude and support of the Na- 
 tion are due to the faithful soldiers and the 
 earnest leaders of the Union army and navy, for 
 their heroic achievements and deathless valor in 
 defense of our imperiled country and of civil 
 liberty. 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 33 
 
 10. That the one-terni policy for the Presi- 
 dency adopted by the people is strengthened by 
 the force of the existing crisis, and should be 
 maintained by Constitutional amendment. 
 
 1 1 . That the Constitution should be so amended 
 that the President and Vice-President shall be 
 elected by a direct vote of the people. 
 
 12. That the question of the reconstruction of 
 the rebellious States belongs to the people, 
 through their representatives in Congress, and 
 not to the Executive. 
 
 13. That the confiscation of the lands of the 
 rebels and their distribution among the soldiers 
 and actual settlers is a measure of justice. 
 
 Republican Platform. 
 
 Resolved, That it is the highest duty of every 
 American citizen to maintain against all their 
 enemies, the integrity of the Union, and the 
 paramount authority of the Con.stitution and 
 laws of the United States; and that, laying aside 
 all differences of political opinions, we pledge 
 ourselves as Union men, animated by a common 
 sentiment and aiming at a common object, to do 
 everything in our power to aid the Government 
 in quelling, b}^ force of arms, the Rebellion now- 
 raging against its authority, and in bringing to 
 the punishment due to their crimes the rebels 
 and traitors arrayed against it. 
 
 Resoli'cd, That we approve the determination 
 of the Government of the United vStates not to 
 compromise with rebels, nor to offer them any 
 terms of peace, except such as may be based 
 upon an "unconditional surrender" of their 
 hostility and a return to their allegiance to the 
 Constitution and laws of the United States; and 
 that we call upon the Government to maintain 
 this position, and to prosecute the war with the 
 utmo.st possible vigor to the complete suppres- 
 sion of the Rebellion, in full reliance upon the 
 self-sacrificing patriotism, the heroic valor, and 
 the unih'ing devotion of the American people to 
 the country and its free institutions. 
 
 A'eso/ved, That as slavery was the cause, and 
 now constitutes the strength of this Rebellion, 
 and as it mi;st be always and everywhere hostile 
 to the principles of repul^lican government, jus- 
 tice and the national safety demand its utter and 
 complete extirpation from the soil of the Repub- 
 lic; and that we uphold and maintain the acts 
 and proclamations by which the Government, in 
 its own defence, has aimed a death-blow at the 
 gigantic evil. We are in favor, furthermore, of 
 such an amendment to the Constitution, to be 
 made by the people in conformity with its pro- 
 visions, as shall terminate and forever prohibit 
 the existence of slavery within the limits or the 
 jurisdiction of the United States. 
 
 Resolved, That the thanks of the American 
 people are due to the soldiers and sailors of the 
 army and navy who have periled their lives in 
 
 defense of their country and in vindication of 
 the honor of its flag; that the Nation owes to 
 them some permanent recognition of their pat- 
 riotism and their valor, and ample and permanent 
 provision for tho.se of their surv-ivors who have 
 received disabling and honorable wounds in the 
 service of the country; and that the memories of 
 those who have fallen in its defense shall be 
 held in grateful and everlasting remembrance. 
 
 Resolved, That we approve and applaud the 
 practical wisdom, the unselfish patriotism, and 
 the unswerving fidelity to the Constitution and 
 the principles of American liberty with which 
 Abraham I^incoln has discharged, under circum- 
 stances of unparalelled difficulty, the great du- 
 ties and responsibilities of the Presidential office; 
 that we approve and indorse, as demanded by 
 the emergency and essential to the preservation 
 of the Nation, and as within the provisions of 
 the Constitution, the measures and acts which 
 he has adopted to defend the Nation against its 
 open and secret foes; that we approve, espe- 
 cially, the Proclamation of Emancipation and the 
 employment, as Union soldiers, of men hereto- 
 fore held in slavery; and that we have full con- 
 fidence in his determination to carry these and 
 all other Constitutional measures essential to 
 the salvation of the country, into full and com- 
 plete effect. 
 
 Resolved, That we deem it essential to the 
 general welfare that harmony should prevail in 
 the national councils, and we regard as worthy 
 of public confidence and official trust those only 
 who cordially indorse the principles proclaimed 
 in these resolutions, and which should charac- 
 terize the administration of the Government. 
 
 Resolved, That the Government owes to all 
 men emplo3'ed in its armies, withovit regard to 
 distinction of color, the full protection of the 
 laws of war; and that any violation of these laws 
 or of the usages of civilized nations in the time of 
 war, by the rebels now in arms, should be made 
 the .subject of prompt and full redress. 
 
 Resolved, That foreign immigration, which in 
 the past has added so nuich to the wealth, de- 
 velopment of resources, and increase of power 
 to this Nation — the asj-lum of the oppressed of 
 all nations — should be fostered and encouraged 
 by a liberal and just policy. 
 
 Resolved, That we are in favor of the speedy 
 construction of the railroad to the Pacific coast. 
 
 Resolved, That the national faith, pledged for 
 the redemption of the public debt, must be kept 
 inviolate, and that for this purpose we recom- 
 mend econom}^ and rigid responsibility in the 
 public expenditures and a vigorous and just sys- 
 tem of taxation; and that it is the duty of every 
 loyal State to .su.stain the credit and promote the 
 use of the national currenc)-. 
 
 Resolz'ed, That we approve the position taken 
 by the Government, that the people of the 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 I'nited vStates can never regard with indifTerence 
 llic attempt of any European power to overthrow 
 hv force, or to supplant by fraud the institutions 
 of any repubUcan government on the western 
 continent, and that they will view with extreme 
 jealousy, as menacing to the peace and inde- 
 pendence of tliis, our country, the efforts of any 
 such power to obtain new footholds for mon- 
 archical governments, sustained by a foreign mil- 
 itarv force, in near proximity to the United 
 States. 
 
 Democractic Platform. 
 
 Jirsolzrd, That in the future, as in the past, 
 we will adhere with unswerving fidelity to the 
 Union under the Constitution, as the only solid 
 foundation of our strength, security and happi- 
 ness as a people, and as a framework of govern- 
 ment equally conducive to the welfare and 
 I)rosperity of' all the States, both Northern and 
 vSouthern. 
 
 Rcso/vcd, That this convention does explicitly 
 declare, as the sense of the American people, 
 that, after four years of failure to restore the 
 Union by the experiment of war, during which, 
 under the pretense of a military necessity of a 
 war power higher than the Constitution, the 
 Constitution itself has been disregarded in every 
 part, and public liberty and private right alike 
 trodden down, and the material prosperity of the 
 country essentially impaired, justice, humanity, 
 liberty, and the public welfare demand that im- 
 mediate efforts be made for a cessation of hos- 
 tilities, with a view to an ultimate convention of 
 all the States, or other peaceable means, to the 
 end that at the earliest practicable moment peace 
 may be restored on the basis of the federal union 
 of all the States. 
 
 Resolved, That the direct interference of the 
 military authority of the United States in the 
 recent elections held in Kentucky, Maryland, 
 Missouri and Delaware was a shameful violation 
 of the Constitution; and the repetition of such 
 acts in the approaching election will be held as 
 revolutionary and resisted with all the means 
 and power under our control. 
 
 Resolved, That the aim and object of the 
 Democratic party is to preserve the Federal Union 
 and the rights of the States unimpaired; and 
 they hereby declare that they consider the ad- 
 ministrative usurpation of extraordinary and 
 dangerous powers not granted by the Constitu- 
 tion; the subversion of the civil by the military 
 law in States not in insurrection; the arbitrary 
 military arrest, imprisonment, trial and sentence 
 of American citizens in States where civil law 
 exLsts in full force; the suppression of freedom of 
 .s])eech and of the press; the denial of the right 
 of asylum; the open and avowed disregard of 
 State"^ rights; the employment of unusual test 
 oaths, and the interference with and denial of 
 
 the rights of the people to bear arms in their de- 
 fense as calculated to prevent a restoration of the 
 Union and the perpetuation of a government 
 deriving its just powers from the consent of the 
 governed. 
 
 Resolved, That the shameful disregard of the 
 administration to its duty in respect to our fel- 
 low-citizens who now are and long have been 
 prisoners of war, in a suffering condition, de- 
 serves the severest reprobation on the score alike 
 of public policy and connnon humanity. 
 
 Resolved, That the sympathy of the Demo- 
 cratic party is heartily and earnestly extended 
 to the soldiery of our army and the sailors of 
 our navy, who are and have been in the field 
 and on the sea under the flag of their country; 
 and, in the event of our attaining power, they 
 will receive all the care and protection, regard 
 and kindness, that the brave soldiers of the Re- 
 public have so nobly earned. 
 
 THE PARTIES IN 1868. 
 
 Only two parties presented platforms for en- 
 dorsement by the people in 1868. The Repub- 
 lican National Convention met in Chicago May 
 20, and adopted its reconstruction platform. The 
 Democratic platform, which demanded that the 
 Southern States should immediately and uncon- 
 ditionally be given representation in Congress 
 and other power granted to the loyal States, 
 was adopted in the party national convention, 
 which met in New York City July 4. 
 
 Republican Platform. 
 
 1 . We congratulate the country on the assured 
 success of the reconstruction policy of Congress, 
 as evinced by the adoption in the majority of 
 the States lately in rebellion, of constitutions se- 
 curing equal civil and political rights to all; and 
 it is the duty of the Government to sustain those 
 institutions and to prevent the people of such 
 States from being remitted to a state of anarchy. 
 
 2. The guarantee of Congress of equal suffrage 
 to all loyal men at the South was demanded by 
 every consideration of public safety, of gratitude 
 and of justice, and must be maintained; while 
 the question of suffrage in all the loyal States 
 properly belongs to the people of those States. 
 
 3. We denounce all forms of repudiation as a 
 national crime, and the national honor requires 
 the payment of the public indebtedness in the 
 utmost good faith to all creditors at home and 
 abroad, not only according to the letter, but the 
 spirit of the laws under which it was contracted. 
 
 4. It is due to the labor of the Nation that tax- 
 ation should be equalized and reduced as rapidly 
 as the national faith will permit. 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 35 
 
 5. Th« national debt, contracted as it has been 
 for the ])reservation of the Union for all time to 
 come, should be extended over a fair period for 
 redemption; and it is the duty of Conj^ress to 
 reduce the rate of interest thereon whenever it 
 can be honestly done. 
 
 6. That the best policy to diminish our burden 
 of debts is to so improve our credit that capitalists 
 will seek to loan us money at lower rates of in- 
 terest than we now pay, and must continua to 
 pay, so lon_<i^ as repudiation, partial or total, open 
 or covert, is threatened or suspected. 
 
 7. The Government of the United States 
 should be administered with the strictest econ- 
 omy, and the corruptions which have been so 
 shamefully nursed and fostered by Andrew John- 
 son call loudly for radical reform. 
 
 8. We profoundly deplore the tragic death of 
 Abraham Lincoln, and regret the accession to 
 the Presidency of Andrew Johnson, who has 
 acted treacherously to the people who elected 
 him and the cause he was pledged to support; 
 who has usurped high legislative and judicial 
 functions; who has refused to execute the laws; 
 who has used his high ofhce to induce other 
 officers to ignore and violate the laws; who has 
 employed his executive powers to render inse- 
 cure the property, the peace, liberty and life of 
 the citizens; who has abused the pardoning 
 power; who has denounced the national legisla- 
 ture as unconstitutional; who has persistently 
 and corruptly resisted, by every means in his 
 power, every proper attempt at the reconstruc- 
 tion of the States lately in rebellion; who has 
 perverted the public patronage into an engine of 
 wholesale corruption, and who has been justly 
 impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, 
 and properly pronounced guilty thereof by the 
 vote of thirty -five Senators. 
 
 9. The doctrine of Great Britain and other 
 European powers, that because a man is once a 
 subject he is always so, must be resisted at every 
 hazard by the United States, as a relic of feudal 
 times, not authorized by the laws of nations, 
 and at war with our national honor and inde- 
 pendence. Naturalized citizens are entitled to 
 protection in all their rights of citizenship as 
 though they were native born; and no citizen of 
 the United States, native or naturalized, must be 
 liable to arrest and imprisonment by any foreign 
 power for acts done or words spoken in this 
 country; and if so arrested and imprisoned, it is 
 the duty of the Government to intefere in his 
 behalf. 
 
 10. Of all who were faithful in the trials 
 of the late war, there were none entitled to more 
 special honor than the brave soldiers and sea- 
 men who endured the hardships of campaign 
 and cruise, and imperiled their lives in the serv- 
 ice of the country. The bounties and pensions 
 provided by the laws for these brave defenders 
 
 of the Nation are obligations never to be forgot- 
 ten; the widows and orphans of the gallant dead 
 are the wards of the peopla.— a .sacred legacy be- 
 queathed to the Nation's protecting care. 
 
 11. Foreign immigration, which in the past 
 has added .so much to the wealth, development, 
 resources, and increa.se of power to this Repub- 
 lic, the asylum of the oppressed of all nations, 
 should be fostered and encouraged by a liberal 
 and just policy. 
 
 12. This convention declares itself in svm- 
 pathy with all oppressed people who are strug- 
 gling for their rights. 
 
 13. That we liighly commend the spirit of 
 magnanimity and forbearance with which men 
 who have served in the Rebellion, but who now 
 frankly and honestly co-operate with us in re- 
 storing the peace of the country and recon.struct- 
 ing the Southern State governments upon the 
 basis of impartial justice and equal rights, are 
 received back into the conmiunion of the loyal 
 people; and we favor the removal of the dis- 
 qualifications and restrictions imposed upon the 
 late rebels, in the same measure as the spirit of 
 disloyalty shall die out, and as may be consist- 
 ent with the safety of the loyal people. 
 
 14. That we recognize the great principles laid 
 down in the immortal Declaration of Independ- 
 ence as the true foundation of democratic gov- 
 ernment; and we hail with gladness every effort 
 toward making these principles a living reality 
 on every inch of American soil. 
 
 Democratic Platform. 
 
 The Democratic party in national convention 
 assembled, reposing its trust in the intelligence, 
 -patriotism and discriminating justice of the 
 people, standing upon the Constitution as the 
 foundation and limitation of the powers of the 
 Government and the guarantee of the liberties 
 of the citizen, and recognizing the questions of 
 slavery and secession as having been settled, for 
 all time to come, by the war or voluntary action 
 of the Southern States in constitutional conven- 
 tions assembled, and never to be revived or agi- 
 tated, do, with the return of peace, demand — 
 
 1. Immediate restoration of all tlie vStates to 
 their rights in the Union under the Constitution, 
 and of civil government to the American people. 
 
 2. Amnesty for all pa.st political offenses, and 
 the regulation of the elective franchise in the 
 vStates by their citizens. 
 
 3. Payment of all the public debt of the 
 United States as rapidly as practicable — all 
 money drawn from the people by taxation, ex- 
 cept so much as is requisite for the neces.sities 
 of the Government, economically administered, 
 being honestly applied to such payment; and 
 when the o1)ligations of the Government do not 
 expressly state upon their face, or the law under 
 which they were issued does not j^rovide that 
 
36 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 they shall be paid in coin, they ought, in right 
 and in justice, to be paid in the lawful money of 
 the United States. 
 
 4. Equal taxation of every species of property 
 according to its real value, including Govern- 
 ment bonds and other public securities. 
 
 5. One currency for the Government and the 
 people, the laborer and the office-holder, the 
 ])ensioner and the soldier, the producer and the 
 bond-holder. 
 
 6. Economy in the administration of the Gov- 
 ernment; the reduction of the standing army and 
 navy; the abolition of the Freednian's Bureau 
 and' all political instrumentalities designed to 
 secure negro supremacy; simplification of the 
 system and discontinuance of inquisitorial modes 
 of assessing and collecting internal revenue; 
 that the burden of taxation may be equalized 
 and lessened, and the credit of the Government 
 and the currency made good; the repeal of all 
 enactments for enrolling the State militia into 
 national forces in times of peace; and a tariff 
 for rexenue upon foreign imports, and such 
 equal taxation under the internal revenue laws 
 as will afford incidental protection to domestic 
 manufactures, and as will, without impairing 
 the revenue, impose the least burden upon, and 
 best promote and encourage the great industrial 
 interests of the country. 
 
 7. Reform of abu.ses in the administration; 
 the expulsion of corrupt men from office; the 
 abrogation of useless offices; the restoration of 
 rightful authority to, and the independence of, 
 the executive and judicial departments of the 
 Government; the subordination of the military 
 to the civil power, to the end that the usurpa- 
 tions of Congress and the despotism of the 
 sword may cease. 
 
 X. Equal rights and protection for naturalized 
 and native born citizens, at home and abroad; 
 the assertion of American nationality which 
 shall command the respect of foreign powers, 
 and furnish an example and encouragement to 
 people struggling for national integrity, consti- 
 tutional liberty and individual rights; and the 
 maintenance of the rights of naturalized citizens 
 against the absolute doctrine of immutable 
 allegiance and the claims of foreign powers to 
 punish them for alleged crimes committed be- 
 j-ond their jurisdiction. 
 
 In demanding these measures and reforms, 
 we arraign the Radical party for its disregard of 
 right and the unparalleled oppression and 
 tyranny which have marked its career. After 
 the most solemn and imanimous pledge of both 
 houses of Congress to prosecute the war exclu- 
 sively for the maintenance of the Government 
 and the preservation of the Union under the 
 Constitution, it has repeatedly violated the most 
 sacred pledge under which alone was rallied 
 that noble volunteer army which carried our flag 
 
 to victory. Instead of restoring the Union, it 
 has, so far as in its power, dissolved it, and sub- 
 jected ten States, in time of profound peace, to 
 military despotism and negro supremacy. It 
 has nullified there the right of trial ])y jury; it 
 has abolished the habeas corpus, that most sacred 
 writ of liberty; it has overthrown the freedom 
 of speech and press; it has substituted arbitrary 
 seizures and arrests, and military trials and 
 secret star-chamber inquisitions, for the Consti- 
 tutional tribunals; it has disregarded, in time of 
 peace, the right of the people to be free from 
 searches and seizures; it has entered the post 
 and telegraph offices, and even the private 
 rooms of individuals, and seized their private 
 papers and letters, without any specific charge 
 or notice of affidavit, as required by the organic 
 law. It has converted the American Capitol into 
 a bastile; it has established a system of spies 
 and official espionage to which no constitutional 
 monarchy of Europe would now dare to resort. 
 It has abolished the right of appeal on impor- 
 tant Constitutional questions to the supreme 
 judicial tribunals, and threatens to curtail or 
 destroy its original jurisdiction, which is irre- 
 vocably vested by the Constitution; while the 
 learned Chief Justice has been subjected to the 
 most atrocious calumnies, merely because he 
 would not prostitute his high office to the sup- 
 port of the false and partisan charges preferred 
 against the President. Its corruption and ex- 
 travagance have exceeded anything known in 
 history; and, by its frauds and monopolies, it 
 has nearly doubled the burden of the debt 
 created by the war. It has stripped the Presi- 
 dent of his Constitutional power of appointment, 
 even of his own Cabinet. Under its repeated 
 assaults the pillars of the Government are rock- 
 ing on their base; and should it succeed in 
 November next, and inaugurate its I'resident 
 we will meet, as a subjected and conquered 
 people, amid the ruins of liberty and the scat- 
 tered fragments of the Constitution. 
 
 And we do declare and resolve that ever since 
 the people of the United States threw off all 
 subjection to the British crown, the privilege 
 and trust of suffrage have belonged to the several 
 vStates, and have been granted, regulated, and 
 controlled exclusively by the political powers of 
 each State respectiveh-; and that any attempt 
 by Congress, on any pretext whatsoever, to 
 deprive any State of this right, or interfere with 
 its exercise, is a flagrant iisurpation of power 
 which can find no warrant in the Constitution, 
 and if sanctioned by the people, will subvert 
 our form of government, and can onl}' end in a 
 single, centralized, and consolidated govern- 
 ment, in which the separate existence of the 
 States will be entirely absorbed, and an miquali- 
 fied despotism be established in place of a 
 Federal Union of coequal States. And that we 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 37 
 
 regard the construction acts (so-called) of Con- 
 gress as usurpations and unconstitutional, revo- 
 lutionary and void. 
 
 That our soldiers and sailors, who carried the 
 flag of our country to victory against the most 
 gallant and determined foe, must ever be grate- 
 fully remembered, and all the guarantees given 
 in their favor must be faithfully carried into 
 execution. 
 
 That the public lands should he distributed as 
 widely as possible among the people, and should 
 be disposed of either under the pre-emption of 
 homestead lands or sold in reasonable quanti- 
 ties, and to none but actual occupants, at the 
 minimum price established by the Government. 
 \\'hen grants of public lands may be allowed, 
 necessary for the encouragement of important 
 public improvements, the proceeds of the sale of 
 such lands, and not the lands themselves, should 
 be so applied. 
 
 That the President of the United States, An- 
 drew Johnson, in exercising the power of his 
 high office in resisting the aggressions of Con- 
 gress upon the Constitutional rights of the States 
 and the people, is entitled to the gratitude of the 
 whole American people; and, on behalf of the 
 Democratic party, we tender him our thanks for 
 his patriotic efforts in that regard. 
 
 Upon this platform, the Democratic party ap- 
 peal to every patriot, including all the con- 
 servative elexnent and all who desire to support 
 the Constitution and restore the Unioi:, forget- 
 thig all past differences of opinion, to unite with 
 us in the present great struggle for the liberties 
 of the people; and that to all such, to whatever 
 party they may have heretofore belonged, we 
 extend the right hand of fellowship, and hail 
 all such, co-operating with us, as friends and 
 brethren. 
 
 J?esok'cd, That this convention sympathizes 
 cordially with the workingmen of the United 
 vStates, in their efforts to protect the rights and 
 interests of the laboring classes of the country. 
 
 A't'SohY'd, That the thanks of the convention 
 are tendered to Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase, 
 for the justice, dignity and impartiality with 
 ivhich he presided over the court of impeach- 
 ment on the trial of President Andrew Johnson. 
 
 THE SITUATION IN 18r2. 
 
 The platforms presented to the voters of the 
 United States in 1872 were unusually numerous. 
 On February 21 of that year the Labor Reform 
 platform was adopted by a convention held at 
 Columbiis, Ohio. On the following day and in 
 the same city the Prohibition party met in na- 
 tional convention and adopted a platform. The 
 Republicans this 3-ear were divided, and what is 
 
 known as the Liberal Republican platform was 
 adopted by a convention held at Cincinnati, 
 May I. This action was ratified by the regular 
 Democratic convention which met at Baltimore, 
 July 9. The straight-out Republicans held their 
 convention and adopted a platform at Philadel- 
 phia, June 5. Those Democrats who looked 
 with disfavor upon the action of the Baltitnore 
 convention in ratifying the action of the Liberal 
 Republican convention, met in Louisville, Ky., 
 September 3, and presented a platform for the 
 favor of the voters of America. 
 
 l,ahor Reform Platform. 
 
 We hold that all political power is inherent in 
 the people, and free government founded on 
 their authority and established for their benefit; 
 that all citizens are equal in political rights, en- 
 titled to the largest religious and political liberty 
 compatible with the good order of societ3% ^s 
 also the use and enjoyment of the fruits of "their 
 labor and talents; and no man or set of men is 
 entitled to exclusive separable endowments and 
 privileges or immunities from the Government, 
 but in consideration of public ser\dces; and any 
 laws destructive of these fundamental principles 
 are without moral binding force, and should be 
 repealed. And believing that all the evils re- 
 sulting from luijust legislation now affecting the 
 industrial classes can be removed by the adop- 
 tion of the principles contained in the following 
 declaration: Therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That it is the duty of the Govern- 
 ment to establish a just standard of distribution 
 of capital and labor, b}- providing a purely na- 
 tional circulating medium, based on the faith 
 and resources of the Nation, issued directly to 
 the people without the intervention of any sys- 
 tem of banking corporations, which money shall 
 be legal tender in the payment of all debts, pub- 
 lic and private, and interchangeable, at the op- 
 tion of the holder, for Government bonds bear- 
 ing a rate of interest not to exceed 3.65 per cent., 
 subject to future legislation by Congress. 
 
 2. That the national debt should be paid in good 
 faith, according to the original contract, at the 
 earliest option of the Government, without 
 mortgaging the property of the people or the 
 future exigencies of labor to enrich a few capi- 
 talists at home and abroad. 
 
 3. That justice demands that the burdens of 
 Government should be so adjusted as to bear 
 equally on all classes, and that the exemption 
 from taxation of Government bonds bearing ex- 
 travagant rates of interest, is a violation of all 
 just principles of revenue laws. 
 
 4. That the public lands of the United States 
 belong to the people, and should not be sold to 
 
38 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 individuals nor granted to corporations, but 
 should be held as a sacred trust for the benefit 
 of the people, and should be jjranted to the land- 
 less settlers only, in amounts not exceeding one 
 hundred and sixty acres of land. 
 
 5. That Congress should modify the tariff so 
 as to admit free such articles of connnon use as 
 we can neither produce nor grow, and lay duties 
 for revenue mainly upon articles of luxury and 
 upon such articles of manufactme as will, we 
 having the raw materials, assist in further de- 
 veloping the resovirces of the country. 
 
 6. That the presence in our country of Chi- 
 nese laborers, imported by capitalists in large 
 numbers for servile use, is an evil entailing want 
 and its attendant train of misery and crime on 
 all classes of the American people, and should be 
 prohibited by legislation. 
 
 7. That we ask for the enactment of a law by 
 which all mechanics and day laborers employed 
 by or on behalf of the Government, whether di- 
 rectly or indirectly, through persons, firms or 
 corporations, contracting with the State, shall 
 conform to the reduced standard of eight hours 
 per day, recently adopted by Congress for na- 
 tional employes; and also for an amendment to 
 the acts of incorporation for cities and towns by 
 which all laborers and mechanics employed at 
 their expense shall conform to the same num- 
 ber of hours. 
 
 8. That the enlightened spirit of the age de- 
 mands the abolition of the system of contract 
 labor in our prisons and other reformatory insti- 
 tutions. 
 
 9. That the protection of life, liberty and 
 property are the three cardinal principles of gov- 
 ernment, and the first two are more sacred than 
 the latter; therefore, money needed for prose- 
 cuting wars should, as it is required, be assessed 
 and collected from the wealthy of the countr}' 
 and not entailed as a burden on posterity. 
 
 10. That it is the duty of the Government to 
 exercise its rights over railroads and telegraph 
 corporations, that they shall not in any case be 
 privileged to exact such rates of freight, trans- 
 portation or charges, by whatever name, as may 
 bear unduly or unequally upon the producer or 
 consumer. 
 
 1 1 . That there should be such a reform in the 
 civil service of the National Government as will 
 remove it beyond all partisan influence and place 
 it in the charge and under the direction of in- 
 telligent and competent business men. 
 
 12. That as both history and experience teach 
 us that power ever seeks to perpetuate itself by 
 every and all means, and that its prolonged pos- 
 session in the hands of one person is always 
 dangerous to the interests of a free people, and 
 believing that the spirit of our organic laws and 
 the stability and safety of our free institutions are 
 best obeyed on the one hand and secured on the 
 
 other by a regular Constitutional change in the 
 chief of the country at each election ; therefore 
 we are in favor of limiting the occupancy of 
 the Presidential chair to one term. 
 
 13. That we are in favor of granting general 
 amnesty and restoring the Union at once on the 
 basis of equality of rights and privileges to all, 
 the impartial administration of justice being the 
 only true bond of union to bind the States to- 
 gether and restore the Government of the people. 
 
 14. That we demand the subjection of tlie mil- 
 itary to the civil authorities, and the confine- 
 ment of its operations to national purposes alone. 
 
 15. That we deem it expedient for Congress 
 to supervise the patent laws so as to give labor 
 more fully the benefit of its own ideas and in- 
 ventions. 
 
 16. That fitness and not political or personal 
 considerations should be the only recommenda- 
 tion to public office, either appointive or elective; 
 and any and all laws looking to the establishment 
 of this principle are heartil}- approved. 
 
 Prohibition Platform. 
 
 The preamble recites that protection and alle- 
 giance are reciprocal duties, and every citizen 
 who yields obediently to the full commands of 
 government should be protected in all enjo}-- 
 nient of personal security, personal liberty and 
 private property. That the traffic in intoxicat- 
 ing drinks greatly impairs the personal security 
 and personal libert}' of a great mass of citizens, 
 and renders private property insecure. That all 
 political parties are hopelessly unwilling to adopt 
 an adequate policy on this question. Therefore, 
 as a national convention, we adopt the following 
 declaration of principles: 
 
 That while we acknowledge the true patriot- 
 ism and profound statesmanship of those patriots 
 who laid the foundation of this Government, se- 
 curing at once the rights of the States severally 
 and in their inseparable union by the Federal 
 Constitution, we would not merely garnish the 
 sepulchres of our republican fathers, but we do 
 hereby renew our pledges of solemn fealty to the 
 imperishable principles of civil and religious 
 liberty embodied in the Declaration of Independ- 
 ence and our Federal Constitution. 
 
 That the traffic in intoxicating beverages is a 
 dishonor to Christian civilization, a political 
 wrong of unequaled enomiit}-, subversive of or- 
 dinary objects of government, not capable of be- 
 ing regulated or restrained by any system of 
 license whatever, and imperativel}- demands for 
 its suppression effective legal prohibition both 
 by State and national legislation. 
 
 That there can be no greater peril to a nation 
 than existing party competition for the liquor 
 vote. That any party not opposed to the traffic, 
 experience shows, will engage in this competition 
 —will court the favor of criminal classes, will 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 39 
 
 barter away the puljlic morals, the purity of the 
 })allot and every object of good government for 
 party success. 
 
 That as Prohibitionists we will individually 
 use all efforts to persuade men from the use of 
 intoxicating liquors, and we invite all persons to 
 assist in this movement. 
 
 That competence, honesty and sobriety are 
 indispensable qualifications for holding office. 
 
 Tliat removals from public office for mere 
 political differences of opinion are wrong. 
 
 That fixed and moderate salaries of public 
 cfiicers should take the place of fees and per- 
 (juisites, and that all means should be taken to 
 prevent corruption and encourage economy. 
 
 That the President and Vice-President should 
 be elected directly by the people. 
 
 That we are in favor of a sound national ciir- 
 rency, adequate to the demands of business, and 
 convertible into gold and silver at the will of the 
 holder, and the adoption of every measure com- 
 patible with jvistice and public safety to appre- 
 ciate our present currency to the gold standard. 
 
 That the rates of ocean and iidand postage, 
 and railroad telegraph lines and water transpor- 
 tation shoi:ld be made as low as possible b}- law. 
 
 That we are opposed to all discrimination in 
 favor of capital against labor, as well as all 
 monopoly and class legislation. 
 
 That the removal of the burdens imposed in 
 the traffic in intoxicating drinks will emancipate 
 labor, and will practically promote labor reform. 
 
 That suffrage should be granted to all persons 
 without regard to sex. 
 
 That the fostering and extension of common 
 schools is a primary duty of the Government. 
 
 That a liberal policy should be pursued to 
 promote foreign emigration. 
 
 Itiheral Republican Platform. 
 
 We, the Liberal Republicans of the United 
 States, in national convention assembled at Cin- 
 cinnati, proclaim the following principles as 
 essential to just government: 
 
 1. We recognize the equality of all men before 
 the law, and hold that it is the duty of govern- 
 ment in its dealings with the people, to mete 
 out equal and exact justice to all, of whatever 
 nativity, race, color or persuasion, religious or 
 political. 
 
 2. We pledge ourselves to maintain the I'nion 
 of these States, emancipation and enfranchise- 
 ment, and to oppose any reopening of the ques- 
 tions settled by thirteenth, fourteenth and fif- 
 teenth amendments of the Constitution. 
 
 3. We demand the immediate and absolute 
 removal of all disabilities imposed on account 
 of the Rebellion, which was finally subdued 
 seven years ago, believing that universal am- 
 nesty will result in complete pacification in all 
 sections of the country. 
 
 4. Local self-government, with impartial suf- 
 frage, will guard the rights of all citizens more se- 
 curely than any centralized power. The public 
 welfare requires the supremacy of the civil over 
 the military authority, and the freedom of person 
 under the protection of the habeas corpus. We 
 demand for the individual the largest liberty 
 con.sistent with pul)lic order, for State .self- 
 government, and for the Nation a return to the 
 methods of peace and the Constitutional limita- 
 tions of power. 
 
 5. The civil service of the Government has 
 become a mere instrimient of partisan tyranny 
 and personal ambition, and an object of selfish 
 greed. It is a scandal and reproach upon 
 free institutions, and breeds a demoralization 
 dangerous to the perpetuity of republican gov- 
 ernment. We, therefore, regard a thorough 
 reform of the civil service as one of the most 
 pressing necessities of the hour; that honesty, 
 capacity and fidelity constitiite the only valid 
 claims to public employment; that the offices of 
 the Government cease to be a matter of arbitrary 
 favoritism and patronage, and that public station 
 shall become again a post of honor. To this 
 end it is imperatively required that no President 
 shall be a candidate for re-election. 
 
 6. We demand a system of Federal taxation 
 which shall not unnecessarilly interfere with 
 the industry of the people, and which shall pro- 
 vide the means necessarj^ to pa}^ the expenses of 
 the Government, economically administered, 
 the pensions, the interest on the public debt, 
 and a moderate reduction annually of the princi- 
 pal thereof; and recognizing that there are in 
 our midst honest and irreconcilable differences 
 of opinion with regard to the respective systems 
 of protection and free trade. We remit the 
 discussion of the subject to the people in their 
 Congressional districts and the decision of Con- 
 gress thereon, wholly free from executive inter- 
 ference or dictation. 
 
 7. The public credit must be sacredly main- 
 tained, and we denounce repudiation in every 
 form and guise. 
 
 8. A speedy return to the specie paj-ment is 
 demanded alike by the highest considerations of 
 commercial morality and honest government. 
 
 9. We remember with gratitude the heroism 
 and sacrifices of the soldiers and sailors of the 
 Republic; and no act of ours shall ever detract 
 from their justly earned fame or the full re- 
 wards of their patriotism. 
 
 10. We are opposed to all further grants of 
 lands to railroads or other corporations. The 
 public domain should be held sacred to actual 
 settlers. 
 
 11. We hold that it is the duty of the Govern- 
 ment, in its intercourse with foreign nations, to 
 cultivate the friendships of peace, by treating 
 with all on fair and equal terms, regarding it 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 alike dislioiioraljlc either to (lenuiiid wlial is not 
 rij^^hl or suhiiiit to what is wrong. 
 
 12. I'or the promotion and success of these 
 vital principles and the .snpport of the candi- 
 dates nominated by this covention, we invite and 
 cordially welcome the co-operation of all patri- 
 otic citizens, without regard to previous political 
 affiliations. 
 
 Democratic Platform. 
 
 We, the Democratic electors of the United 
 vStates, in convention assembled, do present the 
 following principles, already adopted at Cincin- 
 nati, as essential to just government: 
 
 [Liberal Repiiblican platform adopted at Cin- 
 cinnati follows the above introduction.] 
 
 Republican Platform. 
 
 The Repuljlican i)arty of the United States, 
 assembled in national convention in the city of 
 riiiladelphia, on the 5tli and 6tli days of June, 
 1872, again declares its faith, appeals to its his- 
 tory and announces its position upon the ques- 
 tions before the country: 
 
 I. During eleven years of supremacy it has 
 accepted, with grand courage, the solemn duties 
 of the time. It suppressed a gigantic rebellion, 
 emancipated four millions of slaves, decreed the 
 equal citizenship of all, and established universal 
 suffrage, exhibiting unparalleled magnanimity; 
 it criminally punished no man for political of- 
 fenses, and warmly welcomed all w'ho proved 
 their loyalty by obeying the laws and dealing 
 justly with their neighbors. It has steadily de- 
 creased, with firm hand, the resultant disorders 
 of a great war, and initiated a wise and humane 
 policy toward the Indians. The Pacific railroad 
 and similar vast enteq^rises have been generously 
 aided and successfulh* conducted, the public 
 lands freely given to actual settlers, inunigration 
 ])rotected and encouraged, and a full acknowl- 
 edgment of naturalized citizens' rights secured 
 from European powers. A uniform national 
 currency has been provided, repudiation frowned 
 down, the national credit sustained under the 
 most extraordinary burdens, and new bonds ne- 
 gotiated at lower rates. The revenues have been 
 carefully collected and honestly applied. De- 
 spite annual large reductions of the rates of taxa- 
 tion, the public debt has been reduced during 
 General Grant's Presidency at the rate of a hun- 
 dred millions a year, great financial crises have 
 been avoided, and peace and plenty prevail 
 throughout the land. Menacing foreign diffi- 
 culties have been peacefully and honorably com- 
 promised, and the honor and power of the Na- 
 tion kept in high respect throughout the world. 
 This glorious record of the past is the party's 
 best pledge for the future. We believe the peo- 
 ple will not entrust the Government to any 
 party or combination of men composed chiefly 
 
 f)f those who have resisted ever}- step of this 
 l)eneficent progress. 
 
 2. The recent amendments to the national 
 Constitution should be cordially sustained be- 
 cause they are right, not merely tolerated be- 
 cause they are law, and should be carried out 
 according to their spirit b}' appropriate legisla- 
 tion, the enforcement of which can safely be 
 entrusted only to the party that secured those 
 amendments. 
 
 3. Complete liberty and exact equality in the 
 enjoyment of all civil, political, and public 
 rights should be established and effectuall}' 
 maintained throughout the Union by efficient 
 and .'appropriate State and Federal legislation. 
 Neither the law nor its administration should 
 admit any discrimination in respect to citizens 
 by reason of race, creed, color, or previous con- 
 dition of servitude. 
 
 4. The National Government should seek to 
 maintain honorable peace with all nations, pro- 
 tecting its citizens ever3'where, and sympathizing 
 with all peoples who strive for greater liberty. 
 
 5. Any S3'stem of civil service under which 
 the subordinate positions of the Government are 
 considered rewards for mere party zeal is fatally 
 demoralizing; and we, therefore, favor a reform 
 of the system, by laws which shall abolish the 
 evils of patronage, and make honest}-, efficiency, 
 and fidelity the essential qualifications for public 
 positions, without practically creating a life 
 tenure of office. 
 
 6. We are opposed to fvirther grants of the 
 public lands to corporations and monopolies, and 
 demand that the national domain be set apart 
 for free homes for the people. 
 
 7. The annual revenue after paying current 
 expenditures, pensions and the interest on the 
 public debt, should furnish a moderate balance 
 for the reduction of the principal; and that rev- 
 enue, except so nmch as may be derived from a 
 tax upon tobacco and liquors, should be raised 
 by duties upon importations, the details of which 
 should be so adjusted as to aid in securing re- 
 munerative wages to labor, and promote the in- 
 dustries, prosperity, and growth of the whole 
 country. 
 
 8. We hold in undying honor the soldiers 
 and sailors whose valor saved the Union. Their 
 pensions are a sacred debt of the Nation, and the 
 widows and orphans of those who died for their 
 country are entitled to the care of a generous 
 and grateful people. We favor such additional 
 legislation as will extend the bounty of the Gov- 
 ernment to all our soldiers and sailors who were 
 honorably discharged, and who in the line of 
 duty became disabled, w-ithout regard to the 
 length of service or the cause of such discharge. 
 
 9. The doctrine of Great Britain and other 
 European pow-ers concerning allegiance — "once 
 a subject always a subject" — having at last, 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 41 
 
 through the efforts of the Republican party, been 
 abandoned, and the American idea of the indi- 
 vidual's ri<^ht to transfer allegiance having been 
 accepted by Kuropean nations, it is the duty of 
 our Government to guard with jealous care the 
 rights of adopted citizens against the assumption 
 of unauthorized claims by their former govern- 
 ments, and we urge continued careful encourage- 
 ment and protection of voluntarj' immigration. 
 
 10. The franking privilege ought to be abol- 
 ished, and a way prepared for a speedy reduction 
 in the rates of postage. 
 
 11. Among the questions which press for at- 
 tention is that which concerns the relations of 
 capital and labor; and the Republican party 
 recognizes the duty of so shaping legislation as 
 to secure full protection and the amplest field 
 for capital, and for labor, the creator of capital, 
 the largest opportunities and a just share of the 
 nuitual profits of these two great servants of civ- 
 ilization. 
 
 12. We hold that Congress and the President 
 have only fulfilled an imperative duty in their 
 measures for the suppression of violence and 
 treasonable organizations in certain lately rebel- 
 lious regions and for the protection of the ballot 
 box, and therefore they are entitled to the 
 thanks of the Nation. 
 
 13. We denounce repudiation of the public 
 debt in any form or disguise as a national crime. 
 We witness with pride the reduction of the prin- 
 cipal of the debt and of the rates of interest upon 
 the balance, and confidently expect that our ex- 
 cellent national currency will be perfected by a 
 speedy resumption of specie payment. 
 
 14. The Republican party is mindful of its ob- 
 ligations to the loyal women of America for their 
 noble devotion to the cause of freedom. Their 
 admission to wider fields of usefulness is viewed 
 with satisfaction; and the honest demand of any- 
 class of citizens for additional rights should be 
 treated with respectful consideration. 
 
 15. We heartily approve the action of Congress 
 in extending amnesty to those lately in rebellion, 
 and rejoice in the growth of peace and fraternal 
 feeling throughout the land. 
 
 16. The Republican party proposes to respect 
 the rights reserved by the people to themselves 
 as carefully as the powers delegated by them to 
 the States and to the Federal Government. It 
 disapproves of the resort to unconstitutional 
 laws for the purpose of removing evils, by inter- 
 ference with rights not surrendered by the peo- 
 ple to either State or National Government. 
 
 17. It is the duty of the general Government 
 to adopt such measures as n:ay tend to encourage 
 and restore American commerce and ship- 
 buildii;g. 
 
 18. We believe that the modest patriotism, the 
 earnest purpose, the sound judgment, the prac- 
 tical wisdom, the incorruptible integrity and the 
 
 illustrious services of Uly.sses S. Grant have 
 commended him to the heart of the American 
 people; and with him at our head we start to- 
 day upon a new march to victor}'. 
 
 19. Henry Wilson, nominated for the Vice- 
 Presidency, known to the whole land from the 
 early days of the great struggle for liberty as an 
 indefatigable laborer in all campaigns, an incor- 
 ruptible legislator and representative man of 
 American institutions, is worthy to associate 
 with our great leader and share the honors which 
 we pledge our best efforts to bestow upon them. 
 
 Democratic- Platform iStraightout). 
 
 Whereas, A frequent recurrence to first 
 principles and eternal vigilance again.st abuses 
 are the wisest provisions for liberty, which is the 
 source of progress and fidelity to our Con.stitu- 
 tional system is the only protection for either : 
 Therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the original basis of our whole 
 political structure is consent in every part 
 thereof. The people of each State voluntarily 
 created their State, and the States voluntarily 
 formed the Union; and each State provided by' 
 its written Constitution for everything a vState 
 could do for the protection of life, liberty and 
 property within it; and each State, jointly with 
 the others, provided a Federal Union for foreign 
 and interstate relations. 
 
 Resolved, That all governmental powers, 
 whether State or Federal, are trust powers com- 
 ing from the people of each State, and that they 
 are limited to the written letter of the Constitu- 
 tion and the laws passed in pursuance of it, 
 which powers must be exercised in the utmost 
 good faith, the Constitution itself stating in what 
 manner they may be altered and amended. 
 
 Resolved, That the interests of labor and cap- 
 ital should not be permitted to conflict, but 
 should be harmonized by judicious legislation. 
 While such a conflict continues, labor, which is 
 the parent of wealth, is entitled to paramount 
 consideration. 
 
 Resoli'ed, That we proclaim to the world that 
 principle is to be preferred to power; that the 
 Democratic party is held together by the cohesion 
 of time-honored principles, which they will never 
 surrender in exchange for all the offices which 
 President's can confer. The pangs of the mi- 
 norities are doubtless excruciating, but we wel- 
 come an eternal minority under the banner in- 
 scribed with our principles rather than an al- 
 mighty and everlasting majority purchased by 
 their abandonment. 
 
 Resolved, That having been betraj-ed at Balti- 
 more into a false creed and a false leadership by 
 the convention, we repudiate both, and appeal to 
 the people to approve our platform and to rally 
 to the polls and .support the true platform and 
 the candidates who enibodj' it. 
 
42 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 GREENBACK PROPOSITIONS, 
 18r4. 
 
 The proposal to resume specie payment was 
 the occasion of a Greenback convention at 
 Indianapolis, Nov. 25, 1874, at which resolutions 
 were adopted embodying these three proposi- 
 tions : I, that the currency of all banks and 
 corporations should be withdrawn; 2, that paper 
 money issued by the Government, "based on 
 the faith and resources of the Nation," and 
 exchangeable on demand for bonds bearing 
 interest at 3.65 per cent., should be the only 
 currency; and, 3, that coin should be paid only 
 for interest on the present national debt, and for 
 that portion of the principal for which coin had 
 been specifically promised; 
 
 THE CONTEST OF 1876. 
 
 The political field in 1876 was again con- 
 siderably cut up by differing parties. The 
 American National Platform was adopted as 
 early as June, 1875, on the 9th of which month 
 its framers met in mass convention in Pittsburg. 
 On May 17, 1876, the Prohibition Reform Party 
 met in convention in Cleveland, Ohio; and on 
 the same day the Independent Party (Green- 
 back) met in Indianapolis, Ind. Each party 
 adopted a platform embodying its views. The 
 Republican national convention assembled in 
 Cincinnati, June 14, and the Democratic national 
 convention met in St. Louis the 28th of the same 
 month. The customary platform was adopted 
 at each convention. 
 
 American National Platform. 
 
 We hold: 
 
 1. That ours is a Christian and not a heathen 
 Nation, and that the God of the Christian Scrip- 
 tures is the author of civil government. 
 
 2. That God requires and. man needs a Sab- 
 bath. 
 
 3. That the prohibition of the importation, 
 manufacture, and sale of intoxicating drinks as 
 a beverage, is the true policy on the temperance 
 question. 
 
 4. That charters of all secret lodges granted 
 by our Federal and State legislatures should be 
 withdrawn, and their oaths prohibited by law. 
 
 5. That the civil equality secured to all Ameri- 
 can citizens by articles 13th, 14th and 15th of our 
 
 amended Constitution should be preserved in- 
 violate. 
 
 6. That arbitration of differences with nations 
 is the most direct and sure method of securing 
 and ]:)erpetuating a permanent peace. 
 
 7. That to cultivate the intellect without im- 
 proving the morals of men is to make mere 
 adepts and experts; therefore, the Bible should 
 be associated with books of science and litera- 
 ture in all our educational institutions. 
 
 8. That land and other monopolies should be 
 discountenanced. 
 
 9. That the Government should furnish the 
 people with an ample and sound currency and a 
 return to specie payment as soon as practicable. 
 
 10. The maintenance of the public credit, 
 protection to all loyal citizens and justice to 
 Indians, are essential to the honor and safety of 
 our Nation. 
 
 11. And, finally, we demand for the American 
 people the abolition of electoral colleges, and a 
 direct vote for President and Vice-President of 
 the United States. 
 
 Prohibition Reform Platform. 
 
 The Prohibition Reform part}- of the United 
 States, organized in the name of the people, to 
 revive, enforce and perpetuate in the Govern- 
 ment the doctrines of the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence, submit, in this centennial year of the 
 Republic, for the suffrages of all good citizens, 
 the following platform of national reforms and 
 measures: 
 
 1. The legal prohibition in the District of 
 Columbia, the Territories, and in every other 
 place subject to the laws of Congress, of the 
 importation, exportation, manufacture, and traf- 
 fic of all alcoholic beverages, as high crime 
 against society; an amendment of the National 
 Constitution, to render these prohibitory meas- 
 ures universal and permanent; and the adoption 
 of treaty stipulations with foreign powers, to 
 prevent the importation and exportation of all 
 alcoholic beverages. 
 
 2. The abolition of class legislation, and of 
 special privileges in the Government, and the 
 adoption of equal suffrage and eligibility to of- 
 fice, without distinction of race, religious creed, 
 property or sex. 
 
 3. The appropriation of the public lands, in 
 limited quantities, to actual settlers only; the 
 reduction of the rates of inland and ocean post- 
 age; of telegraph communication; of railroad 
 and water transportation and travel, to the lowest 
 practical point, by force of laws, wisely and 
 justl}' framed, with reference, not only to the 
 interest of capital employed, but to the higher 
 claims of the general good. 
 
 4. The suppression by laws of lotteries and 
 gambling in gold, stocks, produce, and every 
 form of money and property, and the penal 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 43 
 
 inhibition of the use of the public mails for 
 advertising schemes of gambling and lotteries. 
 
 5. The abolition of those foul enormities, 
 polygamy and the social e\nl; and the protection 
 of purity, peace and happiness of homes, by 
 ample and efficient legislation. 
 
 6. The national observance of the Christian 
 Sabbath, established by laws proliibiting ordi- 
 nary labor and business in all departments of 
 public service and private employment (works 
 of necessity, charity and religion excepted) on 
 that day. 
 
 7. The establishment, by mandatory pro\'is- 
 ions in national and State constitutions, and by 
 all necessary legislation, of a system of free pub- 
 lic schools for the universal and forced educa- 
 tion of all the youth of the land. 
 
 8. The free use of the Bible, not as a ground 
 of religious creeds, but as a text-book of the 
 purest morality, the best liberty, and the noblest 
 literature, in our public schools, that our chil- 
 dren ma}- grow up in its light, and that its spirit 
 and principles may pervade our Nation. 
 
 9. The separation of the Government in all 
 its departments and institutions, including the 
 puljlic schools and all funds for their mainte- 
 nance, from the control of every religious sect 
 or other association, and the protection alike of 
 all sects by equal laws, with entire freedom of 
 religious faith and worship. 
 
 10. The introduction into all treaties hereafter 
 negotiated with foreign governments of a pro- 
 vision for the amicable settlement of interna- 
 tional difficulties by arbitration. 
 
 11. The abolition of all barbarous modes and 
 instruments of punishment; the recognition of 
 the laws of God and the claims of humanity in 
 the discipline of jails and prisons, and of that 
 higher and wiser civilization worthy of our age 
 and Nation, which regards the reform of crim- 
 inals as a means for the prevention of crime. 
 
 12. The abolition of executive and legislative 
 patronage, and the election of President, Vice- 
 President, United States Senators, and of all 
 civil officers, so far as practicable, by the direct 
 vote of the people. 
 
 13. The practice of a friendly and liberal pol- 
 icy to immigrants from all nations, the guar- 
 antee to them of ample protection, and of equal 
 rights and privileges. 
 
 14. The separation of the money of the Gov- 
 ernment from all banking institutions. The 
 National Government only should exercise the 
 high prerogative of issuing paper money, and 
 that should be subject to prompt redemption on 
 demand, in gold and silver, the only equal stand- 
 ards of value recognized by the civilized world. 
 
 15. The reduction of the salaries of public 
 officers in a just ratio with the decline of wages 
 and market prices; the abolition of sinecures, 
 unnecessary offices, and official fees and perqui- 
 
 sites; the practice of strict economy in Govern- 
 ment expenses, and a free and thorough investi- 
 gation into any and all alleged abuses of public 
 trusts. 
 
 Independent Platform (Greenback). 
 
 The Independent party is called into existence 
 by the necessities of the people whose industries 
 are prostrated, whose labor is deprived of its 
 just reward by a ruinous policy which the 
 Republican and Democratic parties refuse to 
 change; and, in view of the failure of these parties 
 to furnish relief to the depressed industries of 
 the coiintry, thereby disappointing the ju.st 
 hopes and expectations of a suffering people, we 
 declare our principles, and invite all independ- 
 ent and patriotic men to join our ranks in this 
 movement for financial reform and industrial 
 emancipation. 
 
 1. We demand the immediate and uncondi- 
 tional repeal of the specie resumption act of Jan- 
 uary 14, 1875, and the rescue of our industries 
 from ruin and disaster resulting from its enforce- 
 ment ; and we call upon all patriotic men to 
 organize in every Congressional district of the 
 country, with a view of electing representatives 
 to Congress who will carry out the wishes of the 
 people in this regard and stop the present sui- 
 cidal and destructive policy of contraction. 
 
 2. We believe that a United States note, issued 
 directly by the Government, and convertible, on 
 demand, into United States obligations, bearing 
 a rate of interest not exceeding one cent a da)- 
 on each one hundred dollars and exchangeable 
 for United States notes at par, will afford the 
 best circulating medium ever devised. Such 
 United States notes should be full legal tenders 
 for all purposes, except for the payment of such 
 obligations as are, by existing contracts, espe- 
 cially made paj-able in coin; and we hold that it 
 is the duty of the Government to provide such a 
 circulating medium, and insist, in the language 
 of Thomas Jefferson, that "bank paper must be 
 suppressed, and the circulation restored to the 
 Nation, to whom it belongs." 
 
 3. It is the paramount duty of the Govern- 
 ment, in all its legislation, to keep in view the 
 full development of all legitimate business, agri- 
 cultural, mining, manufacturing and commer- 
 cial. 
 
 4. We most earnestly protest against any 
 further issue of gold bonds for sale in foreign 
 markets, by which we would be made, for a long 
 period, "hewers of wood and drawers of water" 
 to foreigners, especially as the American people 
 would gladly and promptly take at par all bonds 
 the Government may need to sell, provided they 
 are made payable at the option of the holder, 
 and bearing interest at 3.65 percent, per annum, 
 or even a lower rate. 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 5. We further protest aj^ainst the sale of Gov- 
 ernment bonds for the jnirpose of purchasinjj: 
 silver to be used as a substitute for our more 
 convenient and less fluctuating- fractional cur- 
 rency, which, although well calculated to enrich 
 owners of silver mines, yet in operation it will 
 still further oppress, in taxation, an already 
 overburdened people. 
 
 Republican Platform. 
 
 When, in the economy of Providence, this 
 land was to be purged of human slavery, and 
 when the strength of the Government of the 
 people, by the people and for the people, was 
 to be demonstrated, the Republican party came 
 into power. Its deeds have passed into history, 
 and we look back to them with pride. Incited 
 by their memories to high aims for the good of 
 our country and mankind, and looking to the 
 future with unfaltering courage, hope and pur- 
 pose, we, the representatives of the party, in na- 
 tional convention assemljled, make the follow- 
 ing declaration of principles : 
 
 1. The United States of America is a nation, 
 not a league. By the combined workings of the 
 National and State Governments, under their 
 respective constitutions, the rights of every citi- 
 zen are secured at home and abroad and the com- 
 mon welfare promoted. 
 
 2. The Republican party has preserved these 
 governments to the luindredth anniversary of 
 the Nation's birth, and they are now embodi- 
 ments of the great truths spoken at its cradle — 
 " That all men are created equal; that they arc 
 endowed by their Creator with certain inalien- 
 able rights, among which are life, liberty and 
 the pursuit of happiness; that for the attainment 
 of these ends governments have been instituted 
 among men, deriving their just powers from the 
 consent of the governed." Until these trtiths 
 are cheerfully obejed, or, if need be, vigorously 
 enforced, the work of the Republican party is 
 unfinished. 
 
 3 . The permanent pacification of the Southern 
 section of the Union and the complete protection 
 of all its citizens in the free enjoyment of all 
 their rights is a duty to which the Republican 
 party stands sacredly pledged. The power to 
 provide for the enforcement of the principles 
 embodied in the recent Constitutional amend- 
 ments is vested, by those amendments, in the 
 Congress of the LTnited States; and we declare it 
 to l)e the solemn obligation of the legislative and 
 executive departments of the Government to put 
 into inmiediate and vigorous exercise all their 
 Constitutional powers for removing any just 
 causes of discontent on the part of any class, and 
 for securing to every American citizen complete 
 liberty and exact equalit}' in the exercise of all 
 civil, political and public rights. To this end 
 we imperatively demand a Congress and a Chief 
 
 Executive whose courage and fidelity to these 
 duties shall not falter until these results are 
 placed beyond dispute or recall. 
 
 4. In the first act of Congress signed by Pres- 
 ident Grant the National Government assimied 
 to remove any doubt of its purpose to discharge 
 all just oljligations to the public creditors and 
 " solemnly pledged its faith to make provision 
 at the earliest practicable period for the redemp- 
 tion of the United States notes in coin. " Com- 
 mercial prosperity, public morals and national 
 credit demand that this promise be fulfilled by a 
 continuous and steady progress to specie pa}-- 
 ment. 
 
 5. Under the Constitution the President and 
 heads of departments are to make nominations 
 for office, the Senate is to advise and consent to 
 appointments and the House of Representatives 
 is to accuse and prosecute faithless officers. The 
 best interest of the public service demand that 
 these distinctions be respected; that Senators 
 and Representatives who may be judges and ac- 
 cusers .should not dictate appointments to office. 
 The invariable rule in appointment should have 
 reference to the honesty, fidelity and capacity 
 of the appointees, giving to the party in power 
 those places when harmony and vigor of admin- 
 istration' require its policj^ to be represented, but 
 permitting all others to be filled by persons se- 
 lected with sole reference to the efficiency of the 
 public service and the right of all citizens to 
 share in the honor of rendering faithful service 
 to the country. 
 
 6. We rejoice in the quickened conscience of 
 the people concerning political affairs, and will 
 hold all public officers to a rigid responsibility, 
 and engage that the prosecution and punishment 
 of all who betray official trusts shall be swift, 
 thorough and unsparing. 
 
 7. The public school system of the several 
 States is the bulwark of the American Republic, 
 and with a view to its security and i)ernianence 
 we recommend an amendment to the Constitu- 
 tion of the United States, forbidding the applica- 
 tion of any public funds or property for the ben- 
 efit of any schools or institutions under sectarian 
 control. 
 
 8. The revenue necessary for current expend- 
 itures and the obligations of the public debt 
 must be largely derived from duties upon im- 
 portations, which, so far as possible, should be 
 adjusted to promote the interests of American 
 labor and advance the prosperity of the whole 
 country. 
 
 9. We reaffirm our opposition to further grants 
 of the public lands to corporations and monop- 
 olies, and demand that the national domain be 
 devoted to free homes for the people. 
 
 10. It is the imperative duty of the Govern- 
 ment so to modify existing treaties with Euro- 
 pean governments, that the same protection 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 45 
 
 shall be afforded to the adopted American citi- 
 zen that is given to the native-born; and that all 
 necessary laws shonld be passed to protect emi- 
 grants, in the absence of power in the States, for 
 that purpose. 
 
 11. It is the immediate dutj^ of Congress to 
 fully investigate the effect of 'the immigration 
 and importation of Mongolians upon the moral 
 and material interest of the country. 
 
 12. The Republican party recognizes with ap- 
 proval the substantial advances recently made 
 toward the establishment of equal rights for 
 women by the many important amendments 
 effected by Republican legislatures in the laws 
 which concern the personal and property rela- 
 tions of wives, mothers, and widows, and by the 
 appointment and election of women to the super- 
 intendence of education, charities and other pub- 
 lic trusts. The honest demands of this class of 
 citizens for additional rights, privileges, and im- 
 munities, should be treated with respectful con- 
 sideration. 
 
 13. The Constitution confers upon Congress 
 sovereign powers over the Territories of the 
 United States for their Government; and in the 
 exercise of this power it is the right and duty of 
 Congress to prohibit and extirpate, in the Terri- 
 tories, that relic of barbarism — polygamy; and 
 we demand such legislation as shall secure this 
 end and the supremacy of American institutions 
 in all the Territories. 
 
 14. The pledges which the Nation has given 
 to her soldiers and sailors must be fulfilled, and 
 a grateful peojjle will always hold those who im- 
 periled their lives for the country's preser\^a- 
 tion in the kindest remembrance. 
 
 15. We sincere!}- deprecate all sectional feel- 
 ing and tendencies. We, therefore, note with 
 deep solicitude that the Democratic party counts, 
 as its chief hope of success, upon the electoral 
 vote of a united South, secured through the ef- 
 forts of tho.se who were recently arrayed against 
 the Nation; and we invoke the earnest attention 
 of the country to the grave truth that a success 
 thus achieved would reopen sectional strife and 
 imperil national honor and human rights. 
 
 16. We charge the Democratic party with be- 
 ing the same in character and spirit as when it 
 sympathized with treason; with making its con- 
 trol of the House of Representatives the triumph 
 and opportunity of the Nation's recent foes; 
 with reasserting and applaviding in the National 
 Capitol, the sentiments of irrepentant rebellion ; 
 with sending Union soldiers to the rear, and 
 promoting Confederate soldiers to the front; 
 with deliberately proposing to repudiate the 
 plighted faith of the Government; with being 
 equally false and imbecile upon the overshadow- 
 ing financial questions; with tliwarting the ends 
 of justice by its partisan mismanagement and 
 obstruction of investigation; with proving itself 
 
 through the period of its ascendancy in the 
 lower house of Congress utterly incompetent to 
 administer the Government; and we warn the 
 country against trusting a party thus alike un- 
 worthy, recreant and incapable. 
 
 17. The national administration merits com- 
 mendation for its honorable work in the man- 
 agement of domestic and foreign affairs, and 
 President Grant deserves the continued hearty 
 gratitude of the American people for his patriot- 
 ism and his eminent services in war and in peace. 
 
 iS. We present, as our candidates for Presi- 
 dent and Vice-President of the United States, 
 two distinguished statesmen of eminent ability 
 and character, and conspicuously fitted for tho.se 
 high oflices, and we confidently appeal to the 
 American people to entrust the administration of 
 their public affairs to Rutherford B. Hayes and 
 William A. Wheeler. 
 
 Democratic Platform. 
 
 We, the delegates of the Democratic party of 
 the United vStates, in national convention assem- 
 bled, do hereby declare the administration of 
 the Federal Government to be in urgent need of 
 immediate reform; do hereby enjoin upon the 
 nominees of this convention and of the Demo- 
 cratic party in each State, a zealous effort and 
 co-operation to this end; and do hereb}- appeal 
 to our fellow-citizens of ever}- former political 
 connection to undertake, w-ith us, this first and 
 most pressing patriotic duty. 
 
 For the Democracy of the whole country we 
 do here reaffirm our faith in the permanence of 
 the Federal Union, our devotion to the Consti- 
 tution of the United States, with its amendments, 
 universally accepted as a final settlement of the 
 controversies that engineered civil w-ar, and do 
 here record our steadfast confidence in the per- 
 petuity of republican self-government. 
 
 In absolute acquiescence in the will of a ma- 
 jority — the vital principle of republics; in the 
 supremacy of the civil over the military author- 
 ity; in the total separation of church and State, 
 for the sake alike of civil and religious freedom; 
 in the equality of all citizens before just laws of 
 their own enactment; in the liberty of individual 
 conduct, unvexed by sumptuary laws; in the 
 faithful education of the rising generation, that 
 they may preserve, enjoy and transmit these 
 best conditions of human happiness and hope — 
 we behold the noblest products of a Inmdred 
 years of changeful historj-; but while upholding 
 the bond of our Union and great charter of these 
 our rights, it behooves a free people to practice 
 also that eternal vigilance which is the price of 
 liberty. 
 
 Reform is necessary to rebuild and establish 
 in the hearts of the whole people the I^nion, 
 eleven years ago happily rescued from the dan- 
 ger of a secession of States, but now to be saved 
 
46 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 from a corrupt centralism which, after inflicting 
 upon ten States the rapacity of carpet-bag 
 tyranny, has honeycombed the offices of the 
 I'V-dera] Government itself with incapacity, 
 waste ana fraud; infected States and municipal- 
 ities with the contagion of misrule, and locked 
 fast the prosperity of an industrious people in 
 the paralysis of " hard times." 
 
 Reform is necessary to establish a sound cur- 
 rency, restore the public credit, and maintain 
 the national honor. 
 
 We denounce the failure, for all these eleven 
 years of peace, to make good the promise of the 
 legal tender notes, which are a changing stand- 
 anl of value in the hands of the people, and the 
 non-payment of which is a disregard of the 
 plighted faith of the Nation. 
 
 \Ve denounce the improvidence which, in 
 eleven 3'ears of peace, has taken from the people, 
 in federal taxes, thirteen times the whole amount 
 of the legal-tender notes, and squandered four 
 times their sum in useless expense without 
 accumulating any reserve for their redemption. 
 
 \Ve denounce the financial imbecility and im- 
 moralit}' of that party which, during eleven 
 years of peace, has made no advance toward 
 resumption, no preparation for resumption, but, 
 instead, has obstructed resumption by wasting 
 our resources and exhausting all our surplus 
 income; and, while annually professing to in- 
 tend a speedy return to specie payments, has 
 annually enacted fresh hindrances thereto. As 
 such hindrance we denounce the resumption 
 clause of 1875, anci we here demand its repeal. 
 
 We demand a judicious system of preparation, 
 by public economies, by official retrenchments, 
 and by wise finance, which shall enable the 
 Nation soon to assure the whole world of its 
 perfect ability and of its perfect readiness to 
 meet any of its promises at the call of the 
 creditor entitled to payment. We believe such 
 a system, well devised and, above all, entrusted 
 to competent hands for execution, creating at 
 X\o time an artificial scarcity of ciirrency, and at 
 no time alarming the public mind into a with- 
 drawal of that vaster machinery of credit by 
 which 95 per cent, of all business transactions 
 are performed; a system open, public, and in- 
 spiring general confidence, would, from the day 
 of its adoption, bring healing on its wings to all 
 €w\r harassed industries — set in motion the 
 Vifheels of commerce, manufactures, and the 
 mechanic arts — restore employment to labor — 
 and renew, in all its natural sources, the pros- 
 j>erity of the people. 
 
 Reform is necessary in the sense and modes 
 of I^ederal taxation, to the end that capital may 
 be set free from distrust and labor lightly bur- 
 dened. 
 
 We denounce the present tariff, levied upon 
 .nearly four thousand artides, as a masterpiece 
 
 of injustice, inequality and false pretense. It 
 yields a dwindling, not a yearly rising, revenue. 
 It has impoverished many industries, to subsi- 
 dize a few. It prohibits imports that might 
 purchase products of American labor. It has 
 degraded American commerce from the first to 
 an inferior rank on the high seas. It has cut 
 down the sales of American manufactures at 
 home and abroad, and depleted the returns of 
 American agriculture — an industry followed by 
 half our people. It costs the people five times 
 more than it produces to the Treasury, obstructs 
 the processes of production, and wastes the fruits 
 of labor. It promotes fraud, fosters smuggling, 
 enriches dishonest officials, and bankrupts honest 
 merchants. We demand that all custom-house 
 taxation shall be only for revenue. 
 
 Reform is necessarj' in the scale of public 
 expense — Federal, State and municipal. Our 
 Federal taxation has swollen from sixty millions 
 gold, in i860, to four hundred and fifty millions 
 currency, in 1870; our aggregate taxation from 
 one hundred and fifty-four millions gold, in 
 i860, to seven hundred and thirty millions cur- 
 rency, in 1870 — or, in one decade, from less than 
 five dollars per head to more than eighteen dol- 
 lars per head. Since the peace, the people have 
 paid to their tax-gatherers more than thrice the 
 sum of the national debt, and more than twice 
 that sum for the Federal Government alone. 
 We demand a vigorous frugality in evers' depart- 
 ment and from every officer of the Government. 
 
 Reform is necessary to put a stop to the prof- 
 ligate waste of public lands, and their diversion 
 from actual settlers, by the party in power, 
 which has squandered 200,000,000 of acres upon 
 railroads alone, and, out of more than thrice 
 that aggregate, has disposed of less than a sixth 
 directly to tillers of the soil. 
 
 Reform is necessary to correct the omission of 
 a Republican Congress, and the errors of our 
 treaties and our diplomacy which have stripped 
 our fellow-citizens of foreign birth and kindred 
 race, recrossing the Atlantic, of the shield of 
 American citizenship, and have exposed our 
 brethren of the Pacific coast to the incursions 
 of a race not sprung from the same great parent 
 stock, and in fact now, by law, denied citizen- 
 ship through naturalization, as being neither 
 accustomed to the traditions of a progressive 
 civilization nor exercised in liberty under equal 
 laws. We denounce the policy which thus dis- 
 cards the liberty -loving German and tolerates a 
 revival of the coolie trade in Mongolian women, 
 imported for immoral purposes, and Mongolian 
 men, held to perform servile labor contracts, 
 and demand such modification of the treaty with 
 the Chinese Empire, or such legislation within 
 Constitutional limitations, as shall prevent fur- 
 ther importation or immigration of the Mon- 
 golian race. 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 Reform is necessarj^ and can never be effected 
 but by making it the controlling issue of the 
 elections and lifting it above the two false issues 
 with which the ofiice-holding class and the party 
 in power seek to smother it. 
 
 1. The false issue with which they would en- 
 kindle sectarian strife in res])ect to the pu1)lic 
 schools, of which the establishment and support 
 belong exclusively to the several States and 
 which the Democratic party has cherished from 
 their foundation, and is resolved to maintain 
 without prejudice or preference for any class, 
 sect or creed and without largesses from the 
 Treasury to any. 
 
 2. The false issue by which they seek to 
 light anew the dying embers of sectional hate 
 between kindred peoples once estranged, but 
 now united in one indivisible Republic and a 
 connnon destiny. 
 
 Reform is necessary in the civil service. Ex- 
 perience proves that efficient, economical con- 
 duct of the governmental business is not possible 
 if its civil ser\-ice be subject to change at every 
 election, be a prize fought for at the ballot-box, 
 be a brief reward of party zeal, instead of posts 
 of honor assigned for proved competency and 
 held for fidelity in the public employ; that the 
 dispensing of patronage sliould neither be a tax 
 upon the time of all our public men nor the in- 
 strument of their ambition. Here again prom- 
 ises, falsified in the performance, attest that the 
 party in power can work out no practical or 
 salutary reform. 
 
 Reform is necessar}' even more in the higher 
 grades of the public service, President, Vice- 
 President, judges, Senators, Representatives, 
 Cabinet officers — these and all others in authority 
 — are the people's servants. Their offices are 
 not a private perquisite; they are a public trust. 
 When the annals of this Republic show the dis- 
 grace and censure of a Vice-President; a late 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives mar- 
 keting his rulings as a presiding officer; three 
 Senators profiting secretly by their votes as law- 
 makers; five chairmen of the leading committees 
 of the late House of Representatives e.xposed in 
 jobbers- ; a late Secretary of the Treasury forcing 
 balances in the public accounts; a late Attorney 
 General misappropriating public fimds; a Sec- 
 retary of the Navy enriched or enriching friends 
 by percentages levied off the profits of contract- 
 ors with his department; an ambassador to Eng- 
 land concerned in a dishonorable speculation ; the 
 President's private secretary barely escaping con- 
 \'iction upon trial for guilty complicity in frauds 
 upon the revenue; the Secretary of War im- 
 peached for high crimes and misdemeanors — the 
 demonstration is complete, that the first step in 
 reform must be the people's choice of honest 
 men from another party, lest the disease of one 
 political organization infect the body politic, 
 
 and lest by making no change of men or parties 
 we get no change of measures and no real re- 
 form. 
 
 All these abuses, wrongs and crimes — the pro- 
 duct of sixteen years' ascendency of the Repub- 
 lican party — create a necessity for reform, con- 
 fessed by the Republicans themselves; but their 
 reformers are voted down in convention and dis- 
 placed from the Cabinet. The party's mass of 
 honest voters is powerless to resist the 80,000 
 office-holders, its leaders and guides. 
 
 Reform can oidy be had by a peaceful civic 
 revolution. We demand a change of sy.stem, a 
 change of administration, a change of parties 
 that we may have a change of measures and of 
 men. 
 
 Resolved, That this convention, representing 
 the Democratic party of the United States, do 
 cordially endorse the action of the ])resent House 
 of Representatives in reducing and curtailing 
 the expenses of the I'ederal Government in cut- 
 ting down salaries and extravagant appropria- 
 tions and in abolishing useless offices and places 
 not required by the public necessities; and we 
 shall triist to the firmness of the Democratic 
 members of the House that no committee of con- 
 ference and no misinterpretation of the rules will 
 be allowed to defeat these wholesome measures 
 of economy demanded by the country. 
 
 Resolved, That the soldiers and sailors of the 
 Republic and the widows and orphans of those 
 who have fallen in battle have a just claim upon 
 the care, protection and gratitude of their fellow- 
 citizens. 
 
 PLATFORMS OF 1880. 
 
 The first convention preparatory to the cam- 
 paign of 1880 was that held by the National 
 party at Toledo, Ohio, February 22, 1878. Other 
 National party conventions were held as follows: 
 National Liberal, at Cincinnati, Ohio, September 
 14, 1879; Republican, at Chicago, 111., June 2, 
 1880; National (Greenback), at Chicago, 111., 
 June 9, 1880; Prohibition, at Cleveland, Ohio, 
 June 17, 1880; Democratic, at Cincinnati, Ohio, 
 June 22, 1880. The so-called Independent Re- 
 publicans also presented a declaration of prin- 
 ciples in this campaign. 
 
 National Platform. 
 
 Whereas, Throughout our entire countr}' the 
 value of real estate is depreciated, industry par- 
 alyzed, trade depressed, business incomes and 
 wages reduced, unparalleled distress inflicted 
 upon the poorer and middle ranks of ourj^eople, 
 the land filled with fraud, embezzlement, bank- 
 
48 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 ru])lcy. crime, suffering, pauperism and stan-a- 
 tion ; and, 
 
 WhKkkas, This state of things has been 
 1)rought about by legislation in the interest of, and 
 dictated by, money-lenders, bankers and bond- 
 holders ; and, 
 
 Whereas, While we recognize the fact that 
 the men in Congress connected with the old po- 
 litical parties have stood up manfully for the 
 rights of the people, and met the threats of the 
 money power, and the ridicule of an ignorant 
 and subsidized press, yet neither the Republican 
 nor the Democratic parties, in their policies, 
 propose remedies for the existing evils ; and. 
 
 Whereas, The Independent Greenback part}^ 
 and other associations more or less effective, 
 have been unable hitherto to make a formidable 
 opposition to old part}^ organizations ; and. 
 
 Whereas, The limiting of the legal tender 
 quality of the greenbacks, the changing of cur- 
 rency bonds into coin bonds, the demonetization 
 of tiie silver dollar, the exempting of bonds 
 from taxation, the contraction of the circulating 
 medium, the proposed forced resumption of spe- 
 cie paj-ments, and the prodigal waste of the pub- 
 lic lands, were crimes against the people ; and, 
 as far as possible, the results of these criminal 
 acts must be counteracted by judicious legisla- 
 tion : 
 
 Therefore, We assemble in national conven- 
 tion and make a declaration of our principles, 
 and in\dte all patriotic citizens to unite in an 
 effort to secure financial reform and industrial 
 emancipation. The organization shall be known 
 as the "National Party," and under this name 
 we will perfect, without delay, national. State 
 and local associations, to secure the election to 
 office of such men onh^ as will pledge themselves 
 to do all in their power to establish these prin- 
 ciples: 
 
 1 . It is the exclusive function of the General 
 Government to coin and create money and reg- 
 ulate its value. All bank issues designed to cir- 
 iiilate as money should be suppressed. The cir- 
 culating medium, whether of metal or paper, 
 shall be issued by the Government, and made a 
 full legal tender for all debts, duties and taxes 
 in the United States, at its stamped value. 
 
 2. There shall be no privileged class of credit- 
 ors. Official salaries, pensions, bonds, and all 
 other debts and obligations, public and private, 
 shall be discharged in the legal tender money of 
 the United States strictly according to the stipi:- 
 lations of the laws under which they were con- 
 tracted. 
 
 3. The coinage of silver shall be placed on the 
 same footing as that of gold. 
 
 4. Congress shall provide said money adequate 
 to the full employment of labor, the equitable 
 distribution of its products, and the requirement 
 of business, fixing a minimum amount per cap- 
 
 ita of the population as near as may be, and 
 otherwise regulating its value by wise and equit- 
 able provisions of law, so that the rate of inter- 
 est will secure to labor its just reward. 
 
 5. It is inconsistent with the genius of popu- 
 lar government that any species of private prop- 
 erty should be exempt from bearing its proper 
 .share of the public burdens. Government bonds 
 and money should be taxed precisely as other 
 property, and a graduated income tax should be 
 levied for the support of the Government and 
 the pa3-ment of its debts. 
 
 6. Public lands are the common property of the 
 whole people, and should not be sold to specu- 
 lators nor granted to railroads or other corpora- 
 tions, but should be donated to actual settlers in 
 limited quantities. 
 
 7. The Government should by general enact- 
 ments, encourage the development of our agri- 
 cultural, mineral, mechanical, manufacturing, 
 and commercial resources, to the end that labor 
 may be fully and profitably employed; but no 
 monopolies should be legalized. 
 
 8. All useless offices should be abolished, the 
 mo.st rigid economy favored in every branch of 
 the public service, and severe punishment in- 
 flicted upon public officers who betray the trusts 
 reposed in them. 
 
 9. As educated labor has devised means for 
 multiplying productions by inventions and dis- 
 coveries, and as their use requires the exercise 
 of mind as well as bod}-, vsuch legislation should 
 be had that the number of hours of daily toil 
 will be reduced, giving to the working classes 
 more leisure for mental improvement and their 
 several enjoyments, and saving them from pre- 
 mature decay and death. 
 
 10. The adoption of an American monetary 
 sy.stem, as proposed herein, will harmonize all 
 differences in regard to tariff and federal taxa- 
 tion, rediice and equalize the cost of transporta- 
 tion by land and water, distribute equitably the 
 joint earnings of capital and labor, secure to the 
 producers of wealth the results of their labor 
 and skill, and muster out of service the vast 
 army of idlers, who, under the existing S3'stem, 
 grow rich upon the earnings of others, that every 
 man and woman may, by their own efforts, se- 
 cure a competency, so that overgrown fortunes 
 and extreme povert}^ will be seldom found with- 
 in the limits of our Republic. 
 
 11. Both national and State governments 
 should establish bureaus of labor and industrial 
 stati.stics, clothed with the power of gathering 
 and publishing the .same. 
 
 12. The contract S3\stem of employing labor 
 in our prisons and reformatory institutions works 
 great injustice to our mechanics and artisans, 
 and .should be prohibited. 
 
 13. The importation of servile labor into the 
 United States from China is a problem of the 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 49 
 
 most serious importance, and we recommend 
 legislation looking to its suppression. 
 
 We believe in tlie supremacy of law over and 
 above all perishable material, and in the neces- 
 sity of a party of united people that will rise 
 above old party lines and prejudices. We will 
 not affiliate in an}- degree with any of the old 
 parties, but, in all cases and localities, will 
 organize anew, as united National men — nom- 
 inate for office and official positions only such 
 persons as are clearly believers in and identified 
 with this our sacred cause; and, irrespective of 
 creed, color, place of birth, or past condition of 
 political or other servitude, vote only for men 
 who entirely abandon old party lines and organ- 
 izations. 
 
 National I^iheral Platform. 
 
 1. Total separation of Church and State, to be 
 guaranteed by amendment of tlie United States 
 Constitution; including the equitable taxation 
 of church property, secularization of the public 
 schools, abrogation of Sabbatarian laws, aboli- 
 tion of chaplaincies, prohibition of public appro- 
 priations for rehgious purposes, and all measures 
 necessary to the same general end. 
 
 2. National protection for national citizens in 
 their equal civil, political and religious rights, 
 to be gviaranteed by amendment of the United 
 vStates Constitution and afforded through the 
 United States courts. 
 
 3. Universal education, the basis of universal 
 suffrage in this secular Republic, to be guaranteed 
 by an'iendment of the United States Constitu- 
 tion, requiring every State to maintain a thor- 
 oughly secularized public school system, and to 
 permit no child -srithin its limits to grow up 
 without a good elemeutars- education. 
 
 Independent Republican Principles. 
 
 I. Independent Republicans adhere to the 
 Republican principles of national supremacy, 
 sound finances, and civil service reform, ex- 
 pressed in the Republican platform of 1876, in 
 the letter of acceptance of President Hayes, and 
 in his message of 1879; and they seek the reali- 
 zation of those principles in practical laws and 
 their efficient administration. This requires, 
 
 1. The continuance on the statute book of 
 laws protecting the rights of voters at national 
 elections. But national supremacy affords no 
 pretext for interference with the local rights of 
 conmiunities; and the development of the vSouth 
 from its present defective civilization can be 
 secured only under Constitutional methods, such 
 as those of President Hayes. 
 
 2. The passage of laws which shall deprive 
 greenbacks of their legal tender quality, as a 
 finst step toward their ultimate wthdrawal and 
 cancellation, and shall maintain all coins made 
 legal tender at such weight and fineness as will 
 
 enable them to be used without discount in the 
 commercial tran.sactions of the world. 
 
 3. The repeal of the acts which limit the terms 
 of office of certain government officials to four 
 years; the repeal of the tenure-of-office acts, 
 which linut the i)o\ver of the executive to re- 
 move for cause; the establishment of a perma- 
 nent civil serxice connni.s.sion, or equivalent 
 measures, to ascertain, l)y open competition, and 
 certify to the Presitlent, or other appointing 
 power, the fitness of aj^plicants for nomination 
 or appointment to all non-political offices. 
 
 II. Independent Republicans believe that 
 local i.ssues should be independent of party. 
 The words Repu1)lican and Democrat should 
 have no weight in determining whether a school 
 or city shall be administered on business prin- 
 ciples by capable men. With a view to this, 
 legislation is asked which shall prescribe for the 
 voting for local and for State officers upon sep- 
 arate ballots. 
 
 HI. Independent Republicans assert that a 
 political party is a co-operation of voters to 
 secure the practical enactment into legislation 
 of political convictions set forth as its platform. 
 Every voter accepting that platform is a member 
 of that party; any representative of that party 
 opposing the principles or evading the prom- 
 ises of its platform forfeits the support of its 
 voters. No voter should be held by the action 
 or nomination of any caucus or convention of 
 his party against his private judgment. It is 
 his duty to vote against bad measures and unfit 
 men, as the only means of obtaining good ones; 
 and if his party no longer represents its pro- 
 fessed principles in its practical workings, it is 
 his duty to vote again.st it. 
 
 IV. independent Republicans seek good nom- 
 inations through participation in the primaries 
 and through tlie defeat of bad nominees; they 
 vi-ill labor for the defeat of any local Repulslican 
 candidate, and, in co-operation with those hold- 
 ing like views elsewhere, for the defeat of any 
 general Republican candidate whom they do not 
 deem fit. 
 
 Republican Platform. 
 
 The Republican party, in national convention 
 assembled, at the end of twenty years since the 
 Federal Government was first committed to its 
 charge, submits to the people of the United 
 States its brief report of its administration. 
 
 It suppressed a rebellion which had armed 
 nearly a million of men to subvert the national 
 authorit)'. It reconstructed the Union of the 
 States with freedom instead of slavers-, as its 
 cornerstone. It transformed four millions of 
 human beings from the likeness of things to the 
 rank of citizens. It relieved Congress from the 
 infamous work of hunting fugitive slaves, and 
 charged it to see that slavery does not exist. 
 
50 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 It has raised the value of our paper currency 
 from thirty-eight per cent, to the par of gold. 
 It has restored upon a solid Ijasis payment in 
 coin for all the national obligations, and has 
 given us a currency absolutely good and equal 
 in every part of om- extended country. It has 
 lifted the credit of the Nation from the point 
 where six per cent, bonds sold at eighty-six to 
 that where four ])cr cent, bonds are eagerly 
 .sought at a premium. 
 
 Under its administration railways have in- 
 creased from 31,000 miles in i860 to more than 
 82,000 miles in 1S79. 
 
 Our foreign trade has increased from $700,- 
 000,000 to 11,150,000,000 in the same time; and 
 our exports, which were 120,000,000 less than 
 our imports in i860, were $264,000,000 more than 
 our imports in 1879. 
 
 Without resorting to loans, it has, since the 
 war closed, defrayed the ordinary expenses of 
 government, besides the accruing interest on the 
 public debt, and disbursed annually over lijO,- 
 000,000 for soldiers' pensions. It has paid |;888,- 
 000,000 of the public debt, and by refunding 
 the 1)alance at lower rates has reduced the an- 
 nual interest charge from nearly $151,000,000 to 
 less than 189,000,000. 
 
 All the industries of the country have revived, 
 labor is in demand, wages have increased, and 
 throughout the entire country there is evidence 
 of a coming prosperity greater than we have 
 ever enjoyed. 
 
 Upon this record the Republican party asks 
 for the continued confidence and support of the 
 people; and this convention submits for their 
 approval the following statement of the prin- 
 ciples and purposes which will continue to guide 
 and inspire its efforts : 
 
 1 . We affirm that the work of the last twenty 
 3'ears has been such as to commend itself to the 
 favor of the Nation, and that the fruits of the 
 costl}' victories which we have achieved through 
 immense difficulties should be preserved; that 
 the peace regained should be cherished; that the 
 dis.severed Union, now happily restored, should 
 be perpetuated, and that the liberties secured to 
 this generation should be transmitted undimin- 
 ished to future generations; that the order es- 
 tabli.shed and the credit acquired shoiild never 
 be impaired; that the pensions promised should 
 be paid; that the debt so much reduced should 
 be extinguished by the full payment of every 
 dollar thereof ; that the reviving industries 
 •should be further promoted, and that the com- 
 merce, already so great, should be steadily en- 
 couraged. 
 
 2. The Constitiation of the United States is a 
 supreme law and not a mere contract; out of 
 confederate States it made a sovereign Nation. 
 Some powers are denied to the Nation, while 
 others are denied to States; but the boundary- be- 
 
 tween the powers delegated and those reserved 
 is to be determined by national and not by the 
 State tribunals. 
 
 3. The work of popular education is one left 
 to the care of the several States, but it is the 
 duty of the National Government to aid that 
 work to the extent of its Constitutional ability. 
 The intelligence of the Nation is but the aggre- 
 gate of the intelligence in the several States, and 
 the destiny of the Nation nuust be guided, not 
 by the genius of any one State, but by the aver- 
 age genius of all. 
 
 4. The Constitution wisely forbids Congress to 
 make any law respecting an establishment of re- 
 ligion, but it is idle to hope that the Nation 
 can be protected against the influences of sec- 
 tarianism while each State is exposed to its dom- 
 ination. We, therefore, recommend that the 
 Constitution be so amended as to lay the same 
 prohibition upon the Legislature of each State, 
 to forbid the appropriation of public funds to the 
 support of sectarian schools. 
 
 5. We reaffirm the belief avowed in 1876 that 
 the duties levied for the purpose of revenue 
 should so discriminate as to favor American 
 labor; that no further grant of the public domain 
 should be made to any railway or other corpo- 
 ration; that slavery having perished in the States, 
 its twin barbarity — polygamy — nmst die in the 
 Territories; that everywhere the protection ac- 
 corded to citizens of American birth nmst be se- 
 cured to citizens by American adoption; that we 
 esteem it the duty of Congress to develop and 
 improve our water-courses and harbors, but in- 
 sist that further subsidies to private persons or 
 corporations must cease; that the obligations of 
 the Republic to the men who preserved its in- 
 tegrity in the day of battle are undiminished by 
 the lapse of fifteen years since their final victory 
 — to do them perpetual honor is and shall for- 
 ever be the grateful privilege and sacred duty of 
 the American people. 
 
 6. Since the authority to regulate immigration 
 and intercourse between the United States and 
 foreign nations rests with the Congress of the 
 LTnited States and its treaty-making powers, the 
 Republican party, regarding the unrestricted 
 immigration of the Chinese as an evil of great 
 magmtude, invoke the exercise of that power to 
 restrain and limit that innnigration by the en- 
 actment of such just, humane and reasonable 
 provisions as will produce that result. 
 
 7. That the purity and patriotism which char- 
 acterized the early career of Rutherford B. 
 Hayes in peace and war, and which guided the 
 thoughts of our immediate predecessors to select 
 him for a Presidential candidate, have continvied 
 to inspire him in his career as chief executive, 
 and that history will accord to his administration 
 the honors which are due to an efficient, just and 
 courteous discharge of the public business, and 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 51 
 
 will honor his interposition between the people 
 and proposed partisan laws. 
 
 S. We charge upon the Democratic party the 
 hal)itual sacrifice of patriotism and justice to a 
 supreme and insatiable lust for office and pat- 
 ronage. That to obtain jxissession of the na- 
 tional and State governments, and the control 
 of place and positions, they have obstructed all 
 efTortsto promote the purity and to conserve the 
 freedom of suffrage; have devised fraudulent 
 certifications and returns; have labored to unseat 
 lawfully elected members of Congress to secure, 
 at all hazards, the vote of a majority of the 
 States in the House of Representatives; have en- 
 deavored to occupy by force and fraud the 
 places of trust given to others by the people of 
 Maine, and rescued by the courageous action of 
 Maine's patriotic sons; have, by methods vicious 
 in principle and tyrannical in practice, attached 
 partisan legislation to appropriation bills, upon 
 whose passage the very movements of govern- 
 ment depend; have crushed the rights of the 
 individual; have advocated the principle and 
 sought the favor of rebellion against the Nation, 
 and have endeavored to obliterate the sacred 
 memories of the war, and to overcome its inesti- 
 mably valuable results of nationality, personal 
 freedom and individual equality. Equal, steady 
 and complete enforcement of the laws and pro- 
 tection of all our citizens in the enjoj^ment of all 
 priv'ileges and immunities guaranteed by the 
 Constitution, are the first duties of the Nation. 
 The danger of a solid South can only be averted 
 by a faithful performance of ever)- promise which 
 the Nation made to the citizen. The execution 
 of the laws, and the punishment of all those who 
 violate them, are the only safe methods by which 
 an enduring peace can be secured, and genuine 
 prosperity established throughout the South. 
 Whatever promises the Nation makes, the Na- 
 tion must perform; and the Nation cannot with 
 safety relegate this duty to the States. The 
 solid South must be divided by the peaceful 
 agencies of the ballot, and all opinions must 
 there find free expression; and to this end honest 
 voters must be protected against terrorism, vio- 
 lence or fraud. And we affirm it to be the duty 
 and the purpose of the Republican party to use 
 all legitimate means to restore all the States of 
 this Union to the most perfect harmony which 
 may be practicable; and we submit to the prac- 
 tical, sensible people of the United States to say 
 whether it would not be dangerous to the dear- 
 est interests of our country, at this time, to sur- 
 render the administration of the national Gov- 
 ernment to a party which seeks to overthrow 
 the existing policy, under which we are so pros- 
 perous, and thus bring distrust and confusion 
 where there is now order, confidence and hope. 
 
 9. The Republican party, adhering to a prin- 
 ciple affirmed by its last national convention, of 
 
 respect for the Constitutional rule covering ap- 
 pointments to office, adopts the declaration of 
 President Hayes, that the reform of the civil ser- 
 vice should be thorough, radical and complete. 
 To this end it demands the co-operation of the 
 legislative with the execi^tive department of the 
 Government, and that Congress .shall so legislate 
 that fitness, ascertained by proper practical tests, 
 shall admit to the public service; and that the 
 power of removal for cause, with due responsi- 
 bility for the good conduct of subordinates, shall 
 accompany the power of appointment. 
 
 National Platform ( Greenback). 
 
 The civil Government .should guarantee the 
 divine right of every laborer to the results of his 
 toil, thus enabling the producers of wealth to 
 provide themselves with the means for physical 
 comfort, and facilities for mental, social and 
 moral culture; and we condemn, as unworthy of 
 our civilization, the barbarism which imposes 
 upon wealth-producers a state of drudgery as the 
 price of a bare animal existence. Notwith- 
 standing the enormous increase of productive 
 power by the universal introduction of labor- 
 saving machinery and the discovery of new 
 agents for the increase of wealth, the task of the 
 laborer is scarcely lightened, the hours of toil 
 are but little shortened, and few producers are 
 lifted from poverty into comfort and pecuniary 
 independence. The associated monopolies, the 
 international syndicates, and other income 
 classes demand' dear money, cheap labor, and 
 a strong government, and, hence a weak people. 
 Corporate control of the volume of money has 
 been the means of dividing society into hostile 
 classes of an unjust distribution of the products 
 of labor, and of building up monopolies of as.so- 
 ciated capital endowed with power to confiscate 
 private property. It has kept money scarce; 
 and the scarcity of money enforces debt trade, 
 and public and corporate loans; debt engenders 
 usury, and usury ends in the bankruptcy of the 
 borrower. Other results are deranged markets, 
 uncertainty in manufacturing enterprises and 
 agriculture, precarious and intermittent employ- 
 ment for the laborer, industrial war, increasing 
 pauperism and crime, and the consequent in- 
 timidation and disfranchisement of the producer, 
 and a rapid declension into corporate feudalism. 
 Therefore, we declare, 
 
 I . That the right to make and issue money is 
 a sovereign power, to be maintained by the peo- 
 ple for their common benefit. The delegation 
 of this right to corporations is a surrender of the 
 central attribute of sovereignty, void of Consti- 
 tutional sanction and conferring upon a subor- 
 dinate and irresponsible power an absolute 
 dominion over industry and commerce. All 
 money, whether metallic or paper, should be is- 
 sued and its volume controlled by the Govern- 
 
52 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 nient and not by or through banking corpora- 
 tions, and when so issued should be a full legal 
 tender for all debts, public and private. 
 
 2. That the bonds of the United States should 
 not be refunded, but paid as rapidly as practi- 
 cable, according to contract. To enable the Gov- 
 ernment to meet these obligations legal tender 
 currency should be substituted for the notes of 
 the national banks, the national banking system 
 abolished and the unlimited coinage of silver, as 
 well as gold, established by law. 
 
 3. That lal)or should be so protected by na- 
 tional and State authority as to equalize its bur- 
 dens and insure a just distribution of the results. 
 The eight hour law of Congress should be en- 
 forced, the .sanitary condition of industrial estab- 
 lishments placed under rigid control, the com- 
 petition of contract convict labor abolished, a 
 bureau of labor statistics established, factories, 
 mines and workshops inspected, the employ- 
 ment of children imder fourteen years of age 
 forbidden, and wages paid in cash. 
 
 4. Slavery being simply cheap labor and cheap 
 labor being simply slavery, the importation and 
 presence of Chinese serfs necessarily tends to 
 l)rutalize and degrade American labor; therefore 
 inunediate steps shovild be taken to abrogate the 
 Burlingame treaty. 
 
 5. Railroad land grants forfeited by reason of 
 non-fulfillment of contract should be immedi- 
 ately reclaimed by the Government, and hence- 
 forth the public domain reserved exclusively as 
 homes for actual settlers. 
 
 6. It is the dut}' of Congress to regulate inter- 
 state commerce. All lines of connnunication 
 and transportation should be brought under such 
 legislative control as shall secure moderate, fair 
 and uniform rates for passenger and freight 
 traffic. 
 
 7. We denounce as destructive to property and 
 dangerous to liberty the action of the old parties 
 in fastening and sustaining gigantic land, rail- 
 road and money corporations and monopolies in- 
 vested with and exercising powers belonging to 
 the Government and yet not responsible to it for 
 the manner of their exercise. 
 
 8. That the Constitution in giving Congress 
 the power to borrow money, to declare war, raise 
 and support armies, to provide and maintain a 
 navy never intended that the men who loaned 
 their money for an interest consideration should 
 be preferred to the soldiers and sailors who 
 periled their lives and shed their blood on land 
 and sea in defense of their country; and we con- 
 demn the cruel class legislation of the Repub- 
 lican party, which, while professing great grati- 
 tude to the soldier, has most unjustly discrimi- 
 nated against him and in favor of the bondholder. 
 
 9. All property should bear its just proportion 
 of taxation and we demand a graduated income 
 tax. 
 
 10. We denounce as dangerous the efforts 
 everywhere manifested to restrict the right of 
 suffrage. 
 
 11. We arc opposed to an increase of the 
 standing army in time of peace and the insid- 
 ious scheme to establish an enormous military 
 power under the guise of militia laws. 
 
 12. We demand absolute democratic rules for 
 the government of Congress, placing all repre- 
 sentatives of the people upon an equal footing 
 and taking away from committees a veto power 
 greater than that of the President. 
 
 13. We demand a government of the people, 
 Vjy the people and for the people instead of a 
 government of the bondholder, by the bond- 
 holder and for the bondholder; and we denounce 
 every attempt to stir up sectional strife as an 
 effort to conceal monstrous crimes against the 
 people. 
 
 14. In the furtherance of these ends we ask 
 the co-operation of all fair-minded people. We 
 have no quarrel with individuals, wage no war 
 on classes, but only against vicious institutions. 
 We are not content to endure further discipline 
 from our present actual rulers, who, having do- 
 minion over money, over transportation, over 
 land and labor, over the press and the machinery 
 of government, wield unwarrantable power over 
 our institutions and over life and property. 
 
 Prohibition Reform Platform. 
 
 The Prohibition Reform partj- of the United 
 States, organized in the name of the people to 
 revive, enforce and perpetuate in the Govern- 
 ment the doctrines of the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence, submit for the siiffrage of all good 
 citizens the following platform of national re- 
 forms and measures: 
 
 In the examination and discussion of the tem- 
 perance question it has been proven and it is an 
 accepted truth that alcoholic drinks, whether 
 fermented, brewed or distilled, are poisonous to 
 the healthy human body, the drinking of Avhich 
 is not only needless but hurtful, necessarily 
 tending to form intemperate habits, increasing 
 greatly the number, severity and fatal termina- 
 tion of diseases, weakening and deranging the 
 intellect, polluting the affections, hardening the 
 heart and corrupting the morals, depriving many 
 of reason and still more of its healthful exercise 
 and annually bringing down large numbers to 
 untimely graves, producing, in tlie children of 
 many who drink, a predisposition to intemper- 
 ance, insanity, and various bodily and mental 
 diseases, causing diminution of strength, feeble- 
 ness of vision, fickleness of purpose and pre- 
 mature old age, and inducing, in all future 
 generations, deterioration of moral and phj^sical 
 character. Alcoholic drinks are thus the impla- 
 cable foe of man as an individual. 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 53 
 
 1. The legalized importation, manufacture, 
 and sale of intoxicating drinks ministers to their 
 use, and teaches the erroneous and destructive 
 sentiment that such use is right, thus tending 
 to produce and perpetuate the above-mentioned 
 evils. 
 
 2. To the home it is an enemy — proving 
 itself to be a disturber and destroyer of its peace, 
 prosperity and happiness; taking from it the 
 earnings of the husband; depriving the depend- 
 ent wife and children of essential food, clothing, 
 and education; bringing into it profanity, abuse 
 and violence; setting at naught the vows of the 
 marriage altar; breaking up the family and 
 sundering the children from the parents, and 
 thus destroying one of the most beneficent 
 institutions of our Creator, and removing the 
 sure foundation of good government, national 
 prosperity and welfare. 
 
 3. To the communit}- it is equally an enemy- 
 producing vice, demoralization and wickedness; 
 its places of sale being resorts of gaming, lewd- 
 ness and debaucher}-, and the hiding-place of 
 those who prey upon society; counteracting the 
 efficacy of religious effort, and of all means of 
 intellectual elevation, moral purity, social hap- 
 piness, and the eternal good of mankind, with- 
 out rendering any counteracting or compensating 
 benefits; being in its influence and effect evil 
 and onh^ evil, and that continually. 
 
 4. To the State it is equally an enemy — legis- 
 lative inquiries, judicial investigations, and 
 official reports of all penal, reformatory and 
 dependent institutions showing that the manu- 
 facture and sale of such beverages is the 
 promoting cause of intemperance, crime, and 
 pauperism, and of demands upon public and 
 private charity, imposing the larger part of 
 taxation, paralyzing thrift, industr}-, manufac- 
 tures and commercial life, which, but for it, 
 would be unnecessarj-; disturbing the peace of 
 streets and highwaj-s; filling prisons and poor- 
 houses; corrupting politics, legislation, and the 
 execution of the laws; .shortening lives; dimin- 
 ishing health, industry and productive power of 
 manufactures and art; and is manifestly unjust 
 as well as injurious to the commtmity upon 
 which it is imposed, and is contrary to all just 
 views of civil liberty, as well as a violation of 
 the fundamental maxim of our common law, to 
 use 3'our own propert}- or liberty so as to not 
 injure others. 
 
 5. It is neither right nor politic for the State 
 to afford legal protection to any traffic or any 
 system which tends to waste the resources, to 
 corrupt the social habits, and to destroy the 
 health and lives of the people; that the importa- 
 tion, manufacture, and sale of intoxicating 
 beverages is proven to be inimical to the true 
 interests of the individual home, community 
 and State, and destructive to the order and wel- 
 
 fare of society, and ought, therefore, to be 
 classed among crimes to be prohibited. 
 
 6. In this time of profound peace at home 
 and abroad, the entire separation of the General 
 Government from the drink-traffic, and its pro- 
 hibition in the District of Columbia, Territories, 
 and in all places and ways over which, under 
 the Constitution, Congress has control and 
 power, is a political is.sue of the first importance 
 to the peace and prosperity of the Nation. There 
 can be no stable peace and protection to personal 
 liberty, life, or property, until .secured by national 
 or State Constitutional provisions, enforced by 
 adequate laws. 
 
 7. All legitimate industries require deliver- 
 ance from the taxation and loss which the liquor 
 traflic imposes upon them; and financial and 
 other legislation could not accomplish so nuich 
 to increase production and cause a demand for 
 labor, and, as a result, for the comforts of living, 
 as the suppression of this traffic would bring to 
 thousands of homes as one of its blessings. 
 
 8. The administration of the government and 
 the execution of the laws are through political 
 parties; and we arraign the Republican party, 
 which has been in continuous power in the 
 Nation for twenty years, as being false to duty, 
 as false to loudly proclaimed principles of equal 
 justice to all and special favors to none, and of 
 protection to the weak and dependent, insensible 
 to the mischief which the trade in liquor has 
 constantly inflicted upon industry, trade, com- 
 merce, and the social happiness of the people; 
 that 5,652 di.stilleries, 3,830 breweriesand 175.266 
 places for the sale of these poisonous liquors, 
 involving an annual waste to the Nation of one 
 million five hundred thousand dollars, and the 
 sacrifice of one hundred thousand lives, have 
 under its legislation grow-n up and been fostered 
 as a legitimate soi;rce of revenue; that during its 
 history, six Territories have been organized and 
 five vStates been admitted to the Union, with 
 constitutions provided and approved by Con- 
 gress, but the prohibition of this debasing and 
 destructive traffic has not been provided, nor 
 even the people given at the time of admission, 
 power to forind it in any one of them. Its history 
 further shows, that not in a single instance has 
 an original prohibitory law been passed by any 
 State that was controlled by it, while in four 
 States, so governed, the laws found on its advent 
 to power have been repealed. At its national 
 convention in 1872, it declared, as part of its 
 party faith, that " it disapproves of the resort to 
 unconstitutional laws for the purpose of remov- 
 ing evils, by interference with rights not sur- 
 rendered bv the people to either the State or 
 national Govermnent, ' ' which, the author of this 
 plank says, was adopted by the platform com- 
 mittee with the full and imphcit understanding 
 that its purpose was the discountenancing of all 
 
54 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 so-called temperance, prohibitory and Sunday 
 laws. 
 
 9. We arraign, also, the Democratic party as 
 unfaithful and unworthy of reliance on this 
 question; for, although not clothed with power, 
 but occupying the relation of an opposition 
 part}- during twenty years past, strong in nuniT 
 hers and organization, it has allied itself with 
 liquor traffickers, and become, in all the States 
 of the L^nion, their special political defenders, 
 and in its national convention in 1876, as an 
 article of its political faith, declared again.st 
 prohibition and just laws in restraint of the 
 trade in drink, by saying it was opposed to what 
 it was pleased to call "all sumptuary laws." 
 The National party has been dumb on this ques- 
 tion. 
 
 10. Drink traffickers, having the history and 
 experience of all ages, climes, and conditions of 
 men, declaring their business destructive of all 
 good — finding no support in the Bible, morals 
 or reason — appeal to misapplied law for their 
 justification, and intrench themselves behind 
 the evil elements of political party for defense, 
 party tactics and party inertia become battling 
 forces, protecting this evil. 
 
 11. In view of the foregoing facts and history, 
 we cordially invite all voters without regard to 
 former party affiliations, to unite with us in the 
 use of the ballot for the abolition of the drink- 
 ing system, under the authority of our national 
 and State governments. We also demand as a 
 right, that women, having the privileges of citi- 
 zens in other respects, be clothed with the bal- 
 lot for their protection, and as a rightful means 
 for the proper settlement of the liquor question. 
 
 12. To remove the apprehension of some who 
 allege that a loss of public revenue would follow 
 the suppression of the direct trade, we confi- 
 dently point to the experience of governments 
 abroad and at home, which shows that thrift 
 and revenue from the consumption of legitimate 
 manufactures and commerce have so largely 
 followed the abolition of drink as to ful'.y sup- 
 ply all loss of liquor taxes. 
 
 13. We recognize the good providence of Al- 
 mighty God, who has preserved and prospered 
 us as a Nation; and, asking for His Spirit to 
 guide us to ultimate success, we all look for it, 
 reh'ing upon His omnipotent arm. 
 
 Democratic Platform. 
 
 The Democrats of the United States; m con- 
 vention assembled, declare: 
 
 I . We pledge ourselves anew to the Constitu- 
 tional doctrines and traditions of the Demo- 
 cratic party, as illustrated by the teachings and 
 examples of a long line of Democratic statesmen 
 and patriots, and embodied in the platform of 
 the last natioiial convention of the party. 
 
 2. Opposition to centralization, and to that 
 dangerous spirit of encroachment which tends to 
 consolidate the powers of all the departments in 
 one, and thus to create, whatever the form of 
 government, a real despotism ; no sumptuary laws; 
 separation of the church and State for the good 
 of each; common schools fostered and protected. 
 
 3. Home rule; honest money, consisting of 
 gold and silver, and paper convertible into coin 
 on demand; the strict maintenance of the public 
 faith. State and national; and a tariff for revenue 
 only; the subordination of the military to the 
 civil power; and a general and thorough reform 
 of the civil service. 
 
 4. The right to a free ballot is a right preserv- 
 ative of all rights; and must and shall be main- 
 tained in every part of the United States. 
 
 5. The existing administration is the repre- 
 sentative of conspiracy onl}-; and its claim of 
 right to surround the ballot-boxes with troops 
 and deputy marshals, to intimidate and obstruct 
 the elections, and the unprecedented use of the 
 veto to maintain its corrupt and despotic power, 
 insults the people and imperils their institutions. 
 We execrate the course of this administration in 
 making places in the civil ser\-ice a reward for 
 political crime; and demand a reform, by statute, 
 which shall make it forever impossible for a de- 
 feated candidate to bribe his way to the seat of 
 a usurper by billeting villains upon the people. 
 
 6. Tlie great fraud of 1876-7, by which, upon 
 a false count of the electoral votes of two States, 
 the candidate defeated at the polls was declared 
 to be President, and for the first time in Ameri- 
 can history, the will of the people was set aside 
 under a threat of military violence, struck a 
 deadly blow to our system of representative gov- 
 ernment. The Democratic party, to preser\'e the 
 country from the horrors of a civil war, sub- 
 mitted for the time, in the firm and patriotic be- 
 lief that the people would punish the crime in 
 1880. This issue precedes and dwarfs every 
 other. It imposes a more sacred duty upon the 
 people of the Union than ever addressed the con- 
 sciences of a nation of freemen. 
 
 7. The resolution of Sanmel J. Tilden not 
 again to be a candidate for the exalted place to 
 which he was elected by a majority of his couh- 
 trymen, and from which he was excluded by the 
 leaders of the Republican party, is received by 
 the Democrats of the L^nited States with deep 
 sensibility; and they declare their confidence 
 in his wisdom, patriotism and integrity un- 
 shaken by the assaults of the common enemy; 
 and they further assure him that he is followed 
 into the retirement he has chosen for himself 
 by the sympathy and respect of his fellow-cit- 
 izens, who regard him as one who, by elevating 
 the standard of the public morality, and adorn- 
 ing and purifying the public service, merits the 
 lasting gratitude of his country and his party. 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 55 
 
 8. Free ships and a living chance for Ameri- 
 can commerce upon the seas; and on the land, 
 no discrimination in favor of transportation 
 lines, corporations, or monopolies. 
 
 9. Amendments of the Bnrlingame treaty, no 
 more Chinese immigration, except for travel, 
 education, and foreign commerce, and, therein, 
 carefully guarded. 
 
 10. Public money and public credit for public 
 purposes solelv, and public land for actual set- 
 tlers. 
 
 1 1 . The Democratic party is the friend of labor 
 and the laboring man, and pledges itself to 
 protect him alike against the cormorants and the 
 commune. 
 
 12. We congratulate the country upon the 
 honesty and thrift of a Democratic Congress, 
 which has reduced the public e.Kpenditure |io,- 
 000,000 a year; upon a continuation of prosper- 
 ity at home and national honor abroad; and, 
 above all, upon the promise of such a change in 
 the administration of the Government as shall 
 insure a genuine and lasting reform in every de- 
 partment of the public ser\-ice. 
 
 PLATFORMS OF 1884. 
 
 The campaign of 1884 was a very spirited one. 
 The National (Greenback Labor) party was in 
 the field before the close of May. Its national 
 convention met in Indianapolis, May 28, and 
 nominated Gen. Benjamin F. Butler for Presi- 
 dent, and this became the central movement of 
 the reform forces outside of the Prohibition 
 party. The union of the reformers in support of 
 the Butler movement was called the People's 
 Party. The Republicans held their national 
 convention in Chicago, beginning June 6. The 
 national convention of the Democratic party met 
 in Chicago, July 11. The Prohibitionists as- 
 sembled in Pittsburgh in national convention, 
 July 23. 
 
 Greenback -I^abor Platform. 
 
 We, the National party of the United States, 
 in national convention assembled, this 29th day 
 of May, A. D. 1884, declare: 
 
 I. That we hold the late decision of the Su- 
 preme Court on the legal tender question to be 
 a full vindication of the theory which our party 
 has always advocated on the right and authority 
 of Congress over the issue of legal tender notes, 
 and we hereby pledge ourselves to uphold said 
 deci.sion, and to defend the Constitution against 
 alterations or amendments intended to deprive 
 the people of any rights or pri\'ileges conferred 
 
 by that instrument. We demand the is.sue of 
 such money in sufficient quantities to .supply the 
 actual demand of trade and commerce, in ac- 
 cordance with the increase of population and the 
 dovelopment of our industries. We demand 
 the substitution of greenbacks for national bank 
 notes and the prompt payment of the public 
 debt. We want that mone}' which saved our 
 country in time of war and which has given it 
 prosperity and happiness in peace. We con- 
 (lenni the retirement of the fractional currency 
 and the small denominations of greenbacks and 
 demand their restoration. We demand the issue 
 of the hoards of money now locked up in the 
 United vStates Treasury, by ai)])lying them to the 
 payment of the pul)lic debt n<iw due. 
 
 2. We denounce as dangerous to our republi- 
 can institutions, those methods and policies of 
 the Democratic and Republican parties which 
 have sailctioned or permitted the establishment 
 of land, railroad, mone}- and other gigantic cor- 
 porate monopolies; and we demand such gov- 
 ernmental action as may be necessary to take 
 from such monopolies the powers they have so 
 corruptly and unjustly usurped, and restore 
 them to the people, to whom they belong. 
 
 3. The public lands being the natural inherit- 
 ance of the people, we denounce that policy 
 which has granted to corproations vast tracts 
 of land, and we demand that inunediate and 
 vigorous measures be taken to reclaim from such 
 corporations, for the people's use and ])enefit, 
 all such land grants as have been forfeited by 
 reason of non-fulfillment of contract, or that 
 may have been wrongfully acquired by corrupt 
 legislation, and that such reclaimed lands and 
 other public domain be henceforth held as a 
 sacred tru.st, to be granted only to actual settlers 
 in limited quantities; and we also demand that 
 the alien ownership of land, individual or corpo- 
 rate, shall be prohibited. 
 
 4. We demand Cuni^rcs.'^innal regulation of 
 inter-state conmierce. W'l iKiiDunce "pooling," 
 stock watering and discrnniiialion in rates and 
 charges, and demand that Congress shall correct 
 these abuses, even if necessarj-, by the construc- 
 tion of national railroads. We also demand the 
 establishment of a Government postal telegraph 
 system. 
 
 5. All private property, all fonns of money 
 and obligations to pay money should bear their 
 just proportion of the public taxes. We demand 
 a graduated income tax. 
 
 6. We demand the amelioration of the condi- 
 tion of labor by enforcing the sanitary laws in 
 industrial establishments by the abolition of the 
 convict labor system, by a rigid inspection of 
 mines and factories, by a reduction of the hours 
 of labor in indu.strial 'establishments, by fo.ster- 
 ing educational institutions and by abolishing 
 child labor. 
 
56 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 7. We condemn all importations of contracted 
 laljor, made with a view of reducing to starva- 
 tion wages the workingmen of this country and 
 demand laws for its prevention. 
 
 8. We insist u])on a Constitutional amendment 
 reducing the terms of United vStates Senators. 
 
 9. We demand such rules for the government 
 of Congress as shall place all representatives of 
 tlie people upon an equal footing and take away 
 from committees a veto power greater than that 
 of the President. 
 
 10. The question as to the amount of dvities 
 to be levied upon various articles of import has 
 been agitated and quarreled over and has di- 
 vided comnmnities for nearly a hundred years. 
 It is not now and never will be settled unless by 
 the abolition of indirect taxation. It is a con- 
 venient issue — always raised when people are 
 excited over abuses in their midst. While we 
 favor a wise revision of the tariflf laws, with a 
 view to raising a revenue from luxuries rather 
 than necessaries, we insist that as an economic 
 question its importance is insignificant as com- 
 pared with financial issues; for whereras we have 
 suffered our worst panics under low and also 
 under high tariffs, we have never suffered from 
 a panic nor seen our factories and workshops 
 closed while the volume of money in circulation 
 was adequate to the needs of conmierce. Give 
 our farmers and manufacturers money as cheap 
 as 3'ou now give it to our bankers, and they can 
 pay high wages to labor and compete with all 
 the world. 
 
 11. For the purpose of testing the sense of the 
 people upon the subject, we are in favor of sub- 
 mitting to a vote of the people an amendment to 
 the Constitution in favor of suffrage, regardless 
 of sex, and also on the subject of liquor traflfic. 
 
 12. All di.sabled soldiers of the late war should 
 be equitably pensioned, and we denounce the 
 policy of keeping a small anny of office-holders 
 whose only business is to prevent, on technical 
 grounds, deserving soldiers from obtaining jus- 
 tice from the Government the}" helped to save. 
 
 13. As our name indicates, we are a national 
 part}-, knowing no East, no West, no North, no 
 South. Having no sectional prejudices, we can 
 properly place in nomination for the high offfces 
 of State, as candidates, men from any section of 
 the Union. 
 
 14. We appeal to all people who believe in 
 our principles to aid us by voice, pen and votes. 
 
 Republican Platform. 
 
 The Republicans of the United States in na- 
 tional convention assembled, renew their alle- 
 giance to the principles upon which they have 
 triuinphed in six successive Presidential elections, 
 and congratulate the American people on the at- 
 tainment of so many results in legislation and 
 administration by which the Republican party 
 
 has, after saving the Union, done .so much to 
 render its institutions ju.st, equal and beneficent, 
 the safeguard of liberty and the embodiment of 
 the best thought and highest purpose of our cit- 
 izens. The Republican party has gained its 
 strength by quick and faithful response to the 
 demands of the people for the freedom and 
 equality of all men; for a united Nation, assur- 
 ing the rights of all citizens; for the elevation 
 of labor, for an honest currency, for purity in 
 legislation and for integrity and accountability 
 in all departments of the Government ; and it 
 accepts anew the duty of leading in the work of 
 progress and reform. We lament the death of 
 President Garfield, whose .sound statesmanship, 
 long conspicuous in Congress, gave promise of 
 strong and successful administration, a promise 
 fully realized during the short period of his 
 office as President of the United States. His 
 distinguished services in war and peace have en- 
 deared him to the hearts of the American peo- 
 ple. In the administration of President Arthur 
 we recognize a wise, conservative and patriotic 
 policy, under which the country has been 
 blessed with remarkable prosperity, and we be- 
 lieve his eminent services are entitled to and 
 will receive the hearty approval of every citizen. 
 
 It is the first duty of a good government to 
 protect the rights and promote the interests of 
 its own people. The largest diversity of indus- 
 try is most productive of general pro.sperity and 
 of the comfort and independence of the people. 
 We therefore demand that the imposition of 
 duties on foreign imports shall be made not "for 
 revenue only, ' ' but that in raising the requisite 
 revenues for the Government such duties shall 
 be so levied as to afford .security to our diversified 
 industries and protection to the rights and 
 wages of the laborer, to the end that active and 
 intelligent labor as well as capital may have its 
 just award and the laboring man his full share 
 in the national prosperity, against the so-called 
 economic system of the Democratic party which 
 would degrade our labor to the foreign standard, 
 we enter our earnest protest. The Democratic 
 party has failed completely to relieve the people 
 of the unneces.sary taxation by a wise reduction 
 of the surplus. The Republican party pledges 
 itself to correct the inequalities of the tariff and 
 to reduce the suiplus, not by a vicious and in- 
 discriminate process of horizontal reduction, 
 but by such methods as will relieve the tax-payer 
 without injuring the laborer or great productive 
 interests of the covintry. 
 
 We recognize the importance of sheep hus- 
 bandry in the United States, the serious depres- 
 sion which it is now experiencing and the 
 danger threatening its future prosperity, and we 
 therefore respect the demands of the represent- 
 atives of this important agricultural interest 
 for a readjustment of duty upon foreign wool, 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 57 
 
 ill order that such industry shall have full and 
 adequate protection. We have always reconi- 
 uiended t)ie best money known to the civilized 
 workl, and we urge that efforts should be made 
 to unite all commercial nations in the esta1)li.sh- 
 ment of an international standard, which shall 
 fix for all the relative value of gold and silver 
 coinage. The regvilations of commerce with for- 
 eign nations and between the States is one of 
 the most important prerogatives of the General 
 Government. The Repulslican party distinctly 
 announces its purpose to support such legisla- 
 tion as will fully and efficiently carry out the 
 Constitutional power of Congress over inter- 
 state commerce. The principle of the public 
 regulation of railway corporations is a wise and 
 .salutary one for the protection of all classes of 
 the people and favor legislation that shall pre- 
 vent unjust discrimination and excessive charges 
 for transportation, and that shall secure to the 
 people and the railways alike the fair and equal 
 protection of the laws. We favor the establish- 
 ment of a national bureau of labor; the enforce- 
 ment of the eight hour law; a wise and judicious 
 .system of general education by adequate appro- 
 priations from the national revenue wherever 
 the same is needed. We believe that everywhere 
 the protection to citizens of American birth must 
 be secured to citizens by American adoption, 
 and we favor the settlement of national differ- 
 ences by international arbitration. The Repub- 
 lican party having its birth in the hatred of slave 
 labor, and a desire that all men may be truly 
 free and equal, is unutterably opposed to place 
 workingmeii in competition with any form of 
 servile labor, whether at home or abroad. In 
 this spirit we denounce the importation of con- 
 tract labor whether from Europe or Asia, as an 
 offen.se against the spirit of American institu- 
 tions. We pledge ourselves to sustain the 
 present law restricting Chinese immigration and 
 to provide such further legislation as is necessary 
 to carry out its purposes. 
 
 The reform of the civil service so conspic- 
 uously begun under Republican administration, 
 should be conpleted by the further extension of 
 the reformed .system already established by law, 
 to all the grades of the service to which it is 
 applicable. The spirit and purpose of the refonn 
 should be ob.served in all executive appoint- 
 ments, and all laws at variance with the object 
 of existing reformed legislation should be re- 
 pealed, to the end that damage to free institu- 
 tions which lurks in the power of official 
 patronage may be wisely and effectively avoided. 
 The public lands are a heritage of the people of 
 the United States, and should be reserved as far 
 as possible for small holdings by actual settlers. 
 We are opposed to the acquisition of large tracts 
 of the.se lands by corporations or individuals, 
 especially where such holdings are in the hands 
 
 of non-resident aliens, and we will endeavor to 
 obtain such legislation as will tend to correct 
 this evil. 
 
 We d emand of Congress the speedy forfeiture 
 of all land grants which have lapsed by reason 
 of non-compliance with the act of incorporation; 
 in all ca.ses where there has been no attempt in 
 good faith to perform the condition of such 
 grants. 
 
 The grateful thanks of the American people 
 are due to the Union soldiers and sailors of the 
 late war, and the Republican paily stands 
 pledged to suitable pensions for all who were 
 disabled, and for the widows and orphans of 
 those who died in the war. The Republican 
 party also pledges itself to the repeal of the 
 limitation contained in the arrears act of 1879, 
 so that all invalid soldiers shall share alike and 
 their pensions begin with the date of disability 
 or discharge, and not with date of application. 
 
 The Republican party favors a policy which 
 shall keep us from entangling alliances with 
 foreign nations, and which gives us the right to 
 expect foreign nations shall refrain from med- 
 dling in American affairs. The policy which 
 seeks peace and trade with all powers, but es- 
 specially with those of the Western hemisphere. 
 
 We demand the restoration of our navy to its 
 old-time strength and efficiency, that it may in 
 any high sea' protect the rights of American 
 citizens and the interest of American commerce, 
 and we call upon Congress to remove the bur- 
 dens under which American shipping has been 
 depressed, so that it may again be true that we 
 have a commerce which leaves no sea unex- 
 plored and a navy which takes no law from 
 superior force. 
 
 Resoli'i-d, That appointments by the President 
 to offices in the Territories should be made froni 
 the bona fide citizens and residents of the Terri- 
 tories wherein they are to serve. 
 
 Resolved, That it is the duty of Congress to 
 enact .such laws as shall promptly and effectually 
 suppress the .system of polygamy within our ter- 
 ritory and divorce the political from the eccle- 
 siastical power of the so-called Mormon church, 
 and that the law so enacted should be rigidly 
 enforced by the civil authorities, if possible, and 
 by the military if need be. 
 
 ' The people of the United States in their organ- 
 ized capacity constitute a Nation and not a mere 
 confederacy of States. The National Govern- 
 ment is supreme within the sphere of its national 
 duty, but the States have reser\-ed rights which 
 should be faithfully maintained. Each .should 
 be guarded with jealous care, so that the har- 
 mony of our system of Government may be pre- 
 served and the Union kept inviolate. The per- 
 petuity of our in.stitutions rests upon the main- 
 tenance of a free ballot and an honest count and 
 correct returns. 
 
58 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 We denounce the fraud and violence practiced 
 by the Democracy in the Southern States, by 
 which the will of the voter is defeated, as dan- 
 jj^erous to the preservation of free institutions; 
 and we solemnly arraign the Democratic party 
 as being the guilty recipient of the fruits of such 
 fraud and violence. We extend to Republicans 
 of the South, regardless of their former party 
 affiliations, our cordial sympathy, and pledge to 
 them our most earnest efforts to promote the 
 passage of such legislation as will secure to 
 every citizen of whatever race and color, the full 
 and complete recognition, possession and exer- 
 cise of all civil and political rights. 
 
 Democratic Platform. 
 
 The Democratic party of the Union, through 
 its representatives in the national convention 
 assembled, recognizes that, as the Nation grows 
 older, new issues are born of time and progress, 
 and the old issues perish, but the fundamental 
 principles of the Democracy, approved by the 
 united voice of the people, remain, and will ever 
 remain, as the best and only security for the con- 
 tinuance of free government. The preservation 
 of personal rights, the equality of all citizens 
 before the law, the reserved rights of the States 
 and the supremacy of the Federal Government 
 within the limits of the Constitution will ever 
 form the true basis of our liberties, and can 
 never be surrendered without destroying that 
 balance of rights and power which enables a 
 continent to be developed in peace and social 
 order, to be maintained by means of local self- 
 government. But it is indispensable for the 
 practical application and enforcement of these 
 fundamental principles that the Government 
 should not always be controlled by one political 
 part)'. Frequent change of administration is as 
 necessary as the constant recurrence to the pop- 
 ular will. Otherwise abuses grow, and the Gov- 
 ernment, instead of being carried on for the 
 general welfare, becomes the instrumentality for 
 imposing heavy burdens on the many who are 
 governed for the benefit of the few who govern. 
 Public servants thus become arbitrary rulers. 
 This is now the condition of the country, 
 hence a change is demanded. The Republican 
 party, so far as principle is concerned, is a remi- 
 niscence. In practice, it is an organization for 
 enriching those who control its machinery. The 
 frauds and jobbery which have been brought to 
 light in every department of the Government 
 are sufficient to have called for reform within 
 the Republican party, yet those in authority, 
 made reckless by the long possession of power, 
 have succumbed to its corrupting influence, and 
 have placed in nomination a ticket against 
 which the independent portion of the party are 
 in open revolt. 
 
 Therefore, a change is demanded. Such a 
 change was alike necessary in 1876, but the will 
 of the people was then defeated by a fraud which 
 can never be forgotten or condoned. Again, in 
 1880, the change demanded by the people was 
 defeated by the lavish use of money contributed 
 by unscrupulous contractors and shamelss job- 
 bers, who had bargained for unlawful profits or 
 for high office. The Republican part}-, during 
 its legal, its stolen, and its bought tenure of 
 power, has steadily decayed in moral character 
 and political capacity. Its platform promises 
 are now a list of its past failures. It demands 
 the restoration of our navy. It has squandered 
 hundreds of millions to create a navy that does 
 not exist. It calls upon Congress to remove the 
 burdens under which American shipping has 
 been depressed. It imposed and has continued 
 these burdens. It professes the policy of reserv- 
 ing the public lands for small holdings by actual 
 settlers. It has given away the people's heri- 
 tage, till now a few railroads and non-resident 
 aliens, individual and corporate, possess a larger 
 area than that of all our farms between the 
 seas. It professes a preference for free insti- 
 tutions. It organized and tried to legalize a con- 
 trol of State elections by Federal troops. It 
 professes a desire to elevate labor; it has sub- 
 jected the American workingmen to the compe- 
 tition of convict and imported contract labor. 
 It professes gratitiide to all who were disabled or 
 died in the war, leaving widows and orphans; it 
 left to a Democratic House of Representatives 
 the first one to equalize both bounties and pen- 
 sions. It proffers a pledge to correct the irregu- 
 larities of our tariff; it created and has continued 
 them. Its own tariff commission confessed the 
 need of more than 20 per cent, reduction; its 
 Congress gave a reduction of less than 4 per 
 cent. It professes the protection of American 
 manufacturers; it has subjected them to an in- 
 creasing flood of manufactured goods and a hope- 
 less competition with manufacturing nations, 
 not one of which taxes raw materials. It pro- 
 fesses to protect all American industries; it has 
 impoverished many to subsidize a few. It pro- 
 fesses tlie protection of American labor; it has 
 depleted the returns of American agriculture, an 
 industry followed by half our peo])le. It pro- 
 fesses the equality of all men before the law, 
 attempting to fix the status of colored citizens. 
 The acts of its Congress were overset by the de- 
 cisions of its courts. It " accepts anew the duty 
 of leading in the work of progress and re- 
 form." Its caught criminals are permitted to 
 escape through contrived delays or acti:al con- 
 nivance in the prosecution. Hone^-combed with 
 corruption, outbreaking exposures no longer 
 shock its moral sense. Its honest members, its 
 independent journals no longer maintain a suc- 
 cessful contest for authority in its councils or a 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 59 
 
 veto upon its bad nominations. That a change 
 is necessary is proven by an existing surphis of 
 more than |ioo,ooo,ooo, which has yearly been 
 collected from a suffering people. Unnecessary 
 taxation is unjust taxation. We denounce the 
 Republican party for having failed to relieve the 
 people from crushing war taxes, which have 
 paralyzed business, crippled industry and de- 
 prived labor of employment and of just reward. 
 The Democracy pledges itself to purify the ad- 
 ministration from corruption, to restore econ- 
 omy, to revive respect for the law, and to reduce 
 taxation to the lowest limit consistent with due 
 regard to the preservation of the faith of the 
 Nation to its creditors and pensioners. Knowing 
 full well, however, that legislation affecting the 
 occupations of the people should be cautious and 
 conservative in method, not in advance of public 
 opinion, but responsive to its demands, the 
 Democratic party is pledged to revise the tariff 
 in a spirit of fairness to all interests. 
 
 But in making a reduction in taxes it is not 
 proposed to injure any of the domestic industries, 
 but rather to promote their healthy growth. 
 From the foundation of this Government taxes 
 collected at the custom-house have been the 
 chief source of Federal revenue. Such they 
 must continue. Moreover, many industries 
 have come to rely upon legislation for a success- 
 ful continuance, so that any change of law nmst 
 be at every step regardful of the labor and cap- 
 ital thus involved. The process of reform must 
 be subject in the execution to the plain dictates 
 of justice. All taxation shall be limited to the 
 requirements of an economical government. 
 The necessary reduction in taxation can and 
 must be effected without depriving American 
 labor of the ability to compete successfully with 
 foreign labor, and without imposing lower rates 
 of duty than will be ample to cover any in- 
 creased cost of production, which may exist in 
 conseqiience of the higher rate of wages pre- 
 vailing in this cotintry. Sufficient revenue to 
 pay all the expenses of the Federal Government 
 economically administered, including pensions, 
 interest and principal of the public debt, can be 
 got under our present system of taxation, from 
 custom-house taxes on fewer imported articles, 
 bearing heaviest on articles of luxury and bear- 
 ing lightest on the articles of necessity. We 
 therefore denounce the abuse of existing tariff, 
 and, subject to the preceding limitations, we 
 demand that Federal taxation shall be exclu- 
 sively for public purposes, and shall not exceed 
 the needs of the Government economically ad- 
 ministered. The system of direct taxation 
 known as the "internal revenue " is a war tax, 
 and so long as the tax continues all the money 
 derived therefrom should be sacredly devoted to 
 the relief of the people from the remaining bur- 
 dens of the war, and be made a fund to defray 
 
 the expenses of the care and comfort of worthy 
 soldiers disabled in the line of duty in the wars 
 of the Republic, and for the payment of such 
 pensions as Congress may, from time to time, 
 grant to such soldiers, a like fund for the sailors 
 having been already provided, and any surplus 
 should be paid into the Treasury. 
 
 We favor an American continental policy, 
 based upon more intimate conunercial and po- 
 litical relations with the fifteen sister republics 
 of North, Central and South America, but an 
 entangling alliance with none. 
 
 We believe in honest money, the gold and sil- 
 ver coinage of the Constitution, and a circulat- 
 ing medium convertible into such money with- 
 out loss. 
 
 Asserting the equality of all men before the 
 law, we hold that it is the duty of the Govern- 
 ment, in its dealings with the people, to mete out 
 equal and exact justice to all citizens of what- 
 ever nativity, race, color or persuasion, religious 
 or political. We believe in a free ballot and a 
 fair count, and we recall to the memory of the 
 people the noble struggle of the Democrats in 
 the 45th and 46th Congresses, by which a re- 
 luctant Republican opposition was compelled 
 to assent to legislation making everywhere il- 
 legal the presence of troops at the polls, as con- 
 clusive proof that a Democratic administration 
 will preserve liberty with order. The selection 
 of Federal officers for the Territories should be 
 restricted to citizens previously residents therein. 
 
 We oppose sumptuary laws which vex the cit- 
 izens and interfere with individual liberty. We 
 favor honest civil service reform and the com- 
 pen.sation of all United States officers by fixed 
 salaries; the separation of church and State, and 
 the diffusion of free education by the common 
 schools, so that every child in the land may be 
 taught the rights and duties of citizenship. 
 
 While we favor all legislation which will tend 
 to the equitable distribution of property, the 
 prevention of monopoly and to the .strict en- 
 forcement of individual rights against corporate 
 abuses, we hold that the welfare of society de- 
 pends upon a scrupulous regard for the rights of 
 property as defined by law. 
 
 We believe that labor is the best rewarded 
 where it is freest and most enlightened. It 
 should therefore be fostered and cherished. We 
 favor the repeal of all laws restricting the free 
 action of labor, and the enactment of laws by 
 which labor organizations may be incorporated, 
 and of all such legi.slation as will teiul to en- 
 lighten the people as to the true relations of 
 capital and labor. 
 
 We believe that the public lands ought, as far 
 as po.ssible, to be kept as homesteads for actual 
 settlers; that all unearned lands heretofore im- 
 provi<lenth' granted to railroad corporations by 
 the action of the Republican party, .should be 
 
60 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 restored to the public domains, and that no more 
 grant of lands shall be made to corporations or 
 be allowed to fall into the ownership of alien 
 absentees. 
 
 We are opposed to all propositions which 
 upon any pretext would convert the General 
 Government into a machine for collecting taxes 
 to be distriVjuted among the States or citizens 
 thereof. 
 
 In reaffirming the declaration of the Demo- 
 cratic platform of 1856, that "the liberal prin- 
 ciples embodied by Jefferson in the Declaration 
 of Independence, and sanctioned by the Consti- 
 tution, which makes ours the land of liberty and 
 the asylum of the oppressed of every nation, 
 have ever been the cardinal principles of the 
 Democratic faith," we nevertheless do not sanc- 
 tion the importation of foreign labor, or • the 
 admission of servile races, unfitted by habits, 
 training, religion or kindred for absoqation into 
 the great body of our people, or for the citizen- 
 ship which our laws confer. American civiliza- 
 tion demands that against the immigration or 
 importation of INIongolians to these shores our 
 gates shall be closed. 
 
 The Democratic party insists that it is the 
 duty of this Government to protect with equal 
 fidelity and vigilance the rights of its citizens, 
 native and naturalized, at home and abroad, and 
 to the end that this protection may be assured. 
 United States papers of naturalization, issued by 
 courts of competent jurisdiction, must be re- 
 spected by the executive and legislative depart- 
 ments of our own Government, and by all 
 foreign powers. It is an imperative duty of this 
 Government to efficiently protect all the rights 
 of persons and property of every American 
 citizen in foreign lands, and demandand enforce 
 full reparation for any invasion thereof. An 
 American citizen is only responsible to his own 
 Government for any act done in his own country, 
 or under her flag, and is onl}' to be tried there- 
 for on her own soil and according to her laws; 
 and no power exists in this Government to ex- 
 patriate an American citizen to be tried in any 
 foreign land for any such act. This country 
 has never had a well defined and executed 
 foreign policy save under a Democratic admin- 
 istration; that policy has ever been, in regard 
 to foreign nations, so long as they do not act 
 detrimental to the interest of the country or 
 hurtful to our citizens, to let them alone; that 
 as the result of this policy we recall the ac- 
 qui.sition of Louisiana, Florida, California, and 
 of the adjacent IVIexican territory by purchase 
 alone, and contrast these grand acquisitions 
 of Democratic statesmanship with the piircha.se 
 of Alaska, the sole fruit of a Republican ad- 
 ministration of nearly a quarter of a century. 
 
 The Federal Government 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 the tide water. 
 
 Under a long period of Democratic rule and 
 policy our merchant marine was fast overtaking 
 and on the point of outstripping that of Great 
 Britain. Under twenty years of Repuljlican rule 
 and policy our commerce has been left to British 
 bottoms, and almost has the American flag been 
 swept off the high seas. Instead of the Repub- 
 lican party's British policy, we demand for the 
 people of the United States an American policy. 
 Under Democratic rule and policy our merchants 
 and sailors flying the stars and stripes in every 
 port, successfully searched out a market for the 
 varied products of American industry'. Under 
 a quarter of a centun,- of Republican rule and 
 policy, despite our manifest advantage over all 
 other nations in high-paid labor, favorable 
 climates, and teeming soils; despite the freedom 
 of trade among all these I'nited States; despite 
 their population by the foremost races of men 
 and annual immigration; despite our freedom 
 here from the inherited burdens of life and 
 industry in the Old World monarchies, their 
 co.stly war navies, their vast tax-consuming, 
 non-producing standing armies; despite twenty 
 3-ears of peace, that Republican rule and policy 
 have managed to surrender to Great Britain, 
 along with om- commerce, the control of the 
 markets of the world. Instead of the Repub- 
 lican part3'"s British policy we demand in behalf 
 of the American Democracy an American policj'. 
 Instead of the Republican party's discredit 
 scheme and false pretenses of friendship for 
 American labor, expressed by imposing taxes, 
 we demand in behalf of the Democracy, freedom 
 for American labor by reducing taxes, to the end 
 that these United States may compete with un- 
 hindered powers for the primacy among nations 
 in all the arts of peace and fruits of liberty. 
 
 With profound regret we have been apprised 
 by the venerable statesman through whose per- 
 son was sti-uck that blow at the vital principle 
 of Republicans (acquiescence in the will of the 
 majority), that he cannot permit us again to 
 place in his hands the leadership of the Demo- 
 cratic hosts, and for the reason that the achieve- 
 ment of reform in the administration of the 
 Federal Government is an undertaking too heavy 
 for his age and failing strength. Rejoicing that 
 his life has been prolonged until the judgment of 
 our fellow-countrymen is united in the wish that 
 that wrong were righted in his person, for the 
 Democracy of the United States, we offer to him 
 in his withdrawal from public life not only our 
 respectful sympathy and esteem, but also that 
 best homage of freemen, the pledge of our de- 
 votion to the principles and the cause, now in- 
 separable in the history of the Republic from 
 the labors and the name of Samuel J. Tilden. 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 61 
 
 With this statement of the hopes, principles and 
 purposes of the Democratic party, the great issue 
 of reform and change of administration is sub- 
 mitted to the people in calm confidence that the 
 popular voice will pronounce in favor of new 
 men and new and more favorable conditions for 
 the growth of industry, the extension of trade, 
 the employment and due reward of labor and 
 capital and the general welfare of the whole 
 country. 
 
 Prohibition Party Platform. 
 
 1. The Prohiljition party in national conven- 
 tion assembled, acknowledge Almighty God as 
 the rightful sovereign of all men, from whom 
 the just powers of government are derived, and 
 to whose laws human enactments should con- 
 form as an absolute condition of peace, prosperity 
 and happiness. 
 
 2. That the importation, manufacture, supply 
 and sale of alcoholic beverages, created and 
 maintained by the laws of the National and 
 State Governments, during the entire historj' of 
 such laws, is everywhere shown to be the pro- 
 moting cause of intemperance, with resulting 
 crime and pauperism, making large demands 
 upon public and private charity, imposing large 
 and unjust taxation for the support of penal and 
 sheltering institutions, upon thrift, industry, 
 manufactures and commerce; endangering the 
 public peace; desecrating the vSabbath; corrupt- 
 ing our politics, legislation and administration 
 of the laws; shortening lives, impairing health 
 and diminishing productive industry; causing 
 education to be neglected and despised; nullify- 
 ing the teachings of the Bible, the church and 
 the school, the standards and guides of our 
 fathers and their children in the founding and 
 growth of our widely extended country, and 
 which, imperiling the perpetuity of our civil 
 and religious liberties, are baleful fruits by 
 which we know that these laws are contrary to 
 God's laws and contravene our happiness. We, 
 therefore, call upon our fellow-citizens to aid in 
 the repeal of these laws and in the legal sup- 
 pression of this baneful licjuor traffic. 
 
 3. During the twenty-four years in which the 
 Republican party has controlled the General 
 Government and many of the States, no effort 
 has been made to change this policy. Territories 
 have been created, governments for them estab- 
 lished. States admitted to the Union, and in no 
 instance in either case has this traffic been for- 
 bidden or the people been permitted to ])rohibit 
 it; that there are now over 200,000 distilleries, 
 breweries, wholesale and retail dealers in their 
 products, holding certificates and claiming the 
 authority of the Government for the continua- 
 tion of the business so destructive to the moral 
 and material welfare of the people, together 
 with the fact that they have turned a deaf ear to 
 
 remonstrance and petition for the correction of 
 this abuse of civil government, is conclusive that 
 the Republican party is insensible to or impotent 
 for the redress of these wrongs, and should no 
 longer be entrusted with the powers and responsi- 
 bilities of government; that although this ])arty 
 in its late national convention was silent on the 
 liquor question, not so its candidates, Messrs. 
 Blaine and Logan. Within the past year Mr. 
 Blaine has recommended that the revenue de- 
 rived from the liquor traflic be distributed 
 among the States; and vSenator Logan has by 
 bill proposed to devote these revenues to the 
 support of the pul)lic schools. Thus both virtu- 
 ally recommend the perpetuation of the traffic, 
 and that the States and their citizens become 
 partners in the liquor crime. 
 
 4. That the Democratic party has in its na- 
 tional deliverances of party policy arrayed it.self 
 on the side of the drink makers and sellers by 
 declaring against the policy of prohibition imder 
 the false name of " simiptuary laws;" that when 
 in power in any of the States it has refused re- 
 medial legislation, and that in Congress it has ob- 
 structed the creation of a commission of inquiry 
 into the effects of this traffic, proving that it 
 should not be entrusted with power and place. 
 
 5. That there can be no greater peril to the 
 Nation than the existing competition of the Re- 
 publican and Democratic parties for the liquor 
 vote. Experience shows that any party not 
 openl}^ opposed to the traffic will engage in this 
 competition; will court the favor of the crim- 
 inal classes; will barter the public morals, the 
 purity of the ballot and every trust and object 
 of good government for party success. Patriots 
 and good citizens should, therefore, innnediately 
 withdraw from all connection with these parties. 
 
 6. That we favor reforms in the abolition of 
 all sinecures with useless offices and officers, and 
 in elections by the people instead of appoint- 
 ments by the President; that as competency, 
 honesty and sobriety are es.sential qualifications 
 for office, we oppose removals except when ab- 
 solutely necessary to secure effectiveness in vital 
 issues; that the collection of revenues from al- 
 coholic liquor and tobacco should be abolished, 
 since the vices of men are not proper subjects 
 of taxation; that revenue from customs duties 
 should be levied for the support of the Govern- 
 ment, economically administered, and in such 
 manner as will foster American industries and 
 labor; that the public lands should be held for 
 homes for the people, and not bestowed as gifts 
 to corporations, or sold in large tracts for specu- 
 lation iipon the needs of actual settlers; that 
 grateful care and support should be given to our 
 soldiers and sailors disabled in the ser\-ice of 
 their country, and to their dependent widows 
 and orphans; tliat we repudiate as un-American 
 and contrary to and subversive of the principles 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 of the Declaration of Independence, that any 
 ])ersons or people shonld be excluded from resi- 
 dence or citizenship who iTiay desire the benefits 
 which our institutions confer upon the oppressed 
 of all nations; that while these are important re- 
 forms and are demanded for purity of adminis- 
 tration and the welfare of the people, their im- 
 ]K)rtance sinks into insignificance when com- 
 ])are(l with the drink traffic, which now annually 
 wastes |,Soo, 000,000 of the wealth created by toil 
 and thrift; dragging down thousands of families 
 from comfort to poverty; filling jails, peniten- 
 tiaries, insane asylums, hospitals and institu- 
 tions for dependenc}-; impairing the health and 
 destroj'ing the lives of thousands; lowering in- 
 tellectual vigor, and dulling the cunning hand 
 of the artisan, causing bankruptcy, insolvency 
 and loss in trade, and by its corrupting power 
 endangering the perpetuity of free institutions; 
 that Congress shoidd exercise its undoubted 
 power by prohibiting the manufacture and sale 
 of intoxicating beverages in the District of Co- 
 lumbia, the Territories of the United States, and 
 all places over which the Government has ex- 
 clusive jurisdiction; that hereafter no State 
 should be admitted to the Union until its con- 
 stitution shall expressly and forever prohibit 
 polygamy and the manufacture and sale of in- 
 toxicating beverages, and that Congress shall 
 submit to the States an amendment to the Con- 
 stitution forever prohibiting the importation, ex- 
 portation, manufacture and sale of alcoholic 
 drinks. 
 
 7. We earnestly call the attention of the me- 
 chanic, the miner and manufacturer to the in- 
 vestigation of the baneful effects upon labor and 
 industry of the needless liquor business. It will 
 be found the robber who lessens wages and 
 profits, foments discontent and strikes, and the 
 destroj-er of family welfare. Laljor and all legit- 
 imate industries demand deliverance from the 
 taxation and loss which this traffic imposes; and 
 no tariff or other legislation can so healthily stim- 
 ulate production, or increase the demand for cap- 
 ital and lal^or, or insure so much of comfort and 
 content to the laborer, mechanic and capitalist, 
 as would the suppression of this traffic. 
 
 8. That the activity and co-operation of the 
 women of America for the promotion of temper- 
 ance has, in all the history of the past, been a 
 strength and encouragement which we grate- 
 fully acknowledge and record. In the later and 
 present phase of the movement for the prohifji- 
 tion of the traffic, the purity of purpose and 
 method, the earnestness, zeal, intelligence and 
 devotion of the mothers and daughters of the 
 Women's Christian Temperance Union have 
 been eminently blessed of God. Kansas and 
 Iowa have been given them as "sheaves" of re- 
 joicing, and the education and arousing of the 
 public mind, and the now prevailing demands for 
 
 the Constitutional amendment are largely the 
 fruit of their prayers and labors. Sharing in the 
 efforts that shall bring the question of the aboli- 
 tion of this traffic to the polls, they shall join in 
 the grand "Praise God from Whom All Bless- 
 ings Flow," when by law victory shall be 
 achieved. 
 
 9. That believing in the civil and political 
 equality of the sexes, and that the ballot in the 
 hands of woman is her right for protection, and 
 would prove a powerful ally for the abolition of 
 the liquor traffic, the execution of law, the pro- 
 motion of reform in civil affairs, and the re- 
 moval of corruption in public life, we enunciate 
 the principle and relegate the practical out- 
 working of this reform to the discretion of the 
 Prohibition party in the several States, accord- 
 ing to the condition of public sentiment in those 
 States. 
 
 10. That we gratefully acknowledge the pres- 
 ence of the Divine Spirit guiding the counsels 
 and granting the success which has been vouch- 
 safed in the progress of the temperance reform, 
 and we earnestly ask the voters of the United 
 States to make the principles of the above 
 declaration dominant in the Government of the 
 Nation. 
 
 PLATFORMS OF 1888. 
 
 No less than eight parties were in the field in 
 1S8S. The Industrial Reform part}^ met in con- 
 vention at Washington, February 22. The Equal 
 Rights party held their first national conven- 
 tion in Des Moines, May 15. The following day, 
 May 16, the Union Labor party and the United 
 Labor partj^ each met in convention in Cincin- 
 nati. On May 30 the Prohibitionists opened 
 their convention at Indianapolis. The Demo- 
 cratic convention met in St. Louis June 5, and 
 the 19th of the same month the Republicans met 
 in convention at Chicago. The eighth national 
 party convention of the year was held in Wash- 
 ington by the American party, August 1 5 . 
 
 Democratic Platform. 
 
 The Democratic Party of the United States, 
 in national convention assembled, renews the 
 pledge of its fidelity to Democratic faith, and 
 reaffirms the platform adopted by its represent- 
 atives in the convention of 1884, and endorses 
 the views expressed by President Cleveland in 
 his last annual message to Congress, as the cor- 
 rect interpretation of that platform upon the 
 question of tariff reduction; and also endorses 
 the efforts of our Democratic representatives in 
 Congress to secure a reduction of excessive 
 taxation. 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 63 
 
 Chief among its principles of party faith are 
 the maintenance of an indissohible union of free 
 and indestructible States, now about to enter 
 upon its second century of unexampled progress 
 and renown; devotion to a plan of government 
 regulated by a written Constitution, strictly 
 specifying every granted power and expressly 
 reserving to the States or people the entire un- 
 granted residue of power; the encouragement of 
 a jealovis popular vigilance, directed to all who 
 have been chosen for brief terms to enact and 
 execute the laws and are charged with the duty 
 of preserving peace, insuring equality and estab- 
 lishing justice. 
 
 The Democratic party welcomes an exacting 
 scrutiny of the administration of the executive 
 power which, four years ago, was committed to 
 its trust in the selection of Grover Cleveland, 
 President of the United States, and it challenges 
 the most searching inquiry concerning its fidelity 
 and devotion to the pledges which then invited 
 the suffrages of the people. During a most 
 critical period of our financial affairs, resulting 
 from over-taxation, the anomalous condition of 
 our currency, and a public debt unmatured, it 
 has, by the adoption of a wise and conserv-ative 
 course, not only averted disaster but greatly 
 promoted the prosperit}- of the people. 
 
 It has reversed the unwise and improvident 
 policy of the Republican party touching the 
 public domain, and has reclaimed from corpora- 
 tions and syndicates, alien and domestic, and 
 restored to the people, nearly one hundred mil- 
 lions of acres of valuable land to be sacredly 
 held as homesteads for our citizens. 
 
 While carefully guarding the interests of the 
 taxpayers and conforming strictly to the princi- 
 ples of justice and equity, it has paid out more 
 for pensions and bounties to the soldiers and 
 sailors of the Republic than was ever paid before 
 during an equal period. 
 
 By intelligent management and a judicious 
 and economical expenditure of the public money, 
 it has set on foot the reconstruction of the 
 American navy upon a system which forbids the 
 recurrence of scandal and insures successful 
 results. 
 
 It has adopted and consistently pursued a firm 
 and prudent foreign policy, preserv-ing peace 
 with all nations, while scrupulously maintaining 
 all the rights and interests of our own Govern- 
 ment and people, at home and abroad. The 
 exclusion from our shores of Chinese laborers 
 has been effectually secured under the provisions 
 of a treaty, the operation of which has been 
 postponed by the action of a Republican major- 
 ity in the Senate. 
 
 Honest reform in the civil service has been 
 inaugurated and maintained by President Cleve- 
 land, and he has brought the public service to 
 the highest standard of efficiency, not only by 
 
 rule and precept, but by the example of his own 
 untiring and unselfish administration of public 
 affairs. 
 
 In every branch and department of the Gov- 
 ernment under Democratic control the rights and 
 the welfare of all the people have been guarded 
 and defended; every public interest has been 
 protected, and the equality of all our citizens 
 before the law, without regard to race or color, 
 has l)een steadfastly maintained. 
 
 Upon its record thus exhibited and upon the 
 pledge of a continuance to the people of the 
 benefits of good government, the National De- 
 mocrac}' invoke a renewal of popular trust by 
 the re-election of a Chief Magistrate who is 
 faithful, able and prudent. 
 
 They invoke an addition to that trust by the 
 transfer also to the Democracy of the entire 
 legislative power. 
 
 The Repuljlican party, controlling the Senate 
 and resisting in both Houses a reformation of 
 unjust and uneqiial tax laws, which have out- 
 lasted the necessities of war and are now under- 
 mining the abundance of a long peace, deny to 
 the people equality before the law and the fair- 
 ness and the justness which are their right. 
 Thus the cry of American labor for a better share 
 in the rewards of industry is stifled with false 
 pretenses; enterprise is fettered and bound down 
 to home markets; capital is discouraged with 
 doubt, and unequal, unjust laws can neither be 
 properly amended nor repealed. 
 
 The Democratic party will continue, with all 
 the power confided to it, the struggles to reform 
 these laws in accordance with the pledges of its 
 last platform, endorsed at the ballot-box by the 
 suffrages of the people. 
 
 Of all the industrious freemen of our land an 
 immense majority, including every tiller of the 
 soil, gain no advantage from the tax laws, but 
 the price of nearly everything they buy is in- 
 creased b}' the favoritism of an unequal system 
 of tax legislation. 
 
 All unnecessary taxation is unjust taxation. 
 
 It is repugnant to the creed of Democracy 
 that by such taxation the cost of the necessaries 
 of life should be unjustifiably increased to all 
 our people. 
 
 Judged by Democratic principles, the interests 
 of the people are betrayed when by unnecessary 
 taxation trusts and combinations are permitted 
 and fostered, which, while unduly enriching the 
 few that combine, rob the body of our citizens 
 by depriving them as purchasers of the benefits 
 of natural competition. Every Democratic rule 
 of govenmiental action is violated when, through 
 ininecessary taxation, a vast sum of money, far 
 beyond the needs of an economical administra- 
 tion, is drawn from the people and the channels 
 of trade and accumulated as a demoralizing sur- 
 plus in the National Treasury'. 
 
64 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 The money now lying idle in the Federal 
 Treasury resulting from stiperfluous taxation, 
 amounts to more than $125,000,000, and the sur- 
 plus collected is reaching the sum of more than 
 |;6o,ooo,ooo annually. 
 
 Debauched l)y this immense temptation, the 
 remedy of the Rej^ublicau party is to meet and 
 exhaust by extravagant appropriations and ex- 
 penditures, whether constitutional or not, the 
 accunnilations of extravagant taxation. 
 
 The Democratic policy is to enforce frugality 
 in public expense and al)olish unnecessary tax- 
 ation. 
 
 Our established domestic industries should 
 not and need not be endangered by a reduction 
 and coi-rection of the burdens of taxation. On 
 the contrary-, a fair and careful revision of our 
 tax laws, with due allowance for the difference 
 1)etween the wages of American and foreign labor 
 nuist promote and encourage every branch of 
 such industries and enterprises by giving them 
 assurance of an extended market and steady and 
 continuous operation. 
 
 In the interest of American labor, which should 
 in no event be neglected, the revision of our tax 
 laws contemplated l)y the Democratic party 
 would promote the advantage of such labor by 
 cheapening the cost of the necessaries of life in 
 the home of every workingman, and at the 
 same time secure to him steady and remunerative 
 employment. 
 
 Upon this question of tariff reform, so closely 
 concerning everj- phase of our national life, and 
 upon every cjuestion involved in the problem of 
 good government, the Democratic party submits 
 its principles and professions to the intelligent 
 suffrages of the American people. 
 
 Rcsolzrd, That this convention hereby en- 
 dorses and recommends the early passage of the 
 bill for the reduction of the revenue now pend- 
 ing in the House of Representatives. 
 
 Resolved, That a just and liberal policy should 
 be pursued in reference to the Territories; that 
 right of self-government is inherent in the peo- 
 ple and guaranteed under the Constitution ; that 
 the Territories of Washington, Dakota, Montana 
 and New Mexico, are by virtue of population and 
 development, entitled to admission into the 
 Ihiion as vStates, and we unqualifiedly condemn 
 the course of the Republican party in refusing 
 .statehood and self-government to their people. 
 
 Resolved, That we express our cordial sym- 
 pathy with the struggling people of all nations 
 in their efforts to secure for themselves the in- 
 estimable blessings of self-government and civil 
 and religious liberty, and we especially declare 
 our sympathy with the efforts of those noble 
 patriots who, led b}- Gladstone and Parnell, have 
 conducted their grand and peaceful contest for 
 Home Rule in Ireland. 
 
 Republican Platform. 
 
 The Republicans of the United States, assem- 
 bled by their delegates in national convention, 
 ])ause on the threshold of their proceedings to 
 honor the memory of their first great leader, the 
 immortal champion of liberty and the rights of 
 the people — Abraham Lincoln; and to cover also 
 with wreaths of imperishable remembrance and 
 gratitude the heroic names of our later leaders 
 who have more recently been called away from 
 our councils — Grant, Garfield, Arthur, Logan 
 and Conkling. May their memories be faith- 
 fully cherished. 
 
 We also recall with our greetings and with 
 prayer for his recovery, the name of one of our 
 living heroes, whose memory will be treasured 
 in the history both of Republicans and of the 
 Republic — the name of that noble soldier and 
 favorite child of victory, Philip H. Sheridan. 
 
 In the spirit of those great leaders and of our 
 own devotion to human liberty, and with that 
 hostility to all forms of despotism and oppres- 
 sion which is the fundamental idea of the Re- 
 publican party, we send fraternal congratulations 
 to our fellow-Americans of Brazil upon their great 
 act of emancipation, which completes the aboli- 
 tion of slaverj' throughout the two American con- 
 tinents. 
 
 We earnestly hope that we may soon congrat- 
 ulate our fellow-citizens of Irish birth upon the 
 peaceful recovery of Home Rule for Ireland. 
 
 We reaffirm our unswerving devotion to the 
 national Constitution and the indissoluble union 
 of the States; to the autonomy reserved to the 
 States under the Constitution; to the per- 
 sonal rights and liberties of citizens in all the 
 States and Territories in the Union, and espe- 
 cially to the supreme and sovereign right of 
 every lawful citizen, rich or poor, native or for- 
 eign-born, white or black, to cast one free ballot 
 in public elections, and to have that ballot duly 
 counted. We hold the free and honest popular 
 ballot, and the just and equal representation of all 
 the people, to be the foundation of our republican 
 government, and demand effective legislation to 
 secure the integrity and purity of elections, 
 which are the foundations of public authority. 
 We charge that the present administration and 
 the Democratic majority in Congress owe their 
 existence to the suppression of the ballot by a 
 criminal nullification of the Constitution and 
 laws of the United States. 
 
 We are uncompromisingly in favor of the 
 American system of Protection; we protest 
 against its destruction as proposed by the Presi- 
 dent and his party. They serve the interests of 
 Europe; we will support the interest of America. 
 We accept the issue and confidentl}' appeal to 
 the people for their judgment. The protective 
 system must be maintained. Its abandonment 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 65 
 
 has always been followed by general disaster to 
 all interests, except those of tlae iisnrer and the 
 sheriff. We denounce the Mills bill as destruc- 
 tive to the general business, the labor and the 
 farming interests of the country, and we heartily 
 endorse the consistent and patriotic action of 
 the Republican representatives in Congress in 
 opposing its passage. 
 
 We condemn the proposition of the Demo- 
 cratic party to place wool on the free list, and 
 we insist that the duties thereon shall be ad- 
 justed and maintained so as to furnish full and 
 adequate protection to that industrv throughout 
 the ITnited vStates. 
 
 The Republican party would effect all needed 
 reduction of the national revenue by repealing 
 the taxes upon tobacco which are an annoyance 
 and burden to agriculture, and the tax upon 
 spirits used in the arts and for mechanical pur- 
 poses, and by such revision of the tariff laws as 
 will tend to check imports of such articles as 
 are produced by our people, the production of 
 which gives employment to our labor, and release 
 from import duties those articles of foreign pro- 
 duction (except luxuries) the like of which can- 
 not be produced at home. If there shall still 
 remain a larger revenue than is requisite for the 
 wants of the Government, we favor the entire 
 repeal of internal taxes rather than the surrender 
 of any part of our protective system at the joint 
 behest of the whiskey trusts and the agents of 
 foreign manufacturers. 
 
 We declare our hostility to the introduction 
 into this country of foreign contract labor and of 
 Chinese labor, alien to our civilization and Con- 
 stitution, and we demand-the rigid enforcement 
 of the existing laws against it, and favor such 
 immediate legislation as will exclude such labor 
 from our shores. 
 
 We declare our opposition to all combinations 
 of capital, organized in trusts or otherwise, to con- 
 trol abitrarily the condition of trade among our 
 citizens, and we recommend to Congress and the 
 State Legislatures, in their respective jurisdic- 
 tions, such legislation as will prevent the execu- 
 tion of all schemes to oppress the people by 
 undue charges on their supplies, or by unjust 
 rates for the transportation of their products to 
 market. We approve the legislation by Con- 
 gress to prevent au}- unjust burdens and inifair 
 discriminations between the States. 
 
 We reaffinn the policy of appropriating the 
 public landsof the United States to be homesteads 
 for American citizens and settlers — not aliens — 
 which the Republican party established in i(S62 
 against the persi.stent opposition of the Demo- 
 crats in Congress, and which has brought our 
 great Western domain into such magnificent de- 
 velopment. The restoration of unearned railroad 
 land grants to the public domain for the use of 
 settlers, which was begun under the administra- 
 
 tion of Tresident Arthur, should be continued. 
 We deny that the Democratic party has ever re- 
 stored one acre to the people, but declare that by 
 the joint action of Republicans and Democrats in 
 Congress about 50,000,000 acres of unearned 
 lands originally granted for the construction of 
 railroads have f)een restored to the public domain 
 in pursuance of the conditions inserted by the 
 Republican party in the original grants. We 
 charge the Democratic administration with fail- 
 ure to execute the laws securing to settlers titles 
 to their homesteads, and with using ajipropria- 
 tions made for that purpose to harass innocent 
 settlers with spies and prosecutions under the 
 false pretense of exposing frauds and vindicating 
 the law. 
 
 The government by Congress of the Territo- 
 ries is based upon necessity, only to the end that 
 they may become States in the Union. There- 
 fore, whenever the conditions of jiopulatiou, 
 material resources, public intelligence and mor- 
 ality are such as to insure a staljle local govern- 
 ment therein, the people of siich Territories 
 should be permitted as a right inherent in them 
 to form for themselves Constitutions and vState 
 Governments and be admitted into the Union. 
 Pending the preparation for Statehood, all of- 
 ficers thereof should be selected from the bona 
 fide residents and citizens of the Territory 
 wherein they are to serve. South Dakota should 
 of right be innnediately admitted as a State in 
 the Union, under the constitution framed and 
 adopted by her people, and we heartil}- endorse 
 the act of the Republican Senate in twice pass- 
 ing bills for her admission. The refusal of the 
 Democratic House of Representatives, for par- 
 tisan purposes, to favorably consider these bills, 
 is a willful violation of the sacred American prin- 
 ciple of local self-government, and merits the 
 condemnation of all just men. The pending 
 bills in the Senate to enable the people of Wa.sh- 
 ington. North Dakota and Montana Territories 
 to form constitutions and establish State govern- 
 ments, should be passed without unnecessary 
 delay. The Republican party pledges it.sclf to 
 do all in its power to facilitate the admission of 
 the Territories of New Mexico, Wyoming, 
 Idaho and Arizona to the enjoyment of self-gov- 
 ernment as States, such of them as are now 
 qualified as .soon as possible and the others as 
 soon as the}- may become so. 
 
 The political power of the Mormon Church in 
 the Ten-itories, as exercised in the past, is a 
 menace to free institutions, a danger no longer 
 to be suffered. Therefore we pledge the Rc]nib- 
 lican party to appropriate legislation asserting 
 the sovereignty of the Nation in all Territories 
 where the same is questioned, and in further- 
 ance of that end to place upon the statute books 
 legislation stringent enough to divorce the polit- 
 ical from the ecclesiastical power, and thus 
 
66 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 staiii]! otil the altciidaiit ^vicke(' 
 
 .f polyg- 
 
 Tlie Republican parly is in favor of the use of 
 1k)11i K"1(1 and silver as money, and condemns 
 the policy of the Democratic administration in 
 its efforts to demoneti/.e silver. 
 
 We demand the reduction of letter postage to 
 one cent ])er ounce. 
 
 In a Republic like ours, where the citizen is 
 the .sovercion and the official the .servant, where 
 no ])ower is exerci.sed except by the will of the 
 people, it is important that the sovereign — the 
 ])eople — .should po,ssess intelligence. The free 
 school is the promoter of that intelligence 
 which is to preserve us as a free Nation; there- 
 fore the vState, or Nation, or both combined, 
 shoidd .support free institutions of learning sufli- 
 cient to afford to every child growing in the 
 land the opportunity of a good common school 
 education. 
 
 We earnestly recommend that prompt action 
 be taken by Congress on the enactment of siich 
 legislation as will best secure the rehabilitation 
 of our American merchant marine, and we pro- 
 test again.st the pa,s.sage by Congress of a free- 
 ship 1)ill, as calculated to work injustice to labor 
 by lessening the wages of those engaged in pre- 
 paring materials, as well as tho.se directly em- 
 ])loyed in our shipyards. We demand appro- 
 ])riation for the early relmilding of our navv, 
 for the construction of coast fortifications and 
 modern ordnances and other approved modern 
 means of defense for the protection of our de- 
 fenseless harbors and cities; for the payment of 
 just pensions to our soldiers; for necessarj' works 
 of national importance in the improvement of 
 harbors and the channels of internal, coastwise 
 and foreign conmierce; for the enccmragement 
 of the shipping interests of the Atlantic, Gulf 
 and Pacific States, as well as for the payment of 
 the maturing pufjlic debt. This policy will give 
 employment to our labor, activity to our various 
 industries, increa.se the .security of our countr\-, 
 promote trade, open new and direct markets for 
 our jiroduce and cheapen the co.st of transporta- 
 tion. We affirm this to be far better for our 
 countr}' than the Democratic policy of loaning 
 the Government's money, without interest, to 
 " pet banks." 
 
 The conduct of affairs by the present admin- 
 istration has been distinguished by its ineffi- 
 ciency and cowardice. Having withdrawn from 
 the Senate all pending treaties effected by Re- 
 publican administrations for the removal of 
 foreign burdens and restrictions upon our com- 
 merce, and for its exten.sion into better markets, 
 it has neither effected nor proposed any others 
 in their stead. Profe.s.sing adherence to the 
 Monroe Doctrine, it has seen, with idle compla- 
 cency, the extension of foreign influence in 
 Central America and of foreign trade eveiy- 
 
 where among our neighbors. It has refused to 
 charter, sanction or encourage any American 
 organization for constructing the Nicaragua 
 Canal, a work of vital importance to the main- 
 tenance of the Monroe Doctrine, and of our 
 national influence in Central and South America, 
 and neces.sary for the development of trade 
 with our Pacific territory, with South America 
 and with the islands and farther coasts of the 
 Pacific Ocean. 
 
 We arraign the present Democratic Adminis- 
 tration for its weak and unpatriotic treatment of 
 the fisheries question, and its pusillanimous 
 surrender of tlie essential privileges to which 
 our fishingve.s.sels are entitled in Canadian ports 
 under the treaty of i8iS, the reciprocal maritime 
 legislation of 1830 and the comity of nations, 
 and which Canadian fi.sliing vessels receive in 
 the ports of the LTnited States. We condemn 
 the policy of the present administration and the 
 Democratic majority in Congress toward our 
 fisheries as unfriendly and conspicuously un- 
 ]:)atriotic, and as tending to destroy a valuable 
 national indu.stry and an indispemsable source 
 of defense against a foreign enemy. 
 
 The name American applies alike to all cit- 
 izens of the Republic, and imposes upon all alike 
 the same ol)ligation of obedience to the laws. 
 At the same time that citizen.ship is and must be 
 the pano])ly and safeguard of him who wears 
 it, and protect him, wliether high or low, rich 
 or poor, in all his civil rights. It should and 
 must afford him protection at home and follow 
 and protect him abroad, in whatever land he 
 may be on a lawful errand. 
 
 The men who abandoned the Republican party 
 in 1884 and continue to adhere to the Democratic 
 party, have de.serted not only the cause of honest 
 goTernment, of sound finance, of freedom, of 
 purity of the ballot, but especiall}- have deserted 
 the cause of reform in the civil service. We will 
 not fail to keep our pledges because they have 
 broken theirs, or becau.se their candidate has 
 l)rokenhis. We therefore repeat our declaration 
 of 1884, to-wit : "The reform of the civil .service, 
 auspiciously begun under the Republican admin- 
 istration, .should be completed by the further ex- 
 tension of the reform systems already established 
 by law to all the grades of service to which it is 
 applicable. The spirit and purpo.se of the re- 
 form should be observed in all executive ap- 
 pointments, and all laws at variance with the 
 object of exi.sting reform legislation should be 
 repealed, to the end that the dangers to free in- 
 .stitutions, which lurk in the power of official pat- 
 ronage, may be wisely and effectively avoided." 
 
 The gratitude of the Nation to the defenders 
 of the Union cannot be measured by laws. The 
 legi.slation of Congress should conform to the 
 pledges made by a loyal people, and be so en- 
 larged and extended as to provide against the 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 67 
 
 possibility lliat any man who honorabh- wore 
 the Federal uniform shall become an inmate of 
 an almshouse or dependent upon private charity. 
 In the presence of an overflowing Treasury it 
 would be a public scandal to do less for those 
 whose valorous service preserved the Govern- 
 ment. We denounce the hostile spirit shown by 
 President Cleveland in his numerous vetoes of 
 measures for pension relief, and the action of 
 the Democratic Representatives in refusing even 
 a consideration of general pension legislation. 
 
 In support of the ])rinciples herewith enunci- 
 ated we invite the co-()i)eration of patriotic men 
 of all parties, and especially of all workingmen, 
 whose prosperity is seriously threatened by the 
 free trade policy of the present administration. 
 
 Prohibition Platform. 
 
 The Prohibition party, in national convention 
 assembled, acknowledging Almighty God as the 
 source of all power in government, do hereby 
 declare : 
 
 1. That the manufacture, importation, export- 
 ation, transportation and sale of alcoholic bev- 
 erages should be made public crimes and pro- 
 hibited as such. 
 
 2. That such prohibition nnist be secured 
 through amendments to our National and State 
 Constitutions, enforced by adequate laws ade- 
 quately supported by administrative authorit}-; 
 and to this end the organization of the Prohil)i- 
 tion party is imperatively demanded in vState 
 and Nation. 
 
 3. That any form of license, ta.xation or regu- 
 lation of the liquor traffic is contrary- to good 
 government; that any party which supports reg- 
 ulation, license or taxation enters into alliance 
 with such traffic and becomes the actual foe of 
 the State's welfare, and that we arraign the Re- 
 publican and Democratic parties for their per- 
 sistent attitude in favor of the license iniquity, 
 whereby they oppose the demand of the people 
 for prohibition, and, through open complicity 
 Avith the liquor crime, defeat the enforcement 
 of law. 
 
 4. For the innnediate abolition of the internal 
 revenue system, whereby our National CTOvern- 
 ment is deriving support from our greate.st na- 
 tional vice. 
 
 5. That an adequate pubHc revenue being 
 necessary, it may properly be raised by import 
 duties, but import duties should be so reduced 
 that no surplus shall be accumulated in the 
 Treasury, and that the burdens of taxation shall 
 be removed from foods, clothing and other com- 
 forts and necessaries of life and imposed on such 
 articles of import as will give protection both to 
 the manufacturing employer and producing 
 laborer against the" competition of the world. 
 
 6. That the right of suffrage rests on no mere 
 circumstances of race, color, sex or nationality; 
 
 and that where from any cause it has been with- 
 held from citizens who are of suitable age and 
 mentally and morally qualified for the exercise 
 of an intelligent ballot, it should be restored by 
 the people through the Legislatures of the sev- 
 eral States on such educational 1)asis as they 
 may deem wi.se. 
 
 7. Tliat civil .service appointments for all civil 
 offices, chiefly clerical in their duties, .should be 
 based upon moral, intellectual and jihy.sical quali- 
 fications and not upon part)' service or party 
 necessity. 
 
 8. For the alxilition of polygamy and the es- 
 tablishment of uniform laws governing marriage 
 and divorce. 
 
 9. For prohibiting all combinations of capital 
 to control and to increase the co.st of products 
 for popular consumption. 
 
 10. For the preservation and defense of the 
 Sabbath as a civil institution, without oppressing 
 any who religiously ob.serve the same on other 
 than the first day of the week . 
 
 11. That arbitration is the Christian, wise and 
 economical method of settling national differ- 
 ences, and the same method should b}- judicious 
 legislation be applied to the settlement of dis- 
 putes l)etween large bodies of employes and their 
 employers; that the abolition of the saloon would 
 remove the burdens moral, physical, pecuniary 
 and social, which now oppress labor and rob it 
 of its earnings, and would prove to be a wise 
 and successful way of promoting labor reform, 
 and we invite labor and capital to unite with us 
 for the accomplishment thereof; that monopoly 
 in land is a wrong to the people, and the public 
 lands should be reserved to actual settlers; and 
 that men and women should receive equal wages 
 for equal work. 
 
 12. That our immigration laws should be so 
 enforced as to prevent the introduction into our 
 country of all convicts, inmates of other depend- 
 ent institutions, and others physically incapaci- 
 tated for self-support, and that no person should 
 have the ballot in any State who is not a citizen 
 of the United States. 
 
 13. Recognizing and declaring that prohibi- 
 tion of the liqour traffic has become the domi- 
 nant issue ill national politics, we invite to full 
 party fellow.ship all those who, on this one domi- 
 nant issue, are with us agreed, in the full belief 
 that this party can and will remove .sectional 
 differences, promote national unity and insure 
 the best welfare of our entire land. 
 
 Union t,ahor Platform. 
 
 I. While we believe that the proper solution 
 of the financial system will greatly reheve those 
 now in danger of losing their homes by mort- 
 gage foreclosure, and enable all industrious per- 
 sons to secure a home as the highest result of 
 civilization, we oppose land monopolj' in every 
 
68 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 form, (kinand the forfeiture of unearned grants, 
 Ur- limitation of land ownership, and such other 
 k j^ishition as will sto]) s])eculation in land and 
 holding it unused from those whose necessities 
 retjuire it. We believe the earth was made for 
 the jK-ople and not to enable an idle aristocracy 
 to subsist through rents u])on the toil of the in- 
 dustrious, and that "corners" in land are as l)ad 
 as "corners" in food, and that those who are not 
 residents or citizens should not be allowed to 
 own land in the Ihiited States. A homestead 
 should be exempt to a limited extent from execu- 
 tion or taxation. 
 
 2. The means of communication and transpor- 
 tation should be owned b}- the j^eople, as is the 
 I'nited States postal system. 
 
 3. The establishing of a national monetary 
 system in the interest of the producers instead 
 of the speculators and usurers, by which the 
 circidating medium in necessary quantity and 
 full legal tender should be issued directly to the 
 people without the intervention of banks, or 
 loaned to citizens upon laud .securit}- at a low rate 
 of interest. To relie\e them from extortions of 
 usury and enable them to control the money 
 supply, postal savings Ijanks should be estab- 
 lislied. While we have free coinage of gold we 
 should have free coinage of silver. We demand 
 the immediate application of all the idle money 
 in the United States Treasury to the payment of 
 the bonded debt, and condemn the further issue 
 of interest bearing bonds either In' the National 
 (Vovernment or "by States, Territories, or by 
 municipalities. 
 
 4. Arbitration should take the place of strikes 
 .lud other injurious methods of settling labor 
 disputes. The letting of convict labor to con- 
 tractors should lie ])rohibite(l, the contract S3-S- 
 teni be abolished in public works, the hours of 
 labor in industrial establishments be reduced 
 conunensurate with the increased production by 
 labor-saving machinery, employes be protected 
 from bodily injury, equal pay given for equal 
 work for both sexes, and labor, agricultural and 
 co-operative associations be fostered and encour- 
 aged by law. The foundation of a repulilic is 
 in the intelligence of its citizens, and children 
 who are draw'n into workshops, mines and fac- 
 tories, are deprived of the education which 
 should be secured to all by proper legislation. 
 
 5. We demand the passage of a service pen- 
 sion bill to pension every honorabh- discharged 
 soldier and sailor of the United States. 
 
 6. A graduated income tax is the most equi- 
 table system of taxation, placing the burden of 
 government iTpon those who are best aVjle to pa\-, 
 instead of laj'ingit upon the farmers and exempt- 
 ing millionaire bondholders and corporations. 
 
 7. We demand a Constitutional amendment 
 making United States Senators elective by a di- 
 rect vote of the people. 
 
 S. We demand a strict enforcement of laws 
 prohibiting the importation of subjects of for- 
 eign countries under contracts. 
 
 9. We demand the passage and enforcement 
 of such legi.slation as will absolutely exclude the 
 Chinese from the I'nited States. 
 
 10. The right to vote is inherent in citizen- 
 slii]), irrespective of sex, and is properly within 
 the province of State legislation. 
 
 1 1. The paramount issues to be solved in the 
 interest of liumanity are the abolition ot usury, 
 nu)nopoly and trusts; and we denounce the Dem- 
 ocratic and Republican parties for creating and 
 perpetuating these monstrous evils. 
 
 United I^abor Platform. 
 
 We, the delegates of the United I^abor party 
 of the United States, in national convention as- 
 sembled, hold that the corruptions of govern- 
 ment and the impoverishment of the masses 
 resvilt from neglect of the self-evident truths 
 proclaimed by the founders of this Republic, 
 that all men are created equal and endowed 
 with inalienable rights. We aim at the aboli- 
 tion of the system which compels men to pay 
 their fellow-creatures for the use of the common 
 bounties of nature and permits monopolizers to 
 deprive labor of natural opportunities for em- 
 ployment. 
 
 We see access to farming land denie<l to labor 
 except on payment of exorbitant rent or the 
 acceptance of mortgage burdens, and labor, thus 
 forl)idden to employ itself, driven into the cities. 
 We see the wage workers of the cities subjected 
 to this unnatural competition and forced to pay 
 an exorbitant share of their scanty earnings for 
 cramped and imhealthy lodgings. We see the 
 same intense competition condemning the great 
 majority of business and professional men to a 
 bitter and often unavailing .struggle to avoid 
 bankruptcy, and that while the price of all that 
 labor produces ever falls the price of land ever 
 rises. 
 
 We trace these evils to a fundamental wrong 
 — the making of the land on which all nmst live 
 the exclusive property of but a jwrtion of the 
 community. To this denial of natural rights 
 are due want of employment, low wages, busi- 
 ness depressions, that intense competition which 
 makes it so difficult for the majority of men to 
 get a comfortable living, and that wrongful dis- 
 tribution of wealth which is producing the 
 millionaire on one side and the tramp on the 
 other. 
 
 To give all men an interest in the land of their 
 country; to enable all to share in the benefits of 
 social growth and improvement; to prevent the 
 shutting out of labor from employment by the 
 monopolization of natural opportunities; to do 
 away with the one-sided competition which cuts 
 down wages to starvation rates; to restore life to 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 69 
 
 business and prevent periodical depressions; to 
 do away with that monstrous injustice which 
 (k])rives producers of tlie fruits of tlieir toil 
 while idlers grow rich; to prevent the conflicts 
 which are arraying class against class, and which 
 are fraught with menacing dangers to society, 
 wo propose so to change the existing system of 
 taxation that no one shall be taxed on the 
 wealth he produces, nor any one suffered to 
 ajipropriate wealth he does not produce by 
 taking to himself the increasing values which 
 the growth of society adds to the land. 
 
 Wiiat we propose is not the disturViing of any 
 man in his holding or title, but, by taxation of 
 land according to its value and not according to 
 its area, to devote to common use and benefit 
 those values which arise, not from the exertion 
 of the individual, but from the growth of society, 
 and to abolish the taxes on indnstrj- and its 
 jiroducts. This increased taxation of land 
 values must, while relieving the working farmer 
 and small homestead owner of the undue l)ur- 
 dens now imposed upon them, make it unprofita- 
 l)le to hold land for speculation, and thus throw 
 o])en abundant opportunities for the employment 
 of labor and the Ijuilding up of homes. 
 
 We would do away with the present unjust 
 and wasteful system of finance, which piles up 
 hundreds of millions of dollars in treasury vaults 
 w liile we are paying interest on an enormous 
 debt; and we would establish in its stead a 
 monetary system in which a legal tender circu- 
 lating medium should be issued by the Govern- 
 ment without the intervention of banks. 
 
 We wish to abolish the present unjust and 
 wasteful system of ownership of railroads and 
 telegraphs by private corporations — a system 
 which, while failing to supply adequately public 
 needs, impoverishes the fanner, oppresses the 
 manufacturer, hampers the merchant, impedes 
 travel and communication, and builds up enor- 
 mous fortunes and corrupting monopolies that 
 are becoming more powerful than the Govern- 
 ment itself. For this system we would substitute 
 Government ownership and control for the 
 benefit of the whole people instead of private 
 property. 
 
 While declaring the foregoing to be the fun- 
 damental principles and aims of the United 
 Labor party, and while conscious that no reform 
 can give effectual and permanent relief to labor 
 that does not involve the legal recognition of 
 equal rights to natural opportunities, we, never- 
 theless, as measures of relief from some of the 
 evil effects of ignoring those rights, favor such 
 legislation as maj- tend to reduce the hours of 
 labor, to prevent the employment of children of 
 tender years, to avoid the competition of convict 
 labor with honest industry, to secure the sanitary 
 inspection of tenements, factories and mines, and 
 to put an end to the abuse of the conspiracy laws. 
 
 We desire also to simplifj' the procedure of 
 our courts and diminish the expense of legal 
 l)roceedingsthat the poor therein may be ])laced 
 on an ecjuality with the rich, and tlie long 
 delays which now result in scandalous nnscar- 
 riagis i>f justice may be prevented. 
 
 Since the ballot is the only means by which, 
 in our Republic, the redress of jjolitical and .social 
 grievances is to be .sought, we especially and 
 emphatically declare for the adoption of what is 
 known as the Australian system of voting, in 
 order that the effectual .secrecy of the ballot and 
 the relief of candidates for public ofllce from 
 the heavy expense now imposed upon them may 
 prevent liribery and intimidation, do away with 
 practical discriminations in favor of the rich 
 and unscrupulous, and lessen the pernicious 
 influence of money in politics. 
 
 We denounce the Democratic and Republican 
 parties as hopelessly and shamelessly corrupt, 
 and by reason of their affiliation with monopolies, 
 equally unworthy of the suffrages of tho.se who 
 do not live upon public plunder; we therefore 
 require of those who woidd act with us that they 
 sever all connection with both. 
 
 In support of these aims we solicit the co- 
 operation of all ])atriotic citizens who, sick of 
 the degradatit)n of politics, desire, b}- constitu- 
 tional methods, to establish justice, to preserve 
 liberty, to extend the .spirit of fraternity and to 
 elevate humanity 
 
 American Platform. 
 
 Believing that the time has arrived when a 
 due regard for the present and future prosperity 
 of our country makes it imperative that the }>eo- 
 ple of the United States of America should take 
 full and entire control of their Government, to 
 the exclusion of revolutionary and incendiary 
 foreigners now seeking our shores from ever}- 
 quarter of the world, and recognizing that the 
 first and most important duty of an American 
 citizen is to maintain this Government in all 
 attainable purity and strength, we make the fol- 
 lowing declaration of principles: 
 
 Reselvi'ci, That all law-abiding citizens of the 
 United States of America, whether native or 
 foreign born, are political equals (except as pro- 
 vided by the Con.stitution), and all are entitled 
 to and should receive the full protection of the 
 laws. 
 
 WheRE.\S, There are seventeen States in this 
 Union wherein persons are allowed to vote at all 
 elections without being citizens of the United 
 States; and whereas such a system tends to 
 place the management of the Government into 
 the hands of those who owe no allegiance to our 
 political in.stitutions: Therefore, 
 
 Rc.sol7'rct That the Constitution of the United 
 States .should l)e .so amended as to prohibit the 
 Federal and State Governments from conferring 
 
70 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 upon ail}' person the right to vote unless such 
 person be a citizen of the United States. 
 
 A'cso/mi, That -we are in favor of fo.stering 
 and encouraging American iiuhistries of every 
 class and kind; that the issue of "protection" 
 versus ' ' free trade " is a fraud and a snare. The 
 best "protection" isthatwhiclipn)tectsthelal)or 
 and life-blood of the Republic from the degrad- 
 ing competition with and contamination by im- 
 ported foreigners; and the mo.st dangerous " free 
 trade" is that in paupers, criminals, communists 
 and anarchists, in which the l)alance has always 
 been against tlie United States. 
 
 Wh?;rkas, One of the greatest evils of vinre- 
 stricted foreign immigration is the reduction of 
 the wages of American workingmen and Amer- 
 ican workingwomen to the level of the underfed 
 and underpaid laborer of foreign countries: 
 Therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That we demand that no immigrant 
 shall be admitted into the United .States without 
 a passport obtained from the American consul at 
 the port from which he sails; that no passport 
 shall be issued to any j^aiiper, criminal or insane 
 ])erson, or to any person who, in the judgment 
 of the consul, is not likely to become a desirable 
 citi/en of the United .States, and that for each 
 immigrant jiassjjort there shall be collected 
 l)v the consul issuing the same the sum of |;ioo, 
 to be by him paid into the Treasury of the United 
 .States. 
 
 k'esoli'ed. That all persons not in syuijjathy 
 with our Government should be ])rohil:)ited from 
 immigration to these United States. 
 
 Resolc'e'd, That the naturalization laws of the 
 United States should be unconditionally re- 
 pealed. 
 
 Resolved, That the soil of America should l)e- 
 long to Americans; that no alien non-resident 
 should be permitted to own real estate in the 
 United States, and that the realty possessions of 
 the resident alien should be limited in value and 
 area. 
 
 Resolved, That we favor educating the bo^-s 
 and girls of American citizens as mechanics and 
 artisans, thus fitting them for the places now 
 filled by foreigners, who supply the greater part 
 of our .skilled labor, and thereby almo.st entirely 
 control the great industries of our country, save, 
 Iterhaps, that of agriculture alone; and that our 
 boys and girls may l^e taught trades, we demand 
 the establishment and maintenance of free tech- 
 nical schools. 
 
 Resolved, That universal education is a neces- 
 sity of our Government, and that an American 
 free school .system should be maintained and 
 presers'ed as the safeguard of American liberty. 
 
 Resolved, That no language except the P"n- 
 gli.sli shall be taught in the common .schools .sup- 
 ported at the public expense. 
 
 Whereas, Unemployed population is the 
 greatest evil that can befall any nation, and in 
 this country it cannot be eliminated by any Huro- 
 ])ean methods, such as extra police and standing 
 armies: Therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the .surplus in the Treasury 
 should be devoted to the material improvement 
 of our coa.st and frontier defenses and the con- 
 struction of an American nav}- in American 
 workshops by American labor. 
 
 Resolved, That we demand the enactment of a 
 law which shall require all persons having 
 charge in any way in any department, bureau 
 or division of the Government, to forthwith dis- 
 miss from the public service all persons em- 
 ])loyed in or about any such department, bureau 
 or division in any way or manner who are not 
 citizens of the United States by nativity, or by 
 having fully completed their naturaliz.ation 
 papers by due process of law; that no i:)erson 
 shall be appointed to or hold office or place in 
 the .service of the United States, who is not a 
 citizen of the United States, either by hav- 
 ing fully completed his naturalization and taken 
 out his final papers by due form and process of 
 law, or who is not a citizen of the United States 
 by nativit}'. 
 
 Resolved, That after the year 1898 it shall be 
 required of every voter, before he exerci.ses the 
 right of suffrage, to l)e able to read the written 
 or printed Constitution of the United States in 
 the Hngli.sh language and to write his own name 
 upon the register, to show that he is fitted to 
 share the administration of the Republic. 
 
 Resolved, That we recognize the right of labor 
 to organize for its protection, and by all lawful 
 and peaceful means to secure to itself the great- 
 est reward for its thrift and industry, and we be- 
 lieve in governmental arbitration in the settle- 
 ment of industrial differences. 
 
 Resolved, That we are in favor of such legisla- 
 tion by Congress as will re-e.stablish the Ameri- 
 can marine. 
 
 Resolved, That no flag shall float over any 
 public building — municipal, state or national — 
 in the United .States, except the stars and stripes. 
 
 Resolved, That we reassert the American prin- 
 ciples of absolute freedom of religious worship 
 and belief; the permanent separation of church 
 and State; and we oppose the appropriation 
 of public money or property to any church 
 or institution administered by a church. We 
 maintain that all church property should be sub- 
 ject to taxation. 
 
 Resolc'ed, That the Presidential term shall be 
 extended to six years, and the President .shall be 
 ineligible for re-election. 
 
 Resolved, That the American party declares 
 that it recognizes no North, no South, no Kast, 
 no West, in these United States, but one people, 
 pledged to our liberty and our independence. 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 71 
 
 J^qiial Rights Platform. 
 
 Ixisoli'i'ii, That while we dt> not es])oiist' the 
 cause of woman's ri.^hts or man 's rights tlistincl- 
 ively and separately as such, we juds^e it best 
 in the present formative state of pul)lic opinion, 
 and as a proper balancing^ in the i)resent, in 
 view of the past, to put a woman's name at the 
 head of the ticket. 
 
 A't'so/ird, That history having demonstrated 
 the fact that women in all ages have proven 
 capable, in isolated instances, of leading amiies, 
 conquering cities and ruling nations, and l)e- 
 lieving that we have such a one among us to-day, 
 a woman with scojie of vision, intellectual vigor 
 and executive ability equal to the task; one pos- 
 sessing, moreover, from a long residence at the 
 Capital and extensive travel, a thorough acquaint- 
 ance with the state, conditions of our country, 
 and with the magnates of its chosen mascidine 
 rulers; and who, comprehending the abuse of 
 our times with quick intiutions, grasps the rem- 
 edy; a woman who has stormed the redoubts of 
 legal practice and prejudice, and fought her 
 right of way to stand and plead the people's 
 cause before the bar of our highest courts; upon 
 whose benign brow is set the signet of an infinite 
 womanly sympath}-, blended with favor. 
 
 A\'so/:ri/, That we place her name at the head 
 of the Equal Rights ticket, believing Belva A. 
 Lockwood its most fitting exponent and leader. 
 
 Believing that the disfranchisement of women 
 has much to do with the growing influence of 
 crime in the Nation, we, the women of America, 
 by their representatives here assembled, do 
 pledge ourselves that if our part}' and candidates 
 come into power, equal rights shall be meted out 
 to all citizens, without regard to sex or color — a 
 fair l)allot and an honest count. 
 
 We shall ask Congress to pass an enabling act 
 .giving the women of this Nation the right to 
 vote in all election precincts of the United 
 States, as women are citizens, amenable to the 
 laws and liable to taxation. 
 
 That the settlement of estates shall be the 
 same as in the courts of joint property, and in 
 the case of the death of the wife, her heirs shall 
 receive the same consideration as those of the 
 husband without considting his interests. In 
 case of the death of the husband the wife shall 
 be administrator and guardian of her children 
 without any process of law. 
 
 We pledge ourselves to the cause of temper- 
 ance, and are in favor of arbitration by interna- 
 tional commission instead of the sword, al- 
 though inider the circumstances of the late war 
 our i'nion soldiers and sailors were inspired b}- 
 the purest patriotism and principles of right. 
 And we will demand of Congress to ])ension 
 them each and every one if they need help. 
 
 That we urge measures to be taken to stop the 
 
 inmiigration of the .scum of Fiurope and Asia to 
 
 our shores, and that we protect our workingnien 
 from chea]) foreign labor by jjrotecling <jur home 
 markets and manufactures. 
 
 That land owned by foreign landlords and 
 wealthy corporations be heavily taxed to .su])- 
 ])ort the Ciovernment, and ])ut sugar and lumber 
 on the free list; and abolish taxes on whisky 
 and tobacco, as it makes the (Tovernment a 
 partner in their excessive use — the evil of tlie 
 centm-y. 
 
 That in our candidates, I'.elva A. kockwooil 
 and Albert II. I/ne, of rhiladeli)]na, we have 
 ever)- confidence in their ability, integrity and 
 firmness in carrying out these grand and glorious 
 principles. 
 
 Industrial Reform Platform. 
 
 WhKRKA.S, It is ])ossil)le to secure many needed 
 reforms under a correct financial and industrial 
 system: Therefore, 
 
 Rcsolffd, By the Industrial party, in national 
 convention assembled at the City of Washing- 
 ton, D. C, on the 22d day of February, iSSS; 
 
 1. That the Government shall provide full 
 legal tender money sufKcient in volume to meet 
 the re([uirements of the people. 
 
 2. That the vSecretary of the Treasury shall 
 inimediately redeem all public interest-bearing 
 l)onds. 
 
 3. That all banks of issue shall be aliolished. 
 
 4. That the privilege of voting is inherent in 
 citizenship, and the right to vote should be ac- 
 corded to women. 
 
 THE FIRST PEOPLE'S PARTY. 
 
 Uu May ly, 1S91, there assembled at Cincin- 
 nati over 1,400 representatives of reform organ- 
 izations ill accordance with a call for a National 
 Reform Conference. This meeting adopted a 
 platform which gave birth to a new political 
 organization, the "People's Party of the United 
 States of America." Following in this line a 
 great labor conference was held in St. Louis, be- 
 ginning February 22, 1892. Its platform is 
 known as that of the "Confederated Industrial 
 Organizations." 
 
 People's Party Platform. 
 
 I. That in view of the great .social, industrial, 
 and economical re\(jlution now dawning ui)on 
 the civilized world, and the new and living issues 
 confronting the American peo])le, we believe 
 that the time has arrived for a crystallization of 
 the political reform forces of our country and 
 the formation of what should be known as the 
 "People's Partvof the United States of America." 
 
72 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 2. That we most heartily endorse the demands 
 of the platforms as adopted at St. Louis, Mo., 
 in iS8q; Ocala, Fla., in 1890, and Omaha, Neb., 
 in iS()i l)y industrial ortJ^anizations there repre- 
 sented, summarized us follows: 
 
 A — The right to make and issue money is a 
 .sovereign power to be maintained by the people 
 for the connnon benefit; hence we demand the 
 abolition of national banks as banks of issue, and 
 as a substitute for national bank notes we de- 
 mand that legal tender Treasury notes be issued, 
 in .sufficient volume to transact the business of 
 the country on a cash basis, without damage or 
 special advantage to any class or calling, such 
 notes to be legal tender in the payment of all 
 debts, public and private, and .such notes when 
 demanded by the people shall be loaned to them 
 at not more than two per cent, per annum upon 
 non-perishal)le products, as indicated in the sub- 
 treasur}' plan, and also upon real estate with 
 jiroper limitation upon the quantity of land and 
 the amount of money. 
 
 B — We demand the free and unlimited coin- 
 age of silver. 
 
 C — We demand the passage of laws prohibit- 
 ing alien ownership of land, and that Congress 
 take prompt action to devise some plan to obtain 
 all lands now owned by alien and foreign S3'ndi- 
 cates, and that all lands held by railroads and 
 other corporations in excess of such as isactualh' 
 used and needed by them 1)e reclaimed by 
 the Government and held for actual settlers 
 only. 
 
 I) — Believing the doctrine of equal rights to 
 all and special jjrivilege to none, we demand 
 that taxation — national, State or municipal — 
 shall not be used to l)uild up one interest or 
 class at the expense of another. 
 
 E — We demand that all revenues — national. 
 State or county — .shall be limited to the neces- 
 sary expenses of the Government, economically 
 and honestly administered. 
 
 F — We demand a just and equitable .system of 
 graduated tax on incomes. 
 
 G — We demand the most rigid, honest and 
 just national control and supervision of the 
 means of public communication and transporta- 
 tion, and if this control and supervision does not 
 remove the aljuses now existing, we demand the 
 Government ownership of such means of com- 
 munication and transportation. 
 
 II — We demand the election of President, 
 \'ice-President and United States Senators by a 
 direct vote of the people. 
 
 3. That we urge united action of all progres- 
 sive organizations attending the conference 
 called for February 22, 1892, by six of the lead- 
 ing reform organizations. 
 
 4. That a national central committee be ap- 
 ]xjinted 1)y this conference, to be composed of a 
 chairman, to be elected by this body, and of 
 
 three members from each vState represented, to 
 be named by each State delegation. 
 
 5. That this central committee shall represent 
 this body, attend the national conference on 
 February' 22, 1892, and if pos.sible unite with 
 that and all other reform organizations there as- 
 sembled. If no satisfactory arrangement can be 
 effected, this committee shall call a national 
 convention not later than June i, 1892, for the 
 purpo.se of nominating candidates for President 
 and Vice-President. 
 
 6. That the member's of the central committee 
 for each State where there is no independent 
 political organization, conduct an active .system 
 of political agitation in their respective States. 
 
 keso/i'fd, That the question of univer.sal suf- 
 frage be recommended to the favorable consider- 
 ation of the various States and Territories. 
 
 A'l'so/z'i'd, That while the party in power in 
 18S9 pledged the faith of the Nation to pay a 
 debt in coin that had been contracted on a de- 
 preciated currency basis and payable in cur- 
 rency, thus adding nearly one billion dollars to 
 the burdens of the pe()])le, which meant gold for 
 the bondholder and depreciated currency for the 
 soldier, and holding that the men who imperiled 
 their lives to save the life ,of a nation should 
 havebeen paid in money as good as that paid to 
 the bondholder, we demand the issue of legal 
 tender Treasury notes in sufficient amount to 
 make the pay of the soldiers equal to par with 
 coin, or such other legislation as shall do equal 
 and exact justice to the Union soldiers of this 
 country. 
 
 Resolved, That as eight hours con.stitutes a 
 legal day's work for Government employes in 
 mechanical departments, we believe this princi- 
 ple .should be further extended so as to apply to 
 all corporations employing labor in the different 
 vStates of the Union. 
 
 Resolved, That this conference condenms in 
 unmeasured terms the action of the directors of 
 the World's Columbian Exposition, on May 19, 
 in refu.sing the mininmm rate of wages asked 
 for by the labor organizations of Chicago. 
 
 Resolved, That the Attorney-General submit 
 the act of March 2, 1S89, providing for the open- 
 ing of Oklahoma to homestead settlement, to 
 the Supreme Court of the United States at the 
 earliest possible moment, that the unhappy .set- 
 tlers of that afflicted Territory may understand 
 the law and Constitutional meaning of .said act, 
 and thus put a stop to so much litigation and 
 expense. 
 
 Confederated Industrial Platform. 
 
 This, the first great lalwr conference of the 
 United States and of the world, representing all 
 divisions of urban and rural organizetl industry, 
 assembled in national congress, invoking upon 
 its action the blessing and protection of Al- 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 73 
 
 mighty God, puts forth to and for the producers 
 of the Nation this declaration of union and inde- 
 ])cndence. The conditions whicli surround us 
 best justify our co-operation. We meet in the 
 midst of a Nation brought to the verge of moral, 
 political and material ruin. Corruption dom- 
 inates the ballot-box, the Legi.slatures, tlie 
 Congre.ss, and touches even the ermine of the 
 bencli. The people are demoralized. Many t)f 
 the States have l>een compelled to isolate the 
 voters at the polling places in order to prevent 
 universal intimidation or bril)ery. The ne^vs- 
 papers are subsidizetl or muzzled, ])ublic opinion 
 silenced, business prostrated, our homes covered 
 with mortgages, labor impoverished and the 
 land concentrating in the hands of capitalists. 
 The urban workmen are denied the right of or- 
 ganization for self-protection; imported pauper- 
 ized lal>or beats down their wages; a hireling 
 standing army, unrecognized by our laws, is 
 established to shoot them down, and tliej' are 
 rapidly degenerating to European conditions. 
 
 The fruits of the toils of millions are boldly 
 stolen to build up .colossal fortunes unprece- 
 dented in the history of the world, while their 
 possessors despise the Rejjublic and endanger 
 libert}'. From the same prolific womb of govern- 
 mental injustice breed the two great classes — 
 paupers and millionaires. The national power 
 to create money is appropriated to enrich bond- 
 holders; silver, which has been accepted as coin 
 since the dawn of history, has been demonetized 
 to add to the purchasing power of gold by de- 
 creasing the value of all forms of property, as 
 well as human labor, and the supply of currency 
 is purposely abridged to fatten usurers, bank- 
 rupt enterprise and enslave industr}'. A vast 
 conspiracy against mankind has been organized 
 on two continents, and is taking posses.sion of 
 the world. If not met and overthrown at once 
 it forebodes terriljle social convulsions, the de- 
 struction of civilization or the establishment of 
 an aljsolute des]jotism. 
 
 In this human crisis of human affairs intelli- 
 gent working people and j^roducers of the United 
 States have come together in the name of peace, 
 order and society to defend li1)erty, j^rosperity 
 and justice. 
 
 We declare our union and independence. We 
 assert our purpose to support the political organ- 
 ization which represents our principles. 
 
 We charge that the controlling influence dom- 
 inating the old political parties lias allowed the 
 existing dreadful conditions to develop without 
 serious effort to restrain or prevent them. They 
 have agreed together to ignore in the coming 
 campaign every issue but one. They propose to 
 drown the outcries of a plundered people with 
 the uproar of a sham battle over the tariff, so 
 that corporations, national banks, rings, tru.sts, 
 " watered stock, " the demonetization of silver 
 
 and the oppression of usurers may all be lo.st sight 
 of. They propose to sacrifice our homes and 
 children upon the altar of Mannnon; to destroy 
 the hopes of the nudtitude in order to secure cor- 
 ruption funds from the great lords of jjlunder. 
 
 We assert that a political organization, repre- 
 .senting the political princi])les herein stated is 
 ueces.sary to redress the grievances of w hich we 
 complain. 
 
 Assondded on the annivensary of the birth of 
 the illu.strious man who led tlie first great revolu- 
 tion on this continent against opjjression, filled 
 witli Die sentiments which actuated that grand 
 generation, we seek to restore the government 
 of the Republic to the hands of the " plain ])eo- 
 ple " with whom it originated. (Jur doors are 
 opened to all points of the compass. We ask all 
 hone-st men to join with and help us. 
 
 In order to restrain the extortions of aggre- 
 gate capital, to tlrive the money-changers out of 
 the temple, to form a perfect' union", establish 
 justice, insure dome.stic tranquillity, provide for 
 the connnon defense, promote the general wel- 
 fare, and secure the f)lessings of liberty for our- 
 selves and our posterity, we do ordain and 
 establish the following platform of principles: 
 
 1. We declare the union of the labor forces of 
 the United States this day accomplished perma- 
 nent and perpetual. May its spirit enter into all 
 hearts for the salvation of the Republic and the 
 uplifting of mankind. 
 
 2. Wealth belongs to him who created it. 
 Every dollar taken from industrj- without an 
 equivalent is robbery. If any one will not work, 
 neither shall he eat. The interests of rural and 
 urban labor are the same, their enemies are 
 identical. 
 
 3. We demand a national currency safe, sound 
 and flexible, issued by the General Government 
 only, a full legal tender for all debts, public and 
 private; and that without the use of banking 
 corporations a just, equitable and efficient means 
 of distribution direct to the jieople at a tax not 
 to exceed two per cent., be provided, as .set forth 
 in the sub-treasury plan of the Farmers' Alli- 
 ance, or some better system; also, by payments 
 in discharge of its obligations for public im- 
 provements. 
 
 4. We demand free and ludimited coinage of 
 silver. 
 
 5. We demand that the amount of circulating 
 medium V)e speedily increa.sed to not less than 
 I50 per capita. 
 
 6. We demand a graduated income tax. 
 
 7. We believe that the money of the country 
 should be kept as much as ])os.sible in the hands 
 of the ])eople, and hence we demand all national 
 and State revenue shall be limited to the nec- 
 essary expenses of the Govermnent, economic- 
 ally and honestly administered. 
 
74 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 8. We (leinaiid that postal savings banks be 
 established by tlie Goverunient for the safe 
 (le]H)sil of the earnings of tlie pef)])le and lo 
 fatilitale exchange. 
 
 <). The land, inclnding all the natural re- 
 sources of wealth, is the lieritage of all the 
 people, and should not be monopolized for 
 spccidative purposes, and alien ownership of 
 land .should be prohibited. All land now held 
 l)y railroads and other corporations in excess of 
 their actual needs, and all lands now owned by 
 aliens, should be reclaimed by the Government 
 and held for actual settlers onlv. 
 
 10. Transportation being a means of exchange 
 and a public necessity, the Government should 
 own and operate the railroads in the interest of 
 the people. 
 
 1 1 . The telegraph and the telephone, like the 
 ])ost office system, being a necessity for trans- 
 mission of news, should be owned and operated 
 by the Government in the interest of the people. 
 
 PLATFORMS OF 1892. 
 
 The Republican national convention this year 
 assembled in Minneapolis, June 7; the Demo- 
 crats met in Chicago, June 21 ; the Prohibition- 
 ists held their national convention in Cincinnati, 
 June 29; and the Peoijle's party's first convention 
 to nominate a Presidential ticket met in Omaha, 
 July 14. All these ado^jted platforms, and an 
 additional platform was adopted by the grand 
 council of the Independent People's Labor party 
 at a meeting held in Cleveland, June 24, at 
 which the Republican Presidential ticket was 
 endorsed. For the first time in its history in 
 the United States, the Socialist Labor party 
 ])laced a Presidential ticket in the field, at a 
 convention which met in New York, August 28. 
 The platform of 1889 was reaffirmed. 
 
 Republican Platform. 
 
 The representatives of the Repul)licans of the 
 United States, assembled in general convention 
 on the shores of the Mississip])i River, the ever- 
 lasting bond of an indestructible Republic whose 
 most glorious chapter of history is the record of 
 the Republican party, congratulating their 
 countrymen on the majestic march of the Nation 
 under the banners inscribed with the principles 
 of our platform of 1888, vindicated by victory 
 at the polls and prosperity in our fields, work- 
 shops and mines, make the following declara- 
 tion of principles: 
 
 We reaffirm the American doctrine of protec- 
 tion. We call attention to its growth abroad. 
 
 W^e maintain that the prosperous condition of 
 our country is largely due to the wise revenue 
 legislation of the Republican Congress. We 
 believe that all articles which cannot be pro- 
 duced in the United States, except luxuries, 
 should be admitted free of duty; and that on all 
 imports coming into competition with the prod- 
 ucts of American labor there should be duties 
 levied equal to the difference between wages 
 abroad and at home. We assert that the prices 
 of manufactured articles of general consumption 
 have been reduced under the operation of the 
 tariff act of 1890. We denounce the efforts of 
 the Democratic majority of the House to destroy 
 our tariff laws by piecemeal, as manifested by 
 their attacks on wool, lead and lead ore, and we 
 ask the people for their judgment thereon. 
 
 We point io the success of the Rejniblican 
 policy of reciprocity, under which our export 
 trade has vastly increased and new and enlarged 
 markets have been opened for the products of 
 our farms and workshops. We remind the people 
 of the bitter opposition of the Democratic party 
 to this practical business measure, and claim 
 that, executed by a Republican administration, 
 our present laws will eventually give us control 
 of the trade of the world. 
 
 The American people from tradition and in- 
 terest favor bimetallism, and the Republican 
 party demands the use of both gold and silver 
 as .standard money, such restrictions to be deter- 
 mined by contemplation of values of the two 
 metals, so that the purchasing and debt paying 
 power of the dollar, whether of silver, gold or 
 paper, shall be equal at all times. 
 
 The interests of the producers of the countr}-, 
 its farmers and its workingmen, demand that 
 every dollar — paper or gold — issued by the Gov- 
 ernment, shall be as good as any other. We 
 commend the wise and jjatriotic steps already 
 taken by our Government to secure an interna- 
 tional parity of value between gold and silver 
 for use as money throughout the world. 
 
 W'e demand that every citizen of the United 
 vStates shall be allowed to cast one free and un- 
 restricted ballot in all public elections, and that 
 such ballot shall be counted and returned as 
 cast ; that such laws shall be enacted and en- 
 forced as will secure to every citizen, be he rich 
 or poor, native or foreign born, white or black, 
 this sovereign right, guaranteed by the Consti- 
 tution, the free and honest popular Itallot, the 
 just and equal representation of all the peo- 
 ple, as well as the just and equal protection 
 luider the laws as the foundation of our republi- 
 can in.stitutions, and the part}' will never relax 
 its efforts until the integrity of the ballot and 
 the purity of elections sliall be fully guaranteed 
 and protected in every State. 
 
 We denounce the contimied inlnunan out- 
 rages perpetrated on American citizens for 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 75 
 
 political reasons in certain Southern vStates of 
 the Union. 
 
 We favor the extension of our foreign com- 
 merce ; the restoration of our mercantile marine 
 by home-built ships, and the construction of a 
 navy for the protection of our national interests 
 and the honor of our flag ; the maintenance of 
 the most friendly relations with all foreign 
 powers, entangling alliances with none, and the 
 protection of the rights of our fishermen. We 
 reaflirm our approval of the Monroe doctrine 
 and believe in the achievement of the manifest 
 destiny of the Repu1)lic in its broadest sense. 
 We favor the enactment of more stringent laws 
 and regulations for the restriction of criminal, 
 pauper and contract immigration. 
 
 We favor efficient legislation by Congress to 
 protect the life and limbs of employes of railroad 
 companies engaged in carrying inter-state com- 
 merce, and recommend legislation by the respect- 
 ive States that will protect employes engaged 
 in inter-state commerce, in mining and in manu- 
 facturing. 
 
 The Republican party has always been the 
 champion of the oppressed, and recognizes the 
 dignity of manhood, irre.spective of faith, color 
 or nationality. It sympathizes with the cause 
 of home-rule in Ireland, and protests against the 
 l)ersecution of the Jews in Russia. The ultimate 
 reliance of free, popular government is the in- 
 telligence of the people and the maintenance 
 of freedom among men. 
 
 We declare anew our devotion to liberty of 
 thought and conscience, of speech and of the 
 press, and approve all agencies and instrumen- 
 talities which contribute to the education of the 
 children of the land ; but while insisting upon 
 the fullest measure of religious liberty, we are 
 opposed to any union of church and .state. 
 
 We reaffirm our opposition declared in the 
 Republican platform of i88S, to all combinations 
 of capital organzied to control arbitrarily the 
 condition of trade among our citizens. We 
 heartily endorse the action taken on this issue, 
 and ask for such further legislation as may be 
 required to remedy any defects in existing laws 
 and to render their enforcement more complete 
 and effective. 
 
 We approve the policy of extending to towns 
 and rural connnunities the advantages of the 
 free delivery service now enjoyed by the large 
 cities of the country, and reaffirm the declara- 
 tion contained in the Republican platform of 
 1888, pledging the reduction of letter postage to 
 one cent at the earliest possible moment. 
 
 We commend the spirit and evidence of re- 
 form in the civil ser\ice and the wise and con- 
 sistent enforcement by the Republican party of 
 the laws relating to the same. 
 
 The construction of the Nicaragua canal is of 
 the highe.st importance to the American people, 
 
 both as a measure of national defen.se and to 
 build up and maintain .\merican commerce, and 
 it should be cuiitrollcd by llic Tuitid States 
 (jovcrnment. 
 
 We favor Die admission of the remaining Ter- 
 ritories at the earliest ])o.ssible moment, having 
 due regard to the interests of the ])eoj)le of the 
 Territories and for the Ihiited States. All the 
 federal office-holders ap])ointed in the Territo- 
 ries should be selected from the residents there- 
 of, and the right of self-government sliould ])v 
 accorded as far as possible. 
 
 We favor the cession, .subject to the home- 
 stead laws, of the arid public lands to the States 
 and Territories in which they lie, under such 
 Congressional restrictions as to disposition, rec- 
 lamation and occupancy by settlers as will se- 
 cure the maximum benefits for the people. 
 
 The World's Columbian Exposition is a great 
 national undertaking, and Congress should 
 promptly enact .such reasonable legi.slation in 
 aid thereof as will en.sure a discharge of the ex- 
 penses and obligations incident thereto, and the 
 attainment of results commensurate with the 
 dignity and progress of the Nation. 
 
 We sym]>atliize with all wise and legitimate 
 efforts to lessen and prevent the evils of intem- 
 perance and promote morality. 
 
 Ever mindful of the services and sacrifices of 
 the men who saved the life of the Nation, we 
 pledge anew to the veteran soldiers of the Re- 
 public a watchful care and recognition of their 
 just claims upon a gratefiU people. 
 
 We commend the able, patriotic, and thor- 
 oughly American administration of President 
 Harrison. Under it the country has enjoyed re- 
 markalile prosperity, and the dignity and honor 
 of the Nation, at home and abroad, have been 
 faithfully maintained, and we offer the record of 
 pledges kept as a guarantee of faithful perform- 
 ance in the future. 
 
 Democratic Platform. 
 
 I . The representatives of the Democratic party 
 of the United States in national convention as- 
 sembled, do reaffirm their allegiance to the prin- 
 ciples of the party, as formulated by Jefferson 
 and exemplified by the long and illustrious line 
 of his successors in Democratic leadership from 
 Madison to Cleveland; weljelieve the public wel- 
 fare demands that these principles be ai>j)lied to 
 the conduct of the Federal Government thrt)Ugh 
 the accession to power of the party that advocates 
 them; and we solemnly declare that the need of 
 a return to these fundamental principles of a 
 free popular government, based on home rule 
 and individual liberty, was never more urgent 
 than now when the 'tendency to centralize all 
 power at the I'ederal Capital has become a men- 
 ace to the reserved rights of the vStates that 
 .strikes at the verv roots of our Govermnent 
 
76 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 under the Constitution as framed by the fathers 
 of the Republic. 
 
 2. We warn the peo]ile of our coniniou coun- 
 try, zealous for the jireservation of their free in- 
 stitutions, that the policy of Federal control of 
 elections to which the Rejjuljlican party has 
 conunitted itself is frauj^ht with the greatest 
 dangers, scarcely less momentous than would 
 result from a revolution practically establishing 
 monarchyon the ruins of the Republic. It .strikes 
 at the North as well as the vSouth, and injures 
 the colored citizen even more than the white. 
 It means a horde of deputy marshals at every 
 polling place armed with Federal power, return- 
 ing boards appointed and controlled by Federal 
 authority, the outrage of electoral rights of the 
 ])eople in the several vStates, the subjugation of 
 the colored people to the control of the party in 
 I)ower, and the reviving of race antagonisms 
 now ha])])ily abated, of the utmost peril to the 
 safety and lia])i)iness of all; a measure deliber- 
 ately and justly described l)y a leading Republi- 
 can Senator as the "most infamous bill that ever 
 crossed the threshold of the Senate." Such a 
 policy, if sanctioned by law, would mean the 
 dominance of a: self-per^jetuating oligarchy of 
 office-holders, and the party first intrusted with 
 its machinery could be dislodged from power 
 only by an appeal to the reserved right of the 
 people to resist oppression, which is inherent in 
 all self-governing communities. Two years ago 
 this revolutionary polic}' was emphatically con- 
 demned by the people at the polls; but in con- 
 tempt of that verdict the Republican party has 
 definitely declared, in its latest authoritative 
 utterance, that its .success in the coming elections 
 will mean the enactment of the Force Bill, and 
 the usurpation of de.spotic control over elections 
 in all the vStates. Believing that the preserva- 
 tion of Republican Government in the United 
 vStates is dependent upon the defeat of this pol- 
 icy of legalized force and fraud, we invite the 
 .support of all citizens who desire to see the Con- 
 stitution maintained in its integrity with the 
 laws pvirsuant thereto which have given our 
 country a hundred } ears of iniexampled pros- 
 perity; and we pledge the Democratic party, if 
 it be entrusted with pow er, not only to the de- 
 feat of the r^orce Bill, but also to relentless op- 
 ])osition to the Republican policy of profligate 
 expenditure which, in the short .space of two 
 years, has .squandered an enormous surplus, and 
 emptied an overflowing treasury, after piling 
 new burdens of taxation upon the already over- 
 taxed labor of the country. 
 
 3. We denounce the Republican protection as 
 a fraud, a robbery of the great majority of the 
 American people for the benefit of the few. We 
 declare it to be a fundamental principle of the 
 Democratic party that the Federal Government 
 has no Constitutional power to impose and col- 
 
 lect tariff duties, except for the purposes of reve- 
 nue only, and we demand that the collection of 
 such taxes shall be limited to the necessities of 
 the Government when honestly and economi- 
 cally administered. 
 
 We denounce the McKinley tariff law enacted 
 by the Fifty-first Congress as the culminating 
 atrocity of class legislation; we endorse the ef- 
 forts made by the Democrats of the present 
 Congress to modify its most oppressive features 
 in the direction of free raw materials and cheaper 
 manufactured goods that enter into general con- 
 sumption, and we promise its repeal as one of 
 the beneficent results that will follow the action 
 of the people in entrusting power to the Demo- 
 cratic party. Since the RlcKinley tariff went 
 into operation there have been ten reductions of 
 the wages of laboring men to one increase. We 
 deny that there has been any increase of pros- 
 perity to the country since that tariff went into 
 operation, and we point to the dullness and dis- 
 tress, the wages, reductions antl strikes in the 
 iron trade as the best possible evidence that no 
 such prosperity has resulted from the McKinley 
 act. 
 
 We call the attention of thoughtful Americans 
 to the fact that, after thirty years of restrict- 
 ive taxes against the importation of foreign 
 wealth in exchange for our agricultural surplus, 
 the homes and farms of the country have be- 
 come burdened with a real estate mortgage debt 
 of over |;2, 500,000,000, exclusive of all other 
 forms of indebtedness; that in one of the chief 
 agricultural States of the West there appears a 
 real estate mortgage debt averaging |;i65 per 
 capita of the total population, and that similar 
 conditions and tendencies are shown to exist in 
 the other agricultural exporting States. We de- 
 nounce a policy which fosters no industry so 
 much as it does that of the sheriff. 
 
 4. Trade interchange on the basis of reciprocal 
 advantage to the countries participating is a 
 time-honored doctrine of the Democratic faith; 
 but we denounce the sham reciprocity which 
 juggles with the people's desires for enlarged 
 foreign markets and freer exchanges, by pretend- 
 ing to establish closer trade relations for a coun- 
 try whose articles of export are almost exclusively 
 agricultural products with other countries that 
 are also agricultural, while erecting a custom- 
 house barrier of prohibitive tariff taxes against 
 the riche.st countries of the world, that stand 
 ready to take our entire surplus of products and 
 to exchange therefor commodities which are 
 necessaries and comforts of life among our own 
 people. 
 
 5. We recognize in the trusts and combina- 
 tions, which are designed to enable capital to 
 secure more than its ju.st share of the joint prod- 
 uct of capital and labor, a natural consequence 
 of the prohibitive taxes which prevent the free 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 77 
 
 coiupetilion which is the life of honest trade, 
 l)ul we believe their worst evils can be abated by 
 law, and we demand the rigid enforcement of the 
 laws made to ])reventand control them, toj^ether 
 with such further legislation in restraint of their 
 abuses as exi)erience may show to be necessary. 
 t>. Tlie Re])ublican party, while professing a 
 policv of reserving the pul)lic lands for small 
 holding by actual settlers, has given away the 
 people's heritage, till now a few railroads and 
 non-resident aliens, individual and corporate, 
 possess a larger area than that of all our farms 
 between the two seas. The last Democratic ad- 
 ministration reversed the improvident and un- 
 wise policy of the Republican party touching the 
 ])ublic domain, and reclaimed from corporations 
 and syndicates, alien and domestic, and restored 
 to the people nearly 100,000,000 acres of valuable 
 laud, to be sacredly held as homesteads for our 
 citizens, and we pledge ourselves to continue 
 this policy until every acre of land so unlawfully 
 held shall be reclaimed and restored to the 
 people. 
 
 7. We denounce the Republican legislation 
 known as the Sherman act of 1S90 as a cowardly 
 makeshift, fraught with possibilities of danger 
 in the future wliich should make all of its sup- 
 porters, as well as its author, anxious for its 
 .speedy repeal. We hold to the use of both gold 
 and silver as the standard money of the country, 
 and to the coinage of both gold and silver with- 
 out discrimination against either metal or charge 
 for mintage, but the dollar unit of coinage of 
 both metals nmst be ot equal intrinsic ancl ex- 
 changeable value, or be adjusted through interna- 
 tional agreement or by such safeguards of legis- 
 lation as shall ensure the maintenance of the 
 parity of the two metals and the equal power of 
 every dollar at all times in the markets and in 
 the payment of debts; and we demand that all 
 paper currency shall be kept at par with and re- 
 deemable in such coin. We insist upon this 
 policy as especially necessary for the protection 
 of the farmers and laboring classes, the first and 
 most defenseless victims of unstable money and 
 a fluctuating currency. 
 
 8. We recommend that the prohibitory 10 per 
 cent, tax on vState bank is.sues be repealed. 
 
 9. Public office is a public trust. We reaffirm 
 the declaration of the Democratic National Con- 
 vention of 1876 for the reform of the civil serv- 
 ice, and we call for the honest enforcement of 
 all laws regulating the same. The nomination 
 of a President, as in the recent Republican con- 
 vention, by delegations composed largely of his 
 appointees, holding office at his pleasure, is a 
 scandalous satire upon free popular institutions 
 and a startling illustration of the methods by 
 which a President may gratify his ambition. We 
 denounce a policy under which Federal office- 
 holders usurp control of party conventions in the 
 
 States, and we pledge the Democratic party to 
 the refonn of these and all other abuses which 
 threaten individual liberty and local self-govern- 
 ment. 
 
 10. The Democratic party is the only party 
 that has ever given the country a foreign policy 
 consistent and vigorous, compelling respect 
 abroad and ins])iring confidence at home. While 
 avoiding entangling alliances, it has aimed to 
 cultivate friendl}' relations with other nations, 
 and especially with our American neighbf)rs on 
 the American continent, whose destiny is closely 
 linked with our own, and we view with alarm 
 the tendency to a policy of irritation and bluster 
 which is liable at any time to confront us with 
 the alternative of humiliation or war. We favor 
 the maintenance of a navy strong enough for all 
 purposes of national defense and to properly 
 maintain the honor and dignity of the comitry 
 abroad. 
 
 11. This country has always been the refuge of 
 the oppressed from every land — exiles for con- 
 science' sake — and in the spirit of the founders 
 of our Government we condemn the oppression 
 practiced by the Russian government upon its 
 Lutheran and Jew'ish subjects, and we call upon 
 our national Government, in the interests of 
 justice and humanity by all just and proper 
 means, to use its prompt and best efforts to bring 
 about a cessation of these cruel persecutions in 
 the dominions of the Czar, and to secure to the 
 oppressed ecjual rights. We tender our profound 
 and earnest sympathy to those lovers of freedom 
 who are struggling for home rule and the great 
 cause of local self-government in Ireland. 
 
 12. W^e heartily approve of all legitimate 
 efforts to prevent the United States from being 
 used as a dumping ground for the known crim- 
 inals and professional paupers of Europe; and 
 we demand the rigid enforcement of the laws 
 against Chinese immigration or the importation 
 of foreign workmen under contract to degrade 
 American labor and lessen its wages; but we 
 condemn and denounce any and all attempts to 
 restrict the inmiigration of the industrious and 
 worthy of foreign lands. 
 
 13. This convention hereby renews the expres- 
 sion of appreciation of the patriotism of the 
 soldiers and sailors of the Ihnon in the war for 
 its preservation, and we favor just and liberal 
 l)ensions for all disabled Union soldiers, their 
 widows and dependents; but we demand that 
 the work of the pension office .shall be done in- 
 dustriously, im])artially and honestly. A\'e de- 
 nounce the present administration oi" that office 
 as incompetent, corrupt, disgraceful and dis- 
 honest. 
 
 14. The Federal Government 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 transpor- 
 
78 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 lation to the tidewater. When any waterway of 
 the RepubUc is of sufficient importance to de- 
 nuuid the aid of the (joverimient such aid 
 should be extended for a definite plan of con- 
 tinuous work-until permanent improvement is 
 scciu'ed. 
 
 15. For purposes of national defense and the 
 promotion of commerce between the States, we 
 recojruize the early construction of the Nica- 
 ragua Canal and its protection against foreign 
 control as of great importance to the United 
 States. 
 
 16. Recognizing the World's Columbian Kx- 
 position as a national undertaking of vast im- 
 portance, in which the General Government 
 has invited the co-operation of all the powers of 
 the world, and ajspreciating the acceptance b}' 
 many of such powers of the invitation extended, 
 and the broadest liberal efforts being made by 
 them to contribute to the grandeur of the under- 
 taking, we are of the opinion that Congress 
 should make such necessary financial provisions 
 as shall be requisite to the maintenance of the 
 national honor and public faith. 
 
 17. Popular education being the only safe basis 
 of popular suffrage, we recommend to the several 
 vStates most liberal appropriations for the public 
 schools. Free common schools are the nursery 
 of good government, and they have always re- 
 ceived the fostering care of the Democratic 
 party, which favors every means of increasing 
 intelligence. Freedom of education Ijeing an 
 essential of civil and religious liberty, as well as 
 a necessity for the develojmient of intelligence, 
 must not be interfered with under any pretext 
 whatever. We are op])osed to vState interference 
 with parental rights and rights of conscience in 
 the education of children as an infringement of 
 the fundamental Democratic doctrine that the 
 largest individual libert}' consistent with the 
 rights of others ensures the highest type of 
 American citizenship and the best government. 
 
 18. We approve the action of the present 
 House of Representatives in passing bills for the 
 admission into the Union as States of the Terri- 
 tories of New Mexico and Arizona, and we favor 
 the early admission of all the Territories having 
 necessary population and resources to admit 
 them to statehood, and, while they remain Ter- 
 ritories, we hold that the officials appointed to 
 administer the government of any Territory, 
 together with the Districts of Columbia and 
 Alaska, should be bona fide residents of the 
 Territory or District in which their duties are to 
 be performed. The Democratic party believes 
 in home rule and the control of their own affairs 
 by the people of the vicinage. 
 
 19. We favor legislation by Congress and State 
 legislatures to protect the lives and limbs of rail- 
 way emploves and those of other hazardous 
 transportation companies, and denounce the in- 
 
 activity of the Republican party, and partic- 
 ularly the Republican Senate, for causing the 
 defeat of measures beneficial and protective to 
 this class of wage-workers. 
 
 20. We are in favor of the enactment by the 
 States of laws for abolishing the notorious 
 sweating system, for abolishing contract convict 
 labor, and for prohibiting the employment in 
 factories of children under 15 years of age. 
 
 21. We are oppo.sed to all sumptuary laws as 
 an interference with the individual rights of the 
 citizen. 
 
 22. Upon this statement of principles and 
 policies, the Democratic party asks the intelli- 
 gent judgment of the American people. It asks 
 a change of Administration and a change of 
 party in order that there may be a change of 
 system and a change of methods, thus assuring 
 the maintenance unimpaired of institutions un- 
 der which the Repul)lic has grown great and 
 powerful. 
 
 Independent People's l,ahor Platform. 
 
 A't'Sfl/i'rd, That we heartily indorse the admin- 
 istration of President Harrison, from the fact 
 that he has done all in his power for the Union 
 soldiers of the late war of the rel)ellion in ad- 
 vising in his message to Congress to pension the 
 Union soldiers of the late war of the rebellion! 
 
 Resolved, That we highly commend President 
 Harrison for his good judgment in selectinf,' 
 such an able and competent person for the posi- 
 tion of Secretary of the Treasury of the United 
 States as Hon. Charles Foster of Ohio, who hav 
 alwa3-s proved himself to be a friend of the 
 laboring classes. 
 
 Resolved, That we heartily indorse the Mc- 
 Kinley bill, believing it to be in the interest of 
 the laboring and producing element of thi.'; 
 country as well as the whole people. 
 
 Resolved, That we heartily indorse protection 
 to American labor, believing that free trade is 
 detrimental to the laboring and producing ele- 
 ments of this country. 
 
 Resolved, That we do condemn the acts of 
 Grover Cleveland while President of the United 
 States in favoring the return of the rebel battle 
 flags. 
 
 Resolved, That we do condemn the act of 
 Grover Cleveland while President of the United 
 vStates, in the veto of the dependent pension bill, 
 from tlie fact tiiat the Union army of the late war 
 of the rebellion was niostl}' composed of laboring 
 men, and are deserving of a pension which has 
 been granted to them under the administration 
 of President Harrison. 
 
 Resolved, That we are proud of our indorse- 
 ment of Benjamin Harrison and INIorton in 1888 
 at our grand council meeting held in Detroit, 
 Michigan, because President Harrison has given 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 79 
 
 tlu' ])c'()j)lc of this coiuitr}' a pure and clean ad- 
 niinislration. 
 
 A'tso/c't'c/, That we, as representatives of the 
 Inde])endeiit People's Labor jjarty, lookin^t;- for- 
 ward in the interest of the laborins^ and prodiic- 
 inj^ elements of this country, cannot support a 
 part}' that will nominate a man for President of 
 the United States who proclaims that free trade 
 is in the interest of the laboring and producing 
 elements of this country. 
 
 k'c'solz'cd. That we cannot support free trade 
 if for no other reason than that Kngland favors 
 it, l)ecause we believe that England never favors 
 anything which is in the interest of America. 
 
 Prohibition Platform. 
 
 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 business enactments must 
 conform to secure the blessings of peace and 
 prosperit}', presents the following declaration of 
 principles: 
 
 The liquor traffic is a foe to civilization, the 
 arch-enemy of popular government and a puljlic 
 nuisance. It is the citadel of the forces that 
 corrupt politics, promote poverty and crime, de- 
 grade the Nation's home life, thwart the will of 
 the people, and deliver our country into the 
 hands of rapaciovis class interests. All laws that 
 under the gui.se of regulation legalize and pro- 
 tect this traffic, or make the Government .share 
 in its ill-gotten gains, are vicious in principle 
 and powerless of a remedy. We declare anew 
 for the entire suppression of the manufacture, 
 sale, importation, exportation and transporta- 
 tion of alcoholic liquors as a beverage, by fed- 
 eral and State legislation, and the full powers of 
 govennnent should be exerted to secure this re- 
 sult. No i^arty that fails to recognize the nature 
 of this issue in American politics is deserving of 
 the support of the people. 
 
 No citizen should be denied the right to vote 
 on account of sex, and equal labor should re- 
 ceive ecjual wages without regard to sex. 
 
 The money of the country should be issued 
 liy the General Government only and in- suffi- 
 cient quantity to meet the demands of business 
 and give full opportunity for the employment 
 of labor. To this end an increa.se in the volume 
 of money is demanded. No individual or corpo- 
 ration should be allowed to make any profit 
 through its issue. It should be made a legal 
 tender for the pa3'ment of all debts, public and 
 ])rivate. Its volume should be fixed at a definite 
 sum per capita and made to increase with popu- 
 lation. 
 
 Tariff should be levied only as a defense 
 against foreign governments which levy tariff 
 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 the 
 burden on what the people possess instead of 
 upon what we con.sume. 
 
 Railroads, telegraphs, and other public corpo- 
 rations should be controlled by the Government 
 in the interest of the people, and no higher 
 charges allowed than necessary to give fair in- 
 terest on the capital actually invested. 
 
 P'oreign immigration has become a burden 
 upon indu.stry, one of the factors in depres.sing 
 wages and causing discontent; therefore our im- 
 migration laws should be revised and .strictly 
 enforced. The time of residence for naturaliza- 
 tion should be extended and no naturalized per- 
 son should be allowed to vote until one year 
 after he Ijecomes a citizen. No resident aliens 
 should be allowed to acquire land in this country, 
 and we favor the limitation of individual and 
 corporate ownership of land — all unearned grants 
 to railroads, companies or other corporations 
 .should be reclaimed. Years of inaction and 
 treachery on the part of the Reiniblican and 
 Democratic parties have resulted in the present 
 reign of mob law, and we demand that every cit- 
 izen be protected in the right of trial by Con.sti- 
 tutional tribunals. All men should be protected 
 by law in their right to one day of rest in seven. 
 
 Arbitration is tlie wi.sest and most economical 
 and humane method of settling national differ- 
 ences. 
 
 Speculation in margins, the cornering of grain, 
 money and products and the formation of pools, 
 trusts and combinations for the arbitrary ad- 
 vancement of prices should be suppressed. 
 
 We arraign the Republican and Democratic 
 parties as false to the standards reared by their 
 founders and faithless to the principles of the 
 illustrious leaders of the past, to whom they do 
 homage with the lips, as recreant to "the 
 higher law," which is as inflexible in political 
 affairs as in personal life, and as no longer em- 
 bodying the aspirations of the American people 
 or inviting the confidence of enlightened, pro- 
 gressive patriotism. Their protest against the 
 admis.sion of "moral issues" into politics is a 
 confession of their own moral degeneracy. The 
 declaration of an eminent authority that niu- 
 nicipal misrule is "the one conspicuous failure 
 of American pohtics " follows as a natural con- 
 sequence of such degeneracy, and is true alike of 
 cities under Repul)lican and Democratic control. 
 Each accuses the other of extravagance in Con- 
 gressional appropriations, and both are alike 
 guilty. Each protests when out of power against 
 infractions of the civil service laws, and each 
 when in power violates those laws in letter and 
 in spirit. Each professes fealty to the toiling 
 masses, but both covertly truckle to the money 
 power in the administration of public aflfairs. 
 Even the tariff issue, as represented in the Dem- 
 
80 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 ocratic Mills bill and the Republican McKinley 
 bill, is no longer treated by them as an issue be- 
 tween great and divergent principles of govern- 
 ment, but is a mere catering to different sectional 
 and class interests. 
 
 The attempt in many vStates to wrest the Aiis- 
 Iralian ballot system from its true purpose, and 
 U) so deform it as to render it extremel}' difficult 
 for new])arties to exercise the rights of suffrage, 
 is an outrage upon popular government. Tlie 
 competition of both these parties for the vote of 
 the slums, and their assiduous courting of the 
 li(juor power and subservienc}' to the money 
 power, has resulted in placing those powers in 
 position of practical arbiters of the destinies of 
 the Nation. We renew our protests against these 
 personal tendencies, and invite all citizens to join 
 us in the upbuilding of a party that has shown 
 in five national campaigns that it prefers tem- 
 porary defeat to an abandonment of the claims 
 of justice, sobriet}-, personal rights and the pro- 
 tection of American homes. We pledge that the 
 Prohibition part}-, if elected to power, will ever 
 grant ju.st pensions to disabled veterans of the 
 Union ami}- and navy, their widows and orphans. 
 
 We stand unequivocally for the American pub- 
 lic school, and opposed to any appropriation of 
 j)ublic moneys for sectarian schools. We believe 
 that onh- b}- united support of such connnon 
 schools taught in the English language can we 
 hope to become and remain a homogeneous and 
 harmonious people. 
 
 People's Party Platform. 
 
 Assembled upon the iiTith anniversary of the 
 Declaration of Independence, the People's party 
 of America, invoking upon their action the bless- 
 ing of Almight}' God, puts forth in the name and 
 on behalf of the people of this countr}- the fol- 
 lowing preamble and platform: 
 
 The conditions which surround us best justify 
 our co-operation. We meet in the midst of a Na- 
 tion brought to the verge of moral, political and 
 material ruin. Corruption dominates the ballot- 
 box, the legislatures, the Congress, and touches 
 even the ermine of the bench. The people are 
 demoralized; most of the States have been com- 
 pelled to isolate the voters at the polling places 
 to prevent universal intimidation or briber}-. 
 The newspapers are largely subsidized or muz- 
 zled, public opinion silenced, business prostrated, 
 our homes covered with mortgages, labor impov- 
 erishedand the land concentratinginthehandsof 
 the capitalists. The urban workmen are denied 
 the right of organization for self-protection, im- 
 IK)rted pauperized labor beats down their wages, 
 a hireling .standing army, unrecognized by our 
 laws, is e.stablished to shoot them down, and 
 they are rapidly degenerating into European 
 conditions. The fruits of the toil of millions are 
 boldly stolen to build up colossal fortunes for a 
 
 few, unprecedented in the history of mankind, 
 and the possessors of these in turn despise the 
 Republic and endanger liberty. From the same 
 prolific womb of governmental injustice we. breed 
 the two classes — tramps and millionaires. The 
 national power to create money is appropriated 
 to enrich bondholders. A vast public debt, pay- 
 able in legal tender currenc}-, has been funded 
 into gold bearing bonds, thereby adding millions 
 to the burdens of the people. Silver, which has 
 been accepted as coin since the dawn of historv, 
 has been demonetized to add to the purchasing 
 power of gold, by decreasing the value of all 
 forms of property as well as human lafjor, and 
 the supply of currency is purposely abridged to 
 fatten usurers, bankrupt enterprise and enslave 
 industry. A vast conspiracy against mankind 
 has been organized on two continents, and it is 
 rapidly taking possession of the world. If not 
 met and overthrown at once it forbodes terrible 
 social convuLsions, the destruction of civilization 
 or the establishment of an absolute despotism. 
 We have witnessed for more than a quarter of a 
 century the struggles of the two great political 
 parties for power and plunder, while grievous 
 wrongs have been inflicted upon the suffering 
 people. We charge that the controlling in- 
 fluences dominating both these parties have per- 
 mitted the existing dreadful conditions to de- 
 velop without serious eff'ort to prevent or restrain 
 them. Neither do the}'- now promise us an}- 
 substantial reform. They have agreed together 
 to ignore, in the coming campaign, ever}- issue 
 but one. They propose to drown the outcries of 
 a plundered jjeople with the uproar of a battle 
 over the tariff, so that capitalists, corporations, 
 national banks, rings, trusts, watered stock, the 
 demonetization of silver and the oppressions of 
 usurers may all be lost sight of. They propose 
 to sacrifice our homes, lives and children on the 
 altar of Mammon; to destroy the multitude in 
 order to secure corruption funds from the mil- 
 lionaires. 
 
 Assembled on the anniversan,- of the birthday 
 of the Nation and filled with the spirit of the 
 grand generation who established our independ- 
 ence, w-e seek to restore the Government of the 
 Repviblic to the hands of "the plain people," 
 with w^hose class it originated. We assert our 
 purposes to be identical with the purposes of the 
 national Constitution, to fonn a more perfect 
 union, establish justice, insure domestic tran- 
 quillity, provide for the common defen.se, pro- 
 mote the general w-elfare and secure the bless- 
 ings of lil)erty for ourselves and our posterity. 
 
 We declare that this Republic can endure only 
 as a free government while built upon the love 
 of the whole people for each other and for the 
 ■Nation; that it cannot be pinned together by 
 bayonets; that the civil war is over, and that 
 every passion and resentment which grew- out of 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 81 
 
 it must die with it, and that we must l)e in fact 
 as we are in name, one united l)rotherhood of 
 free men. Our country finds itself confronted 
 hv conditions for which there is no precedent in 
 the history of the world; our annual ajrricultural 
 ])roductions amount to billions of dollars in 
 \ alue, which must within a few weeks or months 
 he exchanged for billions of dollars of conmiodi- 
 ties consumed in their production; the existing 
 currency supply is wholly inadequate to make 
 this exchange; the results are falling of prices, 
 tlie formation of combines and rings, the im- 
 ])overishment of the producing class. We pledge 
 ourselves that if given power we will labor to 
 correct these evils by wise and reasonable legis- 
 lation in accordance with the terms of our plat- 
 form. 
 
 We believe that the powers of government — 
 in other words of the people — should be ex- 
 panded (as in the case of the postal service) as 
 rapidly and as far as the good sense of an intel- 
 ligent people and the teachings of experience 
 shall justify, to the end that oppression, injus- 
 tice and poverty shall eventually cease in the 
 land. 
 
 While our sympathies as a party of reform are 
 naturally upon the side of every proposition 
 which will tend to make men intelligent, virtu- 
 ous and temperate, we nevertheless regard these 
 questions — important as they are — as secondar}' 
 to the great issues now pressing for solution, 
 and upon which not only our individual pros- 
 perity but the very existence of free institutions 
 depend; and we ask all men to first help us to 
 determine whether we are to have a Republic to 
 administer, before we differ as to the conditions 
 upon which it is to be administered; believing 
 that the forces of reform this day organized will 
 never cease to move forward until every wrong- 
 is remedied, and equal rights and equal privileges 
 securely established for all the men and women 
 of this country. We declare, therefore. 
 
 First — That the union of the labor forces of 
 the United States this day consummated shall 
 be permanent and perpetual; may its spirit enter 
 into all hearts for the salvation of the Republic 
 and the uplifting of mankind. 
 
 Second — Wealth belongs to him who creates 
 it, and every' dollar taken from industry without 
 an equivalent is robberj'. "If any will not work, 
 neither shall he eat." The interests of rural 
 and civic labor are the same; their enemies are 
 identical. 
 
 Third — We believe that the time has come 
 when the railroad corporations will either own 
 the people or the people nmst own the railroads, 
 and should the Government enter upon the work 
 of owning and managing any or all railroads, we 
 should favor an amendment to the Constitution 
 by which all persons engaged in the Govern- 
 ment service shall be placed under a civil service 
 
 regulation of the most rigid character, so as to 
 prevent an increase of the ])ower of the national 
 administration by the use of such additional 
 Govermnent employes. 
 
 We demand a national currency, safe, sound 
 and flexil)le, issued by the general Govermnent 
 only, a full legal tender for all debts, public and 
 private, and that without the use of banking 
 corporations, a ju.st, equitable and efficient means 
 of distribution tlirect to the people, at a tax not 
 to exceed 2 per cent, per annum to be provided 
 as set forth in the sub-treasury plan of the 
 Farmers' Alliance, or a better system; also by 
 payments in discharge of its obligations for 
 public improvements. 
 
 1. We demand free and imlimited coinage of 
 silver and gold at the present legal ratio of 16 to i . 
 
 2. We (lemand that the amount of circulating 
 medium be speedily increased to not less than 
 I50 per capita. 
 
 3. We demand a graduated income tax. 
 
 4. We believe that the money of the countrv 
 should be kept as much as possible in the hands 
 of the people, and hence we demand that all 
 State and national revenues shall be limited to 
 the necessary expenses of the Government, 
 economically and honestl}- administered. 
 
 5. We demand that postal savings banks be 
 established by the Government for the safe de- 
 posit of the earnings of the people and to facili- 
 tate exchange. 
 
 Transportation being a means of exchange 
 and a public necessity, the Government should 
 own and operate the railroads in the interest of 
 the people. 
 
 The telegraph and telephone, like the post- 
 office system, being a necessity for the trans- 
 mission of news, should be owned and operated 
 l)y the Government in the interest of the people. 
 
 The land, including all the natural sources of 
 wealth, is the heritage of the people, and should 
 not be monopolized for speculative purposes, 
 and alien ownership of land shoidd be prohil)- 
 ited. All land now held by railroads and other 
 corporations in excess of their actual needs, and 
 all lands now owned by aliens shoxdd be re- 
 claimed by the Government and held for actual 
 settlers only. 
 
 The following supplementary resolutions were 
 adopted : 
 
 WHEREA.S, Other questions have been pre- 
 sented for our consideration, we hereby submit 
 the following, not as a part of the platform of 
 the People's Party, but as resolutions expressive 
 of the convention : 
 
 Resolved, That we demand a free ballot and a 
 fair count in all elections, and pledge ourselves 
 to secure it to every legal voter without federal 
 intervention through the adoption by the vStates 
 of the unperverted Australian or secret ballot 
 system. 
 
82 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 /xcsoli'cd. That the revenue derived from a 
 (graduated income tax should be applied to the 
 n-duction of the burden of taxation, now levied 
 u])()n the domestic industries of this country. 
 
 A'rso/tnf, That we ])le(lge our support to fair 
 and liberal pensions to ex-Union soldiers and 
 sailors. 
 
 AV-.svj/rvv/, That we condemn the fallacy of 
 ])rolectins^ American lal)or under the present 
 sNsteni, which opens our pf)rtsto the pauper and 
 criminal classes of the world and crowds out our 
 wa,i;e earners; and we denounce the present in- 
 effective laws against contract labor, and demand 
 the further restriction of undesiralile immigra- 
 tion. 
 
 h'i'soli'cd. That we cordially syni])atliize with 
 the efforts of organized workmen to shorten the 
 hours of labor, and demand a rigid enforcement 
 of the existing eight hour law on government 
 work, and ask that a penalty clause be added to 
 to the said law. 
 
 A'cso/i'fd, That we regard the maintenance of 
 a large standing army of mercenaries, known as 
 the Pinkertou system, as a menace to our liberties, 
 and we demand its abolition ; and we condemn 
 the recent invasion of the Territory of Wyoming 
 by the hired assassins of plutocracy, assisted bj- 
 h'ederal officers. 
 
 A'i'so/zrd, That we connneud to the thoughtful 
 consideration of the people and the reform press 
 the legislative system known as the initiative 
 and referendum. 
 
 A'iSoli'c'd , That we favor a Constitutional pro- 
 vision limiting the office of President and Vice- 
 President to one term, and providing for the 
 election of Senators of the LJnited States bj- a 
 direct vote of the people. 
 
 /\'iS()/7rd, That we oppose any subsidy or 
 national aid to any ])rivate corporation for any 
 
 Socinlist Labor Platform. 
 
 (Adopted in 1S89, Reaffirmed in 1S92.) 
 
 The Socialist Laljor party of the United States, 
 in convention assembled, reasserts the inalien- 
 able right of all men to life, liberty, and the 
 pursuit of happiness. 
 
 With the founders of the American Republic 
 we hold that the purpose of government is to 
 secure every citizen in the enjoyment of this 
 right; Imt in the light of our social conditions 
 we hold, furthermore, that no such right can be 
 exercised under a S3^stem of economic inequality, 
 essentially destructive of life, of liberty, and of 
 happiness. 
 
 With the founders of this Republic we hold 
 that the true theory of politics is that the ma- 
 chinery of government nuust be owned and con- 
 trolled by the whole people; but in the light of 
 our industrial development we hold, further- 
 
 more, that the true theory of economics is that 
 the machinery of production nuist likewise 
 belong to the people in common. 
 
 To the obvious fact that our despotic system of 
 economics is the direct opposite of our Demo- 
 cratic system of politics, can plainly be traced 
 the exisUiu-e of a privileged class, the corruption 
 of government by that class, the alienation of 
 pul)lic i)roperty, public franchises and public 
 functions to that class, and the abject depend- 
 ence of the mightiest of nations upon that class. 
 
 Again, through the perversion of Democracy 
 to the ends of plutocrac}-, labor is robbed of the 
 wealth which it alone produces, is denied the 
 means of self-emplo3-ment, and by compulsory 
 idleness in wage slavery, is even deprived of the 
 necessaries of life. 
 
 Human power and natural forces are thus 
 wasted that the plutocracy may rule. 
 
 Ignorance and tnisery, with all their concom- 
 itant evils, are perpetuated that the people 
 may be kei)t in bondage. 
 
 vScience and inventions are diverted from their 
 humane purpose to the enslavement of women 
 and children. 
 
 Against such a system the Socialist Labor 
 party once more enters its jirotest. Once more 
 it reiterates its fundamental declaration, that 
 private propert}', in the natural source of pro- 
 duction and in the instrvmients of labor, is the 
 obvious cause of all economic sevitude and polit- 
 ical dependence; and. 
 
 Whereas, The time is fast coming when, in 
 the natural course of social evolution, tliis system, 
 through the destructive action of its failures and 
 crises on the one hand and the constructive ten- 
 dencies of its trusts and other capitalistic com- 
 binations on the other hand, shall have worked 
 out its own downfall: Therefore, be it 
 
 A'fso/z'cd, That we call upon the people to or- 
 ganize with a view to the sub.stitution of the co- 
 operative commonwealth for the present state of 
 planless production, industrial war and social dis- 
 order; a commonwealth in which every worker 
 .shall have the free exercise and full benefit of 
 his faculties, uuiltiplied In' all the modern factors 
 of civilization. 
 
 We call upon them to unite with us in a 
 mighty effort to gain l)y all practicaltle means 
 the political power. 
 
 In the meantime, and with a view to innnediate 
 improvement in the condition of labor, we pre- 
 .sent the following " demands :" 
 
 SOCIAI< DEMAND.S. 
 
 1. Reduction in the hours of labor in jiropor- 
 tiou to the jirogress of production. 
 
 2. The United States shall obtain possession 
 of the railroads, canals, telegraphs and tele- 
 phones and all other means of public transporta- 
 tion and communication. 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 83 
 
 3. The municipalities to oljtain posession of 
 the local railroads, ferries, water works, gas 
 works, electric plants, and all industries requir- 
 ing nnuiicii)al franchises. 
 
 4. The public lands to be declared inalienable. 
 Revocation of all land grants to corporations or 
 individuals the conditions of which have not 
 been complied with. 
 
 5. Legal incorporation l)y the vStates of local 
 trade unions, which have no national organiza- 
 tion. 
 
 t). The United States to have the exclusive 
 right to issue nifniey. 
 
 7. Congressional legislation providing for the 
 scientific ni;in;iL;riiuiil of forests and waterways 
 and prohiliiliiig tin- waste of the natural resources 
 of the country. 
 
 8. Inventions to be free to all, the inventors to 
 be renmnerated by the Nation. 
 
 9. Progressive income tax and tax on inherit- 
 ances; the smaller incomes to be exempt. 
 
 10. School education of all children under 14 
 ^•ears of age to be compulsory, gratuitous and 
 accessible to all by public assistance in meals, 
 
 clothing, books, etc., where necessary. 
 
 11. Repeal of all pauper, tramp, con.spiracy 
 and sumptuary laws. Unabridged right of com- 
 bination. 
 
 12. Oificial statistics concerning the condition 
 of labor. Prohibition of the employment of 
 children of school age, and of the employment 
 of female labor in occupations detrimental to 
 health or morality. Abolition of the convict 
 labor contract S3'stem. 
 
 13. All wages to be paid in lawful money of 
 the United States. Eciuali/.atiou of women's 
 wages with those of men where equal services 
 are performed. 
 
 14. Laws for the protection of life and limb in 
 all occupations, and an efficient employers' liabil- 
 itv law. 
 
 POI.ITICAL DEM.\NDS. 
 
 X. The people to have the right to propo.se 
 laws and to vote upon all measures of importance 
 according to the referendum principle. 
 
 2. Abolition of the Presidency, Vice-Presi- 
 dency and Senate of the United States. An ex- 
 ecutive board to be established, whose members 
 are to be elected, and may at any time be recalled 
 by the House of Representatives as the only leg- 
 islative body. The States and municipalities to 
 adopt corresponding amendments to their con- 
 stitutions and statutes. 
 
 3. ]\Iunicipal self-government. 
 
 4. Direct vote and secret ballots in all elections. 
 Universal and ecpial right of suffrage without re- 
 gard to color, creed or sex. P^ection days to l)e 
 legal holidays. The principle of minority rep- 
 resentation to be introduced. 
 
 5. All public officers to be .subject to recall by 
 their respective constituencies. 
 
 9. Uniform civil and criminal law throughout 
 the United vStates. Administration of justice to 
 be free of ch.irge. Abolition of capital jnniish- 
 meut. 
 
 PLATFORMS OF 1896.- 
 
 The fir.st national nonnnating convention of 
 1896 was that of the Prohibition jjarty, which 
 met at Pittsburgh, May 27, and adojited a ".sin- 
 gle ])lank" platform. The "broad gauge" Pro- 
 hibitioni.sts, who had in.sisted that their party 
 should declare for other measures besides that of 
 prohibition of the liquor traffic, at once with- 
 drew, and on the 29th of the same month organ- 
 ized the National party. On the 17th of June 
 the Republican convention assembled in St. 
 Louis; the Socialist Lal>or party met in conven- 
 tion in New York, July 4; the Democratic con- 
 vention met in Chicago July 7; the People's 
 party- and the'Silver part}- met in St. Louis July 
 22. September 2, representatives of tho.sc Dem- 
 ocrats who opposed the Chicago platform and 
 candidates met in convention in Indianapolis. 
 All these parties adopted platforms and nomi- 
 nated candidates for President and Vice-Pres- 
 ident. 
 
 Prohibition Platform. 
 
 The Prohibition party in national convention 
 assend)led declares its iirm conviction that the 
 manufacture, exportation, importation and sale 
 oi alcoholic beverages has produced .such com- 
 mercial, industrial, social and political wrongs 
 and is now so threatening the perpetuity of all 
 our social and political institutions that the sup- 
 pression of the same by a national party organ- 
 ized therefor is the greatest object to be accom- 
 plished by the voters of our coimtr}-, and is of 
 such importance as that it, of right, ought to con- 
 trol the political action of all our patriotic citi- 
 zens until such suppression is accomplished. The 
 urgency of this cause demands the union, with- 
 out further delay, of all citizens who desire the 
 prohibition of the liquor traffic. Therefore, be 
 it resolved that w-e favor the legal prohibition, 
 by State and national legislation, of the expor- 
 tation, inter-state tran.sportation and sale of alco- 
 holic beverages; that we declare our purpose to 
 organize and unite all the friends of prohibition 
 into one party, and in order to accomplish this 
 end we deem "it but right to leave every Prohibi- 
 tionist the freedom of his own convictions upon 
 all other political questions, and tru.st our Repre- 
 sentatives to legislate upon other jwlitical (jues- 
 tions as the changes occasioned by prohibition 
 
84 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 and tlK^ welfare of llu- wlu.lr i.eopk- sliall (k- 
 inaiKh 
 
 National Platform. 
 
 The National parly, recoj;;nix,iii,i^ God as the 
 author of all just ])o\ver iii government, presents 
 llie following declaration of principles, which 
 it i)Iedges itself to enact into effective legisla- 
 tion when given the power to do so: 
 
 1. The suppression of the manufacture and 
 sale, importation, exportation and transporta- 
 tion of intoxicating liquors for heverage pur- 
 ])oses. We utterly reject all plans for regulating 
 or compromising with this traffic, whether sucli 
 ])lans be called local option, taxation, license or 
 jiuhlic control. The sale of liquors for medicinal 
 and other legitimate uses should be conducted 
 by the vState, without profit, and with such regu- 
 lations as will prevent fraud or evasion. 
 
 2. No citizen should be denied the right to 
 vote on account of sex. 
 
 3. All money should be issued by the General 
 Government only, and without the intervention 
 of ai:y private citizen, corporation or banking 
 institution. It should be based upon the wealth, 
 stability and integrity of the Nation. It should 
 be a full legal tender for all debts, public and 
 jirivate, and should be of sufficient volume to 
 meet the demands of the legitimate business in- 
 terests of the country. For the purpose of hon- 
 estly liquidating our outstanding coin obliga- 
 tions, we favor the free and unlimited coinage 
 of both silver and gold, at the ratio 16 to i, 
 without consulting any other nation. 
 
 4. Land is the common heritage of the peoi^le 
 and should be preserved from monopoly and 
 speculation. All unearned grants of land, sub- 
 ject to forfeiture, should be reclaimed by the 
 Government, and no portion of the public do- 
 main should hereafter be granted except to ac- 
 tual settlers, continuous use being essential to 
 tenure. 
 
 5. Railroads, telegraphs and other natural 
 monopolies should be owned and operated by 
 the Government, giving to the people the benefit 
 of service at actual cost. 
 
 6. The national Constitution should be so 
 amended as to allow the national revenues to be 
 raised by equitable adjustment of taxation on 
 the properties and incomes of the people, and 
 import duties should be levied as a means of 
 securing equitable commercial relations with 
 other nations. 
 
 7. The contract convict labor sj'stem, through 
 which speculators are enriched at the expense 
 of the State, should be aboli.shed. 
 
 8. All citizens should be protected b}- law in 
 their right to one day of rest in seven, without 
 oppressing any who conscientiously observe any 
 other than the first dav of the week. 
 
 <i. The American jDublic schools, taught in 
 tile Ivnglish language, should be maintained, 
 and no public funds shoidd be appropriated for 
 sectarian institutions. 
 
 10. The President, Vice-President and United 
 States Senators should l)e elected b\- direct vote 
 of the peo])le. 
 
 11. l-Ix-soldiers and sailors of the United 
 States army and nav}', their widows and minor 
 children, should receive liberal pensions, graded 
 on disability and term of service, not merely as a 
 debt of gratitude, but for service rendered in the 
 preservation of the Union. 
 
 12. Our immigration laws should be so revised 
 as to exclude paupers and criminals. None but 
 citizens of the United States should be allowed 
 to vote in any State, and naturalized citizens 
 should not vote until one year after naturaliza- 
 tion papers have been i.ssued. 
 
 13. The initiative and referendum and pro- 
 ]K)rtional representation, should be adopted. 
 
 14. Having herein presented our principles 
 aiid purposes, we invite the co-operation and 
 support of all citizens who are with us substan- 
 tially agreed. 
 
 Republican Platform. 
 
 The Republicans of the United vStates, assem- 
 bled by their representatives in national conven- 
 tion, appealing for the popular and historical 
 justification of their claims to the matchless 
 achievements of thirt}- j-ears of Republican rule, 
 earnestly and confidently address themselves to 
 the awakened intelligence, experience and con- 
 science 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 unrestricted Demo- 
 cratic 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' 
 expenses with borrowed mone}-, piled up the 
 public debt by I262, 000,000 in time of peace, 
 forced an adverse balance of trade, kept a per- 
 jjetual menace hanging over the redemption 
 fund, pawned American credit to alien syndi- 
 cates, and reversed all the measures and results 
 of snccessfid Republican rule. In the broad 
 effect of its policv it has precipitated panic, 
 blighted industry and trade with prolonged de- 
 l^ression, closed factories, reduced work and 
 wages, halted enterprise and crippled American 
 production, while stimulating foreign produc- 
 tion for the American market. Every consider- 
 ation for public safety and individual interest 
 demands that the Government shall be rescued 
 from the hands of those who have shown them- 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 85 
 
 selves incapable to conduct it williout disaster 
 at home and dishonor a1)road, and shall be re- 
 stored to the party which for thirty years ad- 
 ministered it with unecpialed success and pros- 
 ])erity, and in this connection we heartily en- 
 dorse the wisdom, palrit)lism, and the success of 
 Ihe adininistralion of President Harrison. 
 
 We renew and emphasize f)ur allefjiance to the 
 policy of protection as the bulwark of American 
 industrial independence and the foundation of 
 American development and ])ro.sperity. This 
 true American policy taxes foreign products and 
 encouraj^es home industry; it puts tlie burden of 
 revenue on foreign goods; it secures the American 
 market for the American producer; it upholds 
 the American standard of wages for the Ameri- 
 can workingman; it puts the factory by the side 
 of the farm and makes the American farmer less 
 dependent on foreign demand and price; it dif- 
 fuses general thrift and founds the strength of 
 all on the strength of each. In its reasonable 
 application it is just, fair and impartial, ecjually 
 opposed to foreign control and domestic monoj)- 
 oly, to sectional discrimination and individual 
 favoritism. We denounce the present Demo- 
 cratic tariff as sectional, injurious to the public 
 credit and destructive to bu,siness enterprise. 
 We demand such an equital)le tariff on foreign 
 imports which come into competition with Amer- 
 ican jiroducts as will not only furnish adequate 
 revenue for the necessary expenses of the Gov- 
 ermnent, but will protect American labor from 
 degradation to the wage level of other lands. 
 \\'e are not pledged to any particular schedules. 
 The question of rates is a practical cpiestion, to 
 be governed by the conditions of the times and 
 of ]jroduction; the ruling and uncompromising 
 principle is the protection and development of 
 American labor and industry. The country de- 
 mands a right settlement, and then it wants resl. 
 
 We believe the repeal of the reciprocity ar- 
 rangements negotiated by the last Repul)lican 
 administration was a national calamity, and we 
 demand their renewal and extension on such 
 terms as will equalize our trade with other na- 
 tions, 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 reciprocit}- are twin measures of 
 Republican policy and go hand in hand. Dem- 
 ocratic rule has reckles.sly struck down both and 
 both nmst be re-estaljlished. Protection for 
 what we produce; free admission for the neces- 
 saries of life which we do not produce; reciprocal 
 agreements of mutual interests which gain open 
 markets for us in return for our open markets to 
 others. Protection builds up domestic industry 
 and trade and secures our own market for our- 
 selves; reciprocity builds up foreign trade and 
 finds an outlet for out surplus. 
 
 We condemn the jjre.seiit administration for 
 not keejMug faith witli tlie .sugar producers of 
 this countr}'. The Republican jjarty fav(jrs such 
 ])rotection as will lead to the jirodnction (ju 
 American .soil of all the sugar which the Ameri- 
 can ])e(j])le u.se, and for wliich they ])ay other 
 countries more than ^100,000,000 anmiallv. 
 
 To :dl our products — to those of tlie mine and 
 the field, as well as to those of the shoj) 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. 
 
 We favor restoring the earh- American policy 
 of discriminating duties for the u])building of 
 our merchant marine and the protection of our 
 shipping in the foreign carrying trade, so that 
 American shi]),s — the product of American labor 
 employed in American rdiipyards, sailing under 
 the stars and .stripes and manned, officered and 
 owned by Americans — may regain the carrying 
 of our foreign commerce. 
 
 The Repul)lican party is unreservedly for 
 .sound money. It caused the enactment of the 
 law providing for the rcsiunption of specie pay- 
 ments in 1879; since then every dollar has been 
 as good as gold. We are unalterably oppo.sed to 
 every measure calculated to del)ase 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 connnercial nations of the world, wliich 
 we pledge ourselves to promote, and until such 
 agreement can be obtained, the existing gold 
 standard must be preserved. All our silver and 
 paper currency must be maintained at parit}' 
 with gold, and we favor all measures designed to 
 maintain inviolably the obligations of the United 
 vStates, and all 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 and 
 should receive fair treatment and generous rec- 
 ognition. Whenever practicable they should be 
 given the preference in the matter t)f employ- 
 ment, 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 reckle.ssly 
 and unjustly carried on by the present adminis- 
 tration, of reducing pensions and arbitrarily 
 dropping names from the rolls, as de.serving 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. Tlie Hawaiian Islands .should be con- 
 trolled l)y the United States, and no foreign power 
 should l)e permitted to interfere with tlieiii; the 
 Nicaraguan Canal should be built, owned and 
 
86 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 operated by the I'liile.! Stiiles, ami 1>y tlie pur- 
 chase of the Daiiisli Islands we slioiilil secure a 
 ])n)i)er and much needed naval station in the 
 West Indies. 
 
 The massacres in Armenia have aroused the 
 dee]) svmpathv and just indis^Miation of the Amer- 
 ican people, and we believe that the United 
 States should exercise all the influence it can 
 ])roperh' exert to bring these atrocities to an end. 
 In Turke}', American residents have been ex- 
 ])osed to tiie gravest dangers, and American prop- 
 erty destroyed. There and everywhere Ameri- 
 caii citizens and American property mu.st be ab- 
 solutely protected at all hazards and at any cost. 
 
 We reassert the Monroe doctrine in its full 
 extent, and we reaffirm the right of the United 
 States to give the doctrine effect by responding 
 to the appeals of any American .state for friendly 
 intervention, in case of Kurojjean encroachment. 
 We have not interfered and shall not interfere 
 with the exi.sting pos.sessions of any European 
 ]xnver in this hemisphere, but those possessions 
 nnist not, on any pretext, be extended. We 
 hopefully look forward to the eventual with- 
 drawal of the Eui'opean powers from this hemi- 
 s])here, and to the ultimate union of all English- 
 speaking parts of the continent by the free 
 consent'of its inhabitants. 
 
 I'Voni the hour of achieving their own inde- 
 pendence the people of the United States have 
 regarded with sympathy the struggles of other 
 American people to free themselves from Eu- 
 ropean domination. We watch with deep and 
 abiding interest the heroic battle of the Cuban 
 patriots against cruelty and ojipression, and our 
 best hopes go out for the full success of their 
 determined contest for liberty. The government 
 of vSpain having lost control' of Cuba and being 
 unable to protect the property or lives of resident 
 American citizens, or to comply with its treaty 
 obligations, we believe the Government of the 
 United States should actively use its influence 
 and good offices to restore peace and give inde- 
 pendence to the island. 
 
 The peace and security of the Republic and 
 the maintenance of its rightful influence among 
 the nations of the earth, demand a naval power 
 conmiensurate with its position and re.spon.si- 
 bilitv. We, therefore, favor the continued en- 
 largement of the navy, and a complete system 
 of harbor and seacoast defenses. 
 
 I'-or the protection of the quality of our 
 American citizenship and of the wages of our 
 workmen against the fatal competition of low- 
 priced labor, we demand that the immigration 
 laws be thoroughly enforced and so extended as 
 to exclude from entrance 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 our repeated declara- 
 
 tions that it shall lie thoroughly and honestly 
 enf(jrced and extended wherever practicable. 
 
 We demand that every citizen of the Ihiited 
 vStates shall be allowed to cast one free and un- 
 restricted ballot, and that such ballot shall be 
 coiuited and returned as cast. 
 
 We proclaim our unqualified condemnation of 
 the uncivilized and barbarous jjractice, well 
 known as lynching or killing of human beings, 
 suspected or charged with crime, without pro- 
 cess of law. 
 
 We favor the creation of a national board of 
 arbitration to settle and adjust differences which 
 may arise between employer and eni])lo}es en- 
 gaged in interstate commerce. 
 
 \Ve believe in the immediate return to the 
 free homestead policy of the Reiniblican part}^; 
 and urge the passage l)y Congress of the satis- 
 factory free homestead measure which has al- 
 ready pa.s.sed the House and is now jx-nding in 
 the Senate. 
 
 We favor the admission of the 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 
 federal officers appointed for the Territories 
 should be elected from bona fide residents 
 thereof, and the right of self-government should 
 be accorded so far as practicable. 
 
 We believe the citizens of Alaska should have 
 representation in the Congress of the United 
 vStates, 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 intem- 
 perance, 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 admi.ssion of women to wider spheres 
 of usefulness, and welcome their co-operation in 
 rescuing the country from Democratic and I'op- 
 ulist mismanagement and misrule. 
 
 vSuch are the principles and laolicies of the 
 Re]iublicaii party. By these principles we will 
 al)ide, and these policies we will put into execu- 
 tion. 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 cause, 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. 
 
 Socialist I^abor Platform. 
 
 The Sociali.st Labor party of the I'nited States, 
 in convention assembled, reasserts the inalien- 
 able rights of all men to life, liberty and the 
 pursuit of liappiuess. 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 87 
 
 With the founders of the American Repubhc 
 ■\ve holil that the purpose of government is to 
 secure every citizen in the enjoyment of this 
 right; but in the Hght of our social conditions we 
 hold, furthermore, that no such ri.^ht can be ex- 
 ercised under a system of economic inequalitv, 
 essentially destructive of life, of liberty and of 
 happiness. 
 
 With the founders of this Republic we hold 
 that the true theory of politics is that the ma- 
 chinery of irovernment nuist be owned and con- 
 trolled by the whole ])eople; but in the light of 
 our industrial development we hold, further- 
 more, that the true theory of economics is that 
 the machinery of production must likewise be- 
 long to the people in common. 
 
 To the obvious fact that our despotic system 
 of economics is the direct opposite of our demo- 
 cratic system of politics, can plainly be traced 
 the existence of a privileged class, the corrup- 
 tion of government by that class, the alienation 
 of public property, public franchises and public 
 functions to that class, and the al)ject depend- 
 ence of the mightiest of nations upon that class. 
 
 Again, through the perversion of Democracy 
 to the ends of plutocracy, labor is robbed of the 
 wealth which it alone produces, is denied the 
 means of self-employment, anil, by compulsory 
 idleness in wage slavery, is even deprived of the 
 necessaries of life. 
 
 Human power and natural forces are thus 
 wasted, that the plutocracy may rule. 
 
 Ignorance and misery with all their conco- 
 mitant evils, are perpetuated, that the people 
 may be kept in liondage. 
 
 Science and invention are diverted from their 
 humane purpose to the enslavement of women 
 and children. 
 
 Against such a system the Socialist Labor 
 party once more enters its protest. Once more 
 it reiterates its fundamental declaration that 
 private propepty in the natural sources of pro- 
 duction and in the instruments of labor is the 
 obvious cause of all economic servitude and 
 political dependence. 
 
 The time is fast coming when, in the natural 
 course of social evolution, this system, through 
 the destructive action of its failures and crises 
 on the one hand, and the constructive tenden- 
 cies of its trusts and other capitalistic combina- 
 tions on the other hand, shall have worked out 
 its own downfall. 
 
 We, therefore, call upon the wage workers of 
 the United vStates, and upon all other honest 
 citizens, to organize under the banner of the So- 
 ciali.st Labor party into a class-conscious body, 
 aware of its rights and determined to conquer 
 thtni by taking possession of the public power.s; 
 so that, held together by an indomitable spirit 
 of solidarity under the mo.st trying conditions 
 of the present class struggle, we may put a sum- 
 
 mary end to that barbarous struggle by the 
 aljolition of cla.s.ses, the restoration of the land 
 and vi all the means of jmxluction, transporta- 
 tion and distribution to the i)eo])le as a collective 
 l)ody, and the substitution of the Co-o])erative 
 Connnonwealth for the present .state of ])lanless 
 production, indu.strial war and social disorder; 
 a connnonwealth in which every worker shall 
 have the free exercise and full benefit of his 
 faculties, nudtii)lied by all the modern factors 
 of civilization. 
 
 Ki-;s<)i<u'noNS. 
 
 With a vii wti) innnediate improvement in the 
 condition of labor we jncsent the following de- 
 mauds: 
 
 1. Reduction of the hours of lal)or in propor- 
 tion to the ])rogress of production. 
 
 2. The United States shall obtain posse.s.sion 
 of the railroads, canals, telegraphs, telejjhones 
 and all other means of public transportation 
 and communication; the employes to operate 
 the same co-operatively under control of the 
 Federal Government and to elect their own su- 
 perior officers, but no employe shall be dis- 
 charged for political reasons. 
 
 3. The municipalities .shall obtain po.ssession 
 of the local railroads, ferries, water works, gas 
 works, electric plants and all indu.stries requir- 
 ing municipal franchises; the emjiloycs to op- 
 erate the same co-operatively under control of 
 the municipal administration and to elect their 
 own superior officers, but no employes shall be 
 discharged for political reasons. 
 
 4. The pul)lic lands declared inalienable. 
 Revocation of all land grants to cori)orations or 
 individuals, the conditions of whicli have not 
 l)een complied with. 
 
 5. The United States have the exclu.sive right 
 to issue money. 
 
 6. Congressional legislation providing for the 
 .scientific management of forests and waterwaj-s 
 and prohibiting the waste of the natural resources 
 of the country. 
 
 7. Inventions to ])e free to all; the inventors 
 to be remunerated by the Nation. 
 
 8. Progressive income tax and tax on inherit- 
 ances; the smaller incomes to be exempt. 
 
 9. School education of all children under four- 
 teen years of age to be compuLsory, gratuitous and 
 accessible to all by public assi.stance in meals, 
 clothing, books, etc., where necessarj'. 
 
 10. Repeal of all pauper, tramp, con.spiracy 
 and sumptuary laws. Unabridged right of com- 
 bination. 
 
 11. Prohibition of the employment of children 
 of .school age and the employment of female 
 labor in occupations detrimental to health or 
 morality. Abolition of Die convict labor con- 
 tract system. 
 
88 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 12. Eniployiiient of the iinemployed by the 
 pul)Uc aulliorities( county, city, state and Nation). 
 
 13. All wattes to be paid in lawful money of 
 the United vStatcs. Equalization of woman's 
 waives with those of men, where equal service is 
 performed. 
 
 14. Laws for the protection of life and limb in 
 all occupations, and an efficient employers' liabil- 
 ity law. 
 
 15. The people have the right to propose laws 
 and to vote upon all measures of importance ac- 
 cording to the referendum principle. 
 
 16. Abolition of the veto power of the Execu- 
 tive (National, State and municipal) wherever it 
 exists. 
 
 17. Abolition of the Uiuted States Senate and 
 all upper legislative chambers. 
 
 18. Municipal self-government. 
 
 19. Direct vote and secret ballots in all elec- 
 tions. Universal and equal right of suffrage 
 without regard to color, creed or sex. Election 
 days to be legal holiday's. The principle of pro- 
 portional representation to be introduced. 
 
 20. All puVjlic officers to be subject to recall by 
 their respective constituencies. 
 
 21. l^niform civil and criminal law throughout 
 the United States. Administration of justice to be 
 free of charge. Abolition of capital punishment. 
 
 Democratic Platform — ( Chicago). 
 
 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 of all citizens before the law, 
 and the faithful observance of Constitutional 
 limitations. 
 
 During all these years the Democratic party 
 has resisted the tendency of selfish interests to 
 the centralization of gevernmental power, and 
 steadfastly maintained the integrity of the dual 
 scheme of government established by the found- 
 ers of this Republic of republics. Under its 
 guidings and teachings the great principle of 
 local self-government has found its best expres- 
 sion in the maintenance of the rights of the 
 vStates and in its assertion of the necessity of 
 confining the General Government to the exer- 
 cise of the powers granted by the Constitution 
 of the United States. 
 
 The Constitution of the United States guaran- 
 tees to every citizen the rights of civil and re- 
 ligious liberty. The Democratic party has al- 
 ways 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. 
 
 Recognizing that the money question is para- 
 mount to all others at this time, we invite atten- 
 tion to the fact that the Federal Constitution 
 named silver and gold together as the money 
 metals of the United vStates, and that the first 
 coinage law passed by Congress under the Con- 
 stitution made the silver dollar the monetary 
 unit and admitted gold to free coinage at a ratio 
 based upon the silver-dollar unit. 
 
 We declare that 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; the 
 prostration of industry and impoverishment of 
 the people. 
 
 We are unalterably oppo.sed to monometallism 
 which has locked fast the prosperityof an indus- 
 trial people in the paralysis of hard times. Gold 
 monometallism is a British policy, and its adop- 
 tion has brought other nations into financial 
 servitude to London. It is not only un-Ameri- 
 can, but anti-American, and it can be fa.stened 
 on the United States only by the stifling of that 
 spirit and love of liberty which proclaimed our 
 political independence in 1776 and won it in the 
 War of the Revolution. 
 
 We demand the free and unlimited coinage of 
 both silver and gold at the present legal ratio of 
 16 to I without waiting for the aid or consent of 
 any other nation. We demand that the standard 
 silver dollar shall be a full legal tender, equall}' 
 with gold, for all debts, public and private, and 
 we favor such legislation as will prevent for the 
 future the demonetization of any kind of legal 
 tender money by private contract. 
 
 We are opposed to the policy and practice 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 coin or gold coin. 
 
 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 pol- 
 icy of gold monometallism. 
 
 Congress alone 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 issu- 
 ance of notes intended to circulate as money b}' 
 National banks as in derogation of the Constitu- 
 tion, 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 be issued bv the Government of the 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 89 
 
 United States and shall be redeemable in coin. 
 
 We hold that tariff dnties should l)e levied for 
 purposes of revenue, such duties to be so adjusted 
 as to operate equally throughout the country and 
 not discriminate between class or section, and 
 that taxation should l)e limited by the needs of 
 the Government honestly and economically ad- 
 ministered. We denounce as disturbing to bus- 
 iness the Repul)lican threat to restore the 
 iMcKinlcy law, which has twice been condemned 
 by the people in national elections, and which, 
 enacted under the false plea of protection to 
 home industry, proved a prolific breeder of trusts 
 and monopolies, enriched the few at the expense 
 of the many, restricted trade and deprived the 
 producers of the great American staples of access 
 to their natural markets. 
 
 Until the money question is settled we are op- 
 posed to an}' agitation for further changes in our 
 tariff laws, except such as are necessary to meet 
 the deficit in revenue caused by the adverse decis- 
 ion of the Supreme Court on the income tax. 
 But for this decision by the Supreme Court, there 
 would be no deficit in the revenue under the law 
 pas.sed by a Democratic Congress in strict pur- 
 suance of the uniform decisions of that court for 
 nearly loo years, that court having in that de- 
 cision sustained Constitutional objections to its 
 enactment, which had previously been overruled 
 1)V the ablest judges who have ever sat on that 
 bench. We declare that it is the duty of Con- 
 gress to use all the Constitutional power which 
 remains after that decision or which may come 
 from its reversal by the court 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 due proportion of the 
 expense of the Government. 
 
 We hold that the most eflScient way of pro- 
 tecting American labor is to prevent the impor- 
 tation of foreign pauper labor to compete with it 
 in the home market, and that the value of tlie 
 home market to our American farmers and ar- 
 tisans is greatly reduced by a vicious monetary 
 system which depresses the prices of their prod- 
 ucts below the cost of production, and thus de- 
 prives them of the means of purchasing the 
 prodvicts of our home manufactories; and as 
 labor creates the wealth of the country, we de- 
 mand the passage of such laws as ma}- be neces- 
 sary to protect it in all its rights. 
 
 VVe are in favor of the arbitration of diifer- 
 ences between employers engaged in inter-state 
 commerce and their employes, and recommend 
 such legislation as is necessary to carry out this 
 principle. 
 
 The absorption of wealth by the few, the con- 
 solidation of our leading railroad systems and 
 the formation of trusts and pools require a 
 stricter control by the Federal Government of 
 those arteries of commerce. We demand the en- 
 
 largement of the powers of the Inter-State Com- 
 merce Connnission and such restriction and 
 guarantees in the control of railroads as will pro- 
 tect the people from robbery and o])pression. 
 
 We denounce the profligate waste of the money 
 wrung from the people by oppressive taxatioli 
 and the lavish ai)i)ropriations of recent Re])ub- 
 lican Congresses, which have kept taxes high, 
 while tlie labor that pays them is unemployed 
 and the products of the ])eople"s toil are de- 
 pressed in ]:)rice till they no longer repay the 
 cost of ])roduction. We demand a return to that 
 simplicity and economy which befits a Demo- 
 cratic Government, and a reduction in the num- 
 ber of useless offices the salaries of which drain 
 the substance of the people. 
 
 We denounce abitrary interference by federal 
 authorities in lofal affairs as a violation of the 
 Constitution of the United States and a crime 
 against free institutions, and we especially object 
 to government Ijv 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 citizens, become at once legislators, 
 judges, and executioners; and we approve the 
 bill passed at the last session of the Ihiited 
 vStates Senate, and now pending in the House of 
 Representatives, relative to contempts in federal 
 courts and providing for trails by jury in certain 
 cases of contempt. 
 
 No discrimination should be indulged in by 
 the Government of the United States in favor 
 of any of its debtors. We approve of the refusal 
 of the Fifty-third Congress to pass the Pacific 
 Railroad Funding bill, and denounce the effort 
 of the present Republican Congress to enact a 
 similar measure. 
 
 Recognizing the just claims of deserving 
 Union soldiers, we heartily indorse the rule of 
 the present Commissioner of Pensions, that no 
 names shall be arbitrarily dropped from the 
 pension roll; and the fact of enlistment and 
 servnce shovdd be deemed conclusive evidence 
 against disease and disability before enlistment. 
 
 We favor the admission of the Territories of 
 New Mexico, Arizona and Oklahoma, into the 
 Union as States, and we favor the early admis- 
 sion of all the Territories having the necessary 
 population and resources to entitle them to 
 Statehood, and, while they remain Territories, 
 we hold that the ofificials appointed to administer 
 the government of any Territory, together with 
 the District of Columbia and Alaska, should be 
 bona fide residents of the Territory or Di.strict 
 in which their duties are to be performed. The 
 Democratic party beileves 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 reconnncnd that the Territory of Alaska 
 be granted a delegate in Congress, and that the 
 
90 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 general land and tinilR-r laws of tlie I'nited 
 Stales he extendLil to said Territory. 
 
 The Monroe doctrine, as originall\' declared, 
 and as interpreted l)y sncceeding Presidents, is 
 a i)ennanent part of the foreign jjolicy of the 
 I'nited vStates, and must at all times lie main- 
 tained. 
 
 We extend oiir s\nipatliy to the ])eo])le of Cuba 
 in tlieir lieroic struggle for lil>erty and independ- 
 ence. 
 
 We are oppo.sed to life tenure in the puldic 
 service, except as provided in the Constitution. 
 \V'e favor appointments based on merit, fixed 
 terms of office, and .such an administration of the 
 civil service laws as will afford equal o])i)ortuni- 
 ties to all citizens of ascertained fitness. 
 
 We declare it to be the unwritten law of this 
 Republic, established by custt)m and i:sage of 
 loo years and sanctioned by the examples of the 
 greatest and wisest of those who founded and 
 have maintained onr Government, that no man 
 should be eligible for a third term of the 
 Piesidential office. 
 
 The I'ederal Government should care for and 
 improve the Mississippi River and other great 
 waterways of the Republic, so as to secure for 
 the interior vStates easy and cheap transportation 
 to tide water. When any waterway of the Re- 
 public is of sufficient importance to demand aid 
 of the Government, such aid should be ex- 
 tended 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 principles and pur- 
 ])oses to the considerate judgment of the Ameri- 
 can people. We invite the support of all citizens 
 who a])prove them and who desire to have them 
 made effective through legislation, for the relief 
 of the people and the restoration of the country's 
 prosperity. 
 
 Silver Phitforin. 
 
 The National vSilver jiarty in convention as- 
 sembled makes this the declaration of its prin- 
 ciples: 
 
 First— The paramount issue at this time in the 
 Ihiited States is indisputably the money ques- 
 tion. It is between the gold standard, gold 
 bonds and bank currency on the one side, and 
 the bimetallic standard, no bonds and Govern- 
 ment currency on the other. 
 
 On this issue we declare ourselves to be in 
 favor of a distinctively American system. We 
 are unalterably opposed to the single gold stand- 
 ard, and demand immediate return to the con- 
 stitutional standard of gold and silver, by resto- 
 ration by this government, independently of any 
 foreign power, of the unrestricted coinage of 
 both gold and silver into standard money, at the 
 ratio of i6 to i, and ujion terms of exact equal- 
 
 ity, as tliey exi.sted prior to 1873; the .silver coin 
 to be full legal tender equally with gold for all 
 debts and dues, public and i)rivate, and we favor 
 such legislation as will prevent for the future 
 the demonetization of any kind of legal tender 
 money l)y private contract. 
 
 W^e hold that the power to control and regu- 
 late paper currency is inseparable from the 
 l)ower to coin money; and hence that all cur- 
 rency intended to circulate as money should be 
 i.ssued and its volume controlled by {he General 
 Government only, and .should be legal tender. 
 
 We are unalterably isppo.sed to the issue by 
 the United States of interest-bearing bonds in 
 time of peace, and we denounce as a blunder 
 worse than a crime the present Treasury j^olicy, 
 concurred in by a Repuldican House, of plung- 
 ing the country in debt 1)y hundreds of millions 
 in the vain attempt to maintain the gold stand- 
 ard by borrowing gold, and we demand the pay- 
 ment of all coin obligations of the United States, 
 as provided by existing laws, in either gold or 
 silver coin, at the option of the Government, 
 and not at the option of the creditor. 
 
 The demonetization of silver in 1S73 enor- 
 mously increased the demand for gohl, eidianc- 
 ing its purchasing power and lowering all prices 
 measured l)y that standard. And since that un- 
 just and indefen.sible act, the prices of American 
 products have fallen upon an average, nearly 50 
 per cent., carrying down with them proportion- 
 ately the money value of all other forms of 
 property. 
 
 Such fall of prices has destroyed the profits of 
 legitimate industr}-, injuring the producer for the 
 benefit of the non-producer, increasing the bur- 
 den of the debtor, swelling the gains of the 
 creditor,* paralyzing the productive energies of 
 the American people, relegating to idleness 
 vast numbers of willing workers, sending the 
 shadows of despair into the home of the honest 
 toiler, filling the land with tramps and paupers, 
 and building up colossal fortunes at the money 
 centers. 
 
 In the efTort to maintain the gold standard, 
 the country has within the last two years in a 
 time of peace and plenty been loaded down 
 with |;262,ooo,ooo of additional interest-bearing 
 debt under such circumstances as to allow a 
 syndicate of native and foreign liankers to real- 
 ize a net profit of millions on a single deal. It 
 stands confessed that the gold standard can only 
 l)e upheld by so depleting our paper currency 
 as to force the prices of our products below the 
 European and even below the Asiatic level, to 
 enable us to sell in foreign markets, thus ag- 
 gravating the very evils of which our people so 
 bitterly complain, degrading American labor 
 and striking at the foundations of our civiliza- 
 tion itself. 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 91 
 
 The advocates of the jjold statulanl persist- 
 ently claim that the cause of our distress is over- 
 ]M()diiction — that we have ])rodueed so much 
 that it has made us poor — which implies that the 
 true remedy is to close the factory, abaudou the 
 farm aud throw the uudtitude of people out of 
 employment. A doctrine that leaves us un- 
 nerved and disheartened and absolutely without 
 ho])e for the future. We affirm it to be un- 
 cpiestioned that there can be no such economic 
 paradox as overproiluction and at the same time 
 tens of thousands of otir fellow-citizens remain- 
 ing half clad and half fed and who are jnteously 
 clamoring for the common necessities of life. 
 
 Over and above all other questions of policy, 
 we are in favor of restoring to the people of the 
 Ignited .States the time-honored money of the 
 Constitution, gold and silver, not one, but both, 
 the money of Washington, and Hamilton, and 
 Jefferson, and Monroe, and Jackson, and Lin- 
 coln, to the end that the American people may 
 receive honest pay for an honest product; that 
 the American debtor may pay his just obliga- 
 tions in an honest standard and not in a standard 
 that has appreciated loo per cent. a1:)ove all the 
 great staples of our country; and to the end, fur- 
 ther, that silver standard coimtries may be de- 
 l)rived of the unjust advantage they now enjov 
 in the difference in exchange between gold and 
 silver, an advantage which tariff legislation 
 alone cannot overcome. 
 
 A\'e, therefore, confidently appeal to the peo- 
 ple of the United States to leave in abe3-ance for 
 the moment all other questions, however im- 
 portant, and even momentous, they may appear, 
 to sunder, if need be, all former party ties and 
 affdiations, and unite in one supreme effort 
 to free themselves and their children from the 
 domination of the money power, a power more 
 destructive than an}' wliicli has ever been fast- 
 ened upon the civilized men of any race or any 
 age. And upon the consunniiation of our de- 
 sires and efforts, we invoke the gracious fa\or 
 of Divine Providence. 
 
 Inasnmcli as the patriotic majority of the 
 Chicago convention embodied in the financial 
 plank of its platform the princi])le enunciated in 
 the platform of the American bimetallic party, 
 promulgated at Washingrton, D. C, January 22, 
 1896, and herein reiterated, which is not only 
 paramount, but the only real issue in the pend- 
 ing campaign, therefore recognizing that their 
 nominees embody these patriotic principles, we 
 recommend tliat this convention nominate ^^'nl. 
 J. Bryan of Nebraska for President and Arthur 
 Sewail of Maine for Vice-President. 
 
 People's Party Platform. 
 
 The People's Party, assembled in national 
 convention, reaffirms its allegiance to the princi- 
 ples declared by the founders of the Republic 
 
 and also to the fundamental princijjles of just 
 government as enunciated in the platform of the 
 party in 1892. We recognize that through the 
 connivance of the present and i)receding admin- 
 istrations the country has reached a crisis in its 
 national life, as predicted in oiu" declarations 
 four years ago, and that prompt and ])atriotic 
 action is the su])reme duty of the hour. We 
 realize that while we have ix)]ilical indejjend- 
 ence, our financial and industrial inde]>enrl- 
 ence is yet to be attained l)y restoring to our 
 country the constitutional control and exercise 
 of the functions necessary to a people's govern- 
 ment, which functions have been ])asely sur- 
 rendered by our i)ul)lic servants to corporate 
 monopolies. The influence of luiropean money 
 changers has been more potent in sha])ing legis- 
 lation than the voice of the American people. 
 Executive power and patronage have l)een used 
 to corrupt our legislatures and defeat the will of 
 the people, and plutocracy has thereby been 
 enthroned upon the ruins of the Democracy. To 
 restore the government intended by the fathers 
 and for the welfare and prosperity of this and 
 future generations, we demand the establish- 
 ment of an economic and financial system which 
 shall make us masters of our own affairs, inde- 
 pendent of PyUropean control, by the adojition 
 of the following declaration of ])rinciples: 
 
 A\'e demand a national money, .safe and sound, 
 issued l)y the General Government only, with- 
 out the intervention of banks of issue, to be a 
 full legal tender for all debts, public aiul private; 
 a just, equitable and efficient means of distribu- 
 tion direct to the people, and through the lawful 
 disbursements of the Government. 
 
 We demand the free and unrestricted coinage 
 of silver and gold at the present legal ratio of 
 16 to I by the United States without waiting for 
 the consent of foreign nations. 
 
 We demand that the volume of circulating 
 medium be speedily increased to an amount 
 sufficient to meet the demands of the business 
 and pt:>pulation of this countr}-, and to restore 
 the just level of prices of labor and production. 
 
 We denounce the sale of bonds and the increase 
 of the pul)lic interest-bearing debt made by the 
 present admini.stration as unnecessary and with- 
 out authority of law, and demand that no more 
 bonds be issued except by specific act of Con- 
 gress. 
 
 We demand such legislation as will prevent 
 the demonetization of the lawful money of the 
 I'uited States by private contract. 
 
 We demand that the Government in paymeiU 
 of its obligations shall use its option as to the 
 kind of lawful money in which they are to be 
 paid, and we denounce the present and i)reced- 
 ing administrations for .surrendering this option 
 to the holders of Government obligations. 
 
92 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 We demand a graduated income tax to the end 
 that aggregated wealth shall bear its just pro- 
 portion of taxation, and we regard the recent de- 
 cision of the Supreme Court relative to the in- 
 come tax law as a misinterpretation of the Con- 
 stitution and an invasion of the rightful powers 
 of Congress over the subject of taxation. 
 
 We demand that postal savings banks be es- 
 tablished by the Government for the safe deposit 
 of the savings of the people and to facilitate ex- 
 change. 
 
 Transportation being a means of exchange and 
 a public necessity, the Government should own 
 and operate the railroads in the interest of the 
 people and on a non-partisan basis, to the end 
 that all may be accorded the same treatment in 
 transportation, and that the tyranny and politi- 
 cal power now exercised by the great railroad 
 corporations, which result in the impairment, if 
 not the destruction, of the political rights and 
 personal liberties of the citizen, may be de- 
 stroyed. Such ownership is to be accomplished 
 gradually in a manner consistent with sound 
 public policy. The interest of the Ihiited States 
 in the public highways, built with pul)lic moneys 
 and the proceeds of extensive grants of land to 
 the Pacific railroads should never be alienated, 
 mortgaged or sold, but guarded and j^rotected for 
 the general welfare as provided by the laws or- 
 ganizing such railroads. The foreclosure of exist- 
 ing liens of the United States on these railroads 
 should follow default in payment thereof by the 
 debtor companies, and at the foreclosure sales of 
 said roads the Government shall purchase the 
 same if it becomes necessary to protect its in- 
 terest therein, or if they can be purchased at rea- 
 sonable price, and the Government shall operate 
 said railways as public highways for the l)enefit 
 of the whole people and not in the interest of 
 the few, xinder suitable provisions for protection 
 of life and property, giving to all transportation 
 interests, equal privileges and equal rates for 
 fares and freights. 
 
 We denounce the present infamous schemes 
 for refunding these debts, and demand that the 
 laws now applicable thereto be executed and ad- 
 ministered according to their true intent and 
 spirit. 
 
 The telegraph, like the post office system, be- 
 ing a necessity for the transmission of news, 
 should be owned and operated by the Govern- 
 ment in the interest of the people. 
 
 A true policy deinands that the national and 
 State legislation shall l)e such as will ultimately 
 enable every prudent and indu.strious citizen to 
 secure a home, and, therefore, the land should 
 not be monopolized for specvilative purposes. 
 The lands now occupied by railroads and other 
 corporations in excess of their actual needs 
 should, by lawful means, be reclaimed by the 
 Government and held for actual settlers only, 
 
 and private land monopoly, as well as alien 
 ownership, should be prohibited. 
 
 We condemn the frauds by which the land 
 grants to the Pacific railroad companies have, 
 through the connivance of the Interior Depart- 
 ment, robbed multitudes of actual and bona fide 
 settlers of their homes and miners of their 
 claims, and we demand legislation by Congress 
 which will enforce the exemption of mineral 
 lands from such grants after as well as before 
 patent. 
 
 We demand that bona fide settlers on all pub- 
 lic lands be granted free homes as provided in 
 the National Homestead law, and that no ex- 
 ception be made in the case of Indian reserva- 
 tions when opened for settlement, and that all 
 lands not now patented come under this demand. 
 
 We favor a system of direct legislation through 
 the initiative and referendum under proper con- 
 stitutional safeguards. 
 
 We demand the election of President, Vice- 
 President and United States Senators by the 
 direct vote of the people. 
 
 We tender to the patriotic people of Cuba our 
 deepest sympathy in their heroic struggle for 
 political freedom and inde]:)endence, and w-e be- 
 lieve the time has come when the United vStates, 
 the great Republic of the world, should recog- 
 nize that Cuba is, and of right ought to be, a free 
 and independent state. 
 
 We favor home rule in the Territories and the 
 District of Columbia, and the early admission of 
 the Territories as States. 
 
 All public salaries should be made to corre- 
 spond to the price of labor and its products. 
 
 In times of great industrial depression idle 
 labor should be employed on public works as far 
 as practicable. 
 
 Arbitrary course of the courts in assuming to 
 imprison citizens for indirect contempt and rul- 
 ing b}' injunction, should be prevented by proper 
 legislation. 
 
 We favor just pensions for our disabled Union 
 soldiers. 
 
 Believing that the elective franchise and un- 
 trammeled ballot are essential to a government 
 of, for and by the people, the People's Party 
 condemns the wholesale system of disfranchise- 
 ment adopted in some of the States as unrepub- 
 lican and undemocratic, and we declare it to be 
 the duty of the several State Legislatures to take 
 such action as will secure a full, free and fair 
 Ijallot and an honest count. 
 
 \Mnle the foregoing propositions constitute 
 the platform upon which our party stands, and 
 for the vindication of which its organization will 
 be maintained, we recognize that the great and 
 pressing issue of the pending campaign upon 
 which the present Presidential election will turn , 
 is. the financial question, and upon this great 
 and specific issue between the parties we cor- 
 
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 
 
 93 
 
 dially invite the aid and co-operation of all or- 
 .yani/.atioiis and citizens as^reeing -with us upon 
 this vital qnestion. 
 
 National Democratic Platform. 
 
 This convention has assembled to uphold the 
 principles upon which depend the honor and 
 welfare of the American people, in order that 
 Democrats throughout the Union may unite 
 their patriotic efforts to avert disaster from their 
 country and ruin from their party. 
 
 The Democratic party is pledged to equal 
 and exact justice to all men of ever)^ creed and 
 condition; to the largest freedom of the individ- 
 ual consistent with good government; to the 
 preservation of the Federal Government in its 
 constitutional vigor, and the support of the 
 States in all their just rights; to economy in the 
 public expenditures; to the maintenance of the 
 public faith and sound money; and it is opposed 
 to paternalism and all class legislation. 
 
 The declarations of the Chicago convention 
 attack individual freedom, the right of private 
 contract, the independence of the judiciary, and 
 the authority of the President to enforce Fed- 
 eral laws. They advocate a reckless attempt to 
 increase the price of silver by legislation, to the 
 debasement of our monetary standard, and 
 threaten unlimited issues of paper mone}' by 
 the government. They abandon for Republican 
 allies the Democratic cause of tariff reform, to 
 court the favor of protectionists to their fiscal 
 heres}-. 
 
 In view of these and other grave departures 
 from Democratic principles we cannot support 
 the candidate of that convention, nor be bound 
 by its acts. The Democratic party has survived 
 many defeats, but could not survive a victory 
 won in behalf of the doctrine and policy pro- 
 claimed in its name at Chicago. 
 
 The conditions which, however, make possiljle 
 such utterances from a national convention are 
 the direct result of class legislation by the Re- 
 publican party. It still proclaims, as it has for 
 years, the power and duty of the Goverment to 
 raise and maintain prices by law, and it proposes 
 no remedy for existing evils except oppressive 
 and unjust taxation. 
 
 The National Democracy here reconvened, 
 therefore renews its declaration of faith in Demo- 
 cratic principles, especially as applica])le to the 
 conditions of the times. 
 
 Taxation tariff, excise or direct, is rightfully 
 imposed only for ])u1jlic purposes and not for 
 private gain. Its amount is ju.stly measured by 
 public expenditures, which should be limited by 
 scrupulous economy. The sum derived b}- the 
 Treasury from the tariff and excise levies is 
 affected by the state of trade and volume of con- 
 sumption. The amount required Ijy the Treasury 
 is determined by the appropriations made bj Con- 
 
 gress. The demand of the Republican party for 
 an increase in tax has its pretext in the defici- 
 ency of revenue, which has its causes in the 
 stagnation of trade and reduced consumption, 
 due entirely to the lo.ss of confidence that has 
 followed the Populist tlireat of free coinage and 
 depreciation of our money and the Republican 
 practice of extravagant appropriations beyond 
 the needs of good government. We arraign and 
 condemn the Populistic conventions of Chicago 
 and vSt. Ivouis for their co-operation with the 
 Republican party, increasing these conditions 
 which are pleaded in justification of a heavy in- 
 crease of burdens of the people and a further 
 resort to protection. We therefore denounce 
 protection and its ally, free coinage of silver, as 
 schemes for the person.al profit of a few at the 
 expense of the many, and oppose the two parties 
 which stand for these schemes as hostile to the 
 people of the Republic, who.se food and shelter, 
 comfort and property, are attacked Ijy higher 
 taxes and depreciated monev. In fine, we re- 
 affirm the historic Democratic doctrine of tariff 
 for revenue only. 
 
 We demand that henceforth modern and 
 liberal policies toward American shipping shall 
 take the place of our imitation of the restricted 
 statutes of the eighteenth century, which were 
 abandoned by every maritime power but the 
 United States, and which, to the nation's hu- 
 miliation, have, driven American capital and 
 enterprise to the use of alien flags and alien 
 crews, have made the stars and stripes an 
 almost unknown emblem in foreign waters, and 
 have virtually extinguished the race of Ameri- 
 can seamen. We oppose the pretense that dis- 
 criminating duties will promote shipping. 
 That scheme is an invitation to conmiercial war- 
 fare upon the United States, un-American in the 
 light of our great connnercial treaties, offering 
 no gain whatever to American shipping, while 
 greatly increasing ocean freights on our agri- 
 cultural and manufactured products. 
 
 The experience of mankind has shown that 
 by reason of their natural qualities gold is the 
 necessary money of the large affairs of commerce 
 and business, while silver is conveniently adapted 
 to minor tran.sactions, and the most beneficial 
 use of both together can be in.sured only l)y the 
 adoption of the former as a .standard of monetary 
 measure and the maintenance of silver at a par- 
 ity with gold by its limited coinage under such 
 safeguards of law. Thus the largest po.ssiljle en- 
 joyment of both metals is gained, with a value 
 universally accepted throughout the world, 
 which con.stitutes the only i>ractical currency 
 assuring the nio.st stable standard and especiall)' 
 the best and safest money for all who earn a 
 livelihood by labor or the produce of husl)andry. 
 They cannot .suffer when paid in the be.st money 
 known toman, but are the peculiar and mostde- 
 
94 
 
 NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS. 
 
 feiiseless victims of a debased and fluctuating 
 currency, which offers continued profits to the 
 inoiiey chan,t;ers at their cost. 
 
 K(.-ali/.in,L,f these truths, demonstrated by long 
 public incouveuieuce and loss, the Democratic 
 parU- in the interests of the masses and of equal 
 justice to all, practically established, by the leg- 
 islation of 1.S34 and 1N5J, the gold standard of 
 monetary measurement, and likewise entirely di- 
 vorced the Government from banking and cur- 
 rency issues. To this long established Demo- 
 cratic policy we adhere, and insist upon the 
 maintenance of the gold standard and of the 
 parity therewith of every dollar issued by the 
 Government, and are firndy opposed to the free 
 and unlimited coinage of silver and to the com- 
 ])xdsory purchase of silver bullion. But we de- 
 nounce also the further maintenance of the 
 present costly patchwork scheme of national 
 ])aper currency as a constant source of injury 
 and peril. 
 
 We assert the necessity of such intelligent 
 currency reform as will confine the Government 
 to its legitimate functions; completely separated 
 from the banking bu.sine.ss, and afford to all sec- 
 tions of our country a uniform, safe, and elastic 
 bank currency under Government supervision, 
 measured in volume by the needs of business. 
 
 The fidelity, patriotism, and courage with 
 which President Cleveland has fulfilled his great 
 public trust, the high character of his adminis- 
 tration, its wisdom and energy in the mainte- 
 nance of order and the enforcement of laws; its 
 equal regard for the rights of every class and 
 section, its firm and dignified conduct of foreign 
 affairs, and its sturd\- persistence in upholding 
 the credit and the honor of the Nation, are fully 
 recognized by the Democratic party, and will 
 
 secure to him a place in- history beside the 
 fathers of the Republic. We also conmiend the 
 administration for the great progress made in 
 the reform of the public .service, and we endorse 
 its effort to extend the merit system still further. 
 We demand that no backward .step be taken, 
 but that the reform be supported and advanced 
 until the undemocratic spoils system of appoint- 
 ments shall be eradicated. 
 
 We demand strict econoiuy in the ap]ipropria- 
 tions and in the administration of the Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 We favor abitration for the settlement of inter- 
 national disputes. 
 
 We favor a liberal policy of pensions to de- 
 serving soldiers and sailors of the United States. 
 
 The Supreme Court of the LTnited States was 
 wisely established by the framers of our Con- 
 stitution as one of the three co-ordinate branches 
 of the Gjovennnent. Its independence and au- 
 thority to interpret the law of the land without 
 fear or favor must be maintained. We condemn 
 all efforts to degrade that tribunal, or impair 
 the confidence and respect which it has de- 
 servedly held. 
 
 The Democratic party ever has maintained, 
 and ever will maintain the supremacy of law, 
 the independence of its judicial administration, 
 the inviolability of contract, and the obligations 
 of all good citizens to resist every illegal trust, 
 combination, and attempt against the just rights 
 of property and the good order of society, in 
 which are bound up the peace and happiness of 
 our people. 
 
 Believing these principles to be essential to 
 the well being of the Republic, we submit them 
 to the consideration of the American people. 
 
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES AND ELECTORAL AND POPULAR VOTES. 
 
 95 
 
 I'oK Pri.sidI': 
 
 (ieorj^e Washington 
 John Adams 
 
 J"liiijay 
 
 R. II. Harrison. . . . 
 
 John Rntledge 
 
 John Hancock 
 
 (yeorge Clinton . . . . 
 Samuel Huntingdon 
 John Mihon ..'..... 
 James Armstrong . 
 Benjamin Lincoln . 
 Edward Telfair . . . . 
 Votes not cast . . 
 
 (jeorge Washington 
 
 John Adams 
 
 George Clinton . . . . 
 Thomas Jefferson . . 
 
 Aaron Burr 
 
 Votes not cast. . . 
 
 John Adams 
 
 Thomas Jefferson . . 
 Thomas Pinckney . . 
 
 Aaron Burr 
 
 Samuel Adams . . 
 Oliver Ellsworth . . 
 
 Geo. Clinton 
 
 John Jay 
 
 James Iredell 
 
 (leorge Washington 
 
 John Henry 
 
 S. Johnson 
 
 Charles C. Pinckney 
 
 Thomas Jefferson . . 
 
 Aaron Burr 
 
 John Adams 
 
 Charles C. Pinckey. 
 John Jay ■. .'. 
 
 Thomas Jefferson . . 
 Charles C. Pinckney 
 
 James Madison . . . 
 Charles C. Pinckney 
 George Clinton ... 
 
 James Madison .... 
 DeWitt Clinton 
 
 
 G!» 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 4 
 
 Ee<l. 
 
 ]:;-2 
 
 Eed. 
 
 77 
 
 Rep. 
 
 50 
 
 Rep. 
 
 4 
 
 Rep. 
 
 1 
 
 
 3 
 
 Fed. 
 
 71 
 
 Rep. 
 
 GS 
 
 Fed. 
 
 "){) 
 
 Rep. 
 
 ;{0 
 
 Rep. 
 
 I.") 
 
 Ind. 
 
 11 
 
 Rep. 
 
 7 
 
 I<ed. 
 
 .) 
 
 Fed. 
 
 ;! 
 
 Fed. 
 
 2 
 
 Fed. 
 
 2 
 
 Fed. 
 
 2 
 
 Fed. 
 
 1 
 
 Rep. 
 
 73 
 
 Rep. 
 
 73 
 
 Fed. 
 
 (if) 
 
 Fed. 
 
 (\l 
 
 Fed. 
 
 1 
 
 Rep. 
 
 k;2 
 
 Fed. 
 
 14 
 
 Rep. 
 
 12-2 
 
 Fed 
 
 47 
 
 Rep. 
 
 (j 
 
 Rep. 
 Fed. 
 
 128 
 
 8!) 
 
 1 7'.t2 
 
 1808 
 
 1812 
 
 Geroge Clinton . 
 Rufus King. . . . 
 
 George Clinton 
 Rufus King . . . 
 John Langdon . 
 James Madi.son . 
 James Monroe . . 
 Votes not ca.st 
 
 Elbridge Gerry 
 Jared Inger.soil . 
 Votes not cast 
 
 Rep. 
 Vl-<\. 
 
 Rep. 
 Fed. 
 
 Rep. 
 Rep. 
 
 Rep. 
 Fed. 
 
96 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES AND ELECTORAL AND POPULAR VOTES— Continued. 
 
 HoK President. 
 
 James Monroe 
 Rufus King . . 
 
 James Monroe 
 John O. Ailamt 
 
 John O. Adams . . . 
 Andrew Jackson . . 
 Ilenrv Clav 
 Wm.'H. Crawford 
 
 Andrew Jackson 
 
 John O. Adams 
 
 Andrew Jackson 
 
 Henrv Clav 
 
 John "Flovd 
 
 William \Virt 
 
 Martin Van Buren . . 
 Wni. Henrv Harrison 
 Hngli L. White . . . 
 
 Daniel Wel)ster 
 
 Willie P. Mangum . . 
 
 Wm. Henry Harrison 
 Martin Van Buren . . 
 James G. Birney ... 
 
 James K. Polk 
 
 Henr\'^ Clay 
 
 James G. Birney 
 
 Zachar}' Taylor 
 
 Lewis Cass . 
 
 Martin Van Buren , . 
 
 I'ranklin Pierce 
 
 Winfield Scott 
 
 John P. Hale 
 
 James Buchanan 
 
 Rep. 
 Fed. 
 
 Rep. 
 Opp. 
 
 Opp. 
 Rep. 
 Rep. 
 Rep. 
 
 Dem . 
 Nat'l R. 
 
 Dem. 
 Nat'l R. 
 
 Ind. 
 Anti M. 
 
 Dem. 
 Whig. 
 Whig. 
 \\'hig. 
 Whig. 
 
 Whig. 
 Dem. 
 Lib. 
 
 Dem. 
 
 Whig. 
 
 Lib. 
 
 Whig. 
 
 Dem. 
 
 F. Soil. 
 
 Dem . 
 Whig. 
 P'. Dem. 
 
 Dem. 
 
 183 
 34 
 
 178 
 S3 
 
 219 
 49 
 11 
 
 170 
 
 73 
 2(5 
 14 
 11 
 
 231 
 
 GO 
 
 254 
 42 
 
 105,321 
 
 155,872 
 
 46,587 
 
 44,282 
 
 (;47,231 
 509,097 
 
 G87,503 
 530,189 
 
 33,108 
 
 r3(),G5r. 
 
 1,275,017 
 1,128,702 
 7,059 
 
 337,243 
 
 299,()G8 
 
 G2,300 
 
 300,101 
 220,544 
 291.2G3 
 
 1,601,474 
 
 1,380,578 
 
 156,149 
 
 1,838,169 
 
 1816 
 
 1824 
 
 1832 
 
 1844 
 
 1852 
 
 1856 
 
 KOK Vice-Pkksident. 
 
 Dianel D. Tompkins 
 John E. Howard. . . . 
 
 James Ross 
 
 John Marshall 
 
 Robert G. Harper . . 
 Votes not cast .... 
 
 Daniel D. Tompkins 
 Richard Stockton . . 
 Daniel Rodnev .... 
 Robert G. Harper . . 
 
 Richard Rush 
 
 Votes not cast 
 
 Rep. 
 
 John C. Calhoun . . . . 
 
 Nathan Sanford 
 
 Nathan Macon 
 
 Andrew Jack.son 
 
 M. \'an Buren 
 
 Henry Clay 
 
 Rep. 
 
 Rep. 
 Rep. 
 Rep. 
 
 John C. Calhoun 
 
 Richard Rush 
 
 William Smith 
 
 Dem. 
 N. R. 
 Dem. 
 
 M. Van Buren 
 
 John Sargeant 
 
 Henrv Lee 
 
 Dem. 
 N. R. 
 Ind. 
 
 Amos Ellmaker 
 
 Wm. Wilkins 
 
 Anti-]\I 
 Dem. 
 
 R. M. Johnson .... 
 
 Francis Granger 
 
 John Tvler 
 
 Dem. 
 Whig. 
 Whig. 
 
 Wm. Smith 
 
 Dem. 
 
 John Tvler 
 
 Whig. 
 Dem. 
 Dem . 
 Dem. 
 
 R. M. Johnson . . .- . 
 
 L. AV. Tazewell 
 
 James K. Polk 
 
 Geo. M. Dallas 
 
 T. Frelinghuy.sen 
 
 Thomas Morris 
 
 Dem. 
 Whig. 
 Lib. 
 
 Millard Fillmore . . . . 
 
 Wm. O. Butler 
 
 Charles F. Adams . . . 
 
 Whig. 
 
 Dem. 
 
 F. Soil. 
 
 William R. King. . . . 
 William A. Graham.. 
 CTCorge W. Julian . . . 
 
 Dem. 
 Whig. 
 F. Dem 
 
 Johm C. Breckinridge 
 
 Rep. 
 Fed. 
 
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES AND ELECTORAL AND POPULAR VOTES— Continued. 
 
 97 
 
 •"or President. 
 
 John C. Fremont 
 
 :\Iillard Fillmore 
 
 Abraham Linccln .... 
 Stephen A. Douglas. . 
 J. C. Breckinridge . . . 
 John Bell 
 
 Abraham Lincoln. . . . 
 Geo. B. McClellan . . . 
 
 Ulysses S. Grant 
 
 Horatio Seymour 
 
 Ulysses S. Grant 
 
 Horace (Treeley 
 
 Charles O' Conor 
 
 James Black 
 
 Thomas A. Hendricks 
 
 B. Gratz-Brown 
 
 Charles J. Jenkins. . . . 
 David Davis 
 
 Rutherford B. Hayes. 
 
 Samuel J. Tilden 
 
 Peter Cooper 
 
 Green C. Smith 
 
 James B. Walker 
 
 James A. Garfield . . . 
 
 \V. S. Hancock 
 
 James B. Weaver 
 
 Neal Dow 
 
 John W. Phelps 
 
 Grover Cleveland . . . . 
 
 James G. Blaine 
 
 John P. St. John 
 
 Benjamin F. Butler . 
 P. D. Wigginton 
 
 Benjamin Harrison . . 
 Grover Cleveland .... 
 
 Clinton B. Fisk 
 
 Aison J. vStreeter 
 
 R. H. Cowdry 
 
 James L. Curtis 
 
 :\lrs. Belva Lockwood 
 A. E. Redstone 
 
 Grover Cleveland 
 
 Party. 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 114 
 
 8 
 
 Rep. 
 Amer. 
 
 Rep. 
 Dem. 
 
 180 
 12 
 
 Dem. 
 
 72 
 
 Union. 
 
 39 
 
 Rep. 
 Dem. 
 
 212 
 21 
 
 Rep. 
 Dem. 
 
 214 
 
 80 
 
 Rep. 
 D. & L. 
 
 2S6 
 
 Dem. 
 
 
 Temp. 
 
 
 Dem. 
 
 42 
 
 Dem. 
 
 18 
 
 Dem. 
 
 2 
 
 Ind. 
 
 
 Rep. 
 Dem. 
 
 1S5 
 184 
 
 Greenb. 
 
 
 Pro. 
 
 
 Amer. 
 
 
 Rep. 
 Dem. 
 
 214 
 155 
 
 Gr. 
 
 
 Pro. 
 
 
 Amer. 
 
 
 Dem. 
 
 219 
 
 Rep. 
 
 182 
 
 Pro. 
 
 
 Peop. 
 Amer. 
 
 
 Rep. 
 Dem. 
 
 233 
 168 
 
 Pro. 
 
 
 U'n L. 
 
 
 U-d L. 
 
 
 Amer. 
 
 
 E. Right. 
 I. R. 
 
 
 Dem. 
 
 277 
 
 ll 
 
 
 1,341,264 
 873,538 
 
 1856 
 
 1,866,352 
 1,375,157 
 
 1860 
 
 845,763 
 589,581 
 
 
 2,216,067 
 1,808,725 
 
 1864 
 
 3,015,071 
 2,709,615 
 
 1868 
 
 3,597,070 
 
 2,834,07 9 
 
 29,408 
 
 5,608 
 
 1872 
 
 4,034,950 
 
 4,284,885 
 
 81,740 
 
 9,522 
 
 2,636 
 
 1876 
 
 4,449,053 
 4,442,035 
 
 307,300 
 
 10,305 
 
 707 
 
 1880 
 
 4,911,017 
 
 4,848,335 
 
 151,809 
 
 133,825 
 
 1884 
 
 5,440,216 
 
 5,538,233 
 
 249,907 
 
 148.105 
 
 2,808 
 
 1,591 
 
 1888 
 
 5,556,918 
 
 1892 
 
 For Vici;-Pki;sii)ent. 
 
 Wm. L. Dayton. . . . 
 
 A. J. Donelson 
 
 Hannil)al Hamlin . . 
 
 Joseph Lane 
 
 Edward Everett .... 
 H. V. Johnson 
 
 Andrew Johnson . . . 
 Geo. H. Pendleton . 
 
 Schuvler Colfax .... 
 F. P.' Blair, Jr 
 
 Henry Wilson 
 
 B. Gratz-Brown .... 
 
 John Q. Adams 
 
 John Russell 
 
 Geo. W. Julian 
 
 A. H. Colquit 
 
 John M. Palmer . . . 
 
 T. E. Bramlette 
 
 W. S. Groesbeck 
 Willis B. Machen . . 
 N. P. Banks 
 
 William A. Wheeler 
 Thomas A. Hendricks 
 Samuel F. Car}- . . 
 Gideon T. Stewart 
 D. Kirkpatrick . . 
 
 Chester A. Arthur. 
 Wm. H. English. . 
 B. J. Chambers. . . . 
 H. A. Thompson . 
 S. C. Pomeroy 
 
 T. A. Hendricks. 
 John A. Logan. . 
 William Daniel . . 
 A. M. West 
 
 Levi P. Morton .... 
 Allen G. Thurman. 
 John A. Brooks . . . 
 C. E. Cunningham 
 W. H. T. \^'akefield 
 James B. Greer. . . . 
 Chas. S. Weller . . . 
 John Calvin 
 
 Adlai E. Stevenson 
 
 Rep. 
 Amer. 
 
 Rep. 
 Dem. 
 Dem. 
 Union. 
 
 Rep. 
 Dem. 
 
 Rep. 
 Dem. 
 
 Rep. 
 
 D. &. L. 
 
 Dem. 
 
 Temp. 
 
 Lib. 
 Dem. 
 Dem . 
 Dem. 
 Dem. 
 Dem. 
 
 Lib. 
 
 Rep. 
 Dem. 
 
 Gr. 
 
 Pro. 
 Amer. 
 
 Rep. 
 Dem. 
 
 Gr. 
 
 Pro. 
 Amer. 
 
 Dem. 
 
 Rep. 
 
 Pro. 
 Peop. 
 
 Rep. 
 
 Dem. 
 
 Pro. 
 U'n L. 
 U'd L. 
 Amer. 
 
 E. R. 
 
 I. R. 
 
 Dem. 
 
98 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES AND ELECTORAL AND POPULAR VOTES— Continued. 
 
 For President. 
 
 £ 
 
 
 ll 
 
 2 
 
 For Vice-President. 
 
 i2 
 
 1 
 II 
 
 Benjamin Harrison 
 
 James B. Weaver 
 
 JolMi F. Bidwell 
 
 Simon Wing 
 
 Joshua Levering 
 
 Charles E. Ben'tly 
 
 William McKinley 
 
 Charles H. Machett 
 
 William J. Bryan 
 
 William J. Bryan 
 
 William J. Bryan 
 
 John M. Palmer 
 
 Rep. 
 
 Peop. 
 
 Pro. 
 
 Soc. L. 
 
 Pro. 
 
 Nat'l. 
 
 Rep. 
 
 vSoc. L. 
 
 Dem. 
 
 Silver 
 
 Peop. 
 Nat'l D. 
 
 145 
 22 
 
 5,176,108 
 
 1,041,028 
 
 264,1 3S 
 
 21,164 
 
 1892 
 1S!)6 
 
 Whitelaw Reid 
 
 James G. Field 
 
 J. B. Cranfill 
 
 Charles H. Machett. 
 
 Hale Johnson 
 
 James H. Southgate . 
 Garret A. Hobart. . . 
 Matthew Maguire . . . 
 
 Arthur Sewall 
 
 Arthur Sewall 
 
 Thomas E. Watson . . 
 vSimon B. Buckner . . 
 
 Rep. 
 
 Peop. 
 
 Pro. 
 
 Soc. L. 
 
 Pro. 
 
 Nat'l. 
 
 Rep. 
 Soc. L. 
 
 Dem. 
 Silver. 
 
 Peop. 
 Nat'l D. 
 
 145 
 22 
 
 Notes— The name of the successful candidate for President is placed fir.st in each campaign 
 list, except in that of 1896. In this list the names of the candidates are arranged in the order of 
 their nomination. 
 
 Prior to 1804, electors cast their votes for two candidates for President ; the one receiving the 
 highest number of votes was declared elected President, and the one next highest Vice-President. 
 
 In 1800 there was a tie between Jefferson and Burr, and the choice devolved upon the House 
 of Representatives, which elected the former President and the latter Vice-President. 
 
 Beginning with 1804, the Constitution of the United States having been amended, electors voted 
 for candidates for President and Vice-President separately. 
 
 The record of the popular vote prior to 1824 is very meagre. 
 
 In 1824, no candidate for President having a majority of the electoral vote, the House of 
 Representatives elected John Ouincy Adams. 
 
 In 1836 the electoral vote for Vice-President was so divided that no candidate had a majority, 
 and the Senate of the United States chose R. M. Johnson. 
 
 In 1864, eleven States being in Confederate territory, did not vote. 
 
 In 1868, three vSouthern States were disfranchised. 
 
 Horace Greeley died after the election of 1872 and electors chosen for him scattered their vote. 
 
 The election of 1876 was decided by an electoral commission of fifteen, seven Democrats and 
 eight Republicans. 
 
 In 1892 the Democrats endorsed the People's party national ticket in Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, 
 North Dakota and Wyoming ; and the Republicans of Louisiana endorsed the same ticket. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 uuurruu 
 
 PAGK 
 
 Virginia Resolutions, 1798 3 
 
 Kentucky Resolutions, 1798 . 1 
 
 Relation of Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions ... 4 
 
 Replies to Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions .... 8 
 
 Parties in 1800 9 
 
 Republican (Deni.) Platform 9 
 
 Parties, 1804-12 10 
 
 Clintonian (Fed.) Platform 10 
 
 Parties, 1812-30 10 
 
 Hartford Resolutions 10 
 
 Decline of Federalists 11 
 
 Anti-Masonic Resolutions 12 
 
 Democratic Platform, 1832 12 
 
 Parties in 1S3G 12 
 
 Loco Foco Platform 12 
 
 Whig Platform 13 
 
 Parties in 1840 13 
 
 Democratic Platform 13 
 
 Parties in 1844 14 
 
 Liberty Platform 14 
 
 Whig Platform 16 
 
 Democratic Platform 16 
 
 Parties in 1848 16 
 
 Democratic Platform 17 
 
 Whig Resolutions 18 
 
 Buffalo Platform 19 
 
 Parties in 1852 20 
 
 Democratic Platform 20 
 
 AVhig Platform 21 
 
 Free Soil Platform 22 
 
 Parties in 18:0 24 
 
 American Pl.^tform 24 
 
 Democratic Platform 2.5 
 
 Republican Platform 28 
 
 Whig Platform 29 
 
 Parties in 1860 29 
 
 Constitutional Union Platform 30 
 
 Republican Platform 30 
 
 Democratic (Douglas) Platform 31 
 
 Democratic (Breckinridge) Platform 32 
 
 Parties in 1864 32 
 
 Radical Platform 32 
 
 Republican Platform 33 
 
 Democratic Platform 34 
 
 Parties in 1868 34 
 
 Republican Platform 34 
 
 Democratic Platform 35 
 
 Parties in 1872 37 
 
 Labor Reform Platform 37 
 
 Prohibition Platform 38 
 
 Liberal Republican Platform 39 
 
 P.VGE 
 
 Democratic Platform 10 
 
 Republican Platform 10 
 
 Democratic (Straightoul) I'latform 41 
 
 (ireenback Propositions, 1874 42 
 
 Parties in 1876 42 
 
 American National Platform 42 
 
 Prohibition Reform Platform 42 
 
 Independent (Creenback) Platform 43 
 
 Repi:blican Platform 44 
 
 Democratic Platform 45 
 
 Parties in 1880 47 
 
 National Platform 47 
 
 National Liberal Platform -i'i 
 
 Independent Republican Principles 49 
 
 Republican Platform 49 
 
 National (Greenback) Platform 51 
 
 Prohibition Reform Platform 52 
 
 Democratic Platform 54 
 
 Parties in 1884 55 
 
 National (Greenback-Labor) Platform 55 
 
 Republican Platform 56 
 
 Democratic Platform 58 
 
 Prohibition Platform 61 
 
 Parties in 188S 62 
 
 Democratic Platform 62 
 
 Republican Platform 01 
 
 Prohibition Platform 67 
 
 I'nion Labor Platform 67 
 
 United Labor Platform 68 
 
 American Platform 69 
 
 Equal Rights Platform 71 
 
 Industrial Reform Platform 71 
 
 F'irst People's Party Platform, 1891 71 
 
 Confederated Industrial Platform, 1892 72 
 
 Parties in 1892 74 
 
 Republican Platform 74 
 
 Democratic Platform 75 
 
 fludependent People's Labor Platform 78 
 
 Prohibition Platform . . 
 
 People's Party Platform 
 
 r Socialist Labor Platform 
 
 Parties in 1896 SJ 
 
 Prohibition Platform 83 
 
 National Platform 84 
 
 Republican Platform 84 
 
 Socialist Labor Platform 86 
 
 Democratic Platform (Chicago) 88 
 
 Silver Platform 90 
 
 People's Party Platform 91 
 
 / National Democratic Platform (Indianapolis). . 93 
 
 Presidential Candidates and Electoral and Popular 
 Votes 9.5-98 
 
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