St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1860-08-02
REPUBLICAN PLATFORM..
ADorrEp ar CHICAGO, MAY 18TH, 1860.

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ADOPTED AT CHICAGO, MAY .l7rH, 1860.
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REsoLvEp, That we, the delegated represen-
| tatives Of the Republican electors Of the Uni
ted States. in Convention assembled, in the
discharge of the duty we owe to our constitu-
ents and our country, unite in the following
declarations: . .|'s >S'>]~
lstH Thatthe history Of the nation during
the last four years, has fully established the
propriety and necessity Of the organization
and perpetuatien Of the Republican party !;
and that]t causes which called it into exis-
stenee are permanent, in their tnature,5zand now,
moro than ever before, demand Its peaceful
aud constitutional triumph.
/ II 2. I Hat The nlaintenanee of the principles
promul CAT ed in tho Declaration ofIndependence
and embodied in the Federal Constitution, the
right 10 life, liberty and<the pursuit Of happi-
ness, is essential to the preservation ,of eur
Republican institutions ind that the Federal
Constitution, the Rights Of the States, and the
Union of the States must and shall be preserved.
s! That to the Union Of the States this nation
owes its unprecedented increase III population,
its surprising development Of material resour-
ccse its rapid augmentation of wealth, its hap
piness at home IND ~its honor abroad and we
hold lid abhorrence all schemes for Disunion,
congratulate tie country that no Republican
nletrber Of Congress has uttered or countenan-
ced the threats Of Disunion so often made by
Democratic members, without rebuke and with
applause from their political associates and
we denounce those threats Of disunion, in case
Of g popular overthrow Of their ascendency
as.denying the vital principles Of free gov
eminent, and as ayowal of contemplated trea-
son, which it isStbe imperative duty Of an
indignant People sternly torebuke 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 exclusively, is essential to that ,bal-
ance 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 any State Or Territory, no
matter under what pretext, as among the gra-
vest of crimes.
5. That the present Democratic Administra-
ton has lar exceeded our worst apprehensions,
in its measureless subserviency to the exactions
of sectional interest, as especially eyinced
in its desperate exertions to force the infamous
Lecompton Constitution upon the protesting
people Of Kansas in constituting the personal
relation Decentralization and servant to involve
an unqualified property in persons ;; in its
attempted enforcement. every where. ON land
and on sea, through the intervention Of Con-
eress end of the Federal Courts; of the extreme
pretensions of purely local interest $ in its
general and unvarying abuse Of the power
Entrusted to it by a confding people.
s.. That,the people justly view With alarm
the reckless extravaganza which pervades ev-
cry department of the Federal Government:
that return to rigid economy and accounta-
bility is indispensable to arrest the systematic
plumber of the public treasury by favored
partisans; while the recent startling develop
ments of frauds and corruptions at the federal
Metropolis, show that an entire change of
administration is imperatively demanded
7. That the new dogma that the Constitution,
Of it's own force, carries slavery into any or
oil Of the Territories of the United States, is
y dangerous political heresy, at variance with
the explicit provisions Of that instrument it.
self, with coutemporaneoHs exposition, and
with legislative and judicial precedent is
revolutionary in its tendency, and subversive
Of the peace ana harmony of the county.
8. That the normal condition Of all the ter
ritory Of the United States is that Of freedom, !!
That as our Republican fathers, when they
had abolished slavery in all our national ter
ritory, ordained that emo person should be
deprived Of life, liberty or property, without
due process OF law" it becomes our duty, by
Legislation, whenever such Legislation Is neces.
sary, to maintain this provision against all at
tempts to violate it; and we deny the autllori-
ty Of Congress, Of u territorial legislature, or
Of any individuals, to give legal existence to
Slavery in any Territory Of the United States,
9. That we brand the recent re-opening OF
the African slave trade, under the cover of
our National Flag, aided by perversions Of ju-
dicial power, as crime against Hum anity end
burning shame to- eur Country and Age; and
we cali upon Congress to take prompt and ef-
fcient measures for the total and final sup
preston Of that execrable traffic. D.. ,,s*s
10. That in the recent vetoes, by their Fed
eral Governors, Of the acts5of the Legislature
Of Kansas and Nebraska, prohibiting slavery
in those Territories, We find practical illus
tration Of the boosted. Democratic principle of
Non intervention and ;, Popular Sovereignty
embodied in the Kansas Nebraska BILL and a
demonstration Of the deception and fraud in
volved therein. % * jf'%ST. &l| ~
!: IL: That Kansas should Of right be immedi-
ately admitted as State under the Constitu-
ton recently formed and adopted by her people
and accepted by the House Of Representatives.
IL. That while providing revenue for the
support of the general government by duties
upon imports, sound policy requires such an
adjustment Of these imposts as to encourage
the development of the industrial interests Of
the whole country; and we commend that
policy Of national exchanges, which secures
to the working men liberal wages, to agricul.
tnre rcmunerating prices, to mechanics and
manufacturers an adequate reward for their
skill, labor and enterprise, and TO- the nation
commercial prosperity and Independence ~ Z.
49, That We protest against any sale or
alienation to others Of the Public Lands held
by ac.ua, settlers, and against any view Of the
Free Homestead policy which. regards the set
tiers as paupers or suppliants for public
bounty and ne demand the passage. by Con-