St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1860-08-23
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REPUBLICAN PLATFORM.


+ REPUBLICAN PLATFORM. L
.~-Apo,rrrrrD Ar o1,oAao,; MAY ri 17rn, 1850. y:
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RESOLVED, That we, thedeleeated represent
tatives Of the Republican electors of the Uni
ted States, in Convention assembled, Ii the
discharge Of the duty we owe to our constitu-
ents and our country, unite in the following
declarations: = = w II ! Il ~
lst. That the 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 the causes which called it into exis-
tence are permanent in their nature, and now,
more than ever before, demand its peaceful
and constitutional triumph. s:,' 80
2. That the maintenance of the principles
promulgatedin the Declaration of Independence
and embodied in the Federal Constitution, the
right TO life, liberty and the pursuit Of happi-
ness, is essential to the preservation of eur
Republican institutions and that the Federal
Constitution, the Rights Of the States, and the
Union Of the States must and shall be preserved.
8. That to the Union Of the States this nation
ewes it's unprecedented increase in population,
its surprising development Of material .resour-
ces, it's rapid augmentation Of wealth, its hap
piness at home and it's honor abroad and we
hold in adherence all schemes for Disunion,
come from whatever source they may: And We
congratulate the country that no Republican
member 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 popular overthrow of their: ascendenoy
as denying the vital principles Of free eev-
eminent, and as avowal Of contemplated trea-
son, which it is the imperative duty of IN
indignant People sternly to rebuke and forever
silence. ,:.~;a,- -, -5s;- ~ n~a:
A. 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
endurance of our political fabric depends; and
we denounce the lawless invasion by armed
force Of tho soil Of any State or Territory, no
matter under what pretext, Us among the gra-
vest Of crimes.
S. That the present Democratic Administra-
ton has tar exceeded our worst apprehensions,
in its measureless subserviency to the exactions
Of sectional interest, as especially evinced
in its desperate exertions to force the infamous
Lecompton Constitution upon the protesting
people of Kansas; In constituting the personal
relation between master 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-
gress and Of the Federal Courts, of the extreme
pretensions Of purely local interest; in its
general and unvarying abuse Of the power
intrusted to it by a confding people. i
6. That the people justly view with alarm
the reckless extravaganza which pervades ev-
cry department Of the Federal Government;
that q 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 tederal
Metropolis, show that IN entire change of
administration is imperatively demanded.
Z. 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
dangerous political heresy, at variance with
the explicit provisions of that instrument it.
self, with contemporaneous exposition, and
with legislative and judicial precedent; is
revolutionary in its tendency, and subversive
Of the peace and 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
ritory, ordained that ono 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 authori-
ty of Congress, Of 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 q crime against Humanity and
burning shame to eur Country and Age; and
We call upon Congress to take prompt and ef-
ficient measures for the total and final sup
preston Of that execrable traffic.
10. That in the recent vetoes, by their Fed
eral Governors, Of the acts Of 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 q
demonstration Of the deception and fraud in
volved therein. :: ~
II. 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 tina,
policy Of national exchanges, which secures
to the working men liberal wages, to agricul.
ture remunerating prices, to mechanics and
manufacturers an adequate reward for thei,
skill, labor and enterprise, and to the nation
commercial prosperity and independence. .
13. That we protest against any sale 0,
alienation to others Of the Public Lands held