Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1865-09-01
The Democratic Platform.

y"ef ~ A7 thS imperative duty, and
should be the exclusive desire of ever,
American citizen intrusted with tbe no,,..
OF controlling public affairs by his vote or
otherwise, to see that they are admipistered
with single eye 10 the great objects which
our forefathers had in view when thew laid
the foundations of this republic. VIZ: II
form more perfect union establish ms.
tlce insure domestic tranquility; provide
for the common defense; promote the gen
eral welfare, and secure the blessings of lib-
erty to ourselves and our posterity.
Whereas, The men and the party admin.
lsterlng the Federal Government since 1851.
have betrayed their trust, violated their sa-
cred obligations, disregarded the commands
OF the fundamental law, corTuptly squander
ed the public money denied Justice TO tbe
people, perverted the whole Government
from its original purpose, and thereby have
brought untold calamities upon the country
therefore be it
RcsolUed, That we, the Democracy of
Pennsylvania, are now, as We always have
been, faithful to the Union of the States
opposing the secession of the South with ali
our influence and having no sympathy or
association whatever with that party in the
North which plotted against the Union and
pronounced the Constitution "a covenant
with death and an agreement with hell. -
Second, That if the counsels of the Dem
ocratie party had prevailed, the Union would
have bUvu saved III all it's integrity and hon
or, without the slaughter, debt and disgrace
Of "a civil war. But when the formation of
sectional parties in the North and in the
South and the advent of one of these par
ties into the seats of power made war a fact
which we could not counteract, we sustained
the Federal authorities in good faith, asking
nothing at their hands except decent regard
for our legal rights and some show of com
mon honesty In the management of our f.
nancial affairs, but in both these particulars
we were disappointed and betrayed.
Third, That the Constitution established
by our revolutionary fathers is entitled to
our unqualified respect and obedience the
oath to support it is binding, religiousy,
morally and legally, at all times, and under
all circumstances, and in every part of the
country upon all public officers from the
highest to the lowest, as We'll as upon private
citizens;it is only strict observance of its by
provisions, and rigid enforcement uf its
| obligations in all the States, that we can
| hope for union, liberty or peace He who
| wilfully violates it, or counsels violation bv
| Others is public enemy and dishonest man
| Fourth, That among the rights guaranteed
| to US by the plainest words of the Coastitu-
| ton, are these Free press, freedom from
arbitrary arrest and illegal imprisonment
| trial by jury, the writ of habeas corpus. the
perfect immunity of all persons not in the
army or navy from any species of punish
ment for crime or pretended crime which is
| not the legal consequence of a legal conYic-
ton by an impartial jury, the absolute sub
ordination of all military power to the civil
authority, and the privilege of white citizens
| to vote at the State elections, according to
| the laws of the State
Fifth. That we fully concur with Presi-
dent johnson In the conviction expressed
by him in 1860, and repeated several times
since, that the Federal Governments is sover-
eign within its proper sphere; that it acts
| not through or upon the States, but direct
ly upon individualsS that the States could
not absolve the people from their federal
obligations; that the State ordinances of
Secession were nullities, and, therefore, when
the attempted revolution came to an end by
the submission of the insurgents, the States
were as much part of the Union as they
| had been before Their people were bound
4 60 tho snrno datioo anrl clothed with the same
rights, excepting, of course, such rights as
individuals among them had legally forfeited
by their own acts in the meantime, and we
it, the resumption of their proper places in
the Union by those States, some of whose
citizens were lately in Rebellion, shall not
be lmpeded or delayed by the unlawful in
reference of that faction in the North which
/ was always hostile to the Union which now
pronounces it legally dissolved, and which
Is still Indignantly laboring to prevent It's
restoration
Sixth. That the effort now making by GER
tain persons to use the power of the Gene
raj Government with view to force negro
suffrage on the States against the will of the
people and contrary to existing laws, is not
only high crime against the constitution,
but deliberate and wicked attempt to put
the States of this Union tall of them more
or less and some Of them entirely under the
domination of negroes, to Africanize a large
portion OF the country, and degrade the
white race, morally and socially as well as po-
litlcally, to the low level of the black We
will not acknowledge the incapacity of our
own race, to govern itself, nor surrender the
destlnles OF the country into the hands of
negroes, nor put ourselves under their guar
dianship, nor give up to them the political
privileges which we inherited from our faith
ers, and we exhort our brethren in other
States to take up the same attitude and
maintain it firmly Cheers
Seventh. That we will support President
johnson in every just effort he may make
to place all the States IN their proper posi-
tions, to give to them a fair representation
in Congress, to save them from the curse of
negro equality he shall have our hearty ap-
proval when he inhicts legal punishment by
legal tribunals upon offenders against the
United States, and we will be with him in
every measure which looks to the mainte-
nance of the public credit. But our full ap-
proval of his administration can be founded
only in the belief that he will execute the
law, the whole law. and nothing but the law
in all parts of the country, that he will not
allow the military to interfere with State
elections that he viii punish kidnapping
and robbery through the legal authorities,
whether committed by Federal officers or
| private citizens, and that he will suffer no
person to be murdered by Military Commits
SION, and upon these measures there can be
no compromise; he that is not for us is a.
| gainSt us.
Eighth, That in view of our enormous
national debt, the great weight of our State
taxes, and the local burdens imposed upon
us in divers ways, economy and retrench-
ment become an important duty of all our
representatives, and to this end the vast
standing army now on foot ought 10 be dis
banded, the navy should be reduced, and
the corrupt and extravagant practices lately
introduced into the Government should be
totally abolished.
Ninth. That our revenue laws need to be
carefully revised in such manner that while
| the public credit will be maintained and the