, 1866-04-13
Oregon Democratic Platform

In the Oregon Democratic Convention which
met at Portland, on the 9th inst, the following
series OF resolutions were reported by Judge
Wait, and adopted by a unanimous vote
l. ResolUed, That we affirm, as the end Of
our political faith and practice, our steadfast de.
| yoton to the following principles viz: EQUAL
ana exact justice to all men, of whatever State,
party or sect the support of the State govern.
ments in all their rights, and of the Federal
Government in all its vigOr; Jealous care of
the elective FRANCHISE; the supremacy Of the civ
il over the military authority; opposition to the
Capitalization Of over; economy in all public
expenditures the general diffusion of education;
tIe encouragement of morality and the highest
civilizations the right of every man to worship
God according to the dictates of his own con-
science freedom of speech, freedom of press,
aud freedom Of person under the protection OF
the haJeds corpus
I'd, That the action of the majority in Con-
geess in refusing to admit the Representatives
or eleven States, is an unwarranted assumption
OF power upon the part of Congress, revolution
AIRY in its tendency, and dangerous to the liber-
ties of the people; that we do and will sustain
President johnson in his determination and eff
forts for the complete restoration of all the con-
Sttutional rights of all the States, and we unre-
Servedly approve his veto of the Freedmens Bu-
reau and Civil Rights bills, and all his constitu-
tional efforts to prevent the fanatical majOrity
in Congress from changing or destroying our
cherished form Of Government.
Sd, That the position assumed by President
johnson, that the representatives from the
Southern States ought to be at once admitted to
seats in Congress, and that legislation affecting
such States while they are unrepresented is un-
Constitutional, meets with our hearty approval.
4th, That the assumptions of the opposition
~ ba ia in "a of
ating the public debt, and that it is in favor of
notification and secession, are slanderOus and
false.
9th, That we endorse the sentiment of Seaa-
tor Douglas, that this Government was made on
A white basis for the benefit of the white man,
and we are opposed to extending the right OF
suffrage to any other than white men.
9Th That the exemption of United States
bonds from taxation is substantially the exemp-
ton of rich men from taxation because they are
rich, aud the taxation of poor men because they
are poor, and we are in favor of taxing those
bonds for county State and municipal purposes.
9TH. That strict and impartial justice demands
that the expenses of the General Government,
should be borne by the people according to their
ability, and not according to their necessities
and hence, that we condemn now, as in the past,
a protective tariff that tends, necessarily to op-
press the masses for the benefit Of the rich.
stb That in a Democratic Government the
real sovereignty rests in the people and all efforts
tending to wrest power from the people isa war
upon them, revolutionary and dangerous; aud
that the existence of national banks, after the
exoerience we have had with them and without
them, especially in times of peace, is subject
of just alarm. IL
eth, That the unlawful and shameful souan-
dering of the peoples money by our present
State officials meets with our emphatic condem-
nation.
10th, That we will ever hold in grateful mem
ory those through whose patriotic, not merce-
nary or partisan services, the dignity of the Re-
public and the integrity of the Union were pre-
served; aud we denOunce as base insult to the
gallant living aud heroic dead, the present ei-
forts of the Radicals to convert the nation vie
tory into a pArtizan triumph, seeking to make
the late war one Of conquest, instead OF the sup
preston Of the rebelion-for subjugation m
stesd of restoring the Union-for the negro
instead of the white man. ~ -.
llth, That the miners should be encouraged
and protected in the free use Of the mines