The Vinton record. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1866-1891, 1867-01-24
Democratic Platform.

Ohio s,eadhsty adhere TO the principles oI
the party as expou ldsd hy the fathers. and
approved BY experience, that IN accordance
with these principles we declare that the
Federal Government is government Of
limited powers. and that it possesses no POW.
'ers but snrh as are expressly, oi by nerts.
sOTy implication delegated 10 ii in The Fed-
erol Constitution, iha; all other powers are
reserved to the States or the people, that a
strict construction of The CONS tituton is in
dispensahle 10 the preservation Of the re-
served rights Of men, that The preservation
of the equality and rights OF the States ana
the rights The people is Necessary To The
preservation Of the Union, that the Federal
Goternmenl is untitled to legjs'a'e lorand
administer thp local concerns Of tie State.
that il would be monstruus that the local
affahs Of Ohio should lie regulated hy o
Fede,al Congress in uhich she has but two
Senrtrs, aud the New England States,
with bu, little greater population. have
twelve, hat the tendency OF The FEDERAL
Government is 10 usurp the reserved rights
of the States and .uf the people, and that,
therefore centralizatun ol power in its
hands ism ever endirg danger. That such
an absorption Of power wcu'6, while It
lasted. be destructive of tle llherii(s and
interests oil he corle. bnd would end eth.
er IN despntiSm or destruction OF lie I'm.
ion. that National debt. l., side improving
Il e peurle. iO5lers an undue Il crease Of the
mowers Of tie Federal Government, that
heh iIo'cr,ye tariffs luve like cllact, sac
riiicing tie Interests ui tie mrny for the
cmrlumcnts ottta &y, ant plainly violat.
ing the cG.alitl aud sl iil OF tie Coustitu-
ion, that tie collection aniSdisbuIsement
Of enormous ,everu by the Federal Gov.
ernment haze the suue tendency, beside
corrrphDg tie Government, aud that, there.
lore, economy is essential nut only 10 the
prosreliy. but also to the lIbcrties Of the
people, that unequal t1XatIcn is Il plain vic.
lotion Of Justice, Of which 10 Government
can safely be guilty.
That TO each Safe belongs the right to
determine the Quulifics;irn u its electors,
and all utlem, {, to impair this right, either
by Congressional legislation or Consti'u.
tiona amendment, a,e umwlse aud tespOtic,
that the tendency OF power is 10 steal from
the many TO the few, and tn t, therefore,
"eienal Vigilance is tie Irice Of liberty
that the tendency of government is to en-.
large its authority BY usuIp.tiUn, an there.
fore government needs TO be wulclcd- that
snothtr Of lis tendencies is to govern too
much unnecessarily aud yCx,tiC usly inter-
Geling with the business aud habits of the
reopIe-that the freedom OF speech and OF
The press is essential TO the existence Of
liberty, that no person not iIf tie military
or naval ser,ite, or i'll the bounds where
martial law lrgitimate'y prevails, tan law.
fully BE- deprived OF lie liberty or property
without due process of civil law, that the
courts should always lie open lOr the redress
Of grievances that no ex post iacto law
should be made, that the right of the peu.
pie to peaceobly assemble ard consult uTon
public affairs is inyiolbbIe, that the militia.
ry should be held in due subsection TO the
civil power, that while The majority, as
prescribed by the Constitution, have the
right 10 govern, the minority have indeieas-
ibe rights, and that frequent recurrence
TO first principles is essential to tie VT llure
CT the Stale and the people.
2. Resolved, That tie States lately in
rebellion are States in the Union, and have
been recognized ss such by every depart
ment OF the Government, and By Presidcn.
Lincoln, who, iTsthe midst Of the war, III
vited item to elect members Of CongHss-
by President Johnson, in various prOcIama-
tions and official acts--by Congress, which
permitted Andrew Johnson to sit in the
Senate as Senator from Tennessee, and
members ir,m Virginia, Tennessee and
Louisiana to sit in the House of Representa-
tiyes after those Suites had seCedtd, ard
while the war was teing carried on, and
which further recognized Them as States in
the Union by the Congressional apporton-
ment act providing fol their dne represent
alton in Congress--by various tax laws, aud
especa ly by the dIeGt tax-by the resolu.
tions submitting amendments 10 tie Con-
stilulion for their nPrrCval, and BY various
other acts and resolutions impariing the
same recognition, all of which were passed
since the attempted secession of those States
by the Judiciary of the United States,
which holds Federal Courts in all those
States, and especially by the Supreme Court,
which enteTtains jurisdiction of cases COM
ing from them which il could not do were
they not iu tie Union. That being fhus i'm
The Union, they stand on an equal footing
with their sister States, States with unequal
rights being q thing unknown to the Con-
stiiuticn that, by the express terms OF t he
Constitution, zach State is entitled to have
two Senators and due proportion of Rep.
Iesentatives in the Congress, and to vote in
all elections Of President ana Vice Presi.
dent-that, though these rights are subject
to interruption By state Of civil war. they
can not, in time Of peace, be suspended,
much less destroyed, without plain. viola
tion Of the CUnstitution--tha Congress has
no power to deprive State of its reserved
rights, and reduce il TO a territorial condi-
tiOn that therefore the exclusion. BY the So
called Congress, Of all representation from
ten States, the proposed exclusion Of those
States from all voice in the next Presden.
tia election, the threatened overthrow Of
their State Governments and the reduction
of their States to the condition of terrific.
ries, are each and every one Of them uncon-
slitulional, revolutionary and despotic meas
ures, destructive not merely Of the rights of
those States, but aiso of the rights OF every
other Slate in The Union.