The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1867-04-01
STATE Dlg%%1dGRAYIE CONVENTION.
TIaE PLATFORM ADOPTED.
J1NU1RY Sh, 4. D.. 1897.


IlIUNtW " tNDNIltliiN NlAAL III NffOINiNlltf
with these principles we declare that the
Federal Government Is n government OF
limited powers, and that II possesses no
powers but such as are expressly, or by
necessary implication delegated 10 Il In the
Federal Constitution that allother powers
are reserved to the states or the people
that a strict construction of the COnstitu-
ton is indispensable TO the preservation Of
the reserved rights Of the States and the
people that all grants of power to Govern
mcnt. whether State or Federal, should be
strictly construed, because all such grants
abridgc the natural rights of men that the
preservation Of the equality and rights Of
the States aud the rights of the people is
necessary to the preservation of the Union /;
that the Federal Government Is untitled to
lcgislate for or administer the local concerns
ofthe States that it would be monstrous
that the local affairs ofOhio should be regu-
.latcdb a Federal Congressin which she has
but two Senators, and the New England
States. with but a little greater population,
have twelve that the tendency of the Fed
.cral Government is to usurp the reserved
rights of the States and Of the people and
that. therefore, a Capitalization of power in
It's hands is am ever pending danger. That
such an abs lrption OF power would. while
it lasted, be destructive Of the liberties and
interests of the people, and would end
either in %despOtism or a destruction of the
Union that Il National debt, besides i'm
povcrishiug the people, fosters an undue
increase Of the powers of the Federal Gov
eminent that high protective tariffs have
a like effect, sacrificing the interests Of the
many for the cmoluments of the few. and
plainly violating the equity and spirit of
the Constitution; that the collection and
disbursement of enormous evenucs by the
Federal Government nave the same ten
denCy. beside corrupting the Government,
aud that, therefore. economy is essential
not only to the prosperity, but also to the
liberties of the people that unequal tax
alton is a plain violation of justice, of
which no Government can safely be guilty.
That to each state belongs the right to
determine the qualification of It's electors,
and all attempts to impair this right, either
by Congressional legislation or Constitu-
tiOnal amendment, are unwise and despot-
iC; hat the tendency of power is to steal
from the many to the few, and that, there
fore, eternal vigilance Is the price of lib
erty - that the tendency of government is
to enlarge its authority by usurpation, and
therefore government needs to be watched /;
that another of It's tendencies is to govern
too much-unnecessarily and veXatiously
interfering with the business and habits of
the people; that the freedom of speech and
OF the press Is essential to the existence of
liberty that no person not in the military
or naval service, or in the bounds where
martial law legitimatcly prevails, can law
4 fully be deprived Of life, liberty or proper
ty, without due process of civil law that
the courts should always be open for the
redress of grievances that no er post fdctO
law should he made; that the right of the
people to pcaccably assemble and consult
upon public affairs is iuviolablc; that the
military should be held in due subsection
to the civil power; that while the major
ity, rs prescribed by the Constitution, have
the right to govern, the minority nave in
dcfeasiblc rights; and that a frequent re-
currcncc to first principles is essential to
the welfare of the State and the people.
,. ResolrCd, That the States lately in re-
hcllion are States in the Union, and have
been recognized ~ such by every depart
ment Of the Government, and by Presi.
dent Lincoln. who, in the midst of the war
invited them to elect mcmbcrs of Congress
by President johnson, in various procla'
nations and official acts; by Congress
which permitted Andrew johnson to sit il
the Senate as Il Senator from Tennessee
r and members from Virginia, Tennessee
and Louisiana to sit in the louise of Repre-
scntativcs after these States had seeded
and while the war was being carried on
and which further recognized them n
Estates in the Union by the Congressional
apportionmcnt.lct providing for their duC
rcprcsontationSin Congress; by variou,
tax laws, and especially by the direct tax
by the resolutions submitting amendments
to the Constitution for their approval, ant
by various other acts and resolutions i'm.
parting 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 Court,
in all those States, INT especially by tn,
Supreme Court, which entertains jurisdic,
tion of eases coming from them, which |
could not 40 were they not in the Union
b That being thus in the Union, they stanC
on an equal footing with their sister State
States with unequal rights being Il thin;
unknown to the Constitution that, by tn
. express terms of the Constitution, eacI
- State Is entitled to have two Senators and
due proportion of Representatives in tn
Congress, and to vote in all elections q
a President and Vice-president that, thOugI
c these rights are subject to interruption b.
a state of civil war, they can not, in time
peace, be suspended, much less destroyed
without 4 plain violation of the Constitu
y ton that Congress has no power to de
Drive Il State of its reserved rights, an
reduce it to a Territorial condition; tina
therefore the exclusion, by the so-calle
c Congress, Of all representation from tc
States. the proposed exclusion of thos
: States, from all voice In the next Presiden
II tial election, the threatened overthrow {
their State Governments and the reductiO
OF their States to the condition of ~territol
les. are each and every one of them uncou
stitutiOnal, revolutionary and dcspot
measures. destructive not merely of I'll
# rights of those States, but also of the righl
a., of every other State in the Union. Tn;
" those measures are parts ola plan to MULTI
the Constitution, virtually overthrow til
.e State Governments, to erect acOnsolidate
%despotism on their ruins; and to establis
" and pcrpetuate a %tyrannical rule of Il minol
ity over a majority of the American pee
W pie. That the people cannot, without
n. loss of their liberties, prosperity and homo
submit to such II result; aud we, therefor
in the hope that the warning will I
As needed, and the danger to our situations /
n peaceably averted, do solemnly warn ii
advocates of the plan, that it will N,
be submitted to.
3. ReSolped, That Congress is not a
m omnipotent law-making power. That Il
4. Constitution provides that no bill shall b.
, come a law without the approval of 81
IL President, unless il be passed by two-thirt
al Of each House of Congress. That one
the objects of the present sO-called Coz
grcss In excluding States from represents
ton, is to pass bills by a two-thirds vo
Mt which. were all the States rcpresente
could not so pass; and thus to virtual
abolish the constitutional provision afOr
Gail Thot II tbis nrnpa1ant bn apuufaeaf