The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1867-07-01
STATE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION.
The hePLATFoRM ADOPTED
JINUARY Sm, 4. ID. 1897.



with these principles we declare that the |
Federal Government is Il government Of
limited powers. aud that II possesses no /
powers but such as are expressly, or by |
necessary implication delegated to IL In the |
Federal Constitution that all other powers |
are reserved to the otatcs or the people |
that strict construction of the Cgnstitu- |
ton IS Indispensable to the preservation Of |
the reserved rights of the states and the /
people that all grants OF power to Govern !
mcut. whether state or Federal, should be !
strictly construed. because all such grants /
abridge the natural rights of men; that the |
preservation of the equality and rights OF
the States and the rights of the people is |
necessary To the preservation of the Union |
that the Federal Government IS unified to |
legislate for or administer the local concerns |
OF the States that il would be monstrous |
that the local affairs ofOhiO should be regu-
lated by a Federal Cougressl In 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 |
eral Government Is to usurp the reserved |
rights Of the States and of the people and |
that. therefore, a Capitalization of power in |
its hands is an ever pending danger. That |
such an abs 'rption OF power would. while |
il lasted, be destructive Of the liberties and |
interests of the people, and would end |
either in despotism or a destruction of the |
Union that a National debt besides i'm |
pOvcrishing the people, fosters AN undue |
increase OF the powers of the Federal Gov |
ernment; that high protective tariffs have |
a like effect, sacrificing the interests of the
many for the Cmolumeuts of the few, and |
plainly violating the equity aud spirit of
the Constitution; that the collection and |
disbursement OF enormous revenues by the |
Federal Government have 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 plain violation of justice, of
which no Government can safely be guilty.
That to each State belongs the right to
determine the qualification of its electors,
and all attempts to impair this right, either
| by Congressional legislation or Constitu-
tional amendment, are unwise and despOt
ic; that 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 its tendencies is TO govern
| too much-unnecessarily and vcxatiously
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 legitimately prevails, can law
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 Cdcto
law should be made; that the right of the
people to peaceably assemble and consult
upon public affairs is iuviolable that the
military should be held in due subjection
to the civil power; that while the major
ity, rs prescribed by the Constitution, have
the right to govern, the minority have in
defcasible rights; and that frequent re-
currence to first principles is essential to
the welfare of the State and the people.
.. Resolred, That the States lately in re-
bellion are States in the Union, and have
been recognized rs such by every depart
ment of the Government, and by Presi-
dent Lincoln, who, in the midst of the war,
invited them to elect members of Congress /;
by President johnson, in various procla-
nations and official acts; by Congress,
which permitted Andrew johnson TO sit in
the Senate as a Senator from Tennessee,
and members from Virginia, Tennessee
} and Louisiana to sit in the House of Repre-
sentatives after these States had seeded,
and while the war was being carried on,
and which further recognized them as
States in the Union by the Congressional
apportionment act providing for their due
! representation in Congress; by various
I tax laws, and especially by the direct tax
I by the resolutions submitting amendments
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 tn,
o United States. which holds Federal Court
, in all those States, and especially by tn,
e Supreme Court. which entertains jurisdic
1t ton of cases coming from them, which i
is could not do were they not in the Union
~ That being thus in the Union, they stant
: on an equal footing with their sister State
i States with unequal rights being thin
OF unknown to the Constitution; that, by tn
v express terms of the Constitution, eac
State is entitled to have two Senators and
s. due proportion of Representatives in tn
ne Congress, anu to vote in all elections
- President and Vice-president; that. thong
IL these rights are subject to interruption
H. a state of civil war, they can not, in time
NJ, peace, be suspended, much less destroyed
~ without plain violation of the Constitl
Nc ton; that Congress has no power to d,
ne prive State of its reserved rights, al
reduce it to n Territorial condition; tn
therefore the exclusion, by the sO-callG
'er Congress, of all representation from tt
nj States, the proposed exclusion of tho
States, from all voice in the next PresideI
IT. tial election, the threatened overthrow
'ry their State Governments and the reductiC
MT OF their States to the condition of terrific
,a. les, are each and every one of them unCol
stitutional, revolutionary and dcspot
measures. destructive not merely OF q
10 rights of those States, but also of the rigl
'ne of every other State in the Union. Tn
to those measures are parts ofa plan to nulli
ty, the Constitution, virtually overthrow t
aw State Governments, to erect cOnsOlidat
~. despotism on their ruins; and to establi
III! and perpetuate a tyTannical rule of amino
ity over a majority of the American pc
pie. That the people cannot, without
loss of their liberties, rosperity and hone
no submit to such a result; and we, therefor
rod in the hope that the warning will
~, needed, and the danger to our situations
leu peaceably averted, do solemnly warn
AM advocates of the plan, that it will II
Igh be submitted to.
ia 8. Resolved, That Congress is not
'"N omnipotent making power. That I
Constitution provides that no bill shall
come "A law without the approval of t
re- President, unless it be passed by two-thir
ard of each House of Congress. That one
ac- the objects of the present sO-called Co
r. press in excluding States from represent
'en tion. is to pass bills by Il two-thirds vC
try which, were all the States Representa-
could not so pass; and thus to virtual
a. -, rotitntinnal I1rnUiainn a fnI