The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1867-05-11
STATE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION.
THE PLATFORM ADOPTED
JINC1RY Sth, 4. %. 1867.


Federal Government IL q government of
limited powers, and that 10 possesses no
powers but such rs are expressly, or by
necessary implication delegated To It In the
Federal Constitution that ali other powers
are reserved to the states or the people; |
that "A strict construction OF the C9ustitu-
ton Is indispensable to the preservation OF
the reserved rights Of the states and the
people that all grants Of power ~ Govern
meut, 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 aud the rights Of the people *
necessary 20 the preservation ofthr Union;
that the Federal Government Is untitled to
legislate for or administer the local concerns
of the States that 10 would be mOustrOus
that the local affairs ofOhio shouldb @ rcgu-
lated by u Federal Ongressi In which she has
but 1--WE senators, ana 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
Its hands Is nu ever pending danger. That
such an abs ,rption OF power would. while
It lasted, hc destructive of the liberties and
interests of the people, and would end
either In dcspOtiSm or q destruction of the
Union that q National debt, besides i'm
pOverishiug the people, fosters an undue
Increase OF the powers Of the Federal Gov
ernment that high protective tariffs have
a like eject, sacrificing the interests of the
many for the cmOlumcnts of the few, and
plainly violating the equity and 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,
and that, therefore, economy is essential
not only to the prosperity, but also to the
Iilarfipg pf thR DHpnlp. TINT nnppInl 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 its electors,
and all attempts to impair this right, either
by Congressional legislation or Constitu-
tioual amendment, are uuwise 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 he watched;
that another of its tendencies Is to govern
too much-unnCCcssarily and vcXatiOusly
interfering with the business aud habits of
the people; that the freedom of speech and
| Of the press l. 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 &c post JdctO
law should be made; that the right of the
people to pcaccably assemble and consult
upon public affairs Is inviOlablc 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 have in
defraSiblc rights; and that n frequent re-
currence to first principles Is essential to
the welfare of the state and the people.
> =. ResoiUsd, That the States lately In re-
belliOn are States IN the Union, and have
been recognized ~ such by every depart
- ment of the Government, and by Prcsi-
dent Lincoln, who, In the midst of the war,
- invited them to electnIembcrs of Congress 4;
by President Johnson, in various prOcla-
: nations and official acts; by Congress,
which permitted Andrew johnson to sit In
the Senate rs a Senator from Tennessee,
and members from Virginia, Tennessee
and Louisiana to sit in the House of Repre-
sentativcs 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
4 apportiOnmrnt act providing for their due
REPRESENTATION in Congress; by various
tax laws, and especially by the direct tax
by the resolutions submitting amendment,
II to the Constitution for their approval, and
by various other acts and resolutions i'm.
parting the same recognition all of whiCl
n were passed since the attempted secession
,t Of those States, by the Judiciary of thu
II United States. which holds Federal Court
w in all those States, and especially by tn,
~ Supreme Court. which cntcrtains jurisdic
ton of cases coming from them, which i
IN could not do were they not in the Union
~ That being thus in the Union, they stan,
on an equal footing with their sister State
ss States with unequal rights being a thin,
- 49, 1900 g., tl, I.,,9Nst,tNf,Y, . tl,f IT ~,
ak express terms of the Constitution, eac
L. State is entitled To have two Senators and
Nc due proportion of Representatives in til
Congress, and to vote in all elections {
lv President and Nice-prcSidcnt ;tlrat, thong
a. these rights are subject to interruption b
mt a state of civil war, they can not, in time
IN peace, be suspended, much less destrOyct
,ec without a plain violation of the Coustitl
ton that Congress has no power to d.
Drive Il state of its reserved rights, Al
Tct reduce it to Il Territorial condition; til
an therefore the exclusion, by the so-callt
Congress, of all representation from I,
States, the proposed exclusion Of tho
States, from all voice in the ncXt Prcsidc0
tial election, the threatened overthrow
their State Governments and the reducti,
re- OF their States to the condition of terrific
ac- les, are each and every one of them unco
der stitutional, revolutionary and dcspot
bo measures, destructive not merely uf I
.lllElllN VI AilbNN l1NtAANof wv tAN' - nv llEl
lust of every other State In the Union. n
and those measures are parts Ola plan to mulli
ave the Constitution, virtually overthrow t
,. State Governments, to erect aConsOlidat
despotism on their ruins; and to cstabll
the and p%crpctuate atyrannical rule ofaminC
get ity over Il majority of the American p,
fern pie. That the people cannot, without
loss of their liberties, prosperity and hon
VI submit to such II result; and we, thereto
The in the hope that the warning will
|, OIL heeded, and the danger TO our situations
peaceably averted, do solemnly warn
advocates of the plan, that it viii
res be submitted to.
we 3. ResDlUei, That Congress il not
n or omnipoteut law-making power. That
only Constitution provides that no bill SHAH
/, mr. come a law without the approval of
'" President, unless It be passed by two-thi
of each House of Congress. That one
the objects of the present so-called @
gregs IN excluding States from represcn
ton, is to pass bills by II two-thirds '
..lf,I nam oil thp States rpprRgppt