The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1867-05-08
STATE DEMOCRATIC CONVECTION.
THE PLATFORM ADOPTED.
JANUARY Sth, Il. ID. 1857.


/. Resolved, That the Democracy ofOhio
~stcadfhstly adhere to the principles of the
party as e%xpounded by the fathers, and APP
proved by experience; that In accordance
with these principles we declare that the
Federal Government Is a government OF
limited powers, and that it possesses no
powers but such as are expressly, or by
necessary Implication delegated 70 II In the
Federal Constitution that allother powers
are reserved TO the otates or the people +;
that a strict construction OF the Csnstltu-
tion Is indispensable TO the preservation Of
the reserved rights of the States and the
people that all grants of power to Govern
ment, 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 untitled to
legislate for or administer the local concerns
of the States that IL would be mOnstrous
that the local affairs ofOhiO shonld be regu-
lated by n Federal Congressin which she has
but two Senators, and the New England
States, with bat q 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 brption OF power would. while
II 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
poverishing 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 emoluments of the few, and
plainly violating the equity and spirit of
the Constitution; that the collection and
disbursement of enormous evenues by the
Federal Government have the same ten
dency, beside cOrruptlng the Government,
and that, therefore, economy Is essential
not only to the prosperity, but also to the
liberties of the people; tina unequal tax
alton Is n 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 n 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 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 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 eI post CdctO
law should be made that the right of the
; people to peaceably assemble and consult
upon public affairs is inviolable; that the
| military should be held in due subsection
5 to the civil power; that while the major
ity, rs prescribed by the Constitution, have
the right to govern, the minority have in
defeasible rights; and that a frequent re-
currence to first principles Is essential to
! the welfare of the State and the people.
2. ResolUed, That the States lately ia re-
I bellion are States in the Union, and nave
{, been recognized as such by every depart
! ment of the Government, and by Presi.
4 dent Lincoln, who, In the midst ofthe war
invited them to ectmembers of Congress
by President johnson, in various procla.
nations and official acts; by Congress
e which permitted Andrew Johnson to sit IN
the Senate as IL Senator from Tennessee
and members from Virginia, TENNESSEE
and Louisiana to sit In the House of Repre-,
I sentatives after these States had seeded
7 and while the war was being carried OH
e and which further recognized them n
: States in the Union by the Congressional
v a~ppOrtionment act providing for their due
representation In Congress; by variou,
tax laws, and especially by the direct tax
e by the resolutions submitting amendment.
to the Constitution for their approval, anC
by various other acts and resolutions i'm.
II parting the same recognition all of which
: were passed since the attempted secession
e Of those States, by the Judiciary of tn,
: United States, which holds Federal Court
z in all those States, and especially by tn,
Supreme Court, which entertains jurlsdic
tion Of cases coming from them, which |
y 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
lie States with unequal rights being a thin
l. unknown tothe Constitution; that, by tn
W express terms of the Constitution, eac
s. State Is entitled to have two Senators and
r due proportion of Representatives in tn
X Congress, and TO vote in all elections {
Sc President and Vice-president that, thong
ri these rights are subject to interruption b
ne Il state of civil war, they can not, in time
a. peace, be suspended, much less destroyed
IL without a plain violation of the ConstitI
We ton; that Congress has no power to d,
prive q State of Its reserved rights, an
reduce 1t to a Territorial condition; TIN
8. therefore the exclusion, by the s~o-calle
Congress, of all representation from Il
States, the proposed exclusion of tho
States, from all voice in the e. PresideI
ne tial election, the threatened overthrow
their State Governments and the reductic
bo OF their States to the condition of terrific
les. are each and every one of them uncoI
e. stitutional, revolutionary and despot
n measures. destructive not merely of Il
he rights of those States, but also of the RICH
/, of every other State In the Union. TIL
~ those measures are parts ofa plan to NULL
to the Constitution, virtually overthrow Il
he State Governments, TO erect aconsOlidat,
he despotism on their ruins; and to establii
=. and perpetuate a tyrannical rule of a minO
~ ity over a majority of the American pc
Us pie. That the people cannot, without
loss of their liberties, prosperity and homo
m submit to such y result; and we, therefor
in the hope that the warning will
Ell needed, and the danger to our situations
peaceably averted, do solemnly warn ii
ID advocates of the plan, that It will N
he submitted to.
ma 3. ResolUed, That Congress is not {
=. ~Omnipotent law-making power. That d
lEe Constitution provides that no bill shall b
nd come a law without the approval of Il
"