The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1867-03-22
STATU DEMOCRATIC EOlgIITIGT.
THE PLATFORM ADOPTED.
JANUARY Sth, A.. ID. 1851.


with these principles we declare that thr
Federal Government Is a government al
limited powers, and that Il possesses no
powers but such as are expressly, or by
necessary implication delegated To- Il In the
Federal Constitution that allother pover.
are reserved TO the states or the pcopie
That a strict construction OF the Constitu-
ti0n Is indispensable to the preservation of
the reserved rights of the States and tho
people that all grants of powert TO Govern
ment, 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 oi
the states and the rights Of the people Is
necessary to the reservation of the Union
that the Federal Government Is untitled To
legislate foro or administer the local concerns
OF the states that 1t would be monstrous
that the local affairs ofOhio should be revu-
lated by a Federal Congressin which she has
but two senators, and the New England
States, with but n 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
It's hands Is an ever pending danger. That
such an abs irptiOn OF power would. while
10 lasted, be destructive of the liberties and
interests OF the people, and would end
either In despOtistn or q destruction Of the
Union that q National debt. besides i'm
poverishing 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 emoluments of the few, and
plainly violating tile equity and spirit Of
the Constitution; that the collection and
disbursement of enormous revenues by the
Federal Government have the same ten
deuCy, beside %corrupting the Government.
and ehnf flNsFnlnrn paattAU.Nr IL a..W.ag.r
not only TO the prosperity, but also 10 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 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, aud 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 veXatiouslv
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 HAT 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 most CactO
law should be made: that the right of thc
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, as prescribed by the Constitution. have
the right to govern, the minority have Inf.
dcfcasible rights; and that Il frequent re-
currencc To first principles Is essential to
the welfare of the State and the people.
,. ReS0ired, That the States lately in re-
bclliOn are States in the Union, and have
been recognized as such by every depart
ment of the Governments, and by PrpSi-
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 I'm
the senate rs II enato from Tennessee,
and member 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 rs
States in the Union by the Congressional
apportionment act providing for their due
representation in Congress; by various
tax laws, and especially by the direct tax;
by the resolutions submitting amendments
to the Constitution for their approval, and
by various other acts and resolutions inn
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 Courts
In all those States, and especially by the
supreme Court, which entertains iurisdic-
tien of cases coming from them, which it
.n,,1l ,,AN 4, 1904, IL 49, =. Al !
That being thus in the Union, they stand
on an equal footing with their sister States
States with unequal rights being Il thing |
unknown to the Constitution that, by the
express terms of the Constitution, each
State Is entitled to have two Senators and n
due proportion of Representatives in the
Congress, and to vote in all elections of
President and Nice-president that, though
these rights are subject To interruption by
a state of civil war, they can not, in time of
peace, be suspended, much less destroyed.
without Il plain violation of the Coustitu-
ton; that Congress has no power to de-
priye a State of its reserved rights, and
reduce it to a Territorial condition; 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 Presiden-
tial election, the threatened overthrow of
their State Governments and the reduction
OF their States to the condition of territor-
les. are each and every one of them uncon-
stitutional, revolutionary and despotic
measures, destructive not merely of the
rights Of those States, but also of the rights
of every other State in the Union. That
those measures are parts ola plan to nullify
the Constitution, virtually overthrow the
State Governments, to erect consolidated
.despotism on their ruins; and to establish
and perpetuate a%tyrannical rule o faminor-
ity over a majority of the American peo-
pie. That the people cannot, without n
loss of their liberties, prosperity and honor,
submit to such n result; and we. therefore,
in the hope that the warning will be
needed, and the danger to our situations be
peaceably aYcrted, do solemuly warn the
advocates Of the plan, that It will not
be submitted to.
3. ResolUed, That Congress is not an
omnipOtent law-making power. That the
Constitution provides that no bill shall be-
come a law without the approval of the
President, unless 1t be passedby two-thirds
of each House of Congress. That one of
the objects of the present sO-called Con-
grcSS In excluding States from representa-
ton, Is to pass bills by a two-thirds vote
which, were all the States represented,
could not so pass; and thus to virtually
abolish the constitutional provision afore-
said. That II this precedent he ncuuinsnad