The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1867-04-23
STATE DEMOCRATIC CONVECTION.
THE PLATFORM ADOPTED.
JANUART sth, Il. D. 1891.

with these principles we declare that the
Federal Government Is n government of
limited powers, and that it 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 states or the people;
that n strict construction OF the Csnstitu-
ton 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 should be regu-
lated by a Federal Congiessin 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 Irption 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 inn
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 the equity and spirit of
the Constitution; that the collection and
disbursement of enormous revenues by the
Federal Goverpment have the same ten
dency, beside COrrupting the Government,
and that, therefore, economy Is essential
not only to the prosperity, but also to the
liberties of the people; that unequal tax
alton is Il 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 y 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 I'm the bounds where
llltIllul law ltRlllillhltlN DItNtllF. 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 fdcto
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
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 Il frequent re-
currence to first principles is essential to
the welfare of the State and the people.
,. Resolved, That the States lately i'm re-
belliOn are States in the Union, and have
been recognized "a such by every depart
ment of the Government, and by Presi-
dent Lincoln, who, in the midst of the war,
invited them to electmembers of Congress
by President johnson, in various procla-
nations and official acts; by Congress,
which permitted Andrew Johnson to sit in
} the Senate as II Senator from Tennessee,
and members from Virginia, Tennessee
and Louisiana to sit in the House of Repre-.
l sentatives after these States had seeded
= and while the war was being carried on
5 and which further recognized them "a
States in the Union by the Congressional
ap~portionment act providing for their du,
representation in Congress; by variou
r tax laws, and especially by the direct tax
e by the resolutions submitting amendment
t to the Constitution for their approval. ant
5 by various other acts and resolutions i'm
e parting the same recognition all of whicl
were passed since the attempted secession
G of those States, by the Judiciary of tn
- United States, which holds Federal Court
in all those States, and especially by tn
Supreme Court, which entertains jurisdic
tion of cases coming from them, which
g could not do were they not in the UnioT
Il That being thus in the Union, they stan
on an equal footing with their sister State
Is States with unequal rights being a thin
lie unknown to the Constitution; that, by tn
l. express terms of the Constitution, eac
Of State is entitled to have two Senators and
due proportion of Representatives in tn
re Congress, and to vote in all elections {
r President and Nice-president that, Nhoug
lie these rights are subject to interrup on b
r, u state of civil war, they can not, in time {
Of peace, be suspended, much less destroyed
1T without n plain violation of the Constitu
r tion that Congress has no power to dc
< prive a State of its reserved rights, an
v reduce it to a Territorial condition; this
Of therefore the exclusion, by the s~o-calle
Of Congress, of all representation from te
I'd States, the proposed exclusion of thos
IN States, from all voice in the next PresideI
&c tial election, the threatened overthrow
al their State Governments and the reductiO
Is OF their States to the condition of territol
les, are eacn anu every one OF them uncOr
stitutional, revolutionary and despOt
measures, destructive not merely of Il
IT. rights of those States, but also of the RICH
of every other State in the Union. Tn
~ those measures are parts Ola plan TO MULTI
the Constitution, virtually overthrow Il
State Governments, to erect acOnsolidatC
despotism on their ruins; and to establis
" and perpetuate a %tyrannical rule of Il mino.
40 ity over n majority of the American pc,
pie. That the people cannot, without
- loss of their liberties, prosperity and homo
submit to such II result; and we, therefor
in the hope that the warning will |
- needed, and the danger to our situations |
peaceably averted, do solemnly warn d
q advocates of the plan, that it will n
be submitted to.
8. RESOLVED, That Congress is not 0
g omnipotent law-making power. That II
~ Constitution provides that no bill shall b
come a law without the approval of Il
President, unless it be passed by two-thirl
of each House of Congress. That one
4 the objects of the present so-called Coz
" gress In excluding States from represents
ton, is to pass bills by a twO-thirds vo
'rn which, were all the States Representa-
could not so pass and thus TO virtual
abolish the constitutional provision afor
said. That II this precedent be ~acquiescI