The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1867-05-22
STATE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION.
THE PLATFORM ADOPTED.
JlNUARY Sth, 4. d. Is07.


1
with these principles We declare that the
Federal Government Is government of
limited powers, and that II possesses no
powers but such ns 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 strict construction Of the Csnstitu-
/ ton is Indispensable to the preservation VI
/ the reserved rights Ot the States and the 1
people that all grants Of power TO Govern
mCut. whether State or Federal, should be |
strictly construed, because all such grants .
abrdge the natural rights ofmcu that the
preservation of the equality and rights of
the states aud the rights of the people Is
necessary to the preservation of the Union
that the Federal Government " untitled to |
IlCgislatc for OF administer the local concerns |
lOi the States that 1t would be monstrous |
that the local affairs ofOhio should be regu- |
Hated by "a Federal Cougressin which she las |
but two Senators, and the New England |
States, with but a little greater population, |
have twelve; that the tendency of the Fed |
lCral Government Is 20 usurp the reserved
rights OF the States and of the people; aud
that, therefore, II Capitalization of power In
its hands is an ever pending danger That
such an abs lrption ot power would while
it lasted, be destructive of the liberties and
interests of the people, and would end
either In despOtism or destruction Of the
: Uuion; that n National debt, besides inn
;
increase OF the powers Of the Federal Gov
crumcnt 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 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,
aud that therefore, economy Is essential
not only to the prosperity, but also TO 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
e from the many TO the few, and that, there
fore, "Cternal vigilance Is the price of lib
i crty; :" that the tendency of government is
. to enlarge its authority by usurpation, and
: therefore government needs to be watched
q that another of its tendencies Is to govern
G too much-unnecessarily and vcXatiously
Interfering with the business and habits Of
the people; that the freedom of speech and
v OF the press is essential to the existence Of
c liberty: that no person not In the military
L. or naval service, or in the bounds where
martial law legtimately 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 JdctO
n law should be made; that the right of the
Ie people to peaccably assemble and consult
.r upon public affairs Is inViOlahle; that the
Il military should be held in due subjecton
< to the civil power; that while the major
. ty, rs prescribed by the Constitution, have
u the right to govern, the minority have in
pt deCeasible rights; and that frequent re-
currcncc to first principles is essential to
st the welfare of the State and the people.
p 2. ReSolUed That the States lately In re-
bellOn are States in the Union, and have
'u been recognized az such by every depart
al mcnt of the Government, and by Prcsi-
IS dent Lincoln, who, in the midst of the war
10, invited them to clcCtmembers of Congress
~ by President johnson, in various procla
u nations and Official acts; by Congress
which permitted Andrew johnson to sit II
the Senate AS q Senator from Tennessee
and members from Virginia, Tennessee
NJ and Louisiana to sit in the House of Repre-
mr. sentatiycs after these States had seeded
nd and while the war was being carried OH
and which further recognized them n
States in the Union by the Congressional
lla lapportionmcnt act providing for their du
id: REPRESENTATION in Congress; by yariOu
itc tax laws, and especially by the direct tax
ho by the resolutions submitting amendment
to the Constitution for their approval, an,
Eo by various other acts and resolutions i'm
nat parting the same recognition; all of whic
tn were passed since the attempted secessio
IL, of those States, 10y the Judiciary of tn
~ United States. which holds Federal Court
WI in all those States, and especially by tn
st Supreme Court, which entcrtains jurlsdiC
lhc tion of cases coming from them, which
,a,, could not do were they not in the Uniol
w That being thus in the Union, they stan
the on an equal footing with their sister Stat,
npt States with unequal rights being Il thin
unknown to the Constitution; that, by ii
leXpreSs terms of the Constitution, eaC
mao State il entitled to have two Senators and
due proportion of Representatives in Il
III Congress- and to vote in all elections
art President and Vice-president; that, thoul
meet these rights are subject to interruption
'Gn,, a state of civil war, they can not, in time
'"v peace, be suspended, much less destroye
without plain violation of the COnstit
Tree, tion; that Congress has no power to d
.ess- privG a State of its reserved rights, n
A., reduce It to Territorial condition; I'll
'ne' therefore the exclusion, by the social
eX- Congress, of all representation from t
ions States, the proposed exclusion of the
thin States, from all voice in Jhe next Preside
tial election, the threatened overthrow
their State Governments and the reducti
of their States to the condition of terrific
I"Ne les are each and every one of them unco
love Stitutonal, revolutionary and despo
r. of measures, destructive not merely of
i,o rights Of those States, hut also of the rigl
lot those measures are parts ofa plan TO null
nate. the Constitution, virtually overthrow
lita- State Governments, to erect ConsOlldai
oo- despotism on their ruins; and to establ
y w ndperpetuate atyrannical of famin
hcer' ity over majority of the American p'
y be pie. That the people cannot, without
men loss of their liberties, prosperity and hon
,.o submit to such n result; and we, thereto
; WV in the hope that the warning will
needed. and the danger to our situations
D-,,,, pcaceably averted, do solemnly warn
~ n'| ~, advocates Of the plan, that it will
&c OF be submitted to.
the 3. RESOLVED, That Congress is not
oubt omniDotent law-making power. That
y-fue Constitution pr9vlues IllaV no oiil siia,l
re- President unless it he passed by two-thi
10th of each House of Congress. That one
,nty- the objects Of the present so-called G.
iIlcd gress IN excluding States from represen
~, tion, Is to pass bills by two-thirds v
met ,yhich were all the States reDrpsent