The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1867-06-26
S7ARE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION.
The PLATFORM ADOPTED
JANU1RT Sth, a. ID. 1867.

proven DY experience lhOLin NCcOfuunCe
with these principles We declare that the
limited powers. and that IL possesses no
powers but such as are expressly. or by
necessary implication delegated to IL i'm the
| Federal Constitution; that all other powers
are reserved Ia the -tates or the people;
! that strict construction OF the Censtitu-
ton is Indispensable To the preservation of
the reserved rights OF the states and the
people; that all grants ofpower to Govern
Imeut. 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 OF
the States aud the rights of the people Is
necessary TO the preservation OF the Union
that the Federal Government is untitled To-
| lcgislatc for or administer the local concerns
of the States that II would be munstrous
that the local affairs OfOhiu should be regu-
/ lated by Il Federal COugrcssi in which she has
but two senators, and the New England
States, with but little greater population,
have twelve that the tendency of the Fed
eral Government is to uSurp the reserved
rights of the States aud of the people and
| that. therefore, n Capitalization of power In
Its hands is an ever pending danger. That
such an abs 'rption OF power would. while
It lasted, be destructive of the liberties and
interests of the people, and would end
either in dcspOtism or destruction of the
Union that National debt, besides i'm
poycrshiug the people, fosters an undue
| Increase of the powers of the Federal Gov
ernmcnt; that high protective tariffs have
Il like effect, sacrificing the interests of the
many for the emouments of the few. and
| plainly violating the equity and spirit of
the Constitutions; that the collection and
disbursement of enormous revenues by the
| Federal Government have the same ten
dcnCy, beside COrruptiug 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 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 unwise and despOt-
ic; that the tendency of power is to steal
from the many to the few, and that, there
fore, "etcrnal 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 omuch--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 lrgitmatcly 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 most JdctO
law should be made; that the right of the
people to peaceably assemble and consult
, upon public affairs is hviolable; that the
military should be held in due subjectiOn
to the civil power; that while the major
ity, rs prescribed by the Constitution, have
the right To govern, the minority have in
I 4 ~.
I currence to first principles is essential to
the welfare of the State and the people.
> >. ReSOired. That the States lately in re-
bellon are States In the Union, and have
been recognized rs such by every depart
e ment of the Government, and by Presi-
dent Lincoln. who, in the midst of the war,
invited them to electmemDeTs of Congress
by President Johnson, IN various procla-
nations and official acts; by Congress
e which permitted Andrew Johnson to sit in
the Senate rs a senator from Tennessee
y and members from Virginia, Tennessee
u 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
apportionmcnt act providing for their due
- representation In Congress; by various
tax laws, and especially by the direct tax
/ by the resolutions submitting amendments
G to the Constitution for their approval, and
by various other acts and resolutions i'm
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 Court,
in all those States and especially by the
Supreme Court. which cntcrtains iurisdic
Z tion of cases coming from them, which i
= could not do were they not in the Union
I That being thus in the Union, they StanC
on an equal footing with their sister State
States with unequal rights being thin!
Il unknown to the Constitution; that. by tn,
d express terms of the Constitution, cacl
~ State is entitled to have two Senators and
:. due proportion of Representatives in TIL
II Congress, ana to vote in all elections o
II President and Vice president; that. though
d these rights are subject to interruption b,
!, Il state of civil war, they can not, In time u
" peace, be suspended, much less destroyed
without plain violation of the Constitu
ton; that Congress has no power to de
z prive n State of its reserved rights, an
TO reduce it to Territorial condition; tina
.g therefore the exclusion, by the sO-callc
e Congress, of all representation from te
III States, the proposed exclusion of thOs
ut States, from all voice in the next PrcSidcn
Is tal election, the threatened overthrow
,o their State Governments and the rcductio
~ OF their States to the condition of terrtol
+ les. are each and every one of them lmcou
IN stitutional, revolutionary and dcspot
IN measures. destructive not merely OF III
Lo rights of those States, but also of the righ
" of every other State in the Union. Tn;
nc those measures are parts Ofa plan to MULTI
n the Constitution, virtually overthrow Il
,t State Governments, to erect II consolidate
despOtism on their ruins; and to cstablis
and perpetuate a tyrannical rule Of mino
!, ity over ma jOrity of the American pee
W pie. That the people cannot, without
er loss of their liberties, prosperity and homo