The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1867-05-29
STATE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION.
THE PLATFORM ADOPTED.
JANUARY sth. 4. D. rsor.a


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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 To- IL In the
Federal constitution That all other powers
are reserved TO the states or the people
I that a 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 ofmen 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
/ lcgislate for or administer the local concerns
of tue states that II would be monstrous
that the local affairs Of Ohio should be regu-
| lated by Federal Congress In 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 10 usurp the reserved
rights OF the states and of the people aud
| that, thefeiOre, "A Capitalization of power in
its hands Is an ever pending danger. That
such an abs lrptiOn 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
! Ipoverlshing 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 cmOluments 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 Governments
and that therefore, economy Is essential
not only to the prosperity, but also to the
| liberties of the people; that unequal tax
alton is 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
ertyi' that the tendency of governments
to enlarge its authority by usurpation, and
therefore government needs to be watched
that another of its tendencies is to govern
too much-unuecessarily and yeXatiously
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 legitlmately 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
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, as prescribed by the Constitution, have
the right TO govern the minority have in
deteasible 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 in re-
bellion are States in the Union, and have
| been recognized as such by every depart
ment of the Government, and by Presi-
dent Lincoln, who, in the midst of the war;
invited them 10 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 Senator from Tennessee,
| and members 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 us
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 i'm
parting the same recognition all of which
We're passed since the attempted secession
of those States, by the Judiciary of the
United States, which holds Federal Courts
in all those States, aud especially by the
Supreme Court, which entertains iursdic-
tiOn of cases coming from them, which It
could not do were they not in the Union.
That being thus in the Union, they stand
al rxNFftl
States with unequal rights being a thing
unknown to the Constitution; that, by the
express terms of the Constitution, each
State is entitled TO have two Senators and a
due proportion of Representatives in the
Congress, and TO vote in all elections of
: President and Vice-president; that, though
these rights are subject to interruption by
"A state of civil war, they mot, in time of
peace, be suspended, much less destroyed,
without a plain violation of the Coustitu-
ton; that Congress has no power to de-
prive State of its reserved rights, and
reduce it to a Territorial condition; that
: therefore the exclusion, by the so-called d
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 uneon-
. Iotllublphsbi uilu NtSiOllC
g measures, destructive not merely OF the
y rights of those States, but also of the rights
! of every other State In the Union. That
! those measures are parts ofa plan to nullify
! the Constitution, virtually overthrow the
! State Governments, to erect consolidated
despotism on their ruins; and TO establish
y aud perpetuate "A tyrannical rule of minor
: ity over majority of the American peo.
0 pie. That the people cannot without a
. loss of their liberties, prosperity and honor
: submit to such result; and we, therefore
I in the hope that the warning will be
: needed, and the danger to our situations De
! peaceably averted, do solemnly warn the
i advocates of the plan, that it will moi
: be submitted to.
, 8. ReSoiued, That Congress is not an
i omnipotent law-making power. That tn,
: Constitution provides that no bill shall be-
- come a law without the approval of the
= President, unless 1t be passed by two-thirds
of each House of Congress. That one OF
!, the objects of the present so-called Con-
gTcSs In excluding States from representa-
ton, is to pass bills by n two-thirds vote
! x.Itn al al hn 4