The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1867-03-27
STATE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION.
THE PLATFORM ADOPTED,
J4NUARY Sth, 4. d. Iso7.


proved by experience that In accordance
with these principles we declare that the
Federal Government Is a government OF
limited powers, and that &c possesses no
powers but such as are expressly, or by
necessary implication delegated to Il IN the
Federal Constitution that allother powers
are reserved To the states or the people ;
that u strict construction of the Coustitu-
ton IA Indispensable to the preservation of
the reserved rights of the states and the
people that all grants of power To- Govern
meut. 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 H.
necessary to the preservation Of the Union;
that the Federal Government Is untitled to
lcgislate for or administer the local concerns
Of the States that 1t would be mOustrOus
that the local affairs ofuhio should he regu-
latcdby u Federal CuugrcSsiu which shohas
but two Senators, and the New England
States, with but y little greater population,
hayctwclve; that the tendrucy of the Fed
cral Government Is To uSurp the reserved
rights otthe States and Of the people; aud
that, therefore, a Capitalization OF power In
its hands Is an ever pending danger. That
such an abs lrpiiou oi power would, while
II lasted, hc destructive vt the liberties and
interests Of the people, and would cud
either in despotism OF a destruction OF the
Union that a National debt, besides jm-
poveriShiug 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 cmolumcutS OF the few, and
plainly violating the equity and spirit Of
the Constitution that the collection and
disbursement OF enormous revenues hy the
Federal Government have the same ten
dency, beside corrupting the Government,
and that therefore, economy j. essential
not only 20 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 ail attempts to impair this right, either
by Congressional legislation or COustitu-
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 u|snrpation. and
therefore government needs TO be watched;
that another of its tendencies Is to govern
too much-mnecessarily and vcNatisusly
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 i'm the military
or naval service, or in the bounds where
martial law legitimatcly 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 cr past fqct0
law should be made; that the right of the
people to peaccably assemble and consult
upon public affairs is iuviolable; 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
defcasible rights; and that n frequent re-
currenCe to first principles is essential to
the welfare of the State and the people.
,. 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, aud by Presi-
dent Lincoln. who, in the midst of the war.
invited them to electmembers of Congress /;
by President johnson, in various procla-
nations aud official acts; by Congress,
which permitted Andrew johnson to sit in
the Senate rs II Senator from Tennessee,
and members from Virginia, Tennessee
and Louisiana to sit in the House of Repre-
scntatives 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
a"pportionment act providing for their due
| lNIlNN'lillblbh III NbllElNEN , Nv AIIlDlN.
tax laws, and especially by the direct tax 1:
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-
| tinn nf ppgnE canning from fhau, trlf,l IL
could not do were they not in the Union.
That being thus in the Union, they stand
on an equal footing with their sister States
States with unequal rights being II 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 can not, in time of
peace, be suspended, much less DESTROYED,
without Il plain violation of the Constitu-
ton that Congress has no power to de-
prive Il 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 tel
States, the proposed exclusion of thost
States, from all voice in the neXt Presiden-
tial election, the threatened overthrow o
their State Governments and the reduction
OF their States to the condition of t%erritor.
les, are each and every one of them uncon.
stitutional, revolutionary and dcspoti,
measures, destructive not merely of tn,
rights of those States, but also of the right
of every other State in the Union. Tina
those measures are parts Ola plan to nullify
the Constitution, virtually overthrow til
State Governments, TO erect a consolidatet
despOtism on their ruins; and to establish
) and perpetuate n tyrannical rule of minor
4 ity over a majority of the American PEG
Pile. That the people cannot, without
loss of their liberties, prosperity and honor
u submit to such Il result; and we, therefore
in the hope that the warning will b
needed, and the danger to our situations b
peaCeably ayerted, do solemnly warn TIA
advocates of the plan, that il will no
be submitted to.
3. Resoiued, That Congress is not a
Omnipotcnt law-making power. That th
Constitution provides that mt bill shall be
come Il law without the approval of tn
President, unless it be passed by two-third
y of each House of Congress. That one q
. the objects of the present so-callcd Con
n greSS in excluding States from representa-
ton, Is to pass bills by Il two-thirds vot
which, were all the States represented
could not so pass and thus TO virtual
n abolish the constitutional provision afore
4 said. That il this nracn1ant ha ornuing,,,