The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1867-04-05
ISATE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION.
THE PLATFORM ADOPTED.
JANUARr Sth, A. ID. 1891.


!. Resoired, That the Democracy orObio
steadiastly adhere 10 the principles of the
party M cXpounded by the fathers, and APP
proved by experience that I'm accordance
with these principles we declare that the
Federal Government Is a government OF
limited powers aud that IL possesses. no
powers but such rs are expressly, or hy
necessary implication delegated 20 II In the
Federal Constitution that all other powers
are reserved 10 the Ntates or the people T;
that q strict construction OF the Constltu-
ton Is 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
abridgc 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 (;
chat the Federal Cover ment Is untitled 10
lcgislatef for or administer the local concerns
Of the states that 10 would be mOnstrous
that the local affairs OfOhio should be regu-
lated by u Federal Cougrcssin which shehas
but two Senators. and the New England
States, with but a little greater population,
have twelve; that the tendency of the Fed
cral Government Is to usurp the reserved
rights of the States and of the people; aud
that. therefore, u Capitalization of pOweriu
its hands Is an ever pending danger, That
! Slltll HU nus lIllANH VI power .MNllit. Mnlle
IL lasted. DC destructive of the liberties and
interests of the people, and would end
either In dcspotism or a destruction Of the
Union that a National debt, besides i'm
povcrishing the people, fosters an undue
increase 9th powers Of the Federal Cow
ernmcnt that high protective tariffs have
% like effect, sacrificing the Interests Of the
many for the emOluments of the few. and
plainly violating the equity and spirit Of
] thn Constitution that fbn Gnl1agfinp aud
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 n plain violation of Justice, of
which no Government can safely be guilty.
That to each State belongs the right to
determine the qualification of It's electors.
and all attempts to impair this right, either
by Congressional legislation or Constitu-
tional amendment, are unwise and despOt-
&c; that the tendency of power is to steal
from the many tn the few, and that, there
fore, 'eternal vigilance is the price of lib
erty - 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 muclI-unnecessarily and vcNatiOusly
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 ~legitimatety 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 &c post fdctO
law should be made; that the right of the
people to peaccably assemble and consult
upon public affairs Is inviolablc; 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
defcasiblc rights and that a frequent re-
currcncc to first principles is essential to
the welfare of the State and the people.
,. Res0iUed. That the States lately In re-
bclliOn 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 TO electmcmbcrs of Congress ;
by President johnson, in various proCla-
nations and official acts; by Congress,
which permitted Andrew johnson to sit in
the Senate rs Il Senator from Tennessee,
and members from Virginia, Tennessee
and Louisiana to sit in the House of Repre-
scntativcs after these States had seeded,
and while the war was being carried on,
and which further recognized them as
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 I;
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
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 bys the
Supreme Court, which entertains jurisdic-
ton of cgsss coming from them, which It
could not do were they not in the Union.
That being thus i'm the Union, they stand
OH an equal footing with their sister States
States with unequal rights being a thing
unknown ia the Constitution that, by the
express terms of the Constitution, each
State is entitled to have two Senators and a
due proportion of Representatives I'm the
Congress, and to vote in all elections OF
President and NiCe-president that. though
these rights are subject to interruption by
4 state of civil war, they can not, in time q
peace, be suspended, much less destroyed
without n plain violation of the COnStitu-
} ton that Congress has no power to de-
: privc a State of its reserved rights, ant
reduce it to Territorial condition; tina
therefore the exclusion, by the so-callel
! Congress, of all representation from ter
'ANANFs WV Ih'lNHAA VI nv
Y States, from all voice in the next Presiden.
tial election, the threatened overthrow q
their State Governments and the reduction
OF their States to the condition of |tcrritor
a les. are each and every one of them uncou.
V stitutional, revolutionary and despoti
measures, destructive not merely of tn
rights6f those States, but also of the right
of every other State in the Union. Tha
those measures are parts ola plan to MULTI
= the Constitution, virtually overthrow th
> state GovcrnnIepts,t to erect h consolidate
= despotism on their ruins; and to establish
II and pcrpetuate atyrannical rule Of minor
ity over a muiority of the American peo
Pile. That the people cannot, without
loss of their liberties, prosperity and honor
submit to such n result; and we, therefore
b in the hope that the warming will b
needed, and the danger to our situations b
peaccably averted, do solemnly warn tn
advocates of the plan, that it will nc
be submittedto to.
le 3. ResolUed, That Congress Is not a
i omnipotent law-making power. That TN
Constitution provides thai no bill shall be
come n law without the approval of tn
&c President, unless it he passedby two-third
ut of each House of Congress. That one G
the objects of the present so-callcd Con
grcss In excluding States from representa-
III -