The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1867-03-19
STATE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION.
THE PLATFORM ADOPTED.
JANUARY Sth. 4. u. 1Sog.
L

proved by experience; that In accordance
with these principles we declare that the
Federal Government Is u government Of
limited powers, and that Il possesses no
powers but such as are expressly, or by
necessary implication delegated to it in the
Federal Constitution that all other powers
are reserved to the states or the people
that "A strict construction OF the Constltu-
ton Is indispensable 20 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 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;
that the Federal Government Is untitled 60
legislate for or administer the local concerns
Of the States that It would be mOnstrOus
that the local affairs ofOhio should be regu-
lated by a Federal Congressi In which she has
but two senators, and the New England
States, with but n 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, IA Capitalization of power in
its hands Is an ever pending danger. That
such IN abs Irption OF power would. while
It lasted, be destructive of the liberties and
interests Of the people. and would end
either in despotism or Il destruction of the
Union that a National debt, besides i'm
poverishing 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 emoluments 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,
and that, therefore, econom 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
from the many to 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 It's tendencies Is to govern
too much-unnecessarily and v~cXatiously
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
| vi INV III NflNlNfs VI III AllN bpAll'lH NllOlt
martial law legitimately 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 eG post tdcto
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, rs prescribed by the Constitution, have
the right to govern, the minority have in
defeasible rights; and that a frequent re-
currencc to first principles is essential to
the welfare of the State and the people.
,. ResOiUed, That the States lately in re-
bellion are States in the Union, and have
been recognized rs such by every depart
ment of the Government, and by Presi-
dent Lincoln, who, in the midst of the war,
invited them to elect member of Congress
by President johnson, in various procla-
nations and official acts; by Congress,
which permitted Andrew johnson to sit in
the Senate rs n Senator from Tennessee,
. and members from Virginia, Tennessee
/ and Louisiana to sit in the lou of Repre-
sentatives after these States had seeded,
and while the war was being carried on
and which further recognized them a.
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
were passed since the attempted secession
of those States, by the judiciary of the
I United States, which holds Federal Courts
in all those States, and especially by thu
supreme Court, which cntertains jurisdic
= ton of cases coming from them, which /
could not do were they not in the Union
THAT being thus i'm the Union, they stant
on an equal footing with their sister State
e States with unequal rights being n thin,
n unknown to the Constitution that, by tn
express terms of the Constitution, eaCl
State is entitled to have two Senators and
due proportion of Representatives in til
Congress, and to vote in all elections G
President and Vice-president that, thong
= these rights are subject to interruption b
% Il state of civil war. they can not, i'll time
peace, be suspended, much less destroyed
c without II plain violation of the COnstitu
: ton; that Congress has no pOwer to dc
priye IA State of it's reserved lights, an
reduce it to a Territorial condition; thu
therefore the exclusion, by the s~o-calle
Congress, of all representation from t.
States, the proposed exclusion of thos
States, from all voice in the next PresideI
tial election, the threatened overthrow
their State Governments and the reductlC
OF tnelr states 10 Jnc cOllulJlOu OF terrific
les. are each and every one of them uncoI
stitutional, revolutionary and despot
measures, destructive not merely of Il
rights of those States, but also of the RICH
of every other State in the Union. Tn
those measuresare parts ola plan to multi
the Constitution, virtually overthrow Il
State Governments, to erect acOnsOlidatI
despOtism on their ruins; and to establi,
and perpetuate a tyrannical rule of a minO
ity over Il majority of the American pc
pie. That the people cannot, without
loss of their liberties, prosperity and honC
, submit to such II result; and we, therefor
in the hope that the warning will
needed, and the danger to our situations
peaceably averted, do solemuly warn b
advocates of the plan, that it will II
be submitted to.
3. ReSolced, That Congress is not
%omuipotent law-making power. That Il
Constitution provides that no bill shall b
> come II law without the approval of d
President, unless it be passed. by two-thir
of each House of Congress. That one
+. the objects of the present so-called Co
greSs In excluding States from represent
ton, is to pass bills by a two-thirds vo
j. which, were all the States represente
le could not so pass; and thus to virtual
abolish the constitutional provision afor