The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1867-05-24
STATE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION.
THE PLATFORM ADOPTED
JANUARY sth, Il. d. Isoy.


RESOLUTIONS.
l. ResOiped, That the Democracy ofOhio
lsteadiastly adhere to the principles of the
party as eNpOundcd by the fathers, and ap-
proved by experience; that in accordance
with these principles we declare that the
Federal Government is government Of
Limited powers, and that Ii possesses no
lpowers 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 strict construction OF the Censtitu-
tlon is indispensable 20 the preservation of
the reserved rights Of the states and the
people that 0ll grants of power to Govern
ment whether State or Federal should be
strictly construed, because all such grants
labridge 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 II untitled to
llegislate for or administer the local concerns
of the States that II would be monstrous
that the local affairs OfOhiO should be regu-
lated by a Federal Congress in which she has
but two Senators. and the New England
States, with but al little greater population,
have twelve; that the tendency of the Fed
lcral Government is to uSurp the reserved
rights of the States and of the people and
that. therefore, n Capitalization of power In
its hands Is an ever pending danger. That
such an abs irption OF power would, while
1t lasted, be destructive of the liberties and
interests of the people and would end
either in despOtism or destruction of the
Union; that a National debt, besides i'm
Ipoverishing the people, fosters an undue
increase of the powers of the Federal Gov
ernment; 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, 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 its electors,
and all attempts to impair this right, either
| by Congressional legislation or Constitu-
| tional amendment, are unwise and despot-
| tc; 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 its tendencies is to govern
too much-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 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 e1 post Jdct0
law should be made; that the right of the
people to pcaceably assemble and consult
upon public affairs is inviolable; that the
military should be held in due subjection
to the civil power; that while the major
ity, as prescribed by the Constitution, have
the right to govern, the minority have in
defeasible rights; and that frequent re-
currence to first principles Is essential to
the welfare of the State and the people.
>. Resoired, 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 members of Congress !;
by President johnson, i'm 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-
sentatives 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
apportionment act providing for their due
representation in Congress; by various
tax laws, aud 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
United States, which holds Federal Courts
in all those States, and especially by the
Supreme Court, which entertains iurisdic-
ton of cases coming from them, which it
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 a thing
a unknown to the Constitution; that, by the
u 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
y President and Vice-president; that, though
:, these rights are subject to interruption by
y u state of civil war, they can not, III time OF
q peace, be suspended, much less destroyed
! without plain violation of the Const;tu-
u tion; that Congress has no power to de.
; prive a State of its reserved rights, and
/ reduce it to Territorial condition; that
= therefore the exclusion, by the so-calleC
y Congress, of all representation from tel
"a States the proposed exclusion of those
u States, from all voice in the next Presiden-
q tial election, the threatened overthrow o
IL their State Governments and the reduction
:, OF their States to the condition of territor.
|. les, are each and every one of them uncon-
D. stitutional, revolutionary and despotit
: measures, destructive not merely of tn,
=, rights Of those States, but also of the right
of every other State in the Union. 1ha
q those measures are parts ofa plan to nullify
q the Constitution, virtually overthrow tn,
;, State Governments, to erect consolidated
a despotsm on their ruins and to establish
II and perpetuate tyrannical rule Of minor
q lty over majority of the American peo
u pie. That the people cannot, without
l. loss of their liberties, prosperity and honor
submit to such n result; and we, therefore
Dt i'm the hope that the warning will b.
re needed, and the danger to our situations b,
SO peaccably averted, do soemnly warn til,
le advocates of the plan, that it will, no
a be submitted to.
;" 3. ResOlred, That Congress is not al
Z omnipotent making power. That th,
70 Constitution provides that no bill shall he
4, come a law without the approval of tn,
= President, unless II be passed by two-third
- - of each House of Congress. That one o
NJ the objects of the present sO-called Con