The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1867-05-02
STATE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION.
THE PLATFORM ADOPTED.


Wliil lncse principles we declare tlat the
Federal Government is u government Of
powers but such as are expressly, or by
necessary Implication delegated to IL I'm the
Federal Constitution that allOthCr powers
are reserved TO the states or the people
that a strict construction of the Censtitu-
tiou 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
abridgo 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 to
legislatc for or administer the local concerns
Of the States that 1t would be monstrous
that the local affairs ofOhio should be regu-
lated by q Federal COngrCSsin which she has
but two Senators, and the New England
States, with but % little greater population,
havetwelye that the tendency OF the Fed
cral Government is TO usurp the reserved
rights of the States and of the people; and
that, therefore, a Capitalization of power in
its hands Is an ever pending danger. That
such an abs lrption OF power would. while
it lasted. be destructive of the liberties and
interests of the people, and would end
either in despotism or "A destruction Of the
lUuion; that a National debt. besides i'm
! DONtIleullR lllt people lpNbtIN an Nlilut
increase Of the powers of the Federal Gov
ernmcnt that high protective tariffs have
a like effect, sacrificing the Interests of the
many for the emOlumcnts 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 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 dCspOt-
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 It's 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 lcgitimately 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 (dcto
law should be madeS that the right of the
people to peaceably assemble and consult
upon public affairs is iuYiOlable that the
. military should be held in due subsection
l to the civil power; that while the major
ity, as prescribed by the Constitution, have
the right to govern, the minority have in
e defeasible rights; and that IA frequent re-
c%urrence to first principles Is essential to
the welfare of the State and the people.
Z ,. HeSOlged, That the States lately in re-
bellion are States in the Union, and have
q been recognized az II by every depart
= ment of the Government, and by Presi-
dent Lincoln, who, in the midst of the war
n invited them to el~ectmembeTs of Congress
by President johnson, in various prOcla'
nations and official acts; by Congress
which permitted Andrew johnson to sit il
the Senate as "A Senator from Tennessee
and members from Virginia, Tennesset
and Louisiana to sit in the House of Repre-
l. Sentatiyes 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 du,
N representation in Congress; by variOu
,e tax laws, and especially by the direct tax
N by the resolutions submitting amendment
i. to the Constitution for their approval, ant
is by various other acts and resolutions i'm
l. parting the same recognition all of whicl
l. were passed since the attempted secession
RS of those States, by the Judiciary of tn
i United States, which holds Federal Court
id in all those States, and especially by tn
Supreme Court, which entertains iurisdiC
ton of cases coming from them, which
al could not do were they not in the Unior
s. That being thus in the Union, they stan
1t. on an equal footing with their sister State
Gt,t,s mil, ,,nnptto1 riubts haipp n Thin
mt unknown TO the Constitution; that, by til
IS express terms of the Constitution, eac
n State is entitled to have two Senators and
ii due proportion of Representatives in III
tie. Congress, and to vote in all elections
'ss President aud Nice-president that, thong
nd these rights are subject to interruption b
We Il state of civil war, they can not, in time
no peace, be suspended, much less destroye,
without a plain violation of the Constitl
SIS ton that Congress has no power to d.
ed priyc Il State of its reserved rights, an
reduce il to n Territorial condition; tn
ed therefore the exclusion, by the sO-callc
ID Congress, of all representation from L
States, the proposed exclusion of tho
!, Il States, from all voice in the next PrcsideI
ch, tial election, the threatened overthrow
ties their State Governments and the reducti(
til OF their States TO the condition of terrific
he les. are each and every one of them uncol
es- stitutiOnal, revolutionary aud despot
M measures. destructive HoJ HltItlN VI u
be rights of those States, but also of the RICH
nat of every other State in the Union. Til
of those measures are parts Ola plan TO multi
hts the Constitution, virtually overthrow Il
cir State Governments, to erect aconsolidat'
~despotism on their ruins; and TO establi
udperpetuate a tyrannical rule ofaminO
ity over a majority of the American pc
'no pie. That the people cannot, without
APPS loss of their liberties, prosperity and hone
her submit to such II result; and we, therefor
NV in the hope that the warning will
needed, and the danger to our situations
peaceably averted, do solemnly warn t
advocates of the plan, that it will Il
be submitted to.
8. ResOlUed, That Congress is not
4th omnipotent ~hw-making power. That t
Constitution provides that ne bill shall |
come a law without the approval of {
the President, unless It be passed by two-thil
lch, of each House of Congress. That one
ID the objects of the present so-called &C
gress in excluding States from represent
= ~ ton, is to pass bills by a two-thirds v,
rty. which, were all the States represent
de- could not so pass and thus to virtua
abolish the constitutional provision afo
said. That If this precedent be acquiesC