The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1867-06-21
.STAPI DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION.
The ePLATFoRM ADOPTED
JANUARY sth, 4. D. 1seh.


steadfastly adhere TO the principles of the |
| party rs aseXpounded by the fathers, and APP
proved by experience; that in accordance
with these principles we declare that the
Federal Government Is government Of
limited powers, and that it possesses no
powers but such as are expressly, or by
necessary implication delegated To- Il In the
\ Federal Constitution that all other powers
are reserved TO the .,tates or the people
that strict construction of the Csnstltu-
tion is indispensable to the preservation Of
the reserved rights Of the states and the
people that all grants of fpower 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 aud 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
llegislate for or administer the local concerns
of the States that IL would be monstrous
that the local affairs of Ohio should be regu-
lated by Federal Congressin which she has
but two Senators, and the New England
States, with but a little greater population,
have twelve that the tendency Of the Fed
eral Government Is to usurp the reserved
rights 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 ,rption OF power would, while
it lasted, be destructive of the liberties and
INllhNANoho VI NiAt BNbRANf aAAA hOhAN Gnu
either in despotism or destruction of the
Union that National debt, besides i'm
pOveTshing the people, fosters an undue
increase.oi 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 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 its tendencies is to govern
+ too omuch--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 Jdcto
: 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, as prescribed by the Constitution, have
, the right to govern, the minority have in
defeasible rights; and that a frequent re-
currence to first principles is essential to
the welfare of the State and the people
2. ResOlUed, That the States lately In re-
belion are States in the Union, and have
h 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 electmembers Of Congress
j by President johnson, in various procla-
: nations and official acts; by Congress,
which permitted Andrew johnson to sit in
u the Senate as a Senator from Tennessee,
8 aud members from Virginia, Tennessee
r. and Louisiana to sit in the House of Repre-
: sentatives after these States had seeded,
. and while the war was being carried on,
I and which further recognized them as
: States in the Union by the Congressional
apportionment act providing for their due
n 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
q by various other acts and resolutions inn
n parting the same recognition all of which
- were passed since the attempted secession
of those States, by the judiciary of the
5, United States which holds Federal Courts
O. in all those States, and especially by the
= Supreme Court, which entertains jursdic
ton of cases coming from them, which i
lie could not do were they not in the Union
he That being thus in the Union, they stanC
10 on an equal footing with their sister State
% States with unequal rights being thin
unknown to the Constitution that, by tn
or express terms of the Constitution, eacl
IL State is entitled to have two Senators and
ne due proportion of Representatives in tn
Congress, ana to vote In all elections @
President and Vice president; that, thoug
to these rights are subject to interruption b
MS state of civil war they can not, in time
to peace, be suspended, much less destroyed
Il without plain violation of the Coustitu
Vi ton; that Congress has no power to dc
Ut, prlve a State of Its reserved rights, an
as reduce it to Territorial condition; this
ad therefore the exclusion, by the so-calle
:, Congress, of all representation from te
VI States, the proposed exclusion of thoS
States from all voice in the next Presider
tial election, the threatened overthrow
Is their State Governments and the reductio
{ n OF their States to the condition of terrific
"a les, are each and every one of them uncoI
-eu sttutional, revolutionary and dcspot
lte measures, destructive not merely OF Il
Yo- rights of those States, but also of the Ugh
,ep Of every other State in the Union. Tn
90 those measures are parts of plan TO nulli
VI" the Constitution, virtually overthrow Il
nal State Governments, to erect a acOnsolidat,
an despotism on their ruins; and to establii
abe and perpetuate a tyrannical rule of mino
-, lty over a majority of the American pc
hn- pie That the people cannot without
loss of their liberties, prosperity and hone
submit to such n result; and we, therefor
OF In the hope that the warning will
ss- needed, and the danger to our situations
TO peaceably aveTted, do solcmnly warn h
gad advocates of the plan, that IL will II
e. be submitted to.
lhe s. ResolUed, That Congress Is not
ern omnipOtent w-making power. That h
ur- Constitution provides that no bill shall b
come a law without the approval of d
President. unless it be passed by o-thir
ma. of each House of Congress- That one
II, the objects of the present so-called Co
MS groSs In excluding States from represent
Six ton, Is TO pass bills by a two-thlrds vc
200 which, were all the States represente
nav. could not so pass and thus TO virtual