The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1868-05-30
PLATFuRM or PRIneIPlEs
o. YHR
National Labor Refsrn Party

We hold these truths 20 be Belf-eytoonk
that all men are crested equal, that they are
endowed BY theiR Creator with certain Ina
enable rights that among them are life,
liberty and the pursuit OF happiness that
to secure these rights governments are In
St.. tied among men, deriving their just pow
ers from the consent Of the governed.
That there are but two pure forms Of gov
eminent, the Autocratic and the Democrakic;
under the former the will Of the individual
sovereign is the supreme law, under the lat
ter the sovereignty is vested In the whole
people, all other forms being q modification
Of the one or the other Of these principles,
and that ultimately one or the other Of
these forms must prevail throughout all
civilized nations, and it 10 now for the Amer
lean people to determine which Of these prin-
ciples shall triumph.
That the design Of the founders Of the Re-
public was to institute q government upon
the principle OF absolute inherent sovereign
" in the people, and that would give TO
each citizen the largest political and religi-
Gus liberty compatible with the good order
of society, and secure to each the right to
enjoy the fruits Of his labor and talents !;
that when laws are enacted destructive Of
these ends, they are without moral binding
force, and it IL the right aud doty Of the
people to alter. amend or abolish them, and
institute such others, founding them upon
the principles Of equity, IN TO them may
seem most likely to effect their prosperity
and happiness.
Prudence will indeed dictate that iwpor-
tant laws long established should NOT be
changed for light and transient causes, and
experience has shown that the American
people are more disposed to suffer while
evils are siderable, than TO change the
forms and laws to which they have been 40
customed. But when Q long train Of legisla-
tive abuses, pursuing invariably the same
object, evinces a design to subvert the spirit
Of freedom and equality upon which our in
situations are founded, and reduce them to
q state Of servitude, it Is their right-it is
their duty to abolish such laws and provide
new guards for their future security. Such
has been the patient suffering Of the wealth
producing clarses Of the United States, and
such is now the necessity which constrains
them to put forth an organized and united
effort for maintaining their natural rights,
which are imperilled by the insidious
schemes and unwarranted aggressions Of
inscriptions bankers and usurers by means
Of unwise and corrupt legislation.
We further hold-That all property or
wealth is the product Of physical or intel
lectual labor, employed in productive indus
try and in the distribution of the produc-
tions Of labor; that laborers ought Of right,
and would, under a just monetary system
receive or retain the larger proportion Of
their productions; that the wrongs, oppres-
sions ana restitution which lsborers are suf
fering in most departments Of legitimate en-
terprise and useful occupation, do not re-
suit from insufficiency Of production but
from the unfair distribution OF the products
Of labor between non-producing capital and
labor.
That money is the medium OF distribution
to non-producing capital and producing
labor, the rate Of interest determining what
proportion Of the products Of labor shall be
awarded to capital for its use, and what to
labor for its productions; that the power TO
make money and regulate its value is an
essential attribute Of sovereignty, the exer-
else Of which is by the Constitution Of the
United States wisely and prop1fly granted to
Congress, aud it is the imperative duty Of
Congress to institute it upon such wise
and Just basis that it shall be directly under
the control Of the sovereign PEOPLE who pro-
duce the value il is designed to represent,
measure and exchange, that it may be a cor
rect and uniform standard &C value, and DIS
tribute the products Of labor equitably bet
ween capital and labor according to the
service or labor performed IN their pro-
duction.
That the law enacting the 50 called Ma
tionai Banking system is 4 delegation by
Congress OF The sovereign power to make
money and regulate its value to class Of
irresponsible banking associations, thereby
giving TO them the power to control the value
Of all the property in the nation, and to fix
the rewards Of labor in every department Of
industry, and is nimical to the spirit of
liberty and subversive Of the principles Of
justice upon which our democratic repub-
lican institutions are founded, and without
warrant in the Constitution (; justice, reason
and sound policy demands its immediate re-
peal and the substitution Of legal.tender
Treasury notes as the exclusive currency Of
the nation.
That this money monopoly is the parent
OF all monopolies-the very root and essence
of slavery-raiiroad, warehouse and all other
monopolies, Of whatever kind or nature, are
the outgrowth of and subservient to this
power, and the means used by 1t to rob
the enterprising, industrial wealth producing
classes Of the products Of their talents and
labor.
That as Government is instituted to pro-
tect lie and secure the rights of property,
each should share its Just and proper pro-
portion Of the burthens and sacrifices ne
cessary for its maintenance and perpetuity,
and that the exemption from taxation Of
bank capital and government bonds, bearing
double and bankrupting rates Of interest, IS
species Of dangerous and unjust class le-
gislation opposed to the spirit Of our insti
buttons, and contrary to the principles OF
sound morality and enlightened reason.
That our monetary, financial aud revenue
laws are in letter and spirit opposed to the
principles Of freedom and equality upon
which our democratic republican institutions
are founded, there is in all their provisions
manifestly o studied design to shield nom
producing capital from its just proportion of
the burthens necessary for the support Of
the Government, impos:ng them mainly on
the industrial producing classes,
thereby condemning them to lives Of I'M
remunerated toll, depriving them Of the or
binary conveniences aud comforts of life
Of the time and means necessary for social
intellectual culture and moral
improvement; and Ultimately reducing them
to a state Of practical serv.tude.
We further hold that while these I'M
righteous laws OF distribution remain in
forcs, laborers cannot, by any system Of
combination CT corporation, secure their
natural rights. That the first and most i'm
portant . towards the establishment Of
the rights of labor, ia the institution of
system Of true corporation between non
producing capital and labor. That to effect
this most desirable object, money, the medi-
I'm Of distribution to capital and labor, must
be instituted upon such wise j lust prin-
cipIe that instead Of being power to cen-
tralize the wealth in the hands of few
bankers, usu-ers, middlemen and non-pro-
ducers generally, it shall be power that
will distribute products to producers in &C
cordance with the labor or service performed
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