Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1868-05-27
National Republican Plat.
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10TH.
The National Republican party Of
the United States, assembled in Nation
al Convention in the city of Chicago,
on the Goth day of May, 1868, make
the following declaration of principles:
First We congratulate the country on
the assured success of the reconstruc-
ton policy of Congress. IS evinced by
the adoption in a majority of the States
lately in rebellion of constitutions
securing equal, civil and political rights
to all, and regard it as a duty of the
Government TO sustain these institu-
tions and TO prevent the people ofsuch
States from being RENTED to a state
of anarchy.
Second. The guarantee by Congress
of equal suffrage to all loyal men at
the South was demanded by every
consideration of public safety, of graft
tude and of justice, and must be
maintained while the question of
suffrage in all the loyal States properly
belongs to the people of these states.
Third. We denounce all forms of re-
pudiation as a National crime,
and National honor requires
the payment of the public
Indebtedness in the utmost good faith
to sill creditors at home and abroad,
not only according to the letter but
the spirit of the laws under which it
was contracted.
Fourth. 1t is due to the labor of the
nation that taxation should be equal
lied and reduced as rapidly as the
National faith will permit.
Fifth. The national debt, contracted
as it has been for the preservation of
the Union, for all time to come, should
be extended over a fair period for re-
demption, and it is the duty of Con-
gress TO reduce the rate of interest
thereon whenever it can honestly be
done.
Sixth. That best policy to diminish
our burden of debt is to 50 improve
u credit that capitol will seek to
loan money at lower rates of interest
than we o pay and must continue
to pay so long as reputation, partial
or total, open or covert, is threatened
or suspected.
Seventh. The Government of the
United States should be administered
with the strictest economy, and the
corruptions which have been so shame
fully nursed and fostered by Andrew
johnson call loudly for radical reform.
Eight. We profoundly deplore the
untimely and tragic death of Abraham
Lincoln, and regret the accession Of
Andrew johnson to the Presidency,
who has acted treacherously to the
people who elected him and the cause
he was pledged to support: has usurped
high legislative and Sudical functions:
has refused to execute the laws /; has
used his high Office to induce other Off
GERS to ignore and violate the laws:
has employed his executive powers to
render insecure the property, peace
liberty and life of the citizen: has
abused the p%ardoning paWer, has de-
nounCed the National Legislature as
unconstitutional: has persistently and
corruptly resisted by every measure in
his power every proper attempt at the
reconstruction of the States lately in
rebellion ; has perverted the public
patronage into an engine of wholesale
corruption, and has been Justly i'm
peached fer high crimes and INSIDE
meanors, and properly pronounced
guilty thereof by the vote of thirty five
Senators.
Ninth. The doctrine of Great Britain
and other European powers that because
q man is once q subject he is always so,
must De resisted at every hazard by
the United States as a relic of the
feudsl times, not authorized by the
law of nations, and at war with our
national honor and independence,
n aturalized citizens are entitled to be
protected in all their rights of citizen
ship, a though they were native born,
and no citizen of the United States,
native or naturslized, must be liable to
arrest and Imprisonment by any foreign
power for acts done or words spoken
in this country, and if so arrested and
imprisoned it is the duty of the Gov
eminent to interfere in his behalf.
Tenth. OF all who were faithful in
the trials of the late war there were
none entitled to more especial honor
than the brave soldiers and seamen
who endured the hsrdships of cam
paign and cruise, and imperilled their
lives in the service of the country.
The bouuties and pensions provided
by law for these brave defenders of the
nation are obligations never to be for
gotten. The widows and orphans of
the gallant dead are the wards of the
people, a sacred legacy ~bequeathed to
the nations protecting care.
Eleventh. Foreign emigration, which
in the past has added so much to the
wealth, development of resources and
increase of power to this nation, the
asylum Of the oppressed of all nations,
should be fostered and encouraged by
a liberal and just policy.
Twelfth. This convention declares
its sympathy with all the oppressed
people which are struggling for their
rights.
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