Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 186?-1872, 1868-06-05
RADICAL PLATFORM.

The National Republican party of
the United States, assembled in Ma
tional Convention in the city of Chi
cago, on the 10th day of May, 1868,
make the following declaration Of
principles:
First-We congratulate the country
on the assured success of the recon
struction policy of Congress as evinced
by the adoption, i'm the majority of
the States lately i'm rebellion, of con-
stitutions securing equal civil and po-
litical rights to all, and regard 1t as
the duty of the government to sustain
those institutions, and to prevent the
people of such States from being re-
mitted to a state of anarchy.
Second-The guarantee of Congress
of equal suffrage to all loyal men in
the South was demanded by every
consideration of public safety, of graf
itude and justice and must be main
tanned, while the question of suffrage
in all the loyal States properly belongs
to the people of those States. :.
Third-That we denounce all forms
of reputation as national crime and
national honor requires the payment
of public Indebtedness in the utmost
good faith to all creditors at home and
abroad, not only according to the let
ter but the spirit Of the laws under
which it was contracted. x,
Fourth-It is due to the Mboro of the
nation that taxation should be equal
lied and reduced as rapidly as the ma
tional faith will permit.
Fifth-The national debt, contract
ed as it has been, for the preservation
of the Union for all time to come
should be extended over fair period
for redemption; and it is the duty of
Congress to reduce the rate of interest
thereon whenever it can honestly be
done.
Sixth-That the best policy to di.
minish our burden of debt is to so i'm.
prove our credit that capitalists will
seek to loan us money at lower rates
of interest than we now pay and must
continue to pay as long as repudia-
ton, partial or total, open or covert
is threatened or suspected.
Seventh-The government of the
United States should be administered
with the strictest economy-the cor
fully nursed and fostered by Andrew
Johnson call loudly for radical reform
Eigth-We profoundly deplore the
untimely and tragic death of Abra
ham 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, usurped
high legislative and judicial functions
has refused to execute the laws, ha.
used his high office to induce Othe
officers to ignore and violate the laws
has employed his eXecutivepowers t.
render insecure the property, peace
liberty, and life of the citizens; ha
abused the pardoning power; has de
nounced the national legislature a
unconstitutional; has persistently re
sisted by every measure in his powe
every proper attempt at the recon
struction of the States lately in rebel
lion; has perverted the public patron
age into an engine of wholesale cor
ruption and has been justly i'm
peached for high crimes and misde
meanors, and properly pronounce'
guilty thereof by the votes Of thirty
Ave Senators.
Ninth-The doctrine of great Brit
ain and other European powers, tha
because man is once a subject he /
always so, must be resisted at ever,
hazard as a relic of the feudal times
not authorized by the law of nations
and at war with our national homo
and independence. Naturalized citi
zens ought to be protected in all thei
rights of citizenship, as though the.
were native born, and no citizen o
the United States, native or natural
ized, must be liable to arrest and i'm
prisonment by any foreign power 70
acts done or words spoken in thi
country, and If so arrested and i'm
prisoned, it is the duty of the govern
ment to interfere i'm his behalf.
Tenth-Of all who were faithful il
the trials of the late war, there wer
none entitled to more especial homo
than the brave soldiers and seamel
who endured the hardships of tn
campaign and cruise, and imperile'
their lives i'm the service of the coun
try. The bounties and pensions pro
vided by law for those brave defend
ers of the nation are obligations iieve
to be forgotten. The widows and or
phans of the gallant dead are tn
wards of the people, a sacred legac,
bequeathed to the nations protecting
care.
Eleventh-Foreign immigration
which i'm the past has added so mucl
to the wealth, development of re
sources and increase of power to thi
nation, the asylum of the oppressed
Of all nations, should be fostered an,
encouraged by liberal and just pol
icy.
Twelfth-This convention declare
its sympathy with all the oppresse'
people who are struggling for thei
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