The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1868-05-30
Platform of the Radical Party.

Below we print the platform adopted by
the radicals at Chicago last week, on which
Gen. Grant and Schuyler Colfax expect to
ride into the White House. The twelfth
article contains the hughest fb of the
season
The National Repabiican party of the
United States, assembled in National Con-
vention in the city of Chicago, on the 2te'th
day of May, 1868. make the following
declaration of principles:
First-We Congratulate the country on
the assured success of the reconstruction
policy of Congress as evinced by the adop-
ton, IN the majority of the States lately in
rebellion, of constitutions securing equal
civil and political rights to all, and regard It
as the duty of the government to sustain
those Institutions, and to prevent the people
of such States from being RENTED 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 gratitude and justice, and
must be maintained, while the question of
suffrage in all the loyal States properly be-
longs to the people of those States.
Third-That we denouDce all forms of
reputation as a national crime, and na~
tiOnal honor requires the payment of public
indebtedness in the utmost good faith to all
creditors at home and abroad, not only ac
cording to the letter but the spirit of the
laws under which it was contracted.
FOurth-It is due to the labor of the ma
tion that taxation should be equalized and
reduced as rapidly as the national faith viii
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 fair period for redemption and it is
the duty of Congress to reduce the rate Of
interest thereon whenever it can honestly
be done
Sizth-That the best policy TO diminish
our burden of debt is to so improve our
credit that capitalists viii seek to loan US
money at lower rates Of interest than we
now pay and must continue to pay as long
as repudiation, partial or total, open or
covert, Is threatened or suspected.
SeVenth-The government Of the United
States should be administered with the
strictest e3onomy-the corraptious which
have been so shamefully nurac l13 fostered
by Andrew johnson call loue for radical
reform.
Eighth-We profoundly depIore the un-
timely and tragic death of Abraham Lin
coin, and regret the accession OF Andrew
johnson to the Presidency, who has acted
treaeherously to the people who elected
him, and the cause he was pledged to sup
port, usurped high Legislative and judicial
functions, has refused to execute the laws,
has used his high Office to induce other Off
GERS to ignore and violate the laws, has en-
ployed his executive powers to render in
secure the property, peace, liberty, and life
of the citizens; has abused the pardoning
power; has denounced the legislature as
unconstitutional has persistently 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 cor
ruptiOn; and has been justly impeached for
high crimes and misdemeanors, and properly
pronounced guilty thereof by the votes of
thiFty-fiYe Senators.
Ninth-The doctrine of Great Britain
and other European powers, that because a
man is once a subject he is always so, must
be resisted at every hazard as relic of the
feudal times, not authorized by the law Of
nations, and at war with our national honor
and independence. Naturalized citizens
ought to be protected in all their rights Of
citizenship, as though they were native born,
and no citizen of the United States, native
or naturalized, must be liable 60 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 government to interfere in his behalf
Tenth-Of ali who were faithful in the
trials of the late war there were none en-
titled to more especial honor than the brave
soldiers and seamen who endured the hard
ships Of the campaign and cruise, and i'm
perrilled their lives in the service of the
/ country. The bounties and pensions pro-
| Yided by law for those 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 nation E
| protecting care.
! Eleventh-Foreign immigration, which in
/ the past has added so much TO the wealth,
! development of resources and increase o.
/ power to this nation, the a8Yl0fn of the op
! pressed of all nations, should be fosterec
and encouraged by liberal and just policy
] Twelfth-This convention declares It's
| sympathy with all the oppressed people who
arc struggling for their rights.