The free man's press., 1868-09-05
REP PUBLICAN PLATFOR

Chicago, on the goth day of May, 1868, make the
.toUooing declaration Of principles:
/. We congratulate the country on the assured
success of the Reconstruction policy of Congress,
as eyinced by the adopaio in the majority of the
States lately in rebellion of constitutions secur-
ing equal civil and political rights to all, and it is
the duty of the Government to sustain those in
stitutons and to prevent the people of such
States from being remitted to state of anarchy.
2. The guarantee by Congress of equal suf-
frage to all loyal men at the South was demand
ed by every consideration of public safety, of
gratitude and of justice, and must be maintain
ed; while the question of suffrage in all the
loyal States properly belongs to the people of
those States.
3. We denounce all forms of reputation at
national crime and the national honor requires
the payment of the public Indebtedness in the
uttermost good faith to all creditors at home
and abroad not only according to the letter but
the spirit of the laws under which it was con-
tracted.
a. 1t is due to the labor of the nation that tax
alton should be equalized, and reduced as rapid
ly as the national faith will permit
5. 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 be honestly done.
6. That the best policy to diminish our burden
of debt is to so improve credit that capita
lists will seek to loan us money at lower rates of
interest than we now pay, and must continue to
pay so long as reputation, partial or total, open
or covert, is threatened or suspected.
Z. The Government of the United States should
be administered with the strictest economy, and
the corruptions which have been so shamefully
nursed and fostered by Andrew Johnson call
loudly for radical reform.
g. 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; who has warped high legislative and
judicial functions; who has refused to execute
the laws; who has used his high office to induce
other officers to ignore and violate the laws;
who has employed his executive powers to render
insecure the property, the peace, liberty and life
of the citizen; who has abused the pardoning
power: who has denounced the National Legis-
lature as unconstitutional; who has persistently
and corruptly retisted, by every measure in his
power, every proper attempt at the recOnStruc-
tion of the States lately i'll rebellion; who has
perverted the public patronage into an engine
of Wholesale corruption, and who has been Just
~ impeached for high crimes and misdemeanOrs,
and properly pronounced guilty thereof by the
vote of IS Senators.
g. The doctrine of Great Britain and other
European powers, that because man is once
subject he is always so, must be resisted at every
hazard by the United States, as a relic of the
feudal times, not authorized by the law of ma
tiOns, and at war with our national honor and
independence Naturalized citizens are entitled
to be protected in all their rights of citizenship
as though they were native born, and no citizen
of the United States, native or natlra1ized, must
be liable to arrest and Imprisonment by any for
eign 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,
10. Of all who were faithful in the trials of the
late war, there were none entltled to more espe-
cial honor than the brave soldiers and seamen
who endured the hardships of campaign and
cruise and imperiled their lives in the service of
the country; the bounties and pensions provided
by the laws for these brave defenders of the ma
tiOn are obligations never to be forgotten; the
widows and orphans of the gallant dead are the
wards of the people, a sacred legacy bequeathed
to the nations protecting care.
IL. Foreign gration-which in the past has
added so much to the wealth, development and
resources and increase OF power to this nation,
the asylum of the oppressed of all nations
should be fostered and encouraged by liberal
and just policy.
IL. This Convention declares itself in sympa-
thy with all the oppressed people which are
struggling for their rights.
ADDITIONAL RESOLUTIONS.
ResOlred, That we highly commend the spirit
of maenanimity and fOrbearance With which the
men who have served in the rebellion, but now
frankly and honestly cooperate with us in res
toring the country and reconstructing the south
ern State governments upon the basis of impair
tial justice and equal rights, are received back
into the communion of the loyal people; and we
favor the removal of the disqualltlcat1ons and
restrictions imposed upon the late rebels in the
same measure as their spirit of loyalty will
direct, and SO may be consistent with the safety
of the loyal people.
Resolred, That we recognize the great princi-
pies laid down in the immortal Declaration of
Independence as the true foundation of demo-
cratic government, and we hail with gladness
every effort toward making these principles a
living reality on every inch Of American soil.
The Gree Mans Press, " is the only news
paper in the South which has the type set by