The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1876-07-26
PL n TT O II Nj
ADOPTED BY
The DEHOCRiTIG CONSERVATIVE CONVENTION.
JUNE , 8,I896

the Z niteI States, IN national convention a
sembled, DO hereby declare the admin tlo
of the Federal government 10 be IN grei
II ed of immediate reform, and DO hereby eI
! Join upon the nominees of this convention an
! . the .'e.gocratie party IN each state zea
| GUS effort nd cooperation TO this end, anu q
here appeal to our Eel w-citIzens OF ever
| former official connection to undertake wit
| as this first and m st pressing patriotic dui.
Far the Democr cy of The whole country "
do - lrm our faith IN the permanene
| of the Federal Union; our -vot.on t. tn
| Constitution of the United States. with II
amendments. universally accepted as a ms
settlement of the controversies that engendel
ed the civ / war, and do here rec 1rd our stead
ia confidence IN the perpetuity Of republic 4
| self-governmeEt; in absolute acquieseence !
| the will of the majority-the vital prlnclpl
| Of republics in the supremacy of the eIyi
| over the military; in the total separation Q
Church and State. for the sake alike OF CIV
AMI rel gioas II etom IN the equality OF ~
| citizens before st laws of their own enact
| ment in the liberty OF individual conduct
unvexed by sumotuary laws; in the faithfn
| education of the rising generation, tha
| they may preserve. enjoy and transmit thes
| best conditions of human happ ness and hope
/ we behold the notlest products OF a hundred
years Of changeful history
But while upholding the bond of our Union
and the great charter of these our rights, II
| behooves free people TO practice also that
eternal vigilance which is tie price of liberty
Reftirm is necessary to rebuild and eSta Dill h
in the hearts of he whole people the MON,
eleven years ago happily rescued from the
danger of secession OF States, but now TO be
saved from corrupt centrallsm, which after
iRfcting upon ten States the rapacity of car
pet-bag attorneys, has honey combed the offices
Of the Federal government itself with Incapael-
ty, waste and fraud, infected States and mu-
inequalities with the contagion of misrule, and
locked fast the prosperity of an industrious
people in the paralysis of hard times. Reform
is necessary to establish sound currency,
restore the public credit and maint the ma
tional honor.
We denounce the failure for all these eleven
years to make good the promise of the legal
tender notes which are changing standard of
value in the hands of the people. and the nom
payment of which is disregard of the plight
ed faith of the nation.
We denounce the mp evidence which in
eleven years of peace has taken from the peo-
pie in Federal taxes, thirteen times the whole
amount of the legal tender notes. and squan-
dered four times their sum in useless expense,
without accommodating any reserve for their
re lemption.
immortality of that party which, during eleven
years of peace has made advance to-
ward resumption, made no preparation for
resumption; but instead has Instructed re
sumption by wasting resources and ex-
hausting all our surplus income-and, while
annually protesting to intend a speedy return
to specie payments, has annually enacted
fresh hindrances thereto As such him
the act of 1915, and we here demand its re-
peal.
We demand judicious system of prepare
ton. by public economies, by official retrench-
ments, and by wise finance, which shall eHa-
BILE the nation soon to assure the whole world
of its perfect ability and its perfect readiness
to meet any of its promises at the call of the
creditor entitled payment. We believe
such a system, well advised and, above all, in
to competent hands tor execution,
creating at no time an artificial scarcity OF
and at no time alarming the public
mind into a withdrawal of that vast ma
chinery of credit by which ninety-fve per
cent. of our business transactions is perform
ed-a system, open and public, and 1nspi-
ring general confidence, would, from the day
Of its adoption, bring healing on its wings to
all our harassed industries, set in motion the
wheels of commerce, manufactures and the
arts, restore employment to 10 Dor,
and renew in all its sources the prosperity
of the people.
Reform is necessary in the sum and mode
Of Federal tn Ration, to the end that capital
nav be set free from distrust and labor light
lv burdened. We denounce the present tariff
levied upon nearly four thousand articles as
of injustice, inequality and false
Dretense, which Yields dwindling, not yearly
rising revenue; it has impoverished many in
lustries to substitute few; it prohibits i'm
ports that might purchase the products of
American labor; 1t has degraded American
from the first to an inferior rank
upon the high seas; it has cut down the walls
Of American ma ufactures at home and abroad
il has depleted the returns of American
lgriculture-an Industry followed by half our
people; it costs the people five times more than
il produces to the treasury 1t obstructs the pro-
,ess of production and wastes the fruits OF Ia
Dor it promotes fraud, fosters smuggling,
enriches dishonest officials and bankrupts
honest merchants. We demand that all Gus
tom house taxation shall be only for revenue.
Reform is necessary in the scale of public
axpense-Fe Federal State and Municipal. Our
federal taxation has swollen from sixty mil
lion collars in gold in 1860 to four hundred |
and fifty million dollars in currency in 1870,
our aggregate taxation from one hundred and
ffty-four millions in gold in 1869 to seven
hundred and thirty million dollars in ourren-
cy in 1870, or in one decade from less than five
dollars per head to more than eighteen dol
lars per head. Since the peace the people have
paid to their tax-gatherers more than thrice
the sum of the national debt, and more than
twice that sum for the Federal government
alone. We demand a rigorous frugallty In
every department and from every officer of
the government.
Reform is necessary to put a stop to the
proigate waste Of PUBLIC lands and their d.
\ ersion from actual settlers by the party in
power which has squandered two hundred mil
lions of acres upon railroads alone, and
out of more than thrice that aggregate has
disposed of less than sixth directly to the TIL
lers of the soil.
Reform is necessary to correct the omissions
OF a heDuDliCau congress anu tue eEIOIs VI
our treaties and our diplomacy, which have
stripped our fellow-citizens of foreign birth
apd kindred race, re-erasing the Atlantic
frem the shield Of American citizenship, and
have exposed our brethren Of the Pacific
coast to the incursious of race not sprung
from the same great parent stock, and, in fact,
now by law denied citizenship through natu-
ra!izatiou, as being unaccustomed to the
traditions of a progressive civilization, and
in liberty under equal laws
We denounce the policy which thus discards
the liberty-loying German and tolerates the
revival OF the Coolie trade in Monaghan wo-
men imported for immoral purposes and Mon
gillian men held to perform servile labor con-
tracts. We therefore, demand such modi-
hcations of the treaty with the Chinese en-
pire, and such legislation by Congress, within
limitation, as shall prevent the
further importation or immigration of the
Mongolian race.
Reform is necessary and can never be effect
ed but by making it the controlling issue of
the election, and lifting it above the two false
issues with which the ofice-holding class and
party in power seek to smother it-lst. the false
issues with which they would enkindle seeta-
rian strife in respect to the public schools, of
which the establishment and support belong
exclusively to the several states, and which
the Democratic party has cherished from their
foundation and is resolved 20 maintain with
ont partiality or preference for any class,
sex or cree4, ana without cynrllHlens
from the treasury To any 81. The false issue
by which they seek to light anew the dying em=
bers of sectional hate between kindred peoples,
once unnaturally estranged, but now reunited
in one indivisible republic and common des-
tiny.
Reform is necessary in the civil service.
Experience proves that an efficient and
economical conduct of the government is not
possible II It's civil ser s,~c Je subject to change
at every election-if it be prize fought for
at the ballot-box-or if it be approved re-
ward OF party zeal instead of posts Of honor,
assigned for approved competency and held
for fidelity in the public employ. That the
dispensing of patronage should neither be a
tax upon the time of our public men, nor an
instrument of their ambition. Here, again,
professions falsifed in the performance attest
that the party in power can work out no prac-
teal or salutary reform
Ian, nanaasarr aran mara in The hi nhnr