The Van Buren press., 1876-07-04

OF the specimens displayed here
Continued from second page.)
little $, was mainly plea for harmony
ana an arrangement of the republican
party
AFTERNOON SESSION.
The cor cention having assembled the
committee on plat, orm reported
We, the delegates of the democratic con-
Nehtton.of the United States, in national con-
Vention assembled, do hereby declare the adj
mlulstration of the federal government to be
in urgent need ofimmediate reforms and we
do hereby enjoin upon the nominees of this
c9nYention and of the democratic party in
eaelf state Jealous effort and CO. operation to
this end, and do hereby appeal to our fellow
citizens of every former political connection,
to undertake with us this first and most pres
sing patriotic duty Tor the democracy of the
whole country.
We do here affirm our faith in the per
manence of the federal union, and our devo-
ton TO the constitution of the United States.
with It's amendments, universally accepted as
final settlement of the controversies that
engendercd the civil war; and do hereby re-
cord our .steadfast confidence in the perpetu-
ity of republican self-government: in ahso-
Int acquiPsenre in the will of the maiority.
the vital principle OF pubics; in the snpre
macy of the civil over the military authori-
ty; in the total separation of church and
state, for the sake alike of civil and religions
freedom; in the equ itv of ell citizens before
just laws of their own enactment: in the lib
ertv of individual conduct. unvexed bv sum
mary laws, and in the faithful education of
the rising generation. that they NAV preserve
and transmit tbaSa Lap 9
happiness and hope. Weuphod these noble
products of a hundred wears of changeftl
history, huN, while upholding the bond of our
union and the great charter of these our
rights. it hehooves free people to practice
also the eternal vigilance which is the price
liberty.
Reform is necessary TO rebuild and estab-
lish In the hearts of the whole people the
union eleven wears ago happily rescued from
the danger OF a secession o states but now to
he saved from centraiSm which. a fter in =
| tlcting upon ten states the rapacitv of car
pet bag tyrannies, has honevcomhed the Off .
ces of the federal government itself with in
capacity, waste and fraud, infected states and
municipalities with the contagion of misr,,le
and locked fast the prosperity Of an industri-
ouS people IN the paralysis of hard time. It
promotes fraud. fosters smugglinV enrches
dishonest officials and hankrnpts honest mer-
| chants. We demand that all custom house
taxation shall be only for revenue.
| Reform is necessary in the zeal of public
eXpense-fedcral. state and municipal. Our
| federal taxation has swollen from $50 600 900
in gold. in 1860 to $50 100000 in currency in
| 1870 and our aggregate taxation from Sl54 =
| 100000 gold in 1850 to 73O 0Oo 900 currency in
1870, or in one decade. from less than five dol
lars per head, to more than eighteen dollars
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 n rigorous frugality in
every department and from every officer of
the government.
| reform Is necessary to put stop to the
| proiligate waste of public lands and their di-
version from actual settlers hv the patrv in
power which has squandered two hundred
millions of acres upon railroads alone. and
| ont of more thau thrice that aggregate has
disposed OF less than sixth directly to till
| erS of the soil.
| Reform is necessary to correct the omiss-
ions OF a republican congress, and the errors
of our treaties and our diplomacy which have
| stripped our fellow citizens of foreign birth
| and kindred race recrosSing the Atlantic OF
the shield of American citizenship, and have
/ exposed our brethren of the Pacific coast to
! the incursion ST n race not sprung from the
same great parent stock, and in fact now by
law denied citizenship through naturaiza-
! ton. rs being neither accustomed to the tra-
ditions of a progressive civilization nor cXer-
cised in liberty under equal laws. We de-
| nounce the policy which thus discards the
| liberty-loving German, and tolerates the re-
| vival of the cooic trade in Mongolian wo-
men. imported for immoral purpose, and
Mongolian men held to- perform scrvile labor
| contracts: and we demand such modification
| of the treaty with the Chinese empire, or suci
Legislation by congress within the constu.
tio nal limitation as shall prevent the further
immigration of the Mongolian race
| Reform is necessary and can never be eff
| fected but by making it the controlling issue
of the elections. and lifting it above the tw G
| false issues with which the Office holding
class and the party in power seek to smother
! it:
| First-The false issue with which they
would kindlc seetarian strife in respect to the
| public schools of which the democratic party
has chose from their foundation and rcsolv-
ed to maintain without partiality or prefer
encc for any class. sect or creed, and without
contributing from the treasury TO arv.
Second-Ihe falls issue by which they
| seek to light anew the diving emhcrs of sec
, ..i,"nal hate between Lindred people once es-
| tran red, but now united in one indiyisible
republic, md common destiny.
| Reform is necessary in the civil service
Experience proves that an efficient and eco
! DOtnlCAl ConuUtt u Lllt -tN' bN0ll'9'
/ : not possible if its service be subject &c
change Mt every election. be prize fought
| for at the ballot-box, be brief reward el
party zeal, instead of posts Of honor assign
ed for proved competency and held for iideIi-
ty in the public employ; that the dispensa'
tion of public patronage should neither be q
tax upon the time of our public men nor tht
instrument of their ambition. Here again
professions falsifed in the performance at
test that the party in power can work out nc
practical or salutary reform.
Reform is necessary even more IN tho
HIGHER grades of the public service-ir
the president, vice president judges sen
ators representatives and cabinet officers
These and all others in authority are thu
peoples servants, Their offices are not