The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1876-09-29
National Democratic Platform

/ CCaayantion assembled, 10 hereby decIara
/ the administration u the Federal Govern
n,ant ia be in urgent need of Immediate
/ roforu and do hereby enioin upon Tho
/ nominees of this convention and of the
/ Dan,ocratic party IN each State n zeaIous
! eHor, and co operation to this end and do
/ hereby arpeaI to our feilow-citizens Of
/ every former political connection. to I'M
/ I.rt.l,e with us this first and most nres.
! SIM patriatic duty. For the Democracy
/ of The whole country we do here reafim
/ onr faith in the permanence of the Fed
/ oral Union. aud our devotion to the Com
,,i,,tion Of the United States with ito
amardments universally accented as =
! 6naf settlement of the Controversies thai
angpndared civil war. and do here record
( our steadfast confidence in the perpetuitv
/ Of Republican self government. In n
/ resolute acauiescence in the will Of the
/ majority. the vital principle of republics.
/ in The supremacy of the civil over the
military authority, IN the total separation
/ of church and State, for the sake alike Of
civil and religious freedom, in the equali-
~ If all citizens before just laws of their
own enactment, in the liberty of indivii
nal conduct unvexel by sunlptuary laws.
IN the faithful education OF the rising
/ Generation that they may preserve en-
Inv transmit these best conditions Of
human happiness anu hope we behold the
uohIest products of a hundred years of
chnngeful history But while unfolding
the bond of Our Onion and the great char
tr, Of these our ri ghts. il bebooyes a free
uecpIe 10 practice also that eternal yici-
lance which is the price of liberty Re
form Is necessary 10 rebuild ana es ahlish
in the hearts OF the whole people the
Union eleven years ago happily rescued
from the danger ot corrupt ceutI,tlism
which after inlictlng upon ten States
the rapaclty of carpet bag tyrannies has
houeycombed me offices Of the Federal
Government itself Wlh mo- Pacitys waste.
aud fraud, infected States and municipal
itjes with the contagion of misrUie, and
locked fast the prosperity of an industrI-
Gus people in the paraiy Of hard times
Reform is necessary to establish
sound currency and restore the public
credit and maintain the national honor.
We denouuce The failure for all these
eleven years to make good the promise of
the legal tender notes, which are chang
ing standard of value in the hands OF the
people, and he non payment of which Is
IA disregard of the piighted faith Of the
nation. We deuouuce the lmprovld"nce
which, in eleven years of peace, has taken
from the people in Federal taxes thirteen
times the hole amount OF the legal-ten-
der notes, and sqHandered four times this
sum in useless expense, without accumu-
lating any revenue for their redemption
We deuouuce the financial imbecIlity and
immortality of that party which, during
eleven years of peace, has made no adj
vance toward resumption. and no prepar-
alton for resumption, bat instead has Oh
structed resumption by wasting our rev
enues and exhausIing all our surplus IN
come, and while annually protesting 10
intend u speedy return TO specie pay ments
has annually enacted fresh hIHdrauces
thereto. A : such IA hinirtnce we de
uouHce the resumption clause of the act
OF SO. and W hereby demand ITS repeal
We demand "a jHdicjous system of prePar-
alton by public economies, by official re-
ireuchmenis and by wise financial man
agemeut which shall enable the nation
soon to assure tine whole world Of its per
feet ability and its perfect readiness To
meet any OF is promises at the cali OF the
creditor entitled to ayment. We believe
that such system. well devised, and
above ~. entrusted TO competent hands
for execution, creating IA no time an ar
liticiaI scarcity OF currency, and at no
time alarming the public mind into
Withdrawal of that vaster machinery of
credit by which - per cent. OF all bust
ness transactions are performed, a sys-
ten open. public, and inspiring general
confidence, would, from the day OF its
adoption, bring healing Oh its wings all
our haras-ed ministries set in motion the
wheels of commerce, manufactures and
the mechanical arts, restore employ ment
10 labor aud renew IN all its national
sources the perity Of the people.
form Is necessary in the sum and
mode Of Federal taxation, TO the end that
capital may be set free from distrust and
B.. Ia. 4 ll.r.. s..E..
present tarif levirl-"PoV nearly four
Thousand articles, rs masterpiece OF IN
Justice. inequality aud false pretense. IL
yields dWInIlIng. not yearly rising
revenue. IL has impoverished many in
dustrics 60 subsidize few. Il prohibits
imports that mi ght purchase he products
Of American labor. 1t has degraded
American commerce from the first 20 an
inferior rank on the high seas II has
cut down he sales Of American manufac-
lures AT home aud abroad, and depleted
the returns of American agriculture, an
Industry followed by half our people 1t
costs the people five times more than it
produces to the treasury, obsructs the
processes Of production and wastes the
fruits of labor It promotes fraud fosters
smuggling, enriches dishonest officials
aud b1nkrupts honest merchants. We
demand that all custOm-hOuse taxation
shall be only for revenue.
Reform Is necessary in the scale of pub !
lie expense, Federal. State and municipal
Our Federal taxation has swollen from
500 OoO.oO gold ia 1900 10 S4jO,OOO 900 /
currency in 1870 and our aggregate tax
alton from Sl5u0DO 900 gold IN 1860 to
S33O 900 600 currency in 1870 or in one
decade from less than i've dollars per head /
to more than eighteen dollars per head /
Since the peace, the people nave paid IN /
taxes more than thrice the sum Of the /.
national debt. and more than twice that /
sum for the Federal Government alone. /.
We demand rigorous frugahty IN every /.
department, and from every officer Of the +
Government.
Reform Is necessary to put stop to the /
prof gate waste of the public lands and /
their diversion from actual settlers by /
the party in power. which has squandered /
Two hundred millions Of acres upon rail .
roads alone and out of more than thrice (
that aggregates has disposed of less than
"A sixth directly to tillers OF the soil
Reform Is necessary to correct the /
omission Of q Republican Congress and !
the errors of our treaties and our diplo-
macy which have stripped our fellow
citizens Of foreign birth and kindred (
race recrossiug the Atlantic, of the I
shield of American citizenship, and have I
to the incursions of race not sprung
from the same great parent stock. and in
fact now by law denied citizenship,
though naturalization is being neither
Accommodated to the traditions OF pro
gressive civilization nor exercised in
liberty under equal laws. We denounce
policy which thus dl-cards the liberty
loving German and tolerates the renewal
of the Coolie trade in Monaghan women
imported for immoral purposes, and Mon
goiian men held to perform servile labor
contracts And we demand such modi-
fcation of me treaty with the Chinese
empire or such leglsiatio by Congress
within constitutional Limitation stall
prevent the further importation immigra
ton Of the Monaghan race
Reform is necessary and can never be
effected but by making it the controlling
issue of the elections and lifting il above
the two false issues with which the office
holding class and party in power seek 70
smother it; the false issue with which
they would enkindie sectarian strife in
respect o the public schools, of which the
and support belong exelu-
sively to the several States. and which |
the Democratic party has cherished from
their foundation, and is resolved To main
tain without partiality or creed and