The Russellville Democrat., 1876-08-31
NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC
 PLATFORM.

We, the delegates of the Dem ccratic party of the United States, | in National Convention assem- bled, do hereby declare the ad-
 ministration of the Federal Gov
 ernmcnt to be in great need oi immediate reform. Do hereby enjoin upon tine nominees of this ] Convention, and of the Demo cratic party in each state, 8 zeal ous effort and cooperation to this end, and dc here appeal to ouI ] fellow citizens 0t every form oi political connection to undertake with lis this first and most press i ling patriotic duty for the Delnoe-
 racy of the whole country, we dc ! here reaiiirm cur faith in the per nancGce of the Federal Union, our devotion to the Constitution of the United states with its amendments universally accept.
 cd as final settlement of the
 controversy that engendcred the civil war-and do here record our
 steadfast confidence in the per petuity of republican self govern mert; iii absolute acquiescence in
 the will of the majority, the vital principle of republics; in the sn-
 premacy of the civll over the mil l itarv; in the two fold separation
 of the Church and State, for the sake alike of civil and religious
 freedom; in the equality of all
 citizens before just laws of their
 own enactment; i'll the liberty of l individual conduct unvexod hy
 sumptuary laws; in the faithful i education of the rising generation,
 that they may preserve, enjoy and
 transmit these best conditions oi human happiness and hope, We behold the nobiest products of a hundred years ofchangeful histo- ry. But while upholding the bond of our Union and great charter of these, our rights, 1t behooyes free people to practice, also, that eternal vigilance which
 is the price of liberty.
 Reform is necessary to rebuild and establish iii the hearts of the
 whole people the Union eleven
 years ago happily rescued from
 the danger ofa secession Of States, but now to be saved from a cor
 rupt ccntralism, which, after in nioting upon ten States the rapac- fly of carpet bag attorneys, has honey -combed the offices Of the Federal Government itself with
 incapacity, waste and fraud: ln- fected States and municipalities with the contagion of misrule, and locked last the prosperity Of industrious people in the paraly- sis of hard times. Reform IS nee
 essary to establish q soand cur
 rency, restore the public credit and maintain the national honor
 We denounce the failure for ail these eleven years to make good the promise of the legal tender
 notes which are changing stan
 dard of value in the hands of the
 people, and the non payment of which is the disregard of the
 pliohted faith of the Nation.
 We denounce the lmprovidence
 which, in eleven years of peace,
 has taken from the people in
 Federal taxes thirteen times the
 whole amount of the legal tender notes and squandered four times
 their sum in useless expense without accommodating any reserve for their redemption. We de nounce the financial imbecility and immortality of that party
 which, during eleven years of peace, has made no advance to- ward resumption, no preparation for resumption, but instead has
 obstructed resumption by vast ing our resources and cxhaustlng all our surplus income, and while annually protesting to intend q speedy return to specie payments, has annually enacted fresh him drances thereto. As such hin drances, we dcnounce the resump- tion clause of the act of 1875, and we here demand it's repeal. We demand a iudicious system of preparation by public economies, by official retrenchments, and by
 wise finance which shall enable the Nation soon to assure the
 whole world of it's ability and its perfect readiness to meet any or its promises at the call of a cred itor entitled to payment. We be liove such system well-advlsed and, above all, entrusted to com potent hands for execution, creat- ing at no time an artificial scarci-
 " or currency, and at no time alarming the public mind into withdrawal of that vast machin-
 cry of credit by which ninety five per cent. Of our business transac tious are performed-a system
 open and public, aud inspiring
 general confdence-would, from
 the day of it's adoption, bring
 healing on its wings to all our
 harassed industries, set Tn mo
 ton the wheels of commerce,
 manufactures and the mechanical
 arts, restore employment to labor.