The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1876-08-25
National DEMOCRATIC Platform,

EtIUttuitS
Of Republican self government In
resoIute acuuiescence IN The will of the
majority. the vital principle of repnh,ics
in Tho sunremacy of the civil over ~,
military authority, in the Total separation
of church and State, for the sake alike OF
civil and religious Freedom, In the eduali.
ty of all citizens before JUST laws of their
own enactment, in the iioeriy of individ
ual conduct invoked by sumptuary laws
IN the faithful education Of the rising
generation, that they may Preserve en-.
Joy, ami transmit these oesi conditions OF
human happiness and nope, ne behold the
nohlest products OF hundred years OF
changefnI history. But while upholdinp
the bond of our Union and the great char
ter of these our rights, II bshooves a free
people to practice also that eternal vigil
lance which is the price of,iberty. Re
form is necessary TO rebuildand establish
in the hearts OF the wbok people the
nicn eleven years ago hppily rescued
from the danger of a CORRUPT centralism
which. after inflicting uPn ten States
the rapacity of carpet bag Irannies has
honeycombel the offices OF The Federal
Government itself with Iptapscity, waste,
and fraud, infected Statsknd municipal
tiles with the contagios of misrue, and
locked fast the prosperity Of an industri-
Gus people in the paray sic Of hnrd times
Reform is necessary TO establish a
sound currency aud restore the public
credit and maintain the nmional honor
We denounce 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 the non-paymens of which Is
a disregard of the plightcd faith OF the
nation. We denouuce the mprovIteuce
which, in eleven years Of peaee, has tax IN
from the people in Federal axes thirteen
times the whole amount Of the legsl-ten e
der notes, and equandered fsnr times THIS
sum in useless expense, without accumu
lating any revenue for their rede mption
We denounce the financial nb0Cility and
immortality of that party which, during
eleven years of peace, has made no al
vance toward resumption, and no prepar-
alton for resumption, but instead has OBJ
structed resumption by wasting our rev
enues and eXhausting all our surplus ~
come, and while annually processing TO
intend a speedy return to specicpayments
has annually enacted fresh budrances
thereto As such a hindrsnci we de
noupce the resumption clause OF the act
OF 1873, and we hereby demand Is repeal
We demand judicions systemf prePar-
alton by public economies, By thcial re-
trenchments, and by wise fnarial man
Hgement, which shall enable be nation
soon TO assure the whole wOrld)f it's per-
feet ability and its perfect radiness to
meet any Of its promises at thcall OF the
creditor entitled TO payment Ve believe
that such n system. well deIsed, and
above all, entrusted to eompetnt hands
for execution, creating at no ime an ar
tificial scarcity of currency, aud at no
time alarming the public mad into a
Withdrawal Of that vaster mchinery of
credit by which Q; per cent all bust
ness transactions are performd, a sys-
seiu open, public, and inspiring general
confidence, would, from the lay of its
adoption, bring healing on its tings to all
our harassed Industries, set IN notion the
W heels of commerce, manufactures and
the mechanical arts, restore employment
10 labor aud renew in all lis national
sources the prosperity of the people.
Reform Is necessary in the sum and
node OF Federal taxation, to The end that
,apital may be set free from distrust and
abor lightly burdened We deuounce the
present tariff. levied upon nearly four
thousand articles, as a masterpiece of in
ustice, inequality and false pretense. II
fields a dwindlius- not yeasly- rising
evenue. 1t has poverisged MANY i n
Iustries to substitute a few. IT prohibits
N ports that might purchase the products
f American labor. II hiss degraded
merican commerce from the first to an
Inferior rank on the high seas. IL has
Tut down the sales of American manufac-
ures at home aud abroad, aud depleted
he returns Of American agriculture, an
industry followed by half our people. IL
osts the people FIVE times more than IT
PRODUCES to the treasury, obs'ructs the
processes of production and wastes the
ruits of labor. 1t promotes frsid. fosters
enriches dishonest officials
lud bankrupts honest merchants. We
iemAnd that all custom-house taxation
shall be only for revenue.
Reform is necessary in the scae of pub
ic expense, Federal, State aud bunicipal.
Dur Federal taxation has swollen from
500 600. 001 gold in 1850 to $4,000, 600
in 1870, and our aggregate tax
ltion from Sl5O,0 000 gold il 1860 TO
$3.50 0OO.0 900 currency in 1870, q in one
lecade from less than FIVE dollar per head
o more than eighteen dollars per head.
Since the peace, the people hav paid in
rational debt. and more than vice that
um for the Federal Government alone.
We demand rigorous frugaiity in every
department, aud from every offIer OF the
government.
Reform IS necessary 10 nut n stop TO the
orohigate waste of the public lands and
heir diversion from actual settlers by
he party in power. which has squandered
NO hundred millions of acres upon rail-
Dads alone, and out of more than thrice
hat aggregates has disposed Of less than
sixth directly IN tillers of the soil.
Reform is necessary 70 correct the
omission of IA Republican Congress and
he errors Of our treaties and our diplo-
macy which have stripped our fellow
citizens of foreign birth aud kindred
race recrossiug the Attntie, OF the
shield of American citizeuship. aud have
exposed oHr brethren of the Pacific coast
% he iucursions of race not sprung
rom the same great parent stock, and in
'act now by law denied citizenship.
though naturalization is being neither
to the traditions of pro
,ressive civilization nor exercised in
liberty under equal laws. We denounce
policy which thus discards the liberty
owing German and tolerates the renewal
If the Coolie trade ia Mopgolian women
imported for immoral purposes, aud Mon
yOlian men held to perform servile labor
contracts And we demand such modi-
ication of he treaty with the Chinese
empire or such legisIatit by Congress
within CONSTITUTIONAL Iflitation shall
prevent the further importation irnmigra-
ion Of the Mongolian race
Reform is necessary ana can never be
Effected but by making 1.-THE controlling
ssue of the elections and Ifting it abo We
he two false issues with which the Office
holding class and party power seek TO
smother il; the false issue with which
hey would enkindle sectsrian strife in
respect 10 the public schools. of which the
aud supportbelong excIu-
.iveiv. to the several States. and which
he Democratic party has cherished from
heir foundation, and is resolved TO main
ain without partiaiity or creed and
without contributing from the treasury
o any and the false Issue by which
hey seek to lift anew the dying embers
If sectional bate between kindred peoples
,nce unnaturally esfranged, but now re-
united in one indivisible republic and a
common destiny
Refom il necessary in the civil service
Experience proves that the efficient eco.
1omioaI conduct of the Governmental
business is not possible, if its civil service
DC subject 10 change at every election. be
. prize fought for at the ballot box, be a
brief reward of party zeal, instead of
posts of honor assigned for proved com
oetency. and held for fidelity in the pub
lie employ: and that the dispensing Of
patronage should neither be tax upon
~ 60 80 - nublic men. NOR 10