The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1876-07-15
THE PLATFORM.


cnyendered civil war, and do here record
our steadtast confidence in the perpetuity |
of Republican self-Sovernlnent; in abso.
lutte acq,licscencc in the will Of the ma
iority, the vital principles Of republics;
in the supremacy of the civil over the
military authority; in the total sepera-
ton of Church and State for the sal Q
alike of civil and religious freedom i'll
the equality Of all citizens before just
laws of their own enactment;
IN THE LIBERTY
of individual conduct, unvexcd by sump-
tnary laws. In the faithful education of
the rising generation, that they may
preserve, enjoy and transmit these best
conditions ofhuman happiness and hope,
We behold the noblest products of hun
dred years Of changeful history but
while unfolding the bond Of our union,
and the great charter of these our rights,
it behoOvcs q free people to practice also
that eternal vigilance which is the price
of liberty. Reform is necessary to re-
build and establish i'll the hearts IF the
whole people the union eleven years ago
happily rescued from the danger of a cor
rupt centralism which, after intlicting
upon ten States the rapacity Of
CARPET-BAG TYRANNIES.
Has honey-combe1 the officers of the
Federal Government itself with incapaci-
ty, waste and fraud, infected States and
Municipalities with the contagion of mis-
rule, and locked fast the prosperity Of an
Industrious people in the paralysis OF
hard times. Reform is necessary to es-
tablish a sound currency, restore the
public credit, and maintain the national
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 non-pay-
ment Of which is a disregard of the
plighted faith of the nation. We de-
no,l,lce the mprovidence 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
squaMdered four times this sum in use
less expense without accommodating any
reserve for their redemption. We de-
nOunce the financial imbcCility and i'm
morality Of that party which, during
eleven years of peace has made no adj
vance toward resumption that instead,
has obstructed resumption by wasting
our resources and exliausting all our sur
plus income, and while annually profess
sing to intend
A SPEEDY RETURN TO SPECIE
i PAYMENTS
has annually enacted fresh hinlrances
thereto, as such q hintlerance we de.
nounce the resumption clanse of the act
Of 1875, and we here demand it's repeal
We demand q ,jndicious SYSTEM Of pre-
paration by public economies, by official
rtet1onchmeaiv and by wise finance which
shall enable the nation to insure thu
whole world Of its perfect ability aud it,
perfect readiness to meet any Of its prom
ises at the call of the creditor entitled tt
payment. We believe such system
we'll devised and above all entrusted t.
competent hands for execution, creating
at no time an artificial scarcity of cur
!, rency and ut no time alarming the pub
lie mind into withdrawal of that vas
ter machinery of credit by which ninety
five per cent. of all business transaction
are performed, system open; public AM
inspiring general confidence would frO1
the day Of its adoption
BRING HEALING ON ITS WINGS
l to all orr harrassed industry and set i
p motion the wheels of commerce, manu-
features and the mechanical arts, restOI
employment to labor and renew in NIL il
national source the prosperity Of th
: people. Reform is necessary in the su,
and mode of Federal taxation to the ell
that capital may be set free from distres
9 and labor lightly burdened.' We d
9 nounce the present tariff levied upo
nearly four thousand articles as amaste
Il piece Of injustice, inequality and falls
r pretense; it yields dwindling, not
YEARLY rising revenue /; it has i1npoverisl
u ed many Industries to sltbsidize a few
Q it prohibits imports that might purcha'
the products Of American labor; it b
- degraded American commerce from Il
i first to an inferior upon the big h sea-
!. it has cut down The sales of
!. AMERICAN MANUFACTURES
70 at home and abroad and depleted the +
" turns Of American agriculture or il,dy
n try followed by half our people; it cos
a the people five times more than it pr
n ddces to the treasury, obstructs the p1
)" cess Of production aud wastes the ffui
D. of labor; it promotes fraud and f0ste
n, smuggling, enriches dishonest .offici;
and bankrupts honest merchants; '
| InurouI khok oil H,,c< n,uh ny,,n <uv0%;
shall be only f6r revenue. Reformi is N.
9o eDary in the scale of public expen'
4 Federal, State and Municipal; FEEDER
- taxation has swollen from f6,O0O.t
gold in 1860 to $3.50, 100000 currency
1910. Our aggregate taxation from SIS
III 0O0,OOO gold IN 1860 to $3.50, 0CO, 600 G.
rency in 1870, or in one decade from \
or than five dollars per head 10 more th
M eighteen dollars per head. Since
~ peace the people have paid to their
catheefs more than thrice the sum
the national debt, and more than tw
hn that sum for the Federal Governnl.
=" alone. We demand vigorous frugal
Oh In every department and from every
or hcer Of the government.
- REFORM Is NECESSARY
I'LL to put stop to The prodigate waste
, lpabliE labds and their diyerson from
10. tual settlers by the party in power. VIII
nor has squandered two hundred millions
" acres upon railroads alone, and on
&C. moro than thrice that aggregate has
on. posed Of less than . sixth directly to
=" fen Of the soil. Reform is Ilecessar!
correct the omissions Of Republican {
gress, and the errors Of our treaties,
,at our diplomacy which have stripped
7Os fellow citizens Of foreign birth and
md dred race recrossing the Atlantic of
:, shield Of American citizenship, and b
III exposed our brethren Of tho Pacific q
to the incursions Of . race, not spr
from the same great parent-stock, IN
,,ounr now denied BY Inv citisenship, thro
~ naturalization. - being neither &C
toned "a tho traditions Of 5 progress
civilization Of exercised In liberty ul