The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-08-04
OUR PLATFORM.

from State conventions, are Of but slight i'm
portance and they seldom amount to any
thing beyond q stale repetition of general
party principles. with perhaps, al occasional
and special declaration In regard to some
question OF O purely local character This is
particularly true In regard to conventions
which meet In the ''off'' years. This is 81,
"oir' year In Louisiana, yet there was never
al occasion more urgent than this with which
we are confronted for n strong. vigorous and
eloquent enlnciation Of the political prne-
pies TO which we yield Our convictions and in
the supremacy Of which we shall find the vim
dication Of our past as well as the hope of the
future.
We are now In period Of transition. out Of
which new and grander era than the coutl-
try has ever known Is destined to spring.
After long and sorrowful dalliance with the
dead, unhappy past. the country has at length
reached the time when IL can take hold OF Its
future with al earnest and hearty good will,
untrammeled by vexatious memories and dis
turbed no longer by unappeased resentments.
There is no period OF g nations history more
interesting or OF greater Importance than the
one which Is now upon us. Having passed
safely through great convulsion In which
infinite wrongs have been endured, the debris
of the wreck and the dead Of the conflict,
which have SO long impeded our progress, ore
cleared away, and we are girding our loins
for o new race and O more splendid expe-
rience. These are the times out Of which
spring great and vital principles, Ideas and
faiths that are destined to shape The policies
Of States and lead nations to their destines.
We Of Louisiana, who have contributed more
than the people of any other State to bring
ing about the present condition of affairs,
must take a lead in the direction Of this new
era, and in the enuncation of the great prn-
ciples which are destined to shape 1t.
Specially do we owe 1t to ourselves to vindi-
cate our immediate past against the ISLANDERS
that have been heaped upon us in connection
with the last presidential election. To this
end the first duty Of the Baton Rouge Con-
vention will be to make @ calm and careful
statement Of the connection of Louisiana with
the electoral count, and of the attitude she
assumed In the trying days which interviewed
between the decision Of the commission and
the Inauguration Of Hayes. We have been
charged with all manner of crimes in
this connection both before and since
the election. In order to carry the
State, we are said to have resorted
to the most appalling and atrocious cruelties !;
and In order to secure to ourselves the fruits
Of these iniuuities 1t has been charged, and
| by those who acted with us, that we have dis
| played a treachery and cowardce only COM
| mensurate with our savage cruelty All of
these sanderous accusations must be exposed
and refuted, and Louisiana made to appear in
her true character In all this melancholy and
shameful episode of history-as the forlorn
hope OF the republic the one true and incor-
| r,lntible defender of the Democratic faith,
| whom no promises could allure. no blandisl-
ments seduce, no villainy debauch and no
| tyranny overawe. This she was and this she
is. Out of her sorrows and by her manhood has
the wrong of the past been made Infamous
and the hope of the future assured. Let the
convention make these facts appear, and In
one splendid paraphrase commemorate the
grandest historic attitude q people ever held.
Let 1t vindicate and then approve the acts of
our agents at Washington through whose ex-
ertions and sagacity the autonomy Of the
State was secured, and then let the perfect
good faith with which the Democratic admin
istration OF the State has fulfilled all Its
promises and obligations be made to appear
with certainty and authenticity that will ad-
nit of no controversy.
This having been done it will then remain
only to denounce the fraud by which Louis
lana was robbed of her electoral vote, and In
sist that the Potter Investigation be allowed
to take its proper and legitimate course and
arrive at its just deduction, even II it involve
| the impeachment of Hayes and the induction
of Tilden into the office to which he Is clearly
| entitled.
This question disposed of, the next In i'm
portance is the finance question. This is
already the vital issue in American politics
and great care should be taken that the ad
vantage already acquired by the Democratic
party in relation thereto shall not be lost
The convention should approve the course o
the last Democratic House of Representative
in Congress in forbidding the further retire
ment of greenbacks, and 1t should further
demand the repeal CT the resumption act u
soon as Congress meets.
Further than this it will not be safe to ven
ture, except to demand, in most positiv,
terms, the repeal of the 10 per cent tax on Stat
banks The views of the DEMOCRAT upoI
this subject have been repeatedly given, an,
we are glad to say they have met the unver
sal approval of the Southern Senators ant
s. congressman and Mr.. Hill, Of Georgia. ha!
: already declared his purpose of making tn
repeal of this tax the one particular object O
his exertions in the next Congress. In it w
anticipate the solution of the finance cues
ton, and it will bea great thing for Lousian;
If she should take the first step In bringing /
about.
: 1t will also be advisable for the convention
to urge the rebuilding of our levees, as al
adjunct to the improvement OF the navigation
of the Mississippi, the construction of tn
Southern Pacific under proper auspices ant
the ACCESSIBILITY Of the Brazil mail contract
with representation of its necessity to tn
: development Of our foreign commerce, where
In lies the surest relief to our decayed indus
finn rom mi