The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1879-10-17
The Two Harrisburg Platforms.
WHAT THEY SAY, WHAT THEY MEAN,
AND RESULTS IF CARRIED OUT.

must prevail at the next State election .
having put themselves, pro lorna, .
upon the country in the declarations or .
their platforms, by these declarations .
they agree to be judged by the people. +
Such deliveranees, confirmed By Gus .
tom. 20 before every election 1hey
profess to be pertinent TO the immediate
issues of the political campaign, 70 the
general principles that are 10 govern
both parties, and the differences that
distinguish one party from the other.
The tenor OF a political platform may
depend not less upon its specific declara-
tiOus than upon "a subtitle and instructive
spirit that pervades 1.-THE seemingly
iuseusible repetition Of certain terms,
for example, that show the real under
current of the authors thought. An
ap0thegm of Talleyrand. that language
is made 20 conceal not 20 express.
thought. can nowhere find better IL
lustutIOu than in a political platform.
Close examination may, however, bring
10 light the actual idea of those who
have devised it. however speciOus and
deceptive DO is meant 90 De. however
glit-ering its geueralities may appear.
The platform promulgated by the two
State Conventions held al Harrisburg
viii be- found 20 consist OF about the
same number Of words. with no great
difference in the number of their re-
solutions. The antagOnism of one plat
form to the other is rs sharply defined
as it could possibly be made, and this
appears mainly in the frequent changes
ruug in one of them upon a single word.
IL would seem to have been the intention
of the authors of the platform in ques-
tiOn, 10y frequent repetition, TO accustom
the tympauum OF the popular ear TO the
vibrations of a high-sOunding term that
has in it the Taukest political hereSy
ever sought to be imposed upon free
people in the modern world. The SEEM
ingly innocent. but nevertheless Omni-
present, existence of this one WOTG
sweeps the whole platform away from
the domestic concerns OF the State. and
is meant to give direction to popular
understanding as delusive and danger
Gus as was ever sought by uuholy ambl-
tion out of the coinage OF its own mind.
The word Nation with its attendant
adjective National l''-invariabiy print
ed with an initial capital letter-Occur
seventeen times in the platform put
forth by the Republican Convention at
Harrisburg in june last and these terms
run through ten OfitS fourteen '-planks.
To give it the benefit of contrast this
sense is nowhere to be found in the plat
form previously adopted by the Demo
cratS-indeed il occurs but once there
in. and then only in a subsidiary sense.
This word. as used, is the pivotal idea
of the Republican profession Of faith
and its presence in almost every plank
cOnviCtS the authors of 1t of deliberate
duplicity and tTeachery it remandS all
their utterauces to the pillory Of popular
suspicion and distruSt. 1t is 40 more
nor less than the shibboleth of a reaction
airy movement that claims to cOnsum-
mate repeated violations of the COnStItu-
tiOn and laws made in pursuance thereof.
in an entire upheaval Of the government
itself
To gain a clear insight into the puT-
poses of the Republican leaders in such
Il platform. it Is merely necessary to
note that of its fourteen subdivisions,
one and half strictly pertain 10 matters
wherein the State is essentially and eX-
clusively concerned. To set this fact
out III clearer light, 1t may be observed
that of the twelve Democratic resOiu-
tiouS, with which the former must be
compared. eleven have reference to the
relations of the people TO The State, and,
reciprOcally, OF tie State 10 the people.
Such q contrast cannot be too tenacious
ly kept in mind. The propositions Of
the Republican leaders. as we find them
in this platform, are desperate eNPedieutS
grown out of q condition OF things, in
the management Of the affairs of the
State and general government, that has
brought plunder, waste and corruption
in legislation and at the polls to the
one and all these things with tie set led
preluninaries Of political anarchy to the
other.
\ brief examination by way of con-
trasting the terms and tenor OF these
two platforms will be sufficient to show
which of them holds itself accountable
to the people, their rights. their interests
and the general welfare Of the Common
wealth and which has merged all the
inalcnable privileges Of citizenship and
} the inadequated and iudefeasib!e indie
+ peHdeuce Of the State, in q mOckeTy Of
/ proieSsed fealJy to the National Govern
ment. which sham Of all lawful author
ity, in its highest office, by Il Republican
conspiracy, remains and abiding insult to
the popular Will, and Is made to reap
pear in this platform IS the cherished
object Of the Republican couspiTatOr' 5
solicitude and love
So far as any comparison touching
the same or similar topics can be made.
it may be fairly stated as follows The
Democrats assert that the United States
IS q Federal Union. The Republican
platform announces the political paradox
already noted that the Federal Union is
Nation"
The Republican platform declares
that the establishment OF a State sover-
eighty "oyerthrows National supre-
macy The Democratic resolutions
say that ''the rights OF the States and
the liberties of the people depend the
one upon the other.
The Republicans declare that State
sovereignty endangers Federal unity,''
The Democratic declarations condemn
"the invasion of States for political pur-
poses without regard to Constitutional
restrictions"
The Republican resolutions say that
1.-The supremacy Of the National Govern
ment- depends upon National laws
which protects the ballot box. " The
Democrats that ali such measures. are
imperial methods of supervising cleo
tiOns and coercing the popular viii =
that the presence Of soldiers or Govern
ment officials Al the polls destroys all
freedom of elections md up-um the
very foundations of self-gOvernment. -
The Republican leaders say that s'tue
, Democratic party has committed itself
to break up the Government by refusing
to appropriate moneys already collected
from the people to ''pr)tectthe ballot. =
The Democrats that 1.-THE military ought
in all things TO be subordinate TO the
civil power - and that when the peo-
PIE assemble to express their sovereign
pleasure at the polls, - troops "or hire
ling officials claiming power to arrest
and lHprIson citizens without warrant