Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1879-08-21
The Republican Platform.

hepuDllcan platform, we quote the
fourth resolution, rs follows:
Fourth, That the Democratic party,
having committed itself to break up the
Government by refusing TO appropriate
moneys already collected from the peo.
pie to sustain the Government, unless
the Executive shall sanction a measure
intended to foster fraud, violence and
corruption in the national elections,
and TO impair the constitutional supre.
macy of the nation, deserves and invites
the signal condemnation of every law.
abiding and honest citizen.
Aside from its palpable absurdity,
this resolution of the Republican State
Convention is false pretensc. The
Democratic party, or rather its repre-
sentatives in Congress, never refused
to appropriate moneys, whether cal
ready collected from the people" or to
be collected from them, in sufficient
amounts to enable each department of
the government TO exercise to the
fullest extent any proper and legiti-
innate function that it may possess.
Consequently the Democratic party
has. never committed itself to break
up the government" by such action as
that charged in the above resolution.
In this respect, therefore, the resolu-
tion is on its face false pretense so
plain and unmistakable that il can
deceive no intelligent and unpreju-
diced mind conversant with the his
tory of passing public events. In
fact, one of the charges made by John
Sherman in one of his Maine speeches
against the majority in Congress, was
that the appropriations were excessive
in amounts, and beyond the needs Of
the public service; and here is n Re
publican convention arraigning the
party responsible for the appropria-
tions for an attempt "to break up the
government" by refusing to appro-
pirate enough money to sustain the
government.
The absurdity of the resolution
arises from that stupid blunder into
which the Republicans are always
falling, of recognizing the Executive
department alone as the government.
Probably, if they are honest in their
efforts in favor of the consolidation
and Capitalization of all power in the
Executive, and succeed-which God
forbid-in reducing the other co-ordi-
nate branches of our system to the
position of mere appendages to the
Executive, to obey implicitly his will,
and execute without question his de-
crees, their theory of the government
may in time become correct. But 20
long as our form of government is
based upon the powers Of three co-or-
dinate branches-Executive, Legisla-
tive and Judicial-each separate and
independent Of the other, with certain
fixed and defined powers and duties,
just so long will it be the heighth of
folly for a political party to charge
upon the majority of the representa-
tiyes of the people design a to break
up the government" because in the
performance of dnty, as the low
making power of the land, they may
keep watchful eyes upon the appro-
priations, and desire to have a word
to say in regard to the manner in
which, and the purposes for which,
the public moneys collected from
the people" shall be expended.
But, in refusing to appropriate
moneys already collected from the
people" without question or quibble.
as the Executive may direct, the
ofense Of the Democratic party seems,
according to the stalwart Solon who
concocted the resolution under consid-
Grafton, to be aggravated by the fact
that they will not do it "unless the
Executive shall sanction n measure
intended to foster fraud, violence and
corruption in the national elections"
What measure of this kind was the
Executive ever asked to sanction 7"
What measure intended to foster
fraud, violence and corruption" at
elections did a Democratic Congress
ever mass ? We know of an earneat