Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1879-10-15
THE TWO pLA TFoRMs.
THE ISSUES LAID DOWN BY THE
TWO HARRIsBURG CONVENTIONS.
wHArTnEY SAY, WHAT THEY MEAN, AND
RESULTS IL CARRIED OUT.

y 'fNH 'f''N IN NNNi ~ W. fNshf NffssNN
clec,ion-have put themselves pro for.
ma upon the country in the dcclara-
tions of their platforms. BY these
declarations they agree by the people
to bo judged
Such deliveranccs, confirmed by Gus.
tom, go before every election. They
profess TO be pertinent to the immcdi.
ate issues Of the pelHicsl Csgagsisn, so
the general principles that distinguish
one party from the other.
The tenor Of political platform
may depend not less upon its specific
declarations than upon subtle and
instructive spirit that pervades 1.-THE
seemingly insensible repetition Of Ger
tain terms, for example, that shtw
the real undercurrent OF the author 3
thought An apothcgm Of Talleyrand,
that language is made TO conceal, not
to express, thought, can nowhere find
a better illustration than in political
platform. Close examination may,
however, bring to light the actual
ideas of those who have devised it,
however specious and deceptive It is
meant to be, however glittering its
gcnerahties may appear.
The platform promulg gated by the
State Conventions held at Harris
burg will be found to consist OF about
the Same number Of words, with no
great difference in the number of reso-
lutions. The antagonism OF one plat
form to the other Is as sharply defined
as 1t could possibly Se made, and this
appears mainly in the frequent changes
rung in one OF them upon a single word.
1t would seem TO have the intention ci
the authors of the platform in qucs.
tion, by frequent repetition, TO aceus.
tom the tympanum of the popular ear
to the vibrations of high sounding
term that has in it the rankest polili-
cal horesy ever sought to be imposed
upon free people in the modern
world. The seemingly innocent, but
nevertheless omnipresent, existence Of
this one word sweeps the whole plat
form away from the domestic concerns
of the State, and is meant to give a d.
rection to popular understanding as
delusive aud dangerous as was ever
sought by unholy ambition out of the
coinage OF its own mind.
The word "Nation' with its attend
ant adjective National invariably
printed with an initial capital letter.
occurs seventeen times in the platform
put forth by the Republican Convon-
ton at Harrisburg in June last, and
these terms ran through ten of its
fourteen "planks TO give 1t the ben
eft Of contrast this pernicious use OF
the word in the same sense is nowhere
to be found in the platform previously
adopted by the Democrats--indecd il
occurs but once therein, and then only
in a subsidiary sense.
This word, as used, is the pivotal
idea Of the Republican profession oi
faith and its presence in almost every
plank convicls the authors Of it OF de.
liberate duplieity and treachery; il
remands all their utterances to the
pillory Of popular suspicion and dis
trust. 1t is no more nor less than the
shibboleth Of reactionary movement
that claims to consummate repeated
violations of the Constitution and laws
made in pursuance thereof in an en-
tire upheaval Of the government itself
To gain a clear insight into the pur
poses of tho Republican leaders in sucl
a platform, it is merely necessary tc
note that of its fourteen subdivisions
one and q half strictly pertain TO mat
ters wherein the State is essentially
and exclusively concerned. To Sc
this fact out IN clearer light, It may
be observed that of the twelve Demo
cratic resolutions, with which th'
former must be compared, eleven hav'
reference to the relations of the peo
pie. Such contrast cannot be tot
tenaciously kept in mind. The propo
sitions Of the Republican leaders as W,
find them in this platform, are desper
ate expedients-grown out Of condi
ton of things, in the management o
the affairs of the State and genera
Government, that has brought plum
der. waste and corruption in legisla
ton and at the polls to the one; ant
all these things with the settled pre-
liminaries of political anarchy to th
other.
\ brief examination by way of con
trasting the terms and tenor OF thes
two platforms will be sufficient to shov
which of them holds itself accountabl
to the people, their rights, their inter
ests and the general welfare of th
Commonwealth and which has merg
cd all the inalienable privileges of ell
izenship and the inadequatcd and indi
feasible independence Of the State, il
u mockery of proiessed fealty to tn
National Government, which sham o
all lawful authority, in its highest Of
fee, by Republican conspiracy re
mains an abiding insult to the popula
will, and is made to rcappear in thi
platform as the cherished object Of tn
Republican conspirator's solicitude an,
love.
SO far as any comparison touchin,
the same or similar topics can be made
it may be fairly stated as follows
"The Democrats assert that the Uni
ted States is a Federal Union. Tn
Republican platform announces th
political paradox already noted, tha
tho Federal Union is a "Nation.'
Tho Republican platform declare
that the establishment OF State sov
ereignty "ovcrthrows National su
promacy." The Democratic resolution
say that "the rights of the States an,
the liberties of the people" depend tn
one upon the other.
The Republicans declare that Stat
sovereignty endangers "Foderal uni
ty !" The Democratic declaration
condemn "the invasion of States 70
political purposes without regard t,
ConstiLuiional inslrAPtinns y
The Republican iSsolutions say tina
'the supremacy Of the National Gov
ernmcn" depends upon Nationa
laws which protect the ballot box.
The Democrats that all such measure
are "imperlal methods of supervising
elections and co-crcing the popular
will; that the presence OF soldiers o
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