Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1880-08-06
The Platform.

million men 10 SuDV0rt Ln6 uALlOual du- |
thority. 1t reconstructed the union of the
cornerstone. It transformed four million
human beings from the likeness of things
to the rank of citizens. 1t relieved con-
gress from the infamous work of hunting |
fugitive Saves and charged it to see that
slavery does not exist. 1t has raised the
value of our paper currency from thirty
eight per cent to the par of gold. It has
restored upon solid basis the payment in
coin of all the national obligations and has
given US currency absolutely good and
equal in every part of our extended country
1t has lifted the credit of our nation from
the point where per cent. bonds sold st 90
to that where 4 per cent. bonds are eagerly
sought at a premium. Under its admins
tration, railways have increased from thlr y
one thousand miles in 1860 to m pre- than
eighty thousand in 1870 Our foreign trade |
has increased from $70O,C0 600 to $l ,5OU,-
COO.OOO in the same time. and our exports, |
which were $40, C000o0 less than our I'M
ports in 1850, were $l64 0J0,0 go more tnan
our imports in 1879. Without resorung 10
loans. it has, since the war closed, betrayed
the expenses of the government, pesides
paying the accruing interest on the puplc |
debt and disbursed annually more tnah
$50. OOOCC0 for soldiers pensions. II mas
paid 1888, 600, 900 of the public debt, anu'
BY refunding the balance at lower rates,
has reduced the annual lnteress o Cna sldH
from nearly $751;, 10000 to So9, UOO,oOO.
All the industries of the country nave re-
vived. Labor is in demand: wages nave
increased, and throughout the entire coun-
try there is evidence of coming prosperity
greater than we have ever enjoyed. upon
| this record the republican party ASKS LOT
the continued confidence and support OF
| the people and this convention submits TOR
| their approval the following statement OF
| the principles and purposes which Will
| continue to guide and inspire Its Efforts;
We affirm that the work OF the last
! twentv-one yesrs has been such as to com
mend itself to the favor OF the nation, ana
| that the fruits of the costly victories Wnlcn
wa have achieved through immense dill
| culties should be preserved; that the peace
| repained should be cherished; that the dis
/ severed Union, now happily restored,
| should be perpetrated, and that the liber-
| ties secured to this generation should be
transmitted undiminished to future gene
rations; that the order establlshed ana
credit acquired should never be impaired;
that the pensions promised shou'd De PAID;
| that the debt so much reduced should be
extinpuished by the full p ayment OF every
dollar thereof; that the revlvlng industries
should be further promoted, and that the
commerce, already so great should be
steadily encouraged,
is a supreme law and not mere contract.
Out of confederate states 1t made Gov
| ereign nation. Some powers are denied to
the nation, while others are denied to the
states; but the boundary between the
powers delegated and those reserved Is to
be determined by the national and not the
/ state tribunals.
8. The work of popular education is one
left to the care of the several stat S, but it
is the duty of the national government to
| aid that work to the extent of its constitu-
tional ability. The intelligence Iof the ma
ton is but the aggregate intelligence in the
several states. and the destiny of the nation
must be guided, not by the genius of any
one state, but by the average genius of all.
4. The constitution wisely forbids con-
gress to make any law respecting al estab-
! lisnment of religion, but it is idle to hope
that a nation can be protected against the
influence of sectarianism while each state
is exposed to its denomination. We,
therefore, recommend that the const tuition
be so amended as to lay the same prohibi-
ton on the legislature of each state, and to
forbid the appropriation of public funds to
the support of sectaria1 schools.
s. We reaffirm the belief avowed in 1876,
that the duties levied for the purpose of
| revenue should so discriminate as TO favor
American labor; that DO further grant of
the public domain should be made to any
| railway or other corporation; that slavery,
| udNlDR p0TIeuGu III buc btdISS, It's LWl
barbarity, polygamy, must die 10 the terri
tories; that everywhere the protection &C
corded to citizen of American birth must
be secured to citizens by American adop-
ton; that we esteem it the duty of congress
to develop and improve our water courses
and harbors, but insist that further subsi-
dies to private persons or corporations
must cease; that the obligations of the re-
public to the men who preserved its integ-
rity in the day of battle are undiminished
by the lapse of fifteen years since their final
victory. Their perpetual honor is, and
shall forever be, the grateful privilege and
sacred duty Of the American people.
6. Since the authority to regulate immi-
, grafton and Intercourse between the
United States and foreign nations rests
with the congress Of the United States and
its treaty making powers, the republican
; party, regarding the unrestricted immigra-
ton of Chinese as an evil of great magni-
tude, invoke the exercise of that power to
restrain and limit that i'm migration by the
enactment of such just. humane and rea-
sonable provisions as will produce that re-
! suit. .-A
7. That the purity and patriotism which
I characterizes the earlier career of Ruther-
ford B. Hayes, in peace and war, and
which guided the thoughts Of our imme-
diate predecessors to him for presiden-
tial candidate, have continued to inspire
+ him in his career as chief executive, and
that history will accord his administration
the honors which are due to an efficient,
Just and courteous discharge of the public
, business, and will honor his interposition
between the people and proposed partisan
i laws.
I g. We charge upon the democratic party
the habitual sacrifice of patriotism and
justice to to a supreme and Unsuitable lust
for Office and patronage; that to obtain pos
, session of the national and state govern
ments and the control of place. they have
obstructed all efforts to promote the purity
9 and to conserve the suffrages; have devised
, fraudulent Qualifications and returns; have
l labored to unseat lawfully elected mem
: bers of congress, to secure at all hazerds
: the vote of a maj ority of the states in the
house of representatives; have endeavored
to occupy by force and fraud the places OF
: ust given to others by the people of Maine
a which were rescued by the courage in
" action of Names patriotic sons; have by
8 methods, vicious in principle and tyranni'
e cal in practice; attached partisan legisla
. ton to appropriation bills upon whose pas
sage the very movement of the govern.
Y ment depends; have crushed the rights o.
individuals; have advocated the principles
and sought the favor of rebellion agsins
the nation, and have endeavored to obliter
> ate the sacred memories of the war ant
to overcome the inestimably valuable re
- suits of nationality, personal freedom ant
J. individual equality. The equal, steady AM
complete enforcement of the laws and th
! protection of our citizens in the epjoyme en-
9 of all the privileges and immunities guar
anteed by the constitution is the first dut.