Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1882-10-27
THE CHICAGO REPUBLICAN PLATFORM
Majority Rule Denounced as a
Relic of Despotic Imperialism.
A Platform that Beats the Best Eff
forts of Communists.

The following platform was adopted
by the Cook county, Ill, republican
convention on the 9TH day of October
For red-handed communism it takes
the cake. Read it, republicans, read
it every ybody:
s'The republican party OF Cook coup-
ty in convention assembled, reaffirms
the sentiment which, IN the platform
adopted by the Philadelphia national
convention of 1877, ,isexpressed in these
words, viz: The republican party pro-
poses to respect the lights reserved by
| the people to themselves, as carefully
as the powers delegated by them to the
state and to the fedenl government.
It disapproves Of the resort to uncon-
stitutional laws for thepurpose of re-
moving evils by interference with rights
not surrendered by thpeople to either
the state or national government.
"Those rights not surrendered by
the people to either he state or ma
tional government inclde the rights OF
conscience, of religion md of personal
regimen; which rights there are con-
slant efforts made to ahidge or destroy
by sumptuary and prohbitory laws, or
| laws for the enforcement of religious
observances that are nd binding upon
the conscience of any.
"In accordance with our national
platform of 1872, we oppose all prohi-
bitory or sumptuary G ecclesiastical
legislation, which aims at the curtail-
ment or destruction of slch inalienable
rights which the peosle in forming
state and national governments have
reserved to themselvea And we fur
ther utterly reject and spurn the doc
trine lately proclaimed ly the democra-
cy of our eastern state Connecticut
that, in the people letting through
a majority of the voters, there
is vested as absolute and despotic
a power as in other countries is WELD
ed either by one man-be czar of Rus
sia-or body of en,viz. the British
parliament-a power so absolutely
unlimited that it may, at its own will,
play havoc with thGe inalienable
rights with which, in he language of
the declaration of independence,
every human being is endowed by the
Creator.
Remembering well the origin and
history of the republican party, which
in its infancy crushed he odious doc
trine that a majority Of the people
might, by its imperiow will, impose
the barbarous institution of slavery
upon the unwilling minority, we earn
estly and solemnly deny the right of
majority of the people to destroy,
with one fell swoop, millions OF proper
ty earned in legitimate business pur-
suits, and to outlaw thousands of pc ICE
ful, law abiding citizens.
"And further, believing that religion,
temperance and moras can be best in
culcated by the church, the school and
the home, we therefore utterly
condemn aud denounoe, SIS a measure
essentially unr.publican and despotic
the adoption of constitutional amend
ments prohibiting the manufacture and
sale of fermented or distilled beverages.
and instruct our representatives in the
state legislature not only to resist and
oppose all propositions to destroy in
dividual freedom by prohibitory,
sumptuary, or ecclesiastical laws, but
especially to resist and oppose every
effort to submit to vote of the people
any constitutional amendment like
those lately adopted in Kansas and
Iowa, or any proposition destructive of
these inalienable rights which, in every
true popular government, are and
ought to be placed beyond tho power
of majority vote"