The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-07-11

I
mands the restoration of our navy. Ii
has squandered hundreds of millions 10
create navy that does not exist. 1t
calls upon congress to remove the burden
under which American shipping has been
suppressed 1t imposed and has con
tinued these burdens. 1t processes the
policy of reserving the public lands for
small holding by actual settlers. 1t has
gwen away the peoples heritage till now
few railroads and non resident aliens,
individual and corporate, possess a larger
area than that of our farms. 1t processes
a preference for free institutions. 1t or
ganized and tried to legalize control of
state elections by the federal troops. II
processes a desire to elevate labor. 1t
has subjected American workingmen to
the competition of convict and imported
contract labor. 1t processes gratitude to
all who ire disabled or who died in the
war leaving widows and orphans 1t left
to democratic house of representatives
the first effort to equalize both bounties
and pensions. 1t proffers a pledge to
correct the irregularities of our tariff 1t
created and has continued them. Its own
tariff commission confessed the need of
more than twenty per cent reduction. Its
congress gave reduction of less than
four per cent ltprofesses the protection
of American manufacturers. 1t has sub
iected them to an increasing food of man
factured goods aud hopeless competition
with manufacturing nations, not one of
| which taxes raw materials = 1t processes
| to protect all American industries 1t
has impoverished many to subsidiZe a
| few. 1t processes the protection of
American labor. 1t has depleted the re
turns of American agriculture, an indus
try followed by half our people. 1t pros
fesses the equality of all men before the
law. Attempting to fix the status of
colored citizens the acts of its congress
were overset by the decisions of its course.
1t accepts anew the duty of leading in
the work of progress and reform. Its
| caught criminals are permitted to escape
through contriyed delays or actual COM
mittance of the prosecution. Honey
combed with corruption. outbreaking ex>
posures no longer shock its moral sense
| Its honest members, its independent
journals, no longer maintain successful
contest for authority in its counsels or
veto upon bad nominations.
That change is necessary, is proved
by an existing surplus or more than one
hundred million dollars which has yearly
been collected from a suffering people.
| Unnecessary taxation is unjust taxation.
We denounce the Republican party for
having failed TO relieve the people from
| the crushing war taxes which have paral
yzed business, crippled our industries and
deprived labor of employment, and of just
| reward.
The Democracy pledges itself to purify
| the administration from corruption, to re-
store economy, to revive respect for law
and to reduce taxation to the lowest
| limit consistent with due regard 20 the
preservation of the faith of the nation to
| its creditors and pensioners Knowing
| full well, however. that legislation affect~
ing the occupations of the people should
be cautious and conservative in methods
not in advance of public opinion, but
| responsive to its demands, the Democratic
| party is pledged to revise the tariff in a
spirit of fairness to all interests. But in
making reduction in taxes it is not pro-
| posed to injure any domestic industries
| but rather to promote their healthy
growth; from the foundation of this gov
ernment taxes collected at custom house
have been the chief source of federal rev.
enue. Such they must continue to be,
Moreover many industries have come to
| rely upon legislation for the successful
| continuance so that any change of the
| law must be at every step regardful of
the labor and capital thus involved The
| process of reform must be subject in the
execution to this plain dictate of justice
All taxation shall be limited to the re-
quirements of an economical government
The necessary reduction in taxation can
and must be effected without depriving
American labor of the ability to compete
successfully with foreign labor and with
ont imposing lower rates or duty than
will be ample to cover any increased cost
of production which may exist in conse-
quence of the higher rate of wages pre-
vailing in this country. Sufficient reve>
nue. to pay all the expenses of the Federal
| government economically administered
including pensions, the interest and prin
ciple of the public debt, can be got under
our present system of taxation from Gus
tom house taxes on fewer imported arti-
clcs, bearing heaviest on articles of luxury
and bearing lighest on articles of necess-
| ity. We therefore denouuce the abuses of
the existing tariff and subject TO the pros
ceeding limitations. we demand that the
Federal taxation shall be exclusively for
public purposes and shall no! exceed the
needs of thos government economically
administered.
The system of direct taxation known
as an internal revenue is war tax, and
so long as the law continues the money
derived therefrom should be sacredly des
voted to the relief of the people from the
remaining burdens of the war and be made
a fund to defray the expense of the care
and comfort of the worthy soldiers disas
bled in the line of duty in the wars of
the republic and for the payment of such
pensions as Congress may from time to
| time grant to such soldiers, a like fund
for the soldiers having been already pros
vided and any surplus should be paid into
the treasury.
| We favor an American continental
policy, based upon more intimate cemmer )
cial and political relations with the fifteen
sister republics of the North, Central and
South America, but entangling alliances
with none.
We believe in honest money, the gold
and silver coinage of the constitution and
a circulation medium convertible into
such money without loss.
Asserting the equality of all men before
the law, we hold that it is the duty of the
government in its dealings with the peo-
pie. to mete out equal and exact justice
to all citizens of whatever nativity, race,
color, or persuasion religious or political.
| We believe in free ballot and fair
count; and we recall to the memory of the
people the noble struggle OF the democrats
in the forty fifth and forty sixth con-
crosses, by which a reluctant republican
opposition was compelled to assent to
legislation making everywhere illegal the
presence of troops at the polls, as the