Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1888-07-04
THE REPUBLICAN, PLATFORM.

the Convention at Chicago, June -, 1888 :
The Republicans of the United States,
assembled by their delegates in National
Convention, pause on the threshold OF
their proceedings to honor the memory OF
their first great leader, the immortal cham
pion of liberty and the rights of the peo-
pie, Abraham Lincoln and to cover also
with wreaths of imperishable remem-
brance and gratitude the heroic names OF
our late leaders who have more recently
been called away from our councils
Grant, Garfield, Arthur, Logan, Conk.
ling--may their memory be faithfully
cherished.
We also recall with our greetings and
with prayer for his recovery the name ol
one of our living heroes, whose memory
will be treasured in the history both oi
Republicans and of the Republic, the
name of that noble soldier and favorite
child of victory, Philip H. Sheridan.
In the spirit of those great leaders, and
of our own devotion to human liberty,
and with that hostility to all forms of des-
potism and oppression which is the funda-
mental idea of the Republican party, we
send fraternal congratulation to our fellow
Americans of Brazil upon their great act
of emancipation, which completes the alb
olition of slavery throughout the two
American continents.
We earnestly hope that we may soon
congratulate our fellow-citizens Of Irish
birth upon the peaceful recovery of home
rule for Ireland.
We reaffirm our answering devotion to
the National Constitution and the indis-
soluble union of the States to the anato.
my reserved to the States under the Con-
stitution, to the personal rights and liber-
ties of citizens in all the States and the
Territories in the Union, and especially to
the supreme and sovereign right Of every
lawful citizen, rich or poor, native or for
ballot in public elections and to have it
duly counted. We hold free and honest
popular ballot and the just and equal rep
resentation of all the people to be the foun-
dation of our Republican Government, and
demand effective legislation to secure the
integrity and purity of elections, which
are the fountains of all public authority.
We charge that the present Admins
tration and the Democratic majority in
Congress owe their existence to the sup
preston of the ballot by the criminal null
| lification of the Constitution and laws of
the United States.
We are uncompromisingly in favor of
the eAmericans system Of protection we pro-
test against their destruction as proposed
| by the President and his party. They
serve the interests of Europe; we will sup
port the interests of America. We accept
the issue and confidently appeal to the
people for their judgment. The protective
system must be maintained. Its abandon
ment has always been followed by general
disaster to all interests except those of the
usurer and the sheriff.
to the general business, labor and farm
ing interests of the country, and we hear
| tily endorse the consistent and patriotic
actio- of the Republican representatives
in ca Lgress in opposition to its passage.
W4condemn the proposition of the Dem
ocratic party to place wool on the free list,
and we insist that the duties thereon shall
| beadjusted and maintained so as to furnish
full and adequate protection to that in
dustry.
The Republican party would effect all
needed reduction of the national revenue
by repeating the taxes upon tobacco, which
are an annoyance and burden to agricul-
ture, and the tax upon spirits used in the
arts for mechanical purposes, and by such
revision of the tariff laws as will tend to
check imports of such articles as are pro-
duced by our people, the production of
which gives employment to our labor, and
release from import duties those articles of
| foreign production Except luXuries) the
like of which cannot be produced here.
If there shall still remain larger reve-
nue. than is requisite for the wants of the
Government we favor the entire repeal of
internal taxes, rather than the surrender of
any part of the protective system at the
joint behest of the whisky trusts and
agents of foreign manufacturers.
We declare our hostility to the introduce
tion into this country of foreign contract
labor, and of Chinese labor, alien to our
civilization and our Constitution, and we
demand the rigid enforcement of existing
laws against it, and favor such immediate
| legislation as will exclude such labor from
our shores.
We declare our opposition to all combi-
nations of capital organized in trusts, or
otherwise, to control arbitrarily the condi-
recommend to Congress and to the State
Legislatures in their respective jurisdic-
tions, such legislation as will prevent the
execution of all schemes to oppress the
people by undue charges on their supplies,
or by unjust rates for the transportation Of
products to market.
We approve the legislation by Congress
to prevent alike unjust burdens and unfair
discrimination between the States.
We reaffirm the policy of appropriating
the public lands of the United States to be
homesteads for American citizens and set
tiers, not aliens, which the Republican
party established in 1862 against the per-
sistent opposition of the Democrats in
Congress, and which brought our great
Western domain into such magnificent de-
development. The restoration of unearn-
ed railroad land grants to the public do
main for the use of settlers, which was be-
gun under the administration of President
Arthur, should be continued.
We deny that the Democratic party ever
restored one acre to the people, but declare
that by the joint action of the Republicans
and Democrats, about so, 100000 acres of
unearned lands, originally granted for the
construction of railroads, have been re-
stored to the public domain, in pursuance
of the conditions inserted by the Republi-
can party in the original grants.
We charge the Democratic Administra-
ton with the failure to execute the laws
securing to settlers title to holNesteads, and
with using the appropriations made for
that purpose to harass innocent settlers
with spies and prosecutions under the false
pretence of exposing frauds and vindicat-
ing the law.
The government by Congress of the Ter
ritories is based upon the necessity only to
the end that they may become States in
the Union; therefore, whenever the con-
ditions of population, material resources,
public intelligence and morality are such
as to insure stable local government there
in, the people of such Territories should
be permitted, as right Inherent in them,
to form for themselves constitutions and
State governments and be admitted into
the Union. Pending the preparation for
statehood all officers thereof should be
selected from bona fide residents and citi-