Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1888-06-08
The Prohibition Platform.

The Prohibition Platform.
The Prohibition party, in National
Convention assembled, acknowledging
Almighty God as the source of all
power in government, do hereby de-
clare:
lst-That the manufacture, impor-
tation, expectation, transportation
and sale of alcoholic beverages shall
be made public crimes, and punished
as such.
2d-That such prohibition must
be secured through amendments of
our National and State Constitutions,
enforced by adequate laws adequately
supported by administrative author
ity, and to this end the organization
of the Prohibition party is impera-
lively demanded in State and Nation.
3d-That any form of license. tax
alton or regulation of the liquor
traffic is contrary to good government;
that any party which supports regu-
lation license or tax enters into an al
lance with such traffic and becomes
the actual foe of the States welfare,
and that we arraign the Republican
and Democratic parties for their per-
sistent attitude in favor of the licensed
iniquity. whereby they oppose the de.
mand of the people for prohibition,
and, through open completely with
the liquor cause, defeat the enforce
ment of law.
4th-We demand the immediate
abolition of the internal revenue sys-
TEN, whereby our National Govern
ment is deriving support from our
greatest national vice.
5th-That an adequate public rev.
enue being necessary, it may properly
be raised by impost duties and by an
equitable assessment upon the prop.
erty and the Legitimate business of
the country, but import duties should
be 80 reduced that no surplus shall be
accumulated in the Treasury, and
that the burdens of taxation shall be
removed from food, clothing and other
comforts and necessaries Of life.
6th-That civil service appoint
ments for all civil Offices, chiefly cleri-
cal in their duties, should be based
upon moral, intellectual and physical
qualifications, and not upon party
service or party necessity.
7th-That the right of suffrage
rests on no mere circumstance Of race,
color, sex or nationality, and that
where. from any cause, it has been
held from citizens who are of suitable
age and mentally and morally quail
fed for the exercise of an intelligent
ballot, it should be restored by the
people through the legislatures of the
several States, on such educational
basis they deem best.
MARRIAGE AND DIvORC
8th-Abolition of polygamy and
the establishment Of uniform laws gov
erning marriage and divorce.
9th-For prohibiting all combina-
tions of capital to control and increase
the cost of produce for popular con-
sumption.
10th-For the preservation and de-
fense of the Sabbath az a civil insti-
tuition. without expressing any who
religiously observe the same on any
other day than the first day of the
week. That arbitration is the Chris
tian, wise and economic method of
settling national differences and the
same method should by judicious leg
islation be applied to the settlement
of disputes between large bodies of
employees and employers; that the
abolition OF the saloon would remove
the burdens, moral, physical, pecuni
ary and social, which now oppress
labor, and rob it Of its earnings, and
would prove to he the wise and sue
cessful way of promoting labor reform,
and we invite labor and capital to
unite with US for the accomplishment
thereof; that monopoly in land is
wrong to the people, and the public
land should be reserved to actual set
tiers, and that men and women should
receive equal wages for equal work.
Ilth-That our immigration laws
should be 80 enforced as to prevent
the introduction into our country of
all convicts, inmates of dependent in
stitutions, and of others physically
incapacitated for selfsupport, and
that no person should have the ballot
in any State who is not citizen of
the United States
Recognizing and declaring that the
prohibition of the liquor traffic has
become the dominant issue in national
politics, we invite to full party fellow
ship all those who, on this one dom
inant issue, are with us, in the full
belief that this party can and will re-
move sectional difference. promote
national unity and insure the beet
welfare Of our native land.