Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1888-06-27
THE PLATFORM.
The Principles of the Republican Pa
Laid Down.

Following is the full text of the plat
form:
The Republicans of the United States assem-
bled by their delegates in national convention.
pause on the threshold of their proceeding to
honor the memory OF their first great leader, the
immortal champion of liberty and the rights of
the people-Abraham Lincoln; and to cover also
with wreaths of imperishable remembrance and
gratitude the heroic names of our later leaders
who have more recently been called away from
our councils-Grant Garfield, Arthur, Logan,
Conklng. May their memories be faithfully
cherished. We also recall with our greetings
and with prayer for his recovery the name of one
OF our living heroes whose memory will be treas
ured in the history both of Republicans and of
the republic-the name OF that noble soldier and
favorite child of victory Philip Fl. Sheridan.
In the spirit ofthose great leaders. and of our
own devotion to human liberty, and with that
hostility to all formsof desp otism and oppression
which is the fundamental idea of the Repub
lican party, we send fraternal congratulations to
our fellow Americans of Brazil, upon their great
act of emancipation, which completed the aboli-
ton 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
We reafirm our answering devotion to the
national Constitution and to the indissoluble
union of the states; to the autonomy reserved to
the states under the constitution, to the personal
rightsand liberties Of citizens in all the states and
territories in the Union, and especially to the
supreme and sovereign right of every lawful
e S Een or poo natye or foreign 6Pn
duly counted We hold the free and honest
popular ballot and the just and equal repre-
sentation of all the people to be the foupda-
ton Of our Republican government and demand
effective legislation to secure the integrity and
We ARE efs
administration and the Democratic majority in
Congress owe their existence to the suppression
OF the ballot by criminal notification of the
constitution
We are uncOmprOmisingly in favor of the
American system of protection; we protest against
its destruction as proposed by the President and
his party. They serve the interests OF Europe;
we will support the interests of America. We
accept the issue and confidently appeal to the
people for their judgment. The protective sys-
tenn must be maintained Its abandonment has
always been followed by general disaster to all
interests, except those of the usurer and the
sheriff.
We denounce the Mills bill as destructive to
the general business, the labor and the farming
interests of the country, and we heartily endorse
the consistent and patriotic action of the Repub
1can representatives in Congress in opposing its
passage.
We condemn the proposition of the Democratic
party to place wool on the free list, and we in
sist that the duties thereon shall be adjusted and
maintained so as to furnish full and adequate
protection TO that industry.
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 agriculture and the tax upon
Splf1tS uS6Q IN Inc artS. ana 1Or mechanical
purposes and by such revision of the
tariff laws as will tend to check imports of such
articles as Ire produced by our people. the pro-
duction.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 at home. If there
shall still remain larger revenue than is
requisite tor the wants of the government we
favor the entire repeal of internal taxes, rather
than the surrender of any part of our protective
system. at the joint behest of the whisky ring
n Qcynr mi 1fq0t
We declare our hostility to the introduction
into this country of foreign contract labor, and
of Chinese labor, alien to our civilization and
our constitution, and we demand the rigid en-
forcemene of the existing laws against it. and ia
vor such immediate legislation as will exclude
such labor from our shores
We declare our opposition to all combinations
of capital organized trusts otherwise to con-
troll arbitrarily the condition of trade among our
citizens; and we recommend to Congress, and the
state legislatures in their respective jurlsdic-
tions. such legislation will prevent the execu-
ton of all schemes 10 Cypress the people by I'M
due charges on their supplies, or by unjust rates
for the TRANSPORTATION of their products to mar
ket. We approve the legislation by Congress to
prevent alike unjus burdens and Unfair dis
examinations between the states.
We reatlrm the policy or appropr1ating the
public lands Of the United States to be home
steads for American citizens and settlers, not
aliens which the Republican party establis he'd
in 1862, against the persistent opposition of the
Democrats In Congress, and which has brought
our great Western domain into such magnificent
road land grants to the public domain
tor the use of actual settlers. VIII oh
was begun under the admi nisration of
President Arthur should be continued. We deny
that the Democratic party has ever restored one
acre to the people, but declare that by the Joint
action OF Republicans and Democrats about IS,
0C0,000 of acres of unearned lands originally
granted for the construction Of railroads have
been restored to the public domain, in pursuance
of the conditions inserted by the Republican
party in the original grants. we charge the
Democratic administration with failure to exc
cute the laws securing to settleIs title to Their
homesteads and with using appropriations made
for that purpose to harass innocent settlers with
spies and prosecutions under the false pretense
of exposing frauds and vindicating the law
The government by Congress of the territories
is based upon necessity only, to the end that
they may become states in the Union; therefore,
whenever the condition of population, material
resources, public Intelligence AND morality, are
such as to insure a staple local government
therein, the people of such territories should be
permitted, as right inherent il them, to form
for themselves constitutions and state govern
ments and be admitted into the Union. Pending
the preparation for statehood all officers thereof
should be selected from the bona fide residents
and citizens of the territory wherein they are to
serve. South Dakota should of right be imme-
dately admitted as a state in the Union, under
the constitution framed and adopted
by her people. and we heartily en-
in twice passing bills for her admission. The
refusal of the Democratic House of Representa-
tives, for partisan purposes. to favorably con-
sacred American principle of local selfgovern-
p3ent and merits the condemnation of all Just
men. The pending bills il the Senate for acts to
enable the people of Washington North Dakota
and Montana Territories TO form constitutions
and establish state governments should be
passed without unnecessary delay. The Re-
publican party pledges itself to do all in its
power to facilitate the admission of the terri
tories of New Mexico, Wyoming, Idaho and Ari-
IONA to the enjoyment of selt-government as
states, such of them as now qualified, as
soon as possible, and the others as soon they
may become so.
The political power Of the Mormon Church in
the territories exercised in the past is Il
menace to free institutions too dangerous longer
to be suffered. Therefore.we pledge the Republic
an party to appropriate legislation asserting
the sovereignty of the nation in all territories
where the same is questioned, and in turtherance
of that end to place upon the statute books egis.
lation stringent enough to divorce the political
from the ecclesiastical power, and thus stamp
out the attendant wickedness of polygamy.
The Republican party Is in favor of the use of
both gold and silver as money, and condemns
the policy of the Democratic administra tion in
its efforts 10 demonetiZe silver.
We demand the reduction OF letter postage to |
cent per ounce.
In republic like ours where the citizen is the
sovereign and the official the servant, where no
power is exercised except by the will of the peo-
pie, it is important that the sovereign-the peo-
ple-should possess intelligence. The free school
Is the promoter of that intelligence which is to
preserve us free nation; therefore the state or
nation, or both combined, should support free