, 1888-06-22
REPUBLICAN PLATFORM.
Sky High Protective Tariff Freely
Favored,

CHICAGO, June 2l.-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 champion of liberty
and the rights of the people, Abraham
Lincoln, and to cover, also, with wreaths
of imperishable remembrance and graft
tude the heroic names of our later leaders
who have been more recently called away
from our councils-Grant. Garfield, Ar
thur, Logan, ConklinR. May their mem
cries 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 H. Sheridan.
FRATERNAL GREETING.
In the spirit of those great leaders and
of our own devotion to human liberty and
with hat hostility to all forms of despotism
and oppression, which is the fundamental
idea Of the Republican party, we send
fraternal congratulation to our fellow
Americans OF Brazil, upon their great act
OF the abolition Of slavery throughout the
tive American continents. We earnestly
hope that we may o congratulate our
fellow citizens of IRISH birth upon the
peaceful recovery of home rule for Ireland.
FREE BALLOT.
We reafirm our answering devotion
TO the national constitution and to the in
dissolub.e union of the states; to the
autonomy reserved to the states under
the constitution; to the personal rights
and liberties of citizens in all the states
and territories in the Union and especial
ly to the supreme and sovereign right of
every lawful citizen, rich or poor, native
or foreign born. white or black, to cast
one free ballot in public elections and to
have that ballot duly counted. We hold
the free aud honest popular ballot and the
lust and equal representation of all the
people to be the foundation of u Re-
publican government, and demand effec-
tive legislation to secure the integrity and
purity of elections, which are the founda-
tons of all public authority. We charge
that the present administration and Dem
ocratic majority in congress owe their ex-
istence to the suppression of the ballot by
a criminal notification of the constitution
and laws of the United States.
TARIFF FOR PROTECTION.
We are uucompromisingly in favor of
the American system OF protection; we
protest against Its destruction, proposed
by the president and his party; they serve
the interests of Europe; we will support
issue and confidently appeal to the peo-
,lo g. tLa,r tn1nnnant. tho nrotantiua
system must be maintained. Its aban-
donment 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 patri-
otto action of the Republican representa-
tiyes In congress in opposing its passage;
we condemn the proposition Of the Dem
ocratic party to place
wool ON THE FREE LIST
and we insist hat the duties thereon shall
be adjusted and maintained so as to fur
nish full and adequate protection to the
industry. The Republican party would
effect all needed reduction Of the national
revenue by repeating the taxes upon to-
baooo, which are an annoyance and a burden
to agriculture and the tax upon spirits
used in the arts and for mercantile pur.
poses and by such revision of the tariff
laws as will tend to check imports Of such
articles as are produced by u people, the
production of which gives employment to
our labor, and release from import duties
those articles of foreign production, ex
oept luxuries, the like Of which cannot
BE PRODUCED AT HOME.
IF there shall still remain q larger reve
nue. than is requisite for the wants of the
government, we favor the entire repeal Of
the internal taxes rather thar the surren'
der of any part OF our protective system
at tie joint behest of tho whisky ring and
the agents of foreign manufacturers.
FOREIGN LABOR.
We declare our hostility to the intro
duction into this country of foreign con.
tract labor and of Chinese labor alien tc
our civilization and our constitution, and