The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1888-06-29
NATIONAL REPUBLICAN PLATFORM.

NATIONAL REPUBLICAN PLATFORM.
Unanimously Adopted by the Convention at
Chicago June 81, 1883.
The Republicans of the United States assembled,
by their delegates In National Convention pause on
the threshold of their proceedings to honor the menu
aoty of their first great leader, the immortal champion
Of liberty and the rights Of the people, Abraham Lin
coin, and to cover also with wreaths Of imperishable
remembrance and gratitude the heroic names of our
later leaders who have been more recently called
away from our councili-Grant, Garfield, Arthur,
Logan and Conkling. May their memories be faith
fully cherished.
We also recall with our greetings and prayers for
his recovery the name of one of our living heroes
whose name will be treasured in the history both Of
Republicans and Of the Republic, the name of that
noble soldier and favorite child of victory, Philip
Sheridan.
In the spirit of those great leaders, and of our own
devotion to human liberty, and with hostility to all
forms of all despotfsm and oppression. which Is the
fundamental idea of the Republican party, we send
~fraternal congratulations to our fellow Americans of
Brazil upon their act of the abolition of slavery
throughout the two American continents. We ear
nestly hope that we may coon congratulate our fellow
citizens of irish birth Upon the peaceful recovery of
Home Rule for Ireland.
We reafirm our answering devotion to the ma
tional Constitution, and to the indisso!uble Union of
the States, and to the autonomy reserved to the
States under the Constitution as to the personal
rights and liberties of citizens in all the States and
Territories in the Union, and especially to the SUI
preme 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 and honest popular ballot and the
lust and equal representation of all the people to be
the foundation of Republican government, and de-
.mand effective legislation to secure the integrity and
purity of public elections, which are the fountains
Of all public authority. We charge that the present
administration and the Democratic majority in Con-
! gre,is+ owe their existence to the suppression Of the
ballet by a criminal notification of the Constitution
and laws of the United States.
We are uncompromisingly in favor Of the American
system Of protection; we protest against its destruc-
ton, 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 system 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 de-
s~tructive to the general business, the labor and the
farming interests of the country, and we heartily en-.
dorse the consistent and patriotic action of the Re-
publican representatives in Congress in opposing its
passage. We condemn the proposition fthe Demo-
cratic party to place wool on the free list, and We in
sist that the duties thereon shall be adjusted and
maintained go as to furnish full and adequate pro-
lection to the industry. The Republican party would
effect all needed reduction of the national revenue by
repeating the tax s on tobacco, which are an annoy
ance and a burden to agriculture, and the tax upon
spirits used in the arts and for mercantile purposes,
and by such revision of the tariff laws as will tend to
check the imports of such articles as are produced by
our people, the production of which gives employ
ment to our labor, and release from import duty
those articles of foreign production [except luxuries]
| the like of which cannot be produced at home.
If there shall still remain a larger revenue 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 our protective system at the
Joint behest of the whisky trusts and the agents of
foreign manufacturers.
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 enforcement of the existing laws
against it, and favor such immediate legislation as
will exclude such labor from our shores.
We declare our opposition to all combinations Of
capital organized into trusts or otherwise to control
arbitrarily the conditions of trade among our citi-
zens, and we to Congress and the State
Legislatu res in their respective jurisd lotions such
legislation as will prevent the execution of all
schemes to Cypress the people by undue charges on
their supplies, or by unjust rates for the transporta-
ton of their products to market. We approve the
legislation by Congress to prevent, alike, unjust
burdens and unfair discrimination between the
States.
We reafirm the policy of appropriating the public
lands of the United States to be homesteads for
mathematician and settlers, not aliens, which the
Republican party established in 1862, against the per-
~eistent opposition of Democrats in Congress and
which has brought our great western domain into
such magnificent Development. The restoration of
unearned railroad land grants to the public dcmaia
for the use of actual settlers, which was begun under
the administration Of President Arthur, ehould be
continued, We deny that the Democratic party has
ever restored one acre to the people, but declare that
by the joint actions Of Republicans and Democrats
about fifty millions Of acres Of unearned lands origin.
ally granted for the construction of railroads, have
been res stored to the public domain, in pursuance of
the conditions inserted by the Republican party iu
the original grants. We charge the Democratic adj
ministration with failure to execute the laws secur-
ing to settlers their titles to homesteads and with
using appropriations made for that purpose to harass
innocent settlers with spies and prosecutions under
the false pretense of exposing frauds ard indicating
the law. The government by Congress of the Ter
ritories is based upon necessity only, to the end that
they may become States in the Union; therefore,
whenever the conditions of population, material re-
sources, public intelligence and morality are such as
to insure a stable local government therein, the pco-
pie of such Territories should be permitted, as a right
inherent in them, to form for themselves %constltu,
lions and State governments and be admitted into
the Union. Pending the preparation for statehood,
all officers thereof shonld be selected from the bona
y6de residents and citizens of the Territory wherein
! they are to serve.
+. South Dakota should of right be Immediately adj
mitted as a State in the Union, under the Constitu-
ton framed and adopted by her people, and we heart
lily endorse the action of the Republican Senate in
twice passing bills for her admission. The refusal
of the Democratic House of Representatives, for par
tisan purposes, to favorably consider these bills is a
willful violation of the sacred American principle of
local sef-gOvernmcnt and merits the condemnation
of all just men.
The pending bills in the Senate for acts to enable
the people Of Washington, North Dakota and Mon
tana Territories to form constitutions and establish
State governments should be passed without unne-
cessary delay. The Republican party pledges itself
to do all in its power to facilitate the admission of
the Territories of New Mexico, Wyoming, Idaho and
Arizona to the enjoyment of disagreement as
States, such of them as are now qualified as soon IS
possible, and the others as soon as they may become
go.
The political power of the Mormon church in the
Territories, as exercised in the past, is a menace to
free institutions too dangerous longer to be suffered.
Therefore we pledge the Republican party to appro-
pirate legislation asserting the sovereignty of the
nation in all Territories where the same is ques-
toned, and in furtherance of that end to place upon
statute books Legislation stringent enough to divorce
the political from the ecclesiastical power, and thus
etamp 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