The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-08-20
NATIONAL PLATFORM
Adopted at Chicago, June II, 1888.
H PREAMBLE.

ScmOlc0 Oy thciI QcicR6tcS III III CoA'
ton, pause on the threshold of their proceed
ings 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 imperisha-
BILE remembrance and gratitude the heroic
names of later leaders, who nave been more
recently called away from our councils
Grant, Garfield, Arthur, Logan, Conkling.
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 treasured
in the history both Of Republicans and of the
Republic-the name of that noble soldier and
favorite child of victory, Philip II. Sheridan.
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 f~raternal con-
gratulations to our fellow-Americans of Brazil
upon their great act Of emancipation, which
completed the abolition of slavery through
out the two American continents We earn
estly hope that we may soon congratulate our
fellow-citizens of Irish birth upon the peace
full recovery of home rule for Ireland.
AN EQUAL BALLOT AND REPRESENTATION.
We affirm our answering devotion to the
national Constitution, and to the indissoluble
union of the States; to the autonomy reserved
to the States under the Constitutions; to the
personal rights and liberties of citizens in all
the States and Territories in the Union, and
especially 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
and honest popular ballot, and the just and
equal representation of all the people, to be
the foundation 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 administration. and
the Democratic majority in Congress, owe
their existence to the suppression of the bal
lot by a criminal notification of the Consti-
tuition and laws Of the United States.
THE TARIFF AND REVENUE.
We are uncompromisingly in favor of the
American system of protection. We protest
against its destruction proposed by the Presi-
dent and his party. They serve the interests
of Europe; Wa will support the interests of
America. We accept the issue and confident
ly 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 destructive to the general
business, the labor and the farming interests
Of the country, and we heartily indorse the
consistent and patriotic actions Of the Repub-
lican Representatives in Congress in opposing
its passage.
We condemn the proposition of the Demo
cratic party to place wool on the free list, and
we insist that the duties thereon shall be ad-
justed and maintained so as to furnish full
4-I .x,a A. 49, 1.-s
The Republican party would effect all need
ed reduction of the national revenue by re-
pealing the taxes on tobacco, which are an an
noyance and burden to agriculture, and the
tax upon spirits used in the arts and for me-
chanical purposes; and by such revision Of
the tariff laws as will tend to check imports of
such articles as are produced by our people,
the production of which gives employment 20
our labor, and release from import duties
those articles Of foreign production Except
luxuries) the like of which cannot be pro-
duced at home. If there shall still remain a
larger revenue than is requisite for the want
of the government. we favor the entire re-
peal of internal taxes rather than the surren-
der of any part of our protective system at
the Joint behest of the whisky trusts and the
agents of foreign manufacturers.
SERvILE LABOR AND TRUSTS"
I'VE 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 enforcement of the existing laws against
il, and favor such immediate legislation as
will exclude such labor from our shores.
We declare our opposition to all combina-
tons of capital organized in trusts or other
wise, to control arbitrarily the condition Of
trade among our citizens, and we commend to
Congress and the State Legislatures, in their
respective jurisdictions, 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 traps-
portation of their products to market. We
approve the legislation by Congress to pre-
vent alike unjust burdens and unfair discrim-
nations between the States.
PUBLIC LANDS AND TERRITORIES.
We reaf6rm the policy of appropriating the
public lands of the United States to be home
steads for American citizens and settlers, not
aliens. which the Republican party established
in 1862, against the persistent opposition of
the Democrats in Congress, aud which has
brought our great Western domain into such
magnificent development. The restoration of
unearned land grants to the public domain for
the use of actual settlers. which was begun
under the administration of President Arthur,
should be continued. We deny that the Dem
ocratic party has ever restored one acre to the
people, but declare that by the joint action Of
Republicans and Democrats, about fifty mill
ions of acres of unearned lands originally
granted for the construction of railroads have
been restored to the public domain, in pursu-
ance Of the conditions inserted by the Repub-
lican party in the original grants. We charge
the Democratic administration with failure to
execute the laws securing to settlers titles to
their homesteads, and with using appropria-
tons made for that purpose to harass inno-
cent settlers with spies and prosecutions un-
der false ~pretense of exposing frauds and vim
dicating the law.
The government by Congress of the Terri
tories is based upon necessity only, to the end
that they may become States in the Union;
therefore, whenever the conditions of popula-
ton, material resources, public intelligence
and morality are such as to secure a stable To-
cal government therein, the people of such
Territories should be permitted, as a right in
herent in them, to form for themselves con-
stitutions and State governments and be adj
mitted into the Union. Pending the prepara-
ton for statehood, all officers thereof should
be selected from the bona fde residents and
citizens of the Territory wherein they are to
serve. South Dakota should Of right be i'm
mediately admitted as a State in the Union,
under the Constitution framed and adopted
by the people, and we heartily indorse the
action Of the Republican Senate in twice
passing bills for her admission. The refusal
of the Democratic House of Representatives,
for partisan purposes, to favorably consider