Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1888-07-19
For President of the United States of America,
BENJAMIN HARRISON, of Indiana
For vice-President of the United States,
LEVI p. MORTON, of New York.
NATIONAL REPUBLICAN PLATFORM.

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 gratitude the
heroic names of our later leaders who have more
recently been called away from our eOuncl-Grant
Garfield Arthur, Logan, Cenkling. May their
memories he 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 the Repub
licans and the repGblic-the name of that noble
soldier and fayOrite child of victory, Philip H.
sheridan.
In the spirit of those great leaders, and of our
own devotion to human liberty, with that hostility
to all form of despOtiSm and oppression which is
the fundamental idea of the RepuhliGa an party We
send fraternal congratulations to our fellow Amer
leans OF Brazil, upon their great act OF emancipa
| tiOn, which completed the abolition of slavery
| throughout the two American continents We
earnestly hope that We may soon congratulate our
fellOwcitZens of Irish birth upon the peaceful re-
I cOvery of home rule for Ireland.
We reaffirm our answering devotion to the Ma
tOnal Constitution and to the ndiSSOluble 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
| of the Union, and especially to the supreme and
poor, native or foreign born, white or black to east
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 representa-
tOn of all the people, to be the foundation of
republican government and demand effective legis-
atOn 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 exis-
tence to the suppression OF the ballot by criminal
nullifcation OF the Constitution and laws of the
| United States.
|
can 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 system must be MAIN
| tanned. Its abandonment has always been follow
ed by general disaster to all interests except those
| of the uSurer and the sheriff. We denOunce the
Mills bill as destructive to the general interests of
the country and we heartily indOrSe the consistent
and patriotic action of the Republican Representa-
! tiyes in Congress in opposing its passage.
| We condemn the proposition of the Democratic
party to place wool on the free list and We insist
that the duties thereon shall be adjusted and main
tained so as to furnish full and adequate prOtee-
| tOn 10 that industry.
The Republican party would effect all needed re-
ductiOn of the national revenue by repeating the
taxes upon tobacco, which are an annoyance and
burden to agriculture, and the tax upon spirits
used in the arts and for mechanical purposes; and
by such revision of the tariff laws will tend to
check imports of such articles as are produced by
our people, the production of which gives employ
ment to our labor, and releases from import duties
those articles of foreign production (eXcept lux
uries), the like of which cannot be produced at
home. Ii there shall still remain 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 the 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 civilization and our Con-
situtiOn, and we demand the rigid enforcement of
the existing laws against it, and faVar such i'm
mediate LEGISLATION Is nNplu1a labor
our shores.
We declare our opposition to all combinations of
capital, organized i'll trusts or otherwise to control
arbitrarily the condition of trade among citizens,
and we recommend to Congress, and the State
Legislatures in their respective Jurisdictions, such
legislation as Will prevent the execution OF all
schemes to OppreSS the people by undue charges
on their supplies or by unjust rates for the tranSpOr
tatiOn of their products to market. We approve
the legislation by Congress to prevent like unjust
burdens and unfair determinations between the
States.
We reafirm the policy of apprOpriating the public
lands of the United States to be hOmeSteads for
American citizens and settlers, not aliens, which
the Republican party established in 1862 against
the-perSiStent opposition of the Democrats in Con-
greSS and which has brought our great Western
domain into such magnificent development. The
restoration of unearned railroad land grants to the
public domain for the of actual settlers which
was begun under the Administration 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 Re-
publicanS and Democrats about fifty millions of
acres OF unearned lands originally granted for the
construction OF railroads have been restored to the
public domain in pursuance of the conditions i'll
serted by the Republican party in the original
grants. We charge the Democratic Admnistra-
ton with failure to execute the laws securing to
settlers titles to their hOmesteadS and with using
appropriations made for that purpose to harass in
nocent settlers with spies and prosecutions under
the false pretense of exposing frauds and vindicat-
ing 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 to in
sure stable local government therein, the people
OF such territories should be permitted, as right
inherent IN them, to form for themselves COnStitu-
tons and State governments, and be admitted into
the Union. Pending the preparation for Statehood
al officers thereof should be selected from the bona
hde residents and citizens OF the Territory wherein
they are TO serve. South Dakota should OF right
he Immediately admmitted as a State in the Union,
under the Constitution framed and adopted by her
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 favor
ably consider these bills is wilful violation of the
American principle of local self-gOvernment and
merits the condemnation of all just men. The pen
ding bills in the Senate for acts to enable the people
of Washington, North Dakota and Montana Ter
rtOrieS to form Constitutions and establish State
governments, should be passed without unneees-
Sary delay The Republican party pledges itself to
do an in its power to facilitate the admission of the
Territories of New Mexico, Wyoming Idaho and
Arizona to the enjoyment of Self-gOyernment as
States such OF them as are now qualified soon as
possible, and the others as soon as they become so.
The political power of the Mormon Church in the |
Territories as exercised in the past is menace to
free institutions too dangerous longer to be suffer-
ed. Therefore We pledge the Republican party to |
appropriate legislation asserting the sovereignty
OF the Nation in all Territories where the same is
questioned and in furtherance of that end to place
upon the statute book legislation stringent enough
to divorce the political from the ecceSastic 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 mOneyRand condemns the |
policy of the Democratic Administration in its eff
forts to demOnetiZe silver.
We demand the reduction of letter postage to
one cent per ounce.
In Republic like ours, where the citizen is the |
sovereign and the official is the servant, where no
power is exercised except by the will of the people,
it is important that the SOvereign-the people
should possess Intelligence The free school is the
promoter of that intelligence which is to preserve
us free NatOn therefore, the State or Nation, or
both combined should support free institutions of /
learning, sufficient to afford to every child growing
up in the land the opportunity of good common
school education.
We earnestly recommend that prompt action he /
taken by Congress in the enactment of Such legiSla
ton as VIII best secure the rehabilitation OF our
American merchant marine, and we protest against |
the passage by Congress of free ship bill, as cal
culated to work injustice to labor by iessening the
wages of those engaged in preparing materials, as
well as those directly employed in our shipyaTds
We demand appropriations for the early rebuild
ing of our navy for the construction of coast fOrt
hatlOnS and modern ordnance and other approved
modern means of defense for the protection of our
delenSeleSS narDOrS and cltleS Tor the payment Ot
Just pensions to our soldiers; for necessary works
of national Importance in the improvement Of har-
bOrs and channels of INTERNAL cOastwiSe and for
eign commerce; for the encouragement of the
shipping interests of the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific
States, as well as fer the payment of the maturing
public debt. This policy will give employment to
our labor, activity TO various industries, in
crease the security of country, promote trade,
open new and direct markets for our produce and
cheaper the cost of transportation. We affirm this
to be far better for our country than the Demo-
cratic policy OF loaning the Governments money
without interest to pet banks"
The conduct OF foreign affairs by the present Ad-
has been distinguished by its inef-
ficiency and its cOwardice. Having withdrawn
from the Senate all pending treaties effected by
Republican administration for the removal of for
eign burdens and restrictions upon our commerce
and for its extension into better markets, it has
neither effected nor proposed any others In their
stead. Processing adherence to the Monroe doc
trine it has seen, with idle cOmpacency, the eX-
tension of foreign influence in Central America and
of foreign trade everywhere among our neighbOrS.
1t has refused to charter, sanction or encourage
any American organization for constructing the