Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1888-09-21
TEE PLATFORM.
An Able and Interesting
Document.

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Document.
PROTECTION, THE PLANK ON
WHICH WE STAND.
sQUARELY AND UNEQUIVOCALLY-
REPEAL OF THE TOBACCO TAX
CLEVELAND's ADMINISTRATION
CONDEMNED.
CHICAGO, June 2l.-The following is the
platform as reported TO the convention
and adopted by a unanimous vote:
The Republicans of the United States
assembled by their delegates in the Ma
tional Convention pause on the threshold
of their proceedings TO honor the memory
of their first great leader immortal cham
pion of liberty and the rights Of the peo-
pie, Abraham Lincoln, and cover also
with wreaths of imp0rishable remembran-
co and gratitude, the heroic names of the
later leaders who haN moro recently been
called away from our councils, Grant,
Garfield, Arther, Logan, Conkling. May
their memories De faithfully cherished.
We also recall with our greetings and
pray or for his recovery the name of one
of our living heroes whose memory will
DO treasured in history, both Of Republi-
cans and of the Republic, the name of that
noble soldier and favorite child of victory,
Philip H. Sheridan. In the spirit of those
great leaders are Of our own devotion to
human liberty and with that hostility to
all the forms of despotism and oppression
which is the fundamental idea of the Re
publican party, we send iraternal cOngrat-
ulations to our fellow Am ricans of Bra
iii upon their great act OF the emancipa-
ton which completes the abolition 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 for Ireland. We re-affirm
our answering devotion to the National
Constitution and the indissOluble Union
of States, TO autonomy reserved to the
States under the constitution; to the per
sonal rights and liberties of the citizens
in all States and Territories in the Union,
and especially TO the supreme and soyer-
eign right of every lawful citizen, rich or
poor, native or foreign born, white or
black, to cast one free ballot in the public
elections and to have their ballot duly
counted We hold that free trade and
honest and popular ballot and just and
equal representation of all people to be
the foundation of our Republican govern
ment, and demand effective legislation to
secure the integrity and surety of the
elections which are the fountains of all
public authority.
We charge that the present admlnistra-
ton and the Democratic majority in Con-
gress owe their existence to the suppress
sion of the ballot by the criminal nullifi-
cation of the constitution and the laws OF
the United States.
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 o; America. We &C
cept the issue and confidently appeal to
the people for their judgment. The pro-
tective system must be maintained. Its
abandonment has always been followed
by general disaster to all interests except
those of the usurer and sheriff.
We denounce the Mills bill as destruc.
tive to the general business. labor and
farming interests of the country and we
heartily endorse the consistent and patri-
otto action Of the Republican representa-
tives 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 { G duties thereon
shall be adjusted and maintained 80 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, aud tax on spirits used in the
arts and for mechanical 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 produc-
ton of which gives employment to our
labor and reduce from import duties those
articles OF foreign production Except lux
uries) the like Of which cannot be prOduc-
ed at home. II there shall still remain a
larger revenue than is required for the
government, we favor the entire repeal of
the internal revenue taxes rather than
the surrender of any part of our protective
system at the joint behest OF whisky trusts
and agents Of foreign manufacturers. We
declare our hostility TO the introduction
into this country OF foreign contract la
Dor and Of Chinese labor, alien TO our CIV
ilizatiOn and our constitution, and we de-
mand a rigid enforcement of existing laws
against il and favor such immediate leg
=. NJ M luh
our shores
We declare our opposition to all combin-
atiOns of capital organized in trusts or
otherwise to control arbitrarily the con-
dition of trade among our citizens, and we
recommend TO Congress and the State
Legislatures, in their respective iurisdic-
tIons, such legislation as will prevent the
execution Of al schemes to Cypress the
people by undue charges on their aupples
or by unjust rates for transportation of
their products to market. We approve
the legislation by Congress to prevent
alike burdens and unfair determinations
between the States.
We re-affirm 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 per
sistent opposition of the Democrats in
Congress, and which has brought our
Western domain into such magnificent
dsvelopement; the restoration of unearn-
ed railroad land grants TO the public do
main for the use of settlers, which was
begun under the administration of Presl-
dent Arther, should be continued. We
deny that that the Democratic party has
ever restored one acre to the people but
declare that by joint action of the Repub-
llcans and Democrats about fifty millions
of acres of unearned a nds, 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 adj
ministration with failure to execute the
laws securing TO the settlers their home
steads and with using the approximations
made for that purpose to harrass innocent
settlers with spies and prosecutions, I'M
der the false pretense Of reporting frauds
and vindcating law. The Government
by Congress of the Territories, is based
upon necessity only to the end that they
NAV become States in Union therefore,
whenever the condition OF population,
material resources, public intelligence aud
morality, are such as TO insure stable
local government th6r0in, the people Of
such Territories should be permitted as a
right inherent In them, to form for them
selves constitutions and State govern
ments and be admitted into the Union
pending preparation for statehood. All
officers thereof should be selected from
residents and citizens of the Territory