Daily Texarkana Democrat. (Texarkana, Ark.) 1890-1894, 1892-09-20
National Dsm0ersuc Platform
Adopted rg BE Tallonal rcmeera.is
10 'toa,'a 80 bhase, JeEe
2isE, 1889.

Section J Z lie !, present ;;yes OF The
DemocraiIc parry ofihe United States, in
National CsuVeui.cn Ii sem5ltd DO reatirlp
their allegiance 70 the principles of the psr-
IS SIS formulate bv Jefferson and ezenuli.
fed by long ard illustrious lips Of his sue
cessors IN Dsinociaiic leadership !rcu Al sd-
ison 10 Cleveland. We believe that thepub-
lie welfare demands tsat these principles be
applied TO the conduct OF the Federal Coy
ernment through the accession to mower OF
the party that advocates them; and we sol.
EMMY declare that the need Of Il return to
these fundamental principles of \ free pop
ulsr government based on Lome rule and
individual liberty was never mora than now,
when the tendency to cen.relize all power
at the Federal Capital has becom menace
10 the reserved rights oftbe States that strike
at the very roots Of our Government under
the Constitution as framed by the Republic,
As 20 THE FORCE BILL.
fec 2. We warn The people of our com
ns On country, jealous Tor the preservation OF
their free institutions, that the policy of Fed
eral control Of elections, to which the Re-
nphnican party has committed itself, is
fraught with the gravess dangers, scarcely
less momentous that would result from a
revolution, practically establishing monar-
ehy en- the ruins Of the Republic
1t strikes at the North as well as tie South
and Injuries the eolored citizens even more
than the whites. 1t means horde of dep
uty marshsls at every polling place, armed
with Federal power, returning boards APP
pointed and controlled by Federal author
itY, the outrage OF the electoral rights OF the
people in the several States, the subjugation
oi the cOlored people to the control of the
party in power and tie reyiying of race an
Mgonsm, now happily abated, Of the utmost
peril to the safety and happiness OF all; a
measure deliberately and Justly described by
a leading Republican Senator "as the most
infamous bill that ever crossed the thresh
old of the Senate" Such policy, if sane
toned by law, would mean the dominance
Of a self perpetGating oligsrchy of Office
holders, and the party first entrusted with
its machinery could be dlslodged from pow
ar only by an appeal to the reserved right
OF the people to resist oppression which is
inherent in all sell-governiDg communities.
Two years ago this revolutionary power
was emphatically CONDEMNED by the people
ut the polls; but IN contempt of that verdict
the Republican party has defantly declared
in its latest authoritative utteIance that its
8ucce sla the coming election will mean
the enac ment of the force bill and theusur-
patton of despotie control over elections in
all the States.
Believing that the preser7 alton Of Tepub-
ican government in the United States is
dependent upon the defeat Of this policy Of
force and fraud, We invite the
support of Il citizens who desire to see the
Constitution maintained IN its integrity with
the laws pursuant thereto which have given
our country hundred years Of unexampled
prosperity; and we pledge the Democratic
party, iii be int usted with power, not
only TO the defeat Of the force bill, but also
10 resembles opposition to the R"pubican
policy of proiligate expenditure, which in
the short space OF t%o years has squaEdered
an enormous surp Us and empIed an over
lowing treasury after piling new burdens OF
taxation upon the already oyerta&ed labor
OF the country