St. Paul daily globe., 1892-06-25
DEMocrACY,s PLATFORM.

SeS- =. we warn the peopie VI our CoHi-
mon country, jealous for the preservation of
their free Institutions, that the policy of fed
eral control Of elections TO which the Repub-
lican partv has committed itself is fraught
with the gravesL dangers, scarcely less mo-
mentous than would result from n resolution
practically establishing monarchy on the
ruins of the republic. 1t strikes at the North
as well as the South, and Injuries the colored
citizen even more than the white. 1t means
a horde of deputy marshals at every polling
place. armed with federal power, returning
boards appointed and controlled by federal
authority, the outrage of the electoral rights
of the people in the several states,
the subjugation of the cOlored peo-
pie to the control of the party in
power and the revival of race antagOnisms,
now happily abated. of the utmost peril to
the safety and happiness of all; measure
deliberately and justly described by leading
Republican senator as 1.-The most infamous
bill that ever crossed the threshold of the
senate" Such policy, if sanctioned by law,
would mean the dominance OF a self-perpet-
uating oligarchy OF ofliceholders. and the
party first intrusted with its machinery could
not be dislodged from power until by an ap-
peal TO the reserved right of the people to re-
sist oppression which is Inherent in all self
governing communities Two years ago this
revolutionary policy was emphaticaiiy con-
demned by the people at the polls; but in
contempt of that verdict the Republican party
has defiantly declared in It's latest authori-
tative utterance that its success in the
coming elections will mean The enact
ment OF the force bill and the usurpation of
despotie control over elections in all states.
Believing that the preservation of republican
government in the United States is depend
ent upon the defeat of the policy of legalized
force and fraud. we invite the support of all
citizens who desire to see the constitution
maintained in its integrity, with the laws
pursuant thereto, which have given our
country 4 hundred years of uneXamped
prosperity; and we pledge the Democratic
party, If it be intrusted with power. not
only to the defeat of the force bill, but also
to relentless opposition to the Republican
policy OF profiigate expenditure which, in
the short space of two years, has squandered
an enormous surplus and emptied an over
flowing treasury, after piling new burdens of
taxation upon the already overtaxed labor
of the country.
The force bill will be no less an issue
in this campaign than it was in the state
and congressional elections of 1890. As
stated in the a5ove-quOted section of
the platform adopted by The Chicago
convention, the Republican party re-
fuses to accept as final the overwhelm-
ing reputation which this odiOus
measure has already received at the
polls. II makes the issue again, clearly
and distinctly, and with SURPRISING i'm
pudenee. 1t careleSsly waves aside the
tremendous verdict Of 1890 as merely an
"off-year stampede of no significance"
and announces, both in its selee-
ton OF presidential candidate
and in its Minneapolis platform, that
federal control of elections is still
cardinal article of its creed. The situ-
alton is too plain to admit Of misinter-
pretation. If Republican president
and Republican house of representa-
tives are elected next November, they
will, in conjunction with the Repub-
liean senate, enact either the original
force bill or some similar measure,
which, as Senator PALMER expresses 1t,
"JoHN DAVENPORT or TIE devil may
DEVISE" They will make provision
whereby the officeholding brigade, so
efficient at Minneapolis, may be enor-
mously augmented and utilized in the
dictation of elections, as well as of
nominations. They will open illimit-
able opportunities for corruption by re-
moving the party in power beyond the
reach of popular rebuke for an indefi-
mite period. If this is what the people
want. now is the time for them to say
SO. If it is not what they want, let
them reiterate in the forthcoming cleo
ton the emphatic verdict Of two years
ago,