The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1892-08-09
POLITICAL PLATFORMS.
A Series of Interesting Documents.
M~Szestones in the Development Of POtGtE-
cal Parties Since the Organizer
tion of the GOUeTh ment.
REPUBLICAN, CHICAGO, MAY 2OTH.
1868.

We congratulate the country on
the assured success of the reconstruc,
tion Dolicv of Congress, as evidenced
nv the adoption, in the majority or the
States lately in rebellion, of cOnstItu-
lions securing equal civil and political
ri0hts to all; and it is the duty OF the
oGvernment to sustain those lnstltu-
lions and to prevent the people OF such
States from being RENTED to a state OF
anarchy.
equal suffrage to all loyal men az
South was demanded by every cons5u-
GRAFTON of public safety, OF gratltuue,
and of Justice, and must be malntaInGu
while the question OF suffrage III an Il
loyal States properly OeIohSs W JIG
people of those States.
2 We denOunce all forms OF repu-
diation as a national crime; and the
national honor requires the payment OF
fine public indebtedness to the utter
most good faith to all creditors at nome
and abroad. not only according to the
letter but the spirit Of the laws under
which it was contracted.
4 It is due to the labor of the nation
that taxation should be equallzed and
reduced as rapidly as the national faith
s The national debt, contracted as
it has been for the preservation OF the
Union for all time to come, should be
extended over a fair period for redemp-
ton, and it is the duty Of Congress to
reduce the rate of interest thereon
when it can be honestly done.
6. That the best policy to diminish
our burden of debt is to so improve
credit that capitalists will seek to loan
us money at lower rates of interest
than we now pay and must continue to
pay, so long S reputation, partial or
total, open u covert Is threatened or
suspected.
z. The government of the United
States should be administered with
the strictest economy; and the corrup.
tions which have been so shamefully
nursed and fostered by Andrew John
son call loudly for radical reform.
s We profoundly deplore the tragic
death of Abraham Lincoln, and regret
the accession to the presidency of An
drew johnson, who has acted treacher-
ously to the people who elected him
and the cause he was pledged to sup
port; who has usurped high legislative
and judicialfunctions, who has refused
to execute the laws; who has used his
high Office to induce other officers to
4SuOI0 anu N1OldL0 JLlC 1d = VIII Hos
employed his executive powers to rem
der insecure the property, the peace,
liberty and life of the citizen; who has
abused the ~pardoning power; who has
denounced the national legislature a
unconstitutional, who has persistently
and corruptly resisted by every means
In his power every proper attempt at
the reconstruction of the States lately
In rebellion; who has perverted the
public patronage into an engine of
wholesale cOrruption; and who has
been justly impeached for high crimes
and misdemeanOrs, and properly pr)-
nounced guilty thereof by the vote of
thirty-fve Senators.
g.. The doctrine of Great Britain and
other European powers, that because a
man is Onc a subject he is alw avs a
subject, must be resisted at every h8Z
ard by the United States, as a relic of
feudal times not authorized by thelaws
of nations, and at wal with our national
honor and independence. Naturalized
citizens are entitled to protection in all
their rights of citizenship as though
they we're native born, and no citizen
of the United States, native Or natural
lied, must be liable to arrest and i'm
~prisOnment by any foreign power for
acts done or words spoken in this
country; and, if so arrested and i'm
prisoned, it is the duty of the govern
ment to interfere in his behalf.
10. OF all who were faithful in the
trials of the late war, there were none
entitled to more especial honor than
the brave soldiers and sealnen who en-
dured the hardships of campaign and
cruise, and imperiled their lives in the
service of the country. The bounties
~- ~~--s1-~ --N-sI~I L. A. l. r
these brave defenders of the nation are
obligations never to be forgotten; the
widows and orphans of the gallant
dead are the wards of the pe0pIe-a
sacred legacy bequeathed to the nations
protecting care.
IL. Foreign immigration, which in
the past has added so much to the
wealth, development and resources and
increase of power to this Republic, the
asylum of the oppressed of all nations,
should be fOstered and encouraged bV
a liberal and just policy.
IL. This convention declares itself in
sympathy with all oppressed people
who are struggling for their rights.
-. That we highly commend the
spirit of magnanimity and forbearance
with which men who have served in
the rebellion, but who now frankly and
HOA0SIAJ CO-OPGIaC0 WIN us In reSGOr-
ing the peace of the country and recon
structing the Southern State govern
ments upon the basis of impartial JUS
tice and equal rights, ~arereceived back
into the communion of the loyal people;
and we favor the removal of the dis,
qualifications and restrictions imposed
upon the late rebels in the same meas
ure as the spirit of disloyalty shall die
out, and as may be consistent with the
safety of the loyal people.
ITO BE CONTINUED.
FIRST DISTRICT CONVENTION.