Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1895-06-27
NATIONAL PLATFORM
OF the Prohibition Party, Adopted 1t CT
cinnati June 30, 1899.


Of the Prohibition Party, Adopted At Gin
cinnati june 30, 1899.
The Prohibition party in national convention
assembled, acknowledging Almighty God a.
the source Of all true government and his law
rs the standard to which human enactments
must conform to secure the blessings of peace
and prosperity, presents the following DECLARE
ton Of principles:
/. The liquor traffic is q foe to civilization,
the arch enemy Of popular governments, and
public nuisance. It IL the citadel Of the forces
that corrupt politics, promote poverty and
crime, degrade the nations home Life, thwart
the will Of the people and deliver our country
into the hands of rapacious class interests All
laws that under the guise Of regulation le-
galize and protect this traffic or make the
government share in its i'll gotten gains are
"vicious in principle and powerless as . rem
edy." We declare anew for the entire sup
preston of the manufacture, sale, importation,
expectation and transportation Of alcoholic
liquors as a beverage by federal and state leg
islation. The full powers Of government
should be exerted to secure this result. No
party that fails to recognize the dominant ma
ture of this issue in American politics deserves
the support of the people.
2. No citizen should be denied the right to
vote on account of sex, and equal labor should
receive equal wages without regard to sex.
Q. The money Of the country should consist
OF gOlQ, silver anu papery anu DO lSSueQ ny tue
general government only, and in sufficient
quantity to meet the demands Of business and
give full opportunity for the employment Of
labor. To this end an increase in the volume
of money Is demanded. No individual or cor
poration should be allowed to make any profit
through its issue. 1t should be made legal
tender for the payment Of oil debts, public and
sum per capita and made to increase with our
increase in population.
4. Tariff should be levied only as defense
against foreign governments, which levy tariff
upon or bar out our products from their mar
kets, revenue being incidental. The residue of
ton Of the government should be raised by
levying the burden on what the people possess
instead Of upon what they consume.
5. Railroad, telegraph and other public cor
porations should be controlled by the govern
ment in the interest Of the people and no
higher charges allowed than necessary to give
fair interest on the capital actually invested
9. Foreign immigration has become a burden
upon industry, one of the factors In depressing
wages and causing discomfort. Therefore our
immigration laws should be revised and strict,
ly enforced. The time Of residence for NATURAL,
zation should be extended, and no naturalized
person should be allowed to vote until one year
after he becomes q citizen.
Z. Nonresident aliens should not be allowed
to acquire land in this country, and we favor
the limitation Of individual and corporate
ownership Of land. All unearned grants Of
lands to railroad companies or other corpora
tions should be reclaimed.
8. Years of inaction and treachery on the
part Of the Republican and Democratic parties
have resulted In the present reign Of mob law,
and we demand that every citizen be protected
In the right Of trial by constitutional tribunals.
O. All men should be protected by law IN
their right to one day Of rest in seven.
10. Arbitration is the wisest and most eco
nomical and humane method OF settling nation
al differences
IL. SpeculationS in margins, the cornering OF
grain, money and products, and the formation
| Of pools, trusts and combinations for the arbi-
trary advancement Of prices should be sup
pressed.
H. We pledge that the Prohibition party II
elected to power, will ever grant Just pensions
to disabled veterans Of the Union army and
navy, their widows and orphans.
10. We stand unequivocally for the American
public school and opposed to any appropriation
Of public moneys for sectarian schools We
declare that only by united support Of such
common schools, taught in the English Ian.
guage, can we hopo to become and remain q
homogeneous and harmonious people.
IA. We arraign the Republican and Demo
cratic parties as false to the standards reared
by their founders, faithless to the principles
Of the illustrious' leaders of the past to whom
they do homage with the lips, as recreant to
the higher law, which Is as infexible in polit-
ical affairs as In personal life, and as no lon
ger embodying the aspirations Of the Ameri-
can people or inviting the confidence Of en-.
lightened, progressive patriotism. Their pro-
test against tho admission Of "moral issues"
into politics Is a confession Of their own moral
degeneracy. The declaration Of an eminent
authority that municipal misrule Is "the one
conspicuous failure OF American politics" fol
lows as q natural consequence Of such degen
eracy and is true alike Of cities under Repub-
| lican and Democratic control Each accuses
| the other Of extravaganza In congressional ap
preparations, and both are alike guilty. Each
protests when out of power against infrac-
lions Of the civil service laws and each when
| in power violates those laws In letter and in
spirit. Each processes fealty to the interests
Of the toiling masses, but both covertly truckle
| to the money power in their administration Of
public affairs. Even the tariff issue as repre-
sented in the Democratic Mills bill and the
| Republican Mckinley bill Is no longer treated
| by them as an issue between great and diver
| gent principles of government, but Ii a mere
catering to different sectional ard class inter
ests. The attempt in many states to wrest the
| Australian ballot system from its true purpose
| and 30 to deform it as to render 1t extremely
difficult for new parties to exercise the right
| Of suffrage, Is an outrage upon popular govern
| ment. The competition Of both old parties
| for the vote of the slums and their assiduous
counting of the liquor power and subservfency
| to the money power have resulted In placing
| those powers in the position Of practical arbi-
| tiers of the destinies Of the nation. We renew
| our protests against these perilous tendencies
| and invite all citizens to join US in the up
building of party that has shown In five ma
| tional campaigns that 1t prefers temporary
defeat to an abandonment of the claims OF
| justice, sobriety, personal rights and the pro-
| lection OF American homes.
l5 Recognizing and declaring that prohtbt-
| ton of the liquor traffic has become the domt.
nant issue in national politics, we invite to
| full party fellowship allathose who on this
one dominant issue are with us agreed. In the
full belief that this party can and win remove
sectional differences, promote national unity
| and insure the best welfare Of our entire land
If one may judge by its press, the
Democratic party of today has but one
really ruling principle, and that is to
vote the party ticket. The original
and fundamental principles of the
party, the welfare of country and ev-
cry great principle of government
which should constitute the basis of q
party are made subordinate to the
question of party fealty.
The Demorest medal contests will be
continued. but there will be some
changes in tho rules. Full informa-
tion can he ohtained NV addressing the