Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1896-08-07
THE PLATFORM.
STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES ON
WHICH THE PEOPLE WILL WIN.
The Democratic Party. ShOrn of Its
Fungus Growth. il again the
Party of the Peopie-A Plain and
Explicit Statement of its Princi.
OlPs.

/ Party of tho Peopie-A Plain and
/ Explicit Statement of its Princi-
pies.
4 We, the Democrats of the United States
/ i'll national convention assembled do re-
Affirm our allegiance to those great cs-
sentlal principles OF Justice and liberty
upon which our institutions are founded
and which the Democratic party has
/ advocated from Jefferson's time 10 our
I own: Freedom of speech. freedom of the
/ press, freedom of conscience, the preSer-
| Walton of personal rig hts, the equality of
All cltlZens before the law, and the faith
tul observance of constitutional limita-
! tons. During all these Years the Demo-
cratic party has resisted the tendency of
selfish interests to the Capitalization of
| governmental power and steadiastly
maintained the integrity of the dual
scheme of government as established
! by the founders of this repub
lie OF republics. Under its guild
ance and teachings the great princi-
| pie of local sclf-gOvernment has found its
best expressions i'll the maintenance of
the rights OF the States and its assertion
of the necessity of combining the general
government to the exercise of the powers
granted by the constitution of the United
States.
Recognizing that the money question is
paramount to all Others at this time, we
invite attention to the fact that the Fed
eral constitution names silver and gold
together as the money metals of the
United States, and that the first coinage
| law passed 10y congress under the CON
stitution made the silver dollar the
monetary unit and admitted gold to free
coinage at ratio based upon the silver
| dollar unit. We declare that the act of
1873 demonetiZing silver without the
knowledge or approval of the American
| people has resulted i'll the appreciation of
gold and corresponding tall i'll the
prices of commodities produced by the
people, heavy increase i'll the burden of
! taxation and of all debts, public and
| private, the enrichment of the money.
! lending class at home and abroad, prostra-
! ton OF industry and impOverishnent Of
the people. We are unalLerably opposed
to mono metallism, which has locked
fast the prosperity of an Industrious peo-
pie i'll the paralysis OF hard times. Gold
mono-metall ism is British policy, and
its adoption has brought other nations
into financial servitude to London. 1t 3
| not only un-Amerlcan, but anti-Ameri-
| can, and it can be fastened upon the
United States only by the sitting OF that
spirit and love of liberty which pro-
claimed our political independence in
ln6 and Won 1t III the war of the rev olu-
| ton.
We demand the free and unlimited
coinage of both gold and silver at the
present legal ratio of IL to |, without
waiting for the aid or consent of any
other nation. We demand that the
standard silver dollar shall be full
legal tender, equally with gold, for all
debts public and private, and we favor
such legislation as will prevent the
demonstration of any kind of legal
tender money 10y private contract.
! We are opposed to the policy and prac-
tlce of surrendering to the holders OF Oh.
| legations of the United States the option
reserved by law to the government of re.
deeming such obligations in silver.
We are opposed to the issuing of in
terest- bearing bonds of the United States
i'll times of peace, and condemn the traf-
| ticking with banking syndicates which i'm
exchange Tor bonds at an enormous profit
to themselves supply the Federal treas
| ury with gold to maintain the policy of
gold mono-metallism.
Congress alone has the power to coin
and Issue money, and President Jackson
declared that this power could not be |
delegated to corporations or individuals. |
We therefore denounce the issue of notes |
as money by national banks as in deroga- |
ton of the constitution, and we demand |
that all paper which is made legal tender
tor public and private debts or which is |
receivable for dues to the United States |
shall be issued by the government of the |
United States aud be redeemable in coin. |
We hold that tariff duties should be
levied for the purpose of revenue, such
duties TO be readjusted so as to operate
equally throughout the country and not |
discriminate between class or section and |
that taxation should be limited by the
needs Off the government honestly
and economically administered. We
denounce as disturbing to business
the Republican threat to restore the
Mckinley law, which has been twice
condemned by the people in national
elections, and which, enacted under
the false plea of protection to home
industry, proved prolific breeder of
trusts and monopolies, enriching the few
at the expense OF the many, restricted |
trade and deprived the producers of the
great American staples OF access to their
natural markets. Until the money oues-
ton is settled We are opposed to any agita-
ton for further changes in our tariff laws
except sucn as are necessary to make up
the deficit in revenue caused by the adj |
verse decision of the supreme court ON
the income tax.
But for this decision by the supreme
court there would be no deficit in the
revenue under the law passed by a Dem
ocratic Congress-, in strict pursuance of |
the uniform decisions of that court for |
nearly 100 years, that court having under
that decision sustained constitutional oh. |
iections to its enactment which had been
oyerruled by the ablcst judges who have |
ever sat on that bench. We declare that
it is the duty of Congress to use all the
constitutional power which remains after |
that decision, or which may come from
its reversal by the court as it NAV here. |
after be constituted, so that the burdens |
of taxation may equally and impartially |
be levied, to the end that wealth NAV
bear its due proportion OF the expenses of |
the government.
We hold that the most efficient way of |
protecting American labor is to prevent |
the importation of foreign pauper labor |
to complete with it in the home market, |
and that the value of the home market
to our American farmers and artisans is |
greatly reduced by vicious monetary
system which dspresses the prices Of |
their products below the cost of produc- |
ton and thus deprives them of the means |
of purchasing the products of our home |
manufactures.
The absorption of wealth by the few,
the consolidation OF our leading railway
systems and the formation of trusts and |
pools require stricter control by the |
Federal government of those arteries of |
commerce. We demand the enlarge
ment of the powers of the interstate com
merce commission, and such restrictions |
and guara ntees in the control of railroads
as will protect the people from robbery
and oppression.
We denounce the profiigate waste of
the money wrung from the people by OPP
pressive taxation and the lavish appro- |
DrlatiOns OF recent Republican Congresses
which have kept taxes high, while the
labor that pays them is unemployed and
the products of the peoples toll are de-
pressed in price until they no longer re-
pay the cost OF production. We demand
a return to that simplicity and economy
which BELTS a Democratic government
and reduction in the number of useless
offices, the salaries of which drain the |
substance of the people.
We denounce the arbitrary interference
by Federal authorities in local affairs as
n " of trafs -.
ed States. and a crime against free in
situations, and we especially object to
government interference 10y Injunction as
a new and highly dangerous form of Cd.
preston by which Federal Judges, in
contempt of the laws of the States and
the riGliS of c.fiZans hacoma Mt ouca