The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1896-06-26
hon of specie payments in 1877; since then

: VI SlIfSr except Dy INTERNATIONAL agree
ment with the leading commercial ma
! lions of the world, which we pledge our
selves to promote, and until such agree
ment can be obtained the existing gold
standard must be maintained at parity
with gold, and we favor all measures de
: signed to maintain inviolably the obliga-
lions of the United States ssnd all our
money, whether coin or paper, at the
present standard, the standard of themost
enlightened nations of the earth.
: Favor Liberal Pensions.
! The veterans of the Union army deserve
and should receive fair treatment and
generous recognition. Whenever practi-
cable, they should be given the preference
In the matter of employment, and they
are entitled to the enactment of such laws
as are best calculated to secure the fulfill
ment of the pledges made to them in the
dark days of the country's peril. We de-
nounce the practice in the pension bureau,
so recklessly and unjustly carried on by
the present administration, of reducing
pensions and arbitrarily dropping names
from the rolls as deserving the severest
condemnation of the American people.
Our Foreign Relations.
Our foreign policy should be at all times
firm, vigorous and dignifed, and all our
interests in the Western hemisphere care
fully watched and guarded The Hawaiian
Islands should be controlled by the United
States, and no foreign power should be
permitted to interfere with them; the
Nicaraguan canal should be built, owned
and operated by the United States; and by
the purchase of the Danish islands we
should secure proper and much needed
naval station in the West Indies.
The Armenian Massacres.
The massacres in Armenia have aroused
the deep sympathy and just Indignation
of the American people and we believe that
the United States should exercise all the
influence it can possibly exert to bring
these atrocities to an end. In Turkey,
American residents have been exposed to
the gravest dangers and property de-
stroyed. There and everywhere, Ameri-
can citizens and American property must
be absolutely protected at all hazards and
at any cost.
The Monroe Doctrine.
We reassert the Monroe doctrine in it's
full extent, and we reaffirm the right of
the United States to give the doctrine eff
feet by responding to the appeals of any
American state for friendly intervention
in case of European encroachment. We
have not interfered and shall not interfere
with the existing possessions of any Euro
pean power in this hemisphere, but those
possessions must not, on any preteXt, be
extended. We hopefully look forward to
the eventual withdrawal of the European
powers from this hemisphere and to the
ultimate union of all the English-speak-
ing part of the continent by the free con-
sent of it's inhabitants.
Should Interfere in Cuba.
From the hour of achieving their own
independence the people of the United
States have regarded with sympathy the
struggles of other American peoples to
free themselves from European domina-
ton. We watch with deep and abiding
interest the heroic battle of the Cuban
patriots against cruelty and oppression,
and our best hopes go out for the full sue
cess of their determined contest for
liberty.
The government of Spain, having lost
control of Cuba and being unable to pro-
tect the property or lives of resident
American citizens, or to comply with it's
UT6dUy VIC UGllSN0 UlldU U116
government of the United States should
actively use it's influence and good offices
to restore peace and give independence to
the island.
Would Increase the Navy.
The peace and security of the republic
and the maintenance of it's rightful infiu-
ence among the nations of the earth de-
mand naval power commensurate with
its position and responsibility. We, there
fore, favor the continued enlargement of
the navy and complete system of harbor
and sea coast defenses.
As to Foreign Immigration.
For the protection of the quality of our
American citizenship and of the wages of
our workingmen against the fatal compe-
tition of low priced labor, we demand that
the immigration laws be thoroughly en-
forced, and so extended as to exclude from
entrance to the United States those who
can neither read nor write.
The Civil Service
The civil service law was placed ON the
statute book by the Republican party,
which has always sustained it, and we re-
new our repeated declarations that it shall
be thoroughly and honestly enforced and
extended wherever practicable.
Free Ballot and Fair Count.
We demand that every citizen of the
United States shall be allowed to cast one
free and unrestricted ballot, and that such
ballot shall be counted and returned as
cast.
Condemn Lynching.
We proclaim our unqualified condemna-
ton of the uncivilized and barbarous
practice, well known as lynching or kill
ing of human beings, suspected or charged
with crime, without process of law.
National Arbitration.
We favor the creation of a national
board of arbitration to settle and adjust
differences which may arise between en-
ployers and employed engaged in inter
state commerce.
Free Homesteads.
We believe in an immediate return to
the free homestead policy of the Repub-
Ican party, and urge the passage by con-
gress of the satisfactory free homestead
measure which has already passed the
house and is now penang in Une senaUe.
Admission of Territories.
We favor the admission of the remain