The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1896-07-17
DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM.
Document IS Agreed to by the
mittee.

NI1tO00Os July C.--I OlIOWl Is ttl0& Il
platform as agreed to by the subcom-
mittee to be submitted to the general
committee. The minority will, of
course, present a report taking ground
against the free coinage Of silver.
The platform:
w the Democrats OF the Unitel States, in
National convention assembled, do reaffirm
our aiiegi ance to those great essential princl-
pies OF justice and liberty upon which our In
situations ara founded, and which the Demo-
crat c party has maintained from Jeffsr sons
time to our own-fresdom OF speech, freedom
OF the press, freedom of conscience, the preser-
vatlon OF personal rights. the equality OF all
citizcns before the law, and th!e faithful OBJ
servance of constitutional limitations.
Recognizing that the money question is
paramount to all others at this time. we invite
attention to thu fact taat the federal c~onstitu-
ton names silver and gold to yether as the
money metals o. tn, United Staes and that
the first coinage law passed by Congress under
the constitution made the silver dollar the
unit OF value, and admittel gold to free con-
age at a ratio measured by the silver dollar
unit.
"Wedeclara that the act of 1878, d,monetiz.
ing silver without the knowlenge or approval
OF the American people, ha, resulted in the
app ~eciation of gold and a corresponding fa.l
In the prices of commodities produced by tbs
people; a heavy inrre Sc in the burden of tax.
alton, AMI OF all debts. publ; aud private; the
enrlchmant OF the money lending class at home
and abroad: paralysis of industry and impover.
ishment of the people.
W are unalterab v opposed t. the single
god standard. which has locked fast the
prosperity of an Industrious peosle in thu par.
alysis OF hard timos Gold monom.tallism is
q British policy. founded upon British greed
IT gain and power, AMI its general adoption
has brought other nations into financial sarvi-
frrr3o ~ T Il II ...-k ~.
but anti-American, and it can be fastened upon
the United States only by the sitting of that
iniomitablc spirit and love of liberty which
proclaimed our political independence in l776
and won it in the war of the r .volution.
We demand the immediate restoration OF
the free and unlimited coinage of gold and
silver at the present legal ratio of Is to L, with.
out waiting for the aid or consent of any other
nation. Wc demand the standard silver dollar
shall b, a t~ulllegal ten Ter, equally with gold,
for all debts. public and private, and we favor
suehlegislation as will prevent the demoneti.
cation of any kind of legal tender money by
private contract
we are opposed to the policy and practice
of surrondering to the holders OF the ob!iga.
tions OF the United States the option reserved
by law to the government of r~edeeminy such
obligation; in either silver coin or gold coin.
eve are opposed to the issuing of interest
bearing bonds Of the United States in times OF
peace. AMI condemn tn, traficking with bank
ing syndi,atss wlE Ii, in exchange for bonds
and at an enormous profit to themselves,
supply the federal trea ;ury with gold to main.
tain tho policy Of gold mo lometallism.
Congress alone has the power to coin AM
issue money. and President jackson declared
that this power could not be delegated to CO..
porations or Individuals. We therefore do
mand that the power to issue notes be taken
from the banks an that all p iper money shall
be issued directly b. the treasury department.,
1--WE hold that tariff duties should be levied
solely for the purposes Ct revenue, and that
taxation should be limited by the needs of the
government, honestly aud economicallya admin.
istered. We denouh;e as di sturbtng to bust.
mss the Republican threat to restore the
Mckinley law, which has BEEN twice con.
dened by the people in national elections, and
which, enacted und IT til, false plea of protec.
ton to HON industry. proved prolific breeder
of trusts and monopo!ies enriched the few at
the expense of the many, restricted trade and
deprived the producers of the great American
stap'e: Of access to their natural markets.
Until the money question is settled we are
oppose to an agitation for further changes
in our tariff laws except those that are naces.
say to make up tn, deficit in revenue caused
by the adverse decision OF the Supreme court
on the income tax
There would have been no l elicit in federal
revenue during the last two years but for the
annulment by the Supreme court of the income
tax law. place I upon the statute books by a
| DCllit ldtl+ SOIflCS> II W ,lIuLllOu 10 al
income tax, watch the Supreme court discov-
ere in the constitutions. aft r it had lain hid
cen Tor a hundred years, must be removed, to
the end that accumulated wealth IN be made
to bear its just share of The burdens of the gov
eminent. We therefore favor an amendment to
the federal constitution that will permit the
levy of an income tax.
w no d that the efficient way Of protecting
American labor i. to prevent the importation
Of foreign pauper labor to compete with it in
the homa market, and that the value of the
home market to our American farmers ana ar
tsans is greatly re iuced by a vicious mone:ar
system. which depresses the prices of their pro.
ducts below the cot of production, and thus
d prives than of the means of satisfying their
needs
I'VE de,ounce the profgate vase of the
MONEY wrung f.on the people by opore .sive
taxation, and thu lavish appropriations of re-
cent Republ can congresses, which have kept
taxes high while the labor r that pays them
is unemployed. aud the products of the people
are depressed in price till they no longer repay
tae cos. os produ 'tioa We demand a return
to that S implicitly AMI economy which best be-
hts a deno;:aric government and a REDUCTION
in the number of useless Offices. the salaries of
which drain the substance Of tn, people
'Coniding in the justice of our cause and
the necessity OF its success ut the polls we
submit tho foregoing decla alton of principles
AID purpos seq to the considerable Judgment of
the American people. We invite the suppo t
Of al citizens who approve than. and who de-
sire to have them made effective through leg
~islation for the relief OF the people and thu
: restoration CT the %'untrJ's prosperity.
e The following is the subcommittee:
Senator j. X. Jones of Arkansas,
: c%hairman; Senator f. M. Cockrell, Mis-
souri,; y. H.. George Mississippi; NE.
Worthington, Illinois: Senator Ben
Tillman. South Carolina: Mr.. Owen,
: Indian Territory: Senator David B..
), Iill New York: Senatnr Villas Wiccan.