Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1904-08-04
THE full TEXT
OF THE PLATFORM
The Democratic Platform as Fin
lshed and Adopted at the St.
Louis Convention.

The MONEY PLANK ELIMINATED:
4 VICTORY FOR WILLIAM J. Bryan.
The Party Wants PrestdenS
Trained In the Way. of the Con-
sfitutf"n, Who Shall Set His Face
Against Executive Usurpation Of
Legislative or judicial Function..
We the democratic party of the United
states, in national convention assembled
ss, asclare its devotion to the essential prin-
S1ples sl[ OF the democratic faith which
"nEs US together in party communion
Under them local self-government and
national unity and prosperity were alike
established They underlafd our independ-
enee, the structure Of our free republic
apo every democratic extension from
Louisiana to California and Texas to Ore
gon, which preserved faithfully In all the
states the tie between taxation and rep
Fssentauon. They yet inspire the masses
OF our people, guarding jeaously their
ff1ghes f.esnt1 ana Liberties and cherishing their
ment. They remind us of our duties and
responsibiities as citizens and impress
uoaasi, upon US, particularly at this time. the
necessity OF reform and the rescue Of the
admlnistration of government from tho
neaastTong; arbitrary and spasmodic
methods met id which distract business by
with dread, distrust and Perturbation. .i''1
The application of these fundamental
principles to the living issues Of the day
EonSIltnteS the first step toward the as
sured peace, safety and progress Of our
nation nation; Freedom Of the press, of CON
selence see ace and az of speech; equality before
by jury; freedom of the person defended
by the writ of habeas corpus; liberty of
Issse personal contract untrammeled by sump-
over military authority: we'll l-dsciplin-d
militia; naata; the separation of church and
taxes. that labor may be lightly bur
dened: the prompt and sacred fulfillment
OF PUBLIC and private obligations; fidelity
TO treaties peace and friendship with all
nations; entanglinR alliances with none:
absolute acquiescence in the will of the
majority. the vital principle of republics
sness ines are doctrines which democracy has
established as proverbs of the nation.
and they should be constantly invoked,
preached. resorted to and enforced
Controlling Expenses.
1; Large reductions can readily be
made in the annual expenditures Of the
government without impairing the eff
cheney OF any branch Of the public service.
and we shall insist upon the strictest
vigorous and efficient civil, military and
naval administration as a right Of the
people, too clear to be denied or with
held.
80 The enforcement of honesty in tho
public service, and to that end thorough
legislative investigation Of those execu-
ready known to TEEN with corruption, as
we'll as other departments suspected OF
harborlng corruption. and the punishment
of ascertained corruptonists without fear
or favor or regard to persons. The per-
sistent and deliberate refusal OF both the
senate and house Of representa- tives to
either branch of congress demonstrates
that only by a change In the executive
and in the house of representatives can
complete exposure, punishment and cor
rection be obtained.
In broader furtherance of that end the
federal government should not permit It
tracts with convicted trusts or unlawful
combinations in restraint of interstate
trade, existing in violation of law We
believe that one of the best methods of
public service is to have public officials.
from the occupant of the White House
nearly as may be. to Jeffersonian sim
plicity of living.
Presidential Recon- m e II n.latfons.
"3 We favor the nomination and cleo
tion of a president trained in the ways Of
sternly against executive usurpation of
legislative and judicial functions, whether
that usurpation be ruled under the guise
laws, or whether it take refuge in the
tyrants pleas Of necessity of superior |
wisdom.
a The democratic party has been,
and will continue to be, the consistent
opponent of that class of tariff Legislation
by which certain interests have been per-
mitted, through congressional favor, to
draw a heavy tribute from the American
people. This monstrous perverson OF
those equal opportunities, which our po
litical institutions We're established to Sc
h..x-k
been infant industries to become the
greatest combinations of capital tnat the
world has ever, known. These publicly
favored enterprises have. through trust
methods, been converted into monopolies, |
thus bringing to an end domestic com
petition which was the only check upon
the eXtraVagant profits made possible by
the protective system. These industrial
combinations, by the financial assistance
they can give. now control the policy of
the republican party.
I'VE favor a wise, conservative and
businesslike revision and d gradual re-
duction of the tariff by the friends of the
masses and for the common veal, and
not by the friends of its abuses it's eX
tortions and its Determinations. keeping
In view the ultimate end of equality ot
burdens and equality of opportunities,
and the constitutional purpose of raising
a revenue by taxation. to-wit, the sup
port of the federal government, in an its
Integrity and Virility, but in simplicity;
and keeping also in view, as men of com
mon sense should, existing conditions,
however wrongfully, mistakenly or un-
Justly brought about, and the danger to
the cause OF tariff reform itself of abrupt
and revolutionary reversal of policy.
1--WE should bear in mind, in short, these
two things: % The general principle that
the sole derivation of the power of tax
alton is the support of the federal gov
ernemnt, economically, effectively and
constitutionally administered; and 90,
the equal truth that, in the assertion Of
any general principle and in reaching
any ultimate end, however sacred and
logically unavoidable, due regard. but
only due regard, must and should be paid
to actual existing conditions.
I'VE favor the reduction Of tariff tax
alton upon trust-produced articles to the
points where foreign competition may en-
ter the American market whenever trusts
and combines, seeking monopoly, raise
their prices to the American consumer
above reasonable and just profit, by
such reduction depriving trusts and mo-
nopolies of the power to extort from the
American people, undel shelter of Amer.
lean law, prices higher than those charged
foreigners for identical articles.
The Isthmium Canal.