Arizona republican., 1904-05-04
An Outline of the National
 Republican Declaration
DOCTRINE OF PROTECTION
Adherence to It Wilt Be as Strong as Ever but There Will Be no Promise not to Revise the Tariff When It Is Advisable.

Washington, May 3.-The platform to be adopted by the republican nation al convention has been among the topics discussed at the conference which have taken place recently in th= White House, in the committee rooms at the capitol, and in different resi- dences, where number of republicans have been assembled. Senator Lodge, who is slated for chairman ot the committee on resolutions at the convention, ihas prepared preliminary sketches of the vari- ous topics that he thinks should be treated and has submitted them to senators and others for their approval or suggestion as to amendment. It IS expected that before the convention meets a complete platform will be prepared, which will have the approval of the president.
 The principal feature of the platform will be the tariff plank, which will de- clare in the strongest terms the ad- herance of the republican party to the principles of protection, but will not bind the party to not revise the tariff. It will say that the party is not com mitted to any schedule, but that
 
 changed conditions of business or the treasury render it necessary or advis- able. Persons present at the recent conferences say it already has been agreed that the tariff will be revised in the Fifty ninth congress if the repub- licans win in November.
 There is at present a determination to make the platform as brief as pos sible, consequently the endorsement Ot the administration and of the acts of the party will be put in compact form. This endorsement will be general ap- proval of the course of action of the president and the republicans. The plank concerning the trusts vii, in effect, declare that the laws for the regulation of monopolies and the re- straint of conspiracy against commerce were enacted by republicans and that the enforcement of such laws has been I only by a republican administration. It will also say that it is not the policy or the intention of the republican party to assail legitimate industry and busi- ness or to infringe on the rights of per sons or property. Special attention will be devoted to the phRseOlogy of this plank.
 ! Some difficulty has been experienced ! in finding a proper wording for a re- ciprocity suggestion. Nearly all sen ators who have attended the recent conferences have contributed theiF share toward keeping the reciprocity treaties negotiated by the Mckinley administration closely confined In committee pigeon holes.
 Mention of the financial plank will consist of an allusion to the mainteu- ance of the gold standard by the re- publican party and a promise to con- tinue the fianaces of the country IpOn a sound basis.
 | Disfranchisement of negroes in the southern states will be denounced as an encroachment on the rights guaran- teed by the constitution.
 The demand for the restoration of the merchant marine of the .couItrv will be renewed but it is not the in- tention to endorse any specific plan. There are several suggestions as tD blanks in the platform, but a desire to have the platform as brief as possible may eliminate them from consideration as unnecessary at this time.