The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-07-09
TEXT #Of4 PLATFORM AS ADOPTED
 BY DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION
Return the Jeffesonan System and Simplicity Government Pledged-The Protection of MonopoIes by the Tariff
 Denounced -Fiipinos Should Be
 Promised Their Freedom,

pose as fervently as did George Wash ington himself. an indefinite. irrespon- sible. discretionary and vague abso- lutism and policy of colonial ex- ploitation, no matter where or by whom invoked or exercised; we be- lteve with Thomas Jefferson and John Adams that no government has a right to make one set of laws for those lat home" and another and different set of laws. absolute in their character. for those "in the colonies"
 All men under the American flag are entitled to the protection of the in- stitutions whose emblem the flag is; if they are inherently unfit for those institutions then they are inherently unfit to be members of the American body polite. Wherever there may ex- -ist people incapable of being gov- erned under American laws. in con sonance with the American constitu- ton. then that people ought not to be part of the American domain.
 We insist that we ought to do for the Filipinos what we have dono already for the Cubans and 1t Is our duty to make that promise now, and upon suitable guarantees of protection to citizens of our own and other countries resident there at the time of our withdrawal set the Filipino people upon their feet, free and independent to work out their own destiny.
 The endeavor of, the secretary of war, by pledging the governments en- dorsement for promoters" in the Philippine Islands to make the United States partner In speculative legis- lation of the archipelago. which was only temporarily held up by the oppo- sition of the Democratic Senators in the last sess-on will. if successful. lead to entanglements from which it will be oifhcult to escape.
 The Tarin.
 The Democratic party has been. and will continue 70 be, the consistent op- ponent of that class of tariff legis- lation by which certain interests have been permitted, through congression- al favor. to draw heavy tribute from the American people. This monstrous perversion of those equal opportuni- ties which our political institutions were established to secure, has, caused what may once have been infant in- dustries to become the greatent com binations of capital that the world ever has known. These especial. fa- vorites of the government have through trust methods. been convert ed into monopolfes. thus bringing to ~e- S>s~ &Vt%tR@AAN GOtHRJtiil0h, Willttn Wl1& 'sAe only alleged check upon the ex- travagant profits made possible by the protective system. These industrial combinations. by the financial assist ance they can give. now control the policy of the Republican party.
 We denounce. protection as rob- Defy or the many and enrichment of the few and we favor a tariff limited to the needs of the Government eco nomically administered and so levied as rot to discriminate against any indus try, class or section, to the end that the burdens of taxation shall be dis tributed as equally as possible
 We favor revision and gradual reduction of the tariff by the friends of the masses and for the common veal, and not by the friends of its abuses, it's extortions and its discriminations keeping in view the ultimate ends of equality of burdens and equality of opportunities" and the constitutional purpose of raising a revenue by taxa ton. to wit: The support of the Fed eraI Government in all its integrity and virility. but in simplicity.
 Trusts and Unlawful Combinations.
 We recognize that the gigantic trusts and combinations designed to enable capital to secure more than its just share of the joint products of cap ital and labor and which have been fos- tered and promoted under Republican rule are a menace to the beneficial and an obstacle to perma- nent business prosperity.
 A private monopoly is indefensible and intolerable.
 Individual equality of opportunity and free competition are essential to healthy and permanent commercial prosperity and any trust combination or monopoly tending to destroy these by controlling production, restricting the competition or fixing the prices. should be prohibited and punished by law.
 We especially denounce rebates and by transportation com panies as the most potent agency in promoting and strengthening these unlawful conspiracies against trade.
 We demand an enlargement of the powers of the Interstate Coommerce Commission to the end that the trav- cling public and shippers of this coun- try shall have prompt and adequate relief for the abuses to which they are subjected in the matter of transporta- tion. We demand a strict enforcement of existing civil and criminal statutes against all such trusts. combinations and monopolies; and we demand the enactment of such further legislation as may be necessary to effectually sup press them.
 Any trust or unlawful combination engaged in interstate commerce which Is monopolizing any branch of business or production should not be permitted to transact business outside of the State of it's origin. Whenever 1t shall be established in any court of compe- tent Jurisdiction that such monopoli- zation exists. such prohibition should be enforced through comprehensive laws to be enacted on the subject. Reclamation of Arid Lands and DOmes-
 tic Development.
 We congratulate our western citi- zens upon the passage of the law known as the Newlands irrigation act for the irrigation and reclamation of the arid lands of the West. a measure framed by Democrat passed in the Senate by a non-partisan v0ie and passed in the House against the oppo- sition of almost all the Republican leaders by a vote, the majority of which was Democratic.
 We call attention to this great Dem ocratic measure, broad and c1mprehen- sive as 1t Is, working automatically throughout all time without further as- ton of Congress. until the reclamation of all the lands in the arid West cap- able of reclamation is accomplished, reserving the lands reclaimed for nome- seekers in small tracts, and rigidly against land monopoly. as en evidence of the policy of domestic de- Velopment contemplated by the Demo- cratic party should 1t be placed in power.
 Isthmian Canal.