Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1904-08-08
THE DEMOCRATIC
PLATFORM

ctWe, the democratic party OF the United
! states, Ill national convention assembled.
ueclafe Its devotion to the essential prin-
elpies OF the democratic faith which
prHss us together in party communion.
ndcr them local self-government and
/ national unity and prosperity were alike
established. They underlaid our independ-
and every democratic extension from
louisiana to California ana Texas to Ore
gon, a,as which 1h preserved faithfully in all the
states the tie between taxation and rep
resentatlon. They yet inspire the masses
OF oias,u our pc people, guarding }ealously their
fraternity. peace and orderly develop
ment. They remind us of our duties and
responsibilities as citizens and impress
necessity of reform and the rescue Of the
administration of government from the
mehods wbca and
certainty and pervade the public mind
with i5h, dread, distrust and perturbation.
principles to the living issues of the day
constitutes the first step toward the as
suted ndttc,, peace, safety and progress of our
| nation Freedom of the press, of con-
science and of speech: equality before
the law of all citizens; the right of trial
| by the writ of habeas corpus; liberty of
! personal contract untrammelea by sump-
tuary laws; the supremacy of the civil
over military authority; a Well-discipined
militia; the separation of church and
state; economy In expenditures; low
| 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; entangling alliances with none;
! absolute aCQllipSCcnCe in The will of the
, majority, the vital principle of republics
! these are doctrines which democracy has
! estabIished as proverbs of the nation,
! and they should be constantly invoked,
! preached. rGsprted to and enforced.
Gontrolin&s Ia pcnacs.
q. Large reductions can readily be
! made III tne annual expenditures ot the
! government Without impairiMs the cfli-
! cheney Of any branch of the pubic service
and We shall insist upon iae ~t!iclrst
4 economy and frugaIity compatible with
i vigorous and efficient civil. military and
1 naval administration as Il right Of the
/ RRs2iR'0 he'd, TOO Gear TO De denied OF with
"2. The enforcement of honesty in the
! publlc service, aud to that end q thorough
/ legislative investigation of those cXccu-
| tive departments of the government al
ready known to TEEN with corruption IS
we'll as other departments suspected of
| harboring corruption, and the punishment
| of ascertained corruptionists without fear
or favor or regard TO persons. The, per
senate and house of representatives to
! permit such investigation to he made by
| either branch OF congress demonstrates
/ that only by 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
self to be robbed by entering into con-
| 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
! procuring economy and honesty in the
/ public service is to have public officials,
from the occupant of the White House
/ down to the lowest of them, return as
| nearly as may be, to Jetfersonian sim
| pljcity of living
Presidential Recommendation.
'3. We favor the nomination and cleo
! ton of d president trained in the ways of
| the constitution who shall set his face
| sternly against executive usurpation of
!, legislative and judicial functions. whether
| of executive construction of existing
laws, or whether it take refuge in the
tyrant's pleas of necessity of superior
- 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 PERI
mitted, through congressional favob to
draw heavy s,'; tribute from the American
those, equal opportunities, which our po-
litical Institutions We're established to Sc
cure, has caused what may once have
been infant industries to become the
greatest combinations of capital that 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 the protee,ve system. % These p industrisl y
combinations, by the financial assistance
they can give, now control the policy Of
the republican party.
I'VE t2yoy a wise, conservative and
businesslike. revision and a gradual re-
d1clion of the tariff by the friends of the
not by the friends of it's abuses it's eA-
tortions and its determinations, keeping
in view the ultimate end of equality of
burdens and equality of opportunities
and the constitutional purpose of raising
a revenue by taxation, to-wit, the sup
and Keeping also in view, as men of com
} mon sense should, existing conditions,
justly brought about, and the danger to
!, the cause of tariff reform itself of abrupt
and revolutionary reversal of policy:
eve should bear in mind in short, these
two things: a. The general principle that
} the sole derivation Of the power of tax
alton Is the SUPPORT OF the deaeral gov gov,
constitutionally administered; and CD,
the equal truth that in the assertion of
any ultimate end, however sacred and
logically unavoidable, due regard but
only due regard, must and should be paid
| to actual existing conditions.
1--WE 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 81 reasonable and just profit, by
such reduction depriving trusts and mo-
nopolies of the power to eXtort from the
American people. undes shelter of Amer,
lean law, prices higher than those charged
foreigners for identical articles.
| The Isthminn Canal.
l. "Our party having long and earnestly
| advocated the construction Of interoceanic
: cana! for the purpose OF national defense
/. and commerce between the states and
L with foreign nations we favor the early
4 completion Of the ,sthmian canal.
.'But while making this declaration and
accepting the results as an a accomplisned mp 1e
J. forcibly express our disapproval Of the
methods by which. in disregard Of the
law and treaty obligations. the canal
route has been acquired, or too s9lemnly
record our hope that this precedent OF
n defiant diplomacy may never be used
81 against US to our humiliation and injury.
3 Trusts and Unlawful Combinations.
ISL 1--WE recognize that the gigantic trusts