Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1904-08-16
THE DEMOCRATIC
PLATFORM

PLAltOkM
g. We the democratic party Of the United
states IN national convention assembled,
declare its devotion to the essential prin-
cipies of the democratic faith which
eiings US together in party communion.
Under them local se!f-government and
national unity and prosperity We're alike
established. They underlaid our independ
ence, the structure of our free republic
and every democratic extension from
louisiana @ to California and Texas 10 Ores
gon, ny which h preserved faithfully IN an the
resentation. They yet Inspire the masses
rights and liberties. and cherishing their
They Temnd Us OF eur dulles snd
responsibilities. as citizens and impress
upon US. particularly at this time. the
administration Of government from tho
methods Which distract business by un-
with dread. dis trust and perturbation.
The application Of these fundamental
principles to the living issues of the day
sured peace, safety and progress OF our
nation, Freedom Of the press, of con-
science sci and !, Of speech; equality before
by jury: freedom Of the person defended
by the writ Of habeas corpus; liberty of
personal contract untrammeled by sump-
1lary laws; the supremacy Of the civil
over military authority: a well l-disciplined
militia; the separation of church and
ta1s, tSat in pa low
cened: the prompt and sacred fulfilment
OF public and private obligations; fidelity
to treaties; peace and friendship with all
nations. pntanpIinD
absolute acqulescence In the will of the
majority. the vital principle of republics
established as proverbs of the nation,
and they should be constantly invoked,
preached. resorted to and enforced.
Controlling Expenses.
81 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
20. The enforcement Of honesty IN the
public service, and to that end thorough
| legislative investigation of those eXecu-
tive departments of the government al
| ready known to TEEN with corruption, as
well as other departments suspected of
and the
| Distent and deliberate refusal of both the
permit such @ investieation 'Idsds to- be- mads by by
| either branch of congress demonstrates
that only by change in the executive
complete exposure, punishment and cor. a.
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
w4cttxN In vyi1 inSa nf los ~ N
believe that ono OF the best methods Of
! procuring economy AND honesty in the
public service is to have public officials.
| down to the lowest Of them. return as
nearly as may be. to Jeffersonian SIM
| DHcity of living.
"5 We favor the nomination and elec-
tion of a president trained in the ways Of
tho constitution, who shall set hts face
sternly against executive usurpation OF
that usurpation be ruled under the .guise
of executive construction of existing
laws, or whether 1t take refuge in the
tyrant's pleas of necessity Of superior
-. The democratic party has been.
and will continue to be, the consistent
by which certain interests have been per-
mitted, through congressional favor, to
draw d heavy tribute from the American
iitical Institutions we're established to Sc
cure, has caused what may once have
greatest combinations of capital that the
world has ever known. These publicly
favored enterprises have through trust
thus bringing to an end domestic COM
petition, which was the only check upon
the extravagant profits made made. possible by
| combinations. by the financial assistance
they can give. now control the policy OF
the republican party. ;.a oo,sorvat,va .nd
! businesslike revision and gradual re-
duction Of the tariff by he friends of the
masses and for the common veal. ano
tortions and its determinations. keeping
in view the ultimate end of equality OF
burdens and equality OF opportunities.
and the constitutional purpose of raising
q revenue by taxation. to-wit, the sup
| port of the federal government, in all it:
Integrity and virility. but in simplicity
| and keeping also in view. as men Of com
mon sense should. existing conditions
, however wrcngfuly, mistakenly or uil
the cause Of tariff reform itself of abrup
F and revolutionary reversal of policy.
1--WE should bear in mind, in short, thes'
two thlngs ID Ihe e gffr tae oe tna
alton is the support Of the federal gov
ernemnt,. economically. effectively am m
constitutionally administered; and (2)
the equal truth that in the assertion o
any general principle and in reaching
I any ultimate end however sacred AM
logically unavoidable, due regard bu
only due regard. must and should be paii
: to actual existing conditions.
1--WE favor tue reduction OF tariff tax
D alton upon trust-produced articles to tn
. points where foreign competition may Ell
ter the American market whenever trust
), and combilts seeking monopoly. la1s
| their prices to the American consume
l. above a reasona bic and just profit, b.
| such reduction depriving trusts and mo
: nopolies of the power to eXtort from tn
American people. under shelter of Amer
lean law, prices higher than those charge
foreigners for identical articles.
The Isthminn Canal.
sour party having long and earnestl
e advocated the construction of Interoceani
canal for the purpose OF national defens
y and commerce between the states an
a with foreign nations. we favor the earl
completion of the isthmian canal.
o "But while making this declaration an
accepting the results as an accompllsne
= and irreVersible fact. we can not to
a forcibIy express our disapproval OF tn
methods by which. in disregard Of IN
law and treaty obligations. the can;
, record our hope that this precedent
defiant diplomacy may never pc use
q against us to our humiliation and ln3ur