Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1904-07-19
PLATFORM HAS
MANY PLANKS
DEMOCRATS ADOPT DECLARE
TIoN OF PRINCIPLES.
FULL TEXT OF DOCUMENT
It Outlines the Position Of the Party
on the Tariff, the Trusts and
Other Issues Of the
Campaign.

order Friday evening, Senator Deniel,
chairman of the committee on resolu-
tions, was at once recognized by the
chair, and read the resolutions as adopt
ed by the committee. When he had
finished the reading Senator Daniel
moved the previous question, which was
carried, and the platform was adopted
without debate. 1t is as follows:
The democratic party of the United
States, In national convention assembled.
declares its devotion to the essential
principles of the democratic faith which
brings together in party communion.
Under them. local self-government, and
national unity and prosperity were alike
established. They underlaid our iEde-
pendence. the structure of our free re-
public and every democratic extension
from Louisiana to California and Texas
to Oregon, which preserved faithfully
in all the states the tie between taxation
and representation. They yet inspire the
masses Of our people, guarding jealousy
their rights and liberties. and cherishing
their fraternity peace and orderly devel-
| opment They remind us of our duties
and responsibilities as citizens and inn
press upon us, particularly at this time.
| the necessity OF reform and the rescue Of
the administration or government from
81
methods which distract business by un-
certainty. and pervade the public mind
with dread, distrust and perturbation.
The application of these fundamental
principles to the living issues of the day
Is the first step toward the assured peace.
safety and progress Of our nation. Free
dom OF the press, of conscience, and of
speech equality before the law of all
| citizens; right of trial by jury; freedom
of the person defended by the writ of ha-
beas corpus; liberty Of personal contract
| untrammeled by sumptuary laws: su-
premacy of the OWL over military author
ity; a well disciplined militia; the sepa-
ration of church and state; economy in
expenditures; low taxes, that labor may
be lightly burdened; prompt and sacred
fulfillment of public and private obliga-
tons; fidelity to treaties; peace and
| friendship with all nations; entangling
alliances with none; absolute acquies-
vital principle Of republics-these are
doctrines which democracy has estab-
lished. approved by the nation, and they
| should be constantly invoked and en-
| forced.
Capital and Labor.
We favor enactment and administration
of laws, giving labor and capital Impair
TALLY their just rights. Capital and labor
ought not to be enemies. Each is neces-
| sary to the other. Each has its rights,
but the rights of labor are certainly no
less vested" no less "sacred" and no
less "unalienable" than the rights of cap
5tal.
Constitutional guarantees are violated
whenever any citizen Is denied the right
to labor, acquire and enjoy property or
| reside where interest or inclination may
determine. Any denial thereof by indi-
viduals. organization, or governments,
should be summarily rebuked and pun
1shed.
We deny the right of any executive to
| privilege or Limitation. Obedience to the
laws and respect for their requirements
are alike the supreme duty of the citizen
| and the Official
The military should be used only to sup
port and to maintain the law. We Nm
the summary Punishment OF citizens
without trial, or for the control Of cleo
tons.
| We approve the measure which passed
the United States senate in 1896, but
which republican congress has ever
since refused to enact, relating to con.
tempts IN federal courts, and providing
for trial by jury in cases Of indirect con-
| tempt.
Waterways.
We favor liberal appropriations for the
care and improvement of the waterways
of the country. When any waterway
like the Mississippi river, is of sufficient
Importance to demand special aid of the
government, such aid should be EXTEND
ed with a definite plan Of Continuous
| work until permanent improvement is SEE
cured
| We oppose the republican policy of
starving home development in order to
feed the greed for conquest and the ap-
petite for national "prestage" and dis
play of strength.
Economy Of Administration.
Large reductions can easily be made in
the annual expenditures Of the govern
ment without impairing the efficiency Of
any branch of the public service. and we
shall insist upon the strictest economy and
frugaltty compatible with vigorous and ef-
ficient civil. military and naval administra.
| tion as right of the people, too clear to
be denied or withheld
| We favor honesty in the public service.
The enforcement Of honesty in the public
service, and to that end thorough leg.
islative investigation OF those executive
departments of the government already
known to TEEN with corruption, as well as
other departments suspected Of harborinR
corruption, and the punishment Of ascsr-
4 tanned corrupttonists without fear or f..
vor or regard to persons The persistent
and deliberate refusal Of both the senate
| and the house Of representatives to permit
| such investigation to be made demon
strates that only by a change in the ex-
ecutive and in the legislative departments
can complete exposure, punishment and
| correction be obtained
1 Government Contract with Trusts
| We condemn the action Of the repub-
| lican party in congress in refusing to pro-
hibit an executive department from en-
! tering into contracts with convicted trusts
| or unlawful combinations in restraint OF
| interstate trade.
| We believe that one Of the best methods
| of procuring economy and honesty in the
| public service Is to have public officials
| from one occupant Of the white house down
| to the lowest of them, returned as nearly
| ing.
Executive Usurpation.
/ We favor the nomination and election of
| a president imbued with the principles of
| the constitution, who will set his face
| sternly against executive usurpation of
1 legislative and judicial functions, whether
that usurpation be yelled under the guise
| of executive construction Of existing laws,
! or whether 1t take refuge in the tyrant's
| pleas of necessity or superior wisdom.
Imperialism.
! We favor the preservation, so far as we
can. Of an open door for the worlds COM
merce In the orient, without an unneces-
sary ENHANCEMENT in oriental and Euro
pean affairs, and without arbitrary, un-
limited, irresponsible and absolute gov
eminent anywhere within our jurisdic-
tion. We oppose, as ferevently as did
George Washington himself, an indefinite,
| irresponsible discretionary and vague abb
solutism and policy of colonial exploita-
lion, no matter where or by whom invoked
! or exercised; we believe with Thomas JEFF
ierson and John Adams that no govern
! ment has right to make one set OF laws