Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1904-08-15
The DEMOCRATIC
PLATFORM

LII " kAlA
e the democratic party OF the United
states, III national convention assembled.
ueGiare us devotion to the essential prin-
clples of the democratic faith which
of.hss US together in party communion.
cHder them local f-government and
national unity and prosperity were alike
esldolshed. Ihey underlaid our independ-
enee' @ the structure Of our free republic
LOUISIANA to California and Texas to Ore
gon' which preserved faithfully in all the
states states the tie between taxation and rep
OF our people. guarding jealousy their
rights and liberties, and cherishing their
rae IraaerniTy. n,yy peace and orderly, develop
responsibilities as citizens and impress
upon US, particularly at this time, the
necessity necessity OF reform and the rescue OF the
methods Which distract business p1o11nc by unc
certainty cert; and pervade the public mind
The application Of these fundamental
principles to the living issues of the day
constitutes the first step toward the as
nation. Freedom Of the press, Of con-
science and of speech; equality before
tne law or all citizens: the right of trial
by the writ Of habeas corpus; liberty Of
personal contract untrammeled by sump-
tCary laws the supremacy OF the civil
militia; the separation Of church and
state; economy in expenditures: low
danes; LAKES; that tha labor may be lightly bur.
Of public and private obligations; fidelity
to treaties; peace and friendship with all
nations: entangling alliances with none;
absolute acqulescence In the will of the
majority, the vital principle Of republics
these are doctrines which democracy has
sstaohshed as proverbs of the. nation,
preached. resorted to and enforced.
Controlling Expenses.
'I. 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
economy and frugality compatible with
vigorous and efficient civil, military and
naval administration as a right of the
RRsSiaRls' RRsia. 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
harboring corruption, and the punishment
OF ascertained corruptionists without fear
or favor or regard to persons. The per-
sistent and deliberate refusal Of both tho
senate and house OF representatives to
permit such investigation to be made by
either branch Of congress demonstrates
that only by a change IN the executive
and IN the house OF Representatives can
1ection be obtained.
''1n 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
in ~ <>p 1o
believe that one 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
plicity Of living.
"3 We favor the nomination and elec-
the constitution, who shall set his face
sternly against executive usurpation of
legislative and judicia! functions, whether
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
opponent OF that class of tariff Legislation
by which certain interests have been per-
mitted, through congressional favor, to
draw heavy tribute from the American
people. This monstrous perversion Of
those eaua! opportunities. which our po-
litical institutions were 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 extravagant profits made possible by
the protective system. These Industrial
combinations, by the financial assistance
crNyn frT1 he ,linxJ OF
the republican party.
1--WE favor wise, conservative and
businesslike revision and a gradual re-
duction Of the tariff by the friends of the
masses and for the common veal. and
not by the friends of It's abuses, its ex-
tortions and its determinations, keeping
burdens and .e<iuaiity of opportunities.
and the constitutions! purpose of raising
a revenue by taxation, to-wit, the sup
integrity and virili,y. but in simplicity;
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.
I'VE should bear in mind, in short. these
two things: % The general principle that
the sole derivation of the power of tax
alton is the support of the federal gov.
ernemnt. eeonomieaIiy aafe effectively and 9
the equal truth that in the assertion of
any general principle and in reaching
any ultimate end, however sacred and
logically unavoidable, due regard. but
only due regard. must and should be paid
to actual existing conditions.
owe favor the reduction Of tariff tax
alton upon trust-produced articles to the
points whore foreign competition may en-
ter the American market whenever trusts
and combnts, seeking monopoly, raise
their prices to the American consumer
above a reasonable and just profit, by
such reduction depriving trusts and mo-
nopolies of the power to extort from the
American people. under shelter of Amer
lean law, prices higher than those charged
foreigners for identical articles.
The IsthmiMn Canal.
"Our party having long and earnestly
advocated the construction of interoceanic
canal for the purpose OF national defense
and commerce between the states and
with foreign nations, we favor the early
completion of the lsthmian canal.
but while making this declaration and
accepting the results as an accomplished
and irreversibe fact we can not too
forcibly express our disapproval Of the
methods by which, in disregard Of the
usages and obligations of international
law and treaty obligations. the canal
route has been acquired, or too solemnly
record our hope that this precedent OF