Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1904-07-15
THE FULL TEXT
OF THE PLATFORM
The Democratic Platform as Fin
ished and Adopted at the st.
Louis Convention.
THE MONEY PLANK ELIMINATED;
A VICTORY FOR WILLIAM ]. BRYAN.
The Party Wants President
Trained In the Ways of the Con-
stitution, Who Shall Set His Face
Against Executive Usurpation of
Legislative or Judicial Functions.

stitutiOn, Who Shall Set His Face
Against Executive Usurpation of
Legislative or Judicial Functions.
eve, the democratic party Of the United
States, In national convention assembled,
declare its devotion to the essential prin-
ciples of the democratic faith which
brings US together In party communion.
Under them local self-government and
national unity and prosperity were alike
established. They underlaid our independ
ence, the structure of our free republic
and every democratic extension from
Louisiana to California and Texas to Ore
gon which preserved faithfully In all the
states the tie between taxation and rep
resentation, They yet inspire the masses
OF our people, guarding jealousy their
rights and liberties, and cherishing their
fraternity peace and orderly develop.
ment. They remind us of our duties and
responsibilities as citizens and impress
upon us, particularly at this time,. the
necessity of reform and the rescue Of the
administration of government from the
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
constitutes the first step toward the as
sured 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 jury; freedom of the person defended
by the writ of habeas corpus; liberty of
personal contract untrammeled by sump-
tuary laws; the supremacy of the civil
over military authority; a well-.disciplined
militia; the separe ticn of church aud
| state; economy In expenditures; low
taxes, that labor, may be lightly bur-
| dened, tho prompt and sacred fulhllment
| frf md 20 N1Nl "a
to treaties; peace and friendship with all
| nations entangling alliances with none;
absolute acquiescence 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.
Il. 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,
economy and frugality compatible with
vigorous and efficient civil, military and
naval administration as a right of the
RRsHRle' too clear to be denied or with
a. The enforcement of honesty In the
public service, and to that end a thorough
legislative investigation Of those execu-
tive departments of the government al
|
well as other departments suspected OF
harboring corruption, and the punishment
of ascertained corruptionists without fear
or favor or regard to persons. The per-
sfstent and deliberate refusal of both the
senate and house of representatives to
permit such investigation to be made BY
either branch of congress demonstrates
that only by change in the executive
and in the house of representatives car
complete exposure, punishment and cor.
rection be obtained
I'm 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 interstat,
trade, existing In violation of law. w,
believe that one of the best methods o.
procuring economy and honesty In tn,
public service is to have public officials
from the occupant of the White Hous,
down to the lowest of them, return a:
nearly as may be, to Jeffersonian sim
plicity of living.
Presidential Recommen dations.
49, We favor the nomination and cleo
ton of president trained In the ways o
the constitution, who shall set his fac
sternly against executive usurpation o
legislative and judicial functions whethe
that usurpation be ruled under the guis
Of executive construction of existing
laws, or whether 1t take refuge In tn
tyrant's pleas of necessity of superio
i-wisdom.
"A. The democratic party has beer
and will continue to be, the consisten
opponent of that class of tariff Legislation
by which certain interests have been per
mitted, through congressional favor, I
, draw a heavy tribute from the America
people. This monstrous perversion 0
those equal opportunities, which our pc
litical institutions were established to sc
cure, has caused what may once hav
been infant industries to become tn
greatest combinations of capital that tn
world has ever known. These publicly
: favored enterprises have. through trus
methods, been converted into monopolie!
thus bringing to an end domestic CON
petition. which was the only check upo
the eXtravagant profits made possible b
the protective system. These industris
combinations, by the financial assstanc
they can give, now control the policy c
the republican party.
I'VE favor a wise, conservative an
= businesslike revision and q gradual RI
duction of the tariff by the friends of tn
masses and for the common veal. an
not by the friends of its abuses, its e>
tortions and its determinations, keepin
in view the ultimate end of equality
and the constitutional purpose of raisin
| q revenue by taxation, to-wit, the SUI
port Of the federal government, In all II
l integrity and virility but In simplicit,
, mon sense should, existing condition
l however wrongfully, mistakenly or III
| Justly brought about, and the danger
The cause of tariff reform itself of abruI
: and revolutionary reversal of policy.
a I'VE should hear In mind. in short. the,
= two tbinnr. m The general nrincInle III
t AZ snia derivation Of Tho mower of ta,
stion is the s,lnnort of the federal 90,
arnami1t economically effectively ar
| anetit,i, onoiiv adminnistered. and ~
' the equal truth that in the assertion
:, any general principle and in reachir
any ultimate end, however sacred al
6 logically unavoidable, due regard, b'
, only due regard. must and should be pa
to actual existing conditions.
= "We favor the reduction of tariff ta
:, alton upon trust-produced articles to Il
u points where foreign competition may Ell
II ter the American market whenever trus
and combines seeking monopoly. raj
. their prices to the American consum
above a reasonable and just profit,
! such reduction depriying trusts and m
u nnpoIies of the power to extort from Il
k American people, under shelter of Ap:e
ican law prices higher than those chang,