Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1904-08-14
The DEMOCRATIC
PLATFORM

eve, the democratic rarty of The United
d.ates, IN national convention assembled,
j oeclafe its devotion to the essential prin-
clpies OF the democratic faith which
brlnss US together in party communion.
Inder them local eIf-government and
national unity and prosperity were alike
established. They underlaid our independ-
ehce, the structure of our free republic
ana 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
rights and liberties, and chershing their
Ipa1ernfy, mans rysp peace and orderly develop,
responsibilities. as citizens and impress
upon us, particularly at this time, the
necessity nee,e; OF reform and the rescue OF the
headstrong. arbitrary and and spasmodie es die
methods which distract business BY un-
certainty 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
sured .sa19 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 untrammeled by sump
.uary laws; the supremacy of the civil
over military authority: q Well-disciplned
militia; the separation of church and
state; economy in expenditures; low
taxes; taxes that TIA labor may be lightly bur
OK public and private obligations; fidelity
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
lhese are doctrines which democracy has
and they should be constantly invoked,
preached. resorted to and enforced.
Controlling Expenses.
81 Large reductions can readily be
made i'll the annual expenditures of the
government without imparing the eff
cheney OF any branch of the public service,
and we Shall insist upon the strictest
economy and frugaiity compatible with
vigorous and efficient civil, military and
naval administration as right of the
people, too clear to be denied or with
20. The enforcement of honesty in the
| pubic service, and to that end Il 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-
| slstent 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 can
| complete exposure, punishment and cor
| rection be obtained.
"In broader furtherance of that end the
federal government should not permit it
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
| plicity of living.
Presidential Recomm endations.
"3. We favor the nomination and cleo
I ton of president trained in the ways of
| the constitution, who shall set his face
| sternly against executive usurpation of
! legislative and judicial functions, whether
that usurpation be ruled under the .guise
| Of executive construction of existing
! laws, or whether 1t take refuge i'll 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 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,
Il
| petition. which was the only check upon
the extravagant profits made possible by
the protective system These Industrial
they can give, now control the policy Of
the republican party
I've favor a 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 it's Determinations, keeping
in view the ultimate ED Of equality oi
burdens and equality of opportunities,
and the constitutional purpose OF raising
port of the federal government. in all its
Integrity and virlity, but in simplicity
and keeping also in view. as men of COM
: mon sense should, existing conditions
| however wrongfully, mistakenly or un-
justly brought about. and the danger t.
the cause Of tariff reform Itself of abrupt
| and revolutionary reversal of policy.
eve should bear in mind in short, these
two things: d) the general principle tina,
i the sole derivation OF the, power of tax.
alton is the support Of the federal GOV:
ernemnt, economically: effectively ant
constitutionally admins tered; and ~
}, the equal truth that in the assertion OF
any general principle and in reachns
}, any ultimate end, however sacred ant
logically unavoidable, due regard. bu
only due regard. must and should be paic
| to actual existing conditions.
1--WE favor the reduction Of tariff tax
alton upon trlst-produced articles to thu
| points where foreign competition may en-
|
and combines, seeking monopoly. las'
their prices TO the American consumer
| above reasonable and just profit, b!
such reduction depriving trusts and mo
! nopolies of the power to extort from th
, American people. under shelter of Amer
| lean law prices higher than those charged
foreigners for identical articles
| The IsthmiuM Canal.
"Our party having long and earnestl!
advocated the construction Of interoceani
canal for the purpose Of national defens
and commerce between the states ant
with foreign nations, we favor the earl.
/. completion of the 1sthmian canal.
''But while making this declaration AM
| accepting the results as an accompllshe'
forcibly express our disapproval Of tn
methods by which, In disregard OF tn
law and treaty OBLIGATIONS TT the Yoenani cana
record our hope that this precedent o
defiant diplomacy may never be use use.
g, against us to our humiliation and injury
Trusts and Unlawful Combinations
I'VE recognize that the gigantic trust
and combinations designed to enable cap
st,I 81 cooura mora than its lust share O