The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1906-06-22
THE DEMOCRATIC STATE PLATFORM

The following is the platform adopt
ed by the Democratic state convention
held recently at Yankton:
The Democratic party of South Da-
kota. in convention assembled, hereby
reaffirms it's allegiance to the princi-
pies of justice and liberty, upon which
our constitutional government is
founded, and which have been SO ably
defended against both the open and
covert assaults of the Republican trust
advocates by the foremost statesman
and leader of the people, William Jen-
nings Bryan.
We declare the present to be a cru
cial time in our history, period in
which the destiny of the republic must
be decided Government is sacred
trust and the officers are the trustees
thereof, both created for the benefit of
the people, And we deprecate the fact
that this republican form of govern
ment has passed, through the Repub-
lican party, from the people to the
trusts and moneyed combinations.
We favor the government control
and regulation of transportation COM
panies and the equal taxation OF all
property, and declare that the just
tariff should only give reasonable net
return on the actual value Of the
property of said transportation compa-
nies. And We deplore the precedent
established by a Republican congress
in passing a so-called rate bill which
permits courts created by congress to
nullify laws enacted by that body and
we send hearty congratulations to the
Democrats of congress for their heroic
efforts to make an effective rate law.
We are in favor of public owner
ship of all transportation facilities, tel
ephone and telegraph lines.
We favor an income and inheritance
tax law, state and national.
We declare in favor of the immedi-
ate revision of the tariff, and the en-
tire removal of all tariffs on products
manufactured or controlled by mo-
nopoly.
We demand the election of United
States senators by direct vote of the
people.
Capital having organized into large
combines for it's advantage we recog-
nize the right of labor to likewise or
ganize for it's protection and advance
ment, and we recommend the enact
ment of reasonable arbitration laws
Io I;,,et <f Iifforononc ORIG
ing between such capital and labor.
We denOunce the men who took
trust funds of the widows and orphans
in the years 1896, 1900 and 1904, and
gave these funds to the national Re-
publican committee for the purpose of
corrupting the voters of the nation !;
and we likewise denounce the men
who received said funds, holding that
both the men who gave and the men
who received are unworthy of Ameri-
can citizenship, and ask that campaign
appropriations by corporations be pro-
hibited by law.
We are unalterably opposed to a
ship subsidy law as unnecessary and
un-American, and tending only to en-
rich the multi-millionaire transporta-
tion trusts at the expense of the toll
ing masses.
We congratulate the people Of South
Dakota upon the material prosperity
that has come to them, and we well
come the large influx of immigrants
from other states to the bountiful and
fertile plains Of our great common
wealth.
We denounce the so-called honest
caucus law enacted by the last legis-
lature as unjust and inadequate, and
We favor simple and inexpensive pri-
mary law and also a personal registra-
ton law.
We denounce the unpatriotic action
of the capitol commission in their at
tempt to erect a capitol building of
inferior material from outside the
! state, and we demand and insist that
the said commission created by the
( legislature have such plans and speci-
| fications drawn as will permit of the
use of South Dakota stone in the erec.
ton of the state house because our
home product is superior to that con.
| templated by the present building
committee with the governor at its
head, and because the use of home ma
terial will leave within the state q
! large per cent of the money SO eX.
! pended.
We denounce the law providing for
the election of county commissioners
by the vote of the entire county be-
cause it denies the right of district
representation and is as illogical and
unjust as 1t would be to elect the en-
tire legislative ticket by the state at
large instead of by districts.
| We denounce the Republican party
of this state for using the state edu
cational institutions for political pur
poses to provide places for politicians
instead of educators. to the detriment
and decentralization of the schools.
| We demand that law be enacted
that shall, under severe penalty, re
quire of every candidate. either ma
| ,%o{o nfE 10 R1o With he