The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-07-10

the people to freely select their officials
 is inalienable. and cannot be delegated.
 Office Holders.
 Coincident with the enormous increase
 in expenditures has come a like addition
 to the number of offceholders. During
 the past year. g, 7S4 were added costing
 Sl6156.0oo, and in the past six years of ! the republican administration the total
 number of new offices created, aside from l any commissions has been 99.319. entail | ing an additional expenditure of nearly | SO0O,0O0, as against only 1o,279 new of | fees created under the Cleveland and 1 Mckinley administrations. which in ! volved an expenditure of only s6.000, 900. 1 We denounce this great and growing in 1 crease in the number of offieeholders as not only unnecessary and wasteful. but | also as clearly indicating a deliberate l purpose on the part of the administration | to keep the republican party in power at | public expense by thus increasing the
 number of it's retainers and dependents. | Such procedure we declare to be no less dangerous and corrupt than the open pur- l chase of votes at the polls.
 The Rights of the States.
 Believing with Jefferson in "the sup | port of the state governments in all their rights as the most competent administra- ! ton for our domestic concerns, and the
 surest bulwark against anti-republiean | tendencies and in ''the preservation of
 the general government in it's whole con- stitutional vigor as the sheet-anchor of | our peace at home and safety abroad '
 we are opposed to the centralzation i'm | pliedfin these suggestions, now frequent | ly made. that the powers of tho. general -l,a ba aa1 hxrI Ia11f 1 cial construction. There is no twilight
 zone between the nation and the state in which exploiting interests can take ref uge from both and it Is as necessary
 that the federal government shall exer- | else the powers delegated to it as 1t is | that the state governments shall use the
 authority reserved to them; but we in- 1 sist that federal remedies for the regula- 1 tion of interstate commerce and for the | prevention of private monopoly shall be | added to-not substituted for-state rem- 1 edies
 Income Tax
 We favor an income tax as part of our i revenue system. and we urge the submis-
 sion of a constitutional amendment spe- | officially authorizing congress to levy and 1 collect a tax upon individual and corpo- ] rate incomes to the end that wealth may
 bear it's proportionate share of the bur
 
 The Navy.
 J The constitutional provision that a navy ! shall be provided and maintained means 1 an adequate navy, and we believe that i the interests of this country would be
 best served by having a navy sufficient
 to defend the coasts of this country and | protect American citizens wherever their
 rights may be in jeopardy. Popular Election of Senators. We favor the election of United States senators by direct vote of the people and regard this reform as the gateway to oth- CT nationaDreforms.
 Asiatic Immigration. We favor full protection by both na- tional and state governments, within their respective spheres of all foreigners re- siding in the United States under treaty, | but we are opposed to the admission of Asiatic immigrants who cannot be anal gamated with our population, or whose | presence among us would raise a race issue and involve us in diplomatic contro-
 versies with Oriental powers.
 Economy In Administration. The republican Congress in the session just ended has made appropriations amounting to $1, ,00S, ,0OO, 900, exceeding the
 
 by s90,00OoO0. and leaving a deficit of
 more than s60,0O0,O0O for the fiscal year. | We denounce the needless waste of the ! peoples money which has resulted in l this appalling increase as a shameful vio- i lation of all prudent conditions of gov ] ernment as no less than a crime against
 the millions of worlnngmen and women ] from whose earnings the great proportion | of these colossal sums must be extorted
 through excessive tariff exactions and l other indirect methods. It Is not surpris | ing that, in the face of their shocking | record. the republican platform contains l no reference to economical administration
 or promise thereof in the future. We de- l mand that stop be put to this fright l full extravaganza and insist upon the l strictest economy in every department | compatible with frugal and efficient ad-
 ministration.
 Waterways.
 Water furnishes the cheapest means of transportation and the national govern ment having the control of navigable 1 waters should improve them to their full est capacity. We earnestly favor the Im-
 mediate adoption of liberal and compre- hensive plan for improving every water course on the union, which is justified Dy 1 the needs of commerce and to secure that | end we favor when practical. the connec- | ton of the great lakes with the navi- | gable rivers, and with the gulf through the Mississippi river, and the navigable rivers with each other and the rivers, bays and sounds of our coast with each other by artificial canals, with view to perfeetng a system of inland waterways, | to be navigated by vessels of standard draught
 We favor the cooperation of the va- | rious services of the government con- | nected with waterways in one service, for i the purpose of aiding in the completion 1 of such a system of inland waterways; l and we favor the creation of fund ample | for continuous work. which will be con | ducted under the direction of a com | mission of experts to be authorized by l law.
 | Panama Relations. | The democratic party recognizes the im- | portance and advantage of developing {, closer ties of Panama friendship and | commerce between the United States and | her sister nations of Latin America and | favors the taking of such steps, consis- | tent with democratic policies for better 1 acquaintance, greater mutual confidence
 and larger exchange of trade, as well | bring lasting benefit not only to the Uni
 republics. having constitutions, forms of | government ambitions and interests akin ! to our own.
 Natural Resources.
 We repeat the demand for internal de- | yelopment and for the conservation of our l ,.+.,r,1 recourpas contained n rorayioiis