Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1908-04-08
APPEALS TO PEOPLE
NEBRASKA DEMOCRATS ADOPT
STRONG PLATFORM.
PRINCIPLES OF THE PARTY
Return to Government of, by, and for
the People Is the Keynote of Dec
Iaration All Democrats
Will Indorse.

co lvention at Omaha, March 5, 1908,
is as follows:
We, the representatives of the De-
1nocracy of Nebraska, in delegate con
vention assembled, reaffirm our faith
in, and pledge our loyalty to, the
principles of our party.
We rejoice at the increasing signs
of an awakening in the United States.
The various investigations have traced
graft and political corruption to the
representatives of predatory wealth
and laid bare the INSCRIPTIONS meth
DDS by which they have debauched
elections and preyed upon a defense
less public through the subservient Of
ficials whom they have raised to place
and power.
The conscience of the nation is now
aroused and will, if honestly appealed
to. free the government from the grip
of those who have made it a business
asset of the favor-seeling corpora
tons; it must become again "a gov
eminent of the people, by the people
and for the people," and be admins
tered in all its departments according
to the JefferSonian maxim, equal
rights to all and special privileges to
none"
We heartily approve of the laws pro-
hibiting the pass and the rebate, and
insist upon further legislation, state
and national, making it unlawful for
any corporation to contribute to CAM
paign funds and providing for publica
ton, before the election, of all indi-
vidual contributions above a reason
able minimum.
Believing, with Jefferson, in the
support of the state governments in
all their rights as the most compe-
tent administrations for our domestic
concerns and the surest bulwark
| against anti-republican tendencies;
and in "the preservation of the general
government in its whole constitutional
! vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace
/ at home and safety abroad" We are
| opposed to the Capitalization implied
| in the suggestions, now frequently
made, that the powers of the general
| government should be extended By
| judicial construction.
We insist upon the recognition OF
the distinction between the natural
man and the artificial person, called d
corporation, and we favor the enact
ment of such laws as may be neces
sary to compel foreign corporations tC
submit their legal disputes to the
courts of the states in which they dc
business, and thus place themselves
upon the same footing as domestic cor
porationS.
We favor the election of United
States senators by direct vote of the
people, and regard this reform as the
gateway to all other national reforms
A private monopoly is indefensiblt
and intolerable. We, therefore, favo
the vigorous enforcement of the Grim
inal law against trusts and trust mag
Mates, and demand the enactment o
such additional legislation as may b.
necessary to make it impossible for ;
private monopoly to exist in TN
United States.
We welcome the belated promise .
tariff reform, now offered by a par
of the Republican party, as tard
recognition of the righteousness of tn
Democratic position on this question
but the people can not safely entrus
the execution of this important wor
to a party which is so obligated to TIL
highly protected interests that
postpones relief until after the eleC
ton.
We favor an immediate revision G
the tariff by the reduction of impor
duties. Articles entering into compt
tition with articles controlled by trust
should be placed upon the free list
material reductions should be made i
the tariff upon the necessaries of life
and reductions should be made i
such other schedules as may be nece.
sary to restore the tariff to a revenu
basis.
We favor an income tax as part {
our revenue system, and we urge tn
submission of constitutional amenG
ment specifically authorizing congress
to levy aud collect tax upon indiviC
ual and corporate incomes, to the en-
, that wealth may bear its proportion
ate share of the burdens of the feders
government. We favor a national il
heritance tax to reach the ''swolle
; fortunes" already IN existence, br
! we believe that it is better to pc
manently prevent swollen fortunes
by abolishing the privileges and favo
itism upon which they are based.
We assert the right of congress
! exercise complete control over int
, state commerce, and we assert til
right of each state to exercise just
complete control over commerce wit
J., in its borders. We demand such a
? enlargement of the powers of nation;
and state railway commissions as ma
> be necessary to give full protection
persons and places from discrimin
ton and extortion. We believe tn:
both the nation and the various state
should, first, ascertain the presel
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