Gloucester County Democrat., 1912-07-11
DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM

form adopted by the Democratic Ma
tional Convention:
We, the representatives of the DEM
ocratic party in the United States, in
National Convention assembled, re-
affirm our devotion to the principles
of Democratic government, formulated
by Thomas Jefferson and enforced by
a long and illustrious line of Demo-
cratic Presidents.
Tariff Reform.
We declare it to be a fundamental
principle of the Democratic party that
the Federal Government under the
Constitution has no right or power
to impose or collect tariff duties, eX-
cept for the purpose of revenue, and
we demand that the collection of such
taxes shall be limited to the necessit-
les of government honestly and eco
nomically administered.
The high Republican tariff is the
principal cause OF the unequal dis
tribution of wealth; it is system of
taxation which makes the rich richer
and the poor poorer; under its opera
tions the American farmer and labor
ing man are the chief sufferers; 1T
raises the cost of the necessaries of
life to them but does not protect their
product or wages The farmer sells
largely in free markets and buys al
most entirely in the protected mar
kets.
In the most highly protected indus
tries, such as cotton and wool, steel
and iron, the wages of the laborers
are the lowest paid in any of our
industries. We denounce the Repub-
3ican pretence on that subject and
assert that American wages are es-
tablished by competitive conditions
and not by the tariff.
We favor the immediate downward
revision of the existing high, and, in
many cases, prohibitive tariff duties,
insisting that material reductions be
speedily made upon the necessaries
of life. Articles entering into COM
petition with trust-controlled products
and articles of American manufacture
which are sold abroad more cheaply
than at home, should be put upon
the free list.
We recognize that our system of
tariff taxation is intimately connected
with the business of the country, and
we favor the ultimate attainment OF
the principles we advocate by legisla-
tion that will not injure or destroy
legitimate industry.
We denounce the action of Presi-
dent Taft in vetoing the bills to re-
duce the tariff in the cotton, woolen,
metals and chemical schedules and
the farmers free list bill, all of which
were designed to give immediate re-
lief to the masses from the exaction
of the trusts.
The Republican party, while promis-
ing tariff revision, has shown by its
tariff legislation, that such revision is
not to be in the peoples interest and
having been faithless to its pledges
of 1908, it should no longer enjoy the
confidence of the nation. We appeal
to the American people to support
us in our demand for tariff for
revenue only.
High Cost of Living.
The high cost of living is serious
problem in every American home. The
Republican party, in its platform, at
tenlpts to escape from responsibility
for present conditions by denying that
t11ev are due to protective tariff.
We take issue with them on this sub
ject and charge that excessive prices
result in a large measure from the
high tariff laws enacted and main
tanned iby the Republican party and
: From trusts and commercial con-
sgiracies fostered and encouraged by
such laws, and we assert that no sub
etantial relief can be secured for the
people until import duties on the
necessities of life are materially re-
duced and these criminal conspiracies
broken up.
Antitrust Law.
A private monopoly is indefensible
and intoleYable. We therefore favor
the vigorous enforcement of the crdanl-
nal as well as the civil laws against
trusts and trust officials, and demand
the enactment of such additional legis-
latinn as may be necessary to make 1t
1mpossible for private monopoly TO
exist in the United States.
We favor the declaration by law OF
The conditions upon which corpora
tions shall be permitted to engage in
Interstate trade, including, among
Others. the prevention of holding COM
Uanies. of interlocking directors, OF
STOCK watering, of discrimination in
pr1ce and the control by any one cor
poration of SO large a proportion OF
any industry as to make it a menace
to competitive conditions.
We condemn the action of the Re
publican administration in compromis-
ing with the Standard Oil Co. and
the Tobacco Trust and its failure to
invoke the criminal provisions OF the
<,..4; a,.,,c4 larr q ora in rIf the officers OF
those corporations after the court had
declared that from the undisputed
facts in the record they had violated
the criminal provisions of the law,
We regret that the Sherman anti
TRUST law has received a judicial con
struction depriving it of much OF its
efficacy, and we favor the enactment
uf legislation which will restore to
the statue the strength of which ii
has been deprived by such interpreta-