The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-07-03
The Banner of "a Tariff for
Revenue Only"
Is Again HOisted by the Demo-
Gratis at Baltimore.
THE SAME OLD LABOR PLANK
FaVOrs Granting independence
to the Philippines.
Opposes Aldrich Monetary
Plan and Ship Subsidies.

Plan and Ship Subsidies.
Baltimore, June 2s.-Following is the
platform adopted by the Democratic
national convention:
: We, the representatives of the Dem
| ocratic party of the United States, in
our devotion to the principles of Demo-
cratic government formulated by
Thomas Jefferson and enforced by Il
| long and illustrious line of Democratic
| presidents.
Tariff Reform.
We declare it to be a fundamental
principle of the Democratic party that
! the federal government under, the con-
| stitution has no right or power to i'm
] Pose or collect tariff duties, except for
/ the purpose of revenue and we demand
| that the collection of such taxes shall
| be limited to the necessities of govern
nent honestly and economically admin
| istered.
The high Republican tariff is the
principal cause of the unequal distri-
button of wealth; it is a system of tax
alton which makes the rich richer and
the poor poorer; under its operations
the American farmer and laboring man
are the chief sufferers; it raises the
cost Of the necessities of life to thenL
but does not protect their product or
wage The farmer sells largely in free
markets, and buys almost entirely in
the protected markets. In the most
nightly protected industries such as cot
ton and wool, steel and iron. the wages
| OF the iaborers are the lowest paid n
any of our industries We denounce
the Republican pretense on that sub
Ject and assert that American wages
are established by competitive condi-
tons and not by the tariff.
we FAVOR the Immediate downward
hiyI7
many cases, prohibitive tariff duties
insisting that material reductions be
speedily made upon the necessaries of
life. Articles entering into competi-
ton with trust-controIled products
and articles American manufacture
which are sold abroad more cheaply
than at home, should be put upon the
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 I'VE advocate by IegisIa-
ton 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 wooden
metals and chemicals schedules and
the farmers free list all of which
were designed to give Immediate relief
to the masses from the exactions of
the trusts.
The Republican party, while prom-7
1sing 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 re-
venue only.
High Cost of Living.
The high cost of living is a serious
problem in every American home.
The Republican party in its platform
attempts to escape from responsible
ity for present conditions by denying
that they are due to a protective tar
iff. We take issue with them on this
subject and charge that excessive
prices result in large measure from
the high tariff laws enacted and main
tanned by the Republican party and
from trusts and commercial conspira-
cies fostered and encouraged by such
laws, and we assert that no substan-
tial relief can be secured for the peo
pie until import duties on the neces-
saries of life are materially reduced
and these criminal conspiracies brok
en- up.
Antitrust Law.
private monopoly is indefensible
and intolerable. We, therefore, favor
the vigorous enforcement of the GRIM
inal as we'll as the civil law against
trusts and trust officials, and demand !
the enactment of such additional legis-
impossible for private monopoly to |
exist in the United States. We favor |
the declaration by law of the condi- |
tions upon which corporations shall be
permitted to engage in interstate trade, |
including, among others, the proven |
ton of holding companies. of inter |
locking directors, of stock watering, of |
discrimination in price, and the con- |
troll by any one corporation of so |
large a proportion of any industry as
to make it a menace to competitive |
conditions. We condemn the action |
of the Republican administration in /
compromising with the Standard Oil I
company and the Tobacco trusts and |
its failure to invoke the criminal pro-
visions of the antitrust law against the |
officers of those corporations after the |
court declared that from the undis-
puted facts in the record they. had vio-
lated 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 it's
efficacy and we favor the ena ctment
Of legislation which will restore to the
statute the strength of which it has
been deprived by such Interpretation.
Rights of the States.
We believe in the preservation and
ma .ntenance in their full strength and
of the three coordinate