The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-08-19
Platform Most Pogressue EDer Adopted Says GoUeor Byan

ket at home and remove the restrictions which have injuriously effected the for eign market in which he sells his sur plus products.
 Federal Reserve System
 He needs the support of the fedora reserve system as it was intended by the democratic party, which framed the bill, and he needs relief from thu deflation policy of the republican part, which is largely responsible for thu farmers distress. The farmer needs lower railroad and water rates whicl will benefit both the buyer and seller national and international. He needI the development of deep waterway system from the Great Lakes to thu ocean and to the Gulf, and he needs thu development of our water powers tC supply cheaper fertilizer on the farm and to supply power, light and fuel foI his service in his home. He needs better and more uniform warehouse laws. He needs legislation. state and national, that will enable the farmers to develop cooperative marketing ia cilities which will increase the price that he receives and reduce the price that the ultimate consumer pays, The farmer needs an export market corpora tion, or commission, so that his small surplus product, which is sold in the markets abroad, will not establish tho price of the whole crop that he pro duces.
 The farmer needs the benefit of
 the reclamation act of 1924, which
 was defeated by the republican
 c0nferees one hour before adjourn
 ment of the last session. of con-
 gross, and he needs the reclamation
 of the arid and semi-arid lands of
 the west. The farmer needs a dem.
 Ocratic administration and 8 com
 gross that will not permit Mellon
 tax plan to relieve the multf-mif-
 liOnaires from paying their just
 share of the cost of government.
 These are some of the measures of
 relief, advancement and encu0rage-
 ment that are outlined in the dem-
 Ocratic platform. These measures
 will not be unfair to any other fn-
 dusty of interest.
 The farmers throughout the country who produce the wealth from the soil who produce the foodstuffs upon which the people of the United States subsist and who make it possible for millions to survive in other parts of the world are not asking for special privileges They are not demanding class legisla- tion; they are not attempting to get hold of the government and use it to the disadvantage of other people. The farmers are demanding, however, and they have a right to demand, that the legislation which discriminates against them should be repealed; that the ad- ministrative measures that have in juriously affected them should be with drawn and that agriculture, the basic industry of the nation, be placed on an equality with other interests that have grown and developed in this cOun- try. It is not more opportunities to borrow money that the farmer needs, It is legislative and administrative rem edies that will reduce artificial prices of what he has to buy, remove the re- strictions in the markets in which he has to sell his products, increase his ability to pay the money he has al ready been compelled to borrow and give him price for his grain and live stock that will cover the cost of pro duction, enable him to clothe, feed and educate his family and again take his place as a free and Independent citizen.
 Water Power
 The democratic platform favors the development of our water power. If the water power at Muscle Shoals, in the mountain streams and in the rivers throughout the land, were developed 1t would supply the power to operate all of our factories, all of our Industries and all of our means. of transportation. It would enable the raw materials ot the country to be manufactured where they are produced, thus saving the cost of transportation of the raw, product to the factory and of the finished product back to the consumer. It would enable industries to spring up where needed most to create business and to supply human needs. If the water power of the nation were developed it would furnish electric current to light and heat the homes of the cities and on the farms, and supply electric power to operate all the machinery necessary for the needs of the farms and for the convenience and comfort of the homes, both city and rural, at small fraction of the present cost.
 The democratic platform favOrs
 the strict public control and com
 serVatiOn of all the nations nat,
 ural resources, including coal, iron,
 oil and timber. The democratic
 party believes that the nation
 should retain title to it's water
 power sites, and favOrs the expe-
 ditiOuS creation and development
 of our water power for the use of
 our citizens. If the water power
 sites of the country were allowed
 to pass into the hands of great
 combinations of capital the people
 would pass under a yoke of servi-
 thde more galling, if possible, than
 any foreign landlord system. The
 platform faVOrs the recovery of the /
 navy's oil reserves, and all other
 parts of the public domain, which
 have been fraudulently or illegally
 leased or otherwise transferred to
 private interests.
 The democratic party is the friend of orderly government. It believes with Jefferson that acquiesence in the will of the people is the first principle of re- publics. Laws should be obeyed by all regardless of whether this or that in- dividual may like or dislike them. It is the doctrine of anarchy, not the doc urine of America, that laws are to be obeyed only by those who approve them. The democratic platform declares that "The republican administration has fail ed to enforce the prohibition laws; is guilty of trafficking in liquor permits and has become the protector of vio- lators of this law" The democratic raRty, through it's platform, pledges itself to respect and enforce the Consti- tuition and all laws.
 Private Monopoly
 The democratic platform has again reiterated it's attitude towards a private monopoly when it says that, "A private monopoly is indefensible and intolor- able" The failure of the republican administration to enforce the law against cOnspiracies in restraint of