or without domestic slavery, as they may elect, the equal rights of all the States will be preserved intact, the original compacts of the Constitution maintained inviolate, and the perpetuity and expansion of this Union insured to its utmost capacity of embracing, in peace and harmony, every future American State that may be constituted or annexed with a republican form of government. Resolved, That we recognize the right of the people of all the Territories, including Kansas and Nebraska, acting through the legally and fairly-expressed will of a majority of actual residents, and wherever the number of their inhabitants justifies it, to form a constitution, with or without domestic slavery, and be admitted into the Union upon terms of perfect equality with the other States. interference with the relations it may suit our policy to establish between our Government and the governments of the States within whose dominions it lies. We can, under no circumstance, surrender our preponderance in the adjustment of all questions arising out of it. [Adopted—yeas 180, nays 56.] 4. Resolved, That, in view of so commanding an interest, the people of the United States cannot but sympathize with the efforts which are being made by the people of Central America to regenerate that portion of the continent which covers the passage across the interoceanic isthmus. [Adopted-yeas 221, nays 38.] 5. Resolved, That the Democratic party will expect of the next Administration that every proper effort be made to insure our ascendancy in the Gulf of Mexico, and to maintain a per which are emptied into its waters the products raised out of the soil and the commodities created by the industry of the people of our western valleys and of the Union at large. [Adopted-yeas 229, nays 33.] The following resolution, reported from the committee on resolutions, was laid on the table-yeas 154, nays 120: Resolved, finally, That in the view of the con-manent protection to the great outlets through dition of popular institutions in the Old World (and the dangerous tendencies of sectional agitation, combined with the attempt to enforce civil and religious disabilities against the rights of acquiring and enjoying citizenship in our own land.) a high and sacred duty is devolved with increased responsibility upon the Democratic party of this country, as the party of the Union, to uphold and maintain the rights of every State, and thereby the Union of the States; and to sustain and advance among us constitutional liberty, by continuing to resist all monopolies and exclusive legislation for the benefit of the few at the expense of the many, and by a vigilant and constant adherence to those principles and compromises of the Constitution, which are broad enough and strong enough to embrace and uphold the Union as it was, the Union as it is, and the Union as it shall be, in the full expansion of the energies and capacity of this great and progressive people. 1. Resolved, That there are questions connected with the foreign policy of this country, which are inferior to no domestic question whatever. The time has come for the people of the United States to declare themselves in favor of free seas and progressive free trade throughout the world, by solemn manifestations, to place their moral influence at the side of their successful example. [Adopted-yeas 230, nays 29.] 2. Resolved, That our geographical and political position with reference to the other States of this continent, no less than the interest of our commerce and the development of our growing power, requires that we should hold as sacred the principles involved in the Monroe doctrine; their bearing and import admit of no misconstruction; they should be applied with unbending rigidity. [Adopted-yeas 239, nays 21] 3. Resolved, That the great highway which nature as well as the assent of the States most immediately interested in its maintenance has marked out for a free communication between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, constitutes one of the most important achievements realized by the spirit of modern times and the unconquerable energy of our people. That result should be secured by a timely and efficient exertion of the control which we have the right to claim over it, and no power on earth should be suffered to impede or clog its progress by any Resolved, That the Democratic party recognizes the great importance, in a political and commercial point of view, of a safe and speedy communication by military and postal roads, through our own territory, between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of this Union, and that it is the duty of the Federal Government to exercise promptly all its constitutional power for the attainment of that object. On tabling, the vote was: YEAS-Maine 1, New Hampshire 4, Massachusetts 17, Rhode Island 4, Connecticut 6, New Jersey 7, Penn- NAYS-Maine 7, New Hampshire 1, Vermont 5, MasOhio 6, Kentucky 4, Tennessee 9, Indiana 13, Illinois sachusetts 12, Maryland 6, Georgia 4, Louisiana 6, 11, Missouri 9, Arkansas 4, Michigan 6, Texas 4, Iowa 4, Wisconsin 5, California 4-120. The second day thereafter the rules were suspended-yeas 208, nays 88-and this resolution was adopted-yeas 205, nays 87: Resolved, That the Democratic party recog nizes the great importance, in a political and commercial point of view, of a safe and speedy communication through our own territory between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the Union, and that it is the duty of the Federal Government to exercise all its constitutional power to the attainment of that object, thereby binding the Union of these States in indissoluble bonds, and opening to the rich commerce of Asia an overland transit from the Pacific to the Mississippi river, and the great lakes of the North. NATIONAL PLATFORMS OF 1860. Republican, at Chicago, May. Resolved, That we, the delegated representatives of the Republican electors of the United States, in Convention assembled, in discharge of the duty we owe to our constituents and our country, unite in the following declarations: 1. That the history of the nation, during the last four years, has fully established the propri- | while the recent startling developments of frauds ety and necessity of the organization and per- and corruptions at the Federal metropolis show petuation of the Republican party, and that the that an entire change of administration is imcauses which called it into existence are perma-peratively demanded. nent in their nature, and now, more than ever before, demand its peaceful and constitutional triumph. 2. That the maintenance of the principles promulgated in the Declaration of the Independence and embodied in the Federal Constitution, "That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed," is essential to the preservation of our republican institutions; and that the Federal Constitution, the rights of the States, and the Union of the States, must and shall be preserved. 3. That to the Union of the States this nation owes its unprecedented increase in population, its surprising development of material resources, its rapid augmentation of wealth, its happiness at home, and its honor abroad; and we hold in abhorrence all schemes for disunion, come from whatever source they may and we congratulate the country that no Republican member of Congress has uttered or countenanced the threats of disunion so often made by Democratic members, without rebuke and with applause from their political associates; and we denounce those threats of disunion, in case of a popular overthrow of their ascendency, as denying the vital principles of a free government, and as an avowal of contemplated treason, which it is the imperative duty of an indignant people sternly to rebuke and forever silence. 4. That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively is essential to that balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depends; and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter under what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes. 5. That the present Democratic Administration has far exceeded our worst apprehensions, in its measureless subserviency to the exactions of a sectional interest, as especially evinced in its desperate exertions to force the infamous Lecompton constitution upon the protesting people of Kansas; in construing the personal rela tion between master and servant to involve an unqualified property in persons; in its attempted enforcement everywhere, on land and sea, through the intervention of Congress and of the Federal courts, of the extreme pretensions of a purely local interest; and in its general and unvarying abuse of the power intrusted to it by a confiding people. 6. That the people justly view with alarm the reckless extravagance which pervades every department of the Federal Government; that a return to rigid economy and accountability is indispensable to arrest the systematic plunder of the public treasury by favored partisans, 7. That the new dogma, that the Constitution, of its own force, carries slavery into any or all of the Territories of the United States, is a dangerous political heresy, at variance with the explicit provisions of that instrument itself, with contemporaneous exposition, and with legislative and judicial precedent; is revolutionary in its tendency, and subversive of the peace and harmony of the country. 8. That the normal condition of all the territory of the United States is that of freedom; that as our republican fathers, when they had abolished slavery in all our national territory, ordained that "no person should be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law," it becomes our duty, by legislation, whenever such legislation is necessary, to maintain this provision of the Constitution against all attempts to violate it; and we deny the authority of Congress, of a territorial legislature, or of any individuals, to give legal existence to slavery in any Territory of the United States. 9. That we brand the recent re-opening of the African slave-trade, under the cover of our national flag, aided by perversions of judicial power, as a crime against humanity and a burning shame to our country and age; and we call upon Congress to take prompt and efficient measures for the total and final suppression of that execrable traffic. 10. That in the recent vetoes, by their Federal governors, of the acts of the legislatures of Kansas and Nebraska, prohibiting slavery in those Territories, we find a practical illustration of the boasted democratic principle of nonintervention and popular sovereignty, embodied in the Kansas-Nebraska bill, and a demonstration of the deception and fraud involved therein. 11. That Kansas should of right be immediately admitted as a State under the constitution recently formed and adopted by her people and accepted by the House of Representatives. 12. That, while providing revenue for the support of the General Government by duties upon imports, sound policy requires such an adjustment of these imposts as to encourage the development of the industrial interests of the whole country; and we commend that policy of national exchanges which secures to the workingmen liberal wages, to agriculture remunerative prices, to mechanics and manufacturers an adequate reward for their skill, labor, and enterprise, and to the nation commercial prosperity and independence. 13. That we protest against any sale or alienation to others of the public lands held by actual settlers, and against any view of the free homestead policy which regards the settlers as paupers or suppliants for public bounty; and we demand the passage by Congress of the complete and satisfactory homestead measure which has already passed the House. 14. That the Republican party is opposed to any change in our naturalization laws, or any State legislation by which the rights of citizen ship hitherto accorded to immigrants from for- | Democratic (Breckinridge) Platform, adopted at eign lands shall be abridged or impaired; and in favor of giving a full and efficient protection to the rights of all classes of citizens, whether native or naturalized, both at home and abroad. 16. That a railroad to the Pacific ocean is Charleston and Baltimore, June. Resolved, That the platform adopted by the Democratic party at Cincinnati be affirmed, with the following explanatory resolutions: 1. That the government of a territory organized by an act of Congress is provisional and temporary, and during its existence all citizens of the United States have an equal right to settle with their property in the territory, without their rights, either of person or property, being destroyed or impaired by congressional or territorial legislation. 2. That it is the duty of the Federal Government, in all its departments, to protect, when necessary, the rights of persons and property in the territories, and wherever else its constitutional authority extends. 3. That when the settlers in a territory, hav imperatively demanded by the interests of the whole country; that the Federal Government ought to render immediate and efficient aid in its construction; and that, as preliminary thereto, a daily overland mail should be promptly established. 17. Finally, having thus set forth our distinc-ing an adequate population, form a State constitution, the right of sovereignty commences, tive principles and views, we invite the co-ope- and, being consummated by admission into the ration of all citizens, however differing on other Union, they stand on an equal footing with questions, who substantially agree with us in the people of other States; and the State thus their affirmance and support. organized ought to be admitted into the Federal Union, whether its constitution prohibits or recognizes the institution of slavery. Democratic (Douglas) Platform, adopted at Charleston and Baltimore, June.. 1. Resolved, That we, the Democracy of the Union, in convention assembled, hereby declare our affirmance of the resolutions unanimously adopted and declared as a platform of principles by the Democratic Convention in Cincinnati, in the year 1856, believing that Democratic principles are unchangeable in their nature, when applied to the same subject-matters; and we recommend, as the only further resolutions, the following: 2. Resolved, That it is the duty of the United States to afford ample and complete protection to all its citizens, whether at home or abroad, and whether native or foreign. 3. Resolved, That one of the necessities of the age, in a military, commercial, and postal point of view, is speedy communication between the Atlantic and Pacific States; and the Democratic party pledge such constitutional Government aid as will insure the construction of a railroad to the Pacific coast at the earliest practicable period. 4. Resolved, That the Democratic party are in favor of the acquisition of the Island of Cuba, on such terms as shall be honorable to ourselves and just to Spain. 5. Resolved, That the enactments of State legislatures to defeat the faithful execution of the fugitive-slave law are hostile in character, subversive of the Constitution, and revolutionary in their effect. 6. Resolved, That it is in accordance with the true interpretation of the Cincinnati platform that, during the existence of the territorial governments, the measure of restriction, whatever it may be, imposed by the Federal Constitution on the power of the territorial legislature over the subject of the domestic relations, as the same has been, or shall hereafter be, finally determined by the Supreme Court of the United States, should be respected by all good citizens, and enforced with promptness and fidelity by every branch of the General Government. 4. That the Democratic party are in favor of the acquisition of the Island of Cuba, on such terms as shall be honorable to ourselves and just to Spain, at the earliest practicable moment. 5. That the enactments of State legislatures to defeat the faithful execution of the fugitiveslave law are hostile in character, subversive of the Constitution, and revolutionary in their effect. 6. That the Democracy of the United States recognize it as the imperative duty of this Government to protect the naturalized citizen in all his rights, whether at home or in foreign lands, to the same extent as its native-born citizens. Whereas one of the greatest necessities of the age, in a political, commercial, postal, and military point of view, is a speedy communication between the Pacific and Atlantic coasts; therefore, be it Resolved, That the National Democratic party do hereby pledge themselves to use every means in their power to secure the passage of some bill, to the extent of the constitutional authority of Congress, for the construction of a Pacific railroad from the Mississippi river to the Pacific ocean, at the earliest practicable moment. NATIONAL PLATFORMS OF 1864. Republican, at Baltimore, June. Resolved, That it is the highest duty of every American citizen to maintain against all their enemies the integrity of the Union and the paramount authority of the Constitution and laws of the United States; and that, laying aside all differences of political opinions, we pledge ourselves as Union men, animated by a common sentiment, and aiming at a common object, to do everything in our power to aid the Government, in quelling by force of arms the rebellion now raging against its authority, ard in bring ing to the punishment due to their crimes the rebels and traitors arrayed against it. 2. That we approve the determination of the Government of the United States not to compromise with rebels, or to offer them any terms of peace, except such as may be based upon an unconditional surrender of their hostility and a return to their just allegiance to the Constitution and laws of the United States; and that we call upon the Government to maintain this position and to prosecute the war with the utmost possible vigor to the complete suppression of the rebellion, in full reliance upon the self-sacrificing patriotism, the heroic valor, and the undying devotion of the American people to the country and its free institutions. 3. That as slavery was the cause, and now constitutes the strength of this rebellion, and as it must be always and everywhere hostile to the principles of republican government, justice and the national safety demand its utter and complete extirpation from the soil of the republic; and that while we uphold and maintain the acts and proclamations by which the Government, in its own defence, has aimed a death-blow at this gigantic evil, we are in favor, furthermore, of such an amendment to the Constitution, to be made by the people in conformity with its provisions, as shall terminate and forever prohibit the existence of slavery within the limits of the jurisdiction of the United States. 4. That the thanks of the American people are due to the soldiers and sailors of the army and navy, who have perilled their lives in defence of their country and in vindication of the honor of its flag; that the nation owes to them some permanent recognition of their patriotism and their valor, and ample and permanent provision for those of their survivors who have received disabling and honorable wounds in the service of the country; and that the memories of those who have fallen in its defence shall be held in grateful and everlasting remembrance. ployed in its armies, without regard to distinction of color, the full protection of the laws of war; and that any violation of these laws, or of the usages of civilized nations in time of war by the rebels now in arms, should be made the subject of prompt and full redress. 8. That foreign immigration, which in the past has added so much to the wealth, development of resources and increase of power to the nationthe asylum of the oppressed of all nations-should be fostered and encouraged by a liberal and just policy. 9. That we are in favor of the speedy construction of the railroad to the Pacific coast. 10. That the national faith, pledged for the redemption of the public debt, must be kept inviolate, and that for this purpose we recommend economy and rigid responsibility in the public expenditures, and a vigorous and just system of taxation; and that it is the duty of every loyal State to sustain the credit and promote the use of the national currency. 11. That we approve the position taken by the Government that the people of the United States can never regard with indifference the attempt of any European power to overthrow by force, or to supplant by fraud, the institutions of any republican government on the western continent; and that they will view with extreme jealousy, as menacing to the peace and independence of their own country, the efforts of any such power to obtain new footholds for monarchical governments, sustained by foreign military force, in near proximity to the United States. Democratic, at Chicago, August. Resolved, That in the future, as in the past, we will adhere with unswerving fidelity to the Union under the Constitution as the only solid foundation of our strength, security, and happiness as a people, and as a framework of government equally conducive to the welfare and prosperity of all the States, both northern and southern. 5. That we approve and applaud the practical wisdom, the unselfish patriotism, and the unswerving fidelity to the Constitution and the prin- Resolved, That this convention does explicitly ciples of American liberty, with which Abraham declare, as the sense of the American people, that Lincoln has discharged, under circumstances of after four years of failure to restore the Union unparalleled difficulty, the great duties and res- by the experiment of war, during which, under ponsibilities of the presidential office; that we the pretence of a military necessity or warapprove and endorse, as demand d by the emer-power higher than the Constitution, the Constigency and essential to the preservation of the nation and as within the provisions of the Constitution, the measures and acts which he has adopted to defend the nation against its open and secret foes; that we approve especially the proclamation of emancipation and the employment as Union soldiers of men heretofore held in slavery; and that we have full confidence in his determination to carry these and all other constitutional measures essential to the salvation of the country into full and complete effect. 6. That we deem it essential to the general welfare that harmony should prevail in the national councils, and we regard as worthy of public confidence and official trust those only who cordially endorse the principles proclaimed in these resolutions, and which should characterize the administration of the Government. 7. That the Government owes to all men em tution itself has been disregarded in every part, and public liberty and private right alike trod den down, and the material prosperity of the country essentially impaired, justice, humanity, liberty, and the public welfare demand that immediate efforts be made for a cessation of hostilities, with a view to an ultimate convention of the States, or other peaceable means, to the end that, at the earliest practicable moment, peace may be restored on the basis of the Fede ral Union of the States. Resolved, That the direct interference of the military authorities of the United States in the recent elections held in Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, and Delaware was a shameful violation of the Constitution, and a repetition of such acts in the approaching election will be held as revolutionary, and resisted with all the means and power under our control. Resolved, That the aim and object of the Democratic party is to preserve the Federal Union and the rights of the States unimpaired, and they hereby declare that they consider that the administrative usurpation of extraordinary and dangerous powers not granted by the Constitution-the subversion of the civil by military law in States not in insurrection; the arbitrary military arrest, imprisonment, trial, and sentence of American citizens in States where civil law exists in full force; the suppression of freedom of speech and of the press; the denial of the right of asylum; the open and avowed disregard of State rights; the employment of unusual test-oaths; and the interference with and denial of the right of the people to bear arms in their defence is calculated to prevent a restoration | [Part II of the Union and the perpetuation of a Gover ment deriving its just powers from the conse of the governed. Resolved, That the shameful disregard of t Administration to its duty in respect to o fellow-citizens who now are and long have be prisoners of war in a suffering condition d serves the severest reprobation on the sco alike of public policy and common humanity Resolved, That the sympathy of the Democra party is heartily and earnestly extended to t soldiery of our army and sailors of our navy, w are and have been in the field and on the s under the flag of our country, and, in the eve of its attaining power, they will receive all t care, protection, and regard that the brave s diers and sailors of the republic so nobly earn XXXV. NATIONAL PLATFORMS OF 1868, THE LETTERS OF ACCEPTANCE OF CANDIDATES, AND SUNDRY PROCEEDINGS THE CONVENTIONS. Republican, at Chicago, May.* The National Republican party of the United States, assembled in National Convention in the city of Chicago, on the 21st day of May, 1866, make the following declaration of principles: 1. We congratulate the country on the assured success of the reconstruction policy of Congress, as evinced by the adoption, in the majority of the States lately in rebellion, of constitutions securing equal civil and political rights to all; and it is the duty of the Government to sustain those institutions and to prevent the people of such States from being remitted to a state of an. archy. 2. The guaranty by Congress of equal suffrage to all loyal men at the South was demanded by every consideration of public safety, of gratitude, and of justice, and must be maintained; while the question of suffrage in all the loyal States properly belongs to the people of those States. Reported from the following committee on resolutions: Alabama-D. C. Humphreys. Arkansas H. B. Morse. Colorado-G. M. Chilcott. Connecticut-J. M. Woodward. Delaware-C. S. Layton. Florida-R. G. Roder. Georgia-R. H. McCoy. Illinois-Herman Raster. Indiana-Richard W. Thompson. Iowa-G. M. Dodge. Kansas-B. F. Simpson. Kentucky-Charles Eginton. Louisiana-William R. Fish. Maine-Eugene Hall. Maryland- Massachusetts-F. W. Bird. Michigan-R. R. Beecher. Minnesota-R. M. McClelland. Mississippi-A. R. Howe. Missouri-Robert T. Van Horn. Nebraska-R. W. Furniss. Nevada-C. E. De Long. New Hampshire-J. F. Briggs. New Jersey Carolina-L.G. Estes. Ohio-J. C. Lee. Oregon H. R. Kincaid. Pennsylvania Samuel E. Dimmick. Rhode Island-R. G. Hazard. South Carolina-B. O. Duncan. Tennessee-W. G. Elliott. Texas-George W. Paschal Vermont-W. H. Johnson. Virginia-L. Bill. West Virginia-R. S. Brown. Wisconsin-H. Rublee. John Davidson. New York-Charles Andrews. North 3. We denounce all forms of repudiation a national crime; and the national honor requi the payment of the public indebtedness in uttermost good faith to all creditors at home a abroad, not only according to the letter, but spirit of the laws under which it was contract 4. It is due to the labor of the nation th taxation should be equalized, and reduced rapidly as the national faith will permit. 5. The national debt, contracted as it been for the preservation of the Union for time to come, should be extended over a f period for redemption; and it is the duty Congress to reduce the rate of interest there whenever it can be honestly done. 6. That the best policy to diminish our burd of debt is to so improve our credit that capit ists will seek to loan us money at lower rates interest than we now pay, and must continue pay so long as repudiation, partial or tot open or covert, is threatened or suspected. 7. The Government of the United States shou be administered with the strictest economy; a the corruptions which have been so shamefu nursed and fostered by Andrew Johnson c loudly for radical reform. 8. We profoundly deplore the untimely a tragic death of Abraham Lincoln, and regret t accession to the Presidency of Andrew Johns who has acted treacherously to the people w elected him and the cause he was pledged support; who has usurped high legislative a judicial functions; who has refused to execu the laws; who has used his high office to indu other officers to ignore and violate the lav who has employed his executive powers to re der insecure the property, the peace, liberty a The thirteenth and fourteenth were added to the life, of the citizen; who has abused the pardo committee's resolutions on motion of General Carling power; who has denounced the nation Schurz. |