1864-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 the country, and in vindication of the honor of its flag; that the nation owes to them some permanent recog. nition 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. [Plank 4. 1868 - Of all who were faithful in the trials of the late war, there were none entitled to more especial honor than the brave soldiers and seamen who endured the hardships of campaign and cruise, and imperilled their lives in the service of their country; the bounties and pensions provided by the laws for these brave defenders of the nation are obligations never to be forgotten; the widows and orphans of the gallant dead are the wards of the people-a sacred legacy bequeathed to the nation's care. [Plank 10. 1872-We hold in undying honor the soldiers and sailors whose valor saved the Union. Their pensions are a sacred debt of the nation, and the widows and orphans of those who died for their country are entitied to the care of a generous and grateful people. We favor such additional legislation as will extend the bounty of the Government to all our soldiers and sailors who were honorably discharged, and who, in the line of duty, became disabled, without regard to the length of service or the cause of such discharge. (Plank S. 1876 The pledges which the nation has given to her soldiers and sailors must be fulfilled, and a grate. ful people will always hold those who imperilled their lives for the country's preservation in the kindest remembrance. [Plank 14. 1880 That the obligations of the Republic to the men who preserved its integrity in the day of battle are undiminished by the lapse of fifteen years since their final victory. To do them honor is and shall forever be the grateful privilege and sacred duty of the American people. 1884-The grateful thanks of the American people are due to the Union soldiers and sailors of the late war, and the Republican Party stands pledged to suitable pensions to all who were disabled, and for the widows and orphans of those who died in the war. The Republican Party pledges itself to the repeal of the limitation contained in the Arrears Act of 1879, so that all invalid soldiers shall share alike, and their pensions shall begin with the date of disability or discharge, and not with the date of the appli cation. 1888-The gratitude of the Nation to the defenders of the Union cannot be measured by laws. The legislation of Congress should conform to the pledge made by a loyal people, and be so enlarged and extended as to provide against the possibility that any man who honorably wore the Federal uniform shall become an inmate of an almshouse or dependent upon private charity. In the presence of an overflowing Democratic. 1884-The system of direct taxation, known as "internal revenue," is a war tax, and so long as the law continues the money derived therefrom should be sacredly devoted to the relief of the people from the remaining burdens of the war, and be made a fund to defray the expenses of the care and comfort of worthy soldiers disabled in the line of duty in the wars of the Republic, and for the payment of such pensions as Congress may from time to time grant to such soldiers, a like fund for the sailors having been already provided, and any surplus should be paid into the Treasury. 1888-Reaffirmed. While carefully guarding the interest of the principles of justice and equity, it [the Democratic Party] has paid out more for pensions and bounties to the. soldiers and sailors of the Republic than was ever paid before during an equal period. 1852 - [The Whig National Platform repetitiously declared that: Government should be conducted on principles of the strictest economy; and revenue sufficient for the expenses thereof, in time, ought to be derived mainly from a duty on imports, and not from direct taxes; and on laying such duties, sound policy requires a just discrimination, and when practicable, by specific duties, whereby suitable encouragement may be afforded to American industry, equally to all classes and to all portions of the country; an economical administration of the Government in time of peace, ought to be derived from duties on imports, and not from direct taxation; and in laying such duties, sound policy requires a just discrimination, whereby suit Democratic. 1840-That justice and sound policy forbid the Federal Government to foster one branch of industry to the detriment of another, or to cherish the interest of one portion to the injury of another portion of our common country. That no more revenue ought to be raised than is required to defray the necessary expenses of the government. 1844 Reaffirmed. 1848-That . no more revenue ought to be raised than is required to defray the necessary expenses of the government, and for the gradual but certain extinction of the debt created by the prosecution of a just and necessary war, after peaceful relations shall have been restored. That the fruits of the great political triumph of 1844, which elected James K. Polk and George M. Dallas President and Vice-President of the United States, have fulfilled the hopes of the Democracy of the Union in the noble impulse given to the cause of Free Trade by the repeal of the tariff of 1842, and the creation of the more equal, honest, and productive tariff of 1846; and that, in our opinion, it would be a fatal error to weaken the bands of a political organ. ization by which these great reforms have been achieved. * That the confidence of the Democracy of the Union, in the principles, capacity, firmness and integrity of James K. Polk, manifested by his nomination and election in 1844, has been signally justified by the strictness of his adherence to sound Democratic doc. trines, .. and assure him in advance, that at the expiration of his Presidential term he will carry with him to his retirement, the esteem, respect, and admiration of a grateful country. 1852-That justice and sound policy forbid the Federal Government to foster one branch of industry to the detriment of another, or to cherish the interest of one portion to the injury of another portion of our common country. . That it is the duty of every branch of the Government to enforce and practice the most rigid economy in conducting our public affairs, and that no more revenue ought to be raised than is required to defray the necessary expenses of the Government, and for the gradual but certain extinction of the public debt. *The entire "plank" is in these words: Resolved, That the fruits of the great political triumph of 1844, which elected James K. Polk and George M. Dallas President and Vice-President of the United States, have fulfilled the hopes of the Democracy of the Union in defeating the declared purposes of their opponents in creating a National Bank, in preventing the corrupt and unconstitutional distribution of the Land Proceeds from the common treasury of the Union for local purposes, in protecting the currency and Labor of the country from ruinous fluctuations; and guarding the money of the country for the use of the people by the establishment of the constitutional treasury; in the noble impulse given to the cause of Free Trade by the repeal of the tariff of '42, and the creation of the more equal, honest, and productive tariff of 1846; and that, in our opinion, it would be a fatal error to weaken the bands of a political organization by which these great reforms have been achieved, and risk them in the hands of their known adversaries, with whatever delusive appeals they may solicit our surrender of that vigilance 1872-... Revenue, except so much as may be derived from a tax upon tobacco and liquors, should be raised by duties upon importations, the details of which should be so adjusted as to aid in securing remunerative wages to labor, and promote the indus tries, prosperity, and growth of the whole country. [Plank 7. 1876-The revenue necessary for current expenditures and the obligations of the public debt must be largely derived from duties upon importations, which so far as possible should be adjusted to promote the interests of American labor and advance the prosperity of the whole country. 1880-Reaffirmed. [Plank 8. 1884-It is the first duty of a good government to protect the rights and promote the interests of its own people; the largest diversity of industry is most productive of general prosperity and of the comfort and independence of the people. We therefore demand that the imposition of duties on foreign imports shall be made not for "revenue only," but that, in raising the requisite revenues for the Government, such duties shall be so levied as to afford security to our diversified industries and protection to the rights and wages of the laborer, to the end that active and intelligent labor, as well as capital, may have its just reward, and the laboring man his full share in the national prosperity. Against the so-called economical system of the Democratic party, which would degrade our labor to the foreign standard, we enter our earnest protest; the Democratic party has failed completely to relieve the people of the burden of unnecessary taxation by a wise reduction of the surplus. The Republican party pledges itself to correct the inequalities of the tariff, and to reduce the surplus, not by the vicious and indiscriminate process of horizontal reduction, but by such methods as will relieve the taxpayer without injuring the laborer or the great productive interests of the country. We recognize the importance of sheep husbandry in the United States, the serious depression which it is now experiencing, and the danger threatening its future prosperity; and we therefore respect the demands of the representatives of this important agricultural interest for a readjustment of duty upon foreign wool, in order that such industry shall have full and adequate protection. 1868-... A tariff for revenue upon foreign imports, and such equal taxation under the internal revenue laws as will afford incidental protection to domestic manufactures, and as will, without impairing the revenue, impose the least burden upon and best promote and encourage the great industrial interests of the country. [Plank 6. 1872-... Recognizing that there are in our midst honest but irreconcilable differences of opinion with regard to the respective systems of protection and free trade, we remit the discussion of the subject to the people in their Congressional districts, and to the decision of the Congress thereon, whotly free from executive interference or dictation. [Plank 6. 1876-. We demand that all custom-house taxation shall be only for revenue. [Plank 11. 1880[Plank 3. 1884-The Democracy pledges itself to ... reduce taxation to the lowest limit consistent with due regard to the preservation of the faith of the Nation to its creditors and pensioners. Knowing full well, however, that legislation affecting the occupations of the people should be cautious and conservative in method, not in advance of public opinion, but responsive to its demands, the Democratic Party is pledged to revise the tariff in a spirit of fairness to all interests. Such But in making reduction in taxes, it is not proposed to injure any domestic industries, but rather to pro mote their healthy growth. From the foundation of this Government taxes collected at the custom-house have been the chief source. of federal revenue. they must continue to be. Moreover, many industries have come to rely upon legislation for successful continuance, so that any change of law must at every step be regardful of the labor and capital thus involved. The process of reform must be subject to the execution of this plain dictate of justice. All taxation shall be limited to the requirements of economical government. The necessary reduc tion in taxation can and must be effected without depriving American labor of the ability to compete successfully with foreign labor, and without imposing lower rates of duty than will be ample to cover any increased cost of production which may exist in consequence of the higher rate of wages prevailing in this country. Sufficient revenue to pay all the expenses of the Federal Government, economically administered, including pensions, interest and principal of the public debt, can be got, under our present system of taxation, from custom-house taxes on fewer imported articles, bearing heaviest on articles of luxury, and bearing lightest on articles of necessity. We therefore denounce the abuses of the existing tariff, and, subject to the preceding limitations, we demand that Federal taxation shall be exclusively for public purposes, and shall not exceed the needs of 1888. We are uncompromisingly in favor of the American system of Protection; we protest against its destruction as proposed by the President and his party. They serve the interests of Europe; we will support the interests of America. We accept the issue, and confidently appeal to the people for their judgment. The protective system must be maintained. Its abandonment has always been followed by general disaster to all interests, except those of the usurer and the sheriff. We denounce the Mills bill as destructive to the general business, the labor, and the farming interests of the country, and we heartily indorse the consistent and patriotic action of the Republican Representatives in Congress in opposing its passage. We condemn the proposition of the Democratic Party to place wool on the free list, and we insist that the duties thereon shall be adjusted and maintained so as to furnish full and adequate protection to that industry throughout the United States. The Republican Party would effect all needed reduction of the national revenue by repealing the taxes upon tobacco, which are an annoyance and burden to agriculture, and the tax upon spirits used in the arts and for mechanical purposes; and by such revision of the tariff laws as will tend to check imports of such articles as are produced by our people, the production of which gives employment to our labor, and release from import duties those articles of foreign production (except luxuries), the like of which cannot be produced at home. If there shall still remain a larger revenue than is requisite for the wants of the Government, we favor the entire repeal of internal taxes rather than the surrender of any part of our Protective System at the joint behest of the whiskey trusts and the agents of foreign manufacturers. We declare our opposition to all combinations of capital organized in trusts or otherwise to control arbitrarily the condition of trade among our citizens, and we recommend to Congress and the State Legislatures in their respective jurisdictions, such legislation as will prevent the execution of all schemes to oppress the people by undue charges on their supplies, or by unjust rates for the transportation of their products to market. We approve the legisla tion by Congress to prevent alike unjust burdens and unfair discriminations between the States. We protest against the passage by Congress of a free-ship bill, as calculated to work injustice to labor by lessening the wages of those engaged in preparing materials, as well as those directly employed in our ship-yards. [See Part VIII. The system of direct taxation known as "internal revenue is a war tax, and so long as the law continues the money derived therefrom should be sacredly devoted to the relief of the people from the remaining burdens of the war and be made a fund to defray the expenses of the care and comfort of worthy soldiers disabled in the line of duty in the wars of the Republic, and for the payment of such pensions as Congress may from time to time grant to such soldiers, a like fund for the sailors having been already provided, and any surplus should be paid into the treasury. Instead of the Republican Party's discredited scheme and false pretence of friendship for American labor, expressed by imposing taxes, we demand in behalf of the Democracy, freedom for American labor by reducing taxes, to the end that these United States may compete with unhindered powers for the primacy among nations in all the arts of peace and fruits of liberty. The Democratic Party of the United States in national convention assembled, renews the pledge of its fidelity to Democratic faith, and reaffirms the platform adopted by its representatives in the convention of 1884, and indorses the views expressed by President Cleveland in his last earnest message to Congress as the correct interpretation of that platform upon the question of tariff reduction; and also indorses the efforts of our Democratic representatives in Congress to secure a reduction of excessive taxation. The Republican Party controlling the Senate and resisting in both Houses of Congress a reformation of unjust and unequal tax laws, which have outlasted the necessities of war and are now undermining the abundance of a long peace, deny to the people equality before the law, and the fairness and the justice which are their right. Then the cry of American labor for a better share in the rewards of industry is stifled with false pretence, enterprise is fettered and bound down to home markets, capital is discouraged with doubt, and unequal, unjust laws can neither be properly amended or repealed. The Democratic Party will continue with all the power confided to it the struggle to reform these laws in accordance with the pledges of its last platform, indorsed at the ballot-box by the suffrages of the people. Of all the industrious freemen of our land, the immense majority, including every tiller of the soil, gain no advantage from excessive tax laws, but the price of nearly everything they buy is increased by the favoritism of an unequal system of tax legisla. tion. All unnecessary taxation is unjust taxation. It is repugnant to the creed of Democracy that by such taxation the cost of the necessaries of life should be unjustifiably increased to all our people. Judged by Democratic principles, the interests of the people are betrayed, when, by unnecessary taxation, trusts and combinations are permitted to exist, which, while unduly enriching the few that combine, rob the body of our citizens by depriving them of the benefits of natural competition. Every Democratic rule of governmental action is violated when through unnecessary taxation a vast sum of money, far beyond the needs of an economical administration, is drawn from the people and the channels of trade, and accumulated as a demoralizing surplus in the national treasury. The money now lying idle in the federal treasury, resulting from superfluous taxation, amounts to more than one hundred and twentyfive millions, and the surplus collected is reaching the sum of more than sixty millions annually. Debauched by this immense temptation, the remedy of the Republican party is to meet and exhaust, by extravagant appropriations and expenses, whether constitutional or not, the accumulation of extravagant taxation. The Democratic policy is to enforce frugality in public expense, and abolish unnecessary taxation. Our established domestic industries and enterprises should not, and need not, be endangered by the reduction and correction of the burdens of taxation. On the contrary, a fair and careful revision of our tax laws, with due allowance for the difference between the wages of American and foreign labor, must promote and encourage every branch of such industries and enterprises by giving them assur 1872-... Revenue, except so much as may be derived from a tax upon tobacco and liquors, should be raised by duties upon importations, the details of which should be so adjusted as to aid in securing remunerative wages to labor, and promote the indus. tries, prosperity, and growth of the whole country. [Plank 7. 1876-The revenue necessary for current expendi tures and the obligations of the public debt must be largely derived from duties upon importations, which so far as possible should be adjusted to promote the interests of American labor and advance the prosperity of the whole country. [Plank 8. 1880-Reaffirmed. 1884-It is the first duty of a good government to protect the rights and promote the interests of its own people; the largest diversity of industry is most pro ductive of general prosperity and of the comfort and independence of the people. We therefore demand that the imposition of duties on foreign imports shall be made not for "revenue only," but that, in raising the requisite revenues for the Government, such duties shall be so levied as to afford security to our diversified industries and protection to the rights and wages of the laborer, to the end that active and intelligent labor, as well as capital, may have its just reward, and the laboring man his full share in the national prosperity. Against the so-called economical system of the Democratic party, which would degrade our labor to the foreign standard, we enter our earnest protest; the Democratic party has failed completely to relieve the people of the burden of unnecessary taxation by a wise reduction of the surplus. The Republican party pledges itself to correct the inequalities of the tariff, and to reduce the surplus, not by the vicious and indiscriminate process of horizontal reduction, but by such methods as will relieve the taxpayer without injuring the laborer or the great productive interests of the country. We recognize the importance of sheep husbandry in the United States, the serious depression which it is now experiencing, and the danger threatening its future prosperity; and we therefore respect the demands of the representatives of this important agricultural interest for a readjustment of duty upon foreign wool, in order that such industry shall have full and adequate protection. 1856 Re-affirmed; and this plank also adopted: That there are questions connected with the foreign policy of this country which are inferior to no do. mestic 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, and, by solemn manifestations, to place their moral influence at the side of their suc cessful example. 1860 Reaffirmed. [The eighth section of the Confederate Constitution contained these words: SECT. 8. Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises for revenue necessary to pay the debts, provide for the common defence, and carry on the Government of the Confed. erate States; but no bounty shall be granted from the Treasury, nor shall any duty or tax on importations from foreign nations be laid to promote or foster any branch of industry.] 18641868 . A tariff for revenue upon foreign imports, and such equal taxation under the internal revenue laws as will afford incidental protection to domestic manufactures, and as will, without impairing the revenue, impose the least burden upon and best promote and encourage the great industrial interests of the country. [Plank 6. 1872-... Recognizing that there are in our midst honest but irreconcilable differences of opinion with regard to the respective systems of protection and free trade, we remit the discussion of the subject to the people in their Congressional districts, and to the decision of the Congress thereon, whotly free from executive interference or dictation. 1876-. We demand that all taxation shall be only for revenue. [Plank 6. custom-house [Plank 11. 1880-... A tariff for revenue only. [Plank 3. 1884-The Democracy pledges itself to... reduce taxation to the lowest limit consistent with due regard to the preservation of the faith of the Nation to its creditors and pensioners. Knowing full well, however, that legislation affecting the occupations of the people should be cautious and conservative in method, not in advance of public opinion, but responsive to its demands, the Democratic Party is pledged to revise the tariff in a spirit of fairness to all interests. Such But in making reduction in taxes, it is not proposed to injure any domestic industries, but rather to pro mote their healthy growth. From the foundation of this Government taxes collected at the custom-house have been the chief source of federal revenue. they must continue to be. Moreover, many industries have come to rely upon legislation for successful continuance, so that any change of law must at every step be regardful of the labor and capital thus involved. The process of reform must be subject to the execution of this plain dictate of justice. All taxation shall be limited to the requirements of economical government. The necessary reduc tion in taxation can and must be effected without depriving American labor of the ability to compete successfully with foreign labor, and without imposing lower rates of duty than will be ample to cover any increased cost of production which may exist in consequence of the higher rate of wages prevailing in this country. Sufficient revenue to pay all the expenses of the Federal Government, economically administered, including pensions, interest and principal of the pub lic debt, can be got, under our present system of taxation, from custom-house taxes on fewer imported articles, bearing heaviest on articles of luxury, and bearing lightest on articles of necessity. We therefore denounce the abuses of the existing tariff, and, subject to the preceding limitations, we demand that Federal taration shall be exclusively for public purposes, and shall not exceed the needs of |