The Democratic Platform (1888) endorses the views expressed by President Cleveland in his last earnest message to Congress. U.S. CONGRESS. COPYRIGHT BY 1888 TO VINU Press of G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS New York HF 1755 THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE, 1887. To the Congress of the United States: You are confronted at the threshold of your legislative duties, with a condition of the national finances which imperatively demands immediate and careful consideration. The amount of money annually exacted, through the operation of present laws, from the industries and necessi ties of the people, largely exceeds the sum necessary to meet the expenses of the Government. When we consider that the theory of our institutions guarantees to every citizen the full enjoyment of all the fruits of his industry and enterprise, with only such deductions as may be his share towards the careful and economic maintenance of the Government which protects him, it is plain that the exaction of more than this is indefensible extortion, and a culpable betrayal of American fairness and justice. This wrong inflicted upon those who bear the burden of national taxation, like other wrongs, multiplies a brood of evil consequences. The public treasury, which should only exist as a conduit conveying the people's tribute to its legitimate objects of expenditure, becomes a hoarding-place for money needlessly withdrawn from trade and the people's use, thus crippling our national energies, suspending our country's development, preventing investment in productive 229571 |