and which conceives no imposture too monstrous for the popular credulity. be summed as comprising a well-regulated form of government springing from and national currency: a tariff for revenue to upheld by the popular will; and contrast defray the necessary expenses of the gov-it with the creed and practice of federalernment, and discriminating with special ism, under whatever name or form, which reference to the protection of the domes- seeks to palsy the will of the constituent, tic labor of the country; the distribution of the proceeds from the sales of the public lands; a single term for the presidency; a reform of executive usurpations; and generally such an administration of the affairs of the country as shall impart to every branch of the public service the greatest practical efficiency, controlled by a well-regulated and wise economy. 1844.-Democratic Platform. Resolutions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, of the platform of 1840, were reaffirmed, to which were added the following: 10. Resolved, That the proceeds of the public lands ought to be sacredly applied to the national objects specified in the constitution, and that we are opposed to the laws lately adopted, and to any law for the distribution of such proceeds among the states, as alike inexpedient in policy and repugnant to the constitution. 11. Resolved, That we are decidedly opposed to taking from the President the qualified veto power by which he is enabled, under restrictions and responsibilities amply sufficient to guard the public interest, to suspend the passage of a bill whose merits can not secure the approval of two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, until the judgment of the people can be obtained thereon, and which has thrice saved the American people from the corrupt and tyrannical domination of the bank of the United States. 12. Resolved, That our title to the whole of the territory of Oregon is clear and unquestionable; that no portion of the same ought to be ceded to England or any other power, and that the reoccupation of Oregon and the reannexation of Texas at the earliest practicable period, are great American measures, which this convention recommends to the cordial support of the democracy of the Union. 1848.-Democratic Platform. Baltimore, May 22. 1. Resolved, That the American democracy place their trust in the intelligence, the patriotism, and the discriminating justice of the American people. 2. Resolved, That we regard this as a distinctive feature of our political creed, which we are proud to maintain before the world, as the great moral element in a 3. Resolved, Therefore, that entertaining these views, the Democratic party of this Union, through the delegates assembled in general convention of the states, coming together in a spirit of concord, of devotion to the doctrines and faith of a free representative government, and appealing to their fellow-citizens for the rectitude of their intentions, renew and reassert before the American people, the declaration of principles avowed by them on a former occasion, when, in general convention, they presented their candidates for the popular suffrage. Resolutions 1, 2, 3 and 4, of the platform of 1840, were reaffirmed. branch of the government to enforce and 8. Resolved, That it is the duty of every 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 debt created by the prosecution of a just and necessary war. Resolution 5, of the platform of 1840, was enlarged by the following: And that the results of democratic legislation, in this and all other financial measures, upon which issues have been made between the two political parties of the country, have demonstrated to careful and practical men of all parties, their soundness, safety and utility in all business pur suits. Resolutions 7, 8 and 9, of the platform of 1840, were here inserted. 13. Resolved, That the proceeds of the public lands ought to be sacredly applied to the national objects specified in the constitution; and that we are opposed to any law for the distribution of such proceeds among the states as alike inexpedient in policy and repugnant to the constitution. 14. Resolved, That we are decidedly opposed to taking from the President the qualified veto power, by which he is enabled, under restrictions and responsibilities amply sufficient to guard the public interests, to supend the passage of a bill whose merits can not secure the approval of two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, until the judgment of the people can be obtained thereon, and which has saved the American people from the corrupt and tyrannical domination of the Bank of the United States, and from a corrupting system of general internal im provements. 15. Resolved, That the war with Mexico, provoked on her part by years of insult and injury, was commenced by her army crossing the Rio Grande, attacking the American troops, and invading our sister state of Texas, and upon all the principles of patriotism and the laws of nations, it is a just and necessary war on our part, in which every American citizen should have shown himself on the side of his country, and neither morally nor physically, by word or by deed, have given "aid and comfort to the enemy. 16. Resolved, That we would be rejoiced at the assurance of peace with Mexico, founded on the just principles of indemnity for the past and security for the future; but that while the ratification of the liberal treaty offered to Mexico remains in doubt, it is the duty of the country to sustain the administration and to sustain the country in every measure necessary to provide for the vigorous prosecution of the war, should that treaty be rejected. which is prostrating thrones and erecting republics on the ruins of despotism in the old world, we feel that a high and sacred duty is devolved, with increased responsibility, upon the Democratic party of this country, as the party of the people, to sustain and advance among us constitutional liberty, equality, and fraternity, 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. lutions be forwarded, through the American 20. Resolved, That a copy of these resominister at Paris, to the National Convention of the Republic of France. 17. Resolved, That the officers and sol- 21. Resolved, That the fruits of the diers who have carried the arms of their great political triumph of 1844, which electcountry into Mexico, have crowned it with ed James K. Polk and George M. Dallas, imperishable glory. Their unconquerable President and Vice-President of the United courage, their daring enterprise, their un-States, have fulfilled the hopes of the defaltering perseverance and fortitude when mocracy of the Union in defeating the deassailed on all sides by innumerable foes clared purposes of their opponents in and that more formidable enemy-the creating a National Bank; in preventing diseases of the climate-exalt their devoted the corrupt and unconstitutional distribupatriotism into the highest heroism, and tion of the land proceeds from the comgive them a right to the profound grati-mon treasury of the Union for local purtude of their country, and the admiration poses; in protecting the currency and labor of the world. of the country from ruinous fluctuations, tion 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 which is the only safeguard of liberty. 18. Resolved, That the Democratic Na- and guarding the money of the country for tional Convention of thirty states composing the use of the people by the establishment the American Republic, tender their fra- of the constitutional treasury; in the noble ternal congratulations to the National Con-impulse given to the cause of free trade by vention of the Republic of France, now as- the repeal of the tariff of '42, and the creasembled as the free suffrage representative of the sovereignty of thirty-five millions of Republicans, to establish government on those eternal principles of equal rights, for which their La Fayette and our Washington fought side by side in the struggle for our national independence; and we would especially convey to them, and to the whole people of France, our earnest wishes for the consolidation of their liberties, through the wisdom that shall guide their councils, on the basis of a democratic constitution, not derived from the grants or concessions of kings or dynasties, but originating from the only true source of political power recognized in the states of this Union-the inherent and inalienable right of the people, in their sovereign capacity, to make and to amend their forms of government in such manner as the welfare of the community may require. 22. Resolved, 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 doctrines, by the purity of purpose, the energy and ability, which have characterized his administration in all our affairs at home and abroad; that we tender to him our cordial congratulations upon 19. Resolved, That in view of the recent the brilliant success which has hitherto development of this grand political truth, crowned his patriotic efforts, and assure of the sovereignty of the people and their him in advance, that at the expiration of capacity and power for self-government, | his presidential term he will carry with him to his retirement, the esteem, respect and admiration of a grateful country. 23. Resolved, That this convention hereby present to the people of the United States Lewis Cass, of Michigan, as the candidate of the Democratic party for the office of President, and William O. Butler, of Kentucky, for Vice-President of the United States. have been rendered, not on the soil, or under the flag of any state or section, but over the wide frontier, and under the broad banner of the nation. 5. Resolved, That standing, as the Whig party does, on the broad and firm platform of the constitution, braced up by all its inviolable and sacred guarantees and compromises, and cherished in the affections, because protective of the interests of the people, we are proud to have as the exto construe it by the wise and generous rules which Washington applied to it, and who has said-and no Whig desires any other assurance-that he will make Wash 1848.-Whig Principles Adopted at a Rati-ponent of our opinions, one who is pledged fication Meeting, 1. Resolved, That the Whigs of the United States, here assembled by their representatives, heartily ratify the nomi-ington's administration his model. nations of General Zachary Taylor as President, and Millard Fillmore as Vice-President, of the United States, and pledge themselves to their support. 2. Resolved, That in the choice of General Taylor as the Whig candidate for President, we are glad to discover sympathy with a great popular sentiment throughout the nation-a sentiment which having its origin in admiration of great military success, has been strengthened by the development, in every action and every word, of sound conservative opinions, and of true fidelity to the great example of former days, and to the principles of the constitution as administered by its founders. 6. Resolved, That as Whigs and Americans, we are proud to acknowledge our gratitude for the great military services which, beginning at Palo Alto, and ending at Buena Vista, first awakened the American people to a just estimate of him who is now our Whig candidate. In the discharge of a painful duty-for his march into the enemy's country was a reluctant one; in the command of regulars at one time, and volunteers at another, and of both combined; in the decisive though punctual discipline of his camp, where all respected and loved him; in the negotiation of terms for a dejected and desperate enemy; in the exigency of actual conflict when the balance was perilously doubtful— we have found him the same brave, distinguished, and considerate, no heartless spectator of bloodshed, no trifler with human life or human happiness; and we do not know which to admire most, his heroism in withstanding the assaults of the enemy in the most hopeless fields of Buena Vista-mourning in generous sorrow over the graves of Ringgold, of Clay, of Hardin -or in giving, in the heat of battle, terms of merciful capitulation to a vanquished foe at Monterey, and not being ashamed to avow that he did it to spare women and children, helpless infancy and more helpless age, against whom no American soldier ever wars. Such a military man, whose triumphs are neither remote nor doubtful, whose virtues these trials have tested, we are proud to make our candidate. a 3. Resolved, That General Taylor, in saying that, had he voted in 1844, he would have voted the Whig ticket, gives us the assurance and no better is needed from a consistent and truth-speaking man-that his heart was with us at the crisis of our political destiny, when Henry Clay was our candidate, and when not only Whig principles were well defined and clearly asserted, but Whig measures depended on success. The heart that was with us then is with us now, and, we have a soldier's word of honor, and a life of public and private virtue, as the security. 4. Resolved, That we look on General Taylor's administration of the government as one conducive of peace, prosperity and union; of peace, because no one better knows, or has greater reason to deplore, what he has seen sadly on the field of victory, the horrors of war, and especially of foreign and aggressive war; of prosperity, now more than ever needed to relieve the nation from a burden of debt, and restore industry—agricultural, manufacturing, and commercial-to its accustomed and ful functions and influences; of union, because we have a candidate whose very position as a southwestern man, reared on the banks of the great stream whose tributaries, natural and artificial, embrace the whole Union, renders the protection of the interests of the whole country his first Whereas, We have assembled in conventrust, and whose various duties in past life tion as a union of freemen, for the sake of peace 7. Resolved, That in support of this nomination, we ask our Whig friends throughout the nation to unite, to co-operate zealously, resolutely, with earnestness, in behalf of our candidate, whom calumny can not reach, and with respectful demeanor to our adversaries, whose candidates have yet to prove their claims on the gratitude of the nation. 1848.-Buffalo Platform. freedom, forgetting all past political difference, in a common resolve to maintain the rights of free labor against the aggression of the slave power, and to secure free soil to a free people; and, Whereas, The political conventions recently assembled at Baltimore and Philadelphia-the one stifling the voice of a great constituency, entitled to be heard in its deliberations, and the other abandoning its distinctive principles for mere availability-have dissolved the national party organization heretofore existing, by nominating for the chief magistracy of the United States, under the slaveholding dictation, candidates, neither of whom can be supported by the opponents of slavery extension, without a sacrifice of consistency, duty, and self-respect; and, Whereas, These nominations so made, furnish the occasion, and demonstrate the necessity of the union of the people under the banner of free democracy, in a solemn and formal declaration of their independence of the slave power, and of their fixed determination to rescue the Federal government from its control, to establish justice, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty; but expressly denied to the Federal government, which they created, all constitutional power to deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due legal process. 5. Resolved, That in the judgment of this convention, Congress has no more power to make a slave than to make a king; no more power to institute or establish slavery than to institute or establish a monarchy; no such power can be found among those specifically conferred by the constitution, or derived by just implication from them. 6. Resolved, That it is the duty of the Federal government to relieve itself from all responsibility for the existence or continuance of slavery wherever the govern ment possesses constitutional power to legislate on that subject, and it is thus responsible for its existence. 7. Resolved, That the true, and, in the judgment of this convention, the only safe means of preventing the extension of slavery into territory now free, is to pro1. Resolved, therefore, That we, the peo-hibit its extension in all such territory by ple here assembled, remembering the ex- an act of Congress. ample of our fathers in the days of the first Declaration of Independence, putting our trust in God for the triumph of our cause, and invoking His guidance in our endeavors to advance it, do now plant ourselves upon the national platform of freedom, in opposition to the sectional platform of slavery. 2. Resolved, That slavery in the several states of this Union which recognize its existence, depends upon the state laws alone, which can not be repealed or modified by the Federal government, and for which laws that government is not responsible. We therefore propose no interference by Congress with slavery within the limits of any state. 3. Resolved, That the proviso of Jefferson, to prohibit the existence of slavery, after 1800, in all the territories of the United States, southern and northern; the votes of six states and sixteen delegates in Congress of 1784, for the proviso, to three states and seven delegates against it; the actual exclusion of slavery from the Northwestern Territory, by the Ordinance of 1787, unanimously adopted by the states in Congress; and the entire history of that period, clearly show that it was the settled policy of the nation not to extend, nationalize or encourage, but to limit, localize and discourage, slavery; and to this policy, which should never have been departed from, the government ought to return. 4. Resolved, That our fathers ordained the constitution of the United States, in order, among other great national objects, 8. Resolved, That we accept the issue which the slave power has forced upon us; and to their demand for more slave states, and more slave territory, our calm but final answer is, no more slave states and no more slave territory. Let the soil of our extensive domains be kept free for the hardy pioneers of our own land, and the oppressed and banished of other lands, seeking homes of comfort and fields of enterprise in the new world. 9. Resolved, That the bill lately reported by the committee of eight in the Senate of the United States, was no compromise, but an absolute surrender of the rights of the non-slaveholders of all the states; and while we rejoice to know that a measure which, while opening the door for the introduction of slavery into the territories now free, would also have opened the door to litigation and strife among the future inhabitants thereof, to the ruin of their peace and prosperity, was defeated in the House of Representatives, its passage, in hot haste, by a majority, embracing several senators who voted in open violation of the known will of their constituents, should warn the people to see to it that their representatives be not suffered to betray them. There must be no more compromises with slavery; if made, they must be repealed. 10. Resolved, That we demand freedom and established institutions for our brethren in Oregon, now exposed to hardships, peril, and massacre, by the reckless hostility of the slave power to the establishment of free government and free territo 348 Major McKinley moved to make the this to prevent combinations by the opponomination unanimous, and it was adopted sition. with great enthusiasm. In response to the unanimous request of the New York delegation, Hon. Whitelaw Reid was nominated for Vice-President by acclamation. [See Book II. for Platform and Comparison of Platforms; Book III. for speech of Hon. Chauncey M. Depew.] DEMOCRATIC. THE BALLOT IN DETAIL, STATES. Alabama 14 Idaho... Iowa. Kansas. Maine.. Montana.. New Hampshire.. North Carolina... Pennsylvania.. The Democratic National Convention Delaware.. assembled at Chicago, June 21st, and its Florida. deliberations excited great interest because Georgia.. of the opposition of the New York dele- Illinois. gation to the nomination of Cleveland. Indiana.. Under the leadership of Governor Hill, the New York Democracy, in the canvass Kentucky.. of 1891, carried the State, electing Flower Louisiana.. as Governor, and Hill as U. S. Senator, Maryland... the latter only after a severe contest and Massachusetts.. depriving three Republican State Senators Minnesota... Michigan.. of their seats by contests settled before Mississippi partisan courts. The New York opposi- Missouri. tion to Cleveland, with the active aid of Nebraska.. Tammany, united upon Hill as a Presiden- Nevada. tial candidate. Asnap" or mid-winter New Jersey State Convention was called to elect dele- New York gates to the National Convention, and 72 North Dakota..... Hill men were chosen and instructed. This Ohio system of forestalling public sentiment Oregon. angered the Cleveland Democrats, who Rhode Island.. signed a protest to the number of 200,000 South Carolina. and three months later elected a contesting South Dakota.. delegation, with instructions for Cleveland. Texas...... Mr. Croker, Tammany's Chief, and State Vermont... Chairman Murphy were the Hill leaders washington at Chicago, and they gave early and public West Virginia notice, in very bitter language, that if nominated Cleveland could not carry New York. Ex-Secretary of the Navy Whitney was the Cleveland leader, and he readily Arizona... mustered more than two-thirds of the Dist. of Columbia Convention, and felt so assured of victory New Mexico...... that he advised the withdrawal of the Utah.... contest against Hill's delegation. Singu Indian Territory. larly enough the minority desired the repeal of the unit rule, for they had ascertained, after a careful canvass, that Cleveland would lose enough votes to check and possibly prevent his nomination if all of the delegates were permitted to to a choice, 607. vote separately. The unit rule, however, was carefully re-enacted in the report of the Committee on Rules. Tennessee. Virginia.. Wisconsin TERRITORIES. Alaska... Oklahoma. 20 0 3 6 14 8 64 8 2 24 23 2524222 Total....... Number of votes cast, 9094. Necessary Of the scattering votes Campbell got two from Alabama. Carlisle got 3 from Florida, 6 from Kentucky, 5 from Ohio. Total 14. Stephenson got 163 from North Carolina. Governor Wm. L. Wilson, of West Virginia, was elected President. Governor Leon Abbett, of New Jersey, presented the name of Grover Cleveland; William C. DeWitt, of New York, that of Senator David B. Hill, and John M. Duncombe, of Adlai E. Stevenson, of Illinois, former AsIowa, that of Governor Boies. A ballot sistant Postmaster General, was nominated was reached at 4 o'clock on the morning Vice President on the first ballot, his chief of the 23d, the Cleveland leaders doing competitor being Senator Gray, of Indiana, |