Resolved, That, in our judgment, every consideration of duty and expediency which ought to control the action of Christian freemen, requires of the abolitionists of the United States to organize a distinct and independent political party, embracing all the necessary means for nominating candidates for office and sustaining them by public suffrage.

1840.-DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM,

Baltimore, May 5.

Resolved, That the federal government is one of limited powers, derived solely from the constitution, and the grants of power shown therein ought to be strictly construed by all the departments and agents of the government, and that it is inexpedient and dangerous to exercise doubtful constitutional powers.

2. Resolved, That the constitution does not confer upon the general government the power to commence and carry on a general system of internal improvements.

3. Resolved, That the constitution does not confer authority upon the federal government, directly or indirectly, to assume the debts of the several states, contracted for local internal improvements or other state purposes; nor would such assumption be just or expedient.

4. Resolved, That justice and sound policy forbid the federal government to foster one branch of industry to the detriment of another, or to cherish the interests of one portion to the injury of another portion of our common country-that every citizen and every section of the country has a right to demand and insist upon an equality of rights and privileges, and to complete and ample protection of persons and property from domestic violence or foreign aggression.

5. Resolved, 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.

6. Resolved, That Congress has no power to charter a United States bank; that we believe such an institution is one of deadly hostility to the best interests of the country, dangerous to our republican institutions and the liberties of the people, and calculated to place the business of the country within the control of a concentrated money power, and above the laws and the will of the people.

7. Resolved, That Congress has no power, under the constitution, to interfere with or control the domestic institutions of the several states; and that such states are the sole and proper judges of everything pertaining to their own affairs, not prohibited by the constitution; that all efforts, by abolitionists or others, made to induce Congress to interfere with questions of slavery, or to take incipient steps in relation thereto, are calculated to lead to the most alarming and dangerous consequences, and that all such efforts have an inevitable tendency to diminish the happiness of the people, and endanger the stability and permanence of the Union, and ought not to be countenanced by any friend to our political institutions.

8. Resolved, That the separation of the moneys of the government from banking institutions is indispensable for the safety of the funds of the government and the rights of the people.

9. Resolved, That the liberal principles embodied by Jefferson, in the declaration of independence, and sanctioned in the constitution, which makes ours the land of liberty and the asylum of the oppressed of every nation, have ever been cardinal principles in the democratic faith; and every attempt to abridge the present privilege of becoming citizens, and

the owners of the soil among us, ought to be resisted with the same spirit which swept the alien and sedition laws from our statute book.

Whereas, Several of the states which have nominated Martin Van Buren as a candidate for the presidency, have put in nomination different individuals as candidates for Vice-President, thus indicating a diversity of opinion as to the person best entitled to the nomination; and whereas, some of the said states are not represented in this convention; therefore, Resolved, That the convention deem it expedient at the present time not to choose between the individuals in nomination, but to leave the decision to their republican fellow-citizens in the several states, trusting that before the election shall take place, their opinions will become so concentrated as to secure the choice of a Vice-President by the electoral college.

CHAPTER XIII.

HARRISON AND TYLER'S ADMINISTRATIONS.

1841-1845.

PRESIDENT'S POLICY.

The whig party came into power without any well-defined principles, other than their opposition to the preceding administration and its measures. The party itself, in fact, was composed of heterogeneous elements, and the convention which nominated General Harrison wisely omitted the adoption of a platform. He himself, though for a long time in public life, as a member of Congress, a senator, and governor of the territory of Indiana, had not played a conspicuous part in the discussion of political measures. During the campaign his friends paid no attention to charges brought against him by the opposition, but concentrated their forces in an offensive warfare. They relied upon the brilliant military record and the "sublime personal honor" of their candidate, and in this they were not deceived. The cry of "Harrison and Reform" spread to all sections of the Union, and swept away, as by a tide, the party in power. In his inaugural the President set forth what he conceived to be the constitutional powers of the various branches of the government; the nature and use of the veto power; the necessity of preserving inviolate the freedom of the press, and of the impracticability of an exclusive metallic currency. He pronounced himself from the first as in favor of the one-term principle.

THE PRESIDENT'S DEATH.

On March 17 the President, by proclamation, summoned

Congress to meet May 31, for the consideration of the financial difficulties of the government. Before the time arrived Harrison's death occurred, April 4, 1841. This sad calamity made a very deep impression throughout the whole country. Being the first President to die in office, the provisions of the constitution, transferring, in such an emergency, the functions of the President to the Vice-President, were put to a practical test for the first time. Mr. Tyler was officially informed of the event by a letter from the cabinet, and at once started for Washington, where he arrived on the 6th, and took the usual oath of office. General Harrison's cabinet was retained.

TYLER'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

The President's inaugural was an address of condolence to the country, in which he sanctioned the call, by his predecessor, of an extra session of Congress, and announced his intention to carry out the will of the people in their election of General Harrison.

REPEAL OF THE SUB-TREASURY ACT.

Congress met May 31, 1841, the whigs having a majority Twenty-seventh Congress, in both branches. A bill for the Extra Session. repeal of the sub-treasury passed both houses, and was signed by the President. It prohibited any officer having charge of public revenue from investing the fund or devoting it to his own use.

In his message to Congress, the President set forth the embarrassed condition of the treasury and the urgent necessity for speedy relief; but he, at the same time, pointed to the fact that the people had successively condemned the bank of the United States, the state deposit system, and the subtreasury law as schemes of national finance. He deferred to the judgment of the immediate representatives of the people on this question, and promised acquiescence in any action