USA > Iowa > Hardin County > History of Hardin county, Iowa, together with sketches of its towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 28
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4. Congress shall provide said money ade- quate to the full employment of labor, the equit-
able distribution of its products and the require- ments of business.
5. We demand that Congress shall not, under any circumstances, authorize the issuance of in- terest-bearing bonds of any kind or class.
6. The adoption of an American monetary system, as proposed herein, will harmonize all differences in regard to tariff and federal taxa- tion, distribute equitably the joint earnings of capital and labor, secure to the producers of wealth the results of their labor and skill, mus- ter out of service the vast army of idlers, who, under the existing system, grow rich upon the earnings of others, that every man and woman may, by their own efforts, secure a competence, so that the overgrown fortunes and extreme poverty will be seldom found within the limits of our Republic.
7. The Government should, by general enact- ment, encourage the development of our agri- cultural, mineral, mechanical, manufacturing and commercial resources, to the end that labor may be fully and profitably employed, but no monopolies should be legalized.
8. The public lands are the common property of the whole people, and should not be sold to speculators, nor granted to railroads or other corporations, but should be donated to actual settlers in limited quantities.
9. It is inconsistent with the genius and spirit of popular government that any species of private or corporate property should be ex- empt from bearing its just share of the public burdens.
10. That, while the interests of the labor and producing classes throughout the nation are identical, North, South, East and West, and while it is an historic fact that the war of the rebellion was inaugurated in the interests of a class kindred to that which oppresses us, therc- fore we declare that the Government of the United States shall never pay any part or por- tion of what is known as the confederate or rcbel debt.
11. We demand a constitutional amendment fixing the compensation of all State officers, in-
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cluding members and employes of the General Assembly.
12. We demand a general reduction of all county and court expenses, with a reduction of offiees, to lessen oppressive taxes.
13. We demand that all just and legal means shall be used for the evils of intemperance.
14. We invite the considerate judgment of our fellow-citizens of all political parties upon these, our principles and purposes, and solicit the co-operation of all men in the furtheranee of them, as we do believe that upon their aecept- ance or rejection by the people, the weal or woe of our beloved country depends.
The Democrats assembled in convention June 7th, and nominated the following ticket : Secretary of State, T. O. Walker; Auditor, Col. Eiboeck; Treasurer, E. D. Fenn; Register of State Land Office, T. S. Bard well; Judge of Supreme Court, Judge J. C. Knapp; Clerk of Supreme Court, M. V. Gannon; Reporter of Supreme Court, J. B. Elliott; Attorney-General, John Gib- bons. The convention adopted the fol- lowing platform :
We, the Democracy of Iowa, in convention assembled, congratulate the country upon the restoration of home rule to the South and the era of peace brought about in response to the demands of the national Democraey, and make this deelaration of principles:
1. In favor of a tariff for revenue only; honest and economical home rule; the supremaey of eivil over military power; the separation of the ehureh and State; the equality of all citizens before the law; opposition to granting by the general government of subsidies to any eorpora- tion whatever.
2. We believe the financial system of the Republican party has been one of favor to the moneyed monopolies, of unequal taxation, of exemptions of class, and of a remorseless eon- traetion that has destroyed every enterprise which gave employment to labor, and therefore we denounee it, its measures and its men, as
responsible for the financial distress, misery and want which now afflict the nation.
3. Labor and capital have an equal demand upon and equal responsibility to the law.
4. Publie officials should be held to striet aeeountability, defaulters should be severely punished, and riot and disorder promptly sup- pressed.
5. We deprecate the funding of our non-in- terest bearing debt, and insist that our bonded debt be refunded at a rate of interest not ex- eeeding four per eent.
6. We favor an equal recognition of gold, silver and United States notes in the diseharge of publie and private obligations, exeept where otherwise provided by contraet, and to the end that the same be seeured, we favor the uneon- ditional repeal of the resumption aet, and the eoinage of silver on equal conditions with gold. We oppose any further retirement of the United States notes now in eireulation, and favor the substitution of United States treasury notes for national bank bills.
7. We declare it as our opinion that it is the duty of the government to take immediate steps to improve our great Western rivers, and that the means provided should be commensurate with the importance and magnitude of the work.
8. Thorough investigation into the election frauds of 1876 should be made, the frauds should be exposed, the truth vindieated, and the erimi- nals punished in accordance with law, wherever found.
9. The management of our State institutions by Republican officials has been and is notori- ously corrupt, and a disgrace to the people; we therefore demand a thorough investigation of the same, and the punishment of all parties who have betrayed their trust.
Resolved, That we accept and re-affirm the doe- trine of Mr. Tilden upon the war elaims as a proper adjustment of the national poliey eon- eerning that class of elaims upon the public treasury.
The Republicans held their convention June 19, and nominated the following
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ticket: Secretary of State, Capt. John A. T. Hull; Auditor, Maj. Buren R. Sherman; Treasurer, George W. Bemis; Register State Land Office, Lieut. James K. Powers; Judge of Supreme Court, Col. J. H. Rothrock. They also adopted the following platform:
1. That the United States of America is a . nation, not a league. By the combined work- ings of the national and State governments, under their respective constitutions, the right of every citizen should be secured at home and abroad, and the common welfare promoted. Any failure on the part of either the national or State governments to use every possible consti- tutional power to afford ample protection to their citizens, both at home and abroad, is a neglect of their highest duty.
2. Against the assaults of traitors and rebels, the Republican party has preserved these gov- ernments, and they represent the great truths spoken to the world by the Declaration of Inde- pendence, that "all men are created equal;" that they "are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that for the attainment of these ends, governments have been instituted among men, deriving just powers from the consent of the governed," which con- sent is evinced by a majority of the lawful suffrages of the citizens, determined in pursuance of law; and in order that this end may be justly and fully reached, the Republican party of Iowa demands that every qualified elector in every State, North and South, Democrat or Republi- can, white or black, shall be permitted, un lis- turbed by force and unawed by fear, to vote at all elections at the place prescribed by law, and nowhere else, just once, and no more than once; and that every vote so cast shall be honestly counted, and that every person chosen by such votes to any office shall be freely inducted into it, and effectively supported in the discharge of his duties; and every well informed person knows that with such freedom of elective action and honest administration as are herein de- manded, at least five of the Southern States are
Republican by a large majority, and that they are now in the hands of the Democratic party, solely through force, fraud, intimidation, and failure to enforce the principles herein set forth.
3. The permanent pacification of the southern section of the Union, and the complete protec- tion of all its citizens in all their civil, political, personal and property rights, is a duty to which the Republican party stands sacredly pledged. In order to redeem this pledge, it placed the recent amendments in the constitution of the United States, and upon the righteous basis of said amendments it will go forward in the work of pacification until peace shall come through right doing, and contentment through justice.
4. The Democratic dogma of "home rule," which seeks to shut out from participation in the political affairs of the southern States all citizens who oppose the Democratic party and are not natives of said States, and i :. obedience to the spirit to which every man from the north, of republican sentiments, is termed a "carpet- bagger," is hereby denounced as the worst phase of State rights yet developed, and we demand for the people of Iowa absolute freedom to go whithersoever they may please within the limits of the nation, to utter their sentiments by speech or by press upon all subjects touching their interests, and all matters of public concern.
5. That the armed conflict between the traitors and the rebels who sought to destroy the republic, and the patriots who defended it, was more than a trial of physical force between Greeks. It was a struggle of right against wrong, of a true civilization against a false one, of a good government against anarchy, of patriots against traitors, wherein the Republican party was the defender of right, the champion of a true civilization, the promoter of good govern- ment, and in whose ranks patriots marched against traitors; and who ever fails to regard the Republican party from this standpoint and in this light, fails to comprehend its character, its achievements, its purposes, and its duties, and whoever treats with the Democratic party from any other standpoint, manifests incapacity
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to understand palpable facts, and will be ober- whelmed with disaster.
6. That the soldiers who fought the battles of the republic are entitled to special credit for the heroism which they displayed, for their unselfish devotion to liberty and order, and for the great fact that the war "turned out as it did;" and discredit, in likc degree, attaches to the traitors and rebels who fought to destroy the nation. Whoever fails to appreciate these facts, is derelict in the duty he owes to the party.
7. That the Republican party is the party of order as opposed to all lawlessness in whatever quarter the same may arise, or in whatever form it may appear.
8. That the wisdom of the financial policy of the Republican party is made manifest by its results. It has brought specic and paper practi- cally together months before the date fixed by law for the resumption of specie payment by the government; it has given to all classes money of the same value; it has placed our nation on an equal footing with the other great nations of the world in all matters of financial concern; it has promoted the refunding of the national debt at a low rate of interest; it has maintained the national credit; and any change in this policy which tends to obstruct it in its work of restor. ing specie payment, whereby paper currency becomes absolutely as valuable as gold and silver standard coin; of reviving business, pro- moting industry, and maintaining the public credit, is hereby denounced as wholly evil and injurious to the best interest of the country.
9. That the organized raid on the treasury by the Southern Democratic members of Congress, for payment of hundreds of millions of dollars of rebel war claims, is an unparalleled impu- dence, and a present danger against the success of which the triumph of the Republican party is our only security.
10. That we favor a wisely adjused tariff for revenue.
11. In the matter of the faithful administra- tion of the public funds, the Republican party challenges the closest scrutiny, and invites com- parison with any and all other agencies in pub-
lic or private affairs. Notwithstanding the vast sums, amounting to thousands of millions of dollars, collected and distributed by Republican administration, the percentage of loss is less than can be shown by any other political party that has ever been entrusted with the control of public affairs, or by individuals in their own private business. This shows that the charge of corruption made against the Republican party is as groundlessly impudent as was the attempt of the Southern Democracy to destroy the Union wantonly wicked and atrociously cruel.
12. The title to the Presidential term was definitely and finally settled by the forty-fourth Congress, and any attempt to open it is danger- ous, illegal, and unconstitutional, and the Republican party of Iowa will resist all efforts not founded on the constitution and the existing laws to displace the present possessor of said title, and it is a source of sincere congratulation that the firm attitude assumed by the Republi- can party of the country in this regard forced a majority of the House of Representatives to disavow the real but covert purposes of the so- called Potter investigation.
13. That the effotrs of the Democratic party in Congress to cripple and render inefficient the army and navy of the United States is most earnestly condemned, and all efforts looking to a permanent reduction of the sanie, with a view to a future reorganization, whereby the official stations may be in whole or in part supplied by officers who engaged in rebellion against the nation, who hold to the doctrine of secession, and who acknowledge primary allegiance to a State, are hereby denounced as dangerous to the peace of the country and to the permanence of the Union.
14. That it is not only the right, but the duty, of every good citizen at party caucus, in the party conventions, and at the polls, to use his best efforts to secure the nomination and elec- tion of good men to places of official trust, and we disapprove of all interference with the perfect freedom of action of any citizen in the exercise of said right and in the discharge of said duty.
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15. That personal temperance is a most com- mendable virtue in a people, and the practical popular movement now active througout the State, for the promotion of temperance, has our most profound respect, sympathy, and approval.
16. That we demand the most rigid economy in all departments of the public service, and rigid retrenchment in all public expenses in all possible directions, and the reduction of taxa- tion to the lowest limits consistent with efficient public service. In the direction of such economy and retrenchment, we heartly commend the action of the Republican legislature in reducing the expenses of the State in the sum of four hun- dred thousand dollars, and this example set by the State, should be followed in all other depart- ments of our government.
17. That the Republican party of Iowa de- mands an honest, faithful and efficient discharge of duty by all officers, whether federal, State, county or municipal, and requires a full, fair, and impartial and searching investigation into the official conduct of all officials and the busi- ness of all officers, without regard to party or personal association, and whenever or wherever fraud and dishonesty are discovered, the Repub- licans of Iowa demand the prompt punishment of the guilty parties. "Let no guilty man es- cape."
A fusion ticket, composed of Green- backers and Democrats, was agreed on September 29th, as follows : Secretary of State, E. M. Farnsworth (Greenbacker); Auditor, Jos. Eiboeck (Democrat); Treas- urer, M. L. Devin (Greenbacker); Register of Land Office, M. Farrington (Green- backer); Judge of Supreme Court, Joseph C. Knapp (Democrat); Attorney-General, John Gibbons (Democrat); Clerk of Su- preme Court, Alex. Runyon (Greenback- er); Reporter of Supreme Court, John B. Elliott (Democrat). On Secretary of State the vote was as follows :
J. A. T. Hull, Rep 134,544 E. M. Farnsworth, Fusion. 125,087
T. O. Walker, Dem 1,302
Hull, over all 8,055
The Democrats held a convention May 21, 1879, at Council Bluffs, and nominated the following State ticket: Governor, H. H. Trimble; Lieutenant-Governor, J. Y. Yeomans; Judge of Supreme Court, Reu- ben Noble; Supt. of Public Instruction, Erwin Baker. The platform adopted by the convention is here given :
Resolved, That the Democratic party now, as in the past, insists that our liberties depend upon the strict construction and observance of the constitution of the United States and all its . amendments.
2. That the States and the general govern- ment should be sternly restrained to their respec- tive spheres, and to the exercise only of the powers granted and reserved by the constitution.
3. That the policy of the Republican party, by which it inflates the importance of the States when necessary to cover the theft of the Presi- dency, and in turn magnifies the functions of the general government to cover the coercion of the States into the endorsement of the partisan will of the fraudulent executive, is full of evil and fruitful of danger.
4. That such a policy is intended to array section against section, the States against the general government, and it against the States in turn, for the purpose of destroying the freedom of both, and teaching the people to look to a strong government as a shelter from the anarchy its advocates have planned.
5. That evidences of these nefarious pur- poses is furnished by the present attitude of the Republican party, which is arrayed against a frce ballot, on which depend all the liberties se- cured to us by the constitution.
6. That we view with alarm the determina- tion of the Republican party, through the fraud- ulent executive, to deprive this republic of its army, so necessary to the defence of its fronticr, and its protection from foreign and domestic enemies, by vetoing appropriations for the pay
.
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. and support of our soldiers, unless they can be used to force voters to record the mere will of the exccutive.
7. That we hail the Democratic Senators and Representatives in Congress as worthy the hero- ic ยท lineage of American citizens, for standing firmly for the American idea in government as against the despotic theory from which our rev- olutionary fathers revolted, and we ask all lovers of liberty to join us and them in a protest against the change in our form of government proposed by the Republican party, which will substitute the will of one man for that of the majority of all the people.
8. That we are in favor of the substitution of United States treasury notes for national bank notes, and of the abolition of national banks as banks of issue; that the government of the United States issue the money for the people; and, further, that we favor a reduction of the bonded debt of the United States as fast as prac- ticable, and the application of the idle money in the treasury to that purpose.
9. That we favor the free and unlimited coin- age of the silver dollar of 41212 grains, and pro- viding certificates for silver bullion which may be deposited in the United Sta es treasury, the same to be legal tender for all purposes.
10. That we favor a tariff -for revenue only.
11. That we are in favor of economy in pub- lic expenditures, including reduction of salaries local and general wherever they may be deemed excessive; and also a reduction in the number of officials.
12. That the Democratic party of Iowa is de- sirous of prouioting temperance, and, being op- poscd to frce whisky, it is in favor of a judicious license law.
13. That we favor holding all public servants to a strict accountability, and their prompt and severe punishment for all thefts of public money and maladministration of public office.
A Temperance convention was held at Cedar Rapids June 16th, and adopted the following platform :
Resolved, We recognize the traffic in intoxicat- ing liquors as the great moral, financial, social, and political evil of the present age; that it is one of the worst relics of barbarism; that it has always been the moving cause of crime, and is, therefore, subversive of our republican form of government, and should be overthrown.
2. We believe that the prohibition of the traffic of intoxicating liquors is the only sound legislative theory upon which this vexed ques- tion can be solved and the nation saved from bankrupcy and demoralization; therefore, we insist upon the maintenance and enforcement of our prohibitory liquor law, and upon such amendments by the next Legislature of the State of Iowa as will place ale, wine, aud beer under the same condemnation as other intoxicating liquors.
3. We believe that in the security of home rests the security of the State; that woman is by her very nature the acknowledged guardian of this sacred shrine, and that intemperance is its greatest enemy, therefore we claim that the daughters of this commonwealth, as well as her sons, be allowed to say,'by their vote, what laws should be made for the suppression of this evil, and what persons shall execute the same.
4. That the present movement inaugurated by the temperance organizations of the State to prohibit the manufacture and sale of alcoholic liquors, except for mechanical and medical pur- poses, including malt and wine liquors, meets our active support.
5. That we, as the Prohibitionists of the State of Iowa, in view of the great questions of public interest effecting the perpetuity of our general government, which are now absorbing the thought and action of all our people, deem it inexpedient and unwise to nominate a State probibitory ticket at the present time.
A portion of the convention in favor of the nomination of a State ticket seceded, and nominated a State ticket, headed by G. T. Carpenter for Governor. Mr. Car- penter declining, D. R. Dungan was substi- tuted. The rest of the ticket was composed
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as follows: Lieutenant-Governor, Frank T. Campbell; Judge of the Supreme Court, J. M. Beck; Supt. of Public Instruction, J. A. Nash.
The Greenbackers assembled at Des Moines May 28th, and nominated a ticket as follows: Governor, Daniel Campbell; Lieutenant-Governor, M. M. Moore; Su- preme Judge, M. H. Jones; Supt. of Pub- lic Instruction, J. A. Nash. The follow- ing platform was adopted:
WHEREAS, The sovereign and supreme power of the American Union is vested in the free will of the citizens thereof, who have an equal and unquestionable right to express that will as to them seems best adapted to secure the peace, perpetuate the liberty, and promote the pros- perity of each individual, as well as to enhance and protect the common welfare of our country; and,
WHEREAS, This power has been delegated to unworthy servants, who have diverted it from its original purpose, whereby grievous wrongs have been perpetrated on the masses of the people, subjecting them to gross injustice, widespread poverty, untold privations, and business paralyzation; and,
WHEREAS, These grievances have been greatly augumented by limiting the legal-tender quality of the greenbacks; by loaning the credit of the government to national bank corporations; by changing government bonds into coin bonds, and making the same exclusively payable in . gold, by the conversion of a non-interest bearing circulating medium into an interest bearing government debt; by defrauding labor of employ- ment; by the ruinous shrinkage in the value of property; by the depression of business; by the willful restrictions placed upon the remonetiza- tion of the silver dollar; by the exemption of capital from its just share of the burden of taxa- tion; by the contraction of the greenback cur- rency; by the' forced resumption of specie pay- ment; by the increase in the purchasing power of money, and its attendant hardships on the debtor class; by declaring poverty a crime, and
providing punishment therefor; by the criminal waste of the public domain, through enormous grants of land to railroad corporations; by oppressive taxation; by high rates of interest for the use of money; by exorbitant salaries and fees to public officers; by official corruption in the administration of public affairs; and,
WHEREAS, A moneyed despotism has grown up in our land out of this state of affairs, which con trols the law-making power of our country, dictates judicial decisions, wields an undue influence over the chief executive of the nation -in the consideration of the laws passed for the benefit of the people, thus enabling the money power to carry on its schemes of public plunder, under and by which colossal fortunes have been gathered in the hands of the ambitious and un- crupulous men whose interests are at war with the interests of the people, hostile to popular . government, and deaf to the demands of honest toil; therefore, we, the representatives of the Union Greenback Labor Party of Iowa, adopt the following as our platform of principles:
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