USA > Iowa > The Iowa official register, 1904 > Part 26
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In this, the first act of its imperialistic program, the republican party seeks to commit the United States to a colonial policy, inconsistent with republican institutions, and condemned by the supreme court in numerous decisions.
PLEDGES TO THE CUBANS.
We demand the prompt and honest fulfillment of our pledge to the Cuban people and the world that the United States has no disposition nor intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over the Island of Cuba, except for its pacification. The war ended nearly two years ago, profound peace reigns over all the island, and still the administration keeps the government of the island from its people, while republican carpet-bag officials plunder its rev- enues and exploit the colonial theory, to the disgrace of the American people.
THE PHILIPPINE QUESTION.
We condemn and denounce the Philippine policy of the present adminis- tration. It has involved the republic in unnecessary war, sacrificed the lives of many of our noblest sons, and placed the United States, previously known and
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applauded throughout the world as the champion of freedom, in the false and un-American position of crushing with military force the efforts of our former allies to achieve liberty and self-government. The Filipinos cannot become citizens without endangering our civilization; they cannot become subjects without imperiling our form of government and we are not willing to surrender our civilization or to convert the republic into an empire; we favor an imme- diate declaration of the nation's purpose to give to the Filipinos, first, a stable form of government; second, independence; and third, protection from outside interference, such as has been given for nearly a century to the republics of Central and Southern America.
The greedy commercialism which dictated the Philippine policy of the republican administration attempts to justify it with the plea that it will pay, but even this sordid and unworthy plea fails when brought to the test of facts. The war of criminal aggression against the Filipinos, entailing an annual expense of many millions, has already cost more than any possible profit that could accrue from the entire Philippine trade for years to come. Furthermore, when trade is extended at the expense of liberty the price is always too high.
We are not opposed to territorial expansion when it takes in desirable terri- tory which can be erected into states in the Union and whose people are willing and fit to become American citizens.
We favor trade expansion by every peaceful and legitimate means. But we are unalterably opposed to the seizing or purchasing of distant islands to be governed outside the constitution and whose people can never become citizens.
We are in favor of extending the republic's influence among the natlons, but we believe that influence should be extended, not by force and violence, but through the persuasive power of a high and honorable example.
The importance of other questions now pending before the American people is in no wise diminished, and the democratic party takes no backward step from its position on them, but the burning issue of imperialism growing out of the Spanish war involves the very existence of the republic and the destruction of our free institutions. We regard it as the paramount issue of the campaign.
THE MONROE DOCTRINE.
The declaration in the republican platform adopted at the Philadelphia con- vention, held in June 1900, that the republican party "steadfastly adheres to the policy announced in the Monroe doctrine" is manifestly insincere and decep- tive. This profession is contradicted by the avowed policy of that party in opposition to the spirit of the Monroe doctrine to acquire and hold sovereignty over large areas of territory and large numbers of people in the eastern hemis- phere. We insist on the strict maintenance of the Monroe doctrine and in all its integrity, both in letter and in spirit, as necessary to prevent the extension of European authority on this continent and as essential to our supremacy in American affairs. At the same time we declare that no American people shall ever be held by force in unwilling subjection to European authorities.
OPPOSITION TO MILITARISM.
We oppose militarism. It means conquest abroad and intimidation and oppression at home. It means the strong arm which has ever been fatal to free institutions. It is what millions of our citizens have fled from in Europe. It will impose upon our peace-loving people a large standing army and unneces- sary burden of taxation and a constant menace to their liberties.
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A small standing army with a well disciplined state militia are amply sufficient in times of peace. This republic has no place for a vast military ser- vice and conscription.
When the nation is in danger the volunteer soldier is his country's best defender. The national guard in the United States should ever be cherished in the patriotic hearts of a free people. Such organizations are ever an element of strenghth and safety.
For the first time in our history and co-evil with the Philippine conquest has there been a wholesale departure from our time honored and approved system of volunteer organization. We denounce it as un-American, un-Democratic and un-Republican, and as a subversion of the ancient and fixed principles of a free people.
TRUSTS DENOUNCED.
Private monopolies are indefensible and intolerable. They destroy competi- tion, control the price of all materials and of the finished product, thus robbing both producer and consumer. They lessen the employment of labor and arbi- trarily fix the terms and conditions thereof, and deprive individual energy and small capital of their opportunity for betterment. They are the most efficient means yet devised for appropriating the fruits of industry to the benefit of the few at the expense of the many, and unless their insatiate greed is checked, all wealth will be aggregated in a few hands and the republic destroyed.
The dishonest paltering with the trust evil by the republican party in state and national platforms is conclusive proof of the truth of the charge that trusts are the legitimate product of republican policies, that they are fostered by republican laws, and that they are protected by the republican administration in return for the campaign subscriptions and political support.
›We pledge the democratic party to an increasing warfare in nation, state and city against private monopoly in every form. Existing laws against trusts must be enforced, and more stringent ones must be enacted, providing for pub- licity as to the affairs of corporations engaged in interstate commerce, and requiring all corporations to show, before doing business outside of the state of their origin, that they have no water in their stock, and that they have not attempted and are not attempting to monopolize any branch of business or the production of any articles of merchandise, and the whole constitutional power of congress over inter-state commerce, the mails and all modes of inter-state com- munication shall be exercised by the enactment of comprehensive laws upon the subject of trusts.
Tariff laws should be amended by putting the products of trusts upon the free list to prevent monopoly under the plea of protection.
The failure of the present republican administration, with an absolute con- trol over all the branches of the national government, to enact any legislation designed to prevent or even curtail the absorbing power of trusts and illegal combinations, or to enforce the anti-trust laws already on the statute books, proves the insincerity of the high-sounding phrases of the republican platform.
Corporations should be protected in all their rights, and their legitimate interests should be respected, but any attempt by corporations to interfere with the public affairs of the people or to control the sovereignty which creates them should be forbidden under such penalties as will make such attempts impossible.
We condemn the Dingley tariff law as a trust-breeding measure, skillfully devised to give the few favors which they do not deserve, and to place upon the many burdens which they should not bear.
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INTERSTATE COMMERCE LAW.
We favor such an enlargement of the scope of the interstate commerce law as will enable the commission to protect individuals and communities from discriminations and the public from unjust and unfair transportation rates.
DECLARATION FOR 16 To 1.
We reaffirm and indorse the principles of the national democratic platform adopted at Chicago in 1896, and reiterate the demand of that platform for an American financial system, made by the American people for themselves, which shall restore and maintain a bimetalic level, and as a part of such system the immediate restoration of the free and unlimited coinage of silver and gold at the present legal ratio of 16 to 1, without waiting for the aid or consent of any other nation.
CURRENCY LAW DENOUNCED.
We denounce the currency bill enacted at the last session of congress as a step forward in the republican policy which aims to discredit the soverign right of the national government to issue all money, whether coin or paper, and to bestow upon national banks the power to issue and control the volume of paper money for their own benefit.
A permanent national bank currency, secured by government bonds, must have a permanent debt to rest upon, and if the ba k currency is to increase with population and business the debt must also increase. The republican currency scheme is therefore a scheme for fastening upon taxpayers a perpetual and growing debt for the benefit of the banks.
We are opposed to this private corporation paper circulated as money, but without legal-tender qualities, and demand the retirement of the national bank notes as fast as government paper or silver certificates can be substituted for them.
SENATORS ELECTED BY THE PEOPLE.
We favor an amendment to the federal constitution providing for the elec- tion of United States senators by direct vote of the people, and we favor direct legislation whereever practicable.
GOVERNMENT BY INJUNCTION.
We are opposed to the government by injunction; we denounce the black- list, and favor arbitration as a means of settling disputes between corporations and employes.
.DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
In the interest of American labor and the uplifting of the workingmen, as the cornerstone of the prosperity of our country, we recommend that congress create a department of labor, in charge of a secretary, with a seat in the cab- inet, believing that the elevation of the American laborer will bring with it in- creased production and increased prosperity to our country at home and to our commerce abroad.
PENSIONS.
We are proud of the courage and fidelity of the American soldiers and sailors in all our wars; we favor liberal pensions to them and their dependents, and we
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reiterate the position taken in the Chicago platform in 1896, that the fact of en- listment and service shall be deemed conclusive evidence against disease and disability before enlistment.
NICARAGUA CANAL.
We favor the immediate construction, ownership and control of the Nicara- gua canal by the United States, and we denounce the insincerity of the plank in the national republican platform for an Isthmain canal in face of the failure of the republican majority to pass the bill pending in congress.
We condemn the Hay-Pauncefote treaty as a surrender of American rights and interests and not to be tolerated by the American people.
STATEHOOD FOR THE TERRITORIES.
We denounce the failure of the republican party to carry out its pledges, to grant statehood to the territories of Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma, and we promise the people of those territories immediate statehood and home rule during their condition as territories, and we favor home rule and a territorial form of government for Alaska and Porto Rico.
ARID LANDS.
We favor an intelligent system of improving the arid lands of the west, storing the waters for purposes of irrigation, and the holding of such lands for actual settlers.
CHINESE EXCLUSION LAW.
We favor the continuance and strict enforcement of the Chinese exclusion law and its application to the same classes of all Asiatic races.
ALLIANCE WITH ENGLAND.
Jefferson said: "Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none. "
We approve this wholesome doctrine and earnestly protest against the republican departure which has involved us in so-called politics, including the diplomacy of Europe and the intrigue and land-grabbing of Asia, and we especi- ally condemn the ill-concealed republican alliance with England, which must mean discrimination against other friendly nations, and which has already stifled the nation's voice while liberty is being strangled in Africa.
SYMPATHY FOR THE BOERS.
Believing in the principles of self-government, and rejecting, as did our forefathers, the claim of monarchy, we view with indignation the purpose of England to overwhelm with force the South African republics. Speaking, as we do, for the entire Americar nation, except its republican officeholders, and for all free men everywhere, we extend our sympathy to the heroic burghers in their unequal struggle to maintain their liberty and independence,
REPUBLICAN APPROPRIATIONS.
We denounce the lavish appropriations of recent republican congresses, which have kept taxes high, and which threaten the perpetuation of the oppres- sive war levies.
SHIP-SUBSIDY BILL.
We oppose the accumulation of a surplus to be squandered in such bare faced frauds upon the taxpayers as the shipping subsidy bill, which, under the
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false pretense of prospering American shipbuilding, would put unearned millions into the pockets of favorite contributors to the republican campaign fund.
REPEAL OF THE WAR TAXES.
We favor the reduction and speedy repeal of the war taxes, and a return to the time-honored democratic policy of strict economy in governmental expend itures.
CONCLUDING PLEA TO THE PEOPLE.
Believing that our most cherished institutions are in great peril, that the very existence of our constitutional republic is at stake, and that the decision now to be rendered will determine whether or not our children are to enjoy those blessed privileges of free government which have made the United States great, prosperous and honored, we earnestly ask for the foregoing declaration of principles the hearty support of the liberty-loving American people, regard- less of previous party affiliations.
PROHIBITION PARTY 1900. NATIONAL TICKET.
For President. JOHN G. WOOLLEY, of Illinois.
For Vice-President. HENRY B. METCALF, of Rhode Island.
Presidential Electo s:
At Large. - H. A. Buchanan, of Marshall county. James Scull, of Jasper county.
First District. - J. W. Glasgow, of Louisa county. Second District. - Francis Bacon, of Muscatine county. Third District. - A. J. Foster, of Buchanan county.
Fourth District .- P. Woodring, of Fayette county. Fifth District .- W. J. Fort, of Marshall county. Sixth District. - H. C. Ethell, of Davis county. Seventh District. - J. W. Johns, of Story county. Eighth District. - J. A. Reid. of Page county.
Ninth District. - T. D. Thomas, of Montgomery county.
Tenth District. - R. R. Percy, of Boone county. Eleventh District. - C. H. Lockins, of Cherokee county.
National convention, Chicago, June 27, 1900.
Temporary and Permanent Chairman .- Hon. Samuel J. Dickey, of Michigan.
NATIONAL PLATFORM.
PREAMBLE
The national prohibition party, in convention represented, at Chicago, June 27 and 28, 1900, acknowledge almighty God as the supreme source of all just
.
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government. Realizing that this republic was founded upon Christian prin- ciples, and can endure only as it embodies justness and righteousness, and asserting that all authority should seek the best good of all the governed, to this end wisely prohibiting what is wrong and permitting only what is right, hereby records and proclaims :
DEFINITION OF PARTY AND . ARRAINGMENT! OF PARTIES.
1. We accept and assert the definition given by Edmund Burke, that "a party is a body of men joined together for the purpose of promoting, by their joint endeavor, the national interest upon some particular principle upon which they areall agreed." We declare that there is no principle now advocated by any other party which could be made a fact in government with such beneficent moral and material results as the principle of prohibition, applied to the beverage liquor traffic; that the national interest could be promoted in no other way so surely and widely as by its adoption and assertion through a national policy, and the co-operation therein of every state, forbidding the manufacture, sale, exporta" tion, importation and transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage pur- poses; that we stand for this as the only principle proposed by any party any- where for the settlement of a question greater and graver than any other before the American people, and involving more profoundly than any other their moral future and financial welfare; and that all the patriotic citizenship of this coun- try, agreed upon this principle, however much disagreement there may be as to minor considerations and issues, should stand together at the ballot-box from this time forward until prohibition is the established policy of the United States, with a party in power to enforce it and to insure its moral and material benefits.
We insist that such a party, agreed upon this principle and policy, having sober leadership, without any obligation for success to the saloon vote and to those demoralizing political combinations of men and money now allied there- with and suppliant thereto, could successfully cope with all other and lesser problems of government, in legislative halls and in the executive chair, and that it is useless for any party to make declarations in its platform as to any questions concerning which there may be serious differences of opinion in its own membership, and as to which, because of such differences, the party could legislate only on a basis of mutual concessions when coming into power.
We submit that the democratic and republican parties are alike insincere in their assumed hostility to trusts and monopolies. They dare not and do not attack the most dangerous of them all, the liquor power. So long as the saloon debauches the citizen and breeds the purchasable voter, money will con- tinue to buy its way to power. Break down this traffic, elevate manhood, and a sober citizenship will find a way to control dangerous combinations of capital.
We propose as a first step in the financial problems of the nation to save more than a billion of dollars every year, now annually expended to support the liquor traffic and to demoralize our people. When that is accomplished, conditions will have so improved that with a clearer atmosphere the country can address itself to the questions as to the kind and quantity of currency needed.
THE ISSUE PRESENTED. .
2. We reaffirm as true indisputably the declaration of William Windom, when secretary of the treasury in the cabinet of President Arthur, that "Con- sidered socially, financially, politically or morally, the licensed liquor traffic is
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or ought to be the overwhelming issue in American politics," and that "the destruction of this iniquity stands next on the calendar of the world's prog. ress." We hold that the existence of our party presents this issue squarely to the American people, and lays upon them the responsibility of choice between liquor parties, dominated by distillers and brewers, with their policy of saloon perpetuation, breeding waste, wickedness, woe, pauperism, taxation, corrup- tion and crime, and our one party of patriotic and moral principle, with a policy which defends it from dominations by corrupt bosses and which insures it forever against the blighting control of saloon politics.
We face with sorrow, shame and fear, the awful fact that this liquor traffic has a grip on our government, municipal, state and national, through the revenue system and saloon sovereignty, which no other party dares to dispute; a grip which dominates the party now in power, from caucus to congress, from policeman to president, from the rum shop to the white house; a grip which compels the chief executive to consent that law shall be nullified in behalf of the brewer, that the canteen shall curse our army and spread intemperance across the seas, and that our flag shall wave as the symbol of partnership at home and abroad, between this government and the men who defy and defile it for their unholy gain.
THE PRESIDENT ARRAIGNED.
3. We charge upon President Mckinley, who was elected to his high office by appeals to Christian sentiment and patriotism almost unprecedented and by a combination of moral influences never before seen in this country, that, by his conspicuous example as a wine-drinker at public banquets and as a wine-serving host in the white house, he has done more to encourage the liquor business, to demoralize the temperance habits of young men, and to bring Christian prac. tices and requirements into disrepute than any other president this republic has ever had. We further charge upon President Mckinley responsibility for the army canteen, with all its dire brood of disease, immorality, sin and death, in this country, in Cuba, in Porto Rico and in the Philippines; and we insist that by his attitude concerning the canteen, and his apparent contempt for the vast number of petitions and petitioners protesting against it, he has outraged and insulted the moral sentiment of this country, in such a manner and to such a degree, as calls for its righteous uprising and his indignant and effective rebuke.
We challenge denial of the fact that our chief executive, as commander-in- chief of the military forces of the United States, at any time prior to or since March 2, 1899, could have closed every army saloon. called a canteen, by exec" utive order, as President Hayes in effect did before him, and should have closed them, for the same reasons which actuated President Hayes; we assert that the act of congress, passed March 2, 1899, forbidding the sale of liquor, "in any post-exchange or canteen, " by any "officer or private soldier" or by "any other person on any premises used for military purposes in the United States," · was and is as explicit an act of prohibition as the English language can frame; we declare our solemn belief that the attorney-general of the United States in his interpretation of that law, and the secretary of war in his acceptance of that interpretation and his refusal to enfore the law, were and are guilty of treasonable nullification thereof, and that President Mckinley, through his assent to and endorsement of such interpretation and refusal, on the part of officials appointed by and responsible to him, shares responsibility in their guilt ; and werecord our conviction that a new and serious peril confronts our country, in the fact that its president, at the behest of the beer power, dare and does
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abrogate a law of congress, through subordinates removable at will by him and whose acts become his, and thus virtually confesses that laws are to be admin- istered, or to be nullified in the interest of a law-defying business, by an admin- istration under mortgage to such business for support.
FOREIGN LIQUOR POLICY CONDEMNED.
4. We deplore the fact that an administration of this republic, claiming the right and power to carry our flag across seas, and to conquer and to annex new territory, should admit its lack of power to prohibit the American saloon on subjugated soil, or should openly confess itself subject to liquor sovereignty under that flag. We are humiliated, exasperated, and grieved, by the evidence painfully abundant, that this administration's policy of expansion is bearing so rapidly its first fruits of drunkenness, insanity and crime under the hot-house sun of the tropics; and when the president of the first Philippine commission says "It was unfortunate that we introduced and established the saloon there to corrupt the natives and to exhibit the vices of our race," we charge the inhumanity and unchristianity of this act upon the administration of William Mckinley, and upon the party which elected and would perpetuate the same."
5. We declare that the only policy which the government of the United States can of right uphold as to the liquor traffic, under the National Consti- tution, upon any territory under the military or civil control of that govern- ment, is the policy of prohibition ; that "to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity," as the Constitution provides, the liquor traffic must neither be sanctioned nor tolerated, and that the revenue policy, which makes our government a partner with dis- tillers and brewers and bar-keepers, is a disgrace to our civilization, an outrage upon humanity, and a crime against God.
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