USA > New York > History of the state of New York, political and governmental, Vol. VI > Part 26
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"The confidence of the people in his justice, inspired by his public career, enabled him to render personally an inestimable service to the country by bringing about a settlement of the coal strike, which threatened such disastrous results at the opening of the winter in 1902.
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"Our foreign policy under his administration has not only been able, vigorous, and dignified, but in the highest degree successful.
"The complicated questions which arose in Venezuela were settled in such a way by President Roosevelt that the Monroe doctrine was signally vindicated and the cause of peace and arbitration greatly advanced.
"His prompt and vigorous action in Panama, which we commend in the highest terms, not only secured to us the canal route but avoided foreign complications which might have been of a very serious character.
"He has continued the policy of President Mckinley in the Orient, and our position in China, signalized by our recent commercial treaty with that empire, has never been so high.
"He secured the tribunal by which the vexed and perilous question of the Alaskan boundary was finally settled.
"Whenever crimes against humanity have been perpetrated which have shocked our people, his protest has been made and our good offices have been tendered, but always with due regard to interna- tional obligations.
"Under his guidance we find ourselves at peace with all the world, and never were we more respected or our wishes more regarded by foreign nations.
"Preeminently successful in regard to our foreign relations, he has been equally fortunate in dealing with domestic questions. The country has known that the public credit and the national currency were absolutely safe in the hands of his administration. In the enforcement of the laws he has shown not only courage, but the wis- dom which understands that to permit laws to be violated or disre- garded opens the door to anarchy, while the just enforcement of the law is the soundest conservatism. He has held firmly to the funda- mental American doctrine that all men must obey the law, that there must be no distinction between rich and poor, between strong and weak, but that justice and equal protection under the law must be secured to every citizen without regard to race, creed, or condi- tion.
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"His administration has been throughout vigorous and honorable, high-minded and patriotic. We commend it without reservation to the considerate judgment of the American people."
Democratic Party
Convention held in St. Louis, July 6-9, 1904. Tem- porary chairman, John Sharp Williams, of Mississippi; permanent chairman, Champ Clark, of Missouri.
On the first ballot for President Alton B. Parker, of New York, was nominated. The vote stood: Parker, 679; William R. Hearst, of New York, 181; Francis M. Cockrell, of Missouri, 42; Richard Olney, of Mas- sachusetts, 38; Edward C. Wall, of Wisconsin, 27; George Gray, of Delaware, 12; John Sharp Williams, of Mississippi, 8; Robert E. Pattison, of Pennsylvania, 4; George B. McClellan, of New York, 3; Nelson A. Miles, of Massachusetts, 3; Charles A. Towne, of Min- nesota, 2; Bird S. Coler, of New York, 1.
The first ballot for Vice-President resulted in the nomination of Henry G. Davis, of West Virginia, by the following vote : Davis, 654; James Robert Wil- liams, of Illinois, 165; George Turner, of Washington, 100; William A. Harris, of Kansas, 58.
Platform :
"The Democratic party of the United States, in national conven- tion assembled, declares its devotion to the essential principles of the Democratic faith which bring us together in party communion.
"Under these principles local self-government and national unity and prosperity were alike established. They underlaid our inde- pendence, the structure of our free republic, and every Democratic expansion from Louisiana to California and Texas to Oregon, which
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preserved faithfully in all the States the tie between taxation and representation. They yet inspire the masses of our people, guarding jealously their rights and liberties and cherishing their fraternity, peace, and orderly development. They remind us of our duties and responsibilities as citizens and impress upon us, particularly at this time, the necessity of reform and the rescue of the administration of government from the headstrong, arbitrary, and spasmodic methods which distract business by uncertainty and pervade the public mind with dread, distrust, and perturbation.
"The application of these fundamental principles to the living issues of the day constitutes the first step toward the assured peace, safety, and progress of our nation. Freedom of the press, of con- science, and of speech; equality before the law of all citizens; right of trial by jury; freedom of the person defended by the writ of habeas corpus; liberty of personal contract untrammeled by sumptu- ary laws; supremacy of the civil over military authority; a well- disciplined militia; separation of church and state; economy in ex- penditures; low taxes, that labor may be lightly burdened; prompt and sacred fulfillment of public and private obligations; fidelity to treaties ; peace and friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none; absolute acquiescence in the will of the majority, the vital principle of republics-these are doctrines which Democracy has established as proverbs of the nation, and they should be constantly invoked and enforced.
"Large reductions can easily be made in the annual expenditures of the government without impairing the efficiency of any branch of the public service, and we shall insist upon the strictest economy and frugality compatible with vigorous and efficient civil, military, and naval administration as a right of the people too clear to be denied or withheld.
"We favor the enforcement of honesty in the public service, and to that end a thorough legislative investigation of those executive departments of the government already known to teem with corrup- tion, as well as other departments suspected of harboring corruption, and the punishment of ascertained corruptionists without fear or favor or regard to persons. The persistent and deliberate refusal of
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both the Senate and House of Representatives to permit such investi- gation to be made demonstrates that only by a change in the execu- tive and in the legislative departments can complete exposure, punish- ment, and correction be obtained.
"We condemn the action of the Republican party in Congress in refusing to prohibit an executive department from entering into con- tracts with convicted trusts or unlawful combinations in restraint of interstate trade. We believe that one of the best methods of pro- curing economy and honesty in the public service is to have public officials, from the occupant of the White House down to the lowest of them, return, as nearly as may be, to Jeffersonian simplicity of living.
"We favor the nomination and election of a President imbued with the principles of the Constitution, who will set his face sternly against executive usurpation of legislative and judicial functions, whether that usurpation be veiled under the guise of executive con- struction of existing laws or whether it take refuge in the tyrant's plea of necessity or superior wisdom.
"We favor the preservation, so far as we can, of an open door for the world's commerce in the Orient without unnecessary entangle- ment in Oriental and European affairs, and without arbitrary, un- limited, irresponsible, and absolute government anywhere within our jurisdiction. We oppose, as fervently as did George Washington, an indefinite, irresponsible, discretionary, and vague absolutism and a policy of colonial exploitation, no matter where or by whom in- voked or exercised. We believe with Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, that no government has a right to make one set of laws for those 'at home' and another and a different set of laws, absolute in their character, for those 'in the colonies.' All men under the Amer- ican flag are entitled to the protection of the institutions whose emblem the flag is; if they are inherently unfit for those institutions, then they are inherently unfit to be members of the American body politic. Wherever there may exist a people incapable of being gov- erned under American laws, in consonance with the American Con- stitution, the territory of that people ought not to be part of the American domain.
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"We insist that we ought to do for the Filipinos what we have done already for the Cubans; and it is our duty to make that prom- ise now, and, upon suitable guarantees of protection to citizens of our own and other countries resident there at the time of our withdrawal, to set the Filipino people upon their feet free and independent to work out their own destiny.
"The endeavor of the Secretary of War, by pledging the govern- ment's endorsement for 'promoters' in the Philippine Islands to make the United States a partner in speculative exploitation of the archi- pelago, which was only temporarily held up by the opposition of Democratic Senators in the last session, will, if successful, lead to entanglements from which it will be difficult to escape.
"The Democratic party has been, and will continue to be, the consistent opponent of that class of tariff legislation by which certain interests have been permitted, through Congressional favor, to draw a heavy tribute from the American people. This monstrous perver- sion of those equal opportunities which our political institutions were established to secure, has caused what may once have been infant industries to become the greatest combinations of capital that the world has ever known. These special favorites of the government have through trust methods been converted into monopolies, thus bringing to an end domestic competition, which was the only alleged check upon the extravagant profits made possible by the protective system. These industrial combinations, by the financial assistance they can give, now control the policy of the Republican party.
"We denounce protectionism as a robbery of the many to enrich the few, and we favor a tariff limited to the needs of the govern- ment economically, effectively, and constitutionally administered, and so levied as not to discriminate against any industry, class, or section, to the end that the burdens of taxation shall be distributed as equally as possible.
"We favor a revision and a gradual reduction of the tariff by the friends of the masses and for the common weal, and not by the friends of its abuses, its extortions, and its discriminations-keeping in view the ultimate end of 'equality of burdens and equality of oppor- tunities' and the constitutional purpose of raising a revenue by taxa-
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tion, to-wit: the support of the Federal government in all its integ- rity and virility, but in simplicity.
"We recognize that the gigantic trusts and combinations designed to enable capital to secure more than its just share of the joint pro- duct of capital and labor, and which have been fostered and promoted under Republican rule, are a menace to beneficial competition and an obstacle to permanent business prosperity.
"A private monopoly is indefensible and intolerable.
"Individual equality of opportunity and free competition are essential to a healthy and permanent commercial prosperity ; and any trust, combination, or monopoly tending to destroy these by control- ling production, restricting competition, or fixing prices and wages should be prohibited and punished by law. We especially denounce rebates and discriminations by transportation companies as the most potent agency in promoting and strengthening these unlawful con- spiracies against trade.
"We demand an enlargement of the powers of the Interstate Com- merce commission, to the end that the traveling public and shippers of this country may have prompt and adequate relief from the abuses to which they are subjected in the matter of transportation. We de- mand a strict enforcement of existing civil and criminal statutes against all such trusts, combinations, and monopolies ; and we demand the enactment of such further legislation as may be necessary effectu- ally to suppress them.
"Any trust or unlawful combination engaged in interstate com- merce which is monopolizing any branch of business or production, should not be permitted to transact business outside of the State of its origin whenever it shall be established in any court of competent jurisdiction that such monopolization exists. Such prohibition should be enforced through comprehensive laws to be enacted on the subject.
"We favor the enactment and administration of laws giving labor and capital impartially their just rights. Capital and labor ought not to be enemies. Each is necessary to the other. Each has its rights, but the rights of labor are certainly no less 'vested,' no less 'sacred,' and no less 'inalienable' than the rights of capital.
"We favor arbitration of differences between corporate employers
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and their employes and a strict enforcement of the Eight-hour law on all government work.
"We approve the measure which passed the United States Senate in 1896, but which a Republican Congress has ever since refused to enact, relating to contempts in Federal courts and providing for trial by jury in cases of indirect contempt.
"Constitutional guarantees are violated whenever any citizen is denied the right to labor, acquire, and enjoy property, or reside where interest or inclination may determine. Any denial thereof by indi- viduals, organizations, or governments should be summarily rebuked and punished.
"We deny the right of any Executive to disregard or suspend any constitutional privilege or limitation. Obedience to the laws and respect for their requirements are alike the supreme duty of the citi- zen and the official.
"The military should be used only to support and maintain the law. We unqualifiedly condemn its employment for the summary banishment of citizens without trial, or for the control of elections.
"We favor liberal appropriations for the care and improvement of the waterways of the country. When any waterway, like the Mis- sissippi River, is of sufficient importance to demand the special aid of the government, such aid should be extended with a definite plan of continuous work until permanent improvement is secured.
"We oppose the Republican policy of starving home development in order to feed the greed for conquest and the appetite for national 'prestige' and display of strength.
"We congratulate our western citizens upon the passage of the measure known as the Newlands Irrigation act for the irrigation and reclamation of the arid lands of the west-a measure framed by a Democrat, passed in the Senate by a non-partisan vote, and passed in the House against the opposition of almost all the Republican leaders by a vote the majority of which was Democratic. We call attention to this great Democratic measure, broad and comprehensive as it is, working automatically throughout all time without further action of Congress until the reclamation of all the lands in the arid west capa- ble of reclamation is accomplished, reserving the lands reclaimed for
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homeseekers in small tracts and rigidly guarding against land monop- oly, as an evidence of the policy of domestic development contemplated by the Democratic party, should it be placed in power.
"The Democracy when entrusted with power will construct the Panama canal speedily, honestly, and economically, thereby giving to our people what Democrats have always contended for-a great inter- oceanic canal furnishing shorter and cheaper lines of transportation and broader and less trammeled trade relations with the other peoples of the world.
"We pledge ourselves to insist upon the just and lawful protection of our citizens at home and abroad, and to use all proper measures to secure for them, whether native-born or naturalized, and without distinction of race or creed, the equal protection of laws and the en- joyment of all rights and privileges open to them under the cove- nants of our treaties of friendship and commerce; and if under exist- ing treaties the right of travel and sojourn is denied to American citi- zens or recognition is withheld from American passports by any coun- tries on the ground of race or creed, we favor the beginning of negotiations with the governments of such countries to secure by new treaties the removal of these unjust discriminations.
"We demand that all over the world a duly authenticated pass- port issued by the government of the United States to an American citizen shall be proof of the fact that he is an American citizen and shall entitle him to the treatment due him as such.
"We favor the election of United States Senators by direct vote of the people.
"We favor the admission of the Territory of Oklahoma and the Indian Territory. We also favor the immediate admission of Ari- zona and New Mexico as separate States, and Territorial govern- ments for Alaska and Porto Rico. We hold that the officials ap- pointed to administer the government of any Territory, as well as the District of Alaska, should be bona fide residents, at the time of their appointment, of the Territory or District in which their duties are to be performed.
"We demand the extermination of polygamy within the jurisdic-
GROVER CLEVELAND
Grover Cleveland, 22d and 24th president; born at Cald- well, N. J., March 18, 1837; lawyer; assistant district attorney of Erie County, 1863; defeated for district attorney, 1865; sheriff, 1870-73 ; mayor of Buffalo, 1881; governor of New York State, 1883; elected president, 1884; defeated for reelection by Benjamin Harrison, 1888; reelected 1892; died July 24, 1908, Princeton, N. J.
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tion of the United States, and the complete separation of church and state in political affairs.
"We denounce the Ship 'Subsidy bill recently passed by the United States Senate as an iniquitous appropriation of public funds for pri- vate purposes and a wasteful, illogical, and useless attempt to over- come by subsidy the obstructions raised by Republican legislation to the growth and development of American commerce on the sea. We favor the upbuilding of a merchant marine without new or additional burdens upon the people and without bounties from the public treasury.
"We favor liberal trade arrangements with Canada, and with peoples of other countries where they can be entered into with benefit to American agriculture, manufactures, mining, or commerce.
"We favor the maintenance of the Monroe doctrine in its full integrity.
"We favor the reduction of the army and of army expenditures to the point historically demonstrated to be safe and sufficient.
"The Democracy would secure to the surviving soldiers and sail- ors and their dependents generous pensions, not by an arbitrary Ex- ecutive order but by legislation which a grateful people stand ready to enact. Our soldiers and sailors who defended with their lives the Constitution and the laws have a sacred interest in their just administration. They must therefore share with us the humiliation with which we have witnessed the exaltation of court favorites, with- out distinguished service, over the scarred heroes of many battles, or aggrandizement by Executive appropriations out of the treasuries of prostrate peoples in violation of the act of Congress which fixed the compensation of allowance of the military officers.
"The Democratic party stands committed to the principles of civil service reform, and we demand their honest, just, and impartial enforcement. We denounce the Republican party for its continuous and sinister encroachments upon the spirit and operation of civil ser- vice rule, whereby it has arbitrarily dispensed with examinations for office in the interest of favorites and employed all manner of devices to overreach and set aside the principles upon which the civil service is based.
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"The race question has brought countless woes to this country. The calm wisdom of the American people should see to it that it brings no more. To revive the dead and hateful race and sectional animosities in any part of our common country means confusion, distraction of business, and the reopening of wounds now happily healed. North, south, east, and west have but recently stood together in line of battle from the walls of Peking to the hills of Santiago, and as sharers of a common glory and a common destiny we should share fraternally the common burdens.
"We therefore deprecate and condemn the Bourbon-like, selfish, and narrow spirit of the recent Republican convention at Chicago which sought to kindle anew the embers of racial and sectional strife, and we appeal from it to the sober common sense and patriotic spirit of the American people.
"The existing Republican administration has been spasmodic, erratic, sensational, spectacular, and arbitrary. It has made itself a satire upon the Congress and courts, and upon the settled practices and usages of national and international law.
"It summoned the Congress in hasty and futile extra session and virtually adjourned it, leaving behind in its flight from Washington uncalled calendars and unaccomplished tasks.
"It made war, which is the sole power of Congress, without its authority, thereby usurping one of its fundamental perogatives. It violated a plain statute of the United States as well as plain treaty obligations, international usages, and constitutional law; and has done so under pretense of executing a great public policy which could have been more easily effected lawfully, constitutionally, and with honor.
"It forced strained and unnatural constructions upon statutes, usurping judicial interpretation and substituting for Congressional enactment Executive decree.
"It withdrew from the Congress its customary duties of investiga- tion which have heretofore made the representatives of the people and the States the terror of evil-doers.
"It conducted a secretive investigation of its own, and, boasting of a few sample convicts, it threw a broad coverlet over the bureaus
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which had been the chosen field of operative abuses and kept in power the superior officers under whose administration the crimes had been committed.
"It ordered assault upon some monopolies, but, paralyzed by a first victory, it flung out the flag of truce and cried out that it would not 'run amuck,' leaving its future purposes beclouded by its vacillations.
"Conducting the campaign upon this declaration of our principles and purposes, we invoke for our candidates the support not only of our great and time-honored organization, but also the active assist- ance of all of our fellow-citizens who, disregarding past differences, desire the perpetuation of our constitutional government as framed and established by the fathers of the republic."
The deliberations in the committee on resolutions involved conflicting views on the financial question, and by unanimous agreement no reference whatever was made to that question. This harmonious action was due to a general recognition that free silver had ceased to be an issue because of the country's full acceptance of the gold standard. The platform, silent on the sub- ject, was unanimously adopted by the convention.
Judge Parker, however, after receiving the news of his nomination for the Presidency, felt that it was due to the convention and the country that his own position should be clearly defined. He consequently sent the following telegram to William F. Sheehan, one of the New York delegates in attendance at the convention :
"EsOPUS, New York, July 9, 1904.
"I regard the gold standard as firmly and irrevocably established, and shall act accordingly if the action of the convention to-day shall be ratified by the people. As the platform is silent on the subject, my view should be made known to the convention, and if it is proved
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to be unsatisfactory to the majority I request you to decline the nomination for me at once so that another may be nominated before adjournment. ALTON B. PARKER."
By 794 ayes to 191 nays the convention voted to send Judge Parker the following reply :
"The platform adopted by this convention is silent upon the ques- tion of the monetary standard because it is not regarded by us as a possible issue in this campaign, and only campaign issues are men- tioned in the platform. Therefore there is nothing in the views ex- pressed by you in the telegram just received which would preclude a man entertaining them from accepting a nomination on said plat- form."
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