•Sr
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
HISTORY
OF THE
STATE OF NEW YORK
POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
EDITED BY
RAY B. SMITH
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS
BY
WALTER W. SPOONER
THE SYRACUSE PRESS. INC
SYRACUSE. N.Y.
1922
COPYRIGHTED
THE SYRACUSE PRESS, INC.
1922
V- b
CONTENTS OF VOLUME VI
PART I.
EARLY PARTIES, 1789 TO 1828
Rise of the parties 17
Federalists and Democratic-Republicans 17-18
The first Presidential Electors 19
1789: George Washington elected President 20
John Adams elected Vice-President 20
1792: Washington and Adams reelected 20-21
1796: John Adams elected President 21
Thomas Jefferson elected Vice-President 21
1798-99: Kentucky and Virginia resolutions 22
Comment on the resolutions 33-34
1800: The Electoral tie 34-35
Jefferson President, Aaron Burr Vice-President 35
Burr's decline in favor 36
Jefferson supreme 37
The Congressional caucus 37-38
1804: Jefferson reelected 38-39
George Clinton elected Vice-President.'. 38-39
1808: James Madison elected President 39
George Clinton reelected Vice-President 39
1812: The DeWitt Clinton movement 40
The Clintonian platform..... 41
Madison reelected; Elbridge Gerry Vice-President 43
1814-15: The Hartford convention 44
Comment on its transactions 48
1816: James Monroe elected President 48-49
Daniel D. Tompkins elected Vice-President 49
1820: Monroe and Tompkins reelected 49
1824: A quadrilateral contest 50
End of the caucus 51
John Quincy Adams elected President 52
John C. Calhoun elected Vice-President 52
1828: Andrew Jackson against Adams 52-53
Democratic party; National Republican party 53
Jackson elected President; Calhoun reelected Vice-President 54
The rival parties and their leaders 54-59
Formulation of definite issues 59
Triumphant Democracy 60
To the victors belong the spoils 61
The Missouri Compromise, 1820 61
Balance of the sections 62-62
The settlement:— 36° 30' 65
Comment on the Compromise 66-68
PART II.
PARTIES FROM 1832 TO 1856
1 832
Anti-Masonic party: Wirt and Ellmaker 69
National Republican party: Clay and Sargeant 70
The first National platform of issues 71
Democratic party: Jackson and Van Buren
Two-thirds required to nominate Vice-President
Andrew Jackson reflected President 74
Martin Van Buren elected Vice-President 74
1836
Democratic National convention (1835) 75
The two-thirds rule regularly established 75
Van Buren and Johnson 76
Whig party; its distractions 76
Various Whig nominations
Martin Van Buren elected President
Richard M. Johnson elected Vice-President 78
1840
Liberty party: Birney and Earle 79
Whig party: Harrison and Tyler 80-81
Democratic party: Van Buren renominated 81
The first Democratic platform 81
Comment on the platform 83
William Henry Harrison elected President 84
John Tyler elected Vice-President 84
1 844
Liberty-Abolitionist party: Birney and Morris 87
Platform of the Abolitionists 87
Whig party: Clay and Frelinghuysen 90
Platform of the Whigs 90
Democratic party: Polk and Dallas 91-92
Platform of the Democrats 92
Comment on the Texas and Oregon questions 93
The slavery disputation reopened 95
Equivocal position of the Whigs in the campaign 96
James K. Polk elected President 97
George M. Dallas elected Vice-President 97
1 848
Completion of continental development 98
Texan annexation — the essentials of the subject 99
The Wilraot Proviso (1846) 100-101
Various slavery questions in Congress 101-104
Democratic party: Cass and Butler 104
The rival New York factions 104
Platform of the Democrats 105
Whig party: Taylor and Fillmore 110
No platform adopted by the Whigs Ill
Carl Schurz on the Democrats and Whigs 112
Free Soil party: Van Buren and Adams 113-114
Platform of the Free Soil party 114
Zachary Taylor elected President 118
Millard Fillmore elected Vice-President 118
1852
Situation as to slavery questions in 1849 119
California ; President Taylor's advice 120-122
The Compromise measures of 1850 122-130
Democratic party: Pierce and King 131
Platform of the Democrats 132
Comment on the platform 134
Whig party: Scott and Graham 135-136
Platform of the Whigs 136
Comment on the platform 138
Free Soil party: Hale and Julian 139
Platform of the Free Soil party 139
Franklin Pierce elected President 144
William R. King elected Vice-President 144
1856
The question of slavery in the Territories 145
Free and slave States in 1854 146-147
Proposed Territory of Platte, or Nebraska 148
Kansas-Nebraska: Missouri Compromise repeal 149
Political effects of the repeal 151-162
American party ( Know-Nothings ) 163
Fillmore and Donelson; Know-Nothing platform 164
Democratic party: Buchanan and Breckinridge 168-169
Platform of the Democrats 169
Republican party: organization; conventions of '56 176-178
Fremont and Dayton 178-179
Platform of the Republicans 179
Whig party endorses Fillmore; platform 182
The campaign 184-187
James Buchanan elected President 187
John C. Breckinridge elected Vice-President 187
PART III.
PARTIES FROM 1860 TO 1920
1860
Democrats at Charleston, Baltimore, and Richmond 189-196
Platform of the southern Democracy 191
Douglas and Johnson 193
Platform of the northern Democracy 194
Breckinridge and Lane 195, 196
Republican party: Lincoln and Hamlin 196-197
Platform of the Republicans 197
Constitutional Union party: Bell and Everett 200-201
Platform of the Constitutional Unionists 201
Abraham Lincoln elected President 202
Hannibal Hamlin elected Vice-President 202
1 864
Republican party: Lincoln and Johnson 203
Platform of the Republicans 204
Radical Republicans and their platform 206
Democratic party: McCIellan and Pentdleton 208
Platform of the Democrats 208
Abraham Lincoln reflected President 210
Andrew Johnson elected Vice-President 210
1868
Republican party: Grant and Colfax 211
Platform of the Republicans 211
Democratic party: Seymour and Blair 214-215
Platform of the Democrats 215
Ulysses S. Grant elected President 219
Schuyler Colfax elected Vice-President 219
1872
Republican party: Grant and Wilson 220
Platform of the Republicans 220
Liberal Republicans: Greeley and Brown 224
Platform of the Liberal Republicans 225
Democratic party: Greeley and Brown endorsed 225-226
Other parties 226
Ulysses S. Grant reflected President 226
Henry Wilson elected Vice-President 227
1876
Republican party: Hayes and Wheeler 229
Platform of the Republicans 229
Democratic party: Tilden and Hendricks 233-234
Platform of the Democrats 234
Minority resolution on specie payments 239
Other parties 239-240
The Electoral commission decides the contest 240
Rutherford B. Hayes President 240
William A. Wheeler Vice-President 240
1880
Republican party: Garfield and Arthur 241-242
Platform of the Republicans 242
Democratic party: Hancock and English 246-247
Platform of the Democrats 247
Other parties 249
James A. Garfield elected President 249
Chester A. Arthur elected Vice-President 249
1884
Republican party: Blaine and Logan 250-251
Platform of the Republicans 251
Democratic party: Cleveland and Hendricks 255-256
Platform of the Democrats 256
Other parties 263-264
Grover Cleveland elected President 264
Thomas A. Hendricks elected Vice-President 264
1888
Democratic party: Cleveland and Thurman 265
Platform of the Democrats 265
Republican party: Harrison and Morton 269-270
Platform of the Republicans 270
Other parties 276-277
Benjamin Harrison elected President 277
Levi P. Morton elected Vice-President 277
1892
Republican party: Harrison and Reid 278
Platform of the Republicans 278
Democratic party: Cleveland and Stevenson 282-283
Platform of the Democrats 283
The Democratic tariff plank 289-290
People's party (Populists) : Weaver and Field 290
Platform of the Populists 290
Other parties 295
Grover Cleveland elected President 295-296
Adlai E. Stevenson elected Vice-President 295-296
1896
Democratic party: Bryan and Sewall 297-298
Platform of the Democrats 298
David B. Hill's minority resolutions 303
Republican party: McKinley and Hobart 304-305
Platform of the Republicans 305
Senator Teller's minority resolution 310-311
Other parties 311
William McKinley elected President 312
Garrett A. Hobart elected Vice-President 313
1900
Republican party: McKinley and Roosevelt 314
Platform of the Republicans 314
Democratic party: Bryan and Stevenson 321
Platform of the Democrats 321
Other parties 328-329
William McKinley reflected President 329-330
Theodore Roosevelt elected Vice-President 329-330
1904
Republican party: Roosevelt and Fairbanks 331
Platform of the Republicans 331
Democratic party: Parker and Davis 338
Platform of the Democrats 338
Judge Parker's telegram 347
Other parties 348
Theodore Roosevelt elected President 349
Charles W. Fairbanks elected Vice-President 349
1908
Republican party: Taft and Sherman 350
Platform of the Republicans 350
Minority report of Henry Allen Cooper 362-363
Democratic party: resolution on the death of Cleveland 363-364
Bryan and Kern 363-364
Platform of the Democrats 364
Other parties 377
William H. Taft elected President 378
James S. Sherman elected Vice-President.... 378
1912
Republican party: the Taft-Roosevelt fight 379-380
Taft and Sherman renominated 380
Platform of the Republicans 380
Minority report 389
Democratic party: Champ Clark's defeat 390-392
Wilson and Marshall 391-392
Platform of the Democrats 392
Progressive party: Roosevelt and Johnson 405
Platform of the Progressives 405
Other parties 419-420
Woodrow Wilson elected President 420
Thomas R. Marshall elected Vice-President 420
1916
Democratic party: Wilson and Marshall 421
Platform of the Democrats 421
Minority resolution on Woman Suffrage 434
Republican party: Hughes and Fairbanks 434-436
Platform of the Republicans 436
Minority report 442-443
Other parties 443-444
Woodrow Wilson reelected President 444
Thomas R. Marshall reelected Vice-President 444
1920
Democratic party: Cox and Roosevelt 445-447
Platform of the Democrats 447
Minority resolutions 467-468
Republican party: Harding and Coolidge 468-469
Platform of the Republicans 469
Minority report 487-488
Prohibition party: nominations and platform 488
Farmer-Labor party: nominations and platform 492
Single Tax party: nominations and platform 500
Socialist party: nominations and platform 501
Declaration of Socialist Principles 507
Socialist Labor Party: nominations and platform 513
Warren G. Harding elected President 514
Calvin Coolidge elected Vice-President 514
INDEX . 515
PRESIDENTS
ILLUSTRATIONS
with
BIOGRAPHIES
NAME PAGE
John Adams 40
John Quincy Adams 104
Chester A. Arthur 328
James Buchanan 248
Grover Cleveland 344
Millard Fillmore 216
James. A. Garfield 312
Ulysses S. Grant 280
Warren G. Harding 440
Benjamin Harrison 360
William Henry Harrison 152
Rutherford B. Hayes 296
Andrew Jackson 120
Thomas Jefferson 56
Andrew Johnson 264
Abraham Lincoln Frontispiece
William McKinley 376
James Madison 72
James Monroe 88
Franklin Pierce 232
James K. Polk 184
Theodore Roosevelt 392
William H. Taft 408
Zachary Taylor 200
John Tyler 168
Martin Van Buren 136
George Washington 25
Woodrow Wilson.... 424
FOREWORD
In a republic the established principles and policies
of government are determined by the people. In the
United States, since 1832 when government by political
parties had become firmly established, such determina-
tions have been made upon issues presented to the
electors by two dominant political parties through
declarations of principles or platforms adopted and
promulgated by their chosen representatives acting at
conventions. The official records of these conventions
constitute the original sources of information relative to
the issues presented for determination.
In revising the matter contained in the preceding
volumes, it became necessary to examine the official
records of the National party conventions. To my
intense surprise I found that but one attempt had been
made to collect and preserve these records in permanent
published form. Of this collection, printed some thirty
years ago, but one copy appears to be extant and its
manifest inaccuracies rendered it useless. Consequently
I sought to procure, so far as possible, an official copy
of the original journal of each National convention
and to perpetuate an authentic record of each such
party platform. Through the aid of friends, this
result has been accomplished. With one exception,
each convention record contained in this volume has
been compared verbatim with the original certified by
the secretary of the body from which it emanated. In
this one case the text herein contained is taken from an
original copy published under the authority of the cen-
tral committee appointed by the convention. It and all
others may be regarded as authentic and official. Con-
cededly the National party platforms express in concise
form the consensus of divided public opinion upon the
important then pending governmental issues, formu-
lated by the ablest men and minds of the times, men
who have not written history but who have made
history. This collection of original National party
convention records is now the property of the Legisla-
tive Library of the State.
In this volume will also be found an accurate account
of the various fortunes of our political parties; a com-
plete record of the electoral vote cast by each state
at each presidential election; the popular vote cast
wherever authentic records of the same are available;
including a consecutive account of the various phases of
the slavery question, as evidenced by party deliverances
and acts, dating from the Missouri Compromise in
1820 to the adoption of the fifteenth amendment.
This is the only published work devoted to subjects
so vital to an intelligent understanding of our National
history. The privilege of preserving in authentic pub-
lished form the expressed principles of the controlling
political parties in the mighty conflicts waged for
supremacy in our country, destined to be the most
powerful governmental influence in the world, is to me
a reward commensurate with the stupendous amount of
labor involved.
R. B. S.
Inaccuracy of citation is one the chief vices of our political
discussions. You can hardly listen to a set speech, even from a
well-informed and truthful canvasser, which is not marred by
some misapprehension or unconscious misstatement. . .
Documents, heedlessly read and long since lost or mislaid,
are quoted from with fluency and confidence, as though
with indubitable accuracy, when the citations so made do
gross injustice to their authors, and tend to mislead the
hearer. . . . To verify and correct the citations of a
frothy declaimer is sometimes the easiest and most convincing
refutation of his speech. — Horace Greeley, Political Text-Book
for 1860.
PART I
EARLY PARTIES, 1789 TO 1828
IT was not until more than forty years after the
establishment of the constitutional government of
the United States that the convention system of
nominating Presidential and Vice-Presidential candi-
dates and declaring party principles was regularly in-
stituted. Under the Confederation — the loose union,
or rather association, of the original States which
preceded the adoption of the Constitution in 1788, —
there existed no basis for anything resembling formal
party organization and discipline so far as the country
at large was concerned. After the Federal government
came into being two national parties sprang up — the
Federalist, comprising those who favored the maximum
concentration of power in the central government and
generally conservative and aristocratic ideas advocated
by such statesmen as Alexander Hamilton, John Adams,
and John Jay; and the Democratic-Republican, or, as it
presently came to be known, Republican, consisting of
the supporters of "State rights" and positive democratic
principles and measures according to the doctrines of
Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Clinton.
These two original national parties throughout their
existence maintained themselves before the public by
the force of their dominating men, without ever resort-
17
18 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
ing to the instrumentality of a platform declarative of
fundamental tenets.
The Federalist party, at first in the ascendancy, soon
became decadent, and at the time of the close of the
second war with Great Britain (1815) was almost com-
pletely extinct as a national political factor. The
Republican party,1 succeeding to the control of the
government in 1801, from that time carried every
national election as long as it retained its original name
and unity; and after the disappearance of the Federalist
organization it continued without opposition, in the re-
spect of having any formally established competitor,
until its disruption during President John Quincy
Adams's administration (1825-29). A new creation
and division of parties then occurred, one of the result-
ing organizations assuming the name of Democratic
party, and its opponent taking the style of National
Republican party, later changed to Whig party. From
the Presidential campaign of 1832 dates the formula-
tion of specific party precepts and issues through the
medium of popular conventions.
The succeeding pages will embody a complete pre-
sentation of the national platform deliverances of the
IThis name was assumed by the Jeffersonians as the one that they con-
sidered most conveniently descriptive of their theory and program of govern-
ment. Their ideas being positively opposed to aristocratic tendencies of
government, they named themselves Republicans. Even in those times,
however, they were frequently called Democrats, and the two names became
generally interchangeable. Some writers prefer to substitute the name
Democratic for this early organization, in recognition of its historical identity
with the Democratic party as officially so styled in Jackson's day and as still
claiming the same lineal descent.
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 19
principal parties from the 1832 campaign to the pres-
ent time.
During the period antecedent to 1832 the positions
of parties, although not expressed in platforms, were
nevertheless well defined in the respects of fundamental
ideas of government and public policy, characteristic
leadership, and cohesion or the lack of it under such
management as was improvised in their behalf. A
review of this period is indispensable to the histori-
cal fullness of our records of party action.
The first three Presidential elections not only were
unattended by political declarations, but were devoid
even of any ceremony of party stipulation to members
of the Electoral College as to the candidates to be voted
for. The general agreement of the political leaders
was considered a sufficient basis of choice. At these
first three elections (as also at the fourth) the Presi-
dent and Vice-President were chosen by the Electoral
College under Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution,
which directed each Elector to vote for two persons, the
one receiving the highest number of votes to be Presi-
dent and the one receiving the next number to be Vice-
President. The first two elections (17891 and 1792)
resulted in the choice of George Washington as Presi-
dent without competition. It is from the second-choice
votes that the political preferences of the people on
those occasions are to be deduced.
!The first Presidential Electors were chosen by the States on the first
Wednesday in January, 1789, and the Electors cast their votes on the first
Wednesday in February. New York, Rhode Island, and North Carolina
did not vote.
20 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
1789
In 1789, 69 second-choice Electoral votes were cast,
of which John Adams, Federalist, received 34, the
remainder being divided among ten other persons. At
that time there was no division on political party lines.
The responsible founders of the government called
themselves "Federalists," because they represented the
dominant forces in the Constitutional convention.
Those not affiliated with them were generally known as
"Anti-Federalists"; the Democratic- Republican party
of opposition to the Federalists did not begin its career
until 1791. The scattering votes for Vice-President in
1789 were expressive of local preferences in the States.
But the consolidation upon Adams of a sufficient num-
ber to give him a long lead over any competitor indi-
cated a decided sentiment in favor of organizing the
government in conformity to Federalist ideas. This
sentiment was also manifest from the political composi-
tion of the first Congress : Senate — Administration, 17;
Opposition, 9; House — Administration, 38; Opposi-
tion, 26.
1792
In 1792, both the Federalist and Republican parties
having become established, a general agreement of the
leaders of each on the question of the Vice-Presidency
was arrived at, to which the Electors conformed with
but few exceptions. John Adams received the entire
Federalist vote, 77, and was elected. The rising power
of the Republicans was shown by their vote of 50 for
George Clinton, with, in addition, 4 for Thomas Jeffer-
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 21
son and 1 for Aaron Burr. This election proved, how-
ever, the only instance of popular acceptance of the
amiable plan of "general agreement" in the matter of
party selections. A convincing demonstration of its
futility was afforded in the contest of 1796.
1796
During that year President Washington informed
the country of his decision not to accept a third term;
but the announcement came late (it was made in his
Farewell Address, dated September 17), and, as the
system of national nominations, even by caucus, had
not yet been devised, the Electors acted without any
more binding obligations than those that they felt
were owing to the prevailing sentiment in their several
States and to the particular dominating leaders whom
they severally favored. It was well understood that
the Federalists in general desired the election of John
Adams as President and Thomas Pinckney as Vice-
President; and that the majority of the Republicans
favored Thomas Jefferson for the Presidency and
Aaron Burr for the Vice-Presidency. Under the con-
stitutional plan for double votes by the Electors, how-
ever, the balloting took a wide range, with the result
that Adams stood first, with 71 votes, and Jefferson
second, with 68, and were elected, respectively, Presi-
dent and Vice-President. It is interesting to note the
remaining votes, all of which counted as choices for
President in the first instance and then for Vice-Presi-
dent. They were : — Thomas Pinckney, of South Caro-
lina, 59 ; Aaron Burr, of New York, 30 ; Samuel Adams,
22 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1796-8
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
of Massachusetts, 15 ; Oliver Ellsworth, of Connecticut,
1 1 ; George Clinton, of New York, 7 ; John Jay, of New
York, 5; James Iredell, of North Carolina, 3; George
Washington, 2; John Henry, of Maryland, 2; Samuel
Johnston, of North Carolina, 2; Charles C. Pinckney,
of South Carolina, 1. This extraordinarily mixed out-
come, satisfactory to neither party and presaging mis-
adventure for all future political calculations unless
steps to prescribe and assure party regularity should be
taken, led to the invention of the first nominating sys-
tem for President and Vice-President — that by Con-
gressional caucus.
Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798-99
After the advent of the Republican party in 1791,
that organization at once developed formidable
strength. It controlled the House of Representatives in
the Third Congress (1793-95), and lacked only two
votes of a majority in the next-elected House ( 1795-97) .
But throughout John Adams's administration (1797-
1801 ) the Federalists enjoyed full power in all branches
of the government, which they exercised with the great-
est positiveness in the partisan respect; it became a com-
mon saying of their opponents that they were "drunk
with power." The outstanding result was the enact-
ment of the famous Alien and Sedition laws (1798).
In view of those measures and of the general Federalist
policy favoring a strongly centralized government, the
leaders of the Republicans decided on declarations af-
firmative of the reserved rights of the States under the
Constitution as interpreted by them.
1798] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 23
Jefferson and Madison accordingly prepared drafts
of resolutions which, respectively, were submitted to
the Kentucky and Virginia Legislatures.
Jefferson's resolutions were changed in certain re-
spects by the Kentucky Legislature and then adopted
(November, 1798). As altered they were :
"1. Resolved, That the several States composing the United
States of America are not united on the principle of unlimited sub-
mission to their general government, but that by compact under the
style and title of a Constitution for the United States, and of amend-
ments thereto, they constituted a general government for special pur-
poses, delegated to that government certain definite powers, reserving,
each State to itself, the residuary mass of right to their own self-gov-
ernment; and that whensoever the general government assumes un-
delegated powers its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force;
That to this compact each State acceded as a State and is an integral
party, its co-States forming, as to itself, the other party; That the
government created by this compact was not made the exclusive or
final judge of the extent of the powers delegated to itself, since that
would have made its discretion, and not the Constitution, the measure
of its powers, — but That, as in all other cases of compact among
parties having no common judge, each party has an equal right to
judge for itself as well of infractions as of the mode and measure of
redress.
"2. Resolved, That the Constitution of the United States having
delegated to Congress a power to punish treason, counterfeiting the
securities and current coin of the United States, piracies and felonies
committed on the high seas, and offenses against the laws of nations,
and no other crimes whatever, and it being true as a general principle,
and one of the amendments to the Constitution having also declared,
that 'the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the United States, are reserved to the States
respectively, or to the people,' — therefore, also, the same act of Con-
gress passed on the 14th day of July, 1798, and entitled 'An act in
addition to the act entitled an act for the punishment of certain crimes
24 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1798
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
against the United States,' as also the act passed by them on the 27th
day of June, 1798, entitled 'An act to punish frauds committed on the
Bank of the United States' (and all other their acts which assume to
create, define, or punish crimes other than those enumerated in the
Constitution), are altogether void and of no force, and that the power
to create, define, and punish such other crimes is reserved and of right
appertains solely and exclusively to the respective States, each within
its own territory.
"3. Resolved, That it is true as a general principle, and is also
expressly declared by one of the amendments to the Constitution, that
'the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respect-
ively, or to the people,' and that no power over the freedom of religion,
freedom of speech, or freedom of the press being delegated to the
United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States,
all lawf\il powers respecting the same did of right remain and were
reserved to the States or to the people ; that thus was manifested their
determination to retain to themselves the right of judging how far the
licentiousness of speech and of the press may be abridged without
lessening their useful freedom, and how far those abuses which cannot
be separated from their use should be tolerated rather than the use be
destroyed, and thus also they guarded against all abridgement by the
United States of the freedom of religious principles and exercises and
retained to themselves the right of protecting the same, as this State,
by a law passed on the general demand of its citizens, had already
protected them from all human restraint or interference; and that,
in addition to this general principle and express declaration, another
and more special provision has been made by one of the amendments
to the Constitution which expressly declares that 'Congress shall make
no laws respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press,'
thereby guarding in the same sentence, and under the same words, the
freedom of religion, of speech, and of the press, insomuch that what-
ever violates either throws down the sanctuary which covers the others,
and that libels, falsehoods, and defamation, equally with heresy and
false religion, are withheld from the cognizance of Federal tribunals ;
GEORGE WASHINGTON
George Washington, 1st president; born at Bridges Creek,
Westmoreland county, Va., Feb. 22, 1732; engineer and sur-
veyor; aide de camp to Col. Braddock, 1755; commander-in-
chief of colonial forces, 1755-58; delegate to first and second
continental congresses, 1774-1775; unanimously chosen com-
mander-in-chief of forces raised and to be raised June 15, 1775;
commanded the armies throughout the war for independence;
resigned commission December 3, 1783; unanimously elected
first president of the United States and inaugurated April 3,
1789, in New York City; unanimously elected for second term;
declined reelection and retired March 5, 1797; appointed lieu-
tenant general and commander-in-chief of U. S. army and
served until his death, which occurred at Mt. Vernon, Va., De-
cember 14, 1799.
1798] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 25
— That, therefore, the act of the Congress of the United States passed
on the 14th day of July, 1798, entitled 'An act in addition to the act
entitled an act for the punishment of certain crimes against the
United States,' which does abridge the freedom of the press, is not
law, but is altogether void and of no effect.
"4. Resolved, That alien friends are under the jurisdiction and
protection of the laws of the State wherein they are; That no power
over them has been delegated to the United States nor prohibited to
the individual States distinct from their power over citizens; and it
being true as a general principle, and one of the amendments to the
Constitution having also declared, that 'the powers not delegated to
the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited to the States,
are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people,' — the act of
the Congress of the United States passed the 22d day of June, 1798,
entitled 'An act concerning aliens,' which assumes power over alien
friends not delegated by the Constitution, is not law, but is altogether
void and of no force.
"5. Resolved, That, in addition to the general principle, as well
as the express declaration, that powers not delegated are reserved,
another and more special provision inserted in the Constitution from
abundant caution has declared 'that the migration or importation of
such persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to
admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year 1808' ;
that this Commonwealth does admit the migration of alien friends
described as the subject of the said act concerning aliens, — That a
provision against prohibiting their migration is a provision against all
acts equivalent thereto, or it would be nugatory; That to remove
them when migrated is equivalent to a prohibition of their migration,
and is, therefore, contrary to the said provision of the Constitution,
and void.
"6. Resolved, That the imprisonment of a person under the pro-
tection of the laws of this Commonwealth on his failure to obey the
simple order of the President to depart out of the United States, as
is undertaken by the said act entitled 'An act concerning aliens,' is
contrary to the Constitution, one amendment to which has provided
that 'no person shall be deprived of liberty without due process of
26 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1798
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
law' ; and that another having provided 'that in all criminal prosecu-
tions the accused shall enjoy the right to a public trial by an impartial
jury, to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be
confronted with the witnesses against him, to have compulsory process
for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have assistance of counsel
for his defense', — the same act undertaking to authorize the President
to remove a person out of the United States who is under the protec-
tion of the law, on his own suspicion, without accusation, without jury,
without public trial, without confrontation of the witnesses against
him, without having witnesses in his favor, without defense, without
counsel, is contrary to these provisions also of the Constitution, is
therefore not law, but utterly void and of no force.
"That transferring the power of judging any person who is undei
the protection of the laws from the courts to the President of the
United States, as is undertaken by the same act concerning aliens, is
against the article of the Constitution which provides that 'the judicial
power of the United States shall be vested in courts the Judges of
which shall hold their office during good behavior,' and that the said
act is void for that reason also; and it is further to be noted that this
transfer of judiciary power is to that magistrate of the general govern-
ment who already possesses all the executive, and qualified negative in
all the legislative powers.
"7. Resolved, That the construction applied by the general gov-
ernment (as is evidenced by sundry of their proceedings) to those
parts of the Constitution of the United States which delegate to Con-
gress a power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imports, and excises to
pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare
of the United States, and to make all laws which shall be necessary
and proper for carrying into execution the powers vested by the Con-
stitution in the government of the United States, or any department
thereof, goes to the destruction of all the limits prescribed to their
power by the Constitution ; That words meant by that instrument to
be subsidiary only to the execution of the limited powers ought not to
be so construed as themselves to give unlimited powers, nor a part so
to be taken as to destroy the whole residue of the instrument; That
the proceedings of the general government under color of those articles
1798] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 27
will be a fit and necessary subject for revisal and correction at a time
of greater tranquillity, while those specified in the preceding resolu-
tions call for immediate redress.
"8. Resolved, That the preceding resolutions be transmitted to
the Senators and Representatives in Congress from this Common-
wealth, who are enjoined to present the same to their respective houses
and to use their best endeavors to procure, at the next session of Con-
gress, a repeal of the aforesaid unconstitutional and obnoxious acts.
"9. Resolved, lastly, That the Governor of this Commonwealth be
and is hereby authorized and requested to communicate the preceding
resolutions to the Legislatures of the several States, to assure them
that this Commonwealth considers Union for special national pur-
poses, and particularly for those specified in their late Federal com-
pact, to be friendly to the peace, happiness, and prosperity of all the
States; That, faithful to that compact, according to the plain intent
and meaning in which it was understood and acceded to by the several
parties, it is sincerely anxious for its preservation ; That it does also
believe that to take from the States all the powers of self-government
and transfer them to a general and consolidated government, without
regard to the special delegations and reservations solemnly agreed to
in that compact, is not for the peace, happiness, or prosperity of these
States; and That, therefore, this Commonwealth is determined, as it
doubts not its co-States are, tamely to submit to undelegated and con-
sequently unlimited powers in no man or body of men on earth ; That
if the acts before specified should stand, these conclusions would flow
from them: — that the general government may place any act they
think proper on the list of crimes and punish it themselves, whether
enumerated or not enumerated by the Constitution as cognizable by
them; that they may transfer its cognizance to the President or any
other person, who may himself be the accuser, counsel, judge, and
jury, whose suspicions may be the evidence, his order the sentence, his
officer the executioner, and his breast the sole record of the transac-
tion ; that a very numerous and valuable description of the inhabitants
of these States being by this precedent reduced as outlaws to the abso-
lute dominion of one man, and the barrier of the Constitution thus
swept from us all, no rampart now remains against the passions and
28 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1798
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
the power of a majority of Congress to protect from a like exporta-
tion or other grievous punishment the minority of the same body, the
Legislatures, Judges, Governors, and counsellors of the States, nor
their other peaceable inhabitants who may venture to reclaim the con-
stitutional rights and liberties of the States and people, or who, for
other causes, good or bad, may be obnoxious to the view or marked by
the suspicions of the President, or be thought dangerous to his or their
elections or other interests, public or personal ; that the friendless alien
has been selected as the safest subject of a first experiment, but the
citizen will soon follow, or rather has already followed, for already
has a sedition act marked him as a prey.
"That these and successive acts of the same character, unless
arrested on the threshold, may tend to drive these States into revolu-
tion and blood, and will furnish new calumnies against republican
governments and new pretexts for those who wish it to be believed
that man cannot be governed but by a rod of iron ; That it would be
a dangerous delusion were a confidence in the men of our choice to
silence our fears for the safety of our rights; That confidence is ev-
erywhere the parent of despotism; free government is found in jeal-
ousy, and not in confidence; it is jealousy and not confidence which
prescribes limited constitutions to bind down those whom we are
obliged to trust with power; That our Constitution has accordingly
fixed the limits to which, and no farther, our confidence may go; and
let the honest advocate of confidence read the Alien and Sedition acts,
and say if the Constitution has not been wise in fixing limits to the
government it created, and whether we should be wise in destroying
those limits ; let him say what the government is if it be not a tyranny,
which the men of our choice have conferred on the President, and the
President of our choice has assented to and accepted over the friendly
strangers to whom the mild spirit of our country and its laws had
pledged hospitality and protection ; That the men of our choice have
more respected the bare suspicions of the President than the solid
rights of innocence, the claims of justification, the sacred force of
truth, and the forms and substance of laws and justice. In questions
of power, let no more be said of confidence in man, but bind him down
from mischief by the chain of the Constitution.
1798] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 29
"That this Commonwealth does therefore call on its co-States for
an expression of their sentiments on the acts concerning aliens and for
the punishment of certain crimes hereinbefore specified, plainly declar-
ing whether these acts are or are not authorized by the Federal com-
pact. And it doubts not that their sense will be so announced as to
prove their attachment to limited government, whether general or
particular, and that the rights and liberties of their co-States will be
exposed to no dangers by remaining embarked on a common bottom
with their own; that they will concur with this Commonwealth in
considering the said acts as so palpably against the Constitution as to
amount to an undisguised declaration that the compact is not meant
to be the measure of the powers of the general government, but that
it will proceed in the exercise over these States of all powers whatso-
ever; that they will view this as seizing the rights of the States and
consolidating them in the hands of the general government, with a
power assumed to bind the States (not merely in cases made Federal
but in all cases whatsoever) by laws made not with their consent but
by others against their consent; that this would be to surrender the
form of government we have chosen, and live under one deriving its
powers from its own will, and not from our authority; and that the
co-States, recurring to their natural right in cases not made Federal,
will concur in declaring these void and of no force, and will each unite
with this Commonwealth in requesting their repeal at the next session
of Congress."
The resolutions drawn by Madison were adopted by
the Virginia Legislature in December, 1798. They
were:
"Resolved, That the General Assembly of Virginia doth unequivo-
cally express a firm resolution to maintain and defend the Constitution
of the United States, and the Constitution of this State, against every
aggression either foreign or domestic; and that they will support the
government of the United States in all measures warranted by the
former.
"That this Assembly most solemnly declares a warm attachment
to the Union of the States, to maintain which it pledges its powers;
30 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1798
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
and that for this end it is their duty to watch over and oppose every
infraction of those principles which constitute the only basis of that
Union because a faithful observance of them can alone secure its
existence and the public happiness.
"That this Assembly doth explicitly and peremptorily declare that
it views the power of the Federal government as resulting from the
compact to which the States are parties, as limited by the plain sense
and intention of the instrument constituting that compact as no
farther valid than they are authorized by the grants enumerated in
that compact ; and that in case of a deliberate, palpable, and dangerous
exercise of other powers, not granted by the said compact, the States,
who are parties thereto, have the right, and are in duty bound, to
interpose for arresting the progress of the evil and for maintaining
within their respective limits the authorities, rights, and liberties apper-
taining to them.
"That the General Assembly doth also express its deep regret that a
spirit has, in sundry instances, been manifested by the Federal govern-
ment to enlarge its powers by forced constructions of the constitutional
charter which defines them; and that indications have appeared of a
design to expound certain general phrases (which, having been copied
from the very limited grant of powers in the former Articles of Con-
federation, were the less liable to be misconstrued) so as to destroy
the meaning and effect of the particular enumeration which necessarily
explains and limits the general phrases, and so as to consolidate the
State by degrees into one Sovereignty the obvious tendency and in-
evitable consequences of which would be to transform the present re-
publican system of the United States into an absolute, or, at best, a
mixed monarchy.
"That the General Assembly doth particularly protest against the
palpable and alarming infractions of the Constitution in the two late
cases of the 'Alien and Sedition acts,' passed at the last session of
Congress; the first of which exercises a power nowhere delegated to
the Federal government, and which, by uniting legislative and judicial
powers to those of executive, subverts the general principles of free
government, as well as the particular organization and positive pro-
visions of the Federal Constitution ; and the other of which acts exer-
1798] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 31
cises, in like manner, a power not delegated by the Constitution, but,
on the contrary, expressly and positively forbidden by one of the
amendments thereto — a power which, more than any other, ought to
produce universal alarm, because it is levelled against the right of
freely examining public characters and measures, and of free com-
munication among the people thereon, which has ever been justly
deemed the only effectual guardian of every other right.
"That this State having by its Convention which ratified the
Federal Constitution expressly declared that, among other essential
rights, the 'liberty of conscience and the press cannot be cancelled,
abridged, restrained, or modified by any authority of the United
States,' and from its extreme anxiety to guard these rights from
every possible attack of sophistry and ambition having, with other
States, recommended an amendment for that purpose, which amend-
ment was in due time annexed to the Constitution, — it would mark
a reproachful inconsistency and criminal degeneracy if an indif-
ference were now shown to the palpable violations of one of the
rights thus declared and secured, and to the establishment of a prece-
dent which may be fatal to the other.
"That the good people of this Commonwealth having ever felt,
and continuing to feel, the most sincere affection for their brethren
of the other States, the truest anxiety for establishing and perpetuat-
ing the union of all, and the most scrupulous fidelity to that Con-
stitution which is the pledge of mutual friendship and the instru-
ment of mutual happiness, the General Assembly doth solemnly
appeal to the like dispositions in the other States, in confidence that
they will concur with this Commonwealth in declaring, as it does
hereby declare, that the acts aforesaid are unconstitutional ; and
that the necessary and proper measures will be taken by each for
cooperating with this State in maintaining unimpaired the authori-
ties, rights, and liberties reserved to the States respectively, or to
the people.
"That the Governor be desired to transmit a copy of the fore-
going resolutions to the Executive authority of each of the other
States, with a request that the same may be communicated to the
Legislature thereof; and that a copy be furnished to each of the
32 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1799
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Senators and Representatives representing this State in the Congress
of the United States."
Vigorous protests against the doctrines promulgated
in the two sets of resolutions were made by several State
legislative bodies — the counter-doctrine of national
authority as superior to all State supervisory preten-
sions being strenuously maintained. The main objec-
tions urged in these various State protests were suc-
cinctly expressed as follows by the New York Senate in
the course of a brief response: "The Senate, not per-
ceiving that the rights of the particular States have been
violated nor any unconstitutional powers assumed by
the general government, cannot forbear to express the
anxiety and regret with which they observed the inflam-
matory and pernicious sentiments and doctrines which
are contained in the resolutions of the Legislatures of
Virginia and Kentucky — sentiments and doctrines no
less repugnant to the Constitution of the United States
and the principles of their Union than destructive to the
Federal government and unjust to those whom the peo-
ple have elected to administer it."
In reply to the protests the Kentucky Legislature
adopted (November, 1799) the following:
"Resolved, That this Commonwealth considers the Federal Union,
upon the terms and for the purposes specified in the late compact,
conducive to the liberty and happiness of the several States; That
it does now unequivocally declare its attachment to the Union, and
to that compact agreeably to its obvious and real intention, and will
be among the last to seek its dissolution ; That if those who adminis-
ter the general government be permitted to transgress the limits fixed
by that compact by a total disregard to the special delegations of
power therein contained, an annihilation of the State governments
1799] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 33
and the creation upon their ruins of a general consolidated govern-
ment will be the inevitable consequence ; That the principle and con-
struction contended for by sundry of the State Legislatures, that the
general government is the exclusive judge of the extent of the powers
delegated to it, stop nothing short of despotism — since the discretion
of those who administer the government, and not the Constitution,
would be the measure of their powers; That the several States who
formed that instrument being sovereign and independent, have the
unquestionable right to judge of the infractions; and That a nullifica-
tion by those sovereignties of all unauthorized acts done under color
of that instrument is the rightful remedy.
"That this Commonwealth does, under the most deliberate recon-
sideration, declare that the said Alien and Sedition laws are, in their
opinion, palpable violations of the said Constitution ; and, however
cheerfully it may be disposed to surrender its opinion to a majority
of its sister States in matters of ordinary or doubtful policy, yet in
so momentous regulations like the present, which so vitally wound
the best rights of the citizen, it would consider a silent acquiescence
as highly criminal ; That although this Commonwealth, as a party
to the Federal compact, will bow to the laws of the Union, yet it
does at the same time declare that it will not now, or ever hereafter,
cease to oppose in a constitutional manner every attempt, at what
quarter so ever offered, to violate that compact.
"And finally, in order that no pretext or arguments may be drawn
from a supposed acquiescence, on the part of this Commonwealth, in
the constitutionality of those laws, and be thereby used as precedents
for similar future violations of the Federal compact, this Common-
wealth does now enter against them its solemn protest."
An elaborate and very able "report," written by
Madison, in final explication and assertion of the prin-
ciples set forth in the resolutions, was adopted by the
Virginia Legislature in 1800.
The Kentucky and Virginia resolutions became the
basic and permanent creed of the States rights advo-
cates. Their authority and arguments were naturally
34 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL U800
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
invoked by disunionist theorists and schemers; but on
the other hand it is indisputable that by far the greater
number of those attached to their principles, both when
the resolutions were issued and in subsequent genera-
tions, regarded them only as enunciatory of rights which
ought to be preserved to the States in full vigor, and as
in no way raising a question prejudicial to the Union's
integrity. It should be remembered, moreover, that at
the period of the adoption of the resolutions much un-
certainty was felt as to the development ultimately to
be taken by the national political system, that the great
work of the Supreme Court in construing the Constitu-
tion had not been begun, and that it was habitual with
the men of both parties to put forth decidedly aggres-
sive deliverances and devote considerable zeal to their
composition. An eminent authority says: "The inter-
pretation of these documents is not an easy matter, but
a careful study of their provisions, in the light of the
political thinking of the Eighteenth century and of the
circumstances under which they were produced, will
indicate that they were not intended to announce the
doctrine of State Sovereignty in the sense in which those
words were commonly used from the time of Calhoun
onward."1
1800
The first assemblage to make national nominations
was a conference held by the Federalist Senators and
Representatives in Congress early in the year 1800, John
JAndrew C. McLaughlin, Cyclopedia of American Government, article on
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions.
1800] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 35
Adams being named for President and Charles C.
Pinckney for Vice-President. A few weeks later the
Republicans put in nomination, by Congressional
caucus, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr as their
Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates. Both
meetings were secret, but their decisions were immedi-
ately and completely accepted as authoritative by party
followers throughout the nation. Thus the new device
of party initiative, action, and rule by a body of leaders
possessing recognized dignity and competence for the
responsibility involved, had an auspicious beginning.
It moreover operated with automatic perfection in its
control of the men chosen to the Electoral College and
therefore charged with the function of throwing the
determining votes for President and Vice-President.
The Jefferson and Burr ticket received the support of
73 Electors, every one of whom, casting a dual vote as
ordered by the Constitution, gave one choice for Jeffer-
son and one for Burr in conformity to the dictation
of the party caucus. Adams and Pinckney secured
65 Electors, who also (with the exception of a single
recalcitrant favoring Adams for first choice but Jay
instead of Pinckney for second), faithfully obeyed the
party behest in their voting. The total vote, counted
first for President, showed a tie between Jefferson and
Burr, and the contest was thereupon transferred to the
House of Representatives, which, after protracted
balloting, chose Jefferson President and Burr Vice-
President. In addition to controlling the executive
branch of the government, the Republicans for the first
time obtained mastery of both houses of Congress. The
36 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1800
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
election of 1800 is famous for its anomalous result of
a tie on the highest number of Electoral votes between
two men of the same political faith nominated by the
same organized body, and also for its complete and
lasting reversal of the original party basis of the govern-
ment. Not less famous is it for the introduction of
the powerful machinery of the caucus to decide
national party action and enforce regularity.
The high tide of Burr's fortunes was reached when,
by the accident of an equal vote with Jefferson in the
Electoral College, he stood before the House of Repre-
sentatives as a hopeful contestant for the Presidency.
His position, however, was purely technical, with no
other merit to sustain it than the mathematical fact of
the tie. Everybody knew that it was the intention of
the Electors to award the office to Jefferson. But
under the system of procedure in the House which the
Constitution prescribed for such an emergency — the
balloting to be by States, each State to have one vote,
and the votes to be restricted to the two leading candi-
dates,— a wide latitude was afforded for those machina-
tions of which Burr was so consummate a master. The
House, still retaining its preelection status, had a pre-
ponderance of Federalists, who, permitted full liberty
of choice as between the tied Republican aspirants,
were yet barred from voting for their own candidate,
Adams; and moreover some of the Republicans were
not disinclined to promote the ambition of Burr.
There were at that time sixteen States, and the votes
of a majority, nine, were necessary for an election.
On the first ballot eight States voted for Jefferson, six
1800] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 37
for Burr, and two were divided. By every contriving
art the Burr forces strove to win in the struggle that
followed, but all they could accomplish was to main-
tain a balance until the thirty-sixth ballot, when ten
States rallied to Jefferson and he was elected.
Burr's part in this contest incensed the great majority
of the leading men of his party; and the course of
his Federalist abettors, so disregardful of the manifest
preference of the country as registered at the election,
contributed to the rapid decline of their political
organization. The net result was the solidification of
the dominant party, and its support by the people, to
a degree never since paralleled. Jefferson became
supreme, and thus was marked the beginning of that
"Virginia dynasty" which for the next twenty-four
years absolutely ruled the nation. It was a one-party
rule, disputed nationally only by the slight competi-
tion of the surviving Federalists, though involving
much factionalism among the Republicans, especially
in the States. Burr was unceremoniously cast out from
the Jeffersonian fold; and so doleful was his political
lot that, upon seeking a Republican nomination for the
Governorship of New York when his Vice-Presidential
term was drawing to a close (1804), he was summarily
refused and was constrained to make the race on a ticket
mainly supported by his old enemies, the Federalists,
whose action, however, denounced and derided by their
great leader, Alexander Hamilton, did not avail to
secure him the election.
The authority of the Congressional caucus, which
showed itself so complete at its first application, con-
38 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1804
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
tinued all-powerful until the divisions in the Republi-
can organization resulting from personal rivalries in
the Presidential contest of 1824 and after, led to the
exercise of more popular methods of party direction
and expression. To prevent any possible recurrence of
the embarrassing situation of 1800 in the matter of elect-
ing the President, the Twelfth amendment to the
Constitution was adopted (1804), providing for sepa-
rate votes on President and Vice-President in the
Electoral College. Thus the execution by the Electors
of the previously declared party will was assured, sub-
ject only to chances of sporadic dissidence not to be
foreseen but, it was believed, hardly to be apprehended
in view of the expected indisputable sway of the
caucus.1
1804
Again in 1804 the caucus functioned without the
least accident or incident occurring to mar its
supremacy. On February 25 the Republican Senators
and Representatives met and unanimously renominated
Jefferson for President, with George Clinton (also
iHistorically considered, the origin of the Congressional caucus is unques-
tionably to be assigned to the year 1800. In intention, however, the meetings
of the Congressional leaders of the two parties in that year were rather
spontaneous initial experiments to institute homogeneous political action, than
caucuses in the official sense. As the new plan was found to work, it was
promptly adopted by the Republicans and became their official mode of pre-
paring for Presidential contests. But the Federalist party, lapsing into a
hopeless minority, had less occasion for erecting an organic body to pass
upon the claims of rival candidates; and its nominees subsequently to 1800
were therefore chosen by processes of agreement which proved satisfactory to
its leaders without imitating the caucus formalities of the Republicans.
1804-8] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 39
unanimously selected) for Vice-President. The Fed-
eralists, by agreement but without holding a Congres-
sional caucus, chose as their candidates Charles C.
Pinckney, of South Carolina, and Rufus King, of New
York. Jefferson and Clinton were successful, each
receiving 162 Electoral votes against 14 for their
opponents.
1808
As Jefferson's second term approached its comple-
tion, the question of selecting his successor was gener-
ally felt by the Republicans to be dependent upon the
preference of Virginia. The Legislature of that State
was expected to signify its choice between James Madi-
son and James Monroe, but was unwilling to assume
so delicate a responsibility and left the decision to the
Congressional caucus. A marked sentiment favorable
to George Clinton (at that time serving his first term
as Vice-President) prevailed in New York, but the
nomination of a Virginian was soon seen to be a fore-
gone conclusion. The caucus, on January 23, 1808,
named Madison for first place and Clinton for second,
each by a very large majority of the members present.
We have been unable to find any record of formal
proceedings by the Federalists in designating their
candidates, who, as in 1804, were Pinckney and King;
apparently they adhered to their previous method of
agreement without caucus intervention. The Electoral
vote was as follows: President:' — Madison, 122;
Pinckney, 47; Clinton, 6. Vice-President: — Clinton,
113; King, 47; John Langdon, of New Hampshire, 9;
40 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1808-12
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Madison, 3 ; Monroe, 3. Several of the Republican
Electors voted contrary to the direction of the caucus,
a course which they probably would not have taken
if the result had been close.
1812
At the Presidential election of 1812 a very curious
situation arose, showing the potentialities of independ-
ent political enterprise and symptomatic of that ulti-
mate dispersion of party followers into conflicting
groups under the stress of opposed personal ambitions
which came to pass twelve years later. The great and
powerful Clintonian element of the Republicans in the
State of New York, led by Vice-President George
Clinton and his able and imperious nephew, DeWitt
Clinton, had urged the nomination of George Clinton
instead of Madison to succeed Jefferson in 1808, and
had since been preparing to dispute the renomination
of Madison in 1812 — a design which seemed to hold
forth reasonable prospects of success on account of the
rather general lack throughout the country of anything
more than a perfunctory sentiment for Madison.
George Clinton had become of venerable age, and died
before the assembling of the Congressional caucus in
the latter year. In the plans of the anti-Madisonians to
enter the contest for the Presidency, DeWitt Clinton
had already been decided on as their candidate. But
owing to the emergency of the impending war with
Great Britain the movement, so far as the Republican
organization officially was concerned, gained no head-
way outside of New York; and when the caucus met,
JOHN ADAMS
John Adams, 2d president; born at Baintree, Mass., October
30, 1735; lawyer; elected to represent Boston in the general
court in 1768; signed the Declaration of Independence and pro-
posed George Washington of Virginia for general of American
army; commissioner with Franklin to the court of France;
later minister plenipotentiary to Holland; was the first accred-
ited minister to England, 1785-88; served as vice president of
the United States, 1789-97, with Washington as president;
elected president and served 1797-1801; died at Quincy, Mass.,
July 4, 1826.
1812] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 41
on May 12, Madison was unanimously renominated—
John Langdon, of New Hampshire, receiving a
majority of the votes for Vice-President. Langdon
declined, and at a later caucus Elbridge Gerry, of
Massachusetts, was selected in his stead. Clinton,
moved by ambition and encouraged by the ardor of
his supporters, resolved to take the field independently,
reckoning upon the favor of a large section of the
Republicans and the assured endorsement of the Feder-
alists, who, having no chance for a candidate of their
own, were delighted to facilitate the division in the
ranks of their detested enemies. A majority of the
Republican members of the New York Legislature
formally nominated Clinton for President on May 29;
and he was accepted as the choice of the Federalist
party at a convention of its leading members from
various States held in New York City in September.
His associate on the ticket was Jared Ingersoll, of
Pennsylvania. This Federalist venture is of historic
interest as the first national party experiment in the
direction of more popular nominating methods. The
convention adopted the celebrated "Clintonian Plat-
form," as follows:
"1. Opposition to nominations of Chief-Magistrates by Congres-
sional caucuses, as well because such practices are the exercise of
undelegated authority as of their repugnance to the freedom of elec-
tions.
"2. Opposition to all customs and usages in both the executive
and legislative departments which have for their object the main-
tenance of an official regency to prescribe tenets of political faith, the
line of conduct to be deemed fidelity or recreancy to republican prin-
42 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1812
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
ciples, and to perpetuate in themselves or families the offices of the
Federal government.
"3. Opposition to all efforts on the part of particular States to
monopolize the principal offices of the government, as well because of
their certainty to destroy the harmony which ought to prevail amongst
all the constituent parts of the Union, as of their leanings toward a
form of oligarchy entirely at variance with the theory of republican
government; and consequently, particular opposition to continuing a
citizen of Virginia in the Executive office another term unless she can
show that she enjoys a corresponding monopoly of talents and patriot-
ism, after she has been honored with the Presidency for twenty out
of the twenty-four years of our constitutional existence, and when it
is obvious that the practice has arrayed the agricultural against the
commercial interests of the country.
"4. Opposition to continuing public men for long periods in
offices of delicate trust and weighty responsibility as the reward of
public services, to the detriment of all or any particular interest in,
or section of, the country; and consequently to the continuance of Mr.
Madison in an office which, in view of our pending difficulties with
Great Britain, requires an incumbent of greater decision, energy, and
efficiency.
"5. Opposition to the lingering inadequacy of preparations for
the war with Great Britain now about to ensue, and to the measure
which allows uninterrupted trade with Spain and Portugal, which, as
it cannot be carried on under our flag, gives to Great Britain the
means of supplying her armies with provisions of which they would
otherwise be destitute, and thus affording aid and comfort to our
enemy.
"6. Averment of the existing necessity for placing the country in
a condition for aggressive action for the conquest of the British Ameri-
can provinces and for the defense of our coasts and exposed frontiers;
and of the propriety of such a levy of taxes as will raise the necessary
funds for the emergency.
"7. Advocacy of the election of DeWitt Clinton as the surest
method of relieving the country from all the evils existing and pros-
pective, for the reason that his great talents and inflexible patriotism
1812] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 43
guarantee a firm and unyielding maintenance of our national sover-
eignty and the protection of those commercial interests which were
flagging under the weakness and imbecility of the administration."
The reader will observe that this "platform" was
practically altogether personal against Madison and on
behalf of Clinton, and did not at all touch underlying
political questions. It is the unanimous judgment of
political writers that in the contest Clinton made no
compromise of his Republican principles, a judgment
concurred in by his biographers who have had original
sources of information concerning his career. The
campaign did not in any way involve issues in the
respect of being marked by contrasting political ideas
or proposals, but was practically limited to a test of
personal strength between Madison with the prestige
of official power and party regularity, and Clinton
with his aggressive individuality and assorted follow-
ing. The States of Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana,
North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia voted for Madison ;
those of Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island
for Clinton ; and Maryland was divided — Madison's
total being 128 and Clinton's 89. If Clinton had suc-
ceeded in carrying Pennsylvania he would have won.
For Vice-President, Gerry received 131 votes and
Ingersoll 86.
Notwithstanding the preference shown by a consid-
erable portion of the Republicans for the Clinton ticket,
no cleavage in the party followed. The formidable
vote for Clinton represented primarily the Federalists,
44 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1812-14
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
and this was so well understood that a strong party
reproach was forthwith attached to him by the Republi-
cans nationally, so that he was never afterward able to
renew his Presidential pretensions. His subsequent emi-
nent career was confined to the State of New York. The
seeming resuscitation of Federalist strength proved
fictitious. While the Federalist organization did not
lack for self-confidence and fully asserted the consistent
preservation of its original character and purposes, its
course at the election was regarded as incompatible with
any affirmative position or serious claims. By opposing
the prosecution of the War of 1812, to the extent of open
sedition in New England and with hampering efforts
elsewhere, the Federalists took the final step, in a long
succession of inept, reactionary, and unpopular acts and
tendencies, that led to their complete disappearance
from the theater of politics.
The Hartford Convention, 1814-15
Notably expressive of the animating spirit and
motives of the extreme Federalists, as well as illustra-
tive of the reasons for the failure of their party to make
any progress toward winning the confidence of the
country at large, were the transactions of the historic
Hartford (Connecticut) convention. That body met on
December 15, 1814, and continued in session until Janu-
ary 5, 1815. Exclusively Federalist in its membership,
it represented all the States of New England existing
at that time (Maine had not yet been admitted to the
Union) — the delegates being 12 elected by the Massa-
chusetts Legislature, 7 elected by the Connecticut Leg-
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 45
islature, 4 elected by the Rhode Island Legislature, 2
appointed by local conventions in New Hampshire,
and 1 appointed by a local convention in Vermont. The
deliberations were private, and all the delegates were
pledged to secrecy. A report was published, which
briefly set forth the conclusions arrived at but did not
disclose the prevailing spirit and tendency of the discus-
sions ; and it was commonly believed that the real object
was to institute a separate New England federacy if
the demands made should not be complied with. The
following significant words occurred in the report:
"The number of those [in the other States] who perceive and
who are ready to retrace errors must, it is believed, be yet sufficient
to redeem the nation. It is necessary to rally and unite them by
the assurance that no hostility to the Constitution is meditated, and
to obtain their aid in placing it under guardians who alone can
save it from destruction. Should this fortunate change be effected,
the hope of happiness and honor may once more dispel the surround-
ing gloom. Our nation may yet be great, our Union durable. But
should this prospect be utterly hopeless, the time will not have been
lost which shall have ripened a general sentiment of the necessity of
more mighty efforts to rescue from ruin at least some portion of our
beloved country."
Resolutions were adopted as follows:
"Resolved, That it be and hereby is recommended to the Legis-
latures of the several States represented in this convention, to adopt
all such measures as may be necessary effectually to protect the
citizens of the said States from the operation and effects of all acts
which have been or may be passed by the Congress of the United
States which shall contain provisions subjecting the militia or other
citizens to forcible drafts, conscriptions, or impressments not author-
ized by the Constitution of the United States.
"Resolved^ That it be and hereby is recommended to the said Leg-
46 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1815
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
islatures to authorize an immediate application to be made to the
government of the United States, requesting their consent to some
arrangement whereby the said States may, separately or in concert,
be empowered to assume upon themselves the defense of their terri-
tory against the enemy, and a reasonable portion of the taxes col-
lected within said States may be paid into the respective treasuries
thereof and be appropriated to the payment of the balance due said
States and to the future defense of the same. The amount so paid
into the said treasuries so to be credited, and the disbursements made
as aforesaid to be charged, to the United States.
"Resolved, That it be and hereby is recommended to the Legis-
latures of the aforesaid States to pass laws (where it has not already
been done) authorizing the Governors or commanders-in-chief of
their militia to make detachments from the same, or to form volun-
tary corps, as shall be most convenient and conformable to their
Constitutions, and to cause the same to be well armed, equipped, and
held in readiness for service, and upon request of the Governor of
either of the other States to employ the whole of such detachment
or corps, as well as the regular forces of the State, or such part
thereof as may be required and can be spared consistently with the
safety of the State, in assisting the State making such request to
repel any invasion thereof which shall be made or attempted by the
public enemy.
"Resolved, That the following amendments of the Constitution
of the United States be recommended to the States represented as
aforesaid, to be proposed by them for adoption by the State Legis-
latures, and, in such cases as may be deemed expedient, by a conven-
tion chosen by the people of each State; and it is further recom-
mended that the said States shall persevere in their efforts to obtain
such amendments until the same shall be effected:
"1. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among
the several States which may be included within this Union accord-
ing to their respective numbers of free persons, including those
bound to serve for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed
and all other persons.
"2. No new State shall be admitted into the Union by Con-
1815] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 47
gress, in virtue of the power granted by the Constitution, without
the concurrence of two-thirds of both houses.
"3. Congress shall not have power to lay any embargo on the
ships or vessels of the citizens of the United States, in the ports
or harbors thereof, for more than sixty days.
"4. Congress shall not have power, without the concurrence of
two-thirds of both houses, to interdict the commercial intercourse
between the United States and any foreign nation, or the dependen-
cies thereof.
"5. Congress shall not make or declare war, or authorize acts of
hostility against any foreign nation, without the concurrence of two-
thirds of both houses, except such acts of hostility be in defense of
the territories of the United States when actually invaded.
"6. No person who shall hereafter be naturalized shall be eligi-
ble as a member of the Senate or House of Representatives of the
United States, nor capable of holding any civil office under the
authority of the United States.
"7. The same person shall not be elected President of the United
States a second time; nor shall the President be elected from the
same State two terms in succession.
"Resolved, That if the application of these States to the govern-
ment of the United States recommended in the foregoing resolutions
should be unsuccessful, and peace should not be concluded, and the
defense of these States should be neglected as it has been since the
commencement of the war, it will, in the opinion of this conven-
tion, be expedient for the Legislatures of the several States to appoint
delegates to another convention to meet in Boston, in the State of
Massachusetts, on the third Tuesday of June next, with such powers
and instructions as the exigency of a crisis so momentous may require.
"Resolved, That the Hon. George Cabot, the Hon. Chauncey
Goodrich, and the Hon. Daniel Lyman, or any two of them, be
authorized to call another meeting of this convention, to be holden
in Boston, at any time before new delegates shall be chosen as rec-
ommended in the above resolution, if in their judgment the situation
of the country shall urgently require it."
The States of Massachusetts and Connecticut sent
48 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1815-16
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Commissioners to Washington to urge adoption of the
proposed constitutional amendments, but without re-
sult; and the only effect made upon the country by the
convention's doings was that of resentment. It was felt
that whatever merit attached to any of the propositions
was at best only representative of local prejudices, tem-
porary sentiment, and factious desires — prejudices,
sentiment, and desires which could not be acceded to
without reopening very delicate constitutional questions
and destroying all national harmony. Considered as a
whole, the political program formulated was regarded
as utterly narrow, and as affording a demonstration of
the incapacity of Federalist leadership for anything but
futile contention. Soon after the convention's adjourn-
ment news was received of the signing of the treaty of
peace, and the Hartford movement thereupon came to
an abrupt end.
It is noteworthy that not one of the seven constitu-
tional amendments proposed by the Hartford conven-
tion has ever been adopted, or even seriously considered.
In advocating restriction of representation to the num-
bers of free persons the convention did not at all con-
template emancipation for the slaves, but only sought
to reduce the political power of the southern States by
summary elimination of the "three-fifths" provision of
the Constitution.
1816
In 1816 the Republican Congressional caucus, on
March 16, nominated James Monroe, of Virginia, for
President, by a vote of 65 against 54 cast for William H.
1816-20] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 49
Crawford, of Georgia; Daniel D. Tompkins, of New
York, receiving the nomination for Vice-President No
nominations were made by the Federalists, but they
united in supporting for the Presidency Rufus King, of
New York. The only States that gave their Electoral
votes to King were Massachusetts, Connecticut, and
Delaware. In the Electoral College the result for
President was: Monroe, 183; King, 34. For Vice-
President the vote stood: Tompkins, 183; John E.
Howard, of Maryland, 22; James Ross, of Pennsyl-
vania, 5; John Marshall, of Virginia, 4; Robert G.
Harper, of Maryland, 3.
1820
The reelection of Monroe and Tompkins in 1820 was
wholly undisputed. Even the formality of placing
them in nomination was dispensed with, the Congres-
sional caucus called for that purpose being attended by
only a few members and deciding that no action was
necessary. Monroe received 231 of the 232 Electoral
votes. The solitary Elector opposing him, William
Plumer, of New Hampshire, voted for John Quincy
Adams, of Massachusetts, not on party grounds, as
Adams was a Republican, but for personal reasons and
in protest against the arbitrary requirement that the
Electors were obliged to obey party orders. The Vice-
Presidential votes at this election were: Tompkins,
218; Richard Stockton, of New Jersey, 8; Daniel Rod-
ney, of Delaware, 4; Robert G. Harper, of Maryland,
1 ; Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania, 1.
50 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
1824
With Monroe terminated the line of illustrious and
venerated Fathers who, identified successively with the
struggle for American independence, the early
endeavors of the States to administer their affairs, and
the adoption of the Constitution and foundation of the
Federal government, had been elevated to the Presi-
dency for their preeminent historical fitness. His two
administrations constituted the so-called "era of good
feeling," with party lines so entirely obliterated that
there existed in fact only one party, the Republican.
During these years there were no indications of any
plans, or even conceptions, in the direction of new party
organization. The remarkable and exciting Presiden-
tial campaign of 1824 was shaped and fought without
the least reference to party alignment, except in the
particular of full and zealous conformity to Republi-
canism on the part of each of the candidates.
Preparations for the contest were begun in 1822,
when Andrew Jackson was placed in nomination by the
Legislature of Tennessee, and Henry Clay by that of
Kentucky. Other States followed with nominations
variously of Jackson, Clay, John Quincy Adams, and
William H. Crawford. It was apparent from the
outset that no candidate could control a majority of the
party nationally, and efforts were concentrated toward
securing State commitments and emphasizing the
respective claims of the aspirants. The supporters of
Crawford, however, undertook to invoke the authority
of "regular" action, and a call was issued for a Congres-
1824] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 51
sional caucus. A meeting was held accordingly, Feb-
ruary 14, 1824, in the hall of the House of Representa-
tives at Washington, but only 66 of the 261 members of
the two houses attended. Agreeably to prearrange-
ment, Crawford was nominated for President, with
Albert Gallatin, of Pennsylvania, for Vice-President,
and a resolution was adopted commending the candi-
dates to the favor of the Republicans of the nation.
Conscious of the somewhat farcical character of the
proceedings in the circumstances, the meeting added to
the resolution the following explanation, which proved
to be the valedictory of the institution of the caucus as
President-maker:
"That in making the foregoing recommendation, the members of
this meeting have acted in their individual characters as citizens; that
they have been induced to this measure from a deep and settled con-
viction of the importance of union among the Republicans throughout
the United States, and as the best means of collecting and concentrat-
ing the feelings and wishes of the people of the Union upon the
important subject."
In the campaign no one paid any attention to the
"measure." The rule of King Caucus had forever
ended. To the Presidential canvass of 1824 has been
given the inelegant but perfectly descriptive name of
"the scrub race." Jackson received 99 Electoral votes,
Adams 84, Crawford 41, Clay 37.1 Several of the States
showed considerable indecision and promiscuity in
IPreviously to 1824 there was no record of the popular vote for President.
In 1824 eighteen of the twenty-four States chose their Electors by direct
popular vote of the people, the rest through the Legislatures. Popular vote
so far as recorded: — Jackson, 155,872; Adams, 105,321; Clay, 46,587;
Crawford, 44,282.
52 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [18248
their preferences; for example, New York, which
distributed its votes among all the candidates, giving 1
to Jackson, 26 to Adams, 5 to Crawford, and 4 to Clay.
No one having a majority in the Electoral College, the
House of Representatives again, as in 1801, made the
decision, balloting this time under Amendment XII to
the Constitution, which limited the choice to the three
foremost" candidates. Clay was thus eliminated. Pur-
suant to his advice, the Representatives favorable to
him went to Adams, who was consequently elected on
the first ballot. Concerning the Vice-Presidency, no
action by the Senate was necessary, John C. Calhoun, of
South Carolina, having won in the Electoral College,
which gave him 182 votes against 30 for Nathan San-
ford, of New York; 24 for Nathaniel Macon, of North
Carolina; 13 for Andrew Jackson; 9 for Martin Van
Buren, of New York, and 2 for Henry Clay.
1828
John Quincy Adams was destined, like his father, to
hold the Presidential office for but one term, and to
lose it under circumstances of extraordinary political
convulsion. Originally a Federalist, he had come over
to the Republicans during Jefferson's Presidency. In
his changed affiliation neither his conduct nor disposi-
tion had ever been considered exceptionable from the
party point of view; and there was nothing in the spirit
or policies of his administration to be discomposing to
even the most orthodox Republicans. He much desired
a reelection, and in that natural ambition had the sin-
cere interest of Clay, his Secretary of State, who, while
1828] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS S3
eager for the Presidency, loyally intermitted his own
seeking. But Adams had adventured upon changing
times, and despite his forceful intellectuality, elevated
character, and admirable virtues was not the man to
stem the personal tide which, almost from the day of
his inauguration, set in against him. The cause of
General Jackson, sustained in the contest of 1824 by
considerably the largest group of Presidential Electors,
as well as by a marked plurality of the popular vote,
appealed more and more to the country, and was deter-
minedly promoted by the General himself. It was
widely felt that the casting of the Clay votes for Adams
represented, to say the least, an ill-chosen discrimina-
tion, which Clay should have refrained from encour-
aging in deference to the superior favor shown Jackson
by the people; and Adams's appointment of Clay as
Secretary of State was by many considered not merely a
reward in questionable taste, but — as the result proved —
a move for the interest of a union of forces to control
the next election. Jackson joyfully accepted the issue
thus palpably drawn, and with all his vehement passion
and enormous energy threw himself into the fight,
swearing that it should cease only with the utter anni-
hilation of Adams and Clay. In consequence the
Republican party was riven asunder, the supporters of
Jackson becoming known as Democratic Republicans,
and those of Adams and Clay as National Republicans.
It presently accorded more with the liking of the Jack-
sonians to call themselves plain Democrats, but several
years elapsed before the National Republican organi-
zation took the official name of the Whig party. No
54 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1828
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
national nominating assemblage was held by either
faction in 1828, as the rival candidatures of Jackson and
Adams were predetermined by the course of events and
endorsed in the States without dissent. Adams was
overwhelmed, having only 83 Electoral votes against
178 for Jackson; and on the popular vote also Jackson
was given a large majority.1 Calhoun (Democrat) was
reflected Vice-President, with 171 Electoral votes
against 83 for Richard Rush (National Republican),
of Pennsylvania, and 7 for William Smith (Democrat),
of South Carolina.
For fundamental and permanent historic importance
the Presidential election of 1828 transcends any other
from the time of the establishment of the government
until 1860. It introduced into national politics, for the
fijst time, a biparty system calculated to endure on
account of the adaptation of both the resulting parties
to American popular conditions, their alertness and
virility in competing with one another, their fertility
and facility in constructive matters and also in criticism,
and their ability to stand defeat. It directly led to an
ordered discussion of public questions and affairs by
the formulation of political issues under the supervision
and discipline of national party organizations, which,
in turn, came out into the open arena of popular debate
and action instead of basing themselves upon the
"general agreement" of a few dignified chiefs or the
extemporized authority, and consequently despotic
command, of a caucus.
JPopular vote: — Jackson, 647,231; Adams, 509,097.
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 55
The acquisition of power by the popular party as the
result of Jefferson's triumph in 1800, says Carl Schurz,1
brought a realization of the truth that the government
belonged to the people, and not to "a limited circle of
important gentlemen." This it was that afterward
made it always so easy for the Republicans to beat the
Federalists. The Federalist party was far too select.
At heart, and often avowedly, it held to the essential
ideas of "curbing the unruly democracy" and resisting
demagogic demands, overlooking the stubborn fact
that the democracy comprised vastly the major part
of the population as well as a host of most brilliant,
masterful, and sincere leaders — men who were as un-
selfishly patriotic as any Federalist, and who largely,
moreover, compared not unfavorably with their critics
for character, breeding, and probable capability of
understanding the public welfare. Disfavoring char-
acterizations of the democracy as such, and of its quali-
fied advocates, incur naturally a vigorous, and, what is
more serious, a mass, resentment; they have in general
been avoided (publicly at least) by the more practiced
politicians of later days. But the Federalists, even
with the advance of time and the accumulation of
distressing misfortunes, forgot nothing and learned
nothing. Their failure to develop into a resourceful
force of opposition to the Republicans proved fatal
to themselves and was not well for the country. For
it became consequently quite unnecessary for the Re-
publicans to observe any particular circumspection in
their own course, or to show progressiveness or fore-
lLife of Henry Clay, vol. i, p. 40.
56 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
thought in dealing with existing matters or shaping
policies for the future; they had but automatically to
defeat the Federalists at every election, and meanwhile
be exceedingly well content under the wise and benef-
icent guidance of their great men.
Several factors of highly conservative influence in
their nature and operation contributed to the simplicity
of national politics during the early career of the gov-
ernment. One of these was the limitation of the suf-
frage (especially on the basis of property qualification) ,
which so generally prevailed from the beginning and
was relaxed only with great caution. With but a
restricted number of the body politic entitled to vote, no
elaborate party machinery was required, and the
methods of appeal for popular support were of the most
elementary kinds. Another very effective deterrent to
the development of national party action and expression
along the lines of issues and coordinated consultations
of the public at large, was the long persistence in many
States of the practice of appointing the Presidential
Electors by the Legislatures, thus debarring the people
from directly stipulating their preference for Presi-
dent.1 But the most potent and pervading of the cir-
cumscribing factors to which we have alluded was the
lln practice, however, the system of appointing the Presidential Electors by
the Legislatures operated fairly to reflect the popular choice; there was al-
ways great party activity in the individual States, which well assured con-
formity by the Legislatures to the predominating sentiment. The objections to
the method were its indirection and the legislative assumption of a power
which it was felt should reside in the people. As late as 1824 six of the
States — Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana, New York, South Carolina, and Ver-
mont— adhered to the old plan of legislative selection of the Electors; but in
1828 it had been abandoned by all except South Carolina.
THOMAS JEFFERSON
Thomas Jefferson, 3d president; born at Shadwell, Va., April
13, 1743; lawyer; member of colonial house of Burgesses, 1769-
74; chairman of committee which drew Declaration of Independ-
ence, signed August 2, 1776; governor of Virginia, 1779-81;
member of state house of representatives 1782; minister pleni-
potentiary to France 1784; sole minister to the king of France
for three years from March 10, 1785; secretary of state of
United States from September, 1789 to December 3, 1793; vice
president, 1797-1801; president from 1801 to 1809; died at
Monticello, Va., July 4, 1826.
1828] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 57
V V. V •' ' \~ V " v
primitiveness of the times — with but few newspapers,
no railroads or telegraphs or cheap postage, and only
the merest beginnings of school instruction for the
masses of the people.
It was the powerful personality of General Jackson,
and the ardent partisanship in his behalf matched by
an equally ardent opposition to him, that wrought the
radical change in party foundations, conceptions, and
methods. Aside from the popularity that he enjoyed as
the "hero of New Orleans," his tremendous resoluteness
and absolutely uncompromising attitude on every ques-
tion and matter made him an ideal man to found and
lead a great party. Though lacking in literary educa-
tion and deficient in training to statecraft, these acci-
dents of the circumstances of his life were regarded by
his followers as needing no apology in view of his com-
manding traits of character — his indisputable greatness
as a man. On the other hand, his critics who were
inclined lightly to esteem his capacity for public
affairs and to look for his collapse accordingly, erred
most egregiously ; never was there a President who more
completely dominated the government, or retained a
stronger hold on the people both throughout his service
in office and after. Under his leadership the Demo-
cratic party absorbed the principal following, numeri-
cally, of the old all-powerful Republican organization
— that is to say, the "rank and file" of the voters in the
nation generally, with important State exceptions,
which exceptions, however, did not at all indicate a
merely sectional preference so long as the opposition to
the Democrats was conducted by the National Repub-
58 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1828
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
licans and their successors, the Whigs.1 It became at
once the reproach and pride of the Democratic party
that the poor and struggling, those of obscure position
and meager advantages, and the naturalized citizens,
gravitated naturally to it.
After the election of 1828 Clay sprang to the fore as
the leader of the National Republicans, or anti-Jack-
sonians. His remarkable brilliancy and attainments,
fascinating manners and address, persuasive but at the
same time reasoned eloquence, and perfect equipment
as both a statesman and political chieftain, combined
with the prestige of his distinguished services in the
Senate, the Speakership of the House, and the office of
Secretary of State, seemed to give him and his enthusi-
astic partisans every justification for expecting a favor-
able outcome in the gigantic struggle to wrest the
Presidency from Jackson in 1832. Added to his
personal qualities was the high character of the mem-
bership of the National Republican party, which
embraced citizens of influence, affairs, substance, and
cultivation to a notable degree. There was nothing,
however, in the new organization — its spirit, proposals,
or manner of operations — to be in fairness regarded as
assimilating it to the Federalist party of melancholy but
unregretted memory. It sprang from the body of the
genuine Republican party of Monroe, Madison, and
iDuring this period New York and Pennsylvania were among the most
reliable supporters of the Democratic party, going against it only in the
elections of 1840 and 1848. Illinois and New Hampshire nearly always went
Democratic. Ohio was changeable. Massachusetts, Vermont, Kentucky, and
Delaware were Whig strongholds. The strictly southern States were mainly
Democratic, but the Whigs were strong in all of them.
1828] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 59
Jefferson, of which it claimed to be the legitimate suc-
cessor. This claim was scornfully resented by the
Democrats. To attempt a decision upon the merits of
the controversy would be profitless. The late deceased
party left no testament. It had never adopted a decla-
ration of principles or policies with which to compare
the contrasting positions of the Democrats and
National Republicans on the issues that now arose.
Neither did its record concerning matters of legislation
afford a sure test, as it had been on both sides of
important questions according to expediency and the
balance of opinion from time to time. Probably it
would be most nearly correct to say that both the
disputants were undoubted true successors. The
National Republicans inherited most of the select
elements of the parent organization, the Democrats
most of the votes.
At an early period of the development of the
National Republican party two basic issues were
defined as expressive of its creed — in favor of first, a
protective tariff, and second, internal improvements.
Previously, these matters, though considered and acted
on at times as public measures, had not represented any
determinate party action or course. The protective
policy had already been well established, especially in
the tariffs of 1816, 1824, and 1828; Jackson had ap-
proved the principle; even the southern States had been
not without leanings toward it. As for internal im-
provements, their desirability had been recognized by
Presidents Monroe and Madison, with, however, the
60 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
qualification that a constitutional amendment would be
necessary.
Clay presented these two party issues as cardinal and
permanent political doctrines. A third, and, for the
time, even more insistent issue, favoring the recharter
of the Bank of the United States, was added as the
result of President Jackson's opposition to that policy.
The existent charter was not to expire until 1836, but
the President's announced hostility to its extension
caused Clay to precipitate the issue as opportune for the
campaign of 1832. This action, comments his biog-
rapher, Mr. Schurz, was a strange blunder in political
tactics ; "he believed he could excite the enthusiasm of
the masses for a great moneyed corporation in its contest
against a popular hero like Jackson — a most amazing
infatuation."
The general position of the Democratic party con-
cerning all matters and questions of government and
politics was that of its own established authority. It
considered itself the legitimate ruling power, the
inheritor of the accepted and settled traditions of
American government and institutions, impregnable to
attack because of its strength with the people and the
resistless leadership of Jackson. In full control of the
government, it was supplying, and would continue to
supply, the required materials for public discussion and
decision; and it therefore had no issues to create in
other ways.
Thus were the parties constituted and led, and the
principal questions between them defined, in prepara-
tion for the great contest of 1832, in which the funda-
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 61
mental devices and methods of organization and
strategy that have come to be regarded as the essentials
of our American political system had their genesis.
There were other questions, relating specially to the
partisan acts of the Jackson administration. In par-
ticular, the National Republicans viewed with much
indignation the new "spoils" doctrine so uncompromis-
ingly proclaimed and remorselessly applied by Jack-
son.1 The slavery issue was not at that time a serious
subject of party consideration; it was still believed that
the Missouri Compromise had afforded a satisfactory
settlement
The Missouri Compromise, 1820
This celebrated measure, approved March 6, 1820,
was an agreement between the north and south on the
subject of slavery extension.
The Territory of Missouri having applied (March,
1818) for admission as a State of the Union, an
excessively bitter controversy arose in Congress in rela-
tion to the proposed permission of slavery within its
borders.
The claim made for authorizing slavery in Missouri
was much more plausible than any subsequently put
forward for its intrusion into other portions of the still
iWashington, John Adams, Jefferson, Monroe, and John Quincy Adams
had made in all 74 removals, all but a few for cause, during the forty
years of their aggregate Presidential terms. In one year, the first of his ad-
ministration, Jackson removed 491 postmasters and 239 other officers, and
since the new men appointed clerks and other subordinates, the sum total
in that year was reckoned at more than two thousand. — Carl Schurz, Life of
Henry Clay, vol. i, p. 334.
62 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
unorganized national domain lying outside the geo-
graphical section in which the "peculiar institution"
flourished. Slavery had already been established in
Missouri Territory by the settlers, and the desire of a
majority of them for its continuance without restriction
was evidenced by their election of a strong pro-slavery
Delegate to Congress and by the lack, throughout the
long struggle on the question in that body, of any dispo-
sition on the part of Missouri to accept a compromise.
Historically the prospective new State had exclusively
southern antecedents; it had been an integral part of
Louisiana. In the respect also of situation the south
claimed a superior right to Missouri, as it was con-
terminus with slave territory and not adjacent to settled
free territory, being separated from the latter by the
Mississippi River.
From the point of view held at that period by most
people except the uncompromising opponents of slavery
on principle, it was considered wise to adhere politi-
cally to the spirit of slavery-neutrality shown by the
framers of the Constitution and since tacitly observed,
by admitting new slave States as well as new free States
according to situation or local preference. It was gen-
erally conceded that if there were to be "balances" in
the future, as there had been in the past, the south could
not be expected to refrain from having its share agree-
ably to its "reasonable" claims. From these accommo-
dating views the country was destined to have a com-
plete awakening; but they exerted a deciding influence
until the extreme southern pretensions brought about a
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 63
concentration of political anti-slavery sentiment at the
north.
Up to the time of Missouri's application for admis-
sion in 1818, no exciting question had arisen concerning
slavery extension. Events had not only taken a per-
fectly undisturbed course, but in their results had
operated with singular evenness toward maintaining
and perpetuating the original equilibrium between the
northern and southern States. On the one hand, the
"Northwest Territory" — comprising what have since
become the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan,
and Wisconsin — had been established by the Ordinance
of 1787, and afterward firmly organized, in conformity
to the principle of slavery exclusion; and identically
with the occurrence of the Missouri question Maine
was just coming into the Union as a free State. Off-
setting these accessions to the political strength of the
north were the additions to the southern system of
Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and
Louisiana, with Arkansas Territory carved out of
Missouri — all on the basis of slavery permission. It
should be particularly remembered that at the time in
question, and for many years afterward, the remainder
of the national domain not as yet organized into States
or in . process of such formation was limited to trie
residuum of the old Louisiana Purchase, and its projec-
tion to the Pacific through the "Oregon Country" sub-
ject to a temporary diplomatic arrangement of equal
rights of occupation with Great Britain in the latter;
and that as this entire region extended northwardly, it
was regarded as not to be associated with the sphere of
64 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1820
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
the slavery institution. The glittering prospect of a
southwestern empire for slavery in the vast area still
owned by Spain, reaching from Texas on the Gulf to
California on the Pacific, had not come into view.
It was decided by the southerners that the time had
arrived to take a more aggressive political stand for
their institution. While the existing balance of the
States was not unfavorable to them in the numerical
respect, there was a large and constantly increasing
preponderance of population, enterprise, and wealth
in the north, which had its reflection in a steadily grow-
ing superiority of northern representation in the
national House of Representatives. Nothing could
appear more certain than that the balance would be still
further disarranged in the future, with ultimate
jeopardy to slavery even at the south, if concessions
were not wrung from the north.
The south insisted that in consideration of all these
circumstances it had every justification of claim to
Missouri, and was unyielding in its demand for the
slavery provision of the bill. That the advocates of
freedom were equally determined, and in the end were
able to force an advantageous compromise, was a fact of
great significance for the future. Against threats of
disunion which were known to be fully meant, a
national opposition to the farther spread of slavery was
energized which, while taking no party name, repre-
sented an unmistakable accord and resolution on the
subject. The objection to slavery, formerly only senti-
mental, was thus made political. After the final
Missouri settlement the political feeling became
1820-1] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 65
quiescent, but with the certainty that it would not so
continue if further provocative steps should be taken
by the south.
The Compromise of 1820, adopted after two years of
Congressional consideration, gave sanction to slavery in
Missouri, but interdicted it elsewhere west or north of
the parallel 36° 30', this line being Missouri's southern
boundary.
But the contest was not yet ended. Missouri, having
received authorization to come into the Union, pro-
ceeded to adopt a State Constitution which in its
slavery provisions went far beyond what the northern
people had expected, or were willing to tolerate — one
of its clauses being a command to the Legislature to pass
laws "to prevent free negroes and mulattoes from
coming to, and settling in, this State, under any pretext
whatever." The whole question of admission was
thereupon reopened. Northern sentiment demanded
that Missouri expunge the objectionable clause before
being received as a State; but Congress, intimidated by
renewed southern threats of secession, refused to make
any such condition. Again a compromise was devised,
of which Clay (then a member of the House) was the
author. Missouri was not required to recede in terms
from her action, but was to pledge herself to pass no
law "by which any of the citizens of either of the States
should be excluded from the enjoyment of the privi-
leges and immunities to which they are entitled under
the Constitution of the United States." The practical
effect of this was to prevent infraction of the rights of
free colored persons coming to Missouri from other
66 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1820-1
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
States in which they had previously acquired citizen-
ship with the consequent guarantee to them of similar
equality and privileges in all the States as expressly
conferred by the Federal Constitution (Article IV,
Section 2) . As Missouri was not subjected to the indig-
nity of being constrained to surrender her sovereign
privilege of writing her own Constitution, and as the
rights of the matter were based only on the Federal
Constitution, to which the protagonists of slavery
always urged a strict obedience, a majority of the
southern members accepted the new compromise. The
north was more reluctant, but finally gave the required
support. By the close vote of 86 to 82 the measure was
passed in the House (February, 1821), and it was
promptly agreed to by the Senate. Missouri complied
with the fundamental condition, and the fierce struggle
was over.
An understanding of the principal circumstances and
details involved in the Missouri Compromise, or rather
compromises, is indispensable to a correct appreciation
of the many and extraordinary subsequent phases of the
political slavery controversy, especially as related to
party attitudes and acts. At the present distance of
time, with the absolute unanimity of opinion on the
subject of slavery that has come to be established, it
seems to many strange that an affirmative policy on the
part of the north concerning the whole question was so
long delayed, and even when ventured upon was the
policy of only the major part of the north and so
remained until the crisis of war enforced a measurably
complete acceptance of it. But the long delay and divi-
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 67
sion of the north resulted logically from very powerful
and persuasive facts and conditions. There was the
original compact of the States, which recognized and
tolerated slavery, not, it is true, expressly (the word
slavery does not appear in the Constitution), but most
indisputably by inference and arrangement; there was
the horror of disruption of the Union ; there were the
intimate and indispensable interrelations with the
south; there were the numerous other questions and
matters in no wise related to slavery, and the exciting
and engrossing events incidental to the further expan-
sion of the country, such as the acquisition of Texas,
the settlement of the northwestern boundary, the war
with Mexico, and the great migratory movement to the
west; and finally there was the belief that the slavery
issue had been settled by the Compromise of 1820,
which was based upon a principle and restriction satis-
factory to the prevailing sentiment of the north. This
Compromise operated for a quarter of a century en-
tirely to compose the political trouble about slavery,
and even for quite a time had an incidence toward dis-
couraging the moral and philosophical discussion of the
topic.1 The anti-slavery feeling continued, however,
1When Jackson became President, in 1829, anti-slavery seemed, after fifty
years of effort, to have spent its force. The voice of the churches was no
longer heard in protest; the Abolitionist societies were dying out; there was
hardly an Abolitionist militant in the field ; the Colonization Society absorbed
most of the public interest in the subject, and it was doing nothing to help
either the free negro or the slave; in Congress there was only one anti-
slavery man, and his efforts were without avail. It was a gloomy time for
the little band of people who believed that slavery was poisonous to the
south, hurtful to the north, and dangerous to the Union. — Albert Bushnell
Hart, The American Nation, vol. xvi, p. 165.
68 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
in the States, and after some years began to show a
steady increase as the result of agitation and also to
exert pressure on Congress through the agency of peti-
tions and by the sympathetic action of individual Rep-
resentatives and Senators. But neither of the great
parties of the period at any time gave it countenance.
PART II
PARTIES FROM 1832 TO 1856
RESUMING now our account of the positions of
national parties, the remainder of this record
will be largely devoted to their successive plat-
form declarations, which, as has been seen, began with
the Presidential campaign of 1832.
1832
Anti-Masonic Party
The first national nominating convention of delegates
was held by the Anti-Masonic party in Baltimore on
September 26, 1831. This organization, dating from
the year 1826, was founded on the program of opposi-
tion to secret societies bound together by oaths. After
enjoying some vogue for several years it went out of
existence. In the 1832 campaign it was at its height.
The convention was presided over by John C. Spen-
cer, of New York. Thirteen States were represented,
with 112 delegates present.
William Wirt, of Maryland, was nominated for
President, and Amos Ellmaker, of Pennsylvania, for
Vice-President.
No platform of principles was adopted, but a com-
mittee was appointed to issue an address to the people,
69
70 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1831
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
which duly appeared. It recited the ideas of the party
at considerable length, declaring that the secret socie-
ties constituted an institution which had become a poli-
tical engine, and that political agencies were required
to avert the baneful effects.
National Republican Party
The convention assembled in Baltimore on the 12th
of December, 1831 — Abner Lacock, of Pennsylvania,
being temporary chairman, and James Barbour, of
Virginia, permanent chairman. There were 157 dele-
gates, from seventeen States.
Nominations, both unanimous: — for President,
Henry Clay, of Kentucky; for Vice-President, John
Sergeant, of Pennsylvania.
An address was adopted, /but no jplatjform. The
address arraigned the administration of President Jack-
son with great acerbity, asserting, among other things,
that
"The political history of the Union for the last three years exhibits
a series of measures plainly dictated in all their principal features by
blind cupidity or vindictive party spirit, marked throughout by a disre-
gard of good policy, justice, and every high and generous sentiment,
and terminating in a dissolution of the cabinet under circumstances
more discreditable than any of the kind to be met with in the annals of
the civilized world."
A special feature of this address was a strong plea
for rechartering the United States Bank, which was
incorporated in it by the insistence of Clay, who re-
garded the Bank issue as the strongest one that could
be urged in the campaign. Other features were con-
demnations of the administration for its spoils policy,
1832] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 71
its course on the questions of the tariff and internal im-
provements, and its failure to protect the Cherokee
Indians against the outrageous and inhuman treatment
of them by the State of Georgia.
One of the most important acts of the convention was
the adoption of a resolve recommending that a national
gathering of the young men of the party be held in
Washington on May 11, 1832. The body met as ap-
pointed, William Cost Johnson, of Maryland, presid-
ing. After ratifying the nominations of Clay and Ser-
geant it adopted the following platform:
"1. Resolved, That, in the opinion of this convention, although
the fundamental principles adopted by our fathers, as a basis upon
which to raise a superstructure of American independence, can never
be annihilated, yet the time has come when nothing short of the united
energies of all the friends of the American republic can be relied on
to sustain and perpetuate that hallowed work.
"2. Resolved, That an adequate protection to American industry
is indispensable to the prosperity of the country ; and that an abandon-
ment of the policy at this period would be attended with consequences
ruinous to the best interests of the nation.
"3. Resolved, That a uniform system of internal improvements,
sustained and supported by the general government, is calculated to
secure, in the highest degree, the harmony, the strength, and the per-
manency of the republic.
"4. Resolved, That the Supreme Court of the United States is
the only tribunal recognized by the Constitution for deciding in the
last resort all questions arising under the Constitution and laws of
the United States, and that upon the preservation of the authority
and jurisdiction of that court inviolate depends the existence of the
nation.
"5. Resolved, That the Senate of the United States is preemi-
nently a conservative branch of the Federal government ; that upon a
fearless and independent exercise of its constitutional functions
72 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL H832
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
depends the existence of the nicely balanced powers of that govern-
ment; and that all attempts to overawe its deliberations by the public
press or by the national Executive deserve the indignant reprobation
of every American citizen.
"6. Resolved, That the political course of the present Executive
has given us no pledge that he will defend and support these great
principles of American policy and the Constitution; but, on the con-
trary, has convinced us that he will abandon them whenever the pur-
poses of party require it.
"7. Resolved, That the indiscriminate removal of public officers,
for the mere difference of political opinion, is a gross abuse of
power; and that the doctrine lately 'boldly preached' in the Senate
of the United States, that 'to the victor belong the spoils of the
enemy,' is detrimental to the interests, corrupting to the morals, and
dangerous to the liberties of this country.
"8. Resolved, That we hold the disposition shown by the present
national administration to accept the advice of the king of Holland
touching the northeastern boundary of the United States, and thus to
transfer a portion of the territory and citizens of a State of this
Union to a foreign power, to manifest a total destitution of patriotic
American feeling, inasmuch as we consider the life, liberty, property,
and citizenship of every inhabitant of every State as entitled to the
national protection.
"9. Resolved, That the arrangement between the United States
and Great Britain relative to the colonial trade, made in pursuance
of the instructions of the late Secretary of State, was procured in a
manner derogatory to the national character, and is injurious to this
country in its practical results.
"10. Resolved, That it is the duty of every citizen of this republic
who regards the honor, the prosperity, and the preservation of our
Union, to oppose by every honorable measure the jeelection of Andrew
Jackson, and to promote the election of Henry Clay, of Kentucky, and
John Sergeant, of Pennsylvania, as President and Vice-President of
the United States."
JAMES MADISON
James Madison, 4th president; born at Port Conway, Va.,
March 16, 1751; lawyer; member of first general assembly of
Virginia, 1776; congress, 1789-1797; secretary of state under
Jefferson, 1801-1809; president of the United States from March
4, 1809 to March 3, 1817; died at Montpelier, Orange county,
Va., June 28, 1836.
1832] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 73
Democratic Party
The last of the national conventions to assemble
preparatory to the campaign was that of the dominant
party, the Democrats. It met in Baltimore, May 21,
1832, delegates from twenty-three States attending.
Robert Lucas, of Ohio, presided.
In effecting its organization according to the custom
of deliberative bodies the convention appointed a com-
mittee on rules, which took into consideration, among
other matters, the question of the number of votes to
be required for nominations. As it was known that
President Jackson would be renominated unanimously,
no provision was considered proper in relation to the
Presidency; but concerning the Vice-Presidency the
committee reported the following resolution, which
was adopted by the convention :
"Resolved, That each State be entitled, in the nomination to be
made for the Vice-Presidency, to a number of votes equal to the num-
ber to which it will be entitled in the Electoral Colleges under the
new apportionment in voting for President and Vice- President ; and
that two-thirds of the whole number of votes in the convention shall
be necessary to constitute a choice."
This was the origin of the two-thirds rule that has
ever since governed Democratic national conventions.
For President, Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee, was
nominated unanimously; for Vice-President, Martin
Van Buren, of New York, by 208 votes against 49 for
Philip P. Barbour, of Virginia, and 26 for Richard
M. Johnson, of Kentucky. The choice of the Vice-
Presidential candidate was dictated by Jackson, who
at all times placed the strongest reliance upon Van
74 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1832
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Buren as his consistent and able supporter both politi-
cally and personally.
No platform was adopted.
The Election
For President, Electoral vote:
Andrew Jackson, Democrat : — Alabama, 7 ; Georgia, 1 1 ; Illinois,
5; Indiana, 9; Louisiana, 5; Maine, 10; Maryland, 3; Mississippi, 4;
Missouri, 4; New Hampshire, 7; New Jersey, 8; New York, 42;
North Carolina, 15; Ohio, 21; Pennsylvania, 30; Tennessee, 15;
Virginia, 23. Total, 219. Elected.
Henry Clay, National Republican : — Connecticut, 8 ; Delaware, 3 ;
Kentucky, 15; Maryland, 5; Massachusetts, 14; Rhode Island, 4.
Total, 49.
John Floyd, of Virginia: — South Carolina, 11. His candidacy
was purely local to South Carolina, expressive of the nullification
and secessionist attitude taken by that State on account of the pro-
tective tariff, especially the so-called "tariff of abominations" of 1828.
Jackson was not an extremist on the tariff either for or against pro-
tection, but was uncompromisingly for the preservation of the Union
against any State separatist scheme. The Floyd vote was South
Carolina's protest against his reelection.
William Wirt, Anti-Mason : — Vermont, 7.
For Vice-President, Electoral vote:
Martin Van Buren, Democrat: — Same as Jackson, less 30 in
Pennsylvania. Total, 189. Elected.
John Sergeant, National Republican : — Same as Clay, 49.
William Wilkins, of Pennsylvania, Democrat: — Pennsylvania, 30.
Henry Lee, of Massachusetts: — Same as Floyd, 11.
Amos Ellmaker, Anti-Mason : — Same as Wirt, 7.
Popular vote:
Jackson, 687,502; Clay and Wirt, 530,189. Wirt, says Greeley
and Cleveland's "Political Text-Book for 1860," "received a consid-
erable vote in New England, New York, and Pennsylvania" which is
added in the total of 530,189 for Clay.
1836
Democratic Party
The national convention assembled in Baltimore,
May 20, 1835 — nearly a year and a half in advance of
the election. Andrew Stevenson, of Virginia, was
chosen chairman. The two-thirds rule for nomina-
tions was adopted. This action for the first time estab-
lished the rule for both Presidential and Vice-Presi-
dential nominations. The subject came up before the
full convention, which debated and decided it — the
vote being 231 for the rule and 210 against. The prin-
cipal argument in its favor appears to have been that
a nomination by two-thirds would "have a more impos-
ing effect."
The early national conventions exhibited several
aspects of considerable curiosity. The nominating
convention system being an innovation, its practical
details required some time to be perfected. Edward
M. Shepard, writing of this Democratic convention of
1835 in his Life of Martin Van Buren ("American
Statesmen"), says:
"There were over five hundred delegates from twenty-three States.
South Carolina, Alabama, and Illinois were not represented. Party
organization was still very imperfect. The modern system of precise
and proportional representation was not yet known. The States
which approved the convention sent delegates in such number as suited
75
76 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1835-6
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
their convenience. Maryland, the convention being held in its chief
city, sent 183 delegates; Virginia, close at hand, sent 102; New York,
although the home of the proposed candidate, sent but 42, the precise
number of its Electoral votes. Tennessee sent but one ; Mississippi
and Missouri, only two each. In making the nominations, the dele-
gates from each State, however numerous or few, cast a number of
votes equal to its representation in the Electoral College. The 183
delegates from Maryland cast therefore but ten votes ; while the single
delegate from Tennessee, much courted man he must have been,
cast fifteen."
Martin Van Buren, of New York, received the nomi-
nation for President unanimously, this choice being in
conformity to the well-known wish of Jackson. On
the first ballot for Vice-President, Richard M. John-
son, of Kentucky, was nominated by a very close margin
over the required two-thirds, having 178 votes against
87 for William C. Rives, of Virginia.
Again the Democratic party preferred to go before
the people without presenting a national platform.
Whig Party
The name Whig had by this time been generally
substituted for National Republican. Owing to the
disastrous defeat of Clay in 1832, it was not deemed
expedient again to nominate him. The party was suf-
fering much discouragement from the lack of a confi-
dent organization and leadership adapted to put it in
an aggressive position against the supreme and disci-
plined Democracy. While it retained its determina-
tion and energy as an opposition, its distractions were
too serious to enable it to enter the campaign to advan-
tage. No national convention was held, and the mat-
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 77
ter of nominations was left to the States, with a hope
in some quarters that the result of 1824 might be re-
peated and the election be thrown into the House of
Representatives.
Daniel Webster, whose aspirations for the Presi-
dency were no less ardent than Clay's, was hopeful of
securing substantial party support. The Legislature
of Massachusetts placed him in nomination, but this
was the only State endorsement that he received.
General William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, proved
to be the favorite. In turning to him the Whigs ap-
pear to have taken a lesson from the Democrats, with
the hope that his military reputation and general rugged
traits of character would appeal to the popular imagi-
nation and enthusiasm in some such manner as the
similar personality of Jackson had done. He was
nominated for the Presidency by Whig conventions
held in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Maryland,
and other States. For the Vice-Presidency on the Har-
rison ticket, Francis Granger, of New York, received
the nomination in some of the States, and John Tyler,
of Virginia, in others.
Another Whig candidate put in the field for Presi-
dent was Willie P. Mangum, of North Carolina.
Hugh L. White, of Tennessee, at that time not
classed as a Whig but as an anti-administration Demo-
crat, was brought forward against Van Buren by some
of the disaffected southern Democrats with Whig co-
operation. His most important endorsement was that
of Tennessee, Jackson's own State.
78 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1836
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
The Election
For President, Electoral vote :
Martin Van Buren, Democrat : — Alabama, 7 ; Arkansas, 3 ; Con-
necticut, 8; Illinois, 5; Louisiana, 5; Maine, 10; Michigan, 3; Missis-
sippi, 4; Missouri, 4; New Hampshire, 7; New York, 42; North
Carolina, 15; Pennsylvania, 30; Rhode Island, 4; Virginia, 23.
Total, 170. Elected.
William Henry Harrison, Whig: — Delaware, 3; Indiana, 9; Ken-
tucky, 15; Maryland, 10; New Jersey, 8; Ohio, 21; Vermont, 7.
Total, 73.
Hugh L. White, anti-administration : — Georgia, 1 1 ; Tennessee,
15. Total, 26.
Daniel Webster, Whig: — Massachusetts, 14.
Willie P. Mangum, Whig: — South Carolina, 11.
For Vice-President, Electoral vote:
Richard M. Johnson, Democrat : — Same as Van Buren, less 23 in
Virginia. Total, 147.
Francis Granger, Whig: — Delaware, 3 ; Indiana, 9 ; Kentucky, 15 ;
Massachusetts, 14; New Jersey, 8; Ohio, 21 ; Vermont, 7. Total, 77.
John Tyler, Whig: — Georgia, 11 ; Maryland, 10; South Carolina,
11 ; Tennessee, 15. Total, 47.
William Smith, of Alabama, Democrat: — Virginia, 23. Virginia
strongly opposed the nomination of Johnson by the Democratic na-
tional convention, and persisted in antagonizing him at the election.
Johnson had exactly half the Electoral vote. The decision being
referred to the United States Senate conformably to the Constitution,
that body elected Johnson Vice- President.
Popular vote:
Van Buren, 761,549; Harrison, 549,394; White, 146,149; Web-
ster, 41,093 ; Mangum, no popular vote reported, his 1 1 Electors being
chosen by the South Carolina Legislature.
1840
Liberty Party
The opening of the Presidential campaign of this
year was signalized by the appearance of a new politi-
cal organization, the Abolition, or Liberty, party. On
November 13, 1839, it held a convention at Warsaw,
New York, which adopted the following:
"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."
James G. Birney, of New York, was nominated for
President, and Francis J. Le Moyne, of Pennsylvania,
for Vice-President; both declined — Birney because the
convention was not a national body held for nominating
purposes, LeMoyne on account of modesty.1
A national nominating convention of Abolitionists
met in Albany, New York, April 1, 1840, six States
being represented. Nominations: — President, James
G. Birney, of New York; Vice-President, Thomas
Earle, of Pennsylvania.
Although the organization which originally was
1See McMaster, A History of the People of the United States, vol. vi,
p. 569.
79
80 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1839
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
known as the Abolition or Liberty party, and afterward
was merged into the Free Soil party, participated in all
the Presidential contests from 1840 until the appearance
of the Republican party, neither it nor the Free Soil
organization ever carried a State for President or
secured a single Electoral vote. It held positive anti-
slavery views, based upon moral principle; but never-
theless claimed to pursue a policy of constitutional
foundation and proceeding, as opposed to the avowed
disunionism of the Garrisonians, who took their stand
on the doctrine that the Constitution was "a covenant
with death and an agreement with hell." In spite of
the smallness of this new party's vote, its ideas exer-
cised a growing influence upon political thought, par-
ticularly as the result of the startling events that fol-
lowed the Mexican War. Opinions differ concerning
the extent to which the modern Republican party is to
be regarded as having originated from it. In view of
the historical interest of this question, the successive
national platforms of the Abolitionists and Free Soil-
ers will be given in full (see 1844, 1848, and 1852).
Whig Party
National convention held at Harrisburg, Pennsylva-
nia, December 4-7, 1839; temporary chairman; Isaac
C. Bates, of Massachusetts; permanent chairman,
James Barbour, of Virginia; twenty-two States repre-
sented.
A novel method of nomination was adopted. In-
stead of balloting in the full convention, a "committee
1840] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 81
of the whole" was appointed, consisting of not more
than three delegates from each State; these delegates
then met, received the ballots of their respective States,
and made the footings but did not report to the con-
vention until a nomination was effected. After a pro-
tracted struggle William Henry Harrison was chosen
as the candidate, receiving on the final ballot 148 votes
to 90 for Henry Clay and 16 for Winfield Scott, of
New Jersey. John Tyler was unanimously nominated
for Vice-President.
No platform.
Democratic Party
National convention met in Baltimore, May 5, 1840;
temporary chairman, Isaac Hill, of New Hampshire;
permanent chairman, William Carroll, of Tennessee;
twenty-one States represented.
Martin Van Buren was renominated for President
unanimously. Owing to serious disagreements about
the Vice-Presidency, no one was named for that office,
but a resolution was adopted which left the decision to
the States, the hope being expressed "that before the
election shall take place this opinion will become so
concentrated as to secure the choice of a Vice-President
by the Electoral College."
The first national platform to be promulgated by the
Democratic party was adopted by this convention, as
follows :
"1. 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
82 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1840
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
and agents of the government, and that it is inexpedient and danger-
ous 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 ex-
pedient.
"4. Resolved, That justice and sound policy forbid the Federal
government to foster one branch of industry to the detriment of an-
other, or to cherish the interests of one portion to the injury of an-
other portion of our common country ; that every citizen and every
section of the country has a right to demand and insist upon an equal-
ity of rights and privileges, and to complete and ample protection of
person and property from domestic violence or foreign aggression.
"5. Resolved, That it is the duty of every branch of the govern-
ment 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 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 every-
thing appertaining to their own affairs not prohibited by the Constitu-
tion; that all efforts by Abolitionists or others, made to induce Con-
gress 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
1840] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 83
stability and permanence of the Union, and ought not to be counte-
nanced by any friend of our political institutions.
"8. Resolved, That the separation of the moneys of the govern-
ment 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 Constitu-
tion, which make ours the land of liberty and the asylum of the op-
pressed of every nation, have ever been cardinal principles in the Demo-
cratic faith ; and every attempt to abridge the present privilege of
becoming citizens and the owners of soil among us ought to be
resisted with the same spirit which swept the Alien and Sedition laws
from our statute-book."
The most significant feature of this platform was its
recognition of the anti-slavery agitation, which, on
account of the continual presentation of petitions to
Congress with special reference to the demanded aboli-
tion of slavery in the District of Columbia and the cir-
culation of Abolitionist literature through the mails,
had begun to rise to national prominence. In addition
to the direct expression on the subject made in the
seventh resolution, other planks were so worded as
authoritatively to establish the Democratic creed of
strict adherence to the Constitution and the protection
of property rights accordingly.
The Election
The Democratic party suffered from a widespread
reaction of popular sentiment, resulting in its first
national defeat. An aggressive campaign was waged
by the Whigs from the start, which soon became marked
by immense popular enthusiasm for Harrison. This
84 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL 1 1840
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
was the famous "log cabin and hard cider campaign,"1
with the rallying cry of "Tippecanoe, and Tyler too."
For President, Electoral vote:
William Henry Harrison, Whig: — Connecticut, 8; Delaware, 3;
Georgia, 11; Indiana, 9; Kentucky, 15; Louisiana, 5; Maine, 10;
Maryland, 10; Massachusetts, 14; Michigan, 3; Mississippi, 4; New
Jersey, 8; New York, 42; North Carolina, 15; Ohio, 21; Pennsyl-
vania, 30; Rhode Island, 4; Tennessee, 15; Vermont, 7. Total, 234.
Elected.
Martin Van Buren, Democrat : — Alabama, 7 ; Arkansas, 3 ; Illinois,
5; Missouri, 4; New Hampshire, 7; South Carolina, 11 ; Virginia, 23.
Total, 60.
For Vice-President, Electoral vote:
John Tyler, Whig: — Same as Harrison, 234. Elected.
Richard M. Johnson, Democrat: — Same as Van Buren, less 11 in
South Carolina and 1 in Virginia. Total, 48.
Littleton W. Tazewell, of Virginia, Democrat: — South Caro-
lina, 11.
James K. Polk, of Tennessee, Democrat: — Virginia, 1.
Popular vote:
Harrison, 1,275,017; Van Buren, 1,128,702; Birney, 7,059.
1The eastern end of General Harrison's house at North Bend consisted of
a log cabin that had been built by one of the first settlers of Ohio, but which
had long since been covered with clapboards. The republican simplicity of
his home was extolled by his admirers, and a political biography of that
time said that "his table, instead of being covered with exciting wines, is
well supplied with the best cider." Log cabins and hard cider, then, became
the party's emblems, and both were features of all the political demonstra-
tions of the canvass, which witnessed the introduction of the enormous mass-
meetings and processions that have since been common just before Presi-
dential elections. — Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, vol. iii,
P. 98.
1844
Liberty-Abolitionist Party
National convention held in Buffalo, August 30,
1843 ; chairman, Leicester King, of Ohio; twelve States
were represented by 148 delegates.
Nominations: — For President, James G. Birney, of
New York; for Vice-President, Thomas Morris, of
Ohio.
Platform:
"1. Resolved, That human brotherhood is a cardinal principle of
true democracy, as well as of pure Christianity, which spurns all in-
consistent limitations; and neither the political party which repudiates
it, nor the political system which is not based upon it, can be truly
democratic or permanent.
"2. Resolved, That the Liberty party, placing itself upon this
broad principle, will demand the absolute and unqualified divorce of
the general government from slavery, and also the restoration of
equality of rights among men in every State where the party exists or
may exist.
"3. Resolved, That the Liberty party has not been organized for
any temporary purpose bv interested politicians, but has arisen from
among the people in consequence of a conviction, hourly gaining
ground, that no other party in the country represents the true princi-
ples of American liberty or the true spirit of the Constitution of the
United States.
"4. Resolved, That the Liberty party has not been organized
merely for the overthrow of slavery; its first decided effort must,
indeed, be directed against slaveholding as the grossest and most re-
85
86 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1844
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
volting manifestation of despotism, but it will also carry out the
principle of equal rights into all its practical consequences and appli-
cations, and support every just measure conducive to individual and
social freedom.
"5. Resolved, That the Liberty party is not a sectional party, but
a national party ; was not originated in a desire to accomplish a single
object, but in a comprehensive regard to the great interests of the
whole country ; is not a new party, nor a third party, but is the party
of 1776, reviving the principles of that memorable era and striving
to carry them into practical application.
"6. Resolved, That it was understood in the times of the Declara-
tion and the Constitution that the existence of slavery in some of
the States was in derogation of the principles of American liberty,
and a deep stain upon the character of the country; and the implied
faith of the States and the nation was pledged that slavery should
never be extended beyond its then existing limits, but should be
gradually, and yet at no distant day wholly, abolished by State
authority.
"7. Resolved, That the faith of the States and the nation thus
pledged was most nobly redeemed by the voluntary abolition of slavery
in several of the States, and by the adoption of the Ordinance of 1787
for the government of the territory northwest of the river Ohio, then
the only Territory in the United States, and consequently the only
Territory subject in this respect to the control of Congress, by which
Ordinance slavery was forever excluded from the vast regions which
now compose the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and the
Territory of Wisconsin, and an incapacity to bear up any other than
free men was impressed on the soil itself.
"8. Resolved, That the faith of the States and the nation, thus
pledged, has been shamefully violated by the omission on the part of
many of the States to take any measures whatever for the abolition
of slavery within their respective limits; by the continuance of slavery
in the District of Columbia and in the Territories of Louisiana and
Florida; by the legislation of Congress; by the protection afforded
by national legislation and negotiation of slaveholding in American
vessels, on the high seas, employed in the coastwise slave traffic; and
1844] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 87
by the extension of slavery far beyond its original limits by acts of
Congress admitting new slave States into the Union.
"9. Resolved, That the fundamental truth of the Declaration of
Independence, that all men are endowed by their Creator with certain
inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness, was made the fundamental law of our national government
by that amendment of the Constitution which declares that no person
shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of
law.
"10. Resolved, That we recognize as sound the doctrine main-
tained by slaveholding jurists, that slavery is against natural rights
and strictly local, and that its existence and continuance rest on no
other support than State legislation, and not on any authority of
Congress.
"11. Resolved, That the general government has, under the Con-
stitution, no power to establish or continue slavery anywhere, and
therefore that all treaties and acts of Congress establishing, continuing,
or favoring slavery in the District of Columbia, in the Territory of
Florida, or on the high seas are unconstitutional, and all attempts to
hold men as property within the limits of exclusive national juris-
diction ought to be prohibited by law.
"12. Resolved, That the provisions of the Constitution of the
United States which confer extraordinary political powers on the
owners of slaves, and thereby constituting the two hundred and fifty
thousand slaveholders in the slave States a privileged aristocracy ; and
the provision for the reclamation of fugitive slaves from service, are
anti-republican in their character, dangerous to the liberties of the
people, and ought to be abrogated.
"13. Resolved, That the practical operation of the second of
these provisions is seen in the enactment of the act of Congress re-
specting persons escaping from their masters, which act, if the con-
struction given to it by the Supreme Court of the United States in the
case of Prigg v. Pennsylvania be correct, nullifies the habeas corpus
acts of all the States, takes away the whole legal security of personal
freedom, and ought, therefore, to be immediately repealed.
88 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1844
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"14. Resolved, That the peculiar patronage and support hitherto
extended to slavery and slaveholding by the general government ought
to be immediately withdrawn, and the example and influence of na-
tional authority ought to be arrayed on the side of liberty and free
labor.
"15. Resolved, That the practice of the general government,
which prevails in the slave States, of employing slaves upon the public
works, instead of free laborers, and paying aristocratic masters, with
a view to secure or reward political services, is utterly indefensible and
ought to be abandoned.
"16. Resolved, That freedom of speech and of the press, and the
right of petition, and the right of trial by jury, are sacred and in-
violable; and that all rules, regulations, and laws in derogation of
either are oppressive, unconstitutional, and not to be endured by a
free people.
"17. Resolved, That we regard voting, in an eminent degree, as
a moral and religious duty, which, when exercised, should be by voting
for those who will do all in their power for immediate emancipation.
"18. Resolved, That this convention recommend to the friends of
liberty in all those free States where any inequality of rights and
privileges exists on account of color, to employ their utmost energies to
remove all such remnants and effects of the slave system.
"Whereas, The Constitution of these United States is a series of
agreements, covenants, or contracts between the people of the United
States, each with all and all with each; and
"Whereas, It is a principle of universal morality that the moral
laws of the Creator are paramount to all human laws; or, in the
language of an Apostle, that 'we ought to obey God rather than
men', and
"Whereas, The principle of common law that any contract, cove-
nant, or agreement to do an act derogatory to natural right is vitiated
and annulled by its inherent immorality, has been recognized by one
of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, who in a
recent case expressly holds that 'any contract that rests upon such a
basis is void"; and
"Whereas, The third clause of the Second section of the Fourth
JAMES MONROE
James Monroe, 5th president; born in Westmoreland County,
Va., April 28, 1758; lawyer; served in war of the revolution;
member of state assembly, 1786; United States senator, Novem-
ber 9, 1790 until resignation in 1794; appointed by President
Jefferson minister plenipotentiary to France, England and Spain
successively; governor of Virginia, 1811; secretary of state
under Madison from November, 1811 to March, 1817; president
1817-1825; died in New York City, July 4, 1831.
1844] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 89
article of the Constitution of the United States, when construed as
providing for the surrender of a fugitive slave, does 'rest upon such
a basis,' in that it is a contract to rob a man of a natural right —
namely, his natural right to his own liberties — and is, therefore,
absolutely void; therefore,
"19. Resolved, That we hereby give it to be distinctly under-
stood by this nation and the world that, as Abolitionists, considering
that the strength of our cause lies in its righteousness, and our hope
for it in our conformity to the laws of God and our respect for the
rights of man, we owe it to the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe as
a proof of our allegiance to Him, in all our civil relations and offices,
whether as private citizens or public functionaries sworn to support
the Constitution of the United States, to regard and treat the third
clause of the Second section of the Fourth article of that instrument,
whenever applied to the case of a fugitive, as utterly null and void,
and consequently as forming no part of the Constitution of the
United States, whenever we are called upon or sworn to support it.1
"20. Resolved, That the power given to Congress by the Constitu-
tion to provide for calling out the militia to suppress insurrection
does not make it the duty of the government to maintain slavery by
military force, much less does it make it the duty of the citizens to
form a part of such military force. When freemen unsheathe the
sword it should be to strike for liberty, not for despotism.
"21. Resolved, That to preserve the peace of the citizens and
secure the blessings of freedom, the Legislature of each of the free
States ought to keep in force suitable statutes rendering it penal for
any of its inhabitants to transport, or aid in transporting, from such
State, any person sought to be thus transported merely because subject
to the slave laws of any other State; this remnant of independence
being accorded to the free States by the decision of the Supreme Court
in the case of Prigg v. the State of Pennsylvania."
1This extreme declaration was adopted to satisfy the more radical Aboli-
tionists. It was a subject of much disputation among the anti-slavery people,
some of whom repudiated it as a plain defiance of the Constitution while
others insisted that it was truly interpretive of the Constitution's spirit. The
Free Soil party refused to accept it, even after the passage of the Fugitive
Slave law of 1850.
90 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL U844
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Whig Party
National convention met in Baltimore, May 1, 1844;
temporary chairman, Andrew F. Hopkins, of Ala-
bama; permanent chairman, Ambrose Spencer, of New
York; all the States were represented by full delega-
tions.
For President, Henry Clay was nominated by accla-
mation. For Vice-President, Theodore Frelinghuy-
sen, of New Jersey, was nominated on the third ballot
by 155 votes to 79 for John Davis, of Massachusetts,
and 40 for Millard Fillmore, of New York.
The platform consisted principally of eulogies of
the candidates, who were pledged to maintain "all the
great principles of the Whig party" — these principles
being summed up as follows :
"A well-regulated currency; a tariff for revenue to defray the
necessary expenses of the government, and discriminating with spe-
cial reference to the protection of the domestic 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 prac-
tical efficiency, controlled by a well-regulated and wise economy."
Clay, reappearing as a Presidential nominee after an
interval of twelve years since his last candidacy, was
still regarded as the great leader of his party. High
hopes were entertained for his success. But events,
and certain bearings of popular opinion concerning
questions, placed him at a disadvantage. He was
obliged to conduct his campaign mainly on the defen-
sive.
1844] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 91
The remarkable triumph of the Whigs in 1840 was
supposed at that time to assure the execution of all their
policies, including those for restoring the United States
Bank, maintaining the protective tariff idea, and carry-
ing out internal improvements. The death of Presi-
dent Harrison, however, after only one month in office,
proved a terrible disaster to the party. His successor,
President Tyler, vetoed the Bank bill that was passed
by Congress, and even on the questions of tariff and
internal improvements his acts were out of harmony
with the traditional Whig ideas. Meantime the coun-
try turned again to the Democratic party, giving it a
large majority in Congress at the elections of 1842.
It was evident that the favorite Bank issue of the Whigs
was dead, and that the country did not desire to give
any further extension to the protective system.
Hence the notably retrograde course of the Whigs
in their national platform of 1844, which embodied
only a perfunctory expression on the tariff and made
no mention of the bank or internal improvements.
Democratic Party
National convention held in Baltimore, May 27-29,
1844; temporary and permanent chairman, Hendrick
B. Wright, of Pennsylvania. Every State except
South Carolina was represented, 325 delegates attend-
ing, but the vote of the convention was limited to 266.
Martin Van Buren, having served acceptably to his
party as President for one term and then unfortunately
experienced defeat, was strongly urged for the nomina-
tion. A determined effort was made to abolish the two-
92 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1844
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
thirds rule, but after a day and a half of discussion the
convention voted to retain it. The balloting began
with Van Buren in the lead, 146 votes being cast for
him, a few more than a majority. His strength then
declined, and when the fifth ballot was taken he was
passed by Lewis Cass, of Michigan. On the eighth bal-
lot James K. Polk, of Tennessee, who so far had not
received a vote, was given 44; and on the ninth ballot
he was nominated unanimously.
Silas Wright, of New York, was chosen for Vice-
President, but declined, whereupon the nomination
went to George M. Dallas, of Pennsylvania.
Platform :
"1. Resolved, That the American Democracy place their trust
not in factitious symbols, not in displays and appeals insulting to the
judgment and subversive of the intellect of the people, but in a clear
reliance upon 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 form of government springing from and
upheld by the popular will; and we contrast it with the creed and
practice of Federalism, under whatever name or form, which seeks
to palsy the will of the constituent and which conceives no imposture
too monstrous for the popular credulity.
"3. Resolved, Therefore, That, entertaining these views, the
Democratic party of this Union, through the delegates assembled in
a general convention of the States, coming together in a spirit of con-
cord, 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
1844] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 93
when, in general convention, they presented their candidates for
the popular suffrage.
[Resolutions 4 to 12, inclusive, consisted of the nine resolutions of
the platform of 1840; to which were added the following:]
"13. Resolved, That the proceeds of the public lands ought to
be sacredly applied to the national objects specified in the Constitu-
tion, 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.
"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
interest, to suspend the passage of a bill whose merits cannot secure
the approval of two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representa-
tives, 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.
"15. 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 conven-
tion recommends to the cordial support of the Democracy of the
Union."
The pith of the platform was in its concluding reso-
lution, which made it, indeed, as important and far-
reaching a political deliverance as has ever been issued
in American history. It committed the country, in the
event of Democratic success, first, to the acquisition of
complete and permanent title to the Oregon country;
and second, to the absorption of Texas into the Union
and accordingly, in all probability, a war with Mexico.
Concerning the first of these policies, the Democratic
party simply expressed in terms of finality the over-
94 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1844
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
whelming desire of the country for an immediate set-
tlement with England of the northwestern boundary on
a basis of enforcement of the territorial rights of the
United States. This matter had for long years in-
volved exasperating diplomatic delays and equivoca-
tions, the sole result being to continue the "joint occupa-
tion" agreement of 1818. During Tyler's administra-
tion negotiations had been progressing in which, it was
later shown, the contention of the United States was
firmly maintained; but on account of the delicate
nature of the controversy it was impossible at the time
to disclose the exact facts, and public opinion was
therefore in a high state of excitement. It was gener-
ally understood that England laid claim to the Colum-
bia River as the boundary; whereas the minimum
American demand was for the forty-ninth parallel, and
in the condition of popular feeling there arose an in-
sistent sentiment for the line of 54° 40'. "Fifty-four
forty or fight!" became the Democratic slogan in the
1844 canvass.
The word "r<?annexation," as applied in the platform
to the intended procedure regarding Texas, was a
euphemism to give a suggestion of constructive right to
the comprehensive plan of Texan annexation upon
which the party had fully decided. The territory con-
stituting Texas had never been recognized as belonging
to the United States, although at an early period — fol-
lowing the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from
France in 1803 — our government had maintained a
strong and undoubtedly reasonable claim to a portion
of Texas as comprised within the understood bounds of
1844] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 95
Louisiana. But whatever presumptive right the United
States may have originally had to any part of Texas was
formally waived at the time of Spain's cession of Flor-
ida in 1819. Subsequently Mexico achieved her inde-
pendence, and with it acquired Spain's title to all of
Texas. Then followed the steady increase of settlement
in Texas by Americans (mostly southerners), their re-
volt against Mexico under the flag of the Lone Star, and
the establishment of the republic of Texas (1836) . with,
however, only a modicum of the territory to which its
people aspired, and, moreover, but a precarious future
unless admission to the United States could be obtained.
The Texans, in offering themselves to us, proposed to
get all the advantages of territorial greatness possible
to be derived; and this meant war between the United
States and Mexico unless the latter country should ex-
hibit an altogether unimaginable pusillanimity. As a
matter of fact, when the annexation treaty (negotiated
by the Tyler administration and the Texan govern-
ment) was presented to the United States Senate in
April, 1844, it stipulated that Texas should embrace all
the country to the Rio Grande River from its mouth to
its source — which was a peremptory defiance of the
claim of Mexico; and when the treaty was acted on by
the Senate in June, 1844, it was rejected, only sixteen
voting for it.
Inextricably connected with the Texas question was
that of slavery. From the beginning of the discussion
relating to the possible acquisition of Texas, it was fore-
seen that adoption of the proposed policy would surely
revive the political slavery issue, with incalculable con-
96 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1844
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
sequences. Whilst most of the people of the north be-
lieved it would be unwise to interfere with slavery in
its existing status, they were everlastingly opposed to
positive steps looking to its spread. As early as 1837
Daniel Webster had said: "Gentlemen, we all see
that by whomsoever possessed, Texas is likely to be a
slaveholding country; and I frankly avow my entire
unwillingness to do anything which shall extend the
slavery of the African race on this continent, or add
other slaveholding States to the Union." When the
question became acute at the time of the original sub-
mission of the treaty to the Senate in April, 1844, the
Whigs were quite generally against annexation; but, as
they desired to retain all the strength possible in the
south, they made no party issue on the subject in the
ensuing Presidential campaign. Clay, as their leader,
at first declared his hostility to annexation, not on anti-
slavery grounds but because he did not desire to pro-
voke war. Later in the canvass he further explained his
views in letters that were regarded as having been writ-
ten from politic motives; and his feeling of resent-
ment toward the Abolitionists led him to refer to
them in terms of contumely. Among the northern
Democrats there were serious divisions of opinion.
Van Buren, in advance of the assembling of the national
convention, wrote a letter objecting to immediate an-
nexation; and his failure to secure the Presidential
nomination was attributed to the attitude thus taken.
Silas Wright's declination of the nomination for Vice-
President was occasioned by his loyalty to Van Buren,
in whose anti-annexationist views he fully coincided.
1844] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 97
The Election
From the preceding comments on the Democratic
and Whig national platforms, it will be seen that both
parties were under no small embarrassment in the con-
test. The result turned on the Texas question, and its
closeness was a convincing proof of the latent power of
anti-slavery. If the slavery issue had not been con-
cerned, the party standing for so valuable a territorial
accession as Texas could hardly have failed to win a
most decisive victory. Yet the Democrats would have
been defeated if New York had gone against them, and
in that State Folk's plurality was only 5,000. The
Whigs bitterly reproached the third-party Abolition-
ists, who polled for their ticket in New York 15,812
votes; but the latter retorted that they could not under-
stand how a legitimate claim upon their support could
have been advanced by Clay, who had temporized
during the canvass in order to satisfy the south and had
accordingly carried five slave States.
For President and Vice-President, Electoral vote:
James K. Polk and George M. Dallas, Democrats: — Alabama, 9;
Arkansas, 3; Georgia, 10; Illinois, 9; Indiana, 12; Louisiana, 6;
Maine, 9; Michigan, 5; Mississippi, 6; Missouri, 7; New Hamp-
shire, 6; New York, 36; Pennsylvania, 26; South Carolina, 9; Vir-
ginia, 17. Total, 170. Elected.
Henry Clay and Theodore Frelinghuysen, Whigs: — Connecticut,
6; Delaware, 3; Kentucky, 12; Maryland, 8; Massachusetts, 12;
New Jersey, 7; North Carolina, 11; Ohio, 23; Rhode Island, 4;
Tennessee, 13; Vermont, 6. Total, 105.
Popular vote:
Polk, 1,337,243; Clay, 1,300,518; Birney, 62,300.
1848
The great and historic administration of President
Polk (March, 1845, to March, 1849) brought to com-
pletion the continental development of the United
States in its comprehensive expanse from the Atlantic
to the Pacific and from north to south.1 The total gain
in square miles was 1,201,178, which exceeded by more
than 350,000 the area of the original States as estab-
lished by the peace of 1783, and by more than 300,000
that of the vast Louisiana Purchase. This gain was
divided as follows : — territory claimed by Texas, an-
nexed in 1845, 389,610 square miles; territory compris-
ing the present States of Oregon, Washington, and
Idaho, and parts of Montana and Wyoming, confirmed
to us by treaty with Great Britain in 1846, 285,123
square miles; cession by Mexico in 1848 of all de-
manded territory west of Texas, inclusive of California,
526,445 square miles.
The Oregon dispute was adjusted by acceptance of
the forty-ninth parallel as the boundary; the Texas
question was settled by the Mexican War. In reality
the previous opposition to Texan annexation repre-
sented only certain scruples and misgivings, which
1The only continental territory afterward added (except the detached
possessions of Alaska and the Panama Canal Zone) was the Gadsden Pur-
chase, a strip of 31,017 square miles acquired from Mexico by peaceful treaty
in 1854, embracing portions of the present States of Arizona and New Mexico.
Our authority for the various areas of territorial acquisition given above
is the Cyclopedia of American Government, article on Area of the United
States.
98
1845-8] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 99
were without the sustaining and binding force of de-
clarative support by a great party. The decisive steps
concerning Texas were taken during the last days of
Tyler's administration, and, with annexation thus
made an accomplished fact, public sentiment was for
pursuing all the subsequent measures and realizing all
the national advantages logically involved. At the
foundation of the question was the claim made for the
Texans as our own people, entitled to our active sym-
pathy and cooperation — a claim that could no more be
ignored or treated indifferently than the demand of the
American pioneers in Oregon for due maintenance by
the government of their rights and interests. In view
of the undoubted national character of the response to
Texas's appeal, the charge urged by not a few orators
and publicists of that period, that the annexation and
the war were purely enterprises of slavery aggression,
was certainly most unjust to the country. The slavery
aggressions that followed were indeed numerous and
intolerable, and moreover were not unforeseen; but in
heartily supporting the war the northern people de-
prived the south of any reasonable pretension to either
a superior sectional interest in it or special sectional
advantages from its results. In truth the south, in all
its later reproaches and allegations against the north,
never raised a question concerning the Mexican War
except in relation to the decided refusal of northern
sentiment to regard its outcome as establishing new
"rights" for slavery.
The issue of slavery extension, which the Missouri
Compromise of 1820 had settled for the unorganized
100 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1846
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
territory at that time existing, took on a new and por-
tentous aspect with the prodigious increase of the
national possessions in 1845-48. Incidentally to the
annexation of Texas in 1845 and its prompt admission
as a State, the slave system that had been instituted and
maintained throughout its jurisdiction by its American
settlers was fully sanctioned by the national govern-
ment. This was expected by everyone. It was even
arranged and stipulated that the State of Texas might,
at discretion, carve out of its territory four additional
States "of convenient size," and that each of the new
States should, if lying south of the line 36° 30', be en-
titled, upon acquiring sufficient population, to admis-
sion to the Union "with or without slavery, as the peo-
ple of each State asking admission may desire"; — an
arrangement, however, that never came to anything
practically.
The real contest on the slavery questions springing
out of the war was with reference to the ceded territory
outside of Texas — a territory comprehending the entire
present States of Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and Califor-
nia, and parts of New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyo-
ming. Toward the end of the Congressional session in
the summer of 1846 — the war being in progress but its
result mainly a question of the territory to be ac-
quired,— President Polk requested an appropriation
with a view to initiating peace negotiations. David
Wilmot, a Democratic Congressman from Pennsylva-
nia, after consulting with influential members of his
party from the north, thereupon offered the very famous
proposal known as the "Wilmot Proviso," as follows:
1846] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 101
"Provided, That as an express and fundamental condition to the
acquisition of any territory from the republic of Mexico by the
United States, by virtue of any treaty which may be negotiated
between them, and to the use by the Executive of the moneys herein
appropriated, neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever
exist in any part of the said territory, except for crime, whereof the
party shall be first duly convicted."
The House passed the bill with the Proviso, 87 to 64,
anti-slavery Democrats and Whigs supporting it, but
owing to the adjournment of Congress without day it
did not come to a vote in the Senate. It was never
favorably acted on by the latter body, but on frequent
occasions was reaffirmed by the House. The principle
laid down was of immense significance, and the stead-
fast support accorded it gave mortal affront to the
south. Perhaps equally exasperating to the south was
the constant northern contention that, as Mexico had
abolished slavery, its reestablishment in the territory in
question would mean a reversion to an archaic condi-
tion. It was well known that the Mexican slavery-
abolition was not based on humanitarian grounds, but
inspired by recognition of the social and political equal-
ity of the inferior races with the Spanish elements con-
sequent upon their long reciprocal intermixture, legit-
imately as well as otherwise. The high-spirited
slaveholders of the United States did not for a moment
admit that the systemic introduction of their "domestic
institution" on the conquered soil would be equivalent
to a retrogression from the existent Mexican standard.
In the interval remaining before the Presidential
campaign of 1848 the southerners, on their part,
102 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1847-8
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
brought forward several proposals of slavery extension
and formulations of fundamental ideas which clearly
indicated their aggressive designs for the future. Of
these, the measure most truly representative of the spirit
and intentions of the south was a series of resolutions
presented in the Senate (February, 1847) by John C.
Calhoun, of South Carolina, which declared that the
Territories belonged to the States in common; that a
law depriving any citizen of his right to emigrate with
his property (i. e., slaves) to any Territory would be
violative of the Constitution; and that no condition
should be imposed on new States except that they should
have a republican form of government — meaning that
the Constitution of its own force carried slavery into
the Territories. Although these resolutions were not
acted on by the Senate, it soon became well under-
stood that the doctrine they proclaimed was con-
sidered vital by the south and likely ultimately to
prove its last word in the whole disputation.
Various attempts were made to secure action by
Congress permitting the entrance of slavery into the
region to be taken from Mexico, which at that period
was tentatively divided into two Territories with the
names of New Mexico and California. But all of
them proved abortive, and up to the Presidential elec-
tion, as well as the end of the Polk administration,
there was no conclusive result respecting slavery in
those Territories.
Oregon, meantime, was established as a Territory
without slavery (August, 1848), but not until after
much debate and several votes in both branches of
1848] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 103
Congress; on the final division twenty-five southern
Senators opposed the bill because of its anti-slavery
provision.
Concerned in the discussion about Oregon was the
very important question of projecting the Missouri
Compromise line (36° 30') to the Pacific. The pro-
jection was chiefly favored by the south on account of
the associated principle of slavery recognition and the
sure gain for the slave States to a large extent. Sena-
tor Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, was the proponent
of the leading measure on the subject, which the Sen-
ate passed but the House overwhelmingly rejected in
compliance with the strong northern feeling against
any new territorial concession whatever to slavery.
The momentous national events and Congressional
proceedings of the four years 1845-48, which we have
succinctly reviewed in the preceding pages, formed
the foundation of the entire political history of the
next two decades; there was not a question or develop-
ment leading to or connected with the Civil War that
did not trace its origin immediately to them. The
basic idea of Douglas's great "popular sovereignty"
panacea was propounded and explicated in the Con-
gressional transactions of this period; and the same
may be said of the favorite device of many per-
plexed people for leaving all questions as to the right-
ful existence or extent of slavery in the Territories to
the decision of the United States Supreme Court.
Only the formative stage of the conflict was reached;
but the inevitable issues on each side were plainly
defined in principle, with the certainty that the politi-
104 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1848
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
cal adjustments necessary to their settlement would
involve the most positive and critical differences.
Democratic Party
National convention held in Baltimore, May 22-26,
1848; temporary chairman, J. S. Bryce, of Louisiana;
permanent chairman, Andrew Stevenson, of Virginia.
The two-thirds rule was readopted. This convention
appointed the first national committee ever constituted
in the history of American parties.
Nominations: — Lewis Cass, of Michigan, was nomi-
nated for President on the fourth ballot by 179 votes
to 33 for James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania; 38 for
Levi Woodbury, of New Hampshire; 1 for W. J.
Worth, of Tennessee, and 3 for William O. Butler, of
Kentucky. For Vice-President, William O. Butler
received a unanimous nomination on the third ballot
after a struggle in which five other candidates were
voted for.
An incident of sensational character, and destined
to have notable consequences, was the appearance be-
fore the convention of two rival delegations from New
York — one representing the Hunker faction of con-
servatives, opposed to the Wilmot Proviso and in favor
of accepting any Presidential candidate upon whom
the party should decide; the other representing the
Barnburners or radicals, who were supporters of the
Wilmot Proviso and reserved to their own judgment
the question of endorsing the nominee to be chosen.
Not wishing to antagonize any party element in the
great State of New York, the convention voted to
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS
John Quincy Adams, 6th president; born at Baintree, Mass.,
July 11, 1767; lawyer; elected to state senate 1802; defeated
for congress, 1802; elected to U. S. senate, serving from March
4, 1803, to June 8, 1808; resigned; minister to Russia, 1809-14;
minister to England, 1815-17; secretary of state under Monroe,
1817-25; chosen president of United States by house of repre-
sentatives, 1825; term ended, 1829; defeated for governor of
Massachusetts, 1834; representative in congress from March 4,
1831 until his death, which took place in the capital at Wash-
ington, February 23, 1848. .
1848] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 105
admit both the delegations on equal terms; but this
decision did not prove satisfactory to either of them,
and as the result each withdrew. The Barnburners,
returning home, lost no time in starting the diversion
from the party that culminated in the Free Soil candi-
dacy of Van Buren.
The spirit of accommodation concerning party dis-
sensions which the convention showed in its action on
the New York dispute, was manifested also in treating
delicate national questions. Resolutions condemning
the Wilmot Proviso and approving Calhoun's doctrine
as to the unlimited rights of slaveowners in the Terri-
tories were voted down.
Platform:
"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 form of government spring-
ing from and upheld by the popular will; and we contrast it with
the creed and practice of Federalism, under whatever name or
form, which seeks to palsy the will of the constituent and which
conceives no imposture too monstrous for the popular credulity.
"3. Resolved, Therefore, That, entertaining these views, the
Democratic party of this Union, through the delegates assembled
in a general convention of the States, coming together in a spirit of
concord, of devotion to the doctrines and faith of a free representa-
tive government, and appealing to their fellow-citizens for the recti-
tude 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 candi-
dates for the popular suffrage.
106 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1848
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"4. 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 danger-
ous to exercise doubtful constitutional powers.
"5. Resolved, That the Constitution does not confer upon the
general government the power to commence and carry on a general
system of internal improvements.
"6. 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 improve-
ments or other State purposes; nor would such assumption be just
or expedient.
"7. 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 protec-
tion of person and property from domestic violence or foreign
aggression.
"8. Resolved, That it is the duty of every branch of the gov-
ernment to enforce and practice the most rigid economy in conduct-
ing 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, after peaceful relations shall
have been restored.
"9. Resolved, That Congress has no power to charter a United
States Bank ; that we believe such an institution one of deadly hos-
tility 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; and that the
results of Democratic legislation in this and all other financial meas-
ures upon which issues have been made between the two political
1848] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 107
parties of the country have demonstrated to careful and practical men
of all parties their soundness, safety, and utility in all business pur-
suits.
"10. Resolved, That Congress has no power under the Constitu-
tion to interfere with or control the domestic institutions of the
several States, and that such States are the sole and proper judges of
everything appertaining 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 inevi-
table 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 of our political institutions.
"11. Resolved, That the separation of the moneys of the gov-
ernment from banking institutions is indispensable for the safety of
the funds of the government and the rights of the people.
"12. Resolved, That the liberal principles embodied by Jeffer-
son in the Declaration of Independence, and sanctioned in the Con-
stitution, which make 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 soil among us ought to be
resisted with the same spirit which swept the Alien and Sedition
laws from our statute-book.
"13. Resolved, That the proceeds of the public lands ought to
be sacredly applied to the national object specified in the Constitu-
tion; 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 suspend the passage of a bill whose merits cannot secure
the approval of two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representa-
tives, until the judgment of the people can be obtained thereon, and
108 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1848
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
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 improvements.
"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
laws of nations it is a just and necessary war on our part, in which
every American should have shown himself on the side of his coun-
try and neither morally nor physically, by word or by deed, have
given 'aid and comfort to the enemy.'
"16. Resolved, That we should 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 in every measure
necessary to provide for the vigorous prosecution of the war, should
that treaty be rejected.
"17. Resolved, That the officers and soldiers who have carried
the arms of their country into Mexico have crowned it with imper-
ishable glory. Their unconquerable courage, their daring enter-
prise, their unfaltering perseverance and fortitude when assailed on
all sides by innumerable foes and that more formidable enemy, the
diseases of the climate, exalt their devoted patriotism into the highest
heroism and give them a right to the profound gratitude of their
country and the admiration of the world.
"18. Resolved, That the Democratic national convention of the
thirty States composing the American republic tender their fraternal
congratulations to the National Convention of the republic of France,
now assembled as the free-suffrage representatives of the sovereignty
of thirty-five millions of republicans to establish government on
those eternal principles of equal rights for which their Lafayette 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 counsels,
1848] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 109
on the basis of a democratic constitution not derived from 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 capac-
ity, to make and to amend their form of government in such man-
ner as the welfare of the community may require.
"19. Resolved, That, in view of the recent developments of this
grand political truth of the sovereignty of the people and their capac-
ity and power for self-government, 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 responsi-
bility, 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, Union as
it is, and the Union as it shall be in the full expansion of the ener-
gies and capacity of this great and progressive people.
"20. Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded,
through the American Minister at Paris, to the National Conven-
tion of the republic of France.
"21. Resolved, That the fruits of the great political triumph of
1844, which elected James K. Polk and George M. Dallas Presi-
dent and Vice-President of the United States, have fulfilled the hopes
of the Democracy of the Union in defeating the declared purposes
of their opponents in creating a national bank; in preventing the
corrupt and unconstitutional distribution of the land proceeds from
the common treasury of the Union for local purposes; in protecting
the currency and labor of the country from ruinous fluctuations, and
guarding the money of the country for the use of the people by the
establishment of the constitutional treasury; in the noble impulse
given to the cause of free trade by the repeal of the tariff of 1842
and the creation of the more equal, honest, and productive tariff of
1846; and that, in our opinion, it would be a fatal error to weaken
HO POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1848
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
the hands of a political organization by which these great reforms
have been achieved and risk them in the hands of their known adver-
saries, with whatever delusive appeals they may solicit our surrender
of that vigilance which is the only safeguard of liberty.
"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 congratula-
tions upon the brilliant success which has hitherto crowned his patri-
otic efforts, and assure him that at the expiration of his Presidential
term he will carry with him to his retirement the esteem, respect,
and admiration of a grateful country."
Whig Party
National convention held in Philadelphia, June
7-9, 1848; temporary chairman, John A. Collier, of
New York; permanent chairman, John M. Morehead,
of North Carolina.
Once more Clay sought the Presidential nomina-
tion. From the beginning, however, the favorite was
General Zachary Taylor, of Louisiana, who was nomi-
nated on the fourth ballot by the following vote:—
Taylor, 171; Clay, 32; Winfield Scott', 63; Daniel
Webster, 14.
Millard Fillmore, of New York, was nominated for
Vice-President on the second ballot, his principal
competitor being Abbott Lawrence, of Massachu-
setts.
The convention adopted no platform of principles.
Very determined and persistent efforts were made by
1848] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 111
individual members to compel some expression on
conspicuous questions; but resolution after resolution
was laid on the table. It was thought best by the con-
trolling spirits of the body not to commit the party to
anything specific that could militate against it in either
the north or south; they saw the impossibility of de-
claring a policy on the slavery issue suited to both sec-
tions, and realized that the sensitive balance of opin-
ion everywhere was likely to be turned by feeling.
The troubles of the Whigs about platform policy were
always much more serious than those of the Demo-
crats. The Whigs were under the necessity of win-
ning support in the south in order to succeed nation-
ally; this required particular discretion and inge-
nuity, with attentive reconsideration at each successive
election; whereas the Democrats had a consistent pro-
gram, which was sure to be acceptable to the south in
the last reduction and was relied on to serve at the
north on account of their strength with the masses, as
well as the conservative forces, in the principal States
of that quarter.
The Whig candidate, General Taylor, was selected
for the popularity that he had gained in the Mexican
War. He was a purely military character, had never
held public office, had never even voted, and was not
understood to hold decided opinions on the great ques-
tion of the time, although as a southerner and slave-
owner his predilections were presumed to be for his
section.1 Manifestly, a platform would have been an
encumbrance to him.
*A daughter of General Taylor was the first wife of Jefferson Davis.
112 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1848
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Great discontent was felt by the anti-slavery Whigs.
Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts, who had been a
delegate to the convention, was one of those who re-
pudiated its acts and left the party.
In default of a national platform, the supporters of
the ticket adopted declarations in conformity to their
several points of view. A ratification meeting held in
Philadelphia immediately after the convention passed
resolutions, in platform style, which ably but alto-
gether discreetly expressed the sentiments of the north-
ern wing of the party, and which have been quoted by
some writers as defining the Whig attitude in the cam-
paign of 1848; but they had no official authority. On
the other hand, a Democratic convention in South
Carolina tendered Taylor its endorsement (which he
accepted) on the ground that he, as a southern man,
could be better trusted regarding slavery than Cass, a
northern man.
Analyzing the Democratic and Whig positions in
the campaign, Carl Schurz says (Life of Clay) :
"Thus both parties avoided any clear position on the one great
question that most concerned the future of the republic. The
Democratic convention had rejected strong pro-slavery resolutions
in order to save its chances at the north. The Whig convention had
shouted down anti-slavery resolutions to save its chances at the
south. The Democratic party, which contained the bulk of the pro-
slavery element, tried to deceive the north by the nomination of a
northern man with southern principles. The Whig party, whose
ruling tendencies were unfriendly to slavery, tried to deceive the
south by silencing the anti-slavery sentiment for the moment and by
nominating a southern man who had not professed any principles
whatever."
1848] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 113
Free Soil Party
The Barnburner, or anti-slavery, faction of the
Democrats in New York had practically served notice
that it would follow its own counsels in the campaign;
and after the Democratic national convention, dissatis-
fied with the platform and the candidate, it proceeded
to make its opposition as effective as possible. A con-
vention was accordingly held in Utica, New York,
June 22, 1848, at which delegates were present from
New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Wisconsin-
Samuel Young presiding. Martin Van Buren "<was
nominated for President, and General Henry Dodge,
of Wisconsin, for Vice-President. General Dodge
declined.
The Utica convention proved to be the prelude to
a general movement of the pronounced anti-slavery
people of the country against the old-party tickets.
The prevailing influence was that of the "Free Demo-
crats," but, on account of the unquestioned sincerity of
the movement in the respect of principle, many Whigs,
as well as the supporters of the former Abolition party,
joined in it. The result was a call for a new and more
representative national convention, which met in Buf-
falo, August 9-10, 1848.
Upon the assembling of the Buffalo convention it
was seen that a wide interest, especially considering
its entirely spontaneous character, had been awakened.
The States of Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana,
Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan,
New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylva-
H4 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1848
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
nia, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin, and the Dis-
trict of Columbia, sent delegates. Charles Francis
Adams, of Massachusetts, presided.
Nominations: — For President, Martin Van Buren;
for Vice-President, Charles Francis Adams.
The political organization evolved from the Buffalo
convention is historically known as the Free Soil
party. During its brief existence (restricted to the
national campaigns of 1848 and 1852), it was generally
called the Free Democratic party on account of its
genesis and principal composition.
Platform :
"Whereas, We have assembled as a union of free men, for the
sake of freedom, forgetting all past political differences, in a com-
mon resolve to maintain the rights of free labor against the aggres-
sion of the slave power, and to secure free soil to a free people ; and
"Whereas, The political conventions recently assembled at Balti-
more and Philadelphia, the one stifling the voice of a great constitu-
ency entitled to be heard in its deliberations, and the other abandon-
ing its distinctive principles for mere availability, have dissolved the
national party organizations 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 oppo-
nents 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 ban-
ner 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, —
"1. Resolved, Therefore, That we, the people here assembled,
remembering the example 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
1848] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 115
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 cannot be repealed or modified by the Federal government,
and for which laws that government is not responsible. We there-
fore propose no interference by Congress with slavery within the
limits of any State.
"3. Resolved, That the proviso of Jefferson, to prohibit the exist-
ence of slavery after 1800 in all the Territories of the United States,
southern and northern; the votes of six States and sixteen delegates
in the Congress of 1784 for the proviso, to three States and seven
delegates against it; the actual exclusion of slavery from the North-
western 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, to estab-
lish justice, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings
of liberty; but expressly denied to the Federal government, which
they created, a 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 government possesses constitutional power
to legislate on that subject and is thus responsible for its existence.
"7. Resolved, That the true and, and in the judgment of this
116 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1848
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
convention, the only safe means of preventing the extension of slavery
into territory now free is to prohibit its extension in all such terri-
tory by an act of Congress.
"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
domain 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 bill1 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 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 pros-
perity, was defeated in the House of Representatives, its passage in
hot haste [in the Senate] 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 insti-
tutions for our brethren in Oregon now exposed to hardships, peril,
and massacre by the reckless hostility of the slave power to the estab-
lishment of free government for free Territories; and not only for
them, but for our brethren in California and New Mexico.
"11. Resolved, That it is due not only to this occasion, but to
the whole people of the United States, that we should also declare
ourselves on certain other questions of national policy; therefore,
1The bill here referred to was the "Clayton Compromise" of July, 1848
(named for Senator John M. Clayton, of Delaware), which provided for
organizing the Territorial governments of Oregon, New Mexico, and Cali-
fornia on the fundamental plan of referring disputed matters about slavery to
the Supreme Court
1848] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 117
"12. Resolved, That we demand cheap postage for the people;
a retrenchment of the expenses and patronage of the Federal gov-
ernment; the abolition of all unnecessary offices and salaries; and the
election by the people of all civil officers in the service of the govern-
ment so far as the same may be practicable.
"13>. Resolved, That river and harbor .improvements, when
demanded by the safety and convenience of commerce with foreign
nations, or among the several States, are objects of national con-
cern, and it is the duty of Congress, in the exercise of its constitu-
tional power, to provide therefor.
"14. Resolved, That the free grant to actual settlers, in con-
sideration of the expenses they incur in making settlements in the
wilderness, which are usually fully equal to their actual cost, and of
the public benefits resulting therefrom, of reasonable portions of the
public lands under suitable limitations, is a wise and just measure
of public policy which will promote, in various ways, the interest
of all the States of the Union ; and we therefore recommend it to the
favorable consideration of the American people.
"15. Resolved, That the obligations of honor and patriotism
require the earliest practical payment of the national debt, and we are
therefore in favor of such a tariff of duties as will raise revenue
adequate to defray the expenses of the Federal government and to
pay annual installments of our debt and the interest thereon.
"16. Resolved, That we inscribe on our banner Free Soil, Free
Speech, Free Labor, and Free Men, and under it we will fight on,
and fight ever, until a triumphant victory shall reward our exer-
tions."
The Election
Again the slavery issue decided the result. This
time the Democratic party was the sufferer. In New
York, which had been normally Democratic, the popu-
lar vote stood: Taylor (Whig), 218,603; Cass
(Democrat), 114,318; Van Buren (Free Soil), 120,-
510. If New York had gone for Cass he would have
been elected. The Free Soil party proved a consider-
118 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL 1 1848
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
able factor in several other northern States. On this
occasion the "Free Democrats" took the national ques-
tion of slavery more seriously than the anti-slavery
Whigs; the Wilmot Proviso was still much in people's
minds, and it was a Democratic measure. Many
Democrats went to the extremity of voting the Whig
ticket; the usually Democratic State of Pennsylvania
gave Taylor a clear majority over both Cass and Van
Buren. On the other hand, the Whig opponents of
slavery found it very difficult, upon reflection, to sup-
port Van Buren, who had long been one of the great
leaders of the Democratic party; and at the last
moment they largely preferred to sustain their own
national ticket.
But the most striking feature of the general result
was Taylor's strength in the south. He was success-
ful in eight slave States which together cast 66 Elec-
toral votes; Cass carried seven slave States, with 55
Electoral votes.
For President and Vice-President, Electoral vote:
Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore, Whigs: — Connecticut, 6;
Delaware, 3; Florida, 3; Georgia, 10; Kentucky, 12; Louisiana, 6;
Maryland, 8; Massachusetts, 12; New Jersey, 7; New York, 36;
North Carolina, 11; Pennsylvania, 26; Rhode Island, 4; Tennessee,
13; Vermont, 6. Total, 163. Elected.
Lewis Cass and William O. Butler, Democrats: — Alabama, 9;
Arkansas, 3; Illinois, 9; Indiana, 12; Iowa, 4; Maine, 9; Michi-
gan, 5; Mississippi, 6; Missouri, 7; New Hampshire, 6; Ohio, 23;
South Carolina, 9; Texas, 4; Virginia, 17; Wisconsin, 4. Total,
127.
Popular vote:
Taylor, 1,360,101; Cass, 1,220,544; Van Buren, 291,263.
1852
As we have seen, during Folk's administration the
only positive results concerning slavery were the ad-
mission of Texas as a slave State (1845) and the crea-
tion of Oregon as a free Territory (1848). The
"equiponderance" of the north and south was in 1849
perfect, each section having fifteen States.1 For the
future, anti-slavery was still understood to have an
impregnable title to all the territory north of 36° 30'
agreeably to the Missouri Compromise of 1820; but
slavery was as yet without any assured footing west of
Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri. The diverse meas-
ures of slavery extension presented and discussed in
Congress up to the early summer of 1848, although
conceived in the greatest seriousness, were only tenta-
tive actually because of the protraction of the official
state of war with Mexico. On July 4, 1848, the peace
treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was proclaimed to the
country by President Polk; but, aside from the passage
of the Oregon bill and the ineffectual attempt to enact
the Clayton Compromise (referred to in the Free Soil
platform of 1848), no new move of any consequence
was made until the opening, in December, 1849, of the
first regular session of Congress under the new admin-
istration.
!The border States of Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri were
in those times always classed with the south on account of their permission
of slavery.
119
120 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL U849
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
California, after the discovery of gold in 1848, in-
creased in population so rapidly as to be qualified for
admission to the Union as a State in the following
year. Its inhabitants held a Constitutional conven-
tion which completed its work on the 13th of October,
1849, by the adoption of a State Constitution contain-
ing an absolute prohibition of slavery — this prohibi-
tion, moreover, having been incorporated in the in-
strument by a unanimous vote of the convention. At
an election soon afterward the people of California
ratified the free Constitution by a vote of 12,066 to
811.
This action of California, so independent in its
nature and decisive on the question of principle at
stake, took the country by surprise and precipitated
the first formal contest on the new and final slavery
issues that grew out of the Mexican War. It gave
wonderful encouragement to the north, incensed the
south, and intensified the feelings of both sections as
to the matters that they respectively held to be funda-
mental. The southern leaders regarded California's
course as an unwarranted assumption to prejudge her
own rights in advance of the indispensable national
proceedings to settle the constitutional and political
questions affecting slavery expansion — an unceremo-
nious attempt to thrust herself into the Union as a full-
fledged State at a time of acute sectional competition.
It was insisted that the case of Texas was in no sense
similar — as Texas had joined the Union in the capacity
of an independent country and therefore was entitled
to exceptional advantages; whereas California was
ANDREW JACKSON
Andrew Jackson, 7th president; born in Union County, N. C.,
March 15, 1767; lawyer; solicitor for western district South
Carolina (now state of Tennessee), 1788; delegate to conven-
tion to frame constitution for new state of Tennessee, 1796;
member of congress, December, 1796 to March, 1797; United
States senator, 1797-98; judge Tennessee supreme court, 1798-
1804; served in war of 1812; led expedition which captured
Florida in 1817; United States senator, March 4, 1823 to
October 14, 1825; defeated as candidate for president, 1824;
elected, 1828; served March 4, 1829 to March 3, 1837; died,
Nashville, Tenn., June 8, 1845.
1849] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 121
only an ordinary part of the general unorganized
national domain. Stress was also laid by the south
upon the fact that concession to California of the right
of statehood without slavery would disturb the equi-
pose of the sections, as there was at the time no part
of the inchoate national possessions that was capable,
on the essential basis of population, of being erected
into a State with slavery.
It was hoped by the southerners that President
Taylor would take their view of the merits of the Cali-
fornia matter and refrain from recommending admis-
sion. But the President felt that such a course, so
palpably partisan on behalf of slavery, would be incom-
patible with his sworn duty to the whole country and
also unjust to the people of California. In his mes-
sage of December, 1849, he therefore informed Con-
gress of his expectation that California would soon
apply for admission as a State, and advised favorable
action in the event that the State Constitution adopted
should be found "conformable to the requisitions of
the Constitution of the United States." In addition,
he remarked that it was believed New Mexico would
at no very distant period request admission. Without
directly mentioning slavery as a subject pertinent to
the case of either California or New Mexico, he said:
"Preparatory to the admission of California and New Mexico,
the people of each will have instituted for themselves a republican
form of government, laying its foundation in such principles and
organizing its power in such form as to them shall seem most likely to
effect their safety and happiness. By awaiting their action all uneasi-
ness may be avoided and confidence and kind feeling preserved.
With a view of maintaining the harmony and tranquillity so dear to
122 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1850
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
all, we should abstain from the introduction of those topics of a
sectional character which have hitherto produced painful apprehen-
sions in the public mind; and I repeat the solemn warning of the
first and most illustrious of my predecessors against furnishing any
ground for characterizing parties by geographical discriminations."
While this was neither anti-slavery nor pro-slavery
doctrine, it put both the opponents and advocates of
slavery on their mettle to seek substantive results with-
out further delay. The outstanding facts were that
the President would sign a bill to admit California as
a free State; that, inferentially, for the sake of national
harmony he would not refuse the south compensating
advantages; but that he would not be likely to approve
any embracing program for the exclusive interest of
one side or the other. It was hence not the time for
either the north or south to attempt to realize the full
measure of its desires; but the conditions were pro-
pitious for bringing forward specific proposals of
"give and take." Thus was established the situation
from which the great Compromise measures of 1850
were evolved.
Clay, who was again in the Senate, was by common
consent made the leader of the Compromise forces.
He sincerely and ardently believed that only conces-
sions by both sides could accomplish a solution of the
country's troubles; that, in the nature of the case, the
concessions would have to be conclusive as to certain
practical details; and that, if mutually accepted, they
would operate for an ultimate concord of feeling as to
underlying questions so far as practical-minded men
and true lovers of the Union were concerned. After
1850] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 123
preliminary consideration of a tentative measure
drawn by Clay, and of various amendments to it, the
Senate appointed (April, 1850) a select committee of
thirteen, with Clay as chairman, which, in the follow-
ing month, reported the historic "Omnibus bill." Its
provisions, in brief, were as follows:
Admission forthwith of California as a free State
without reduction of its boundaries; division of the
remainder of the Mexican cession into two Territories,
New Mexico and Utah, both of which were to be
entitled ultimately to admission to the Union without
insistence by Congress for or against slavery; reduc-
tion of the boundaries of Texas so as to add a large
portion of its area to New Mexico, for which a money
indemnity (later fixed at $10,000,000) was to be paid
by the United States to Texas; a more effective na-
tional Fugitive Slave law; prohibition of the slave
trade in the District of Columbia, but no interference
with the existing status of slavery in the District
Attempts to pass the bill as a whole proved unsuc-
cessful. Its provisions were then considered sepa-
rately, and eventually both houses adopted them with-
out change. During the debate President Taylor died
(July 9, 1850). The Vice-President, Mr. Fillmore,
had been in agreement with the spirit of the Compro-
mises, and as President he signed all the bills.
Respecting the vital issue between the north and
south, that of territory-control, the conclusion reached
gave the advantage to the north in present substance,
but not in principle. California throughout its whole
extent was admitted as a free State; but the Wilmot
124 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1850
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Proviso — so aptly paraphrased in the Free Soil plat-
form by the words, "No more slave States and no
more slave territory" — was totally abandoned. The
new Territories of Utah and New Mexico (which, on
account of their size, were likely to undergo subdivi-
sion ultimately) were thrown open to slavery. True,
no apprehension was felt on this point; it was indeed
ridiculous even to think of the possibility of an early
application for statehood by either Utah or New
Mexico that could for a moment be considered. But
the deliberate recession by the north from the principle
of the Wilmot Proviso was an exceedingly serious
matter. It smoothed the way for the subsequent
claim and concession of equal rights for slavery in all
new Territories without exception; it led to the repeal
of the Missouri Compromise; and by committing the
government to a recognition of the legitimacy of slav-
ery extension it made quite unnecessary for the future
any timidity on that subject in national political con-
ventions.
These things were of course not to be foreseen in
1850 by the anti-slavery Senators and Representatives,
intent as they were on winning the fight for a free
California. Yet the attitude of the southern leaders
in the debate left no possible doubt of their unalterable
feeling about the principle of slavery extension. A
great speech was made by Calhoun (or rather, read
for him — he was too feeble to address the Senate, and
died a few days after), in which he dealt with the
foundation matter of southern right solely, from his
well-known constitutional point of view. Jefferson
1850] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 125
Davis, then a Senator from Mississippi, said: "Never
will I take less than the Missouri Compromise line
extended to the Pacific Ocean, with the specific recog-
nition of the right to hold slaves in the territory below
that line; and that, before such Territories are ad-
mitted into the Union as States, slaves may be taken
there from any of the United States at the option of
their owners." A strong effort was made by the ultra
southerners to force a division of California into two
States, north and south, so as to permit slave territory
to stretch to the Pacific. When this failed they ceased
to attach any value to the Missouri line for pro-slavery
purposes. In fact, the old accepted principle of geo-
graphical delimitation for slavery on the basis of the
Missouri Compromise was wholly destroyed by the
act of 1850, which tacitly sanctioned the institution
throughout the new Territories and consequently in
an extensive portion of the country far to the north of
the parallel 36° 30'.
The remaining Compromise acts, with the excep-
tion of the one establishing a more effective Fugitive
Slave law, were rather inconsequential so far as the
general question of slavery was concerned. Regard-
ing Texas, the arrangement for a diminution of her
territory in return for payment of a large sum of money
by the United States, was mainly an accommodating
financial transaction, in the interest of Texas and at the
instance of the south. The provision for putting an
end to the slave trade in the District of Columbia was
merely a sop to northern sentiment.
Some pro-slavery measures offered during the Com-
126 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1850
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
promise proceedings were dropped, among these being
an affirmation of the inability of Congress to prohibit
or obstruct the trade in slaves between the slavehold-
ing States. The south wished to have this principle
expressly stated and confirmed; but as none of the
Compromises interfered with slavery as an established
institution, and as it was felt to be of supreme impor-
tance in no way to prejudice the interests of the Fugi-
tive Slave and New Mexico-Utah bills by other ag-
gressive demands, the proposition was not pressed.
To secure the admission of California and the abo-
lition of the slave trade in the District of Columbia,
the north surrendered the Wilmot Proviso and
accepted the Fugitive Slave law. The latter measure
had been earnestly desired by the south. Technically,
no one could successfully dispute the justification of
the southern demand for it, which rested on the follow-
ing provision of the Federal Constitution (Article
IV, Section 2) :
"No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws
thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or
regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but
shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or
labor may be due."
Agreeably to this stipulation Congress in 1793
passed a law for the rendition of fugitive slaves, which
President Washington signed; but owing to the weak-
ness of its provisions it was of little practical value to
the south. The greatest aversion was felt at the north
to all proceedings for reclaiming escaped slaves, and
the pursuing southern owners had to contend against
1850] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 127
formidable difficulties, to which not infrequently were
added heavy expenses and varied experiences of per-
sonal mortification. It was idle to hope for any vol-
untary change in northern conduct respecting the
relative rights and claims of the runaway negroes and
their masters; and unless the latter were prepared
philosophically to reconcile themselves to all the conse-
quent losses there was only one remedy — coercion of
the northern people by a drastic new law on the sub-
ject.
The resulting act was probably as extreme a meas-
ure, alike for the scope of its enforcement arrange-
ments, the particularity of its mandatory directions,
and the severity of its penalties for violations, dis-
obediences, and even accidental failures to carry out
its commands, as ever has been devised in the history
of special legislation for purposes of class interest.
All the machinery of the United States government
was placed at the disposal of the slave proprietors,
every citizen was under obligation to assist, and no
fugitive had any right whatever.
Jurisdiction concerning slave cases was given to the
Federal courts, and, concurrently, to such United
States Commissioners as the Circuit Courts in the
States or the Superior Courts in the Territories should
appoint; the Commissioners were to act at all times,
whether in term or during vacation of the courts; they
had unlimited power to appoint persons to serve war-
rants on fugitives and arrest them; and all "bystand-
ers" (designated as the "posse comitatus") were
ordered to aid in executing the law. United States
128 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL U850
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Marshals and their deputies were directed to execute
warrants, etc., for the arrest and detention of fugitives,
under penalty of $1,000 for use of the "claimant" (i.
e., slaveowner) in any case of non-compliance; and in
the event of the escape of a fugitive from the Marshal's
custody, with or without the latter's knowledge and
connivance, the Marshal was liable for the full value
of the fugitive. Any owner or his attorney was au-
thorized to seize the fugitive with or without warrant
or process and take him before a Judge or Commis-
sioner, who was to determine the case in a summary
manner, and, upon proper deposition or affidavit
being made, issue a certificate to the claimant; this
certificate to be conclusive and to prevent all molesta-
tion of the claimant by means of any later court pro-
cess, so that the fugitive could forthwith be taken back
to the State from which he had fled; and the testimony
of the fugitive was in no case to be admitted. Any
person hindering an arrest, attempting a rescue, assist-
ing in an escape directly or indirectly, or harboring or
concealing a fugitive after having knowledge of the
fact of his being a fugitive, was subject to a fine of
$1,000 and imprisonment for six months, and also
could be sued, on an action for debt, to the amount of
$1,000 as damages for each fugitive lost. If the
claimant "apprehended" a rescue after delivery of the
fugitive to him, the officer who effected the arrest was
required to take the slave back to the place of escape
and was empowered to employ as many assistants as
necessary for the successful performance of that duty
—all the expenses thus incurred, including the cost of
1850] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 129
transportation, to be paid out of the United States
treasury as in the cases of criminals. To save the
owner travel expense for the purposes of identification
and action, an affidavit and general description made
in his own State were to be valid for a reclamation in
any other. There was also a provision for fees in con-
nection with original processes of service and arrest,
which, it was charged by the opponents of the law,
were intended to stimulate diligence.
The debate on this measure, as on the other Compro-
mise bills, was long and searching; and the action of
all concerned in the two branches of Congress was
therefore of the most deliberate character on both the
grounds of opinion and policy. In the Senate the
Democrats had a substantial majority, but the House
was almost evenly divided. It would be wrong to
characterize the Fugitive Slave bill as either a Demo-
cratic or Whig party measure. It was purely a south-
ern slaveholders' measure. But the ultimate responsi-
bility was assigned by the anti-slavery people to the
Whig party as the one in power. All the great con-
servative Whig influences were for it. Webster, as a
member of the Senate during its early pendency,
approved its principle (though with some objections
as to details), declared that the sou'th was entitled to
it, and predicted that the north would on due consid-
eration fulfill with "great alacrity" the constitutional
obligation involved; and, at the time of its passage,
having become Secretary of State, he, with all the
other members of the cabinet, concurred in the Presi-
dent's decision to sign it. The Senate passed the bill
130 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1850
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
by 27 yeas to 12 nays, with 21 not voting; the House
by 109 yeas to 75 nays — not voting, 48. It was ap-
proved by President Fillmore on September 18, 1850.
The Fugitive Slave law has been called "the death
knell of the Whig party." It proved also one of the
most potent factors toward hastening disintegration of
the whole conservative political sentiment of the
north on the basic question of slavery. The very fact
of the law's absolute technical invulnerability from
the constitutional point of view was regarded as the
one overwhelming reason why the south should not
have insisted on it if there had been any disposition on
her part to facilitate a more moderate northern feel-
ing about the slave system in general. All history has
shown that it is precisely the things that are most
technically correct and imprescriptible according to
venerable statute and precedent, that become least
justifiable and expedient with changed times and con-
ditions. The north was coerced, and every northerner
who gave the matter the least attention realized that
the coercion was directly personal to himself. But it
was not in the power of the south to extend the coercion
to thought on the subject of slavery, or to action con-
cerning its remaining political 'issues. The day of
Clay and Webster was closing, and a new generation
of leaders, like Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, and Wil-
liam H. Seward, of New York, was already on the
scene. It was not toward compromises or the equilib-
rium of the sections that these men were impelled by
the record so far made on slavery questions, but toward
positive results for freedom.
1852] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 131
With the enactment of the Compromise bills, the
preparations for the campaign of 1852 were practi-
cally concluded. Although the Fugitive Slave law
excited intense feeling, the Compromise legislation as
a whole was generally accepted throughout the coun-
try. Conservative influences everywhere were exer-
cised toward discouraging further political differences
about slavery; and for more than three years no new
issue on the subject arose in Congress.
Democratic Party
National convention held in Baltimore, June 1-5,
1852; chairman, John W. Davis, of Indiana. The
two-thirds rule was again adopted, a large majority
being in its favor.
There was a very spirited, but not bitter, contest for
the Presidential nomination. The principal candi-
dates on the first ballot were Lewis Cass, of Michigan,
116 votes; James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, 93;
Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, 20; and William L.
Marcy, of New York, 27. During the struggle each
of these four candidates at some stage had the lead,
but not sufficiently to secure even a majority. On the
thirty-fifth ballot the name of Franklin Pierce, of New
Hampshire, for the first time appeared among those
voted for, 15 votes being cast for him. He was nomi-
nated almost unanimously on the forty-ninth ballot.
William R. King, of Alabama, was nominated for
Vice-President by a unanimous vote on the second
ballot.
132 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1852
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Platform:
Resolutions 1 to 7, inclusive, were those having the same num-
bers in the platform of 1848.
"8. Resolved, That it is the duty of every branch of the govern-
ment 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
and for the gradual but certain extinction of the public debt.
"9. Resolved, That Congress has no power to charter a national
bank; that we believe such an institution one of deadly hostility to
the best interests of the country, dangerous to our republican institu-
tions and the liberties of the people, and calculated to place the busi-
ness of the country within the control of a concentrated money
power and above the laws and the will of the people; 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 candid and practical men
of all parties their soundness, safety, and utility in all business pur-
suits.
"10. Resolved, That the separation of the moneys of the govern-
ment from banking institutions is indispensable for the safety of the
funds of the government and the rights of the people.
"11. Resolved, That the liberal principles embodied by Jefferson
in the Declaration of Independence and sanctioned in the Constitu-
tion, which make 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 privilege of
becoming citizens and the owners of the soil among us ought to be
resisted with the same spirit that swept the Alien and Sedition laws
from our statute-book.
"12. Resolved, That Congress has no power, under the Consti-
tution, to interfere with or control the domestic institutions of the
several States, and that such States are the sole and proper judges of
everything appertaining to their own affairs not prohibited by the
Constitution; that all efforts of the Abolitionists or others made to
1852] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 133
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 permanency of the Union, and ought not
to be countenanced by any friend of our political institutions.
"13. Resolved, That the foregoing proposition covers, and is
intended to embrace, the whole subject of slavery agitation in Con-
gress; and therefore the Democratic party of the Union, standing
on this national platform, will abide by and adhere to a faithful
execution of the acts known as the 'Compromise' measures settled
by the last Congress — the 'act for reclaiming fugitives from service
or labor' included ; which act, being designed to carry out an express
provision of the Constitution, cannot, with fidelity thereto, be re-
pealed nor so changed as to destroy or impair its efficiency.
"14. Resolved, That the Democratic party will resist all attempts
at renewing, in Congress or out of it, the agitation of the slavery
question, under whatever shape or color the attempt may be made.
"15. Resolved, That the proceeds of the public lands ought to
be sacredly applied to the national object specified in the Constitu-
tion ; and that we are opposed to any law for the distribution of such
proceeds among the States as alike inexpedient in policy and repug-
nant to the Constitution.
"16. 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 suspend the passage of a bill whose merits cannot secure
the approval of two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representa-
tives, 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 improvements.
"17. Resolved, That the Democratic party will faithfully abide
by and uphold the principles laid down in the Kentucky and Vir-
ginia resolutions of 1798, and in the report of Mr. Madison to the
Virginia Legislature in 1799; that it adopts those principles as con-
134 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1852
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
stituting one of the main foundations of its political creed, and is
resolved to carry them out in their obvious meaning and import.
"18. Resolved, That the war with Mexico, upon all the princi-
ples of patriotism and the law of nations, was a just and necessary
war on our part, in which no American citizen should have shown
himself opposed to his country, and neither morally nor physically,
by word or deed, have given aid and comfort to the enemy.
"19. Resolved, That we rejoice at the restoration of friendly
relations with our sister republic of Mexico, and earnestly desire for
her all the blessings and the prosperity which we enjoy under republi-
can institutions; and we congratulate the American people on the
results of that war, which have so manifestly justified the policy
and conduct of the Democratic party and insured to the United
States indemnity for the past and security for the future.
"20. Resolved, That in view of the condition of popular institu-
tions in the old world a high and sacred duty is devolved, with
increased responsibility, upon the Democracy of this country, as the
party of the people, to uphold and maintain the rights of every
State, and thereby the Union of States, and to sustain and advance
among them constitutional liberty by continuing to resist all monopo-
lies and exclusive legislation for the benefit of the few at the expense
of the many, and by a vigilant and constant adherence to those princi-
ples 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."
The important resolutions were 12, 13, 14, 17, and
20, which, taken together, constituted the matured
Democratic doctrine on the slavery issues as developed
up to that time and the essential related matters of
national powers and State rights. They expressed
beyond the possibility of doubt the complete and final
determination of the party to abide by the early theo-
ries, principles, and decisions of conservatism and
1852] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 135
reservations for and on behalf of the States individu-
ally— which meant, so far as slavery was concerned,
an entire toleration of the institution and resistance to
agitations or measures against it as dangerous to the
Union because of the irreconcilable differences that
would result. As yet the Democratic party did not
go to the length of defining its position regarding
slavery extension. That subject was not at issue in
the campaign, except as it was collateral to the un-
qualified approbation of the Compromise acts.
Whig Party
National convention held in Baltimore, June 16-19,
1852; chairman, John G. Chapman, of Maryland.
President Fillmore was a candidate for renomina-
tion, and was warmly supported by nearly all the
southern delegates, and by some from the north who,
regarding his administration as satisfactory to the
country and the opposition to him by the anti-slavery
Whigs as unjust, felt that the party could not con-
sistently refuse him its endorsement. Until toward
the end of the protracted balloting his vote fell off but
little, and even at the conclusion it showed no such
collapse as frequently happens in a national conven-
tion when the favorite at the start goes down to defeat.
His failure to be nominated was due to the reluctant
but strong conviction of the majority of the convention
that he would not be able to counteract the prejudice
excited by his signature of the Fugitive Slave bill.
Vote on the first ballot: — Fillmore, 133; General
Winfield Scott, of New Jersey, 131; Daniel Webster,
136 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1852
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
29. Fifty-third and last ballot:— Scott, 159; Fillmore,
112; Webster, 21.
For Vice-President, William A. Graham, of North
Carolina, was nominated on the second ballot.
Platform :
"The Whigs of the United States, in convention assembled, adher-
ing to the great conservative principles by which they are con-
trolled and governed, and now as ever relying upon the intelligence
of the American people, with an abiding confidence in their capacity
for self-government and their devotion to the Constitution and the
Union, do proclaim the following as the political sentiments and
determination for the establishment and maintenance of which their
national organization as a party was effected :
"First. The government of the United States is of a limited
character, and is confined to the exercise of powers expressly granted
by the Constitution and such as may be necessary and proper for
carrying the granted powers into full execution, and that powers not
granted or necessarily implied are reserved to the States respectively
and to the people.
"Second. The State governments should be held secure as to
their reserved rights, and the general government sustained in its
constitutional powers, and that the Union should be revered and
watched over as the palladium of our liberties.
"Third. That while struggling freedom everywhere enlists the
warmest sympathy of the Whig party we still adhere to the doc-
trines of the Father of his Country, as announced in his Farewell
Address, of keeping ourselves free from all entangling alliances with
foreign countries and never quitting our own to stand upon foreign
grounds; that our mission as a republic is not to propagate our
opinions, or impose upon other countries our form of government
by artifice or force, but to teach by example and show by our suc-
cess, moderation, and justice the blessings of self-government and
the advantages of free institutions.
"Fourth. That, as the people make and control the government,
they should obey its Constitution, laws, and treaties as they would
MARTIX VAN BUREN
Martin Van Buren, 8th president; born at Kinderhook, N. Y.,
December 5, 1782; lawyer; surrogate of Columbia county;
member of state senate, 1813-20; attorney general of state of
New York, 1815-19; delegate to state constitutional convention,
1821; United States senator from March 4, 1821 to 1828, when
he resigned to become governor of New York State; resigned
March 12, 1829 to become secretary of state of the United
States; resigned August 1, 1831, having been appointed minister
to Great Britain, but the senate rejected the nomination; elected
vice president, 1832; elected president in 1836; defeated for re-
election in 1840; anti-slavery candidate for president in 1848;
died at Kinderhook, N. Y., July 24, 1862.
18S2] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 137
retain their self-respect and the respect which they claim and will
enforce from foreign powers.
"Fifth. Governments should be conducted on principles of the
strictest economy, and revenue sufficient for the expenses thereof in
time of peace ought to be derived mainly from a duty on imports,
and not from direct taxes; and in laying such duties sound policy
requires a just discrimination, and, when practicable, by specific duties,
whereby suitable encouragement may be afforded to American indus-
try equally to all classes and to all portions of the country.
"Sixth. The Constitution vests in Congress the power to open
and repair harbors and remove obstructions from navigable rivers
whenever such improvements are necessary for the common defense
and for the protection and facility of commerce with foreign nations
or among the States, said improvements being in every instance
national and general in their character.
"Seventh. The Federal and State governments are parts of one
system, alike necessary for the common prosperity, peace, and secur-
ity, and ought to be regarded alike with a cordial, habitual, and
immovable attachment. Respect for the authority of each, and acqui-
esence in the just constitutional measures of each, are duties required
by the plainest considerations of national, State, and individual wel-
fare.
"Eighth. That the series of acts of the Thirty-second Congress,
the act known as the Fugitive Slave law included, are received and
acquiesced in by the Whig party of the United States as a settlement
in principle and substance of the dangerous and exciting questions
which they embrace ; and, so far as they are concerned, we will main-
tain them and insist upon their strict enforcement until time and ex-
perience shall demonstrate the necessity for further legislation to guard
against the evasion of the laws on the one hand and the abuse of their
powers on the other, not impairing their present efficiency; and we
deprecate all further agitation of the question thus settled as dangerous
to our peace, and will discountenance all efforts to continue or renew
such agitation, whenever, wherever, or however the attempt may be
made; and we will maintain this system as essential to the nationality
of the Whig party and the integrity of the Union."
138 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1852
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Except for its brevity, manner of detailed treatment,
and some differences on miscellaneous topics which
the general public was not inclined to consider im-
portant, the Whig platform was identical with the
Democratic. It was dictated by the southern dele-
gates, who, on the first day of the convention, held a
caucus and decided on the resolutions that they would
accept.1 The last plank, which was as absolute and
comprehensive an endorsement of the southern posi-
tion as the Democrats had put forth, was warmly de-
bated by the convention and adopted by a vote of 212
to 70.2 There was not an expression or allusion in the
platform that could be construed as of sympathetic
feeling toward the great anti-slavery constituency of
the Whig party.
In nominating General Scott the party was under-
stood to have been actuated by the same spirit of dis-
cretion that it had so conspicuously shown and that had
proved so wise in 1848. He had in no way been identi-
fied with the controversies on the slavery question,
and was expected, on account of his colorless views,
military distinction, and the high respect in which he
was held, to be acceptable to the whole country. It
could well be said that he belonged equally to both sec-
tions, as he was a southerner by birth and ancestry but
a northerner by residence.
The old-line Whig leaders fully believed that the
Compromises of 1850 had settled the slavery issue.
The party had been founded and maintained for ideas
JEdward Stanvvood, A History of Presidential Elections, p. 183.
-Greeley and Cleveland's Political Text-Book for 1860, p. 19.
1852] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 139
and purposes not at all concerned with slavery, had
accordingly become thoroughly established at the
south as well as the north, preeminently represented
practical men, and was utterly incapable of successful
conversion into an organization for the affirmation
and promotion of the comparatively new and very
doubtful cause of political anti-slavery. Throughout
its career it had been characteristically an opposition
party, successful only when the mistakes or factional
troubles of the Democrats gave it an advantage, and
even after its greatest triumphs had had the ill-fortune
of soon finding them almost fruitless. It was in no
position to compete with the Democrats on the slavery
question, and therefore was most happy to persuade
itself that its vexations were really ended by the Com-
promises.
Free Soil Party
Convention held in Pittsburgh, August 11, 1852;
chairman, Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts. All the
free States were represented, together with Delaware,
Kentucky, Maryland, and Virginia.
Nominations: — For President, John P. Hale, of
New Hampshire; for Vice-President, George W.
Julian, of Indiana.
Platform:
"Having assembled in national convention as the Free Democracy
of the United States, united by a common resolve to maintain right
against wrong, and freedom against slavery; confiding in the intelli-
gence, patriotism, and discriminating justice of the American people;
putting our trust in God for the triumph of our cause and invoking
140 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1852
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
His guidance in our endeavors to advance it, we now submit to the
candid judgment of all men the following declaration of principles
and measures:
"First. That governments deriving their just powers from the
consent of the governed are instituted among men to secure to all those
inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness with
which they are endowed by their Creator, and of which none can be
deprived by valid legislation, except for crime.
"Second. That the true mission of American Democracy is to
maintain the liberties of the people, the sovereignty of the States, and
the perpetuity of the Union by the impartial application to public
affairs, without sectional discrimination, of the fundamental principles
of human rights, strict justice, and an economical administration.
"Third. That the Federal government is one of limited powers
derived solely from the Constitution, and the grants of powers therein
ought to be strictly construed by all the departments and agents of
the government, and it is inexpedient and dangerous to exercise doubt-
ful constitutional powers.
"Fourth. That the Constitution of the United States, ordained
to form a more perfect Union, to establish justice, and secure the bless-
ings of liberty, expressly denies to the general government all power
to deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process
of law; and therefore the government, having no more power to make
a slave than to make a king, and no more power to establish slavery
than to establish a monarchy, should at once proceed to relieve itself
from all responsibility for the existence of slavery wherever it possesses
constitutional power to legislate for its extinction.
"Fifth. That to the persevering and importunate demands of the
slave power for more slave States, new slave Territories, and the na-
tionalization of slavery, our distinct and final answer is: No more
slave States, no slave Territory, no nationalized slavery, and no
national legislation for the extradition of slaves.
"Sixth. That slavery is a sin against God and a crime against
man, which no human enactment nor usage can make right ; and that
Christianity, humanity, and patriotism alike demand its abolition.
"Seventh. That the Fugitive Slave act of 1850 is repugnant to
1852] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 141
the Constitution, to the principles of the common law, to the spirit of
Christianity, and to the sentiments of the civilized world. We there-
fore deny its binding force on the American people, and demand its
immediate and total repeal.
"Eighth. That the doctrine that any human law is a finality,
and not subject to modification or repeal, is not in accordance with
the creed of the founders of our government and is dangerous to the
liberties of the people.
"Ninth. That the acts of Congress known as the Compromise
measures of 1850, by making the admission of a sovereign State con-
tingent upon the adoption of other measures demanded by the special
interest of slavery ; by their omission to guarantee freedom in the
free Territories ; by their attempt to impose unconstitutional limita-
tions on the powers of Congress and the people to admit new States ;
by their provisions for the assumption of five millions of the State
debt of Texas and for the payment of five millions more, and the
cession of large territory to the same State under menace as an in-
ducement to the relinquishment of a groundless claim; and by their
invasion of the sovereignty of the States and the liberties of the people
through the enactment of an unjust, oppressive, and unconstitutional
Fugitive Slave law, are proved to be inconsistent with all the princi-
ples and maxims of Democracy, and wholly inadequate to the settle-
ment of the questions of which they are claimed to be an adjustment.
"Tenth. That no permanent settlement of the slavery question
can be looked for except in the practical recognition of the truth that
slavery is sectional and freedom national; by the total separation of
the general government from slavery, and the exercise of its legitimate
and constitutional influence on the side of freedom ; and by leaving to
the States the whole subject of slavery and the extradition of fugitives
from service.
"Eleventh. That all men have a natural right to a portion of
the soil; and that as the use of the soil is indispensable to life, the
right of all men to the soil is as sacred as their right to life itself.
"Twelfth. That the public lands of the United States belong to
the people, and should not be sold to individuals nor granted to cor-
porations, but should be held as a sacred trust for the benefit of the
142 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1852
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
people and should be granted in limited quantities, free of cost, to
landless settlers.
"Thirteenth. That a due regard for the Federal Constitution and
a sound administrative policy demand that the funds of the general
government be kept separate from banking institutions; that inland
and ocean postage should be reduced to the lowest possible point ; that
no more revenue should be raised than is required to defray the strictly
necessary expenses of the public service and to pay off the public debt ;
and that the power and patronage of the government should be
diminished by the abolition of all unnecessary offices, salaries, and
privileges, and by the election by the people of all civil officers in the
service of the United States so far as may be consistent with the
prompt and efficient transaction of the public business.
"Fourteenth. That river and harbor improvements, when neces-
sary to the safety and convenience of commerce with foreign nations
or among the several States, are objects of national concern, and it is
the duty of Congress, in the exercise of its constitutional powers, to
provide for the same.
"Fifteenth. That emigrants and exiles from the old world should
find a cordial welcome to homes of comfort and fields of enterprise in
the new; and every attempt to abridge their privilege of becoming
citizens and owners of soil among us ought to be resisted with in-
flexible determination.
"Sixteenth. That every nation has a clear right to alter or
change its own government, and to administer its own concerns, in
such manner as may best secure the rights and promote the happiness
of the people; and foreign interference with that right is a dangerous
violation of the law of nations, against which all independent govern-
ments should protest and endeavor by all proper means to prevent; and
especially is it the duty of the American government, representing the
chief republic of the world, to protest against, and by all proper means
to prevent, the intervention of kings and emperors against nations
seeking to establish for themselves republican or constitutional govern-
ments.
"Seventeenth. That the independence of Hayti ought to be re-
1852] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 143
cognized by our government, and our commercial relations with it
placed on the footing of the most favored nations.
"Eighteenth. That as, by the Constitution, 'the citizens of each
State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens
of the several States,' the practice of imprisoning colored seamen of
other States while the vessels to which they belong lie in port, and
refusing the exercise of the right to bring such cases before the
Supreme Court of the United States to test the legality of such pro-
ceedings, is a flagrant violation of the Constitution and an invasion of
the rights of the citizens of other States, utterly inconsistent with the
professions made by the slaveholders that they wish the provisions of
the Constitution faithfully observed by every State in the Union.
"Nineteenth. That we recommend the introduction into all
treaties hereafter to be negotiated between the United States and
foreign nations, of some provision for the amicable settlement of diffi-
culties by a resort to decisive arbitration.
"Twentieth. That the Free Democratic party is not organized to
aid either the Whig or Democratic wing of the great slave-compromise
party of the nation, but to defeat them both ; and that, repudiating and
denouncing both as hopelessly corrupt and utterly unworthy of con-
fidence, the purpose of the Free Democracy is to take possession of the
Federal government and administer it for the better protection of the
rights and interests of the whole people.
"Twenty-first. That we inscribe on our banner Free Soil, Free
Speech, Free Labor, and Free Men, and under it we will fight on, and
fight ever, until a triumphant victory shall reward our exertions.
"Twenty-second. That upon this platform the convention presents
to the American people as a candidate for the office of President of
the United States, John P. Hale, of New Hampshire, and as a candi-
date for the office of Vice- President of the United States, George W.
Julian, of Indiana, and earnestly commends them to the support of all
freemen and all parties."
144 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1852
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
The Election
Neither the Democratic nor Whig sympathizers
with anti-slavery principles were to any considerable
extent disposed to repeat their previous third party
experiments. Leaving the slavery question out of
consideration, party convictions and affections were
strong. As both the great parties had fully accepted
the Compromises, there was no real question between
them. The Democrats were again united. Among
the northern Whigs there was felt much dejection and
disgust on account of the purposeless position of the
party, and in the south the greatly superior strength of
the Democrats was from the beginning of the canvass
beyond doubt. The Whig party suffered a crushing
defeat.
For President and Vice-President, Electoral vote:
Franklin Pierce and William R. King, Democrats: — Alabama, 9;
Arkansas, 4; California, 4; Connecticut, 6; Delaware, 3; Florida, 3;
Georgia, 10; Illinois, 11 ; Indiana, 13; Iowa, 4; Louisiana, 6; Maine,
8; Maryland, 8; Michigan, 6; Mississippi, 7; Missouri, 9; New
Hampshire, 5; New Jersey, 7; New York, 35; North Carolina, 10;
Ohio, 23; Pennsylvania, 27; Rhode Island, 4; South Carolina, 8;
Texas, 4; Virginia, 15; Wisconsin, 5. Total, 254. Elected.
Winfield Scott and William A. Graham, Whigs: — Kentucky, 12;
Massachusetts, 13; Tennessee, 12; Vermont, 5. Total, 42.
Popular vote:
Pierce, 1,601,474; Scott, 1,386,578; Hale, 156,149.
1856
Thoughtful men at the north had not failed to real-
ize the grave import of the new principle of neutrality
on the part of the national government concerning
slavery extension which was made the distinguishing
feature of the legislation for erecting the Territories
of Utah and New Mexico. Recognition was thereby
given slavery as having, to the extent that the legisla-
tion territorially applied, an equal right to future ex-
pansion altogether without either the prejudice of an
unfriendly predisposition toward the institution itself
or the circumspection of a politic and discriminating
treatment of it as a local system requiring to be geo-
graphically constricted. This recognition was gener-
ally supposed, until the year 1854, to have been in
intent and probable effect only a nominal concession
to the south in return for freedom in California; but
its great potentialities for trouble were manifest if the
south should decide to urge an aggressive claim to
more territory for slavery upon the basis of accepted
principles.
In all the debate on the Compromise measures there
had occurred no serious reference to a possible im-
pediment of the Missouri compact as the result of
the slavery-neutrality policy for the new Territories
carved out of the Mexican cession. The guarantee
by the Missouri compact of complete and perpetual
slavery prohibition in all the unorganized territory of
145
146 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1853
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
the Louisiana Purchase north of the line 36° 30' was
consequently assumed to remain inviolate and inviola-
ble. Already, pursuant to the compact, Iowa and
Minnesota, fronting the Mississippi River on the west
and running northward from Missouri, had been or-
ganized with free institutions: Iowa had been admitted
as a State (1846), and Minnesota had been organized
as a Territory (1849). To the westward of the tier
Missouri-Iowa-Minnesota, the region guaranteed to
freedom by the Missouri compact stretched to the
crest of the Rocky Mountains (where it joined the
Mexican cession and Oregon Territory)— with an area
of nearly 500,000 square miles, comprehending the
present States of Kansas and Nebraska, parts of South
and North Dakota1 and Colorado, and nearly all of
Wyoming and Montana. In this entire country no
Territory had yet been established. It was still dedi-
cated to the aborigines, and so devoid was it of any
pretension to settlement that it contained at the begin-
ning of 1854 hardly a thousand white people.
At that time the free and slave States, and their re-
spective representations in the two houses of Congress,
were as follows :
Free States. — California, Connecticut, Illinois, In-
diana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsyl-
vania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin. Total
States, 16. United States Senators, 32. Members of
the House of Representatives, 144.
larger part of the Dakotas was originally included in the Territory
of Minnesota, which extended to the Missouri River.
1853] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 147
Slave States. — Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Flor-
ida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mis-
sissippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Total States, 15.
United States Senators, 30. Members of the House of
Representatives, 90.
In addition, Oregon and Minnesota were in process
of development into free States, and were expected to
be qualified for admission in the near future. But
there was not in the whole nation a single unit of
erected territory to which the south could turn as an
available element for reinforcing its declining strength
in the Union. In the Louisiana Purchase south of
36° 30' there remained only that strip of "Indian Coun-
try" bounded on the east by Arkansas and on the south
and west by Texas which later took the official name
of Indian Territory and now constitutes the main part
of Oklahoma; it was rigidly closed to settlement.
Neither of the huge new Territories of Utah and New
Mexico was regarded by the country as adaptable to
early statehood. Utah had a troublesome Mormon
population, and New Mexico, on account of its remote
situation and lack of inducements to immigrants, was
not likely to show the requisite development for many
years. Both Utah and New Mexico, moreover, as
arid and mountainous regions, were unsuited to the
jmployment of slave labor.
A national situation both politically and territorially,
therefore, had become fully established which placed
the south at a distinct and increasing disadvantage,
subject only to the moderate disposition of the north
148 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL U853
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
concerning sectional and slavery questions existing or
to arise. It was the fact of this situation that led to the
Compromises of 1850 and induced the conservative ele-
ments of both sections to regard them as conclusive.
The possibilities of any other solution than that of com-
promise with subsequent complete observance of its
principles and arrangements, were felt to be too appal-
ling even to be thought of. Already there was an insist-
ent sentiment at the south, represented by young leaders
of great ability and popularity, that demanded the full
measure of southern interests regardless of conse-
quences, even to the extremity of disunion. At various
southern State elections as early as 1850-51 this senti-
ment had been strongly manifested. But the influence
of the older southern leaders (both Democrats and
Whigs) and of the more substantial classes generally,
was wholly for Unionism and continued accommoda-
tion in accord with. the similar spirit that unquestion-
ably controlled the north at that period. There exists
no evidence of any new overt intentions, except in rela-
tion to Cuba, on the part of the prevailing forces at the
south from the time of the settlement of 1850 until the
repeal of the Missouri Compromise in 1854.1
During the brief Congressional session extending
from December, 1852, to March, 1853 (the close of
Fillmore's administration), an attempt was made to
organize out of the Louisiana Purchase a Territory
which it was at first proposed to call Platte and later
JSee James F. Rhodes's History of the United States from the Com-
promise of 1850; also Theodore Clarke Smith, Parties and Slavery, vol.
xviii of The American Nation.
1353-4] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 149
Nebraska. The bill originated in the House, which
passed it; in the Senate it was reported without amend-
ment from the committee on Territories by Stephen A.
Douglas, of Illinois, as chairman of the committee, but
was defeated by southern votes, many northern mem-
bers refraining from voting. As it was silent on slavery
and hence did not disturb the Missouri compact, it
caused no stir.
On the 4th of January, 1854, Douglas reported to
the Senate a new Nebraska bill, accompanied by an
explanation, in which it was stated that the committee,
after due consideration, had decided to adhere to the
principles of the Compromise measures of 1850 in rela-
tion to all new Territories, and therefore had adopted
for every case the rule that "When admitted as a State,
the said Territory, or any portion of the same, shall be
received into the Union with or without slavery as
their Constitution may prescribe at the time of their
admission." After some debate a substitute measure
was offered (January 23), creating two Territories,
Nebraska and Kansas, without the restriction of the
Missouri Compromise of 1820, which restriction, it
was added, "being inconsistent with the principle of
non-intervention by Congress with slavery in the States
and Territories, as recognized by the legislation of
1850, commonly called the Compromise measures, is
hereby declared inoperative and void — it being the
true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate slav-
ery into any Territory or State, nor to exclude it there-
from, but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to
form and regulate their domestic institutions in their
150 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1854
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United
States."
This Kansas-Nebraska bill, with its repeal of the
Missouri Compromise, passed the Senate by 37 to 14
(11 not voting), and the House by 113 to 100 (21 not
voting), and was signed by President Pierce on May
30, 1854.
For the repeal of the Missouri Compromise there
can be no doubt that Douglas was primarily responsible.
True, the desire to do away with it was not new. Indi-
vidual southerners, especially Calhoun, had contended
that the measure was unconstitutional, and it had been
exceedingly distasteful to all southern statesmen, in-
cluding those who originally accepted it in 1820; but
no proposal to abrogate it had ever been urged in Con-
gress. "From the circumstances under which the Mis-
souri Compromise was enacted," says Rhodes, "from
the fact that it received the seal of constitutionality
from an impartial President [Monroe] and a
thoroughly representative cabinet, it had been looked
upon as having the moral force of an article of the
Constitution itself." Certainly Douglas, in initiating
the repeal, was not inspired by any public demand from
the south. In a recent historical discussion1 it is
shown that Senator David R. Atchison, of Missouri,
exerted a strong persuading influence upon Douglas,
and the view is therefore maintained that Atchison was
the real author of the repeal. This may be conceded
lThe Repeal of the Missouri Compromise: Its Origin and Authorship,
by P. Orman Ray.
1854] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 151
without, however, altering the fact that the practical
responsibility is to be assigned to Douglas. He is said
to have been actuated by the desire of cultivating a
more favorable southern disposition toward his nomi-
nation for the Presidency in 1856. However, his action
was entirely consistent with his record and his posi-
tively announced opinions ever since the new slavery
questions sprang up during the Mexican War. He
had voted against the Wilmot Proviso while a member
of the House, and had been actively identified with
the legislation of 1850 for Congiessional non-interven-
tion regarding slavery in New Mexico and Utah. He
firmly held that the only correct basis for settling the
slavery issue in the Territories was that of an equal
chance for each side — "popular sovereignty." Re-
specting the slavery institution itself, he always ex-
pressed unconcern; on that subject his mind was recep-
tive to no other idea than that the people locally had
the right to "vote it up or vote it down" without
national tutelage or interference. After the failure of
the original Nebraska bill of 1853, which contained
no reference to the Missouri restriction, it was appar-
ent that the south would not consent to the organiza-
tion of new Territories in the Louisiana Purchase upon
the plan of slavery inhibition. Early Territorial
organization in that quarter was demanded by the peo-
ple of Missouri; — and a bill embodying the popular
sovereignty principle seemed to iDouglas eminently
practical as well as logical.
As created by the act, Kansas and Nebraska Terri-
tories comprised the whole of the formerly unorgan-
152 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1854
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
ized part of the Louisiana Purchase north of the pres-
ent southern line (37°) of Kansas. Like all the large
Territories established from the beginning of the gov-
ernment, they were subject to ultimate partition, for
additional State purposes, according to the discretion
of Congress in due time. Kansas was made very much
smaller than Nebraska; the former, in its south to
north extent, was wholly adjacent to the slave State of
Missouri, while Nebraska, except for a small part of its
southern area, coincided with the western bounds of the
free State of Iowa and free Territory of Minnesota.
Manifestly, it was intended and expected that Kansas
would be settled from Missouri and the south and have
slavery, and that Nebraska would be left undisputedly
to the north and freedom. To the minds of those who
for various reasons believed in political concessions to
the south, this was an ideal arrangement.
But northern sentiment instantaneously and unquali-
fiedly repudiated the plan as violative of a settled
national principle and time-honored compact, and as
purely donative to slavery. On January 24 (the day
after the presentation in the Senate of the perfected
Kansas-Nebraska bill with the specific Missouri Com-
promise repeal), an influential group of Democratic
Senators and Representatives, headed by Chase and
Sumner, issued a powerful deliverance entitled, "Ap-
peal of the Independent Democrats in Congress to the
People of the United States," in which the measure
was bitterly denounced and Douglas was accused of
sacrificing the interests of the country to promote his
chances for the Presidency. "Will the people," it was
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON
William Henry Harrison, 9th president; born at Berkeley,
Va., February 9, 1773; physician; served in indian wars;
appointed secretary of the Northwest territory and served as its
delegate to congress from March 4, 1799 to March, 1800; terri-
torial governor of Indiana, 1801-1813; defeated the british and
indians at Tippecanoe, November 7, 1811; elected to congress
and served from December 2, 1816 to March 3, 1819; member
state senate, 1819-21 ; United States senator from March 4,
1825 to May 20, 1828; minister to Columbia from May 24, 1828
to September 6, 1829; president of the United States from
March 4, 1841 until his death, which took place April 4, 1841
at Washington, D. C.
1854] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 153
asked, "permit their dearest interests to be thus made
the hazard of a Presidential game?" Strenuous oppo-
sition was offered to the bill by eminent Whig, as well
as Democratic, leaders of both houses. All over the
north it was condemned by great popular meetings, and
similar action was taken by State Legislatures and other
bodies. Following its final passage and signature the
opposition began to crystallize into a new political
party. The supporters of the general movement of
opposition, embracing former Whigs, regular Demo-
crats, and Free Soilers, were called "Anti-Nebras-
kans"; but after a few months the name "Republican
party" had been adopted by many of them and some
organizations had been formally established.
At the south the move for opening the Louisiana
Purchase to slavery was altogether unexpected, and,
being of northern origin, was not immediately regarded
with particular interest. The north's intense hostility
to the bill, however, had a natural reaction upon the
southern people, and they came solidly to its support
Meantime there arose a determined northern sentiment
against resigning Kansas to slavery, which signified an
active competition for its control by the only remain-
ing means of the settlement of free-State men on its
lands. Thus began the great struggle for Kansas. Its
dramatic and complicated history need not here be
narrated. We are concerned only with its national
political bearings and results.
Authentic writers regard the northern migration to
Kansas as in by far its greater part voluntary. To most
of the northern emigrants the cause appealed, and to all
154 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1854
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
the virgin and fertile soil of the Territory meant oppor-
tunity. There were, however, organized agencies of
encouragement and help. One of these was the New
England Emigrant Aid Society, which furnished trans-
portation and supplies to emigrants, loaned them money
for the erection of hotels, mills, etc., and otherwise
stood ready to care for their interests. Its operations
became the subject of severe comments in Missouri and
the south, which took the form of allegations that great
and wealthy organizations at the north were systemati-
cally working to fill Kansas with fanatical Abolition-
ists and so seize the lands to which the Missourians had
the first and best claim and deprive the south of the new
State rightfully belonging to her. The natural ill-
feeling in Missouri against the incoming northern men
was greatly increased by these charges, and the settle-
ment of Kansas by the rival forces was therefore begun
under the most alarming conditions. In western Mis-
souri pro-slavery sentiment was rampant, and the slave
population was estimated at 50,000 — an abundant
source of supply for the plantation of a flourishing
slave system in Kansas. When the first free immi-
grants arrived, slaves had already been introduced,
lands taken up, and town foundations laid by Mis-
souri men.
The contest for political control was started without
delay. One of the provisions of the Territorial act
granted immediate suffrage to all white men becoming
inhabitants, inclusive of aliens who declared on oath
their intention to be citizens. At an election in No-
vember, 1854, for a Territorial Delegate to Congress,
1855] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 155
and another in March, 1855, for a Territorial Legisla-
ture, large bands of armed Missourians came across the
border, voted, prevented many free-State men from
voting, and then returned ; on the latter occasion 5,427
pro-slavery votes were cast out of a total of 6,320,
although it was well known that there were at the time
less than 3,000 legal voters in the Territory.1 The
first Territorial Legislature met in July, 1855, was
made unanimously pro-slavery by the expulsion of sev-
eral opposition members, and passed various acts of
extreme character in the interest of slavery. Follow-
ing these events the free settlers adopted a State Con-
stitution at a convention in Topeka in the fall of 1855,
and held elections (not participated in by the pro-
slaveryites) at which the Constitution was ratified and
State officers and legislators were chosen. As these
proceedings were held to be irregular and in conflict
with national authority, the new State regime was sup-
pressed, its Governor being arrested and its Legislature
dispersed by Federal troops when it assembled in July,
1856. But while the pro-slavery people had secured
temporary legal control their opponents were deter-
mined to gain the mastery in the end. Hatred, out-
rages, and violence attended by tragical incidents had
meantime constantly increased. The two parties were
arrayed in deadly hostility. They had come to the
verge of an armed clash in force during the "Wakarusa
!An enumeration of the inhabitants and qualified voters of the Territory
had been taken under Federal auspices in January-February, 1855, which
resulted as follows: Total population, 8,501; white natives of the United
States, 7,161; of foreign birth, 409; slaves, 242; free negroes, 151; total
voters, 2,905.
156 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL H854
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
war" in the winter of 1855-56, and passions had been
still further inflamed by the attack on the "free-
Staters' " town of Lawrence (May, 1856), which re-
sulted in burning the Emigrant Aid Society's hotel and
other acts of destruction. So the situation stood at the
time of the opening of the Presidential campaign of
1856.
The enactment of the Kansas-Nebraska bill was fol-
lowed by surprising developments in the field of na-
tional politics. Notwithstanding the terrible defeat
of the Whig party in 1852, its leaders had hoped that
it would show revival as the Democratic party had
done after 1840. This hope was now seen to be futile,
as on the issue of further slavery extension the anti-
slavery people were resolved upon uncompromising
political action. Coincidently with the formation and
rise of the new Republican party occurred the incep-
tion and rapid progress of the "Know-Nothing" move-
ment— so called from the essential feature of its secret
and oath-bound basis, all who joined being required to
profess that they knew nothing about it. It sought to
exclude foreigners generally, and especially Roman
Catholics, from public office. As a political organiza-
tion it took the name of the "American party."
At the Congressional elections in the fall of 1854 the
two new parties won notable successes and the Pierce
administration was left in a minority in the House of
Representatives. Owing to the great political confu-
sion resulting from the repeal of the Missouri Compro-
mise, the dissolution of the Whig party, and the for-
midable development of Know-Nothingism, no deter-
1855-6] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 157
minate classification of the Representatives-elect by
generic designations was possible; even that eminent
political authority, the "Tribune Almanac," met with
but indifferent success in attempting to group them.
There were pro-slavery and anti-slavery Democrats,
Whigs, and Know-Nothings ; Republicans; Free Soil-
ers; Anti-Nebraskans with no declared party affilia-
tion; fusionists of several varieties; and independents
of miscellaneous views and tendencies. When the new
House assembled for organization in December, 1855,
the consolidated Anti-Nebraskans (of whom the Re-
publicans formed the predominating element), while
considerably more numerous than the pro-slavery
Democrats, lacked a majority, the balance being held by
the pro-slavery Know-Nothings and Whigs and the
members more or less indifferent about slavery. It was
found impossible to elect a Speaker under the majority
rule, and after two months consumed in balloting the
House voted (February 2, 1856) to decide the contest
by a plurality, whereupon Nathaniel P. Banks, of
Massachusetts, Republican, was chosen by 103 votes to
100 for his principal opponent, William Aiken, a
southern Democrat. This was the first national Re-
publican victory.
The 1854 elections brought no change, however, in
the Senate, which continued Democratic by an ex-
tremely large majority; and they were altogether with-
out modifying effect upon the administration's Kansas
policy. But a sobering influence was exerted in an-
other direction. Before the Kansas issue came up the
administration had taken a course plainly looking to
15g POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL H854
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
an early demand upon Spain for cession to us of the
island of Cuba. The diplomatic situation had become
strained by certain events, which, however, in no man-
ner justified extreme measures; but those were times
throughout the world of slight scruple concerning de-
tails of justification when weighty national interests
were involved and favorable opportunities for their
realization were offered. The south was most anxious
to acquire Cuba for the erection of new slave States;
and in the case of war becoming necessary the people
at large were expected to support the government on
the undebatable principle of "My country, right or
wrong." After matters had progressed to a stage re-
quiring a decision, Secretary of State Marcy directed
our Minister at the Spanish court, Pierre Soule, to con-
fer with James Buchanan, Minister to England, and
John Y. Mason, Minister to France, and, in agreement
with them, formulate an advisory program of policy.
The three diplomats met at Ostend, Belgium (autumn
of 1854), and drew up the celebrated paper known as
the Ostend Manifesto, in which it was proposed to pay
Spain $120,000,000 for Cuba and declaration was made
that, as the island was necessary to our safety and to
the preservation of our internal repose, we would, in
the event of Spain's refusal to sell, be justified in wrest-
ing it from her.1 On account of the excitement about
JIt may be affirmed with confidence that northern opinion, excited by the
Kansas-Nebraska act, alone prevented this unjust war. . . . What a foolish
piece of statecraft was that of the southern leaders in 1854! They obtained
a fighting chance in Kansas, but they threw away the Pearl of the Antilles,
the island which would have been a rock and a fortress for their Southern
Confederacy. — Rhodes's History, vol. ii, p. 33.
18S6] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 159
Kansas and the critical position of the Democratic
party, the administration decided not to risk an extra
burden of unpopularity, and the project was aban-
doned. The facts were published some months later.
The struggle in Kansas was from its beginning re-
garded by the administration from the viewpoint of
positive southern sympathy. In a special message to
Congress on January 24, 1856, President Pierce dis-
cussed the causes and history of the troubles, and attrib-
uted them solely to "interference" by the northern anti-
slavery people with the orderly and peaceful settle-
ment of the Territory.
"This interference," wrote the President, "in so far as concerns
its primary causes and its immediate commencement, was one of the
incidents of that pernicious agitation of the subject of the condition
of the colored persons held to service in some of the States, which
has so long disturbed the repose of our country and excited individuals,
otherwise patriotic and law-abiding, to toil with misdirected zeal in
the attempt to propagate their social theories by the perversion and
abuse of the powers of Congress.
"The persons and parties whom the tenor of the act to organize the
Territories of Nebraska and Kansas thwarted in the endeavor to im-
pose, through the agency of Congress, their particular views of social
organization on the people of the future new States, now perceiving
that the policy of leaving the inhabitants of each State to judge for
themselves in this respect was ineradicably rooted in the convictions
of the people of the Union, then had recourse, in the pursuit of their
general object, to the extraordinary measure of propagandist coloniza-
tion of the Territory of Kansas, to prevent the free and natural action
of its inhabitants in its internal organization and thus to anticipate or
to force the determination of that question in the inchoate State."
In other words, the President considered it wrong for
the anti-slavery people to engage in formal competition
160 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1856
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
for control of the future State; the intent of the Con-
gressional act was to thwart them from securing such
control; and the only inhabitants of Kansas possessing
a proper status in the opinion of the national govern-
ment were those not identified with the interests and
influences in behalf of making it a free State. Strange
declarations indeed from the official head of the great
political organization whose entire creed was based
upon the doctrine of equal rights for all the people,
and which throughout its Jong and illustrious history
had accordingly enjoyed the special support of the free
masses of the north, who assuredly had a valid claim to
homes in Kansas and the right to endeavor to exclude
slavery, that worst enemy of free labor. Yet the Presi-
dent's frank attitude was the only consistent one for the
defense and carrying out of the Kansas-Nebraska act:
—Kansas, it was held, logically belonged to the south
and slavery, and any concerted free action was but an
interference with the predetermined exclusive right of
the slaveowners. The plan of "leaving the inhabitants
to judge for themselves" (popular sovereignty, called
by the irreverent "squatter sovereignty") was in its in-
ception, so far as Kansas was concerned, wholly biased
in favor of slavery, and all the ingenious pleas to con-
vince the north of its democratic impartiality were
utterly sophistical.
One of the early acts of the Republican House of
Representatives was the adoption of a resolution direct-
ing the Speaker to appoint a special committee to pro-
ceed to Kansas and make an investigation concerning
the troubles. The resulting committee after a minute
1856] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 161
inquiry brought in a majority report (July, 1856)
which was of very notable character for its charges
and proofs against the pro-slavery faction, and which
was used with powerful effect in the Presidential cam-
paign. The notorious election frauds, intolerant enact-
ments of the Territorial Legislature, and aggressive and
barbarous doings of the pro-slavery partisans (espe-
cially the Missouri intruders) were treated in detail.
A minority report was presented by the single Demo-
cratic member of the committee. This also was a
highly interesting and important document. It em-
bodied matters showing a by no means one-sided state
of affairs in the respects of fanatical party spirit; law-
less deeds, including dreadful cold-blooded murders;
organized activities of warlike aspect, both provocative
and by way of reprisal; and preparations for further
armed strife. Evidence was given that the free-State
people had for some time been receiving from the east
shipments of the Sharps rifle (a military arm),
with which, indeed, they had generally equipped them-
selves. These facts of the responsibility in part of the
free settlers produced, however, little impression at the
north except as they strengthened the hope that the free-
State party would prove strong and resolute enough to
gain the upper hand. There had been no concealment
about the sending of Sharps rifles and other military
equipment to Kansas; on that subject the Rev. Henry
Ward Beecher delivered a celebrated address in his
church in Brooklyn.
After the organization of the House by the Republi-
cans several important measures relating to Kansas
162 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1856
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
were introduced and earnestly debated in that body and
the Senate. With a view to pacification the Democrats
passed in the Senate (July, 1856) the noted Toombs
bill, which provided for an early election in the Terri-
tory for a Constitutional convention, the election to be
held under Federal auspices and to be so regulated as to
assure fairness to both sides and prevent all intimidation
and illegal voting. This did not appeal to the Repub-
licans, who, while conceding that the plan in detail,
purely as a voting arrangement, was probably fair,
asserted that their unyielding policy was to prevent the
allowance of slavery in any Territory, and therefore
that they could not leave the matter to chance. A
more shrewd reason for the rejection of the Democratic
overture has been suggested by some historical writers
as having had weight with the Republican leaders —
that of preferring, for campaign advantage, to have
the chaotic conditions continue until the Presidential
election.1 As measures which alone would be ac-
ceptable from their point of view, the Republicans
sought to secure the immediate admission of Kansas on
the basis of the Topeka Constitution, and also to re-
enact the slavery inhibition of the Missouri Compro-
mise. The Senate and House being at variance, the
efforts of both parties for their particular ends failed,
and the campaign was fought on the Kansas question
without further material developments.
!See especially Theodore Clark Smith, Parties and Slavery, pp. 166-169.
1856] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 163
American Party (Know-Nothings)
Previously to 1854 this organization had been only in
evolution on a system of profound secrecy even as to its
name. Coming out from the dark at the elections of
that year, the facts were seen to be that it was the politi-
cal development and expression of an immense country-
wide "order" founded on the most elaborate, tremen-
dous, and astonishing ceremonials, mysteries, oaths,
pledges, etc., with grips, raps, passwords, watchwords,
signals (such as prescribed ways of reflectively and dis-
creetly rubbing the nose and chin), regalias, rituals,
rites, and degrees; that its official name (divulged only
to those achieving the highest degree) was The Su-
preme Order of the Star-Spangled Banner; that it was
ruled and all its decisions were initiated and directed
by an extraordinarily select inner body called the na-
tional council ; that its practical program was to stigma-
tize, discriminate against, and substantially decitizen-
ize large elements of its fellow-countrymen on account
of their places of birth and religious persuasion; and
yet that it expected the great American people — the
most composite, cosmopolitan, liberal, and kindly peo-
ple in the world — to accept it as The American party.
The fate that speedily overtook it has served since as
an effective warning to aspiring neophytes in politics.
Grandiose pretensions by parties to the possession of
singular virtues of Americanism, and corresponding
egotism, gasconade, and braggadocio on the part of
their illiberal followers, have perhaps not very much
abated ; but never has the experiment been repeated of
164 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1856
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
a serious and hopeful organization arrogating to itself
the superlative style of The American party.
Greeley never spoke more sensibly than when, at the
height of its popularity, he said: "It would seem as
devoid of the elements of persistence as an anti-cholera
or an anti-potato rot party would be."
Its first and only national nominating convention
assembled in Pittsburgh on Washington's birthday,
1856, and continued in session four days, twenty-seven
States being represented by 227 delegates, and Ephraim
Marsh, of New Jersey, presiding. Previously to the
coming together of the convention the "national coun-
cil" of the "order" had met and adopted a platform for
the party. When this was presented to the convention
a bitter discussion arose on account of its non-com-
mittal treatment of the slavery question, and an amend-
ment was offered declaring "That we will nominate for
President and Vice-President no man who is not in
favor of interdicting the introduction of slavery into
territory north of 36° 30' by Congressional action";—
defeated by 141 to 59, whereupon some seventy of the
northern delegates refused to participate further in the
proceedings.
Nominations: — For President, Millard Fillmore, of
New York; for Vice-President, Andrew Jackson
Donelson, of Tennessee.
Platform:
'1. An humble acknowledgment to the Supreme Being for His
protecting care vouchsafed to our fathers in their successful Revolu-
tionary struggle, and hitherto manifested to us, their descendants, in
1856] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 165
the preservation of the liberties, the independence, and the Union of
these States.
"2. The perpetuation of the Federal Union and Constitution as
the palladium of our civil and religious liberties and the only sure
bulwark of American independence.
"3. Americans must rule America; and to this end native-born
citizens should be selected for all State, Federal, and municipal offices,
of government employment, in preference to all others ; nevertheless,
"4. Persons born of American parents residing temporarily abroad
should be entitled to all the rights of native-born citizens; but
"5. No person should be selected for political station (whether of
native or foreign birth) who recognizes any allegiance or obligation
of any description to any foreign prince, potentate, or power, or who
refuses to recognize the Federal and State Constitutions (each within
its own sphere) as paramount to all other laws as rules of political
action.
"6. The unqualified recognition and maintenance of the reserved
rights of the several States, and the cultivation of harmony and fra-
ternal good-will between citizens of the several States, and, to this
end, non-interference by Congress with questions appertaining solely
to the individual States, and non-intervention by each State with the
affairs of any other State.
"7. The recognition of the right of native-born and naturalized
citizens of the United States, permanently residing in any Territory
thereof, to frame their Constitution and laws and to regulate their
domestic and social affairs in their own mode, subject only to the
provisions of the Federal Constitution, with the privilege of admission
into the Union whenever they have the requisite population for one
Representative in Congress.
"Provided always, That none but those who are citizens of the
United States under the Constitution and laws thereof, and who have
a fixed residence in any such Territory, ought to participate in the
formation of the Constitution or in the enactment of laws for said
Territory or State.
"8. An enforcement of the principle that no State or Territory
166 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1856
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
ought to admit others than citizens to the right of suffrage or of
holding political offices of the United States.
"9. A change in the laws of naturalization, making a continued
residence of twenty-one years, of all not hereinbefore provided for,
an indispensable requisite for citizenship hereafter, and excluding all
paupers or persons convicted of crime from landing upon our shores;
but no interference with the vested rights of foreigners.
"10. Opposition to any union between church and state; no inter-
ference with religious faith or worship ; and no test oaths for office.
"11. Free and thorough investigation into any and all alleged
abuses of public functionaries, and a strict economy in public expen-
ditures.
"12. The maintenance and enforcement of all laws constitution-
ally enacted until said laws shall be repealed or shall be declared null
and void by competent judicial authority.
"13. Opposition to the reckless and unwise policy of the present
administration in the general management of our national affairs, and
more especially as shown in removing 'Americans' (by designation)
and conservatives in principle, from office, and placing foreigners and
ultraists in their places; as shown in a truckling subserviency to the
stronger and an insolent and cowardly bravado toward the weaker
powers ; as shown in reopening sectional agitation by the repeal of the
Missouri Compromise ; as shown in granting to unnaturalized foreign-
ers the right of suffrage in Kansas and Nebraska; as shown in its
vacillating course on the Kansas and Nebraska question ; as shown in
the corruptions which pervade some of the departments of the gov-
ernment; as shown in disgracing meritorious naval officers through
prejudiced caprice; and as shown in the blundering mismanagement of
our foreign relations.
"14. Therefore, to remedy existing evils and prevent the disas-
trous consequences otherwise resulting therefrom, we would build up
the 'American Party' upon the principles hereinbefore stated.
"15. That each State council shall have authority to amend their
several constitutions so as to abolish the several degrees and substi-
1856] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 167
tute a pledge of honor, instead of other obligations, for fellowship and
admission into the party.
"16. A free and open discussion of all political principles em-
braced in our platform."
Although no specific reference was made to the
Roman Catholic church, horror of that denomination
was one of the recognized and binding articles of the
Know-Nothing faith. In 1855 the national council
had adopted a platform which declared :
"8. Resistance to the aggressive policy and corrupting tendencies
of the Roman Catholic church in our country, by the advancement to
all political stations — executive, legislative, judicial, or diplomatic —
of those only who do not hold civil allegiance, directly or indirectly,
to any foreign power, whether civil or ecclesiastical, and who are
Americans by birth, education, and training — thus fulfilling the
maxim, 'Americans only shall govern America.' "
This plank, like the other declarations of the Know-
Nothings, was not without the plausibility that gener-
ally attaches to matured deliverances by representa-
tive bodies. The trouble with the Know-Nothings
was not that they lacked engaging words with which to
present their ideas, but that they ignored the funda-
mental plan of popular institutions. Universal suf-
frage for loyal citizens had become as solidly and last-
ingly established as the country itself; and universal
suffrage meant equal opportunities and privileges of
civil influence and advancement for all, or it meant
nothing. The imputation of disqualifying allegiances
to the particular classes of citizens specified by the
Know-Nothings was mere dogmatic assertion, and was
not intended to assume any other character for conver-
168 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1856
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
sion into public action; there was no legalistic question
or proof of disloyalty concerned or contemplated.
In the 1855 platform of the Know-Nothings an en-
deavor was made to remove the objection to the party
on the score of its secrecy, one of the resolutions reliev-
ing members from their obligations of concealment in
several respects.
The anti-slavery Know-Nothings held a convention
in New York City on June 2, 1856, which demanded
free Territories and a free Kansas and nominated
Nathaniel P. Banks for President; he withdrew in
favor of the Republican candidate, Fremont.
Democratic Party
National convention held in Cincinnati, June 2-6,
1856; temporary chairman, Samuel Medary, of Ohio;
permanent chairman, John E. Ward, of Georgia. The
two-thirds rule was readopted without opposition.
Among the delegates were former prominent members
of the Whig party.
There were three contestants for the Presidential
nomination — President Pierce, James Buchanan, and
Stephen A. Douglas. Vote on the first ballot: —
Buchanan, 135^; Pierce, 122^; Douglas, 33; Lewis
Cass, 5. Buchanan maintained the lead throughout
the struggle, and on the thirteenth ballot received a
majority. As it became evident that Pierce could not
be nominated his name was withdrawn, and an effort
was then made to combine his supporters and those of
Douglas in favor of the latter. This was largely sue-
JOHN TYLER
John Tyler, 10th president; born at Greenway, Charles City
county, Va., March 29, 1790; lawyer; member of house of dele-
gates, 1811-16; served in congress from December 16, 1817 to
March 3, 1821; again member of house of delegates, 1823-25;
United States senator from March 4, 1827 to February 20, 1836,
when he resigned; member of house of delegates, 1839; elected
vice president, 1840; became president on the death of Harri-
son, April 4, 1841, and served until March 3, 1845; delegate tt
Confederate provisional convention, 1861 ; elected to Confeder-
ate congress, but before it assembled he died on January 18,
1862 at Richmond, Va.
1856] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 169
cessful, but Buchanan retained his full strength and
also received some of the Pierce votes. The sixteenth
ballot stood: — Buchanan, 168; Douglas, 122; Cass, 5.
Douglas, feeling that it would be improper for his
friends to persist after the preference of a majority of
the convention had been so clearly manifested, tele-
graphed his withdrawal. Buchanan was unanimously
nominated on the seventeenth ballot. His selection
was due to several weighty considerations : — he was one
of the veteran leaders of the party; was expected to
carry his State of Pennsylvania, which was believed to
be indispensable to Democratic victory; and, having
been absent from the country as Minister to England,
was not directly identified with the Kansas disputation,
yet was known to be as "safe," from the southern point
of view, as either Pierce or Douglas. He was more-
over a man of preeminent public reputation and irre-
proachable character.
On the first ballot for Vice-President ten men were
voted for. John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, re-
ceived the unanimous vote of the convention on the sec-
ond ballot.
The platform, adopted with practically no dissen-
sion— none whatever concerning the slavery question,
— was as follows:
"Resolved, That the American Democracy place their trust in
the intelligence, the patriotism, and the discriminating justice of the
American people.
"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 form of government springing from and
upheld by the popular will; and we contrast it with the creed and
170 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1856
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
practice of Federalism, under whatever name or form, which seeks to
palsy the will of the constituent and which conceives no imposture too
monstrous for the popular credulity.
"Resolved, Therefore, that, entertaining these views, the Demo-
cratic party of this Union, through their delegates assembled in a
general convention, 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 declarations of
principles avowed by them when, on former occasions, in general
convention, they presented their candidates for the popular suffrage.
"1. That the Federal government is one of limited power, de-
rived solely from the Constitution, and the grants of power made
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. That the Constitution does not confer upon the general gov-
ernment the power to commence and carry on a general system of in-
ternal improvements.
"3. 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 and internal improvements or other
State purposes; nor would such assumption be just or expedient.
"4. That justice and sound policy forbid the Federal government
to foster one branch of industry to the detriment of any other, 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 prop-
erty from domestic violence or foreign aggression.
"5. 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 and for the grad-
ual but certain extinction of the public debt.
1856] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 171
"6. 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 Con-
stitution.
"7. That Congress has no power to charter a national bank;
that we believe such an institution 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; and that the results of Demo-
cratic legislation in this and all other financial measures upon which
issues have been made between the two political parties of the coun-
try have demonstrated to candid and practical men of all parties their
soundness, safety, and utility in all business pursuits.
"8. 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. 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
suspend the passage of a bill whose merits cannot 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 gen-
eral internal improvements.
"10. That the liberal principles embodied by Jefferson in the
Declaration of Independence, and sanctioned in the Constitution,
which make 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 privilege of becoming citizens
and the owners of soil among us ought to be resisted with the same
spirit which swept the Alien and Sedition laws from our statute-book;
and
"Whereas, Since the foregoing declaration was uniformly adopted
172 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1856
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
by our predecessors in national conventions, an adverse political and
religious test has been secretly organized by a party claiming to be
exclusively American, and it is proper that the American Democracy
should clearly define its relation thereto and declare its determined
opposition to all secret political societies, by whatever name they may
be called,
"Resolved, That the foundation of this Union of States having
been laid in, and its prosperity, expansion, and preemient example
in free government built upon, entire freedom in matters of religious
concernment and no respect of persons in regard to rank or place of
birth, no party can justly be deemed national, constitutional, or in
accordance with American principles which bases its exclusive organ-
ization upon religious opinions and accidental birthplace. And hence
a political crusade in the Nineteenth century, and in the United States
of America, against Catholic and foreign-born is neither justified by
the past history or the future prospects of the country, nor in unison
with the spirit of toleration and enlarged freedom which peculiarly
distinguishes the American system of popular government.
"Resolved, That we reiterate with renewed energy of purpose the
well-considered declarations of former conventions upon the sec-
tional issue of domestic slavery and concerning the reserved rights
of the States: —
"1. 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 every-
thing appertaining to their own affairs not prohibited by the Consti-
tution ; that all efforts of the 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 inevi-
table tendency to diminish the happiness of the people and endanger
the stability and permanency of the Union, and ought not to be coun-
tenanced by any friend of our political institutions.
"2. That the foregoing proposition covers, and was intended
to embrace, the whole subject of slavery agitation in Congress; and
therefore the Democratic party of the Union, standing on this
1856] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 173
national platform, will abide by and adhere to a faithful execution
of the acts known as the 'Compromise' measures, settled by the Con-
gress of 1850, the 'act for reclaiming fugitives from service or labor'
included, which act, being designed to carry out an express provision
of the Constitution, cannot, with fidelity thereto, be repealed or so
changed as to destroy or impair its efficiency.
"3. That the Democratic party will resist all attempts at renew-
ing, in Congress or out of it, the agitation of the slavery question,
under whatever shape or color the attempt may be made.
"That the Democratic party will faithfully abide by and uphold
the principles laid down in the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions
of 1798, and in the report of Mr. Madison to the Virginia Legisla-
ture in 1799; that it adopts those principles as constituting one of
the main foundations of its political creed, and is resolved to carry
them out in their obvious meaning and import.
"And that we may more distinctly meet the issue on which a
sectional party, subsisting exclusively /on slavery agitation, now
relies to test the fidelity of the people, north and south, to the Con-
stitution and the Union" —
"1. Resolved, That, claiming fellowship with and desiring the
cooperation of all who regard the preservation of the Union under
the Constitution as the paramount issue, and repudiating all sec-
tional parties and platforms concerning domestic slavery which seek
to embroil the States and incite to treason and armed resistance to law
in the Territories, and whose avowed purposes, if consummated, must
end in civil war and disunion, the American Democracy recognize
and adopt the principles contained in the organic laws establishing
the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska as embodying the only
sound and safe solution of the 'slavery question' upon which the
great national idea of the people of this whole country can repose
in its determined conservation of the Union — NON-INTERFERENCE
BY CONGRESS WITH SLAVERY IN STATE AND TERRITORY, OR IN THE
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
"2. That this was the basis of the Compromises of 1850 — con-
firmed by both the Democratic and Whig parties in national con-
174 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1856
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
ventions, ratified by the people in the election of 1852, and rightly
applied to the organization of Territories in 1854.
"3. That by the uniform application of this Democratic prin-
ciple to the organization of Territories and to the admission of new
States, with or without domestic slavery as they may elect, the
equal rights of all the States will be preserved intact, the original
compacts of the Constitution maintained inviolate, and the perpetuity
and expansion of this Union insured to its utmost capacity of embrac-
ing, in peace and harmony, every future American State that may
be constituted or annexed, with a republican form of government.
"Resolved, That we recognize the right of the people of all the
Territories, including Kansas and Nebraska, acting through the
legally and fairly expressed will of a majority of actual residents,
and whenever the number of their inhabitants justifies it, to form a
Constitution, with or without domestic slavery, and be admitted
into the Union upon terms of perfect equality with the other
States.
"Resolved, finally, That in view of the condition of popular insti-
tutions in the old world (and the dangerous tendencies of sectional
agitation, combined with the attempt to enforce civil and religious
disabilities against the rights of acquiring and enjoying citizenship
in our own land), a high and sacred duty is devolved with increased
responsibility upon the Democratic party of this country, as the
party of the Union, to uphold and maintain the rights of every
State, and thereby the Union of the States, and to sustain and
advance among us constitutional liberty, 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.
"1. Resolved, That there are questions connected with the for-
eign policy of this country which are inferior to no domestic question
whatever. The time has come for the people of the United States
1856] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 175
to declare themselves in favor of free seas and progressive free trade
throughout the world, and, by solemn manifestations, to place their
moral influence at the side of their successful example.
"2. Resolved, That our geographical and political position with
reference to the other states of this continent, no less than the inter-
est of our commerce and the development of our growing power,
requires that we should hold as sacred the principles involved in the
Monroe doctrine. Their bearing and import admit of no miscon-
struction; they should be applied with unbending rigidity.
"3. Resolved, That the great highway which nature, as well as
the assent of the states most immediately interested in its mainte-
nance, has marked out for a free communication between the Atlan-
tic and the Pacific Oceans, constitutes one of the most important
achievements realized by the spirit of modern times and the uncon-
querable energy of our people. That result should be secured by
a timely and efficient exertion of the control which we have the
right to claim over it, and no power on earth should be suffered to
impede or clog its progress by any interference with the relations
it may suit our policy to establish between our government and the
governments of the states within whose dominions it lies. We can
under no circumstances surrender our preponderance in the adjust-
ment of all questions arising out of it.
"4. Resolved, That, in view of so commanding an interest, the
people of the United States cannot but sympathize with the efforts
which are being made by the people of Central America to regener-
ate that portion of the continent which covers the passage across the
interoceanic isthmus.
"5. Resolved, That the Democratic party will expect of the next
administration that every proper effort be made to insure our ascend-
ancy in the Gulf of Mexico, and to maintain a permanent protection
to the great outlets through which are emptied into its waters the
products raised out of the soil and the commodities created by the
industry of the people of our western valleys and of the Union at
large.
"Resolved, That the Democratic party recognizes the great im-
portance, in a political and commercial point of view, of a safe and
176 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1856
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
speedy communication, by military and postal roads, through our
own territory between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of this Union,
and that it is the duty of the Federal government to exercise promptly
all its constitutional power for the attainment of that object.
"Resolved, That the administration of Franklin Pierce has been
true to the great interests of the country. In the face of the most
determined opposition it has maintained the laws, enforced economy,
fostered progress, and infused integrity and vigor into every depart-
ment of the government at home. It has signally improved our
treaty relations, extended the field of commercial enterprise, and
vindicated the rights of American citizens abroad. It has asserted
with eminent impartiality the just claims of every section, and has
at all times been faithful to the Constitution. We therefore pro-
claim our unqualified approbation of its measures and its policy."
Republican Party
Constructed from the several elements of the "Anti-
Nebraska" seceders from the old parties, the Republi-
can organization, as we have seen, made its first contest
at the State and Congressional elections of 1854. Va-
rious claims have been urged on behalf of individuals
and localities for the distinction of the earliest adop-
tion of its name. In the respect of State initiative and
action the priority is incontestably to be awarded to
Michigan. At a convention of Anti-Nebraskans of that
State held at Jackson on July 6, 1854, a mixed State
ticket of anti-slavery Whigs, Free Soil Democrats, and
former regular Democrats who had voted for Pierce
in 1852 was nominated, and a strong platform was
adopted which declared: "We will cooperate and be
known as 'Republicans' until the contest be termi-
nated." Other State organizations that early took the
1856] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 177
name Republican were those of Wisconsin and Ver-
mont. With the approach of the Presidential cam-
paign the Republican party had become everywhere
recognized as comprising the united forces of political
opposition to slavery.
As the result of a call issued by the party committees
of the States of Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michi-
gan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and
Wisconsin, a national meeting for purposes of confer-
ence convened in Pittsburgh on February 22, 1856.
Twenty-three States were represented. Francis P.
Blair, of Missouri, a former Democrat, was permanent
chairman ; and Henry J. Raymond, editor of the New
York Times and a former Whig, was designated to pre-
pare an "Address to the People" — which, being duly
presented to the assemblage, received its unanimous
approval and was issued as the first national declaration
of the Republican party. Its essential expressions
were:
"We demand, and shall attempt to secure, the repeal of all laws
which allow the introduction of slavery into territory once conse-
crated to freedom, and will resist by every constitutional means the
existence of slavery in any Territory of the United States.
"We will support by every lawful means our brethren in Kansas,"
and are "in favor of the immediate admission of Kansas as a free
and independent State."
A committee was selected to call a national nominat-
ing convention.
Pursuant to call by this committee, the Republican
party held its first national nominating convention in
Philadelphia on June 17-19, 1856. Each State was in-
178 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1856
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
vited to send six delegates-at-large and three delegates
from each Congressional district. The convention was
unusually large for those times, having over 550 mem-
bers. All the northern States were represented, and
also Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, the District of
Columbia, and the Territory of Kansas. Temporary
chairman, Robert Emmet, of New York; permanent
chairman, Henry S. Lane, of Indiana.
An offer of cooperation was received from the bolt-
ing (anti-slavery) faction of the Know-Nothings, but
the convention rejected it. One of the chief reasons
for the failure of the Free Soil party had been its
proneness to fusions. The Republicans from the start
very wisely avoided such fragile and transitory reli-
ances. Know-Nothingism, moreover, was repugnant
to their program of inviting the support of all opposed
to slavery, including the naturalized citizens. In par-
ticular, the party had already enjoyed notable acces-
sions from the Germans, who had been arriving in large
numbers since 1848 and were known to be much in-
clined toward the predestined candidate, Fremont.
On an informal ballot for President, John C. Fre-
mont, of California, received 359 votes; John McLean,
of Ohio, 190; Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, 2;
Nathaniel P. Banks, of Massachusetts, 1 ; and William
H. Seward, of New York, 1. Fremont was then nomi-
nated unanimously.
An informal ballot was also taken for Vice-Presi-
dent, which resulted as follows : William L. Dayton,
of New Jersey, 253; Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois,
110; Nathaniel P. Banks, of Massachusetts, 46; David
1856] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 179
Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, 43 ; Charles Sumner, 35 ; ten
others, 52. Dayton was the unanimous choice on the
next ballot.
Fremont was admittedly chosen for his availability.
The situation demanded a nominee who would not be
likely to repel any of the strongly prejudiced older
voters on account of his previous party spirit and pub-
lic course in relation to other matters than slavery, and
whose personality would attract the young men. There
was no claim that Fremont possessed marked attributes
of political leadership; and in that regard it never
afterward appeared that he had been underrated.
Formerly a Democratic Senator from California, he
had been defeated for reelection (1851) because of his
anti-slavery views; otherwise he was politically with-
out either special antecedents or record. His most
positive recommendation was his picturesque career at
the far west, which had made his name familiar.
Platform :
"This convention of delegates, assembled in pursuance of a call
addressed to the people of the United States, without regard to past
political differences or divisions, who are opposed to the repeal of
the Missouri Compromise, to the policy of the present administra-
tion, to the extension of slavery into free territory; in favor of the
admission of Kansas as a free State, of restoring the action of the
Federal government to the principles of Washington and Jefferson;
and for the purpose of presenting candidates for the offices of Presi-
dent and Vice-President, do
"Resolve, That the maintenance of the principles promulgated in
the Declaration of Independence and embodied in the Federal Con-
stitution is essential to the preservation of our republican institutions,
and that the Federal Constitution, the rights of the States, and the
Union of the States must and shall be preserved.
180 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1856
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"Resolved, That with our republican fathers we hold it to be a
self-evident truth that all men are endowed with the inalienable
rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that the
primary object and ulterior design of our Federal government were
to secure these rights to all persons under its exclusive jurisdiction;
that, as our republican fathers, when they had abolished slavery in
all our national territory, ordained that no person should be deprived
of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, it becomes
our duty to maintain this provision of the Constitution against alt
attempts to violate it for the purpose of establishing slavery in the
Territories of the United States, by positive legislation prohibiting
its existence or extension therein. That we deny the authority of Con-
gress, of a Territorial Legislature, of any individual or association
of individuals to give legal existence to slavery in any Territory of
the United States while the present Constitution shall be main-
tained.
"Resolved, That the Constitution confers upon Congress sover-
eign power over the Territories of the United States for their gov-
ernment, and that in the exercise of this power it is both the right
and the imperative duty of Congress to prohibit in the Territories
those twin relics of barbarism, polygamy and slavery.
"Resolved, That while the Constitution of the United States was
ordained and established by the people in order to 'form a more per-
fect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for
the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the
blessings of liberty,' and contains ample provision for the protection
of the life, liberty, and property of every citizen, the dearest con-
stitutional rights of the people of Kansas have been fraudulently
and violently taken from them; their territory has been invaded by
an armed force; spurious and pretended legislative, judicial, and
executive officers have been set over them, by whose usurped
authority, sustained by the military power of the government, tyran-
nical and unconstitutional laws have been enacted and enforced; the
right of the people to keep and bear arms has been infringed; test
oaths of an extraordinary and entangling nature have been imposed
as a condition of exercising the right of suffrage and holding office;
1856] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 181
the right of an accused person to a speedy and public trial by an
impartial jury has been denied; the right of the people to be secure
in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable
searches and seizures has been violated; they have been deprived of
life, liberty, and property without due process of law; the free-
dom of speech and of the press has been abridged; the right to
choose their representatives has been made of no effect; murders,
robberies, and arsons have been instigated and encouraged, and the
offenders have been allowed to go unpunished; that all these things
have been done with the knowledge, sanction, and procurement of
the present national administration; and that for this high crime
against the Constitution, the Union, and humanity we arraign the
administration, the President, his advisers, agents, supporters, apolo-
gists, and accessories either before or after the fact, before the coun-
try and before the world; and that it is our fixed purpose to bring
the actual perpetrators of these atrocious outrages, and their accom-
plices, to a sure and condign punishment hereafter.
"Resolved, That Kansas should be immediately admitted as a
State of the Union, with her present free Constitution, as at once the
most effectual way of securing to her citizens the enjoyment of the
rights and privileges to which they are entitled and of ending the
civil strife now raging in her territory.
"Resolved, That the highwayman's plea, that 'might makes right,'
embodied in the Ostend circular, was in every respect unworthy of
American diplomacy and would bring shame and dishonor upon any
government or people that gave it their sanction.
"Resolved, That a railroad to the Pacific Ocean by the most cen-
tral and practicable route is imperatively demanded by the interests
of the whole country, and that the Federal government ought to ren-
der immediate and efficient aid in its construction, and, as an auxiliary
thereto, to the immediate construction of an emigrant route on the
line of the railroad.
"Resolved, That appropriations by Congress for the improvement
of rivers and harbors of a national character, required for the accom-
modation and security of our existing commerce, are authorized by
182 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1856
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
the Constitution and justified by the obligation of the government
to protect the lives and property of its citizens.
"Resolved, That we invite the affiliation and cooperation of men
of all parties, however differing from us in other respects, in sup-
port of the principles herein declared; and, believing that the spirit
of our institutions, as well as the Constitution of our country, guar-
antee liberty of conscience and equality of rights among citizens, we
oppose all legislation impairing their security."
Whig Party
The Whigs who still adhered to their old party
organization held a national convention in Baltimore,
September 17-18, 1856. Delegates were present from
twenty-six States, and Edward Bates, of Missouri, pre-
sided.
For President and Vice-President the nominees of
the Know-Nothings, Millard Fillmore and Andrew
Jackson Donelson, were endorsed.
Platform :
"Resolved, That the Whigs of the United States, now here assem-
bled, hereby declare their reverence for the Constitution of the United
States, their unalterable attachment to the national Union, and a
fixed determination to do all in their power to preserve them for
themselves and their posterity. They have no new principles to
announce, no new platform to establish; but are content to broadly
rest — where their fathers rested — upon the Constitution of the United
States, wishing no safer guide, no higher law.
"Resolved, That we regard with the deepest interest and anxiety
the present disordered condition of our national affairs — a portion
of the country ravaged by civil war, large sections of our population
embittered by mutual recriminations; and we distinctly trace these
calamities to the culpable neglect of duty by the present national
administration.
1856] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 183
"Resolved, That the government of the United States was formed
by the conjunction in political unity of widespread geographical sec-
tions, materially differing not only in climate and productions, but
in social and domestic institutions; and that any cause that shall per-
manently array the different sections of the Union in political hos-
tility and organize parties founded only on geographical distinctions,
must inevitably prove fatal to a continuance of the national Union.
"Resolved, That the Whigs of the United States declare, as a
fundamental article of political faith, an absolute necessity for avoid-
ing geographical parties. The danger, so clearly discerned by the
Father of his Country, has now become fearfully apparent in the
agitation now convulsing the nation, and must be arrested at once
if we would preserve our Constitution and our Union from dismem-
berment and the name of America from being blotted out from the
family of civilized nations.
"Resolved, That all who revere the Constitution and the Union
must look with alarm at the parties in the field in the present Presi-
dential campaign — one claiming only to represent sixteen northern
States, and the other appealing mainly to the passions and prejudices
of the southern States; that the success of either faction must add
fuel to the flame which now threatens to wrap our dearest interests
in a common ruin.
"Resolved, That the only remedy for an evil so appalling is to
support a candidate pledged to neither of the geographical sections
now arrayed in political antagonism, but holding both in a just and
equal regard. We congratulate the friends of the Union that such
a candidate exists in Millard Fillmore.
"Resolved, That, without adopting or referring to the peculiar
doctrines of the party which has already selected Mr. Fillmore as a
candidate, we look to him as a well-tried and faithful friend of the
Constitution and the Union, eminent alike for his wisdom and firm-
ness; for his justice and moderation in our foreign relations; for his
calm and pacific temperament, so well becoming the head of a great
nation; for his devotion to the Constitution in its true spirit; his
inflexibility in executing the laws; but, beyond all these attributes,
in possessing the one transcendent merit of being a representative of
184 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1856
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
neither of the two sectional parties now struggling for political
supremacy.
"Resolved, That in the present exigency of political affairs we
are not called upon to discuss the subordinate questions of admin-
istration in the exercise of the constitutional power of the govern-
ment. It is enough to know that civil war is raging and that the
Union is in peril; and we proclaim the conviction that the restora-
tion of Mr. Fillmore to the Presidency will furnish the best, if not
the only, means of restoring peace."
The Election
The writer has before him that valuable and now
very rare publication, "The Democratic Hand-Book
of 1856," compiled by Mich. W. Cluskey and endorsed
by the Democratic national committee. On the title-
page are these words : "The success of the Democracy
essential for the preservation of the Union and the pro-
tection of the integrity of the Constitution." In this
sentiment was compacted the entire argument of the
Democrats in the campaign. The volume embodies
numerous documentary matters of great historical mo-
ment and interest, including profoundly able addresses
delivered in Congress and before the public by Demo-
cratic and former Whig leaders of both the north and
south — all contributory to the single claim that Buchan-
an's election was necessary to preserve the Union and
Constitution. Interspersed through its pages are arti-
cles of the broadside kind, to the same purport One
of these is entitled :
"The Fearful Issue to be Decided in November Next! Shall the
Constitution and the Union Stand or Fall! Fremont, the Sectional
Candidate of the Advocates of Dissolution! Buchanan, the Candi-
JAMES K. POLK
James K. Polk, llth president; born near Little Sugar Creek,
Mecklenburg county, N. C., November 2, 1795 ; moved to Ten-
nessee in 1806; lawyer; served in state legislature, 1823-25; in
congress from March 4, 1825 to March 3, 1839; governor of
Tennessee, 1839; elected president of the United States in 1844;
declined renomination, 1848; died at Nashville, Tenn., June 15,
1849.
1856] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 185
date of Those Who Advocate One Country! One Union! One
Constitution! and One Destiny! Fremont and His Friends! Be-
hold the Record!"
The record presented in the article consists of ex-
treme utterances by prominent supporters of Fremont.
Citation is made of the celebrated indiscretion of
Banks, "I am willing in a certain state of circumstances
to let it [the Union] 'slide'." The remark of the fiery
Giddings, that he looked forward to the time when the
torch "shall light up the towns and cities of the south,
and blot out the last vestige of slavery," is instanced.
Many other aggressive declarations by leading Republi-
cans are given in support of the Democratic charge as
to their indifference to consequences in the contest
against slavery. Garrison, the arch-disunionist of the
Abolitionists, is quoted as viewing the Republican
movement with satisfaction.
As the campaign progressed, the intense enthusiasm
of the radical people of the north for the Republican
ticket was met by a marked disposition on the part of
the more cautious to accept the Democratic view of the
real danger of disunion. The cooperation given the
Democratic party by eminent thinkers was certainly
not comparable to that extended to the Republican
party, yet was of notable weight, especially as repre-
sentative of the intellectual and influential leaders of
the conservative Whigs. One of the most powerful
campaign documents in Buchanan's behalf was an open
letter from Rufus Choate, written after mature reflec-
tion, in which the conviction was stated that the Repub-
lican movement was in its nature geographical, and
186 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL £1856
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
therefore that its triumph would "put the Union in
danger." It was constantly alleged by Democratic
newspapers and orators that for the first time in Ameri-
can history a great sectional party had arisen; that so
extreme and exclusive was its sectionalism that by its
nominations and platform it practically declared the
people of the fifteen southern States its enemies; and
that this hostility was fully reciprocated by the south-
erners and would unquestionably lead to their with-
drawal from the Union in the event of Fremont's elec-
tion. Fillmore, the candidate of the Know-Nothings,
said: "Can we have the madness or folly to believe
that our southern brethren would submit to be gov-
erned by such a Chief -Magistrate?"
But these attacks were in no way disconcerting to the
Republicans. The campaign for Fremont was waged
with the most complete conviction and vigor, and with
a fervor of popular manifestation not witnessed since
1840. To the southern threats and northern forebod-
ings of disunion the Republicans replied that they were
not new, and were meant only to intimidate and be-
wilder.
On the merits of the one immediate issue, that of
Kansas, conservative opinion was strengthened by the
belief that a decision would soon be worked out in favor
of the free settlers by the inexorable operation of eco-
nomic law. Already it was considered morally certain
that they were in a majority in the Territory; and in
view of the tendency of free migration to move more
actively, economically, and in larger volume than a
slave-encumbered class interest, the ultimate over-
1856] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 187
whelming preponderance of the free-State partyseemed
unquestionable. There were many who felt, on other
grounds than those of party prepossession, that as the
Democrats were committed to fair action by the
Toombs bill and also by pledges made by Buchanan
during the canvass, it would be wiser to settle the diffi-
culty by vote than by a radical policy involving the
danger of southern secession.
The election, as was expected by shrewd observers,
was decided by Pennsylvania, which gave its vote to
the Democratic candidate. Much disappointment was
felt by the Republicans over the poor showing made
by Fremont in his own State of California, where he
ran third. But his success in such States as New York,
Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa, and all New
England, showed the formidable power of the con-
joined forces that so recently had come into operation.
In the fifteen slave States Fremont had only 1,194
votes, divided as follows: Delaware, 308; Kentucky,
314; Maryland, 281 ; Virginia, 291. The Know-Noth-
ing ticket carried only one State, Maryland, but, on
account of the official Whig endorsement, received
support in every State. Its total vote in the south was
in round numbers 480,000; in the north, 394,500.
Electoral vote for President and Vice-President:
James Buchanan and John C. Breckinridge, Democrats: — Ala-
bama, 9; Arkansas, 4; California, 4; Delaware, 3; Florida, 3;
Georgia, 10; Illinois, 11; Indiana, 13; Kentucky, 12; Louisiana, 6;
Mississippi, 7; Missouri, 9; New Jersey, 7; North Carolina, 10;
Pennsylvania, 27; South Carolina, 8; Tennessee, 12; Texas, 4; Vir-
ginia, 15. Total 174. Elected.
188 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1856
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
John C. Fremont and William L. Dayton, Republicans: — Con-
necticut, 6; Iowa, 4; Maine, 8; Massachusetts, 13; Michigan, 6;
New Hampshire, 5; New York, 35; Ohio, 23; Rhode Island, 4;
Vermont, 5; Wisconsin, 5. Total, 114.
Millard Fillmore and Andrew Jackson Donelson, American
party: — Maryland, 8.
Popular vote :
Buchanan, 1,838,169; Fremont, 1,335,264; Fillmore, 874,534.
PART III
PARTIES FROM 1860 TO 1920
HAVING reviewed the political history of the
country from the foundation of the government
until the final reconstruction of parties in the
years 1854-56, we may now terminate both the explana-
tory narration and the accessory discussion. For the
treatment of the historical facts from 1856 to the pres-
ent time the reader is referred to the formal sketches of
the Democratic and Republican parties in Volume V
of this work. The pages that follow will be devoted
without comment to the records of the parties as shown
by their successive national conventions and platforms
and by the election results.
1860
Democratic Party1
1. Regular Convention at Charleston
The national convention assembled in Charleston,
South Carolina, April 23, 1860; temporary chairman,
Francis B. Flournoy, of Arkansas; permanent chair-
man, Caleb Gushing, of Massachusetts. Complete
!For the transactions of the Democratic conventions numbered in our text
1, 3, and 4, we are indebted to Proceedings of the Conventions at Charleston
and Baltimore; Published by order of the National Democratic Convention
189
190 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [I860
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
delegations were present from all the States, and double
delegations from Illinois and New York. Seats were
awarded to the delegates from Illinois and New York
who favored the nomination of Stephen A. Douglas for
President and therefore were in agreement with the
general views of the northern Democracy concerning
slavery. The convention voted that no ballot for Presi-
dent or Vice-President should be taken until after
adoption of the platform.
In the committee on resolutions the members from
California and Oregon supported the position of the
southern wing of the party; and consequently, as the
committee was organized by States, the majority report
on platform represented the southern attitude on the
slavery question. A minority report was brought in
by the northern opposition, and a motion was made to
substitute it for the majority report. The convention,
voting by numbers, of course had a considerable north-
ern majority. After prolonged debate, during which
efforts for harmony were made without success, the
minority report (as amended) was adopted, April 30 —
the vote of the convention being 165 yeas to 138 nays.
After the adoption of the minority report on plat-
form, about fifty of the southern members withdrew
(Maryland Institute, Baltimore), and under the supervision of the National
Democratic [Breckinridge] Executive Committee. Washington, 1860.
Another official publication — restricted, however, to the conventions num-
bered in our text 1 and 3 — is Official Proceedings of the Democratic National
Conventions, Held in 1860, at Charleston and Baltimore. Prepared and
published under the direction of John G. Parkhurst, Recording Secretary
[Douglas auspices]. Cleveland, Nevins' Print, Plain Dealer Job Office, 1860.
An excellent authority for all the five conventions is Greeley and Cleve-
land's Political Text-Book for 1860, pp. 29-48.
1860] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 191
from the convention pursuant to formal protests filed
by their State delegations.
Notwithstanding the diminished membership of the
body it was decided not only to abide by the two-thirds
rule for nominations, but to base the calculation of the
two-thirds upon the total number of votes — 303 — in
the original full convention. Fifty-seven ballots for
President were taken without a choice being made;
Douglas had a majority on every ballot. First ballot: —
Douglas, 145^; R. M. T. Hunter, of Virginia, 42;
James Guthrie, of Kentucky, 35^ ; Andrew Johnson,
of Tennessee, 12; Daniel S. Dickinson, of New York,
7; Joseph Lane, of Oregon, 6; Isaac Toucey, of
Connecticut, 2^ ; Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, \Y2 ;
Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire, 1. Fifty-seventh
ballot:— Douglas, 151^; Guthrie, 6$y2 ; Hunter, 16;
Lane, 14; Dickinson, 4; Davis, 1.
On May 3 the convention adjourned to meet again
in Baltimore June 18.
2. Charleston Bolters, First Convention
The bolters from the regular convention at Charles-
ton held a separate convention forthwith in the same
city, James A. Bayard, of Delaware, presiding. Their
proceedings were marked by complete harmony.
Platform of the southern Democracy:
"Resolved, That the platform adopted by the Democratic party
at Cincinnati [in 1856] be affirmed, with the following explanatory
resolutions :
"First. That the government of a Territory organized by an act
of Congress is provisional and temporary; and, during its existence,
192 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [I860
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
all citizens of the United States have an equal right to settle with
their property in the Territory without their rights, either of person
or property, being destroyed or impaired by Congressional or Terri-
torial legislation.
"Second. That it is the duty of the Federal government, in all
its departments, to protect when necessary the rights of persons and
property in the Territories, and wherever else its constitutional
authority extends.
"Third. That when settlers in a Territory having an adequate
population form a State Constitution the right of sovereignty com-
mences, and, being consummated by an admission into the Union, they
stand on an equal footing with the people of other States; and the
State thus organized ought to be admitted into the Federal Union
whether its Constitution prohibits or recognizes the institution of
slavery.
"Fourth. That the Democratic party are in favor of the acquisi-
tion of the island of Cuba, on such terms as shall be honorable to
ourselves and just to Spain, at the earliest practicable moment.
"Fifth. That the enactments of the State Legislatures to defeat
the faithful execution of the Fugitive Slave law are hostile in char-
acter, subversive of the Constitution, and revolutionary in their
effect.
"Sixth. That the Democracy of the United States recognize it
as the imperative duty of this government to protect the naturalized
citizens in all their rights, whether at home or in foreign lands, to the
same extent as its native-born citizens.
"Whereas, One of the greatest necessities of the age, in a political,
commercial, postal, and military point of view, is a speedy communi-
cation between the Pacific and Atlantic coasts; therefore, be it
"Resolved, That the Democratic party do hereby pledge them-
selves to use every means in their power to secure the passage of
some bill, to the extent of the constitutional authority of Congress,
for the construction of a Pacific Railroad from the Mississippi River
to the Pacific Ocean at the earliest practicable moment."
No nominations were made by this convention,
1860] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 193
which, after being in session four days, adjourned to
meet in Richmond, Virginia, on June 11.
3. Adjourned Convention of Regulars, at Baltimore
Reassembling at Baltimore, in the Front Street
Theater, on the 18th of June, 1860, the regular conven-
tion began its business by omitting from the roll-call the
States unrepresented upon the adjournment at Charles-
ton— Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Missis-
sippi, South Carolina, and Texas. For five days the con-
vention was occupied with passing on applications for
seats, mainly from the excluded States — these applica-
tions involving several contests between opponents and
supporters of Douglas. Most of the Douglas contest-
ants were seated, and a bolt ensued that was even more
formidable than that at the preceding regular conven-
tion. Caleb Cushing resigned as chairman. His place
was taken by John Tod, of Ohio.
It was ultimately decided to nominate by the vote of
two-thirds of the delegates remaining. Douglas was
chosen for President on the second ballot, receiving
votes to 7l/2 for John C. Breckinridge and
for James Guthrie. For Vice-President, Benjamin
Fitzpatrick, of Alabama, was nominated on the first
ballot. After the adjournment of the convention he
wrote a letter declining the honor, and Herschel V.
Johnson, of Georgia, was thereupon named for the posi-
tion by the national committee.
The Charleston minority report on resolutions was
retained, with one additional plank, No. 7 below.
194 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [I860
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Platform of the northern Democracy:
"1. Resolved, That we, the Democracy of the Union, in con-
vention assembled, hereby declare our affirmance of the resolutions
unanimously adopted and declared as a platform of principles by the
Democratic convention at Cincinnati in the year 1856, believing that
Democratic principles are unchangeable in their nature when applied
to the same subject matter; and we recommend, as the only further
resolutions, the following:
"Inasmuch as differences of opinion exist in the Democratic party
as to the nature and extent of the powers of a Territorial Legisla-
ture, and as to the powers and duties of Congress, under the Con-
stitution of the United States, over the institution of slavery within
the Territories, —
"2. Resolved, That the Democratic party will abide by the deci-
sions of the Supreme Court of the United States on the questions
of constitutional law.
"3. Resolved, That it is the duty of the United States to afford
ample and complete protection to all its citizens, whether at home
or abroad, and whether native or foreign.
"4. Resolved, That one of the necessities of the age, in a mili-
tary, commercial, and postal point of view, is speedy communication
between the Atlantic and Pacific States; and the Democratic party
pledge such constitutional government aid as will insure the con-
struction of a railroad to the Pacific coast at the earliest practicable
period.
"5. Resolved, That the Democratic party are in favor of the
acquisition of the island of Cuba on such terms as shall be honorable
to ourselves and just to Spain.
"6. Resolved, That the enactments of State Legislatures to de-
feat the faithful execution of the Fugitive Slave law are hostile in
character, subversive of the Constitution, and revolutionary in their
effect.
"7. Resolved, That it is in accordance with the true interpreta-
tion of the Cincinnati platform that, during the existence of the
Territorial government, the measure of restriction, whatever it may
1860] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 195
be, imposed by the Federal Constitution on the power of the Terri-
torial Legislature over the subject of the domestic relations, as the
same has been, or shall hereafter be, finally determined by the
Supreme Court of the United States, should be respected by all good
citizens and enforced with promptness and fidelity by every branch
of the government."
The convention completed its work and adjourned
on June 23.
4. Convention of the Baltimore Bolters
On June 23, 1860, the delegates who had withdrawn
from the regular Baltimore convention came together
in national convention in the Maryland Institute, Bal-
timore. Their number was increased by admission of
some of the delegates who had been in attendance upon
the adjourned (Richmond) convention of the original
Charleston bolters (see 5 below). Caleb Cushing, of
Massachusetts, was chosen to preside. Twenty States
were represented, though not in all cases by full dele-
gations.
The platform of the Charleston bolters (see 2 above)
was adopted.
John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, and Joseph
Lane, of Oregon, were nominated for President and
Vice-President, each receiving the entire vote of the
convention, 105^.
5. Charleston Bolters, Adjourned Convention at
Richmond
This convention met on the 1 1th of June, 1860. Dele-
gations were present from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida,
Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and
Texas, and there were also delegates from Congres-
196 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [I860
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
sional districts in Tennessee and Virginia. John Erwin,
of Alabama, presided.
After organizing, the convention postponed action to
await the result at Baltimore. It then endorsed the
Breckinridge and Lane ticket.
Republican Party
Convention held in Chicago, May 16-18, 1860. Tem-
porary chairman, David Wilmot, of Pennsylvania;
permanent chairman, George Ashmun, of Massachu-
setts. Delegates were present from all the free States
and from Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri,
Texas, and Virginia, the Territories of Kansas and Ne-
braska, and the District of Columbia. It was decided
to nominate by a majority of the whole number of votes
in the convention. The platform was adopted on May
17, and the candidates were nominated the next day.
On the first ballot for President the vote was as fol-
lows: William H. Seward, of New York, 173^;
Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, 102; Simon Cameron, of
Pennsylvania, 50^; Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, 49;
Edward Bates, of Missouri, 48; William L. Dayton, of
New Jersey, 14; John McLean, of Ohio, 12; Jacob Col-
lamer, of Vermont, 10; Benjamin F. Wade, of Ohio, 3 ;
John M. Reed, of Pennsylvania, 1 ; Charles Sumner, of
Massachusetts, 1 ; John C. Fremont, of California, 1.
On the third ballot Lincoln received 231J/2, needing
only 2^2 for the nomination; whereupon there was a
change in his favor of four Chase votes in Ohio, and
1860] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 197
then other changes which gave him a total of 364. He
was then nominated unanimously.
Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, was nominated for
Vice-President on the second ballot, his principal com-
petitor being Cassius M. Clay, of Kentucky.
Platform :
"Resolved, That we, the delegated representatives of the Repub-
lican electors of the United States, in convention assembled, in dis-
charge of the duty we owe to our constituents and to our country,
unite in the following declarations:
"1. That the history of the nation during the last four years
has fully established the propriety and necessity of the organization
and perpetuation of the Republican party, and that the causes which
called it into existence are permanent in their nature and now,
more than ever before, '> demand its peaceful and constitutional
triumph.
"2. That the maintenance of the principles promulgated in the
Declaration of Independence and embodied in the Federal Consti-
tution, 'That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights
governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers
from the consent of the governed,' — is essential to the preservation of
our republican institutions; and that the Federal Constitution, the
rights of the States, and the Union of the States must and shall be
preserved.
"3. That to the Union of the States this nation owes its unprece-
dented increase in population, its surprising development of material
resources, its rapid augmentation of wealth, its happiness at home,
and its honor abroad; and we hold in abhorrence all schemes for
disunion, come from whatever source they may. And we congratulate
the country that no Republican member of Congress has uttered or
countenanced the threats of disunion so often made by Democratic
members without rebuke and with applause from their political
associates; and we denounce those threats of disunion, in case of a
198 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [I860
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
popular overthrow of their ascendancy, as denying the vital princi-
ples of a free government, and as an avowal of contemplated treason,
which it is the imperative duty of an indignant people sternly to
rebuke and forever silence.
"4. That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States,
and especially the right of each State to order and control its own
domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is
essential to that balance of powers on which the perfection and endur-
ance of our political fabric depends; and we denounce the lawless
invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no
matter under what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes.
"5. That the present Democratic administration has far exceeded
our worst apprehensions in its measureless subserviency to the exac-
tions of a sectional interest, as especially evinced in its desperate
exertions to force the infamous Lecompton Constitution upon the
protesting people of Kansas; in construing the personal relations
between master and servant to involve an unqualified property in
persons; in its attempted enforcement everywhere, on land and sea,
through the intervention of Congress and of the Federal courts, of
the extreme pretensions of a purely local interest; and in its general
and unvarying abuse of the power entrusted to it by a confiding
people.
"6. That the people justly view with alarm the reckless extrava-
gance which pervades every department of the Federal government;
that a return to rigid economy and accountability is indispensable
to arrest the systematic plunder of the public treasury by favored
partisans, while the recent startling developments of frauds and cor-
ruptions at the Federal metropolis show that an entire change of
administration is imperatively demanded.
"7. That the new dogma, that the Constitution, of its own
force, carries slavery into any or all of the Territories of the United
States, is a dangerous political heresy, at variance with the explicit
provisions of that instrument itself, with contemporaneous exposi-
tion, and with legislative and judicial precedent; is revolutionary in
its tendency and subversive of the peace and harmony of the
country.
1860] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 199
"8. That the normal condition of all the territory of the United
States is that of freedom; that, as our republican fathers, when they
had abolished slavery in all our national territory, ordained that 'no
person should be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due
process of law,' it becomes our duty, by legislation whenever such
legislation is necessary, to maintain this provision of the Constitu-
tion against all attempts to violate it; and we deny the authority of
Congress, of a Territorial Legislature, or of any individuals to give
legal existence to slavery in any Territory of the United States.
"9. That we brand the recent reopening of the African slave
trade, under the cover of our national flag, aided by perversions of
judicial power, as a crime against humanity and a burning shame
to our country and age; and we call upon Congress to take prompt
and efficient measures for the total and final suppression of that
execrable traffic.
"10. That in the recent vetoes by their Federal Governors of
the acts of the Legislatures of Kansas and Nebraska prohibiting
slavery in those Territories, we find a practical illustration of the
boasted Democratic principle of non-intervention and popular sover-
eignty embodied in the Kansas-Nebraska bill, and a demonstration
of the deception and fraud involved therein.
"11. That Kansas should of right be immediately admitted as a
State under the Constitution recently formed and adopted by her
people and accepted by the House of Representatives.
"12. That, while providing revenue for the support of the gen-
eral government by duties upon imports, sound policy requires such
an adjustment of these imposts as to encourage the development of
the industrial interests of the whole country; and we commend that
policy of national exchanges which secures to the workingmen liberal
wages, to agriculture remunerative prices, to mechanics and manu-
facturers an adequate reward for their skill, labor, and enterprise,
and to the nation commercial prosperity and independence.
"13. That we protest against any sale or alienation to others of
the public lands held by actual settlers, and against any view of the
free-homestead policy which regards the settlers as paupers or sup-
pliants for public bounty; and we demand the passage by Congress
200 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [i860
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
of the complete and satisfactory Homestead measure which has already
passed the House.
"14. That the Republican party is opposed to any change in our
Naturalization laws or any State legislation by which the rights of
citizens hitherto accorded to immigrants from foreign lands shall
be abridged or impaired; and in favor of giving a full and efficient
protection to the rights of all classes of citizens, whether native or
naturalized, both at home and abroad.
"15. That appropriations by Congress for river and harbor im-
provements of a national character, required for the accommodation
and security of an existing commerce, are authorized by the Con-
stitution and justified by the obligation of government to protect
the lives and property of its citizens.
"16. That a railroad to the Pacific Ocean is imperatively de-
manded by the interests of the whole country; that the Federal gov-
ernment ought to render immediate and efficient aid in its construc-
tion; and that, as preliminary thereto, a daily overland mail should
be promptly established.
"17. Finally, having thus set forth our distinctive principles
and views, we invite the cooperation of all citizens, however dif-
fering on other questions, who substantially agree with us in their
affirmance and support."
Constitutional Union Party
This new party was an extemporized organization
basing itself upon opposition to sectionalism and all
disunionizing tendencies. It chiefly represented the
conservative Whigs and Know-Nothings, and was
strong at the south.
Convention held in Baltimore, May 9, 1860; Wash-
ington Hunt, of New York, chairman. Twenty States
were represented.
On the second ballot for President John Bell, of Ten-
ZACHARY TAYLOR
Zachary Taylor, 12th president; born in Orange County, Va.,
November 24, 1784; soldier; served in war of 1812, in Black
Hawk war of 1832 and in the Mexican war, 1845-47; elected
president, 1848; died in office at Washington, D. C., July 9, 1850.
1860] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 201
nessee, was nominated, receiving 138 votes. Other
candidates voted for were Samuel Houston, of Texas;
Edward Everett, of Massachusetts; John J. Crittenden,
of Kentucky; John McLean, of Ohio; William A. Gra-
ham, of North Carolina; William C. Rives, of Vir-
ginia; William L. Sharkey, of Mississippi; William
L. Goggin, of Virginia; and John M. Botts, of Vir-
ginia.
Edward Everett, of Massachusetts, received the
nomination for Vice-President unanimously.
Platform:
"Whereas, Experience has demonstrated that platforms adopted
by the partisan conventions of the country have had the effect to
mislead and deceive the people, and at the same time to widen the
political divisions of the country by the creation and encouragement
of geographical and sectional parties; therefore,
"Resolved, That it is both the part of patriotism and of duty to
recognize no political principles other than the Constitution of the
country, the Union of the States, and the enforcement of the laws;
and that, as representatives of the Constitutional Union men of the
country, in national convention assembled, we hereby pledge our-
selves to maintain, protect, and defend, separately and unitedly,
these great principles of public liberty and national safety against
all enemies, at home and abroad; believing that thereby peace may
once more be restored to the country, the rights of the people and of
the States reestablished, and the government again placed in that
condition of justice, fraternity, and equality which, under the example
and Constitution of our fathers, has solemnly bound every citizen
of the United States to maintain a more perfect Union, establish
justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense,
promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to
ourselves and our posterity."
202 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [i860
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
The Election
Electoral vote for President and Vice-President:
Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin, Republicans: — Cali-
fornia, 4; Connecticut, 6; Illinois, 11; Indiana, 13; Iowa, 4; Maine,
8; Massachusetts, 13; Michigan, 6; Minnesota, 4; New Hampshire,
5; New Jersey, 4; New York, 35; Ohio, 23; Oregon, 3; Pennsyl-
vania, 27; Rhode Island, 4; Vermont, 5; Wisconsin, 5. Total,
180. Elected.
John C. Breckenridge and Joseph Lane, Southern Democratic
party : — Alabama, 9 ; Arkansas, 4 ; Delaware, 3 ; Florida, 3 ; Georgia,
10; Louisiana, 6; Maryland, 8; Mississippi, 7; North Carolina, 10;
South Carolina, 8; Texas, 4. Total, 72.
Stephen A. Douglas and Herschel V. Johnson, Northern Demo-
cratic party: — Missouri, 9; New Jersey, 3. Total, 12.
John Bell and Edward Everett, Constitutional Union party: —
Kentucky, 12; Tennessee, 12; Virginia, 15. Total, 39.
Popular vote:
Lincoln, 1,866,352; Douglas, 1,375,157; Breckinridge, 847,514;
Bell, 587,830. These votes were divided as follows between the
free and slave States:
Free States:— Lincoln, 1,839,922; Douglas, 1,211,633; Breckin-
ridge, 276.8281; Bell, 71,907.
Slave States (excepting South Carolina, where the Electors were
chosen by the Legislature): — Lincoln, 26,430; Douglas, 163,525;
Breckinridge, 570,686; Bell, 515,923..
*Of Breckinridge's northern votes, 178,871 were cast in Pennsylvania —
Douglas, the northern Democratic candidate, having in that State only 16,765.
This remarkable result was due to the strong preference of the Buchanan
administration for the Breckinridge ticket. Pennsylvania was Buchanan's
home State, and in deference to him the Breckinridge Electors received the
support of the Democratic organization.
1864
Republican Party
Owing to the exigencies of the Civil War the Repub-
lican organization adopted the name of "Union Party,"
and its convention of 1864 received the official name of
"National Union Convention." Held in Baltimore,
June 7-8, 1864; temporary chairman, Robert J. Breck-
inridge, of Kentucky; permanent chairman, William
Dennison, of Ohio. Delegates were present from all
the northern and border States and from Arkansas,
Louisiana, Tennessee, the District of Columbia, and the
Territories of Colorado, Dakota, Nebraska, New
Mexico, and Washington.
Abraham Lincoln was renominated for President,
receiving 484 votes to 22 for Ulysses S. Grant. The
votes for Grant were complimentary on behalf of the
State of Missouri, and were changed to Lincoln before
the announcement of the result.
For Vice-President the roll-call showed 200 for
Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee; ISO for Hannibal
Hamlin, of Maine; 108 for Daniel S. Dickinson, of
New York; and 61 for seven others. Before another
ballot could be taken numerous changes were made to
Johnson, resulting in his nomination by 494 out of a
total of 521.
203
204 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1864
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Platform :
"1. Resolved, That it is the highest duty of every American
citizen to maintain against all their enemies the integrity of the
Union and the paramount authority of the Constitution and laws
of the United States; and that, laying aside all differences of politi-
cal opinion, we pledge ourselves as Union men, animated by a com-
mon sentiment and aiming at a common object, to do everything in
our power to aid the government in quelling by force of arms the
rebellion now raging against its authority, and in bringing to the
punishment due to their crimes the rebels and traitors arrayed
against it.
"2. Resolved, That we approve the determination of the govern-
ment of the United States not to compromise with rebels or to offer
them any terms of peace except such as may be based upon an uncon-
ditional surrender of their hostility and a return to their just allegi-
ance to the Constitution and laws of the United States; and that we
call upon the government to maintain this position and to prosecute
the war with the utmost possible vigor, to the complete suppression
of the rebellion, in full reliance upon the self-sacrificing patriotism,
the heroic valor, and the undying devotion of the American people
to their country and its free institutions.
"3. Resolved, That as slavery was the cause and now consti-
tutes the strength of this rebellion, and as it must be always and
everywhere hostile to the principles of republican government, justice
and the national safety demand its utter and complete extirpation
from the soil of the republic; and that while we uphold and main-
tain the acts and proclamations by which the government, in its own
defense, has aimed a deathblow at this gigantic evil, we are in favor,,
furthermore, of such an amendment to the Constitution, to be made
by the people in conformity with its provisions, as shall terminate
and forever prohibit the existence of slavery within the limits of
the jurisdiction of the United States.
"4. Resolved, That the thanks of the American people are due
to the soldiers and sailors of the army and navy who have periled
their lives in defense of their country and in vindication of the honor
1864] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 205
of its flag; that the nation owes to them some permanent recognition
of their patriotism and their valor, and ample and permanent pro-
vision for those of their survivors who have received disabling and
honorable wounds in the service of the country ; and that the memo-
ries of those who have fallen in its defense shall be held in grateful
and everlasting remembrance.
"5. Resolved, That we approve and applaud the practical wis-
dom, the unselfish patriotism, and the unswerving fidelity to the
Constitution and the principles of American liberty with which
Abraham Lincoln has discharged, under circumstances of unparal-
leled difficulty, the great duties and responsibilities of the Presi-
dential office; that we approve and endorse, as demanded by the
emergency and essential to the preservation of the nation, and as
within the provisions of the Constitution, the measures and acts
which he has adopted to defend the nation against its open and secret
foes; that we approve especially the Proclamation of Emancipation
and the employment as Union soldiers of men heretofore held in
slavery; and that we have full confidence in his determination to
carry these and all other constitutional measures essential to the
salvation of the country into full and complete effect.
"6. Resolved, That we deem it essential to the general welfare
that harmony should prevail in the national councils, and we regard
as worthy of public confidence and official trust those only who cor-
dially endorse the principles proclaimed in these resolutions and which
should characterize the administration of the government.
"7. Resolved, That the government owes to all men employed
in its armies, without regard to distinction of color, the full protec-
tion of the laws of war; and that any violation of these laws, or of
the usages of civilized nations in time of war, by the rebels now in
arms, should be made the subject of prompt and full redress.
"8. Resolved, That foreign immigration, which in the past has
added so much to the wealth, development of resources, and increase
of power to the nation — the asylum of the oppressed of all nations, —
should be fostered and encouraged by a liberal and just policy.
"9. Resolved, That we are in favor of the speedy construction
of the railroad to the Pacific coast.
206 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1864
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"10. Resolved, That the national faith, pledged for the redemp-
tion of the public debt, must be kept inviolate, and that for this pur-
pose we recommend economy and rigid responsibility in the public
expenditures, and a vigorous and just system of taxation; and that
it is the duty of every loyal State to sustain the credit and promote
the use of the national currency.
"11. Resolved, That we approve the position taken by the gov-
ernment, that the people of the United States can never regard with
indifference the attempt of any European power to overthrow by
force, or to supplant by fraud, the institutions of any republican gov-
ernment on the western continent; and that they will view with
extreme jealousy, as menacing to the peace and independence of their
own country, the efforts of any such power to obtain new footholds
for monarchical governments, sustained by foreign military force, in
near proximity to the United States."
Radical Republicans
Previously to the assembling of the regular Repub-
lican or National Union convention, there had been
a development in the Republican party of opposition
to the renomination of Lincoln. The malcontents took
the name of Radical Republicans and held a national
convention in Cleveland on May 21; chairman, John
Cochrane, of New York.
Nominations: — For President, John C. Fremont;
for Vice-President, John Cochrane.
On September 21 both candidates withdrew in favor
of the regular Republican nominees, Lincoln and
Johnson.
Platform :
"1. That the Federal Union shall be preserved.
"2. That the Constitution and laws of the United States must
be observed and obeyed.
1864] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 207
"3. That the rebellion must be suppressed by force of arms and
without compromise.
"4. That the rights of free speech, free press, and habeas corpus
be held inviolate, save in districts where martial law has been pro-
claimed.
"5. That the rebellion has destroyed slavery; and the Federal
Constitution should be so amended as to prohibit its reestablishment
and to secure to all men absolute equality before the law.
"6. That integrity and economy are demanded at all times in
the administration of the government, and that in time of war the
want of them is criminal.
"7. That the right of asylum, except for crime and subject to
law, is a recognized principle of American liberty; and that any vio-
lation of it cannot be overlooked and must not go unrebuked.
"8. That the national policy known as the Monroe doctrine has
become a recognized principle; and that the establishment of any
anti-republican government on this continent by any foreign power
cannot be tolerated.
"9. That the gratitude and support of the nation are due to the
faithful soldiers and the earnest leaders of the Union army and navy
for their heroic achievements and deathless valor in defense of our
imperiled country and civil liberty.
"10. That the one-term policy for the Presidency adopted by
the people is strengthened by the force of the existing crisis, and
should be maintained by constitutional amendment.
"11. That the Constitution should be so amended that the
President and Vice-President shall be elected by a direct vote of the
people.
"12. That the question of the reconstruction of the rebellious
States belongs to the people, through their representatives in Con-
gress, and not to the Executive.
"13. That the confiscation of the lands of the rebels and their
distribution among the soldiers and actual settlers is a measure of
justice."
208 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1864
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Democratic Party
Convention held in Chicago, August 29-31, 1864;
temporary chairman, William Bigler, of Pennsylvania;
permanent chairman, Horatio Seymour, of New York.
The delegates admitted were restricted to the non-
seceding States, all of which were represented except
Nevada and West Virginia.
George B. McClellan, of New Jersey, was nomi-
nated for President on the first ballot, which, after
changes in his favor, stood: McClellan, 202^ ; Thomas
H. Seymour, of Connecticut, 23^2.
The Vice-Presidential nomination also was made on
a single ballot. The roll-call resulted in 65^ for
James Guthrie, of Kentucky; 55^ for George H. Pen-
dleton, of Ohio ; and complimentary votes for various
others. As soon as the totals were announced the
names of all but Pendleton were withdrawn, and he
was then nominated unanimously.
Platform:
"Resolved, That in the future, as in the past, we will adhere with
unswerving fidelity to the Union under the Constitution as the only
solid foundation of our strength, security, and happiness as a people,
and as a framework of government equally conducive to the welfare
and prosperity of all the States, both northern and southern.
"Resolved, That this convention does explicitly declare, as the
sense of the American people, that after four years of failure to
restore the Union by the experiment of war, during which, under
the pretense of a military necessity or war power higher than the
Constitution, the Constitution itself has been disregarded in every
part, and public liberty and private right alike trodden down, and
the material prosperity of the country essentially impaired — justice,
1864] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 209
humanity, liberty, and the public welfare demand that immediate
efforts be made for a cessation of hostilities with a view to an ultimate
convention of the States, or other peaceable means, to the end that,
at the earliest practicable moment, peace may be restored on the
basis of the Federal Union of the States.
"Resolved, That the direct interference of the military authori-
ties of the United States in the recent elections held in Kentucky,
Maryland, Missouri, and Delaware was a shameful violation of the
Constitution; and a repetition of such acts in the approaching elec-
tion will be held as revolutionary and resisted with all the means
and power under our control.
"Resolved, That the aim and object of the Democratic party is to
preserve the Federal Union and the rights of the States unimpaired;
and they hereby declare that they consider that the administrative
usurpation of extraordinary and dangerous powers not granted by the
Constitution — the subversion of the civil by military law in States not
in insurrection ; the arbitrary military arrest, imprisonment, trial, and
sentence of American citizens in States where civil law exists in full
force; the suppression of freedom of speech and of the press; the
denial of the right of asylum ; the open and avowed disregard of State
rights; the employment of unusual test oaths; and the interference
with the denial of the right of the people to bear arms in their de-
fense— is calculated to prevent a restoration of the Union and the
perpetuation of a government deriving its just powers from the con-
sent of the governed.
"Resolved, That the shameful disregard of the administration to
its duty in respect to our fellow-citizens who now are and long have
been prisoners of war in a suffering condition, deserves the sever-
est reprobation on the score alike of public policy and common
humanity.
"Resolved, That the sympathy of the Democratic party is heartily
and earnestly extended to the soldiers of our army and sailors of our
navy who are and have been in the field and on the sea under the
flag of their country, and in the event of its attaining power they will
receive all the care, protection, and regard that the brave soldiers and
sailors of the republic have so nobly earned."
210 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL H864
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
The Election
States not voting: — Alabama, Arkansas, Florida,
Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
Electoral vote for President and Vice-President:
Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, Republicans: — Califor-
nia, 5; Connecticut, 6; Illinois, 16; Indiana, 13; Iowa, 8; Kansas, 3;
Maine, 7; Maryland, 7; Massachusetts, 12; Michigan, 8; Minne-
sota, 4; Missouri, 11; Nevada, 21; New Hampshire, 5; New York,
33; Ohio, 21; Oregon, 3; Pennsylvania, 26; Rhode Island, 4; Ver-
mont, 5; West Virginia, 5; Wisconsin, 8. Total, 212. Elected.
George B. McClellan and George H. Pendleton, Democrats: —
Delaware, 3; Kentucky, 11; New Jersey, 7. Total, 21.
Popular vote :
Lincoln, 2,216,067; McClellan, 1,808,725.
iNevada chose three Electors, one of whom died before the meeting of the
Electoral College.
1868
Republican Party
The convention of this year was officially called the
National Union Republican convention. Held in
Chicago, May 20-21, 1868; temporary chairman, Carl
Schurz, of Missouri; permanent chairman, Joseph R.
Hawley, of Connecticut.
By unanimous vote (650) Ulysses S. Grant, of Illi-
nois, was nominated for President.
Five ballots were taken for Vice-President. On the
first four ballots Benjamin F. Wade, of Ohio, was in
the lead. The fifth ballot resulted in the nomination of
Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana, the vote being: Coif ax,
541 ; Reuben E. Fenton, of New York, 69; Wade, 38.
Platform:
"The National Union Republican party of the United States, as-
sembled in national convention in the city of Chicago on the 21st day
of May, 1868, make the following declaration of principles:
"1. We congratulate the country on the assured success of the
reconstruction policy of Congress, as evinced by the adoption, in a
majority of the States lately in rebellion, of Constitutions securing
equal civil and political rights to all ; and regard it as the duty of the
government to sustain those Constitutions and to prevent the people
of such States from being remitted to a state of anarchy or military
rule.
"2. The guarantee by Congress of equal suffrage to all loyal men
at the south was demanded by every consideration of public safety,
211
212 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1868
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
of gratitude, and of justice, and must be maintained; while the ques-
tion of suffrage in all the loyal States properly belongs to the people
of those States.
"3. We denounce all forms of repudiation as a national crime;
and national honor requires the payment of the public indebtedness in
the utmost good faith to all creditors at home and abroad, not only
according to the letter but the spirit of the laws under which it was
contracted.
"4. It is due to the labor of the nation that taxation should be
equalized and reduced as rapidly as national faith will permit.
"5. The national debt, contracted as it has been for the preser-
vation of the Union for all time to come, should be extended over
a fair period for redemption ; and it is the duty of Congress to reduce
the rate of interest thereon whenever it can be honestly done.
"6. That the best policy to diminish our burden of debt is to
so improve our credit that capitalists will seek to loan us money at
lower rates of interest than we now pay and must continue to pay
so long as repudiation, partial or total, open or covert, is threatened
or suspected.
"7. The government of the United States should be administered
with the strictest economy; and the corruptions which have been so
shamefully nursed and fostered by Andrew Johnson call loudly for
radical reform.
"8. We profoundly deplore the untimely and tragic death of Abra-
ham Lincoln, and regret the accession to the Presidency of Andrew
Johnson, who has acted treacherously to the people who elected him
and the cause he was pledged to support ; has usurped high legislative
and judicial functions; has refused to execute the laws; has used his
high office to induce other officers to ignore and violate the laws;
has employed his Executive powers to render insecure the property,
peace, liberty, and life of the citizen ; has abused the pardoning
power; has denounced the national legislature as unconstitutional;
has persistently and corruptly resisted, by every means in his power,
every proper attempt at the reconstruction of the States lately in
rebellion ; has perverted the public patronage into an engine of whole-
1868] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 213
sale corruption; and has been justly impeached for high crimes and
misdemeanors and properly pronounced guilty thereof by the votes
of thirty-five Senators.
"9. The doctrine of Great Britain and other European powers,
that because a man is once a subject he is always so, must be resisted
at every hazard by the United States as a relic of the feudal times not
authorized by the law of nations and at war with our national
honor and independence. Naturalized citizens are entitled to pro-
tection in all their rights of citizenship as though they were native-
born ; and no citizen of the United States, native or naturalized, must
be liable to arrest and imprisonment by any foreign power for acts
done or words spoken in this country ; and, if so arrested and impris-
oned, it is the duty of the government to interfere in his behalf.
"10. Of all who were faithful in the trials of the late war there
were none entitled to more especial honor than the brave soldiers
and seamen who endured the hardships of campaign and cruise and
imperiled their lives in the service of the country; the bounties and
pensions provided by the laws for these brave defenders of the nation
are obligations never to be forgotten. The widows and orphans of the
gallant dead are wards of the people — a sacred legacy bequeathed
to the nation's protecting care.
"11. Foreign immigration, which in the past has added so much
to the wealth, development of resources, and increase of power of
this nation — the asylum of the oppressed of all nations — should be
fostered and encouraged by a liberal and just policy.
"12. This convention declares its sympathy with all oppressed
people struggling for their rights.
"13. That we highly commend the spirit of magnanimity and
forgiveness with which the men who have served in the rebellion,
but now frankly and honestly cooperate with us in restoring the
peace of the country and reconstructing the southern State govern-
ments upon the basis of impartial justice and equal rights, are
received back into the communion of the loyal people; and we favor
the removal of the disqualifications and restrictions imposed upon
the late rebels in the same measure as the spirit of disloyalty will die
out, and as may be consistent with the safety of the loyal people.
214 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1868
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"14. That we recognize the great principles laid down in the
immortal Declaration of Independence as the true foundation of
democratic government; and we hail with gladness every effort
toward making these principles a living reality on every inch of
American soil."
Democratic Party
Convention held in New York, July 4-9, 1868; tem-
porary chairman, Henry L. Palmer, of Wisconsin; per-
manent chairman, Horatio Seymour, of New York.
There was some discussion about the two-thirds rule,
which was retained.
Twenty-two ballots were taken for President. The
leading candidate at the beginning was George H.
Pendleton, of Ohio, who received 105 on the first bal-
lot and made gains until, on the eighth, he had 156*/2 ;
his vote then declined, falling to 56^ on the eighteenth,
and on the nineteenth his name was withdrawn. Pen-
dleton's chief competitor on the first ballot was Presi-
dent Andrew Johnson, with 65 votes; but the support
given Johnson was mostly complimentary and soon
became negligible. Two other candidates, Winfield
S. Hancock, of Pennsylvania, and Thomas A. Hen-
dricks, of Indiana, developed considerable strength as
the balloting progressed. But no one who had been
voted for from the start received at any time a major-
ity. On the fourth ballot 9 votes were cast for Hora-
tio Seymour, the chairman of the convention. He em-
phatically protested against the introduction of his
name and was not again voted for until the twenty-
second ballot was being taken, when Ohio led a stam-
pede to him and he was nominated unanimously.
1868] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 215
Francis P. Blair, Jr., of Missouri, was nominated for
Vice-President by unanimous vote.
Platform :
"The Democratic party, in national convention assembled, repos-
ing its trust in the intelligence, patriotism, and discriminating jus-
tice of the people, standing upon the Constitution as the foundation
and limitation of the powers of the government and the guarantee
of the liberties of the citizen ; and recognizing the questions of slavery
and secession as having been settled for all time to come by the war,
or the voluntary action of the southern States in Constitutional con-
ventions assembled, and never to be renewed or reagitated, does,
with the return of peace, demand : —
"1. Immediate restoration of all the States to their rights in
the Union under the Constitution, and of civil government to the
American people.
"2. Amnesty for all past political offenses, and the regulation
of the elective franchise in the States by their citizens.
"3. Payment of the public debt of the United States as rapidly
as practicable: all moneys drawn from the people by taxation, except
so much as is requisite for the necessities of the government, economi-
cally administered, being honestly applied to such payment; and
where the obligations of the government do not expressly state upon
their face, or the law under which they were issued does not pro-
vide, that they shall be paid in coin, they ought, in right and in jus-
tice, to be paid in the lawful money of the United States.
"4. Equal taxation of every species of property according to its
real value, including government bonds and other public securities.
"5. One currency for the government and the people, the laborer
and the office-holder, the pensioner and the soldier, the producer and
the bondholder.
"6. Economy in the administration of the government; the re-
duction of the standing army and navy; the abolition of the Freed-
man's Bureau and all political instrumentalities designed to secure
negro supremacy; simplification of the system and discontinuance of
inquisitorial modes of assessing and collecting internal revenue, so
216 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1868
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
that the burden of taxation may be equalized and lessened, the credit
of the government increased, and the currency made good ; the repeal
of all enactments for enrolling the State militia into national forces
in time of peace; and a tariff for revenue upon foreign imports such
as will afford incidental protection to domestic manufactures, and
as will, without impairing the revenue, impose the least burden
upon, and best promote and encourage, the great industrial interests
of the country.
"7. Reform of abuses in administration; the expulsion of cor-
rupt men from office; the abrogation of useless offices; the restora-
tion of rightful authority to, and the independence of, the execu-
tive and judicial departments of the government; the subordination
of the military to the civil power, to the end that the usurpations
of Congress and the despotism of the sword may cease.
"8. Equal rights and protection for naturalized and native-born
citizens at home and abroad; the assertion of American nationality
which shall command the respect of foreign powers and furnish an
example and encouragement to people struggling for national integ-
rity, constitutional liberty, and individual rights; and the mainte-
nance of the rights of naturalized citizens against the absolute doc-
trine of immutable allegiance and the claims of foreign powers to
punish them for alleged crimes committed beyond their jurisdiction.
"In demanding these measures and reforms we arraign the Radi-
cal party for its disregard of right and the unparalleled oppression
and tyranny which have marked its career. After the most solemn
unanimous pledge of both houses of Congress to prosecute the war
exclusively for the maintenance of the government and the preserva-
tion of the Union under the Constitution, it has repeatedly violated
that most sacred pledge under which alone was rallied that noble
volunteer army which carried our flag to victory. Instead of restor-
ing the Union, it has, so far as in its power, dissolved it, and sub-
jected ten States, in time of profound peace, to military despotism
and negro supremacy. It has nullified there the right of trial by
jury; it has abolished the habeas corpus, that most sacred writ of
liberty; it has overthrown the freedom of speech and the press; it
has substituted arbitrary seizures and arrests, and military trials
MlLLARD FlLLMORE
Millard Fillmore, 13th president; born at Locke, Cayuga
county, N. Y., January 7, 1800; lawyer; member of state legis-
lature from Erie county, 1829-31 ; of congress, 1833-35 and
1837-43; defeated for governor of New York, 1844; state comp-
troller, 1847; elected vice president with Zachary Taylor, 1848;
became president upon death of President Taylor and served
from July 9, 1850 to March 5, 1853; defeated for reelection in
1852, and as National American candidate in 1856; died in
Buffalo, N. Y., March 8, 1874.
1868] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 217
and secret star-chamber inquisitions, for the constitutional tribunals;
it has disregarded, in time of peace, the right of the people to be
free from searches and seizures; it has entered the post and tele-
graph offices, and even the private rooms of individuals, and seized
their private papers and letters without any specific charge or notice
of affidavit, as required by the organic law; it has converted the
American Capitol into a bastile; it has established a system of spies
and official espionage to which no constitutional monarchy of Europe
would now dare to resort; it has abolished the right of appeal, on
important constitutional questions, to the supreme judicial tribunal
and threatens to curtail or destroy its original jurisdiction, which is
irrevocably vested by the Constitution; while the learned Chief-
Justice has been subjected to the most atrocious calumnies, merely
because he would not prostitute his high office to the support of the
false and partisan charges preferred against the President. Its cor-
ruption and extravagance have exceeded anything known in history,
and by its frauds and monopolies it has nearly doubled the burden
of the debt created by the war. It has stripped the President of his
constitutional power of appointment, even of his own cabinet. Under
its repeated assaults the pillars of the government are rocking on
their base, and should it succeed in November next, and inaugurate
its President, we will meet as a subject and conquered people amid the
ruins of liberty and the scattered fragments of the Constitution.
"And we do declare and resolve that ever since the people of the
United States threw off all subjection to the British crown, the
privilege and trust of suffrage have belonged to the several States,
and have been granted, regulated, and controlled exclusively by the
political power of each State respectively, and that any attempt by
Congress, on any pretext whatever, to deprive any State of this right,
or interfere with its exercise, is a flagrant usurpation of power which
can find no warrant in the Constitution, and, if sanctioned by the
people, will subvert our form of government and can only end in
a single, centralized, and consolidated government, in which the
separate existence of the States will be entirely absorbed and an
unqualified despotism be established in place of a Federal Union of
coequal States.
218 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1868
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"And that we regard the Reconstruction acts (so-called) of Con-
gress, as such an usurpation and unconstitutional, revolutionary, and
void.
"That our soldiers and sailors who carried the flag of our coun-
try to victory against a most gallant and determined foe must ever
be gratefully remembered, and all the guarantees given in their favor
must be faithfully carried into execution.
"That the public lands should be distributed as widely as possi-
ble among the people, and should be disposed of either under the pre-
emption or homestead laws, or sold in reasonable quantities, and to
none but actual occupants, at the minimum price established by the
government. When grants of the public lands may be deemed
necessary for the encouragement of important public improvements,
the proceeds of the sale of such lands, and not the lands themselves,
should be so applied.
"That the President of the United States, Andrew Johnson, in
exercising the power of his high office in resisting the aggressions of
Congress upon the constitutional rights of the States and the people,
is entitled to the gratitude of the whole American people; and in
behalf of the Democratic party we tender him our thanks for his
patriotic efforts in that regard.
"Upon this platform the Democratic party appeals to every patriot,
including all the conservative element and all who desire to support
the Constitution and restore the Union, forgetting all past differ-
ences of opinion, to unite with us in the present great struggle for the
liberties of the people; and that to all such, to whatever party they
may have heretofore belonged, we extend the right hand of fellow-
ship, and hail all such cooperating with us as friends and brethren.
"Resolved, That this convention sympathize cordially with the
workingmen of the United States in their efforts to protect the rights
and promote the interests of the laboring classes of the country.
"Resolved, That the thanks of the convention are tendered to
Chief-Justice Salmon P. Chase for the justice, dignity, and impar-
tiality with which he presided over the Court of Impeachment in the
trial of President Andrew Johnson."
1868] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 219
The Election
Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia were still unrecon-
structed and did not vote.
Electoral vote for President and Vice-President:
Ulysses S. Grant and Schuyler Colfax, Republicans: — Alabama,
8 ; Arkansas, 5 ; California, 5 ; Connecticut, 6 ; Florida, 3 ; Illinois,
16; Indiana, 13; Iowa, 8; Kansas, 3; Maine, 7; Massachusetts, 12;
Michigan, 8; Minnesota, 4; Missouri, 11; Nebraska, 3; Nevada, 3;
New Hampshire, 5; North Carolina, 9; Ohio, 21 ; Pennsylvania, 26;
Rhode Island, 4; South Carolina, 6; Tennessee, 10; Vermont, 5;
West Virginia, 5; Wisconsin, 8. Total, 214. Elected.
Horatio Seymour and Francis P. Blair, Jr., Democrats: — Dela-
ware, 3 ; Georgia, 9 ; Kentucky, 1 1 ; Louisiana, 7 ; Maryland, 7 ; New
Jersey, 7; New York, 33; Oregon, 3. Total, 80.
Popular vote:
Grant, 3,015,068; Seymour, 2,709,633.
1872
Republican Party
Convention held in Philadelphia, June 5-6, 1872;
temporary chairman, Morton McMichael, of Penn-
sylvania; permanent chairman, Thomas Settle, of
North Carolina.
By unanimous vote President Grant was renomi-
nated.
For Vice-President Henry Wilson received the nomi-
nation on the first ballot, having 399^ votes to 308j/2
for Schuyler Colfax and 44 for four others.
Platform :
"The Republican party of the United States, assembled in national
convention in the city of Philadelphia on the 5th and 6th days of
June, 1872, again declares its faith, appeals to its history, and an-
nounces its position upon the questions before the country.
"1. During eleven years of supremacy it has accepted with
grand courage the solemn duties of the time. It suppressed a gigantic
rebellion, emancipated four millions of slaves, decreed the equal
citizenship of all, and established universal suffrage. Exhibiting
unparalleled magnanimity, it criminally punished no man for politi-
cal offenses, and warmly welcomed all who proved loyalty by obey-
ing the laws and dealing justly with their neighbors. It has steadily
decreased with a firm hand the resultant disorders of a great war, and
initiated a wise and humane policy toward the Indians. The Pacific
Railroad and similar vast enterprises have been generously aided and
successfully conducted, the public lands freely given to actual set-
220
1872J NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 221
tiers, immigration protected and encouraged, and a full acknowledg-
ment of the naturalized citizen's rights secured from European pow-
ers. A uniform national currency has been provided, repudiation
frowned down, the national credit sustained under the most extra-
ordinary burdens, and new bonds negotiated at lower rates. The
revenues have been carefully collected and honestly applied. Despite
annual large reductions in the rates of taxation, the public debt has
been reduced during General Grant's Presidency at the rate of a hun-
dred millions a year, great financial crises have been avoided, and
peace and plenty prevail throughout the land. Menacing foreign
difficulties have been peacefully and honorably composed, and the
honor and power of the nation kept in high respect throughout the
world. This glorious record of the past is the party's best pledge
for the future. We believe the people will not entrust the govern-
ment to any party or combination of men composed chiefly of those
who have resisted every step of this beneficent progress.
"2. The recent amendments to the national Constitution should
be cordially sustained because they are right, not merely tolerated
because they are laws, and should be carried out according to their
spirit by appropriate legislation, the enforcement of which can safely
be entrusted only to the party that secured those amendments.
"3. Complete liberty and exact equality in the enjoyment of all
civil, political, and public rights should be established and effectually
maintained throughout the Union, by efficient and appropriate State
and Federal legislation. Neither the law nor its administration
should admit any discrimination in respect of citizens by reason of
race, creed, color, or previous condition of servitude.
"4. The national government should seek to maintain honorable
peace with all nations, protecting its citizens everywhere and sympa-
thizing with all people who strive for greater liberty.
"5. Any system of the civil service under which the subordinate
positions of the government are considered rewards for mere party
zeal is fatally demoralizing, and we therefore favor a reform of the
system by laws which shall abolish the evils of patronage and make
honesty, efficiency, and fidelity the essential qualifications for public
positions, without practically creating a life tenure of office.
222 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1872
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"6. We are opposed to further grants of the public lands to cor-
porations and monopolies, and demand that the national domain be
set apart for free homes for the people.
"7. The annual revenue, after paying current expenditures,
pensions, and the interest on the public debt, should furnish a moder-
ate balance for the reduction of the principal, and that revenue,
except so much as may be derived from a tax on tobacco and liquors,
should be raised by duties upon importations, the details of which
should be so adjusted as to aid in securing remunerative wages to
labor and promote the industries, prosperity, and growth of the
whole country.
"8. We hold in undying honor the soldiers and sailors whose
valor saved the Union. Their pensions are a sacred debt of the
nation, and the widows and orphans of those who died for their
country are entitled to the care of a generous and grateful people.
We favor such additional legislation as will extend the bounty of
the government to all our soldiers and sailors who are honorably dis-
charged, and who in the line of duty became disabled, without regard
to the length of service or the cause of such discharge.
"9. The doctrine of Great Britain and other European powers
concerning allegiance — 'Once a subject always a subject' — having
at last, through the efforts of the Republican party, been abandoned,
and the American idea of the individual's right to transfer allegiance
having been accepted by European nations, it is the duty of our gov-
ernment to guard with jealous care the rights of adopted citizens
against the assumption of unauthorized claims by their former gov-
ernments; and we urge continued careful encouragement and pro-
tection of voluntary immigration.
"10. The franking privilege ought to be abolished and the way
prepared for a speedy reduction in the rates of postage.
"11. Among the questions which press for attention is that
which concerns the relations of capital and labor, and the Republican
party recognizes the duty of so shaping legislation as to secure full
protection and the amplest field for capital, and for labor — the creator
of capital — the largest opportunities and a just share of the mutual
profits of these two great servants of civilization.
1872] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 223
"12. We hold that Congress and the President have only ful-
filled an imperative duty in their measures for the suppression of
violent and treasonable organizations in certain lately rebellious
regions, and for the protection of the ballot-box; and therefore they
are entitled to the thanks of the nation.
"13. We denounce repudiation of the public debt, in any form
or disguise, as a national crime. We witness with pride the reduc-
tion of the principal of the debt and of the rates of interest upon
the balance, and confidently expect that our excellent national cur-
rency will be perfected by a speedy resumption of specie payment.
"14. The Republican party is mindful of its obligations to the
loyal women of America for their noble devotion to the cause of
freedom. Their admission to wider fields of usefulness is viewed
with satisfaction; and the honest demand of any class of citizens for
additional rights should be treated with respectful consideration.
"15. We heartily approve the action of Congress in extending
amnesty to those lately in rebellion, and rejoice in the growth of
peace and fraternal feeling throughout the land.
"16. The Republican party proposes to respect the rights re-
served by the people to themselves as carefully as the powers dele-
gated by them to the State and to the Federal governments. It
disapproves of the resort to unconstitutional laws for the purpose of
removing evils by interference with rights not surrendered by the
people to either the State or national government.
"17. It is the duty of the general government to adopt such
measures as may tend to encourage and restore American commerce
and shipbuilding.
"18. We 'believe that the modest patriotism, the earnest pur-
pose, the sound judgment, the practical wisdom, the incorruptible
integrity, and the illustrious services of Ulysses S. Grant have com-
mended him to the heart of the American people, and with him at
our head we start to-day upon a new march to victory.
"19. Henry Wilson, nominated for the Vice- Presidency, known
to the whole land from the early days of the great struggle for liberty
as an indefatigable laborer in all campaigns, an incorruptible legisla-
tor, and representative man of American institutions, is worthy to
224 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL 1 1872
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
associate with our great leader and share the honors which we pledge
our best efforts to bestow upon them."
Liberal Republicans1
The Liberal Republican movement was organized in
opposition to the Grant administration and to the con-
tinuance of certain policies of the regular Republican
organization. A national mass-convention met in Cin-
cinnati on May 1-3, 1872, and was organized on the
basis of representation for the States proportioned to
their Electoral votes. Temporary chairman, Stanley
Matthews, of Ohio; permanent chairman, Carl Schurz,
of Missouri.
Six ballots were taken for President. First ballot:
—Charles Francis Adams, of Massachusetts, 205 ;
Horace Greeley, of New York, 147; Lyman Trumbull,
of Illinois, 110; B. Gratz Brown, of Missouri, 95;
David Davis, of Illinois, 92^ ; Andrew G. Curtin, of
Pennsylvania, 62; Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, 2^.
Greeley was nominated on the sixth ballot, after
changes, by 482 votes out of the total 714, his leading
competitor, Adams, receiving 187.
B. Gratz Brown, of Missouri, was nominated for
Vice-President on the second ballot.
Platform:
"We, the Liberal Republicans of the United States, in national
convention assembled at Cincinnati, proclaim the following princi-
ples as essential to just government:
!Our authority for the transactions of the national convention of this party
is Proceedings of the Liberal Republican Convention. New York, Baker &
Goodwin, Printers; 1872.
1872] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 225
"1. We recognize the equality of all men before the law, and
hold that it is the duty of government, in its dealings with the people,
to mete out equal and exact justice to all, of whatever nativity, race,
color, or persuasion, religious or political.
"2. We pledge ourselves to maintain the Union of these States,
emancipation, and enfranchisement, and to oppose any reopening of
the questions settled by the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth
amendments to the Constitution.
"3. We demand the immediate and absolute removal of all
disabilities imposed on account of the rebellion, which was finally
subdued seven years ago, believing that universal amnesty will result
in complete pacification in all sections of the country.
"4. Local self-government, with impartial suffrage, will guard
the rights of all citizens more securely than any centralized power.
The public welfare requires the supremacy of the civil over the mili-
tary authority, and freedom of person under the protection of the
habeas corpus. We demand for the individual the largest liberty
consistent with public order, for the State self-government, and for
the nation a return to the methods of peace and the constitutional
limitations of power.
"5. The civil service of the government has become a mere
instrument of partisan tyranny and personal ambition, and an object
of selfish greed. It is a scandal and reproach upon free institutions,
and breeds a demoralization dangerous to the perpetuity of republi-
can government. We therefore regard a thorough reform of the
civil service as one of the most pressing necessities of the hour; that
honesty, capacity, and fidelity constitute the only valid claim to
public employment; that the offices of the government cease to be a
matter of arbitrary favoritism and patronage, and that public station
become again a post of honor. To this end it is imperatively required
that no President shall be a candidate for reelection.
"6. We demand a system of Federal taxation which shall not
unnecessarily interfere with the industry of the people, and which
shall provide the means necessary to pay the expenses of the govern-
ment economically administered, the pensions, the interest on the
public debt, and a moderate reduction annually of the principal
226 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1872
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
thereof; and recognizing that there are in our midst honest but
irreconcilable differences of opinion with regard to the respective
systems of protection and free trade, we remit the discussion of the
subject to the people in their Congressional districts, and to the
decision of the Congress thereon, wholly free from Executive interfer-
ence or dictation.
"7. The public credit must be sacredly maintained, and we
denounce repudiation in every form and guise.
"8. A speedy return to specie payment is demanded alike by the
highest considerations of commercial morality and honest govern-
ment.
"9. We remember with gratitude the heroism and sacrifices of
the soldiers and sailors of the republic, and no act of ours shall ever
detract from their justly earned fame or the full reward of their
patriotism. \ \ 1^
"10. We are opposed to all further grants of lands to railroads
or other corporations. The public domain should be held sacred to
actual settlers.
"11. We hold that it is the duty of the government in its inter-
course with foreign nations to cultivate the friendships of peace by
treating with all on fair and equal terms, regarding it alike dishon-
orable either to demand what is not right or to submit to what is
wrong. i
"12. For the promotion and success of these vital principles,
and the support of the candidates nominated by this convention, we
invite and cordially welcome the cooperation of all patriotic citizens
without regard to previous affiliations."
Democratic Party
Convention held in Baltimore, July 9, 1872; tem-
porary chairman, Thomas J. Randolph, of Virginia;
permanent chairman, James R. Doolittle, of Wis-
consin.
»872] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 227
The candidates and platform of the Liberal Repub-
licans were endorsed (see above). For the Presiden-
tial nomination Greeley received 686 votes to 15 for
James A. Bayard, of Delaware; 21 for Jeremiah S.
Black, of Pennsylvania; 2 for William S. Groesbeck,
of Ohio; and 8 blank.
Other Parties
Straight-out Democrats. — Convention held at Louis-
ville, September 3, 1872. For President, Charles
O'Conor, of New York; for Vice-President, John
Qumcy Adams, of Massachusetts.
Labor Reform Party. — Convention held in Colum-
bus, Ohio, February 21-22, 1872. For President, David
Davis, of Illinois; for Vice-President, Joel Parker, of
New Jersey.
Prohibition Party. — Convention held in Columbus,
Ohio, February 22, 1872. For President, James Black,
of Pennsylvania; for Vice-President, John Russell, of
Michigan.
The Election
Horace Greeley, the Democratic and Liberal Re-
publican candidate, died November 29, 1872. The
Electors met December 4, and those who had been
chosen on the Greeley and Brown ticket divided their
votes for President and Vice-President according to
their individual preferences.
Electoral vote for President:
Ulysses S. Grant, Republican: — Alabama, 10; California, 6;
Connecticut, 6; Delaware, 3; Florida, 4; Illinois, 21; Indiana, 15;
228 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1872
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Iowa, 11; Kansas, 5; Maine, 7; Massachusetts, 13; Michigan, 11;
Minnesota, 5; Mississippi, 8; Nebraska, 3; Nevada, 3; New Hamp-
shire, 5 ; New Jersey, 9 ; New York, 35 ; North Carolina, 10 ; Ohio,
22; Oregon, 3; Pennsylvania, 29; Rhode Island, 4; South Carolina,
7 ; Vermont, 5 ; Virginia, 1 1 ; West Virginia, 5 ; Wisconsin, 10.
Total, 286. Elected.
Other States carried by Grant according to the returns, the Elec-
toral votes of which, however, were excluded by Congress from the
count: — Arkansas, 6; Louisiana, 8. Total, 14.
Opposition: — Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana, received 8 in
Kentucky, 8 in Maryland, 6 in Missouri, 12 in Tennessee, and 8 in
Texas — total, 42. B. Gratz Brown, of Missouri, received 6 in
Georgia, 4 in Kentucky, and 8 in Missouri — total, 18. Charles J.
Jenkins, of Georgia, received 2 in Georgia. David Davis, of Illi-
nois, received 1 in Missouri. Horace Greeley received 3 in Georgia ;
excluded by Congress from the count because of his decease. Total
opposition, 66.
Electoral vote for Vice-President:
Henry Wilson, Republican : — Same as Grant, 286. Elected.
Vice-Presidential Electoral votes excluded by Congress from the
count: — Arkansas, 6; Louisiana, 8. Total, 14.
Opposition : — B. Gratz Brown, of Missouri, received 5 in
Georgia, 8 in Kentucky, 8 in Maryland, 6 in Missouri, 12 in Ten-
nessee, and 8 in Texas — total, 47. George W. Julian, of Indiana,
received 5 in Missouri. Alfred H. Colquitt, of Georgia, received 5
in Georgia. John M. Palmer, of Illinois, received 3 in Missouri.
Thomas E. Bramlette, of Kentucky, received 3 in Kentucky. Wil-
liam S. Groesbeck, of Ohio, received 1 in Missouri. William B.
Machen, of Kentucky, received 1 in Kentucky. Nathaniel P. Banks,
of Massachusetts, received 1 in Georgia. Total opposition, 66.
Popular vote:
Grant, 3,597,070; Greeley, 2,834,079; O'Conor, 30,297; Black,
5,627.
1876
Republican Party
Convention held in Cincinnati, June 14-16, 1876;
temporary chairman, Theodore M. Pomeroy, of New
York; permanent chairman, Edward McPherson, of
Pennsylvania. During the balloting there was an acri-
monious debate on the question of enforcing the unit
rule in State delegations. By 395 to 353 it was de-
cided that every delegate could vote according to his
personal choice.
First ballot for President: — James G. Elaine, of
Maine, 285 ; Oliver P. Morton, of Indiana, 124; Benja-
min H. Bristow, of Kentucky, 113; Roscoe Conkling,
of New York, 99; Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, 61 ;
John F. Hartranft, of Pennsylvania, 58; Marshall
Jewell, of Connecticut, 1 1 ; William A. Wheeler, of
New York, 3. On the sixth ballot Elaine's vote in-
creased to 308 and Hayes was second with 1 13. Hayes
was nominated on the seventh ballot, having 384 to
351 for Elaine and 21 for Bristow.
Only one ballot was necessary for Vice-President,
the nominee being William A. Wheeler, of New York.
Platform:
"When, in the economy of Providence, this land was to be purged
of human slavery, and when the strength of government of the
people by the people for the people was to be demonstrated, the
Republican party came into power. Its deeds have passed into his-
229
230 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1876
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
tory, and we look back to them with pride. Incited by their memo-
ries, and with high aims for the good of our country and mankind,
and looking to the future with unfaltering courage, hope, and pur-
pose, we, the representatives of the party, in national convention
assembled, make the following declaration of principles:
"1. The United States of America is a nation, not a league.
By the combined workings of the national and State governments,
under their respective Constitutions, the rights of every citizen are
secured at home and protected abroad, and the common welfare pro-
moted.
"2. The Republican party has preserved these governments to the
hundredth anniversary of the nation's birth, and they are now em-
bodiments of the great truths spoken at its cradle : '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 their just powers from the con-
sent of the governed.' Until these truths are cheerfully obeyed, and,
if need be, vigorously enforced, the work of the Republican party is
unfinished.
"3. The permanent pacification of the southern section of the
Union and the complete protection of all its citizens in the free
enjoyment of all their rights, are duties to which the Republican
party is sacredly pledged. The power to provide for the enforce-
ment of the principles embodied in the recent constitutional amend-
ments is vested by those amendments in the Congress of the United
States, and we declare it to be the solemn obligation of the legisla-
tive and executive departments of the government to put into imme-
diate and vigorous exercise all their constitutional powers for remov-
ing any just causes of discontent on the part of any class, and secur-
ing to every American citizen complete liberty and exact equality in
the exercise of all civil, political, and public rights. To this end we
imperatively demand a Congress and a Chief-Executive whose cour-
age and fidelity to these duties shall not falter until these results are
placed beyond dispute or recall.
1876J NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 231
"4. In the first act of Congress signed by President Grant the
national government assumed to remove any doubt of its purpose to
discharge all just obligations to the public creditors and solemnly
pledged its faith 'to make provision at the earliest practicable period
for the redemption of the United States notes in coin.' Commercial
prosperity, public morals, and the national credit demand that this
promise be fulfilled by a continuous and steady progress to specie
payment.
"5. Under the Constitution the President and heads of depart-
ments are to make nominations for office, the Senate is to advise and
consent to appointments, and the House of Representatives is to
accuse and prosecute faithless officers. The best interest of the
public service demands that these distinctions be respected; that
Senators and Representatives who may be judges and accusers should
not dictate appointments to office. The invariable rule for appoint-
ments should have reference to the honesty, fidelity, and capacity of
the appointees, giving to the party in power those places where har-
mony and vigor of administration require its policy to be repre-
sented, but permitting all others to be filled by persons selected with
sole reference to the efficiency of the pu'blic service and the right of
citizens to share in the honor of rendering faithful service to their
country.
"6. We rejoice in the quickened conscience of the people con-
cerning political affairs. We will hold all public officers to a rigid
responsibility, and engage that the prosecution and punishment of all
who betray official trusts shall be speedy, thorough, and unsparing.
"7. The public school system of the several States is the bulwark
of the American republic, and with a view to its security and perma-
nence we recommend an amendment to the Constitution of the
United States forbidding the application of any public funds or prop-
erty for the benefit of any schools or institutions under sectarian
control.
"8. The revenue necessary for current expenditures and the obli-
gations of the public debt must be largely derived from duties upon
importations, which, so far as possible, should be so adjusted as to
232 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1876
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
promote the interests of American labor and advance the prosperity
of the whole country.
"9. We reaffirm our opposition to further grants of the public
lands to corporations and monopolies, and demand that the national
domain be devoted to free homes for the people.
"10. It is the imperative duty of the government so to modify
existing treaties with European governments that the same protec-
tion shall be afforded to adopted American citizens that is given to
native-born, and all necessary laws be passed to protect emigrants in
the absence of power in the States for that purpose.
"11. It is the immediate duty of Congress fully to investigate
the effect of the immigration and importation of Mongolians on
the moral and material interests of the country.
"12. The Republican party recognizes with approval the sub-
stantial advances recently made toward the establishment of equal
rights for women, by the many important amendments effected by
Republican Legislatures in the laws which concern the personal and
property relations of wives, mothers, and widows, and by the appoint-
ment and election of women to the superintendence of education,
charities, and other public trusts. The honest demands of this class
of citizens for additional rights, privileges, and immunities should be
treated with respectful consideration.
"13. The Constitution confers upon Congress sovereign power
over the Territories of the United States for their government. And
in the exercise of this power it is the right and duty of Congress to
prohibit and extirpate in the Territories that relic of barbarism,
polygamy; and we demand such legislation as will secure this end
and the supremacy of American institutions in all the Territories.
"14. The pledges which the nation has given to our soldiers and
sailors must be fulfilled. The grateful people will always hold
those who periled their lives for the country's preservation in the
kindest remembrance.
"15. We sincerely deprecate all sectional feeling and tendencies.
We therefore note with deep solicitude that the Democratic party
counts, as its chief hope of success, upon the Electoral vote of a
united south secured through the efforts of those who were recently
FRANKLIN PIERCE
Franklin Pierce, 14th president; born at Hillsboro, N. H.,
November 23, 1804; lawyer; member of state legislature, 1829-
33; of congress, March 4, 1833 to March 3, 1837; United States
senator, March 4, 1837 to February 28, 1842, when he resigned;
served in Mexican war; member of New Hampshire state con-
stitutional convention, 1850; president of the United States
from March 4, 1853 to March 3, 1857; died in Concord, N. H.,
October 8, 1869.
1876] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 233
arrayed against the nation; and we invoke the earnest attention of
the country to the grave truth that a success thus achieved would
reopen sectional strife and imperil national honor and human rights.
"16. We charge the Democratic party with being the same in
character and spirit as when it sympathized with treason; with mak-
ing its control of the House of Representatives the triumph and
opportunity of the nation's recent foes; with reasserting and applaud-
ing in the national Capitol the sentiments of unrepentant rebellion ;
with sending Union soldiers to the rear and promoting Confederate
soldiers to the front; with deliberately proposing to repudiate the
plighted faith of the government; with being equally false and imbe-
cile upon the overshadowing financial questions; with thwarting the
ends of justice by its partisan mismanagement and obstruction of
investigation; with proving itself, through the period of its ascend-
ancy in the lower house of Congress, utterly incompetent to adminis-
ter the government ; and we warn the country against trusting a
party thus alike unworthy, recreant, and incapable.
"17. The national administration merits commendation for its
honorable work in the management of domestic and foreign affairs,
and President Grant deserves the continued hearty gratitude of the
American people for his patriotism and his eminent services in war
and in peace.
"18. We present as our candidates for President and Vice-Presi-
dent of the United States two distinguished statesmen, of eminent
ability and character, and conspicuously fitted for those high offices,
and we confidently appeal to the American people to entrust the
administration of their public affairs to Rutherford B. Hayes and
William A. Wheeler."
Democratic Party
Convention held in St. Louis, June 27-29, 1876; tem-
porary chairman, Henry Watterson, of Kentucky; per-
manent chairman, John A. McClernand, of Illinois.
Samuel J. Tilden, of New York, was nominated for
President on the second ballot, which stood : Tilden,
234 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1876
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
534; Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana, 60; Winfield
S. Hancock, of Pennsylvania, 59; William Allen, of
Ohio, 54; Thomas F. Bayard, of Delaware, 11; Allen
G. Thurman, of Ohio, 2.
Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana, was unanimously
nominated for Vice-President on the first ballot.
Platform :
"We, the delegates of the Democratic party of the United States,
in national convention assembled, do hereby declare the administra-
tion of the Federal government to be in great need of immediate
reform; do hereby enjoin upon the nominees of this convention, and
of the Democratic party in each State, a zealous effort and co-
operation to this end; and do hereby appeal to our fellow-citizens of
every former political connection to undertake with us this first and
most pressing patriotic duty.
"For the Democracy of the whole country we do here reaffirm
our faith in the permanence of the Federal Union, our devotion to
the Constitution of the United States with its amendments univer-
sally accepted as a final settlement of the controversies that engen-
dered civil war, and do here record our steadfast confidence in the
perpetuity of republican self-government.
"In absolute acquiescence in the will of the majority, the vital
principle of republics; in the supremacy of the civil over the military
authority; in the two-fold separation of church and state, for the
sake alike of civil and religious freedom ; in the equality of all citizens
before just laws of their own enactment; in the liberty of individual
conduct, unvexed by sumptuary laws ; in the faithful education of the
rising generation, that they may preserve, enjoy, and transmit these
best conditions of human happiness and hope, — we behold the noblest
products of a hundred years of changeful history; but while uphold-
ing the bond of our Union and great charter of these our rights, it
behooves a free people to practice also that eternal vigilance which
is the price of liberty.
"Reform is necessary to rebuild and establish in the hearts of
1876] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 235
the whole people of the Union, eleven years ago happily rescued from
the danger of a secession of States but now to be saved from a cor-
rupt centralism which, after inflicting upon ten States the rapacity
of carpetbag tyrannies, has honeycombed the offices of the Federal
government itself with incapacity, waste, and fraud, infected States
and municipalities with the contagion of misrule, and locked fast the
prosperity of an industrious people in the paralysis of 'hard times.'
"Reform is necessary to establish a sound currency, restore the
public credit, and maintain the national honor.
"We denounce the failure, for all these eleven years of peace, to
make good the promise of the legal-tender notes, which are a changing
standard of value in the hands of the people and the non-payment
of which is a disregard of the plighted faith of the nation.
"We denounce the improvidence which, in eleven years of peace,
has taken from the people in Federal taxes thirteen times the whole
amount of the legal-tender notes, and squandered four times their sum
in useless expense, without accumulating any reserve for their redemp-
tion.
"We denounce the financial imbecility and immorality of that
party which, during eleven years of peace, has made no advance
toward resumption, no preparation for resumption, but instead has
obstructed resumption by wasting our resources and exhausting all
our surplus income, and, while annually professing to intend a speedy
return to specie payments, has annually enacted fresh hindrances
thereto. As such hindrance we denounce the resumption clause of the
act of 1875, and we here demand its repeal.
"We demand a judicious system of preparation by public econo-
mies, by official retrenchments, and by wise finance, which shall enable
the nation soon to assure the whole world of its perfect ability and
its perfect readiness to meet any of its promises at the call of the
creditor entitled to payment.
"We believe such a system, well devised, and above all entrusted
to competent hands for execution, creating at no time an artificial
scarcity of currency and at no time alarming the public mind into
a withdrawal of that vast machinery of credit by which ninety-five
per cent, of all business transactions are performed — a system open,
236 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1876
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
public, and inspiring general confidence — would from the day of its
adoption bring healing on its wings to all our harassed industries,
set in motion the wheels of commerce, manufactures, and the
mechanic arts, restore employment to labor, and renew in all its
sources the prosperity of the people.
"Reform is necessary in the sum and modes of Federal taxation,
to the end that capital may be set free from distress and labor lightly
burdened.
"We denounce the present tariff, levied upon nearly 4,000 articles,
as a masterpiece of injustice, inequality, and false pretense. It yields
a dwindling, not a yearly rising revenue. It has impoverished many
industries to subsidize a few. It prohibits imports that might pur-
chase the products of American labor. It has degraded American
commerce from the first to an inferior rank upon the high seas. It
has cut down the values of American manufactures at home and
abroad, and depleted the returns of American agriculture — an indus-
try followed by half our people. It costs the people five times more
than it produces to the treasury, obstructs the processes of produc-
tion, and wastes the fruits of labor. It promotes fraud, fosters
smuggling, enriches dishonest officials, and bankrupts honest mer-
chants. We demand that all custom house taxation shall be only
for revenue.
"Reform is necessary in the scale of public expense — Federal,
State, and municipal. Our Federal taxation has swollen from sixty
millions gold in 1860 to four hundred and fifty millions currency in
1870; our aggregate taxation from one hundred and fifty- four mil-
lions gold in 1860 to seven hundred and thirty millions currency
in 1870; or in one decade from less than five dollars per head to more
than eighteen dollars per head. Since the peace, the people have
paid to their tax-gatherers more than thrice the sum of the national
debt, and more than twice that sum for the Federal government
alone. We demand a rigorous frugality in every department and
from every officer of the government.
"Reform is necessary to put a stop to the profligate waste of
public lands and their diversion from actual settlers by the party in
power, which has squandered 200,000,000 acres upon 'railroads
1876] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 237
alone, and out of more than thrice that aggregate has disposed of less
than a sixth directly to tillers of the soil.
"Reform is necessary to correct the omissions of a Republican
Congress and the errors of our treaties and our diplomacy, which have
stripped our fellow-citizens of foreign birth and kindred race, recross-
ing the Atlantic, from the shield of American citizenship, and have
exposed our brethren of the Pacific coast to the incursions of a race
not sprung from the same great parent stock, and in fact now by law
denied citizenship through naturalization as being neither accustomed
to the traditions of a progressive civilization nor exercised in liberty
under equal laws. We denounce the policy which thus discards the
liberty-loving German and tolerates a revival of the coolie trade in
Mongolian women imported for immoral purposes and Mongolian
men held to perform servile labor contracts, and demand such modifi-
cation of the treaty with the Chinese empire, or such legislation within
constitutional limitations, as shall prevent further importation or
immigration of the Mongolian race.
"Reform is necessary, and can never be effected but by making
it the controlling issue of the election, and lifting it above the two
false issues with which the office-holding class and the party in power
seek to smother it: —
"1. The false issue with which they would enkindle sectarian
strife in respect to the public schools, of which the establishment
and support belong exclusively to the several States, and which the
Democratic party has cherished from their foundation and is resolved
to maintain without partiality or preference for any class, sect, or
creed, and without contributions from the treasury to any.
"2. The false issue by which they seek to light anew the dying
embers of sectional hate between kindred people once estranged, but
now reunited in one indivisible republic and a common destiny.
"Reform is necessary in the civil service. Experience proves that
efficient, economical conduct of the government is not possible if its
civil service be subject to change at every election, be a prize fought
for at the ballot-box, be an approved reward of party zeal instead
of posts of honor assigned for proved competency and held for
fidelity in the public employ ; that the dispensing of patronage should
238 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL 1 1876
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
neither be a tax upon the time of all our public men nor the instru-
ment of their ambition. Here again professions falsified in the per-
formance attest that the party in power can work out no practical
or salutary reform.
"Reform is necessary even more in the higher grades of the public
service. President, Vice-President, Judges, Senators, Representa-
tives, cabinet officers, — these and all others in authority are the peo-
ple's servants. These offices are not a private perquisite; they are
a public trust.
"When the annals of this republic show the disgrace and censure
of a Vice-President; a late Speaker of the House of Representatives
marketing his rulings as a presiding officer; three Senators profiting
secretly by their votes as law-makers; five chairmen of the leading
committees of the late House of Representatives exposed in jobbery;
a late Secretary of the Treasury forcing balances in the public
accounts; a late Attorney-General misappropriating public funds; a
Secretary of the Navy enriched and enriching friends by percentages
levied off the profits of contractors with his department; an Ambas-
sador to England censured in a dishonorable speculation; the Presi-
dent's private secretary barely escaping conviction upon trial for
guilty complicity in frauds upon the revenue; a Secretary of War
impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors — the demonstration is
complete that the first step in reform must be the people's choice of
honest men from another party, lest the disease of one political
organization infect the body politic, and lest by making no change of
men or parties we get no change of measures and no real reform.
"All these abuses, wrongs, and crimes, the product of sixteen
years' ascendancy of the Republican party, create a necessity for
reform confessed by Republicans themselves; but their reformers are
voted down in convention and displaced from the cabinet. The
party's mass of honest voters is powerless to resist the 80,000 office-
holders, its leaders and guides.
"Reform can only be had by a peaceful civic revolution. We
demand a change of system, a change of administration, a change
of party, that we may have a change of measures and of men.
1876] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 239
"Resolved, That this convention, representing the Democratic
party of the States, do cordially endorse the action of the present
House of Representatives in reducing and curtailing the expenses of
the Federal government, in cutting down enormous salaries, extrava-
gant appropriations, and in abolishing useless offices and places not
required by the public necessities; and we shall trust to the firmness
of the Democratic members of the House that no committee of
conference and no misinterpretation of the rules will be allowed to
defeat these wholesome measures of economy demanded by the
country.
"Resolved, That the soldiers and sailors of the republic, and the
widows and orphans of those who have fallen in battle, have a just
claim upon the care, protection, and gratitude of their fellow-
citizens."
The platform declaration on the subject of resump-
tion of specie payments which, while objecting to the
stipulation made in the act of 1875 that resumption
should occur on January 1, 1879, favored preparation
for resumption, was strongly opposed by the "soft
money" delegates under the leadership of General
Thomas Ewing, of Ohio. A minority report opposing
the whole program of resumption was submitted to the
convention; defeated by 515 to 219.
Other Parties
Independent Party, popularly known as Greenback
Party. — Convention held at Indianapolis, May 17-18,
1876. For President, Peter Cooper, of New York;
for Vice-President, Samuel F. Cary, of Ohio. The
platform demanded repeal of the Resumption act and
the issuance of full legal-tender government notes
(greenbacks), convertible on demand into "United
States obligations" bearing interest at 3.65 per cent.
240 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1876
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Prohibition Party. — Convention held in Cleveland,
May 17, 1876. For President, Green Clay Smith, of
Kentucky; for Vice-President, Gideon T. Stewart, of
Ohio.
American Party, known as the American Alliance.
—For President, James B. Walker, of Illinois; for
Vice-President, Donald Kirkpatrick, of New York.
The platform advocated the observance of religious
ideas in government, the Bible in the schools, prohibi-
tion, woman suffrage, refusal of charters to secret
societies, etc.
The Election
Electoral vote for President and Vice-President, as
determined by the Electoral commission :
Rutherford B. Hayes and William A. Wheeler, Republicans: —
California, 6; Colorado, 3; Florida, 4; Illinois, 21; Iowa, 11; Kan-
sas, 5; Louisiana, 8; Maine, 7; Massachusetts, 13; Michigan, 11;
Minnesota, 5; Nebraska, 3; Nevada, 3; New Hampshire, 5; Ohio,
22; Oregon, 3; Pennsylvania, 29; Rhode Island, 4; South Carolina,
7; Vermont, 5; Wisconsin, 10. Total, 185. Elected.
Samuel J. Tilden and Thomas A. Hendricks, Democrats: — Ala-
bama, 10; Arkansas, 6; Connecticut, 6; Delaware, 3; Georgia, 11;
Indiana, 15; Kentucky, 12; Maryland, 8; Mississippi, 8; Missouri,
15; New Jersey, 9; New York, 35; North Carolina, 10; Tennessee,
12; Texas, 8; Virginia, 11; West Virginia, 5. Total, 184.
Popular vote:
Tilden, 4,284,757; Hayes, 4,033,950; Cooper, 81,740; Smith,
9,522; Walker, 2,636.
1880
Republican Party
Convention held in Chicago, June 2-8, 1880; tem-
porary and permanent chairman, George F. Hoar, of
Massachusetts. At this convention occurred the cele-
brated struggle again to nominate General Grant for
the Presidency, the Grant forces being led by Roscoe
Conkling, of New York, against the strenuous opposi-
tion of the supporters of James G. Elaine, of Maine;
John Sherman, of Ohio; George F. Edmunds, of Ver-
mont; Elihu B. Washburne, of Illinois; and William
Windom, of Minnesota. Four days were consumed in
deciding contests for seats, adopting the rules and plat-
form, and placing the candidates in nomination.
Efforts to enable the State delegations to enforce a unit
rule were defeated, and in the balloting every delegate
was permitted to vote according to his preference.
First ballot for President:— Grant, 304; Elaine, 284;
Sherman, 93 ; Edmunds, 34; Washburne, 30; Windom,
10. Thirty-six ballots proved necessary for a choice.
On every ballot until the last Grant led, his vote never
falling below 302 or going above 313. James A. Gar-
field, the head of the Ohio delegation and in charge of
Sherman's interests, received one vote on the second
ballot; and on many of the subsequent ballots until the
241
242 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1880
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
thirty-fourth was called he was voted for, though at no
time having more than two supporters. The thirty-
fourth ballot showed 17 votes for him (which were
recorded against his protest), and the thirty-fifth 50;
he was nominated on the thirty-sixth by the following
vote: Garfield, 399; Grant, 306; Elaine, 42; Wash-
burne, 5; Sherman, 3.
The Vice-Presidential nomination went to Chester
A. Arthur, of New York, who on the first ballot had
468 against 283 for eight others.
Platform :
"The Republican party, in national convention assembled, at the
end of twenty years since the Federal government was first committed
to its charge, submits to the people of the United States this brief
report of its administration:
"It suppressed a rebellion which had armed nearly a million of
men to subvert the national authority ; it reconstructed the Union of
the States with freedom instead of slavery as its corner-stone; it
transformed 4,000,000 human beings from the likeness of things to
the rank of citizens; it relieved Congress from the infamous work of
hunting fugitive slaves, and charged it to see that slavery does not
exist.
"It has raised the value of our paper currency from 38 per cent,
to the par of gold ; it has restored upon a solid basis payment in coin
of all national obligations, and has given us a currency absolutely good
and equal in every part of our extended country; it has lifted the
credit of the nation from the point of where 6 per cent, bonds sold
at 86 to that where 4 per cent, bonds are eagerly sought at a premium.
"Under its administration railways have increased from 31,000
miles in 1860 to more than 82,000 miles in 1879.
"Our foreign trade increased from $700,000,000 to $1,115,000,-
000 in the same time, and our exports, which were $20,000,000 less
than our imports in 1860, were $265,000,000 more than our imports
in 1879.
1880] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 243
"Without resorting to loans, it has since the war closed defrayed
the ordinary expenses of government besides the accruing interest of
the public debt, and has disbursed annually more than $30,000,000
for soldiers' and sailors' pensions. It has paid $880,000,000 of the
public debt, and, by refunding the balance at lower rates, has reduced
the annual interest charge from nearly $150,000,000 to less than
$89,000,000.
"All the industries of the country have revived, labor is in demand,
wages have increased, and throughout the entire country there is evi-
dence of a coming prosperity greater than we have ever enjoyed.
"Upon this record the Republican party asks for the continued
confidence and support of the people, and this convention submits for
their approval the following statement of the principles and purposes
which will continue to guide and inspire its efforts:
"1. We affirm that the work of the Republican party for the last
twenty-one years has been such as to commend it to the favor of the
nation ; that the fruits of the costly victories which we have achieved
through immense difficulties should be preserved; that the peace re-
gained should be cherished; that the Union should be perpetuated,
and that the liberty secured to this generation should be transmitted
undiminished to other generations; that the order established and the
credit acquired should never be impaired ; that the pensions promised
should be paid; that the debt, so much reduced, should be extin-
guished by the full payment of every dollar thereof; that the reviv-
ing industries should be further promoted, and that the commerce
already increasing should be steadily encouraged.
"2. The Constitution of the United States is a supreme law, and
not a mere contract. Out of confederated States it made a sovereign
nation. Some powers are denied to the nation, while others are
denied to the States; but the boundary between the powers delegated
and those reserved is to be determined by the national and not by the
State tribunal.
"3. The work of popular education is one left to the care of the
several States, but it is the duty of the national government to aid
that work to the extent of its constitutional power. The intelligence
of the nation is but the aggregate of the intelligence in the several
244 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1880
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
States, and the destiny of the nation must be guided not by the genius
of any one State but by the aggregated genius of all.
"4. The Constitution wisely forbids Congress to make any law
respecting the establishment of religion, but it is idle to hope that
the nation can be protected against the influence of secret sectarianism
while each State is exposed to its domination. We therefore recom-
mend that the Constitution be so amended as to lay the same prohi-
bition upon the Legislature of each State, and to forbid the appro-
priation of public funds to the support of sectarian schools.
"5. We affirm the belief avowed in 1876, that the duties levied
for the purpose of revenue should so discriminate as to favor Ameri-
can labor; that no further grants of the public domain should be
made to any railway or other corporation ; that, slavery having per-
ished in the States, its twin barbarity, polygamy, must die in the
Territories; that everywhere the protection accorded to a citizen of
American birth must be secured to citizens by American adoption;
that we deem it the duty of Congress to develop and improve our
seacoast and harbors, but insist that further subsidies to private per-
sons or corporations must cease; that the obligations of the republic
to the men who preserved its integrity in the day of battle are undi-
minished by the lapse of the fifteen years since their final victory — to
do them honor is and shall forever be the grateful privilege and sacred
duty of the American people.
"6. Since the authority to regulate immigration and intercourse
between the United States and foreign nations rests with the Con-
gress of the United States and the treaty-making power, the Republi-
can party, regarding the unrestricted immigration of the Chinese as a
matter of grave concernment, under the exercise of both these pow-
ers would limit and restrict that immigration by the enactment of
such just, humane, and reasonable laws and treaties as will produce
that result.
"7. That the purity and patriotism which characterized the
earlier career of Rutherford B. Hayes in peace and war, and which
guided the thoughts of our immediate predecessors to him for a Presi-
dential candidate, have continued to inspire him in his career as Chief-
Executive; and that history will accord to his administration the
18801 JiU NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 245
honors which are due to an efficient, just, and courteous discharge
of the public business, and will honor his vetoes interposed between
the people and attempted partisan laws.
"8. We charge upon the Democratic party the habitual sacrifice
of patriotism and justice to a supreme and insatiable lust for office
and patronage; that to obtain possession of the national government
and control of place, they have obstructed all efforts to promote the
purity and to conserve the freedom of the suffrage, and have devised
fraudulent ballots and invented fraudulent certifications of returns;
have labored to unseat lawfully elected members of Congress to
secure at all hazards the vote of a majority of the States in the
House of Representatives; have endeavored to occupy by force and
fraud the places of trust given to others by the people of Maine,
rescued by the courage and actions of Maine's patriotic sons; have,
by methods vicious in principle and tyrannical in practice, attached
partisan legislation to appropriation bills upon whose passage the
very movement of the government depended ; have crushed the rights
of the individual ; have advocated the principles and sought the favor
of the rebellion against the nation, and have endeavored to obliterate
the sacred memories of the war and to overcome its inestimably
valuable results of nationality, personal freedom, and individual
equality.
"The equal, steady, and complete enforcement of laws and the
protection of all our citizens in the enjoyment of all the privileges
and immunities guaranteed by the Constitution, are the first duties of
the nation.
"The dangers of a 'Solid South' can only be averted by a faithful
performance of every promise which the nation has made to the
citizen. The execution of the laws, and the punishment of all those
who violate them, are the only safe methods by which an enduring
peace can be secured and genuine prosperity established throughout
the south. Whatever promises the nation makes the nation must
perform. A nation cannot safely relegate this duty to the States.
The 'Solid South' must be divided by the peaceful agencies of the
ballot, and all honest opinions must there find free expression. To
246 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1880
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
this end the honest voter must be protected against terrorism, vio-
lence, or fraud. ' ,
"And we affirm it to be the duty and the purpose of the Repub-
lican party to use all legitimate means to restore all the States of this
Union to the most perfect harmony that may be possible; and we
submit to the practical, sensible people of these United States to
say whether it would not be dangerous to the dearest interests of our
country at this time to surrender the administration of the national
government to a party which seeks to overthrow the existing policy
under which we are so prosperous, and thus bring distrust and con-
fusion where there is now order, confidence, and hope.
"9. The Republican party, adhering to the principle affirmed
by its last national convention of respect for the constitutional rules
governing appointments to office, adopts the declaration of President
Hayes that the reform of the civil service should be thorough, radi-
cal, and complete. To that end it demands the cooperation of the
legislative with the executive departments of the government, and
that Congress shall so legislate that fitness, ascertained by proper
practical tests, shall admit to the public service."
Democratic Party
Convention held in Cincinnati, June 22-24, 1880;
temporary chairman, George Hoadly, of Ohio ; perma-
nent chairman, John W. Stevenson, of Kentucky.
The leading candidates for the Presidential nomina-
tion were General Winfield S. Hancock, of Pennsylva-
nia, and Thomas F. Bayard, of Delaware. On the first
ballot General Hancock received 171 votes and Bayard
153j^. Hancock was nominated on the second ballot,
which, after changes had been made in his favor,
showed 705 for him and 33 for three others. Other
candidates voted for on the two ballots were Henry B.
Payne and Allen G. Thurman, of Ohio; Stephen J.
1880] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 247
Field, of California; William R. Morrison, of Illinois;
Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana; Samuel J. Tilden
and Horatio Seymour, of New York; and Samuel J.
Randall, of Pennsylvania.
For Vice-President William H. English, of Indiana,
was nominated by acclamation.
Platform :
"The Democrats of the United States, in convention assembled,
declare : —
"1. We pledge ourselves anew to the constitutional doctrines
and traditions of the Democratic party, as illustrated by the teach-
ings and example of a long line of Democratic statesmen and patriots,
and embodied in the platform of the last national convention of the
party.
"2. Opposition to centralization and to that dangerous spirit of
encroachment which tends to consolidate the powers of all the de-
partments in one, and thus to create, whatever be the form of gov-
ernment, a real ddspojtism. No sumptuary laws 3 separation of
church and state, for the good of each ; common schools fostered and
protected.
"3. Home rule; honest money — consisting of gold and silver,
and paper convertible into coin on demand ; the strict maintenance of
the public faith, State and national ; and a tariff for revenue only.
"4. The subordination of the military to the civil power, and
a genuine and thorough reform of the civil service.
"5. The right to a free ballot is a right preservative of all rights,
and must and shall be maintained in every part of the United
States. !
"6. The existing administration is the representative of conspir-
acy only, and its claim of right to surround the ballot-boxes with
troops and Deputy Marshals to intimidate and obstruct the electors,
and the unprecedented use of the veto to maintain its corrupt and
despotic power, insult the people and imperil their institutions.
"7. We execrate the course of this administration in making
places in the civil service a reward for political crime, and demand
248 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1880
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
a reform by statute which shall make it forever impossible for the
defeated candidate to bribe his way to the seat of a usurper by
billeting villains upon the people.
"8. The great fraud of 1876-77, by which, upon a false count
of the Electoral votes of two States, the candidate defeated at the
polls was declared to be President, and, for the first time in Ameri-
can history, the will of the people was set aside under a threat of
military violence, struck a deadly blow at our system of representa-
tive government ; the Democratic party, to preserve the country from
the horrors of a civil war, submitted for the time in firm and patri-
otic faith that the people would punish this crime in 1880. This
issue precedes and dwarfs every other: it imposes a more sacred duty
upon the people of the Union than ever addressed the conscience of a
nation of freemen.
"9. The resolution of Samuel J. Tilden not again to be a candi-
date for the exalted place to which he was elected by a majority of
his countrymen, and from which he was excluded by the leaders of
the Republican party, is received by the Democrats of the United
States with deep sensibility, and they declare their confidence in his
wisdom, patriotism, and integrity, unshaken by the assaults of the
common enemy; and they further assure him that he is followed
into the retirement he has chosen for himself by the sympathy and
respect of his fellow-citizens, who regard him as one who, by elevat-
ing the standard of public morality and adorning and purifying
the public service, merits the lasting gratitude of his country and his
party.
"10. Free ships and a living chance for American commerce on
the seas and on the land. No discrimination in favor of transpor-
tation lines, corporations, or monopolies.
"11. Amendment of the Burlingame treaty. No more Chinese
immigration, except for travel, education, and foreign commerce,
and even that carefully guarded.
"12. Public money and public credit for public purposes solely,
and public land for actual settlers.
"13. The Democratic party is the friend of labor and the labor-
JAMES BUCHANAN
James Buchanan, 15th president; born at Cove Gap, Pa.,
April 23, 1791; lawyer; member of state legislature, 1814-15;
of congress, March 4, 1821 to March 3, 1831; minister to
Russia, 1832-34; United States senator, 1834-45; secretary of
state under Polk, 1845-49; minister to Great Britain, 1853-56;
president of United States, 1857-61; died at Lancaster, Pa., June
1, 1868.
1880] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 249
ing man, and pledges itself to protect him alike against the cormor-
ants and the commune.
"14. We congratulate the country upon the honesty and thrift
of a Democratic Congress which has reduced the public expenditure
$40,000,000 a year; upon the continuation of prosperity at home
and the national honor abroad; and, above all, upon the promise of
such a change in the administration of the government as shall insure
us genuine and lasting reform in every department of the public
service."
Other Parties
Greenback Party. — Convention held in Chicago,
June 9-11, 1880. For President, James B. Weaver, of
Iowa; for Vice-President, B. J. Chambers, of Texas.
Prohibition Party. — Convention held in Cleveland,
June 17, 1880. For President, Neal Dow, of Maine;
for Vice-President, A. M. Thompson, of Ohio.
The Election
Electoral votes for President and Vice-President:
James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur, Republicans: — Cali-
fornia, 1; Colorado, 3; Connecticut, 6; Illinois, 21; Indiana, 15;
Iowa, 11; Kansas, 5; Maine, 7; Massachusetts, 13; Michigan, 11;
Minnesota, 5; Nebraska, 3; New Hampshire, 5; New York, 35;
Ohio, 22; Oregon, 3; Pennsylvania, 29; Rhode Island, 4; Vermont,
5; Wisconsin, 10. Total, 214. Elected.
Winfield S. Hancock and William H. English, Democrats: —
Alabama, 10; Arkansas, 6; California, 5; Delaware, 3; Florida, 4;
Georgia, 11; Kentucky, 12; Louisiana, 8; Maryland, 8; Mississippi,
8; Missouri, 15; Nevada, 3; New Jersey, 9; North Carolina, 10;
South Carolina, 7; Tennessee, 12; Texas, 8; Virginia, 11; West
Virginia, 5. Total, 155.
Popular vote:
Garfield, 4,449,053; Hancock, 4,442,035; Weaver, 307,426;
Dow, 12,576.
1884
Republican Party
Convention held in Chicago, June 3-6. The na-
tional committee designated Powell Clayton, of Arkan-
sas, as temporary chairman, but the convention chose
in his stead John R. Lynch (colored), of Mississippi.
Permanent chairman, John B. Henderson, of Missouri.
An animated discussion arose on the question of estab-
lishing for future national conventions a new basis of
Congressional district representation, the following
rule being proposed: "Each Congressional district
shall be entitled to one delegate, and an additional dele-
gate for every 10,000 votes, or majority fraction
thereof, cast for the Republican ticket at the last pre-
ceding Presidential election." This was intended to
reduce the representation from the south. Owing to
the united opposition of the southern delegates to the
resolution on the subject, it was withdrawn without a
vote being taken.
The principal candidates for the Presidential nomi-
nation were James G. Elaine, President Arthur, George
F. Edmunds, John A. Logan, John Sherman, and
Joseph R. Hawley. Elaine was nominated on the
fourth ballot, the vote being as follows: Elaine, 541 ;
250
1884] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 251
Arthur, 207; Edmunds, 41; Hawley, 15; Logan, 7;
Robert T. Lincoln, of Illinois, 2.
For Vice-President John A. Logan, of Illinois, was
nominated on the first ballot by 773 votes to 7 for two
others.
Platform :
"The Republicans of the United States, in national convention
assembled, renew their allegiance to the principles upon which they
have triumphed in six successive Presidential elections, and congratu-
late the American people on the attainment of so many results in
legislation and administration by which the Republican party has,
after saving the Union, done so much to render its institutions just,
equal, and beneficent, the safeguard of liberty and the embodiment
of the best thought and highest purposes of our citizens.
"The Republican party has gained its strength by quick and
faithful response to the demands of the people for the freedom and
equality of all men; for a united nation, assuring the rights of all
citizens; for the elevation of labor; for an honest currency; for
purity in legislation, and for integrity and accountability in all de-
partments of the government; and it accepts anew the duty of lead-
ing in the work of progress and reform.
"We lament the death of President Garfield, whose sound states-
manship, long conspicuous in Congress, gave promise of a strong
and successful administration — a promise fully realized during the
short period of his office as President of the United States. His dis-
tinguished services in war and peace have endeared him to the hearts
of the American people.
"In the administration of President Arthur we recognize a wise,
conservative, and patriotic policy under which the country has been
blessed with remarkable prosperity, and we believe his eminent serv-
ices are entitled to and will receive the hearty approval of every
citizen.
"It is the first duty of a good government to protect the rights
and promote the interests of its own people.
252 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1884
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"The largest diversity of industry is most productive of general
prosperity and of the comfort and independence of the people.
"We therefore demand that the imposition of duties on foreign
imports shall be made not 'for revenue only,' but that in raising the
requisite revenues for the government such duties shall be so levied
as to afford security to our diversified industries and protection to
the rights and wages of the laborer, to the end that active and intelli-
gent labor, as well as capital, may have its just reward, and the
laboring man his full share in the national prosperity.
"Against the so-called economic system of the Democratic party,
which would degrade our labor to the foreign standard, we enter our
earnest protest.
"The Democratic party has failed completely to relieve the people
of the burden of unnecessary taxation by a wise reduction of the
surplus.
"The Republican party pledges itself to correct the inequalities of
the tariff and to reduce the surplus, not by the vicious and indis-
criminate process of horizontal reduction, but by such methods as
will relieve the taxpayer without injuring the laborer or the great
productive interests of the country.
"We recognize the importance of sheep husbandry in the United
States, the serious depression which it is now experiencing, and the
danger threatening its future prosperity; and we therefore respect
the demands of the representatives of this important agricultural
interest for a readjustment of duties upon foreign wool, in order that
such industry shall have full and adequate protection.
"We have always recommended the best money known to the
civilized world; and we urge that efforts should be made to unite
all commercial nations in the establishment of an international stand-
ard which shall fix for all the relative value of gold and silver
coinage.
"The regulation of commerce with foreign nations and between
the States is one of the most important prerogatives of the general
government; and the Republican party distinctly announces its pur-
pose to support such legislation as will fully and efficiently carry out
the constitutional power of Congress over interstate commerce.
1884] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 253
"The principle of public regulation of railway corporations is a
wise and salutary one for the protection of all classes of the people;
and we favor legislation that shall prevent unjust discrimination and
excessive charges for transportation, and that shall secure to the
people and the railways alike the fair and equal protection of the
laws.
"We favor the establishment of a national Bureau of Labor;
the enforcement of the Eight-hour law; a wise and judicious system
of general education by adequate appropriation from the national
revenues, wherever the same is needed. We believe that everywhere
the protection to a citizen of American birth must be secured to
citizens by American adoption ; and we favor the settlement of
international differences by international arbitration.
"The Republican party, having its birth in a hatred of slave labor
and a desire that all men may be truly free and equal, is unalterably
opposed to placing our workingmen in competition with any form
of servile labor, whether at home or abroad. In this spirit we
denounce the importation of contract labor, whether from Europe or
Asia, as an offense against the spirit of American institutions; and
we pledge ourselves to sustain the present law restricting Chinese im-
migration and to provide such further legislation as is necessary to
carry out its purposes.
"Reform of the civil service, auspiciously begun under Republican
administration, should be completed by the further extension of the
reform system, already established by law, to all the grades of the
service to which it is applicable. The spirit and purpose of the
reform should be observed in all Executive appointments, and all
laws at variance with the objects of existing reform legislation should
be repealed, to the end that the dangers to free institutions which
lurk in the power of official patronage may be wisely and effectively
avoided.
"The public lands are a heritage of the people of the United
States, and should be reserved as far as possible for small holdings
by actual settlers. We are opposed to the acquisition of large
tracts of these lands by corporations or individuals, especially where
such holdings are in the hands of non-resident aliens. And we will
254 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1884
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
endeavor to obtain such legislation as will tend to correct this evil.
We demand of Congress the speedy forfeiture of all land grants
which have lapsed by reason of non-compliance with acts of incor-
poration in all cases where there has been no attempt in good faith
to perform the conditions of such grants.
"The grateful thanks of the American people are due to the
Union soldiers and sailors of the late war; and the Republican party
stands pledged to suitable pensions for all who were disabled, and
for the widows and orphans of those who died in the war. The
Republican party also pledges itself to the repeal of the limitations
contained in the Arrears act of 1879, so that all invalid soldiers shall
share alike and their pensions begin with the date of disability or
discharge and not with the date of application.
"The Republican party favors a policy which shall keep us from
entangling alliances with foreign nations, and which gives us the
right to expect that foreign nations shall refrain from meddling in
American affairs — a policy which seeks peace and trade with all
powers, but especially with those of the western hemisphere.
"We demand the restoration of our navy to its old-time strength
and efficiency, that it may in any sea protect the rights of American
citizens and the interests of American commerce; and we call upon
Congress to remove the burdens under which American shipping
has been depressed, so that it may again be true that we have a com-
merce which leaves no sea unexplored and a navy which takes no
law from superior force.
"Resolved, That appointments by the President to offices in the
Territories should be made from the bona fide citizens and residents
of the Territories wherein they are to serve.
"Resolved, That it is the duty of Congress to enact such laws as
shall promptly and effectually suppress the system of polygamy within
our Territories, and divorce the political from the ecclesiastical power
of the so-called Mormon church ; and that the laws so enacted should
be rigidly enforced by the civil authorities if possible, and by the
military if need be.
"The people of the United States, in their organized capacity,
constitute a nation, and not a mere confederacy of States The
1884] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 255
national government is supreme within the sphere of its national
duties; but the States have reserved rights which should be faithfully
maintained. Each should be guarded with jealous care, so that the
harmony of our system of government may be preserved and the
Union kept inviolate.
"The perpetuity of our institutions rests upon the maintenance
of a free ballot, an honest count, and correct returns. We denounce
the fraud and violence practiced by the Democracy in southern
States by which the will of the voter is defeated, as dangerous to the
preservation of free institutions; and we solemnly arraign the Demo-
cratic party as being the guilty recipient of fruits of such fraud
and violence.
"We extend to the Republicans of the south, regardless of their
former party affiliations, our cordial sympathy, and pledge to them
our most earnest efforts to promote the passage of such legislation as
will secure to every citizen, of whatever race and color, the full and
complete recognition, possession, and exercise of all civil and political
rights."
Democratic Party
Convention held in Chicago, July 8-11, 1884; tem-
porary chairman, Richard B. Hubbard, of Texas; per-
manent chairman, William F. Vilas, of Wisconsin.
By 463 to 332 the convention voted to permit State dele-
gations to enforce the unit rule, the opposition being
led by the anti-Cleveland delegates from New York.
During the presentation of the names of Presidential
candidates, after several bitter speeches had been made
by Mr. Cleveland's New York foes General Edward
S. Bragg, of Wisconsin, delivered his famous address
advocating the nomination of Cleveland because of the
enemies he had made.
On the first ballot for President, Grover Cleveland,
of New York, received 392 votes, his nearest competi-
256 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1884
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
tor being Thomas F. Bayard with 170, and 258 being
cast for eight others. Cleveland was nominated on the
second ballot, the result of which, after changes, was :
Cleveland, 683; Bayard, 81*^; Thomas A. Hendricks,
45^; Allen G. Thurman, 4; Samuel J. Randall, 4;
Joseph E. McDonald, of Indiana, 2.
For Vice-President Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indi-
ana, was nominated unanimously on the first ballot.
Platform :
"The Democratic party of the Union, through its representatives
in national convention assembled, recognizes that, as the nation
grows older, new issues are born of time and progress, and old issues
perish. But the fundamental principles of the Democracy, approved
by the united voice of the people, remain and will ever remain as
the best and only security for the continuance of free government.
The preservation of personal rights ; the equality of all citizens before
the law; the reserved rights of the States, and the supremacy of the
Federal government within the limits of the Constitution, will ever
form the true basis of our liberties, and can never be surrendered
without destroying that balance of rights and powers which enables
a continent to be developed in peace and social order to be maintained
by means of local self-government. But it is indispensable for
the practical application and enforcement of these fundamental prin-
ciples, that the government should not always be controlled by one
political party. Frequent change of administration is as necessary
as constant recurrence to the popular will. Otherwise, abuses grow,
and the government, instead of being carried on for the general wel-
fare, becomes an instrumentality for imposing heavy burdens on the
many who are governed for the benefit of the few who govern.
Public servants thus become arbitrary rulers. This is now the condi-
tion of the country ; hence a change is demanded.
"The Republican party, so far as principle is concerned, is a remi-
niscence. In practice it is an organization for enriching those who
control its machinery. The frauds and jobbery which have been
1884] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 257
brought to light in every department of the government are suffi-
cient to have called for reform within the Republican party; yet
those in authority, made reckless by the long possession of power,
have succumbed to its corrupting influence and have placed in nomi-
nation a ticket against which the independent portion of the party
are in open revolt. Therefore, a change is demanded. Such a
change was alike necessary in 1876, but the will of the people was
then defeated by a fraud which can never be forgotten nor condoned.
Again, in 1880, the change demanded by the people was defeated
by the lavish use of money contributed by unscrupulous contractors
and shameless jobbers, who had bargained for unlawful profits or
high office. The Republican party, during its legal, its stolen, and
its bought tenures of power, has steadily decayed in moral character
and political capacity. Its platform promises are now a list of its
past failures. It demands the restoration of our navy: it has squan-
dered hundreds of millions to create a navy that does not exist. It
calls upon Congress to remove the burdens under which American
shipping has been depressed: it imposed and has continued those bur-
dens. It professes a policy of reserving the public lands for small
holdings by actual settlers: it has given away the people's heritage
till now a few railroads and non-resident aliens, individual and cor-
porate, possess a larger area than that of all our farms between the
two seas. It professes a preference for free institutions : it organized
and tried to legalize a control of State elections by Federal troops.
It professes a desire to elevate labor: it has subjected American
workingmen to the competition of convict and imported contract
labor. It professes gratitude to all who were disabled or died in
the war, leaving widows and orphans: it left to a Democratic House
of Representatives the first effort to equalize both bounties and pen-
sions. It proffers a pledge to correct the irregularities of our tariff:
it created and has continued them. Its own Tariff commission con-
fessed the need of more than twenty per cent, reduction: its Con-
gress gave a reduction of less than four per cent. It professes the
protection of American manufactures: it has subjected them to an
increasing flood of manufactured goods and a hopeless competition
with manufacturing nations, not one of which taxes raw materials.
258 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1884
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
It professes to protect all American industries: it has impoverished
many to subsidize a few. It professes the protection of American
labor: it has depleted the returns of American agriculture, an indus-
try followed by half of our people. It professes the equality of all
men before the law, attempting to fix the status of colored citizens:
the acts of its Congress were overset by the decisions of its courts.
It 'accepts anew the duty of leading in the work of progress and
reform': its caught criminals are permitted to escape through con-
trived delays or actual connivance in the prosecution. Honeycombed
with corruption, outbreaking exposures no longer shock its moral
sense. Its honest members, its independent journals no longer main-
tain a successful contest for authority in its councils or a veto upon
bad nominations. That change is necessary is proven by an exist-
ing surplus of more than $100,000,000, which has yearly been col-
lected from a suffering people. Unnecessary taxation is unjust taxa-
tion. We denounce the Republican party for having failed to relieve
the people from crushing war taxes, which have paralyzed business,
crippled industry, and deprived labor of employment and of just
reward.
"The Democracy pledges itself to purify the administration from
corruption, to restore economy, to revive respect for law, and to
reduce taxation to the lowest limit consistent with due regard to the
preservation of the faith of the nation to its creditors and pensioners.
Knowing full well, however, that legislation affecting the occupations
of the people should be cautious and conservative in method, not in
advance of public opinion but responsive to its demands, the Demo-
cratic party is pledged to revise the tariff in a spirit of fairness to all
interests. But, in making reduction in taxes, it is not proposed to
injure any domestic industries, but rather to promote their healthy
growth. From the foundation of this government, taxes collected
at the custom house have been the chief source of Federal revenue.
Such they must continue to be. Moreover, many industries have
come to rely upon legislation for successful continuance, so that any
change of law must be at every step regardful of the labor and capi-
tal thus involved. The process of reform must be subject in the
execution to this plain dictate of justice: all taxation shall be limited
1884] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 259
to the requirements of economical government. The necessary re-
duction and taxation can and must be effected without depriving
American labor of the ability to compete successfully with foreign
labor, and without imposing lower rates of duty than will be ample
to cover any increased cost of production which may exist in conse-
quence of the higher rate of wages prevailing in this country. Suffi-
cient revenue to pay all the expenses of the Federal government
economically administered, including pensions, interest and principal
of the public debt, can be got under our present system of taxation
from the custom house taxes on fewer imported articles, bearing
heaviest on articles of luxury and bearing lightest on articles of neces-
sity. We therefore denounce the abuses of the existing tariff, and,
subject to the preceding limitations, we demand that Federal taxa-
tion shall be exclusively for public purposes and shall not exceed the
needs of the government economically administered.
"The system of direct taxation known as the 'Internal Revenue'
is a war tax, and, so long as the law continues, the money derived
therefrom should be sacredly devoted to the relief of the people from
the remaining burdens of the war, and be made a fund to defray
the expense of the care and comfort of worthy soldiers disabled in line
of duty in the wars of the republic and for the payment of such pen-
sions as Congress may from time to time grant to such soldiers, a
like fund for the sailors having already been provided ; and any sur-
plus should be paid into the treasury.
"We favor an American continental policy based upon more inti-
mate commercial and political relations with the fifteen sister repub-
lics of North, Central, and South America, but entangling alliances
with none.
"We believe in honest money, the gold and silver coinage of the
Constitution, and a circulating medium convertible into such money
without loss.
"Asserting the equality of all men before the law, we hold that
it is the duty of the government in its dealings with the people to
mete out equal and exact justice to all citizens, of whatever nativity-,
race, color, or persuasion, religious or political.
"We believe in a free ballot and a fair count, and we recall to
260 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1884
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
the memory of the people the noble struggle of the Democrats in the
Forty-fifth and Forty-sixth Congresses by which a reluctant Repub-
lican opposition was compelled to assent to legislation making every-
where illegal the presence of troops at the polls, as the conclusive
proof that a Democratic administration will preserve liberty with
order.
"The selection of Federal officers for the Territories should be
restricted to citizens previously resident therein.
"We oppose sumptuary laws, which vex the citizen and interfere
with individual liberty.
"We favor honest civil service reform and a compensation of all
United States officers by fixed salaries; the separation of church and
state, and the diffusion of free education by common schools, so that
every child in the land may be taught the rights and duties of citizen-
ship.
"While we favor all legislation which will tend to the equitable
distribution of property, to the prevention of monopoly, and to the
strict enforcement of individual rights against corporate abuses, we
hold that the welfare of society depends upon a scrupulous regard
for the rights of property as defined by law.
"We believe that labor is best rewarded where it is freest and
most enlightened. It should therefore be fostered and cherished.
We favor the repeal of all laws restricting the free action of labor,
and the enactment of laws by which labor organizations may be
incorporated, and of all such legislation as will tend to enlighten
the people as to the true relations of capital and labor.
"We believe that the public land ought, as far as possible, to be
kept as homesteads for actual settlers ; that all unearned lands hereto-
fore improvidently granted to railroad corporations by the action of
the Republican party should be restored to the public domain, and
that no more grants of land shall be made to corporations or be
allowed to fall into the ownership of alien absentees.
"We are opposed to all propositions which, upon any pretext,
would convert the general government into a machine for collecting
taxes to be distributed among the States or the citizens thereof.
1884] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 261
"In reaffirming the declaration of the Democratic platform of
1856, that 'the liberal principles embodied by Jefferson in the Declara-
tion of Independence, and sanctioned in the Constitution, which
make ours the land of liberty and the asylum of the oppressed of
every nation, have ever been cardinal principles in the Democratic
faith,' we nevertheless do not sanction the importation of foreign
labor or the admission of servile races, unfitted by habits, training,
religion, or kindred for absorption into the great body of our people,
or for the citizenship which our laws confer. American civilization
demands that against the immigration or importation of Mongolians
to these shores our gates be closed.
"The Democratic party insists that it is the duty of this government
to protect with equal fidelity and vigilance the rights of its citizens,
native and naturalized, at home and abroad; and to the end that
this protection may be assured United States papers of naturaliza-
tion, issued by courts of competent jurisdiction, must be respected by
the executive and legislative departments of our own government
and by all foreign powers. It is an imperative duty of this govern-
ment to efficiently protect all the rights of persons and property of
every American citizen in foreign lands, and demand and enforce full
reparation for any invasion thereof. An American citizen is only
responsible to his own government for any act done in his own
country or under her flag, and can only be tried therefor on her own
soil and according to her laws; and no power exists in this govern-
ment to expatriate an American citizen to be tried in any foreign
land for any such act.
"This country has never had a well-defined and executed foreign
policy save under Democratic administration. That policy has ever
been in regard to foreign nations, so long as they do not act detri-
mentally to the interests of the country or hurtfully to our citizens,
to let them alone ; that as a result of this policy we recall the acquisi-
tion of Louisiana, Florida, California, and of the adjacent Mexican
territory, by purchase alone, and contrast these grand acquisitions
of Democratic statesmanship with the purchase of Alaska, the sole
fruit of a Republican administration of nearly a quarter of a cen-
tury.
262 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1884
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"The Federal government should care for and improve the Mis-
sissippi River and other great waterways of the republic, so as to
secure for the interior States easy and cheap transportation to tide-
water.
"Under a long period of Democratic rule and policy our mer-
chant marine was fast overtaking, and on the point of outstripping,
that of Great Britain. Under twenty years of Republican rule and
policy our commerce has been left to British bottoms, and almost
has the American flag been swept off the high seas. Instead of the
Republican party's British policy, we demand for the people of the
United States an American policy. Under Democratic rule and
policy our merchants and sailors, flying the Stars and Stripes in every
port, successfully searched out a market for the varied products of
American industry: under a quarter-century of Republican rule
and policy — despite our manifest advantage over all other nations in
high-paid labor, favorable climate, and teeming soils; despite free-
dom of trade among all these United States; despite their popula-
tion by the foremost races of men, and an annual immigration of
the young, thrifty, and adventurous of all nations; despite our free-
dom here from the inherited burdens of life and industry in the old
world monarchies, their costly war navies, their vast tax-consuming,
non-producing standing armies; despite twenty years of peace — that
Republican rule and policy have managed to surrender to Great
Britain, along with our commerce, the control of the markets of the
world. Instead of the Republican party's British policy, we demand
in behalf of the American Democracy an American policy. Instead
of the Republican party's discredited scheme and false pretense of
friendship for American labor, expressed by imposing taxes, we de-
mand, in behalf of the Democracy, freedom for American labor by
reducing taxes, to the end that these United States may compete
with unhindered powers for the primacy among nations in all the
arts of peace and fruits of liberty.
"With profound regret we have been apprised by the venerable
statesman through whose person was struck that blow at the vital
principle of republics — acquiescence in the will of the majority —
that he cannot permit us again to place in his hands the leadership
1884] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 263
of the Democratic hosts, for the reason that the achievement of
reform in the administration of the Federal government is an under-
taking now too heavy for his age and failing strength. Rejoicing
that his life has been prolonged until the general judgment of our
fellow-countrymen is united in the wish that that wrong were righted
in his person, for the Democracy of the United States we offer to
him, in his withdrawal from public cares, not only our respectful
sympathy and esteem, but also that best homage of freedom — the
pledge of our devotion to the principles and the cause now insepa-
rable in the history of this republic from the labors and the name
of Samuel J. Tilden.
"With this statement of the hopes, principles, and purposes of the
Democratic party, the great issue of reform and change in adminis-
tration is submitted to the people in calm confidence that the popular
voice will pronounce in favor of new men and new and more favor-
able conditions for the growth of industry, the extension of trade,
the employment and due reward of labor and of capital, and the
general welfare of the whole country."
The portion of the platform relating to the tariff was
opposed by General Benjamin F. Butler, of Massa-
chusetts, who offered a substitute resolution which was
intended to favor the protective policy; defeated by
Other Parties
Greenback Party. — Convention held in Indianapolis,
May 28-29, 1884. For President, Benjamin F. Butler,
of Massachusetts; for Vice-President, Alanson M.
West, of Mississippi. The same candidates had previ-
ously been nominated by an Anti-Monopoly convention
held in Chicago May 14.
Prohibition Party. — Convention held in Pittsburgh,
July 23, 1884. For President, John P. St. John, of
264 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1884
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Kansas; for Vice-President, William Daniel, of Mary-
land.
An "American Prohibition national convention"
was held in Chicago June 19, 1884, which nominated
Samuel C. Pomeroy, of Kansas, for President, and John
A. Conant, of Pennsylvania, for Vice-President. This
convention represented the American Alliance (see
1876).
Equal Rights Convention. — Held in San Francisco,
September 20, 1884. For President, Mrs. Belva A.
Lockwood, of the District of Columbia ; for Vice-Presi-
dent, Mrs. Marietta L. Stow, of California.
The Election
Electoral vote for President and Vice-President:
Grover Cleveland and Thomas A. Hendricks, Democrats: — Ala-
bama, 10; Arkansas, 7; Connecticut, 6; Delaware, 3; Florida, 4;
Georgia, 12; Indiana, 15; Kentucky, 13; Louisiana, 8; Maryland,
8; Mississippi, 9; Missouri, 16; New Jersey, 9; New York, 36;
North Carolina, 11; South Carolina, 9; Tennessee, 12; Texas, 13;
Virginia, 12; West Virginia, 6. Total, 219. Elected.
James G. Elaine and John A. Logan, Republicans: — California,
8; Colorado, 3; Illinois, 22; Iowa, 13; Kansas, 9; Maine, 6; Massa-
chusetts, 14; Michigan, 13; Minnesota, 7; Nebraska, 5; Nevada, 3;
New Hampshire, 4 ; Ohio, 23 ; Oregon, 3 ; Pennsylvania, 30 ; Rhode
Island, 4; Vermont, 4; Wisconsin, 11. Total, 182.
Popular vote :
Cleveland, 4,912,696; Elaine, 4,849,680; St. John, 151,830;
Butler, 133,824; scattering, 10,360.
ANDREW JOHNSON
Andrew Johnson, 17th president; born at Raleigh, N. C.,
December 29, 1808; tailor; alderman, Greenville, Tenn. for
three years; mayor, 1830-33; member state legislature, 1835-39;
state senator, 1841; member of congress, 1843-1853; governor
of Tennessee, 1853-1857; United States senator, 1857-1862;
elected vice president, 1864; became president on death of
Abraham Lincoln, April 15, 1865; had trouble with congress
and resolution for his impeachment was passed by house of
representatives, February 24, 1868; tried and acquitted; de-
feated as candidate for United States senator, 1870; reflected
to U. S. senate and served from March 4, 1875 until his death
at Carters Station, Tenn., July 31, 1875.
1888
Democratic Party
Convention held in St. Louis, June 5-7; temporary
chairman, Stephen M. White, of California; perma-
nent chairman, Patrick A. Collins, of Massachusetts.
President Cleveland was renominated by acclama-
tion.
Allen G. Thurman, of Ohio, received the Vice-Presi-
dential nomination on the first ballot by a vote of 684
out of a total of 822.
Platform :
"The Democratic party of the United States, in convention as-
sembled, renews the pledge of its fidelity to Democratic faith, and
reaffirms the platform adopted by its representatives at the conven-
tion of 1884, and endorses the views expressed by President Cleve-
land in his last earnest message to Congress as the correct interpreta-
tion of that platform upon the question of tariff reduction ; and also
endorses the efforts of our Democratic Representatives in Congress to
secure a reduction of excessive taxation.
"Chief among its principles of party faith are the maintenance
of an indissoluble Union of free and indestructible States, now about
to enter upon its second century of unexampled progress and renown ;
devotion to a plan of government regulated by a written Constitu-
tion strictly specifying every granted power and expressly reserving
to the States or people the entire ungranted residue of power; the
encouragement of a jealous popular vigilance directed to all who
have been chosen for brief terms to enact and execute the law and
265
266 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1888
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
are charged with the duty of preserving peace, insuring equality, and
establishing justice.
"The Democratic party welcomes an exacting scrutiny of the
administration of the executive power, which four years ago was com-
mitted to its trust in the election of Grover Cleveland as President
of the United States; and it challenges the most searching inquiry
concerning its fidelity and devotion to the pledges which then invited
the suffrages of the people. During a most critical period of our
financial affairs, resulting from over-taxation, the anomalous condi-
tion of our currency, and a public debt unmatured, it has, by the
adoption of a wise and conservative course, not only averted disaster
but greatly promoted the prosperity of the people.
"It has reversed the improvident and unwise policy of the Repub-
lican party touching the public domain, and has reclaimed from cor-
porations and syndicates, alien and domestic, and restored to the
people, nearly 100,000,000 acres of valuable land, to be sacredly
held as homesteads for our citizens.
"While carefully guarding the interests of the taxpayers and con-
forming strictly to the principles of justice and equity, it has paid
out more for pensions and bounties to the soldiers and sailors of the
republic than was ever paid before during an equal period.
"By intelligent management and judicious and economical expen-
diture of the public money it has set on foot the reconstruction of
the American navy upon a system which forbids the recurrence of
scandal and insures successful results.
"It has adopted and consistently pursued a firm and prudent
foreign policy, preserving peace with all nations while scrupulously
maintaining all the rights and interests of our government and peo-
ple, at home and abroad. The exclusion from our shores of Chinese
laborers has been effectually secured under the provisions of a treaty
the operation of which has been postponed by the action of a Repub-
lican majority in the Senate.
"Honest reform in the civil service has been inaugurated and
maintained by President Cleveland, and he has brought the public
service to the highest standard of efficiency, not only by rule and
1888] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 267
precept but by the example of his own untiring and unselfish admin-
istration of public affairs.
"In every branch and department of the government under Demo-
cratic control, the rights and the welfare of all the people have been
guarded and defended; every public interest has been protected, and
the equality of all our citizens before the law, without regard to
race or section, has been steadfastly maintained. Upon its record
thus exhibited, and upon the pledge of a continuance to the people of
the benefits of good government, the national Democracy invoke a
renewal of popular trust by the reelection of a Chief-Magistrate
who has been faithful, able, and prudent. They invoke an addition
to that trust by the transfer also to the Democracy of the entire
legislative power.
"The Republican party, controlling the Senate and resisting in
both houses of Congress a reformation of unjust and unequal tax
laws which have outlasted the necessities of war and are now under-
mining the abundance of a long peace, deny to the people equality
before the law and the fairness and justice which are their right.
Thus the cry of American labor for a better share in the rewards
of industry is stifled with false pretenses, enterprise is fettered and
bound down to home markets, capital is discouraged with doubt,
and unequal, unjust laws can neither be properly amended nor re-
pealed. The Democratic party will continue, with all the power
confided to it, the struggle to reform these laws in accordance with
the pledges of its last platform, endorsed at the ballot-box by the
suffrages of the people.
"Of all the industrious freemen of our land, an immense majority,
including every tiller of the soil, gain no advantage from excessive
tax laws, but the price of nearly everything they buy is increased by
the favoritism of an unequal system of tax legislation. All unneces-
sary taxation is unjust taxation. It is repugnant to the creed of
Democracy that by such taxation the cost of the necessaries of life
should be unjustifiably increased to all our people. Judged by
Democratic principles, the interests of the people are betrayed when,
by unnecessary taxation, trusts and combinations are permitted and
fostered, which, while unduly enriching the few that combine, rob
268 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL 1 1888
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
the body of our citizens by depriving them of the benefits of natural
competition.
"Every democratic rule of governmental action is violated when,
through unnecessary taxation, a vast sum of money, far beyond the
needs of an economical administration, is drawn from the people
and the channels of trade and accumulated as a demoralizing sur-
plus in the national treasury. The money now lying idle in the
Federal treasury, resulting from superfluous taxation, amounts to
more than one hundred and twenty-five millions, and the surplus
collected is reaching the sum of more than sixty millions annually.
Debauched by this immense temptation, the remedy of the Republi-
can party is to meet and exhaust, by extravagant appropriations and
expenditures, whether constitutional or not, the accumulation of
extravagant taxation. The Democratic remedy is to enforce fru-
gality in public expenses and to abolish needless taxation.
"Our established domestic industries and enterprises should not
and need not be endangered by the reduction and correction of the
burdens of taxation. On the contrary, a fair and careful revision
of our tax laws, with due allowance for the difference between the
wages of American and foreign labor, must promote and encourage
every branch of such industries and enterprises by giving them
assurance of an extended market and steady and continuous opera-
tions. In the interests of American labor, which should in no event
be neglected, the revision of our tax laws contemplated by the Demo-
cratic party would promote the advantage of such labor by cheapen-
ing the cost of necessaries of life in the home of every workingman,
and at the same time securing to him steady and remunerative em-
ployment. Upon this great issue of tariff reform, so closely concern-
ing every phase of our national life, and upon every question in-
volved in the problem of good government, the Democratic party
submits its principles and professions to the intelligent suffrages of
the American people.
"Resolved, That this convention hereby endorses and recommends
the early passage of the bill for the reduction of the revenue now
pending in the House of Representatives.
1888] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 269
"Resolved, That a just and liberal policy should be pursued in
reference to the Territories; that the right of self-government is in-
herent in the people and guaranteed under the Constitution ; that the
Territories of Washington, Dakota, Montana, and New Mexico are,
by virtue of population and development, entitled to admission into
the Union as States, and we unqualifiedly condemn the course of the
Republican party in refusing statehood and self-government to their
people.
"Resolved, That we express our cordial sympathy with the strug-
gling people of all nations in their efforts to secure for themselves
the inestimable blessings of self-government and civil and religious
liberty, and we especially declare our sympathy with the efforts of
those noble patriots who, led by Gladstone and Parnell, have con-
ducted their grand and peaceful contest for home rule in Ireland."
Republican Party
Convention held in Chicago, June 19-25, 1888;
temporary chairman, John M. Thurston, of Nebraska;
permanent chairman, Morris M. Estee, of California.
Nine candidates for the Presidential nomination
were formally presented to the convention, as follows:
Joseph R. Hawley, of Connecticut; Walter Q. Gres-
ham, of Indiana; Benjamin Harrison, of Indiana;
William B. Allison, of Iowa; Russell A. Alger, of
Michigan; Chauncey M. Depew, of New York; John
Sherman, of Ohio; Edwin H. Fitler, of Pennsylvania;
and Jeremiah M. Rusk, of Wisconsin. On the first
ballot Sherman showed by far the greatest strength,
and he retained the lead for six ballots ; on the seventh
he was passed by Harrison, who was nominated on the
eighth by the following vote: Harrison, 544; Sher-
man, 118; Alger, 100; Gresham, 59; James G. Blame,
5 ; William McKinley, 4.
270 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1888
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
The first ballot for Vice-President resulted in the
choice of Levi P. Morton, of New York, who had 592
votes to 234 for four others.
Platform :
"The Republicans of the United States, assembled by their dele-
gates in national convention, pause on the threshold of their pro-
ceedings to honor the memory of their first great leader, the im-
mortal champion of liberty and the rights of the people, Abraham
Lincoln; and to cover also with wreaths of imperishable remem-
brance and gratitude the heroic names of our later leaders, who have
been more recently called away from our councils — Grant, Garfield,
Arthur, Logan, Conkling. May their memories be faithfully cher-
ished. We also recall, with our greetings and with prayer for his
recovery, the name of one of our living heroes, whose memory will
be treasured in the history both of Republicans and of the republic —
the name of that noble soldier and favorite child of victory, Philip
H. Sheridan.
"In the spirit of those great leaders, and of our own devotion to
human liberty, and with that hostility to all forms of despotism and
oppression which is the fundamental idea of the Republican party,
we send fraternal congratulations to our fellow-Americans of Brazil
upon their great act of emancipation, which completed the abolition
of slavery throughout the two American continents. We earnestly
hope that we may soon congratulate our fellow-citizens of Irish birth
upon the peaceful recovery of home rule for Ireland.
"We reaffirm our unswerving devotion to the national Constitu-
tion and to the indissoluble Union of the States; to the autonomy
reserved to the States under the Constitution ; to the personal rights
and liberties of citizens in all the States and Territories in the Union,
and especially to the supreme and sovereign right of every lawful
citizen, rich or poor, native or foreign-born, white or black, to cast
one free ballot in public elections and to have that ballot duly
counted. We hold the free and honest popular ballot and the just
and equal representation of all the people to be the foundation of
our republican government, and demand effective legislation to
1888] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 271
secure the integrity and purity of elections, which are the fountains
of all public authority. We charge that the present administration
and the Democratic majority in Congress owe their existence to the
suppression of the ballot by a criminal nullification of the Constitu-
tion and laws of the United States.
"We are uncompromisingly in favor of the American system of
protection ; we protest against its destruction as proposed by the Presi-
dent and his party. They serve the interests of Europe ; we will sup-
port the interests of America. We accept the issue and confidently
appeal to the people for their judgment. The protective system must
be maintained. Its abandonment has always been followed by gen-
eral disaster to all interests except those of the usurer and the sheriff.
We denounce the Mills bill as destructive to the general business, the
labor, and the farming interests of the country, and we heartily en-
dorse the consistent and patriotic action of the Republican Representa-
tives in Congress in opposing its passage.
"We condemn the proposition of the Democratic party to place
wool on the free list, and we insist that the duties thereon shall be
adjusted and maintained so as to furnish full and adequate protec-
tion to that industry throughout the United States.
"The Republican party would effect all needed reduction of the
national revenue by repealing the taxes upon tobacco, which are an
annoyance and burden to agriculture, and the tax upon spirits used
in the arts and for mechanical purposes, and by such revision of the
tariff laws as will tend to check imports of such articles as are pro-
duced by our people, the production of which gives employment to our
labor and releases from import duties those articles of foreign produc-
tion (except luxuries) the like of which cannot be produced at home.
If there shall remain a larger revenue than is requisite for the
wants of the government, we favor the entire repeal of internal
revenue taxes rather than the surrender of any part of our protective
system at the joint behests of the whiskey trusts and the agents of
foreign manufacturers.
"We declare our hostility to the introduction into this country of
foreign contract labor and of Chinese labor, alien to our civilization
and Constitution, and we demand the rigid enforcement of the exist-
272 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1888
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
ing laws against it, and favor such immediate legislation as will ex-
clude such labor from our shores.
"We declare our opposition to all combinations of capital, organ-
ized in trusts or otherwise, to control arbitrarily the condition of trade
among our citizens; and we recommend to Congress and the State
Legislatures, in their respective jurisdictions, such legislation as will
prevent the execution of all schemes to oppress the people by undue
charges on their supplies, or by unjust rates for the transportation of
their products to market. We approve the legislation by Congress
to prevent alike unjust burdens and unfair discriminations between
the States. '
"We reaffirm the policy of appropriating the public lands of the
United States to be homesteads for American citizens and settlers,
not aliens, which the Republican party established in 1862 against
the persistent opposition of the Democrats in Congress, and which
has brought our great western domain into such magnificent develop-
ment. The restoration of unearned railroad land grants to the
public domain for the use of actual settlers, which was begun under
the administration of President Arthur, should be continued. We
deny that the Democratic party has ever restored one acre to the
people, but declare that by the joint action of the Republicans and
Democrats in Congress about 60,000,000 acres of unearned lands
originally granted for the construction of railroads have been restored
to the public domain, in pursuance of the conditions inserted by the
Republican party in the original grants. We charge the Democratic
administration with failure to execute the laws securing to settlers
title to their homesteads, and with using appropriations made for
that purpose to harass innocent settlers with spies and prosecutions
under the false pretense of exposing frauds and vindicating the law.
"The government by Congress of the Territories is based upon
necessity only, to the end that they may become States in the Union;
therefore, whenever the conditions of population, material resources,
public intelligence, and morality are such as to insure a stable local
government therein, the people of such Territories should be per-
mitted, as a right inherent in them, to form for themselves Constitu-
tions and State governments and be admitted into the Union. Pend-
1888] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 273
ing the preparation for statehood, all officers thereof should be selected
from the bona fide residents and citizens of the Territory wherein
they are to serve.
"South Dakota should of right be immediately admitted as a
State in the Union, under the Constitution framed and adopted by
her people, and we heartily endorse the action of the Republican
Senate in twice passing bills for her admission. The refusal of the
Democratic House of Representatives, for partisan purposes, to favor-
ably consider these bills is a willful violation of the sacred American
principle of local self-government, and merits the condemnation of
all just men. The pending bills in the Senate to enable the people of
Washington, North Dakota, and Montana Territories to form Con-
stitutions and establish State governments should be passed without
unnecessary delay. The Republican party pledges itself to do all
in its power to facilitate the admission of the Territories of New
Mexico, Wyoming, Idaho, and Arizona to the enjoyment of self-
government as States, such of them as are now qualified as soon as
possible, and the others as soon as they may become so.
"The political power of the Mormon church in the Territories
as exercised in the past is a menace to free institutions too dangerous
to be longer suffered. Therefore we pledge the Republican party to
appropriate legislation asserting the sovereignty of the nation in all
Territories where the same is questioned, and in furtherance of that
end to place upon the statute-books legislation stringent enough to
divorce the political from the ecclesiastical power and thus stamp
out the attendant wickedness of polygamy.
"The Republican party is in favor of the use of both gold and
silver as money, and condemns the policy of the Democratic adminis-
tration in its efforts to demonetize silver.
"We demand the reduction of letter postage to one cent per ounce.
"In a republic like ours, where the citizen is the sovereign and
the official the servant, where no power is exercised except by the
will of the people, it is important that the sovereign — the people —
should possess intelligence. The free school is the promoter of that
intelligence which is to preserve us a free nation ; therefore the State
or nation, or both combined, should support free institutions of learn-
274 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1888
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
ing sufficient to afford every child growing in the land the oppor-
tunity of a good common-school education.
"The first concern of all good government is the virtue and
sobriety of the people, and the purity of their homes. The Repub-
lican party cordially sympathizes with all wise and well-directed
efforts for the promotion of temperance and morality.
"We earnestly recommend that prompt action be taken by Con-
gress in the enactment of such legislation as will best secure the
rehabilitation of our American merchant marine, and we protest
against the passage by Congress of a free-ship bill as calculated to
work injustice to labor by lessening the wages of those engaged in
preparing materials, as well as those directly employed in our ship-
yards. We demand appropriations for the early rebuilding of our
navy; for the construction of coast fortifications and modern ord-
nance, and other approved modern means of defense for the pro-
tection of our defenseless harbors and cities; for the payment of just
pensions to our soldiers; for the necessary works of national im-
portance in the improvement of harbors and the channels of internal,
coastwise, and foreign commerce; for the encouragement of the
shipping interests of the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific States, as well
as for the payment of the maturing public debt. This policy will
give employment to our labor, activity to our various industries,
increase the security of our country, promote trade, open new and
direct markets for our produce, and cheapen the cost of transporta-
tion. We affirm this to be far better for our country than the
Democratic policy of loaning the government's money, without inter-
est, to 'pet banks.'
"The conduct of foreign affairs by the present administration
has been distinguished by its inefficiency and its cowardice. Having
withdrawn from the Senate all pending treaties effected by Republi-
can administrations for the removal of foreign burdens and restric-
tions upon our commerce and for its extension into better markets,
it has neither effected nor proposed any others in their stead. Pro-
fessing adherence to the Monroe doctrine, it has seen, with idle com-
placency, the extension of foreign influence in Central America and of
foreign trade everywhere among our neighbors. It has refused to
1888] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 275
charter, sanction, or encourage any American organization for con-
structing the Nicaragua canal, a work of vital importance to the
maintenance of the Monroe doctrine and of our national influence
in Central and South America, and necessary for the development of
trade with the Pacific territory, with South America, and with the
islands and farther coasts of the Pacific Ocean.
"We arraign the present Democratic administration for its weak
and unpatriotic treatment of the fisheries question, and its pusillani-
mous surrender of the essential privileges to which our fishing ves-
sels are entitled in Canadian ports under the treaty of 1818, the
reciprocal maritime legislation of 1830, and the comity of nations,
and which Canadian fishing vessels receive in the ports of the United
States. We condemn the policy of the present administration and
the Democratic majority in Congress toward our fisheries as un-
friendly and conspicuously unpatriotic, and as tending to destroy
a valuable national industry and an indispensable resource of defense
against a foreign enemy. 'The name of American applies alike to all
citizens of the republic, and imposes upon all alike the same obliga^
tion of obedience to the laws. At the same time, that citizenship
is and must be the panoply and safeguard of him who wears it, and
protect him, whether high or low, rich or poor, in all his civil rights.
It should and must afford him protection at home, and follow and
protect him abroad, in whatever land he may be on a lawful
errand.'
"The men who abandoned the Republican party in 1884 and con-
tinue to adhere to the Democratic party have deserted not only the
cause of honest government, of sound finance, of freedom, of purity
of the ballot, but especially have deserted the cause of reform in the
civil service. We will not fail to keep our pledges because they
have broken theirs, or because their candidate has broken his. We
therefore repeat our declaration of 1884, to-wit: 'The reform of
the civil service, auspiciously begun under the Republican adminis-
tration, should be completed by the further extension of the reform
system, already established by law, to all the grades of the service to
which it is applicable. The spirit and purpose of the reform should
be observed in all executive appointments, and all laws at variance
276 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL 1 1888
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
with the object of existing reform legislation should be repealed, to
the end that the dangers to free institutions which lurk in the power
of official patronage may be wisely and effectively avoided.'
"The gratitude of the nation to the defenders of the Union can-
not be measured by laws. The legislation of Congress should con-
form to the pledge made by a loyal people, and be so enlarged and
extended as to provide against the possibility that any man who
honorably wore the Federal uniform should become the inmate of
an almshouse, or dependent upon private charity. In the presence
of an overflowing treasury it would be a public scandal to do less
for those whose valorous service preserved the government. We
denounce the hostile spirit shown by President Cleveland in his
numerous vetoes of measures for pension relief and the action of
the Democratic House of Representatives in refusing even a con-
sideration of general pension legislation.
"In support of the principles herewith enunciated, we invite the
cooperation of patriotic men of all parties, and especially of all
workingmen, whose prosperity is seriously threatened by the free
trade policy of the present administration."
Other Parties
Prohibition Party. — Convention held in Indianapo-
lis, May 20, 1888. For President, Clinton B. Fisk, of
New Jersey; for Vice-President, John A. Brooks, of
Missouri.
Union Labor Party. — Convention held in Cincinnati,
May 15, 1888. For President, Alson J. Streeter, of
Illinois; for Vice-President, Samuel Evans, of Texas.
United Labor Party. — Convention held in Cincin-
nati, May IS, 1888. For President, Robert H. Cow-
drey, of Illinois; for Vice-President, W. H. T. Wake-
field, of Kansas.
Equal Rights Convention. — Held in Des Moines,
1888] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 277
May 15, 1888. For President, Mrs. Belva A. Lqck-
wood, of the District of Columbia; for Vice-President,
Alfred H. Love, of Pennsylvania.
"American" Convention. — Held in Washington,
August 14, 1888. For President, James Langdon Cur-
tis, of New York; for Vice-President, James B. Greer,
of Tennessee. The platform demanded rigid restriction
of immigration, repeal of the naturalization laws, dis-
qualification of aliens to own real estate, taxation of all
church property, and non-appropriation of public
money for church institutions.
The Election
Electoral vote for President and Vice-President:
Benjamin Harrison and Levi P. Morton, Republicans: — Califor-
nia, 8; Colorado, 3; Illinois, 22; Indiana, 15; Iowa, 13; Kansas, 9;
Maine, 6; Massachusetts, 14; Michigan, 13; Minnesota, 7; Ne-
braska, 5; Nevada, 3; New Hampshire, 4; New York, 36; Ohio,
23; Oregon, 3; Pennsylvania, 30; Rhode Island, 4; Vermont, 4;
Wisconsin, 11. Total, 233. Elected.
Grover Cleveland and Allen G. Thurman, Democrats: — Ala-
bama, 10; Arkansas, 7; Connecticut, 6; Delaware, 3; Florida, 4;
Georgia, 12; Kentucky, 13; Louisiana, 8; Maryland, 8; Mississippi,
9; Missouri, 16; New Jersey, 9; North Carolina, 11; South Caro-
lina, 9; Tennessee, 12; Texas, 13; Virginia, 12; West Virginia, 6.
Total, 168.
Popular vote :
Cleveland, 5,540,050; Harrison, 5,444,337; Fisk, 250,125;
Streeter, 146,897; Cowdrey, 2,808; Curtis, 1,591.
1892
Republican Party
Convention held in Minneapolis, June 7-10; tempo-
rary chairman, J. Sloat Fassett, of New York; perma-
nent chairman, William McKinley, of Ohio.
Benjamin Harrison was renominated for the Presi-
dency on the first ballot, which stood: Harrison,
535 1-6; James G. Elaine, 182 1-6; William McKinley,
1 82 ; Thomas B. Reed, of Maine, 4 ; Robert T. Lincoln,
of Illinois, 1.
The Vice-Presidential nominee was Whitelaw Reid,
of New York, nominated by acclamation on the first
ballot.
Platform:
"The representatives of the Republicans of the United States,
assembled in general convention on the shores of the Mississippi
River, the everlasting bond of an indestructible republic, whose most
glorious chapter of history is the record of the Republican party,
congratulate their countrymen on the majestic march of the nation
under the banners inscribed with the principles of our platform of
1888, vindicated by victory at the polls and prosperity in our fields,
workshops, and mines, and make the following declaration of prin-
ciples:—
"We reaffirm the American doctrine of protection. We call
attention to its growth abroad. We maintain that the prosperous
condition of our country is largely due to the wise revenue legisla-
tion of the Republican Congress. We believe that all articles
278
1892] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 279
which cannot be produced in the United States, except luxuries,
should be admitted free of duty, and that on all imports coming into
competition with the products of American labor there should be
levied duties equal to the difference between wages abroad and at
home.
"We assert that the prices of manufactured articles of general
consumption have been reduced under the operations of the Tariff
act of 1890.
"We denounce the efforts of the Democratic majority of the
House of Representatives to destroy our Tariff laws by piecemeal,
as manifested by their attacks upon wool, lead, and lead ores, the
chief products of a number of States, and we ask the people for their
judgment thereon.
"We point to the success of the Republican policy of reciprocity,
under which our export trade has vastly increased and new and
enlarged markets have been opened for the products of our farms and
workshops. We remind the people of the bitter opposition of the
Democratic party to this practical business measure, and claim that,
executed by a Republican administration, our present laws will
eventually give us control of the trade of the world.
"The American people, from tradition and interest, favor bimetal-
ism, and the Republican party demands the use of both gold and
silver as standard money, with such restrictions and under such pro-
visions, to be determined by legislation, as will secure the mainte-
nance of the parity of values of the two metals, so that the purchas-
ing and debt-paying power of the dollar, whether of silver, gold, or
paper, shall be at all times equal. The interests of the producers of
the country, its farmers and its workingmen, demand that every
dollar, paper or coin, issued by the government, shall be as good as
any other. We commend the wise and patriotic steps already taken
by our government to secure an international conference to adopt
such measures as will insure a parity of value between gold and
silver for use as money throughout the world.
"We demand that every citizen of the United States shall be
allowed to cast one free and unrestricted ballot in all public elections,
and that such ballot shall be counted and returned as cast ; that such
280 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1892
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
laws shall be enacted and enforced as will secure to every citizen, be
he rich or poor, native or foreign-born, white or black, this sovereign
right guaranteed by the Constitution. The free and honest popular
ballot, the just and equal representation of all the people, as well as
their just and equal protection under the laws, are the foundation
of our republican institutions, and the party will never relax its
efforts until the integrity of the ballot and the purity of elections
shall be fully guaranteed and protected in every State.
"We denounce the continued inhuman outrages perpetrated upon
American citizens for political reasons in certain southern States of
the Union.
"We favor the extension of our foreign commerce, the restoration
of our mercantile marine by home-built ships, and the creation of a
navy for the protection of our national interests and the honor of our
flag; the maintenance of the most friendly relations with all foreign
powers, entangling alliances with none, and the protection of the
rights of our fishermen.
"We reaffirm our approval of the Monroe doctrine, and believe
in the achievement of the manifest destiny of the republic in its
broadest sense.
"We favor the enactment of more stringent laws and regulations
for the restriction of criminal, pauper, and contract immigration.
"We favor efficient legislation by Congress to protect the life and
limb of employes of transportation companies engaged in carrying on
interstate commerce, and recommend legislation by the respective
States that will protect employes engaged in State commerce, in
mining, and manufacturing.
"The Republican party has always been the champion of the
oppressed and recognizes the dignity of manhood, irrespective of
faith, color, or nationality. It sympathizes with the cause of home
rule in Ireland, and protests against the persecution of the Jews in
Russia. i
"The ultimate reliance of free popular government is the intelli-
gence of the people and the maintenance of freedom among men.
We therefore declare anew our devotion to liberty of thought and
conscience, of speech and press, and approve all agencies and instru-
ULYSSES S. GRANT
Ulysses S. Grant, 18th president; born at Point Pleasant,
Ohio, April 27, 1822; graduate of U. S. Military Academy, West
Point; served in Mexican war under Taylor; later clerk of
general store, Galena, 111.; entered volunteer service, civil
war, at Springfield, 111., June 17, 1861; served with great dis-
tinction and concededly won the decisive victories of the war
of the rebellion; elected president of the United States, 1868;
reelected, 1872; lost his fortune through dishonesty of Ferdinand
Ward, his partner in banking business; wrote his memoirs,
earning enough to pay his debts and leave his family in com-
fort; died July 23, 1885 at McGregor, N. Y.
1892] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 281
mentalities which contribute to the education of the children of the
land ; but while insisting upon the fullest measure of religious liberty
we are opposed to any union of church and state.
"We reaffirm our opposition, declared in the Republican platform
of 1888, to all combinations of capital, organized in trusts or other-
wise, to control arbitrarily the condition of trade among our citizens.
We heartily endorse the action already taken upon this subject, and
ask for such future legislation as may be required to remedy any
defects in existing laws and to render their enforcement more com-
plete and effective.
"We approve the policy of extending to towns, villages, and rural
communities the advantages of the free-delivery service now enjoyed
by the larger cities of the country, and reaffirm the declaration con-
tained in the Republican platform of 1888 pledging the reduction of
letter postage to one cent at the earliest possible moment consistent
with the maintenance of the Post Office department and the highest
class of postal service.
"We commend the spirit and evidence of reform in the civil serv-
ice, and the wise and consistent enforcement by the Republican party
of the laws regulating the same.
"The construction of the Nicaragua canal is of the highest im-
portance to the American people, both as a measure of national
defense and to build up and maintain American commerce, and it
should be controlled by the United States government.
"We favor the admission of the remaining Territories at the
earliest practicable date, having due regard to the interests of the
people of the Territories and of the United States. All the Federal
officers appointed for the Territories should be selected from bona fide
residents thereof, and the right of self-government should be accorded
as far as practicable.
"We favor the cession, subject to the Homestead laws, of the arid
public lands to the States and Territories in which they lie, under
such Congressional restrictions as to disposition, reclamation, and
occupancy by settlers as will secure the maximum benefits to the
people. <
"The World's Columbian Exposition is a great national under-
282 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1892
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
taking, and Congress should promptly enact such reasonable legisla-
tion in aid thereof as will insure a discharge of the expenses and obli-
gations incident thereto and the attainment of results commensurate
with the dignity and progress of the nation.
"We sympathize with all wise and legitimate efforts to lessen and
prevent the evils of intemperance and promote morality.
"Ever mindful of the services and sacrifices of the men who saved
the life of the nation, we pledge anew to the veteran soldiers of the
republic a watchful care and recognition of their just claims upon a
grateful people.
"We commend the able, patriotic, and thoroughly American ad-
ministration of President Harrison. Under it the courttry has
enjoyed remarkable prosperity, and the dignity and honor of the
nation, at home and abroad, have been faithfully maintained ; and we
offer the record of pledges kept as a guarantee of faithful perform-
ance in the future."
Democratic Party
Convention held in Chicago, June 21-23, 1892; tem-
porary chairman, William C. Owens, of Kentucky;
permanent chairman, William L. Wilson, of West
Virginia.
Great preparations had been made by the supporters
of David B. Hill, of New York, to secure the Presi-
dential nomination for him. Grover Cleveland, how-
ever, was successful on the first ballot, which stood:
Cleveland, 617 1-3; Hill, 114; Horace Boies, of Iowa,
103 ; Arthur P. Gorman, of Maryland, 36y2 ; Adlai E.
Stevenson, of Illinois, 16 2-3 ; John G. Carlisle, of Ken-
tucky, 14; William R. Morrison, of Illinois, 3; James
E. Campbell, of Ohio, 2; William E. Russell, of Mas-
sachusetts, 1 ; Robert E. Pattison, of Pennsylvania, 1 ;
William C. Whitney, of New York, 1.
1892] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 283
Adlai E. Stevenson, of Illinois, was nominated for
Vice-President on the first ballot.
Platform :
"Section 1. — The representatives of the Democratic party of the
United States, in national convention assembled, do reaffirm their
allegiance to the principles of the party as formulated by Jefferson
and exemplified by the long and illustrious line of his successors in
Democratic leadership, from Madison to Cleveland; we believe the
public welfare demands that these principles be applied to the con-
duct of the Federal government through the accession to power of
the party that advocates them; and we solemnly declare that the
need of a return to these fundamental principles of free popular
government, based on home rule and individual liberty, was never
more urgent than now, when the tendency to centralize all power at
the Federal capital has become a menace to the reserved rights of
the States that strikes at the very roots of our government under
the Constitution as framed by the fathers of the republic.
"Section 2. — We warn the people of our common country, jealous
for the preservation of their free institutions, that the policy of
Federal control of elections to which the Republican party has com-
mitted itself is fraught with the gravest dangers, scarcely less momen-
tous than would result from a revolution practically establishing mon-
archy on the ruins of the republic. It strikes at the north as well
as the south, and injures the colored citizen even more than the
white. It means a horde of Deputy Marshals at every polling-place
armed with Federal power, returning boards appointed and con-
trolled by Federal authority, the outrage of the electoral rights of
the people in the several States, the subjugation of the colored people
to the control of the party in power, and the reviving of race antago-
nisms now happily abated, of the utmost peril to the safety and happi-
ness of all — a measure deliberately and justly described by a leading
Republican Senator as 'the most infamous bill that ever crossed the
threshold of the Senate.' Such a policy, if sanctioned by law, would
mean the dominance of a self-perpetuating oligarchy of office-holders,
and the party first entrusted with its machinery could be dislodged
284 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1892
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
from power only by an appeal to the reserved right of the people
to resist oppression, which is inherent in all self-governing com-
munities. Two years ago this revolutionary policy was emphatically
condemned by the people at the polls; but in contempt of that ver-
dict the Republican party has defiantly declared, in its latest authori-
tative utterance, that its success in the coming elections will mean
the enactment of the Force bill and the usurpation of despotic control
over elections in all the States.
"Believing that the preservation of republican government in the
United States is dependent upon the defeat of this policy of legalized
force and fraud, we invite the support of all citizens who desire to
see the Constitution maintained in its integrity with the laws pursuant
thereto which have given our country a hundred years of unexampled
prosperity, and we pledge the Democratic party, if it be entrusted
with power, not only to the defeat of the Force bill but also to relent-
less opposition to the Republican policy of profligate expenditure,
which in the short space of two years squandered an enormous
surplus and emptied an overflowing treasury after piling new bur-
dens of taxation upon the already overtaxed labor of the country.
"Section 3. — We denounce Republican protection as a fraud —
a robbery of the great majority of the American people for the
benefit of the few. We declare it to be a fundamental principle of
the Democratic party that the Federal government has no constitu-
tional power to impose and collect tariff duties except for the pur-
poses of revenue only, and we demand that the collection of such
taxes shall be limited to the necessities of the government when hon-
estly and economically administered.
"We denounce the McKinley Tariff law enacted by the Fifty-first
Congress as the culminating atrocity of class legislation ; we endorse
the efforts made by the Democrats of the present Congress to modify
its most oppressive features in the direction of free raw materials and
cheaper manufactured goods that enter into general consumption, and
we promise its repeal as one of the beneficent results that will follow
the action of the people in entrusting power to the Democratic party.
Since the McKinley tariff went into operation there have been ten
reductions of the wages of laboring men to one increase. We
1892] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 285
deny that there has been any increase of prosperity to the country
since that tariff went into operation, and we point to the dullness and
distress, the wage reductions and strikes in the iron trade, as the best
possible evidence that no such prosperity has resulted from the Mc-
Kinley act.
"We call the attention of thoughtful Americans to the fact that,
after thirty years of restrictive taxes against the importation of for-
eign wealth in exchange for our agricultural surplus, the homes and
farms of the country have become burdened with a real estate mort-
gage debt of over two thousand, five hundred million dollars, exclu-
sive of all other forms of indebtedness; that in one of the chief
agricultural States of the west there appears a real estate mortgage
debt averaging $165 per capita of the total population, and that
similar conditions and tendencies are shown to exist in the other
agricultural exporting States. We denounce a policy which fosters
no industry so much as it does that of the sheriff.
"Section 4. — Trade interchange on the basis of reciprocal advan-
tages to the countries participating is a time-honored doctrine of the
Democratic faith; but we denounce the sham reciprocity which
juggles with the people's desire for enlarged foreign markets and
freer exchanges by pretending to establish closer trade relations for
a country whose articles of export are almost exclusively agricultural
products with other countries that are also agricultural, while erect-
ing a custom house barrier of prohibitive tariff taxes against the
richest countries of the world, that stand ready to take our entire sur-
plus of products and to exchange therefor commodities which are
necessaries and comforts of life among our own people.
"Section 5. — We recognize in the trusts and combinations which
are designed to enable capital to secure more than its just share of
the joint product of capital and labor, a natural consequence of the
prohibitive taxes which prevent the free competition which is the life
of honest trade, but believe their worst evils can be abated by law;
and we demand the rigid enforcement of the laws made to prevent
and control them, together with such further legislation in restraint
of their abuses as experience may show to be necessary.
"Section 6. — The Republican party, while professing a policy of
286 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1892
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
reserving the public land for small holdings by actual settlers, has
given away the people's heritage till now a few railroads and non-
resident aliens, individual and corporate, possess a larger area than
that of all our farms between the two seas. The last Democratic
administration reversed the improvident and unwise policy of the
Republican party touching the public domain and reclaimed from
corporations and syndicates, alien and domestic, and restored to the
people, nearly 100,000,000 acres of valuable land, to be sacredly held
as homesteads for our citizens; and we pledge ourselves to continue
this policy until every acre of land so unlawfully held shall be
reclaimed and restored to the people.
"Section 7. — We denounce the Republican legislation known as
the Sherman act of 1890 as a cowardly makeshift, fraught with pos-
sibilities of danger in the future which should make all of its sup-
porters, as well as its author, anxious for its speedy repeal. We
hold to the use of both gold and silver as the standard money of the
country, and to the coinage of both gold and silver without discrimi-
nating against either metal or charge for mintage; but the dollar
unit of coinage of both metals must be of equal intrinsic and exchange-
able value, or be adjusted through international agreement or by
such safeguards of legislation as shall insure the maintenance of the
parity of the two metals and the equal power of every dollar at all
times in the markets and in the payment of debts; and we demand
that all paper currency shall be kept at par with and redeemable in
such coin. We insist upon this policy as especially necessary for the
protection of the farmers and laboring classes, the first and most
defenseless victims of unstable money and a fluctuating currency.
"Section 8. — We recommend that the prohibitory 10 per cent,
tax on State bank issues be repealed.
"Section 9. — Public office is a public trust. We reaffirm the
declaration of the Democratic national convention of 1876 for the
reform of the civil service, and we call for the honest enforcement
of all laws regulating the same. The nomination of a President,
as in the recent Republican convention, by delegations composed
largely of his appointees holding office at his pleasure, is a scandal-
ous satire upon free popular institutions and a startling illustration
1892] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 287
of the methods by which a President may gratify his ambition. We
denounce a policy under which Federal office-holders usurp control
of party conventions in the States, and we pledge the Democratic
party to the reform of these and all other abuses which threaten indi-
vidual liberty and local self-government.
"Section 10. — The Democratic party is the only party that has
ever given the country a foreign policy consistent and vigorous, com-
pelling respect abroad and inspiring confidence at home. While
avoiding entangling alliances, it has aimed to cultivate friendly rela-
tions with other nations, and especially with our neighbors on the
American continent whose destiny is closely linked with our own, and
we view with alarm the tendency to a policy of irritation and bluster
which is liable at any time to confront us with the alternative of
humiliation or war. We favor the maintenance of a navy strong
enough for all purposes of national defense, and to properly maintain
the honor and dignity of the country abroad.
"Section 11. — This country has always been the refuge of the
oppressed from every land — exiles for conscience's sake; — and in the
spirit of the founders of our government we condemn the oppres-
sion practiced by the Russian government upon its Lutheran and
Jewish subjects, and we call upon our national government, in the
interest of justice and humanity, by all just and proper means to use
its prompt and best efforts to bring about a cessation of these cruel
persecutions in the dominions of the Czar and to secure to the
oppressed equal rights. We tender our profound and earnest sym-
pathy to those lovers of freedom who are struggling for home rule
and the great cause of local self-government in Ireland.
"Section 12. — We heartily approve all legitimate efforts to pre-
vent the United States from being used as the dumping-ground for
the known criminals and professional paupers of Europe; and we
demand the rigid enforcement of the laws against Chinese immigra-
tion or the importation of foreign labor under contract to degrade
American labor and lessen its wages; but we condemn and denounce
any and all attempts to restrict the immigration of the industrious
and worthy of foreign lands.
"Section 13. — This convention hereby renews the expression of
288 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1892
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
appreciation of the patriotism of the soldiers and sailors of the Union
in the war for its preservation, and we favor just and liberal pen-
sions for all disabled Union soldiers, their widows and dependents;
but we demand that the work of the Pension office shall be done
industriously, impartially, and honestly. We denounce the present
administration of that office as incompetent, corrupt, disgraceful, and
dishonest.
"Section 14. — The Federal government should care for and im-
prove the Mississippi River and other great waterways of the repub-
lic, so as to secure for the interior States easy and cheap transporta-
tion to tidewater. When any waterway of the republic is of
sufficient importance to demand the aid of the government, such aid
should be extended with a definite plan of continuous work until
permanent improvement is secured.
"Section 15. — For purposes of national defense and the promo-
tion of commerce between the States, we recognize the early con-
struction of the Nicaragua canal, and its protection against foreign
control, as of great importance to the United States.
"Section 16. — Recognizing the World's Columbian Exposition as
a national undertaking of vast importance, in which the general gov-
ernment has invited the cooperation of all the powers of the world,
and appreciating the acceptance by many of such powers of the
invitation so extended and the broad and liberal efforts being made
by them to contribute to the grandeur of the undertaking, we are of
the opinion that Congress should make such necessary financial pro-
vision as shall be requisite to the maintenance of the national honor
and public faith.
"Section 17. — Popular education being the only safe basis of
popular suffrage, we recommend to the several States most liberal
appropriations for the public schools. Free common schools are the
nursery of good government, and they have always received the
fostering care of the Democratic party, which favors every means
of increasing intelligence. Freedom of education being an essential
of civil and religious liberty, as well as a necessity for the develop-
ment of intelligence, must not be interfered with under any pretext
whatever. We are opposed to State interference with parental
1892] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 289
rights and rights of conscience in the education of children, as an
infringement! ofl the fundamental Democratic doctrine that the
largest individual liberty consistent with the rights of others insures
the highest type of American citizenship and the best government.
"Section 18. — We approve the action of the present House of
Representatives in passing bills for admitting into the Union as
States the Territories of New Mexico and Arizona, and we favor the
early admission of all the Territories having the necessary population
and resources to entitle them to statehood; and while they remain
Territories we hold that the officials appointed to administer the
government of any Territory, together with the District of Colum-
bia and Alaska, should be bona fide residents of the Territory or Dis-
trict in which their duties are to be performed. The Democratic
party believes in home rule and the control of their own affairs by
the people of the vicinage.
"Section 19. — We favor legislation by Congress and State Legis-
latures to protect the lives and limbs of railway employes and those
of other hazardous transportation companies, and denounce the in-
activity of the Republican party, and particularly the Republican
Senate, for causing the defeat of measures beneficial and protective
to this class of wage-workers.
"Section 20. — We are in favor of the enactment by the States
of laws for abolishing the notorious sweating system, for abolishing
contract convict labor, and for prohibiting the employment in facto-
ries of children under fifteen years of age.
"Section 21. — We are opposed to all sumptuary laws as an inter-
ference with the individual rights of the citizen.
"Section 22. — Upon this statement of principles and policies the
Democratic party asks the intelligent judgment of the American
people. It asks a change of administration and a change of party, in
order that there may be a change of system and a change of methods,
thus assuring the maintenance unimpaired of institutions under which
the republic has grown great and powerful."
As originally reported to the convention by the com-
mittee on resolutions, the platform contained only a
290 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1892
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
moderate declaration on the tariff question, modelled
upon the expression in the Democratic platform of 1884
and making no reference to the constitutional subject
in connection with the levying of duties. By a vote of
564 to 342 the convention rejected this original plank
and substituted for it the first paragraph of Section 3
above.
People's Party
This organization was generally known as the Popu-
list party. Convention held in Omaha, July 2-5 ; tem-
porary chairman, C. H. Ellington, of Georgia; perma-
nent chairman, H. L. Loucks, of South Dakota.
Nominations: — For President, James B. Weaver, of
Iowa; for Vice-President, James G. Field, of Vir-
ginia.
Platform :
"Assembled upon the one hundred and sixtieth anniversary of the
Declaration of Independence, the People's party of America, in their
first national convention, invoking upon their action the blessing of
Almighty God, puts forth, in the name and on behalf of the people
of this country, the following preamble and declaration of princi-
ples:
"The conditions which surround us best justify our cooperation;
we meet in the midst of a nation brought to the verge of moral,
political, and material ruin. Corruption dominates the ballot-box,
the Legislatures, the Congress, and touches even the ermine of the
bench. The people are demoralized ; most of the States have been
compelled to isolate the voters at the polling-places to prevent uni-
versal intimidation or bribery. The newspapers are largely subsi-
dized or muzzled, public opinion silenced, business prostrated, our
homes covered with mortgages, labor impoverished, and the land con-
centrating in the hands of the capitalists. The urban workmen are
denied the right of organization for self -protection ; imported pauper-
1892] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 291
ized labor beats down their wages, a hireling standing army, un-
recognized by our laws, is established to shoot them down, and they
are rapidly degenerating into European conditions. The fruits of
the toil of millions are bodily stolen to build up colossal fortunes for
a few, unprecedented in the history of mankind; and the possessors
of these, in turn, despise the republic and endanger liberty. From
the same prolific womb of governmental injustice we breed the two
great classes — tramps and millionaires.
"The national power to create money is appropriated to enrich
bondholders; a vast public debt payable in legal- tender currency has
been funded into gold-bearing bonds, thereby adding millions to the
burdens of the people.
"Silver, which has been accepted as coin since the dawn of his-
tory, has been demonetized to add to the purchasing power of gold
by decreasing the value of all forms of property as well as human
labor, and the supply of currency is purposely abridged to fatten
usurers, bankrupt enterprises, and enslave industry. A vast con-
spiracy against mankind has been organized on two continents, and it
is rapidly taking possession of the world. If not met and over-
thrown at once, it forebodes terrible social convulsions, the destruc-
tion of civilization, or the establishment of an absolute despotism.
"We have witnessed for more than a quarter of a century the
struggles of the two great political parties for power and plunder,
while grievous wrongs have been inflicted upon the suffering people.
We charge that the controlling influences dominating both these
parties have permitted the existing dreadful conditions to develop
without serious effort to prevent or restrain them. Neither do they
now promise us any substantial reform. They have agreed together
to ignore, in the coming campaign, every issue but one. They pro-
pose to drown the outcries of a plundered people with the uproar of
a sham battle over the tariff, so that capitalists, corporations, national
banks, rings, trusts, watered stock, the demonetization of silver, and
the oppressions of the usurers may all be lost sight of. They pro-
pose to sacrifice our homes, lives, and children on the altar of Mam-
mon ; to destroy the multitude in order to secure corruption funds
from the millionaires.
292 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1892
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"Assembled on the anniversary of the birthday of the nation, and
filled with the spirit of the grand general chief who established our
independence, we seek to restore the government of the republic to
the hands of 'the plain people,' with whose class it originated. We
assert our purposes to be identical with the purposes of the national
Constitution, 'to form a more perfect union and establish justice,
insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, pro-
mote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty for our-
selves and our posterity.'
"We declare that this republic can only endure as a free govern-
ment while built upon the love of the whole people for each other
and for the nation; that it cannot be pinned together by bayonets;
that the Civil War is over and that every passion and resentment
which grew out of it must die with it, and that we must be in fact,
as we are in name, one united brotherhood.
"Our country finds itself confronted by conditions for which
there is no precedent in the history of the world. Our annual agri-
cultural productions amount to billions of dollars in value, which
must within a few weeks or months be exchanged for billions of dol-
lars of commodities consumed in their production; the existing cur-
rency supply is wholly inadequate to make this exchange. The
results are falling prices, the formation of combines and rings, the
impoverishment of the producing class. We pledge ourselves that,
if given power, we will labor to correct these evils by wise and
reasonable legislation in accordance with the terms of our platform.
"We believe that the powers of government — in other words, of
the people — should be expanded (as in the case of the postal serv-
ice) as rapidly and as far as the good sense of an intelligent people
and the teachings of experience shall justify, to the end that oppres-
sion, injustice, and poverty shall eventually cease in the land.
"While our sympathies as a party of reform are naturally upon
the side of every proposition which will tend to make men intelli-
gent, virtuous, and temperate, we nevertheless regard these questions,
important as they are, as secondary to the great issues now pressing
for solution, and upon which not only our individual prosperity but
the very existence of free institutions depend; and we ask all men to
1892] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 293
first help us to determine whether we are to have a republic to ad-
minister before we differ as to the conditions upon which it is to b?.
Administered, believing that the forces of reform this day organized
will never cease to move forward until every wrong is righted and
equal rights and equal privileges securely established for all the men
and women of this country. We declare, therefore : —
"1. That the union of the labor forces of the United States
this day consummated shall be permanent and perpetual: may its
spirit enter into all hearts for the salvation of the republic and the
uplifting of mankind!
"2. Wealth belongs to him who creates it, and every dollar
taken from industry without an equivalent is robbery. 'If any will
not work, neither shall he eat.' The interests of rural and civic
labor are the same; their enemies are identical.
"3. We believe that the time has come when the railroad cor-
porations will either own the people or the people must own the
railroads ; and should the government enter upon the work of owning
and managing all railroads, we should favor an amendment to the
Constitution by which all persons engaged in the government service
shall be placed under a civil service regulation of the most rigid
character so as to prevent the increase of the power of the national
administration by the use of such additional government employes.
"We demand a national currency safe, sound, and flexible, issued
by the general government only, a full legal tender for all debts
public and private, and that without the use of banking corporations;
a just, equitable, and efficient means of distribution direct to the
people, at a tax not to exceed 2 per cent, per annum, to be provided
as set forth in the sub-treasury plan of the Farmers' Alliance, or a
better system; also, by payments in discharge of its obligations for
public improvements.
"We demand free and unlimited coinage of silver and gold at
the present legal ratio of sixteen to one.
"We demand that the amount of circulating medium be speedily
increased to not less than $50 per capita.
"We demand a graduated income tax.
"We believe that the money of the country should be kept as
294 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1892
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
much as possible in the hands of the people; and hence we demand
that all State and national issues shall be limited to the necessary
expenses of the government economically and honestly administered.
"We demand that postal savings banks be established by the gov-
ernment for the safe deposit of the earnings of the people and tolacili-
tate exchange.
"Transportation being a means of exchange and a public necessity,
the government should own and operate the railroads in the interest
of the people.
"The telegraph and telephone, like the post office system, being
a necessity for the transmission of news, should be owned and oper-
ated by the government in the interest of the people.
"The land, including all the natural sources of wealth, is the
heritage of the people and should not be monopolized for speculative
purposes, and alien ownership of land should be prohibited. All land
now held by railroads and other corporations in excess of their actual
needs, and all lands now owned by aliens, should be reclaimed by
the government and held for actual settlers only.
"Resolved, 1. That we demand a free ballot and a fair count in
all elections, and pledge ourselves to secure it to every legal voter,
without Federal intervention, through the adoption by the States of
the unperverted Australian secret ballot system.
"Resolved, 2. That the revenue derived from a graduated in-
come tax should be applied to the reduction of the burdens of taxa-
tion now levied upon the domestic industries of this country.
"Resolved, 3. That we pledge our support to fair and liberal pen-
sions to ex-Union soldiers and sailors.
"Resolved, 4. That we condemn the fallacy of protecting Ameri-
can labor under the present system, which opens our ports to the
pauper and criminal classes of the world and crowds out our wage-
earners, and we denounce the present ineffective law against contract
labor, and demand the further restriction of undesirable immigra-
tion.
"Resolved, 5. That we cordially sympathize with the efforts of
organized workingmen to shorten the hours of labor, and demand a
1892] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 295
rigid enforcement of the existing Eight-hour law on government work
and ask that a penalty clause be added to the said law.
"Resolved, 6. That we regard the maintenance of a large stand-
ing army of mercenaries, known as the Pinkerton system, as a menace
to our liberties, and we demand its abolition; and we condemn the
recent invasion of the Territory of Wyoming by the hired assassins
of plutocracy assisted by Federal officers.
"Resolved, 7. That we commend to the thoughtful consideration
of the people and the reform press the legislative system known as
the initiative and referendum.
"Resolved, 8. That we favor a constitutional provision limiting
the offices of President and Vice-President to one term, and providing
for the election of Senators of the United States by a direct vote of
the people.
"Resolved, 9. That we oppose any subsidy or national aid to any
private corporation for any purpose."
Other Parties
Prohibition Party. — Convention held in Cincinnati,
June 29, 1892. For President, John Bidwell, of Cali-
fornia ; for Vice-President, J. B. Cranfill, of Texas.
Socialist Labor Party. — Convention held in New
York, August 28, 1892. For President, Simon Wing, of
Massachusetts; for Vice-President, Charles H. Match-
ett, of New York.
The Election
Electoral vote for President and Vice-President:
Grover Cleveland and Adlai E. Stevenson, Democrats: — Ala-
bama, 1 1 ; Arkansas, 8 ; California, 8 ; Connecticut, 6 ; Delaware, 3 ;
Florida, 4; Georgia, 13; Illinois, 24; Indiana, 15; Kentucky, 13;
Louisiana, 8; Maryland, 8; Michigan, 5; Mississippi, 9; Missouri,
17; New Jersey, 10; New York, 36; North Carolina, 11; North
296 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1892
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Dakota, 1; Ohio, 1; South Carolina, 9; Tennessee, 12; Texas, 15;
Virginia, 12; West Virginia, 6; Wisconsin, 12. Total, 277.
Elected.
Benjamin Harrison and Whitelaw Reid, Republicans: — Califor-
nia, 1; Iowa, 13; Maine, 6; Massachusetts, 15; Michigan, 9; Min-
nesota, 9 ; Montana, 3 ; Nebraska, 8 ; New Hampshire, 4 ; North
Dakota, 1 ; Ohio, 22 ; Oregon, 3 ; Pennsylvania, 32 ; Rhode Island,
4; South Dakota, 4; Vermont, 4; Washington, 4; Wyoming, 3.
Total, 145.
James B. Weaver and James G. Field, Populists: — Colorado, 4;
Idaho, 3; Kansas, 10; Nevada, 3; North Dakota, 1; Oregon, 1.
Total, 22.
Popular vote:
Cleveland, 5,554,414; Harrison, 5,190,802; Weaver, 1,027,329;
Bidwell, 271,028; Wing, 21,164.
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES
Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th president; born at Delaware,
Ohio, October 4, 1822; lawyer; served in war of the rebellion;
member of congress, 1865-67; governor of Ohio, 1867-76; nomi-
nated for president in 1876 and declared elected over Samuel J.
Tilden by an electoral commission; died January 17, 1893,
Fremont, Ohio.
1896
Democratic Party
. Convention held in Chicago, July 7-11, 1896. The
supporters of free silver were largely in the majority
and enforced their will at every stage of the proceed-
ings. For permanent chairman the national com-
mittee nominated David B. Hill, of New York, an
opponent of free silver; but by a vote of 556 to 349 the
convention rejected the nomination and chose John W.
Daniel, of Virginia. Stephen M. White, of Califor-
nia, was permanent chairman.
On the first ballot for President Richard P. Bland,
of Missouri, received 235 votes; William J. Bryan, of
Nebraska, 137; Robert E. Pattison, of Pennsylvania,
97; Joseph C. S. Blackburn, of Kentucky, 82; Horace
Boies, of Iowa, 67; John R. McLean, of Ohio, 54;
Claude Matthews, of Indiana, 37; Benjamin R. Till-
man, of South Carolina, 17; Sylvester Pennoyer, of Or-
egon, 8; Henry M. Teller, of Colorado, 8; Adlai E.
Stevenson, of Illinois, 6 ; William E. Russell, of Massa-
chusetts, 2; James E. Campbell, of Ohio, 1 ; David B.
Hill, of New York, 1 ; and 178 delegates were absent or
refrained from voting. Bryan gained on each of the
next three ballots, and was nominated on the fifth, re-
297
298 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1896
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
ceiving (after changes) 652 votes to 116 for five others,
with 162 delegates not voting.
Five ballots were taken for Vice-President, Arthur
Sewall, of Maine, being nominated on the fifth ballot
by 568 votes against 111 for six others; 251 delegates
did not vote.
Platform :
"We, the Democrats of the United States, in national convention
assembled, do reaffirm our allegiance to those great essential princi-
ples of justice and liberty upon which our institutions are founded,
and which the Democratic party has advocated from Jefferson's time
to our own — freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of con-
science, the preservation of personal rights, the equality of all citizens
before the law, and the faithful observance of constitutional limita-
tions, i
"During all these years the Democratic party has resisted the
tendency of selfish interests to the centralization of governmental
power, and steadfastly maintained the integrity of the dual scheme of
government established by the founders of this republic of repub-
lics. Under its guidance and teachings the great principle of local
self-government has found its best expression in the maintenance of
the rights of the States and in its assertion of the necessity of confin-
ing the general government to the exercise of the powers granted by
the Constitution of the United States.
"The Constitution of the United States guarantees to every citi-
zen the rights of civil and religious liberty. The Democratic party
has always been the exponent of political liberty and religious free-
dom, and it renews its obligations and reaffirms its devotion to these
fundamental principles of the Constitution.
"Recognizing that the money question is paramount to all others
at this time, we invite attention to the fact that the Federal Consti-
tution named silver and gold together as the money metals of the
United States, and that the first coinage law passed by Congress
under the Constitution made the silver dollar the monetary unit and
1896] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 299
admitted gold to free coinage at a ratio based upon the silver-dollar
unit.
"We declare that the act of 1873 demonetizing silver without the
knowledge or approval of the American people has resulted in the
appreciation of gold and a corresponding fall in the prices of com-
modities produced by the people; a heavy increase in the burden of
taxation and of all debts, public and private; the enrichment of the
money-lending class at home and abroad ; the prostration of industry
and impoverishment of the people.
"We are unalterably opposed to monometallism, which has
locked fast the prosperity of an industrial people in the paralysis of
hard times. Gold monometallism is a British policy, and its adop-
tion has brought other nations into financial servitude to London.
It is not only un-American but an ti- American, and it can be fastened
on the United States only by the stifling of that spirit and love of
liberty which proclaimed our political independence in 1776 and won
it in the War of the Revolution.
"We demand the free and unlimited coinage of both silver and
gold at the present legal ratio of 16 to 1, without waiting for the
aid or consent of any other nation. We demand that the standard
silver dollar shall be a full legal tender, equally with gold, for all
debts, public and private, and we favor such legislation as will pre-
vent for the future the demonetization of any kind of legal-tender
money by private contract.
"We are opposed to the policy and practice of surrendering to the
holders of the obligations of the United States the option reserved by
law to the government of redeeming such obligations in either silver
coin or gold coin.
"We are opposed to the issuing of interest-bearing bonds of the
United States in time of peace, and condemn the trafficking with
banking syndicates which, in exchange for bonds and at an enormous
profit to themselves, supply the Federal treasury with gold to main-
tain the policy of gold monometallism.
"Congress alone has the power to coin and issue money, and
President Jackson declared that this power could not be delegated to
corporations or individuals. We therefore denounce the issuance
300 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1896
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
of notes intended to circulate as money by national banks as in dero-
gation of the Constitution, and we demand that all paper which is
made a legal tender for public and private debts, or which is receiv-
able for dues to the United States, shall be issued by the government
of the United States and shall be redeemable in coin.
"We hold that tariff duties should be levied for purposes of
revenue, such duties to be so adjusted as to operate equally through-
out the country and not discriminate between class or section, and
that taxation should be limited by the needs of the government
honestly and economically administered. We denounce as disturbing
to business the Republican threat to restore the McKinley law, which
has twice been condemned by the people in national elections, and
which, enacted under the false plea of protection to home industry,
proved a prolific breeder of trusts and monopolies, enriched the few
at the expense of the many, restricted trade, and deprived the pro-
ducers of the great American staples of access to their natural
markets.
"Until the money question is settled we are opposed to any agita-
tion for further changes in our tariff laws, except such as are neces-
sary to meet the deficit in revenue caused by the adverse decision of
the Supreme Court on the income tax. But for this decision by the
Supreme Court, there would be no deficit in the revenue under the
law passed by a Democratic Congress in strict pursuance of the uni-
form decisions of that court for nearly one hundred years, that court
having in that decision sustained constitutional objections to its
enactment which had previously been overruled by the ablest Judges
who have ever sat on that bench. We declare that it is the duty of
Congress to use all the constitutional power which remains after that
decision, or which may come from its reversal by the court as it may
hereafter be constituted, so that the burdens of taxation may be
equally and impartially laid, to the end that wealth may bear its due
proportion of the expense of the government.
"We hold that the most efficient way of protecting American labor
is to prevent the importation of foreign pauper labor to compete with
it in the home market, and that the value of the home market to our
American farmers and artisians is greatly reduced by a vicious mone-
1896] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 301
tary system which depresses the price of their products below the cost
of production and thus deprives them of the means of purchasing
the products of our home manufactories; and, as labor creates the
wealth of the country, we demand the passage of such laws as may
be necessary to protect it in all its rights.
"We are in favor of the arbitration of differences between em-
ployers engaged in interstate commerce and their employes, and
recommend such legislation as is necessary to carry out this principle.
"The absorption of wealth by the few, the consolidation of our
leading railroad systems, and the formation of trusts and pools re-
quire a stricter control by the Federal government of those arteries
of commerce. We demand the enlargement of the powers of the
Interstate Commerce commission, and such restriction and guaran-
tees in the control of railroads as will protect the people from rob-
bery and oppression.
"We denounce the profligate waste of the money wrung from the
people by oppressive taxation, and the lavish appropriations of recent
Republican Congresses, which have kept taxes high while the labor
that pays them is unemployed and the products of the people's toil
are depressed in price till they no longer repay the cost of production.
We demand a return to that simplicity and economy which befits
a democratic government, and a reduction in the number of useless
offices, the salaries of which drain the substance of the people.
"We denounce arbitrary interference by Federal authorities in
local affairs as a violation of the Constitution of the United States
and a crime against free institutions, and we especially object to gov-
ernment by injunction as a new and highly dangerous form of oppres-
sion by which Federal Judges, in contempt of the laws of the States
and rights of citizens, become at once legislators, judges, and execu-
tioners; and we approve the bill passed at the last session of the
United States Senate, and now pending in the House of Representa-
tives, relative to contempts in Federal courts and providing for trials
by jury in certain cases of contempt.
"No discrimination should be indulged in by the government of
the United States in favor of any of its debtors. We approve of the
refusal of the Fifty-third Congress to pass the Pacific Railroad Fund-
302 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1896
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
ing bill, and denounce the effort of the present Republican Congress
to enact a similar measure.
"Recognizing the just claims of deserving Union soldiers, we
heartily endorse the rule of the present Commissioner of Pensions
that no names shall be arbitrarily dropped from the pension roll;
and the fact of enlistment and service should be deemed conclusive
evidence against disease and disability before enlistment.
"We favor the admission of the Territories of New Mexico, Ari-
zona, and Oklahoma into the Union as States; and we favor the
early admission of all the Territories having the necessary population
and resources to entitle them to statehood; and while they remain
Territories we hold that the officials appointed to administer the gov-
ernment of any Territory, together with the District of Columbia and
Alaska, should be bona fide residents of the Territory or District in
which their duties are to be performed. The Democratic party be-
lieves in home rule, and that all public lands of the United States
should be appropriated to the establishment of free homes for Ameri-
can citizens.
"We recommend that the Territory of Alaska be granted a Dele-
gate in Congress, and that the general Land and Timber laws of the
United States be extended to said Territory.
"The Monroe doctrine, as originally declared and as interpreted
by succeeding Presidents, is a permanent part of the foreign policy of
the United States and must at all times be maintained.
"We extend our sympathy to the people of Cuba in their heroic
struggle for liberty and independence.
We are opposed to life tenure in the public service, except as pro-
vided in the Constitution. We favor appointments based on merit,
fixed terms of office, and such an administration of the Civil Service
laws as will afford equal opportunities to all citizens of ascertained
fitness.
"We declare it to be the unwritten law of this republic, estab-
lished by custom and usage of one hundred years, and sanctioned by
the examples of the greatest and wisest of those who founded and have
maintained our government, that no man should be eligible for a
third term of the Presidential office.
1896] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 303
"The Federal government should care for and improve the Mis-
sissippi River and other great waterways of the republic, so as to
secure for the interior States easy and cheap transportation to tide-
water. When any waterway of the republic is of sufficient impor-
tance to demand aid of the government, such aid should be extended
upon a definite plan of continuous work until permanent improve-
ment is secured.
"Confiding in the justice of our cause and the necessity of its
success at the polls, we submit the foregoing declaration of princi-
ples and purposes to the considerate judgment of the American
people. We invite the support of all citizens who approve them and
who desire to have them made effective through legislation for the
relief of the people and the restoration of the country's prosperity."
This platform was the majority report of the com-
mittee on resolutions. A minority report, signed by
sixteen members of the committee, was presented to the
convention by David B. Hill; it embodied two resolu-
tions, proposing first, a substitute for the financial
plank, and second, an endorsement of the Cleveland
administration. These resolutions were :
1. "We declare our belief that the experiment on the part of the
United States alone of free silver coinage and a change of the exist-
ing standard of value independently of the action of other great
nations, would not only imperil our finances but would retard or en-
tirely prevent the establishment of international bimetallism, to which
the efforts of the government should be steadily directed. It would
place this country at once upon a silver basis, impair contracts, dis-
turb business, diminish the purchasing power of the wages of labor,
and inflict irreparable evil upon the nation's commerce and industry.
"Until international cooperation among leading nations for the
coinage of silver can be secured, we favor the rigid maintenance of
the existing gold standard as essential to the preservation of our na-
tional credit, the redemption of our public pledges, and the keeping
inviolate of our country's honor. We insist that all our paper and
304 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL 1 1896
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
silver currency shall be kept absolutely at a parity with gold. The
Democratic party is the party of hard money, and is opposed to legal-
tender paper money as a part of our permanent financial system;
and we therefore favor the gradual retirement and cancellation of
all United States notes and treasury notes under such legislative pro-
visions as will prevent undue contraction. We demand that the
national credit shall be resolutely maintained at all times and under
all circumstances."
2. "We commend the honesty, economy, courage, and fidelity of
the present Democratic national administration."
The substitute for the financial plank was debated on
the floor of the convention in speeches of great ability
and warmth — one of which was Mr. Bryan's famous
deliverance against the financial interests that termi-
nated with the words: "You shall not press down
upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. You
shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold." The
substitute was rejected by 626 votes against 303 ; not
voting, 1.
The vote on the proposed commendation of Cleve-
land's administration stood: No, 564; yes, 357; not
voting, 9.
Republican Party
Convention held in St. Louis, June 16-18, 1896; tem-
porary chairman, Charles W. Fairbanks, of Indiana;
permanent chairman, John M. Thurston, of Nebraska.
William McKinley was nominated for President on
the first ballot. The vote stood: McKinley, 661^;
Thomas B. Reed, of Maine, 84^ ; Matthew S. Quay,
of Pennsylvania, 6\l/2 ; Levi P. Morton, of New York,
1896] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 305
58; William B. Allison, of Iowa, 35^; J. Donald
Cameron, of Pennsylvania, 1 ; not voting, 8.
The Vice-Presidential nominee was Garrett A. Ho-
bart, of New Jersey, who received on the first ballot
533^ votes to 359^ for eight others.
Platform :
"The Republicans of the United States, assembled by their repre-
sentatives in national convention, appealing for the popular and his-
torical justification of their claims to the matchless achievements of
thirty years of Republican rule, earnestly and confidently address
themselves to the awakened intelligence, experience, and conscience
of their countrymen in the following declaration of facts and princi-
ples.
"For the first time since the Civil War the American people have
witnessed the calamitous consequences of full and unrestricted Demo-
cratic control of the government. It has been a record of unparal-
leled incapacity, dishonor, and disaster. In administrative manage-
ment it has ruthlessly sacrificed indispensable revenue, entailed an
unceasing deficit, eked out ordinary current expenses with borrowed
money, piled up the public debt by $262,000,000 in time of peace,
forced an adverse balance of trade, kept a perpetual menace hanging
over the redemption fund, pawned American credit to alien syndicates,
and reversed all the measures and results of successful Republican rule.
In the broad effect of its policy it has precipitated panic, blighted
industry and trade with prolonged depression, closed factories, re-
duced work and wages, halted enterprise, and crippled American pro-
duction! while stimulating foreign, ! production Ifbr the American
market. Every consideration of public safety and individual interest
demands that the government shall be wrested from the hands of
those who have shown themselves incapable of conducting it without
disaster at home and dishonor abroad, and that it shall be restored to
the party which for thirty years administered it with unequaled success
and prosperity. And in this connection we heartily endorse the
wisdom, the patriotism, and the success of the administration of
President Harrison.
306 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL 1 1896
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"We renew and emphasize our allegiance to the policy of protec-
tion as the bulwark of American industrial independence and the
foundation of American development and prosperity. This true
American policy taxes foreign products and encourages home indus-
tries; it puts the burden of revenue on foreign goods; it secures the
American market for the American producers; it upholds the Ameri-
can standard of wages for the American workingman; it puts the
factory by the side of the farm, and makes the American farmer less
dependent on foreign demand and prices; it diffuses general thrift,
and founds the strength of all on the strength of each. In its rea-
sonable application it is just, fair, and impartial; equally opposed to
foreign control and domestic monopoly, to sectional discrimination
and individual favoritism.
"We denounce the present Democratic tariff as sectional, inju-
rious to the public credit, and destructive to business enterprise. We
demand such an equitable tariff on foreign imports which come into
competition with American products as will not only furnish ade-
quate revenue for the necessary expenses of the government, but will
protect American labor from degradation to the wage level of other
lands. We are not pledged to any particular schedules. The ques-
tion of rates is a practical question to be governed by the conditions
of time and of production; the ruling and uncompromising principle
is the protection and development of American labor and industries.
The country demands a right settlement, and then it wants rest.
"We believe the repeal of the reciprocity arrangements negotiated
by the last Republican administration was a national calamity, and we
demand their renewal and extension on such terms as will equalize
our trade with other nations, remove the restrictions which now
obstruct the sale of American products in the ports of other countries,
and secure enlarged markets for the products of our farms, forests,
and factories.
"Protection and reciprocity are twin measures of Republican
policy, and go hand in hand. Democratic rule has recklessly struck
down both, and both must be reestablished. Protection for what we
produce; free admission for the necessaries of life which we do not
produce; reciprocal agreements of mutual interest which gain open
1896] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 307
markets for us in return for our open markets for others. Protection
builds up domestic industry and trade, and secures our own market
for ourselves; reciprocity builds up foreign trade, and finds an outlet
for our surplus.
"We condemn the present administration for not keeping faith
with the sugar producers of this country. The Republican party
favors such protection as will lead to the production on American
soil of all the sugar which the American people use, and for which
they pay other countries more than $100,000,000 annually.
"To all our products — to those of the mine and the fields as well
as to those of the shop and the factory ; to hemp ; to wool, the product
of the great industry of sheep husbandry, as well as to the most
finished woolens of the mill — we promise the most ample protection.
"We favor restoring the American policy of discriminating duties
for the upbuilding of our merchant marine and the protection of our
shipping in the foreign carrying trade, so that American ships — the
product of American labor, employed in American shipyards, sailing
under the Stars and Stripes, and manned, officered, and owned by
Americans — may regain the carrying of our foreign commerce.
"The Republican party is unreservedly for sound money. It
caused the enactment of the law providing for the resumption of
specie payments in 1879; since then every dollar has been as good as
gold.
"We are unalterably opposed to every measure calculated to debase
our currency or impair the credit of our country. We are therefore
opposed to the free coinage of silver, except by international agree-
ment with the leading commercial nations of the earth, which we
pledge ourselves to promote ; and until such agreement can be obtained
the existing gold standard must be maintained. All our silver and
paper currency must be maintained at parity with gold ; and we favor
all measures designed to maintain inviolably the obligations of the
United States, and all our money, whether coin or paper, at the
present standard, the standard of the most enlightened nations of the
earth. , I
"The veterans of the Union armies deserve and should receive
fair treatment and generous recognition. Whenever practicable they
308 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL 1 1896
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
should be given the preference in the matter of employment, and they
are entitled to the enactment of such laws as are best calculated to
secure the fulfillment of the pledges made to them in the dark days
of the country's peril. We denounce the practice in the Pension
bureau, so recklessly and unjustly carried on by the present adminis-
tration, of reducing pensions and arbitrarily dropping names from
the roll, as deserving the severest condemnation of the American
people.
"Our foreign policy should be at all times firm, vigorous, and
dignified, and all our interests in the western hemisphere should be
carefully watched and guarded. The Hawaiian Islands should be
controlled by the United States, and no foreign power should be per-
mitted to interfere with them ; the Nicaragua canal should be built,
owned, and operated by the United States ; and by the purchase of the
Danish islands we should secure a proper and much needed naval
station in the West Indies.
"The massacres in Armenia have aroused the deep sympathy and
just indignation of the American people, and we believe that the
United States should exercise all the influence it can properly exert
to bring these atrocities to an end. In Turkey, American residents
have been exposed to the gravest dangers and American property de-
stroyed. There, as everywhere else, American citizens and Ameri-
can property must be absolutely protected at all hazards and at any
cost.
"We reassert the Monroe doctrine in its full extent, and we re-
affirm the right of the United States to give the doctrine effect by
responding to the appeal of any American state for friendly interven-
tion in case of European encroachment. We have not interfered and
shall not interfere with the existing possessions of any European
power in this hemisphere, but those possessions must not, on any
pretext, be extended. We hopefully look forward to the eventual
withdrawal of the European powers from this hemisphere, and to
the ultimate union of all English-speaking parts of the continent by
free consent of its inhabitants.
"From the hour of achieving their own independence, the people
of the United States have regarded with sympathy the struggles of
1896] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 309
other American peoples to free themselves from European domina-
tion. We watch with deep and abiding interest the heroic battle of
the Cuban patriots against cruelty and oppression, and our best hopes
go out for the full success of their determined contest for liberty.
"The government of Spain having lost control of Cuba, and
being unable to protect the property or lives of resident American
citizens or to comply with its treaty obligations, we believe that the
government of the United States should actively use its influence and
good offices to restore peace and give independence to the island.
"The peace and security of the republic and the maintenance of
its rightful influence among the nations of the earth demand a naval
power commensurate with its position and responsibility. We there-
fore favor the continued enlargement of the navy and a complete sys-
tem of harbor and seacoast defenses.
"For the protection of the equality of our American citizenship
and of the wages of our workingmen against the fatal competition of
low-priced labor, we demand that the Immigration laws be
thoroughly enforced and so extended as to exclude from entrance to
the United States those who can neither read nor write.
"The Civil Service law was placed on the statute-book by the
Republican party, which has always sustained it, and we renew out
repeated declarations that it shall be thoroughly and heartily and
honestly enforced, and extended wherever practicable.
"We demand that every citizen of the United States shall be
allowed to cast one free and unrestricted ballot, and that such ballot
shall be counted and returned as cast.
"We proclaim our unqualified condemnation of the uncivilized
and barbarous practice well known as lynching, and the killing of
human beings suspected or charged with crime without process of
law. I | i i I i
"We favor the creation of a national Board of Arbitration to
settle and adjust differences which may arise between employers and
employed engaged in interstate commerce.
"We believe in an immediate return to the free-homestead policy
of the Republican party, and urge the passage by Congress of the sat-
310 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1896
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
isfactory free-homestead measure which has already passed the House
and is now pending in the Senate.
"We favor the admission of the remaining Territories at the ear-
liest practicable date, having due regard to the interest of the people
of the Territories and of the United States. All the Federal
officers appointed for the Territories should be selected from bona fide
residents thereof, and the right of self-government should be
accorded them as far as practicable.
"We believe the citizens of Alaska should have representation in
the Congress of the United States, to the end that needful legislation
may be intelligently enacted.
"We sympathize fully with all legitimate efforts to lessen and pre-
vent the evils of intemperance and promote morality. The Republi-
can party is mindful of the rights and interests of women, and be-
lieves that they should be accorded equal opportunities, equal pay for
equal work, and protection to the home. We favor the admission of
women to wider spheres of usefulness, and welcome their cooperation
in rescuing the country from Democratic and Populistic mismanage-
ment and misrule.
"Such are the principles and policy of the Republican party. By
these principles we will abide, and these policies we will put into
execution. We rely on the faithful and considerate judgment of the
American people. Confident alike in the history of our great party
and in the justice of our cause, we present our platform and our
candidates in the full assurance that the election will bring victory to
the Republican party and prosperity to the people of the United
States."
The following substitute for the financial plank was
offered by a minority of the committee on resolutions,
headed by Henry M. Teller, of Colorado:
"The Republican party authorizes the use of both gold and silver
as equal standard money, and pledges its power to secure the free and
unlimited coinage of gold and silver at our mints at the ratio of
sixteen parts of silver to one of gold."
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 311
This was laid on the table by a vote of 818^2 to
105^2, and the financial plank as reported was adopted,
812^2 to 110^. The pro-silver delegates, under the
leadership of Senator Teller, thereupon withdrew
from the convention.
Other Parties
People's Party. — Convention met in St. Louis, July
22, 1896. For President, William J. Bryan; for Vice-
President, Thomas E. Watson, of Georgia. The plat-
form declared for free silver, a graduated income tax,
government ownership of the railroads and telegraphs,
direct legislation through the initiative and referendum,
and other advanced measures.
National Silver Party. — Convention met in St. Louis,
July 22, 1896. For President, William J. Bryan; for
Vice-President, Arthur Sewall. The platform was con-
fined to an exposition of the financial question from the
pro-silver point of view.
National Democratic Party (Gold Democrats). —
Convention met in Indianapolis, September 2, 1896.
Temporary chairman, Roswell P. Flower, of New
York; permanent chairman, Donelson Caffery, of
Louisiana. For President, John M. Palmer, of Illi-
nois; for Vice-President, Simon B. Buckner, of Ken-
tucky. The platform repudiated the acts of the regular
convention of the Democratic party at Chicago. On
the financial question it declared for gold "as a stand-
ard of monetary measure, and the maintenance of silver
at a parity with gold by its limited coinage under suit-
able safeguards of law."
312 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1896
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Prohibition Party. — Convention met in Pittsburgh,
May 27, 1896. For President, Joshua Levering, of
Maryland; for Vice-President, Hale Johnson, of Illi-
nois,
National Party (Bolting Prohibitionists). — For
President, Charles E. Bentley, of Nebraska ; for Vice-
President, James H. Southgate, of North Carolina.
The platform demanded prohibition of the liquor
traffic and various other radical measures, and favored
free silver coinage.
Socialist Labor Party. — Convention met in New
York, July 6, 1896. For President, Charles H. Match-
ett, of New York; for Vice-President, Matthew Ma-
guire, of New Jersey.
The Election
Electoral vote for President:
William McKinley, Republican: — California, 8; Connecticut, 6;
Delaware, 3; Illinois, 24; Indiana, 15; Iowa, 13; Kentucky, 12;
Maine, 6; Maryland, 8; Massachusetts, 15; Michigan, 14; Minne-
sota, 9; New Hampshire, 4; New Jersey, 10; New York, 36; North
Dakota, 3 ; Ohio, 23 ; Oregon, 4 ; Pennsylvania, 32 ; Rhode Island,
4; Vermont, 4; West Virginia, 6; Wisconsin, 12. Total, 271.
Elected.
William J. Bryan, Democrat : — Alabama, 1 1 ; Arkansas, 8 ; Cali-
fornia, 1; Colorado, 4; Florida, 4; Georgia, 13; Idaho, 3; Kansas,
10; Kentucky, 1; Louisiana, 8; Mississippi, 9; Missouri, 17; Mon-
tana, 3 ; Nebraska, 8 ; Nevada, 3 ; North Carolina, 1 1 ; South Caro-
lina, 9; South Dakota, 4; Tennessee, 12; Texas, 15; Utah, 3; Vir-
ginia, 12; Washington, 4; Wyoming, 3. Total, 176.
JAMES A. GARFIELD
James A. Garfield, 20th president; born at Orange, Ohio,
November 19, 1831; lawyer; college president at 26; served in
war of the rebellion; elected to Ohio state senate, 1859; mem-
ber of congress from March 4, 1863 to November 8, 1880;
elected president and served from March 4, 1881 until July 2,
1881, when he was shot in the Pennsylvania railroad station
at Washington by an assassin; died at Elberon, N. J. from
effects of wound, September 19, 1881.
1896] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 313
Electoral vote for Vice-President :
Garrett A. Hobart, Republican: — Same as McKinley, 271.
Elected.
Arthur Sewall, Democrat : — Alabama, 1 1 ; Arkansas, 5 ; Califor-
nia, 1; Colorado, 4; Florida, 4; Georgia, 13; Idaho, 3; Kansas, 10;
Kentucky, 1; Louisiana, 4; Mississippi, 9; Missouri, 13; Montana,
2; Nebraska, 4; Nevada, 3; North Carolina, 6; South Carolina, 9;
South Dakota, 2; Tennessee, 12; Texas, 15; Utah, 2; Virginia, 12;
Washington, 2; Wyoming, 2. Total, 149.
Thomas E. Watson, People's: — Arkansas, 3; Louisiana, 4; Mis-
souri, 4; Montana, 1; Nebraska, 4; North Carolina, 5; South Da-
kota, 2; Utah, 1 ; Washington, 2; Wyoming, 1. Total, 27.
Popular vote :
McKinley, 7,035,638; Bryan, 6,467,946!; Palmer, 131,529;
Levering, 141,676; Matchett, 36,454; Bentley, 13,968.
1Combined vote on the Bryan and Sewall (Democratic) and Bryan and
Watson (Populist) tickets.
1900
Republican Party
Convention held in Philadelphia, June 19-21, 1900.
Temporary chairman, Edward O. Wolcott, of Colo-
rado; permanent chairman, Henry Cabot Lodge, of
Massachusetts.
President McKinley was renominated by the unani-
mous vote of the convention.
For the Vice-Presidency Theodore Roosevelt, of
New York, was unanimously nominated.
Platform :
"The Republicans of the United States, through their chosen rep-
resentatives met in national convention, looking back upon an unsur-
passed record of achievement and looking forward into a great field
of duty and opportunity, and appealing to the judgment of their
countrymen, make these declarations:
"The expectation in which the American people, turning from the
Democratic party, entrusted power four years ago to a Republican
Chief-Magistrate and a Republican Congress has been met and satis-
fied. When the people then assembled at the polls after a term of
Democratic legislation and administration business was dead, indus-
try paralyzed, and the national credit disastrously impaired. The
country's capital was hidden away and its labor distressed and unem-
ployed. The Democrats had no other plan with which to improve
the ruinous conditions which they had themselves produced than to
coin silver at the ratio of 16 to 1.
"The Republican party, denouncing this plan as sure to produce
314
1900] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 315
conditions even worse than those from which relief was sought, prom-
ised to restore prosperity by means of two legislative measures: a pro-
tective tariff and a law making gold the standard of value. The
people by great majorities issued to the Republican party a commission
to enact these laws. The commission has been executed, and the
Republican promise is redeemed.
"Prosperity more general and more abundant than we have ever
known has followed these enactments. There is no longer contro-
versy as to the value of any government obligation. Every Ameri-
can dollar is a gold dollar or its assured equivalent, and American
credit stands higher than that of any other nation. Capital is fully
employed, and labor everywhere is profitably occupied.
"No single fact can more strikingly tell the story of what Repub-
lican government means to the country than this, that while during
the whole period of one hundred and seven years from 1790 to 1897
there was an excess of exports over imports of only $383,028,497,
there has been in the short three years of the present Republican ad-
ministration an excess of exports over imports in the enormous sum
of $1,483,537,094.
"And while the American people, sustained by this Republican
legislation, have been achieving these splendid triumphs in their busi-
ness and commerce, they have conducted and in victory concluded a
war for liberty and human rights. No thought of national aggran-
dizement tarnished the high purpose with which American standards
were unfurled. It was a war unsought and patiently resisted, but
when it came the American government was ready. Its fleets were
cleared for action, its armies were in the field, and the quick and signal
triumph of its forces on land and sea bore equal tribute to the cour-
age of American soldiers and sailors and to the skill and foresight of
Republican statesmanship. To ten millions of the human race there
was given 'a new birth of freedom,' and to the American people a
new and noble responsibility.
"We endorse the administration of William McKinley. Its acts
have been established in wisdom and in patriotism, and at home and
abroad it has distinctly elevated and extended the influence of the
American nation. Walking untried paths and facing unforeseen
316 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1900
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
responsibilities, President McKinley has been in every situation the
true American patriot and the upright statesman, clear in vision,
strong in judgment, firm in action, always inspiring and deserving
the confidence of his countrymen.
"In asking the American people to endorse this Republican record
and to renew their commission to the Republican party, we remind
them of the fact that the menace to their prosperity has always re-
sided in Democratic principles, and no less in the general incapacity
of the Democratic party to conduct public affairs. The prime essen-
tial of business prosperity is public confidence in the good sense of the
government and in its ability to deal intelligently with each new
problem of administration and legislation. That confidence the
Democratic party has never earned. It is hopelessly inadequate, and
the country's prosperity, when Democratic success at the polls is
announced, halts and ceases in mere anticipation of Democratic
blunders and failures.
"We renew our allegiance to the principle of the gold standard
and declare our confidence in the wisdom of the legislation of the
Fifty-sixth Congress, by which the parity of all our money and the
stability of our currency upon a gold basis has been secured. We
recognize that interest rates are a potent factor in production and
business activity, and for the purpose of further equalizing and of
further lowering the rates of interest we favor such monetary legisla-
tion as will enable the varying needs of the season and of all sections
to be promptly met, in order that trade may be evenly sustained,
labor steadily employed, and commerce enlarged. The volume of
money in circulation was never so great per capita as it is to-day.
"We declare our steadfast opposition to the free and unlimited
coinage of silver. No measure to that end could be considered which
was without the support of the leading commercial countries of the
world. However firmly Republican legislation may seem to have
secured the country against the peril of base and discredited currency,
the election of a Democratic President could not fail to impair the
country's credit and to bring once more into question the intention
of the American people to maintain upon the gold standard the
parity of their money circulation. The Democratic party must be
1900] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 317
convinced that the American people will never tolerate the Chicago
platform.
"We recognize the necessity and propriety of the honest coopera-
tion of capital to meet new business conditions, and especially to
extend our rapidly increasing foreign trade; but we condemn all con-
spiracies and combinations intended to restrict business, to create
monopolies, to limit production, or to control prices, and favor such
legislation as will effectively restrain and prevent all such abuses,
protect and promote competition, and secure the rights of producers,
laborers, and all who are engaged in industry and commerce.
"We renew our faith in the policy of protection to American
labor. In that policy our industries have been established, diversified,
and maintained. By protecting the home market competition has
been stimulated and production cheapened. Opportunity to the in-
ventive genius of our people has been secured and wages in every
department of labor maintained at high rates — higher now than ever
before, and always distinguishing our working-people in their better
conditions of life from those of any competing country. Enjoying
the blessings of the American common school, secure in the right of
self-government, and protected in the occupancy of their own mar-
kets, their constantly increasing knowledge and skill have enabled
them to finally enter the markets of the world.
"We favor the associated policy of reciprocity, so directed as to
open our markets on favorable terms for what we do not ourselves
produce in return for free foreign markets.
"In the further interest of American workmen we favor a more
effective restriction of the immigration of cheap labor from foreign
lands, the extension of opportunities of education for working chil-
dren, the raising of the age limit for child labor, the protection of
free labor as against contract convict labor, and an effective system
of labor insurance.
"Our present dependence upon foreign shipping for nine-tenths
of our foreign carrying trade is a great loss to the industry of this
country. It is also a serious danger to our trade, for its sudden
withdrawal in the event of European war would seriously cripple our
expanding foreign commerce. The national defense and naval effi-
318 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL H900
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
ciency of this country, moreover, supply a compelling reason for legis-
lation which will enable us to recover our former place among the
trade-carrying fleets of the world.
"The nation owes a debt of profound gratitude to the soldiers
and sailors who have fought its battles, and it is the government's
duty to provide for the survivors and for the widows and orphans
of those who have fallen in the country's wars. The Pension laws,
founded in this just sentiment, should be liberal and should be liber-
ally administered, and preference should be given, wherever practicable
with respect to employment in the public service, to soldiers and sail-
ors and to their widows and orphans.
"We commend the policy of the Republican party in the effi-
ciency of the civil service. The administration has acted wisely in its
efforts to secure for public service in Cuba, Porto Rico, Hawaii,
and the Philippine Islands only those whose fitness has been deter-
mined by training and experience. We believe that employment in
the public service in these Territories should be confined, as far as
practicable, to their inhabitants.
"It was the plain purpose of the Fifteenth amendment to the Con-
stitution to prevent discrimination on account of race or color in
regulating the elective franchise. Devices of State governments,
whether by statutory or constitutional enactment, to avoid the pur-
pose of this amendment, are revolutionary and should be condemned.
"Public movements looking to a permanent improvement of the
roads and highways of the country meet with our cordial approval,
and we recommend this subject to the earnest consideration of the
people and of the Legislatures of the several States.
"We favor the extension of the rural free-delivery service
wherever its extension may be justified.
"In further pursuance of the constant policy of the Republican
party to provide free homes on the public domain, we recommend
adequate national legislation to reclaim the arid lands of the United
States, reserving control of the distribution of water for irrigation to
the respective States and Territories.
"We favor home rule for, and the early admission to statehood of,
the Territories of New Mexico, Arizona, and Oklahoma.
1900] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 319
"The Dingley act, amended to provide sufficient revenue for the
conduct of the war, has so well performed its work that it has been
possible to reduce the war debt in the sum of $40,000,000. So
ample are the government's revenues and so great is the public confi-
dence in the integrity of its obligations, that its newly funded 2 per
cent, bonds sell at a premium. The country is now justified in ex-
pecting, and it will be the policy of the Republican party to bring
about, a reduction of the war taxes.
"We favor the construction, ownership, control, and protection
of an Isthmian canal by the government of the United States. New
markets are necessary for the increasing surplus of our farm products.
Every effort should be made to open and obtain new markets, espe-
cially in the Orient, and the administration is warmly to be com-
mended for its successful efforts to commit all trading and coloniz-
ing nations to the policy of the open door in China.
"In the interest of our expanding commerce we recommend that
Congress create a Department of Commerce and Industries, in the
charge of a Secretary with a seat in the cabinet. The United States
consular system should be reorganized under the supervision of this
new department, upon such a basis of appointment and tenure as will
render it still more serviceable to the nation's increasing trade.
"The American government must protect the person and property
of every citizen wherever they are wrongfully violated or placed in
peril.
"We congratulate the women of America upon their splendid
record of public service in the Volunteer Aid Association and as
nurses in camp and hospital during the recent campaigns of our
armies in the Eastern and Western Indies, and we appreciate their
faithful cooperation in all works of education and industry.
"President McKinley has conducted the foreign affairs of the
United States with distinguished credit to the American people. In
releasing us from the vexatious conditions of a European alliance for
the government of Samoa, his course is especially to be commended.
By securing to our individual control the most important island of
the Samoan group and the best harbor in the southern Pacific, every
American interest has been safeguarded.
320 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL U900
"We approve the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the
United States.
"We commend the part taken by our government in the Peace
conference at The Hague. We assert our steadfast adherence to
the policy announced in the Monroe doctrine. The provisions of
The Hague convention were wisely regarded when President
McKinley tendered his friendly offices in the interest of peace between
Great Britain and the South African Republic. While the Ameri-
can government must continue the policy prescribed by Washington,
affirmed by every succeeding President, and imposed upon us by The
Hague treaty, of non-intervention in European controversies, the
American people earnestly hope that a way may soon be found, hon-
orable alike to both contending parties, to terminate the strife between
them.
"In accepting, by the treaty of Paris, the just responsibility of
our victories in the Spanish War, the President and the Senate won
the undoubted approval of the American people. No other course
was possible than to destroy Spain's sovereignty throughout the West
Indies and in the Philippine Islands. That course created our re-
sponsibility before the world; and, with the unorganized population
whom our intervention had freed from Spain, to provide for the
maintenance of law and order and for the establishment of good
government and for the performance of international obligations,
our authority could not be less than our responsibility, and wherever
sovereign rights were extended it became the high duty of the gov-
ernment to maintain its authority, to put down armed insurrection,
and to confer the blessings of liberty and civilization upon all the
rescued peoples. The largest measure of self-government consistent
with their welfare and our duties shall be secured to them by law.
"To Cuba, independence and self-government were assured in
the same voice by which war was declared, and to the letter this
pledge shall be performed.
"The Republican party, upon its history and upon this declaration
of its principles and policies, confidently invokes the considerate and
approving judgment of the American people."
1900J NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 321
Democratic Party
Convention held in Kansas City, July 4-6, 1900.
Temporary chairman, Charles S. Thomas, of Colorado;
permanent chairman, James D. Richardson, of Ten-
nessee.
William J. Bryan, of Nebraska, and Adlai E.
Stevenson, of Illinois, were nominated for President
and Vice-President. Both nominations were unani-
mous.
Platform :
"We, the representatives of the Democratic party of the United
States, assembled in national convention on the anniversary of the
adoption of the Declaration of Independence, do reaffirm our faith
in that immortal proclamation of the inalienable rights of man, and
our allegiance to the Constitution framed in harmony therewith by
the fathers of the republic. We hold with the United States Supreme
Court that the Declaration of Independence is the spirit of our gov-
ernment, of which the Constitution is the form and letter. We de-
clare again that all governments instituted among men derive their
just powers from the consent of the governed; that any government
not based upon the consent of the governed is a tyranny; and that to
impose upon any people a government of force is to substitute the
methods of imperialism for those of a republic. We hold that the
Constitution follows the flag, and denounce the doctrine that an
Executive or Congress deriving their existence and their powers from
the Constitution can exercise lawful authority beyond it, or in viola-
tion of it. We assert that no nation can long endure half republic
and half empire, and we warn the American people that imperialism
abroad will lead quickly and inevitably to despotism at home.
"Believing in these fundamental principles, we denounce the Porto
Rico law, enacted by a Republican Congress against the protest and
opposition of the Democratic minority, as a bold and open violation
of the nation's organic law and a flagrant breach of the national good
faith. It imposes upon the people of Porto Rico a government with-
322 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1900
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
out their consent and taxation without representation. It dishonors
the American people by repudiating a solemn pledge made in their
behalf by the commanding general of our army, which the Porto
Ricans welcomed to a peaceful and unresisted occupation of their
land. It dooms to poverty and distress a people whose helplessness
appeals with peculiar force to our justice and magnanimity. 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.
"We demand the prompt and honest fulfillment of our pledge to
the Cuban people and the world that the United States has no dis-
position 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 carpetbag officials plunder its revenues and
exploit the colonial theory to the disgrace of the American people.
"We condemn and denounce the Philippine policy of the present
administration. It has embroiled the republic in an unnecessary war,
sacrificed the lives of many of its noblest sons, and placed the United
States, previously known and 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 be citizens with-
out endangering our civilization; they cannot be subjects without
imperiling our form of government; and as we are not willing to
surrender our civilization or to convert the republic into an empire,
we favor an immediate declaration of the nation's purpose to give to
the Philippines first, a stable form of government; second, independ-
ence; and third, protection from outside interference such as has been
given for nearly a century to the republics of Central and South
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
1900] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 323
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 territory 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 dis-
tant 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 nations, 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 institu-
tions. We regard it as the paramount issue of the campaign.
"The declaration in the Republican platform, adopted at the
Philadelphia convention held in June, 1900, that the Republican party
'steadfastly adheres to the policy announced in the Monroe doctrine,'
is manifestly insincere and deceptive. 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 hemisphere. We
insist on the strict maintenance of the Monroe doctrine 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 authority.
"We oppose militarism. It means conquest abroad and intimida-
324 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL U900
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
tion and oppression at home. It means the strong arm, which has
ever been fatal to free institutions. It is what millions of our citi-
zens have fled from in Europe. It will impose upon our peace-
loving people a large standing army, an unnecessary burden of taxa-
tion, and a constant menace to their liberties. A small standing
army and a well-disciplined State militia are amply sufficient in time
of peace. This republic has no place for a vast military establish-
ment, a sure forerunner of compulsory military service and conscrip-
tion. When the nation is in danger the volunteer soldier is his coun-
try's best defender. The National Guard of the United States should
ever be cherished in the patriotic hearts of a free people. Such
organizations are ever an element of strength and safety. For the
first time in our history, and coeval 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.
"Private monopolies are indefensible and intolerable. They de-
stroy competition, control the price of raw material and of the
finished product, thus robbing both producer and consumer. They
lessen the employment of labor and arbitrarily fix the terms and
conditions thereof, and deprive individual energy and small capital
of their opportunity of 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 its 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 ad-
ministration in return for campaign subscriptions and political sup-
port.
"We pledge the Democratic party to an unceasing warfare in
nation, State, and city against private monopoly in every form.
Existing laws against trusts must be enforced and more stringent
1900] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 325
ones must be enacted providing for publicity as to the affairs of cor-
porations engaged in interstate commerce and requiring all corpora-
tions 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 interstate commerce,
the mails, and all modes of interstate communication shall be exer-
cised 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 pro-
tection. The failure of the present Republican administration, with
an absolute control over all of the branches of the national govern-
ment, 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 corpora-
tions 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 meas-
ure, skillfully devised to give to the few favors which they do not
deserve, and to place upon the many burdens which they should not
bear.
"We favor such an enlargement of the scope of the Interstate Com-
merce law as will enable the commission to protect individuals and
communities from discriminations and the public from unjust and
unfair transportation rates.
"We reaffirm and endorse the principles of the national Demo-
cratic platform adopted at Chicago in 1896, and we reiterate the
demand of that platform for an American financial system made by
the American people for themselves, and which shall restore and
maintain a bimetallic price level; and as part of such system the
immediate restoration of the free and unlimited coinage of silver and
326 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1900
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
gold at the present legal ratio of sixteen to one, without waiting for
the aid or consent of any other nation.
"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 sovereign 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 gov-
ernment bonds, must have a permanent debt to rest upon, and, if
the bank currency is to increase with population and business, the
debt must also increase. The Republican currency scheme is, there-
fore, a scheme for fastening upon the taxpayer a perpetual and grow-
ing debt for the benefit of the banks. We are opposed to this pri-
vate corporation paper circulated as money but without legal-tender
qualities, and demand the retirement of National banknotes as fast
as government paper or silver certificates can be substituted for
them.
"We favor an amendment to the Federal Constitution providing
for the election of United States Senators by direct vote of the peo-
ple, and we favor direct legislation wherever practicable.
"We are opposed to government by injunction; we denounce the
blacklist, and favor arbitration as a means of settling disputes be-
tween corporations and their employes.
"In the interest of American labor and the upbuilding of the
workingman, 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 cabinet, believing that the elevation
of the American laborer will bring with it increased production and
increased prosperity to our country at home and to our commerce
abroad.
"We are proud of the courage and fidelity of the American sol-
diers and sailors in all our wars; we favor liberal pensions to them
and their dependents; and we reiterate the position taken in the
Chicago platform in 1896, that the fact of enlistment and service
shall be deemed conclusive evidence against disease and disability
before enlistment.
1900] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 327
"We favor the immediate construction, ownership, and control of
the Nicaraguan canal by the United States, and we denounce the
insincerity of the plank in the Republican national platform for an
Isthmian canal in the 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 not to be tolerated by the American
people.
"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 Territo-
ries immediate statehood, and home rule during their condition as
Territories; and we favor home rule and a Territorial form of gov-
ernment for Alaska and Porto Rico.
"We favor an intelligent system of improving the arid lands of
the west, storing the waters for the purpose of irrigation, and the
holding of such lands for actual settlers.
"We favor the continuance and strict enforcement of the Chinese
Exclusion law, and its application to the same classes of all Asiatic
races.
"Jefferson said: 'Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with
all nations, entangling alliances with none.' We approve this whole-
some doctrine and earnestly protest against the Republican depart-
ure which has involved us in so-called world politics, including the
diplomacy of Europe and the intrigue and land-grabbing of Asia,
and we especially 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.
"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 believe, for the entire American nation,
except its Republican office-holders, and for all the free men every-
where, we extend our sympathies to the heroic burghers in their
unequal struggle to maintain their liberty and independence.
328 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL U900
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"We denounce the lavish appropriations of recent Republican Con-
gresses, which have kept taxes high and which threaten the perpetua-
tion of the oppressive war levies. We oppose the accumulation of a
surplus to be squandered in such barefaced frauds upon the taxpay-
ers as the Shipping Subsidy bill, which, under the false pretense of
fostering American shipbuilding, would put unearned millions into
the pockets of favorite contributors to the Republican campaign
fund. 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 expenditures.
"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 govern-
ment which have made the United States great, prosperous, and hon-
ored, we earnestly ask for the foregoing declaration of principles the
hearty support of the liberty-loving American people, regardless of
previous party affiliations."
Other Parties
People's Party. — Convention held in Sioux Falls,
South Dakota, May 9-10, 1900. For President, Wil-
liam J. Bryan. The convention nominated for Vice-
President Charles A. Towne, of Minnesota, who in the
summer withdrew in the interest of complete fusion
with the Democratic party. Adlai E. Stevenson, the
Democratic candidate for Vice-President, was there-
upon nominated by the national committee of the Peo-
ple's party.
People's Party, "Middle-of-the-Road" Bolters.—
Convention held in Cincinnati, May 9-10, 1900. For
President, Wharton Barker, of Pennsylvania; for Vice-
President, Ignatius Donnelly, of Minnesota.
r
CHESTER A. ARTHUR
Chester A. Arthur, 21st president; born at Fairfield, Vt,
October 5, 1830; lawyer; teacher; engineer and chief of staff of
Governor Edwin D. Morgan; appointed by President Grant
collector of the port of New York, 1871 ; removed for political
reasons, July 11, 1878; elected vice president, 1880; became
president September 20, 1881, upon the death of President Gar-
field; died in New York City, November 18, 1886.
1900] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 329
Silver Republican Party. — Convention held in Kan-
sas City, July 4-6. For President, William J. Bryan;
for Vice-President, Adlai E. Stevenson.
Prohibition Party. — Convention held in Chicago,
June 27-28, 1900. For President, John G. Woolley, of
Illinois; for Vice-President, Henry B. Metcalf, of
Rhode Island.
Socialist Labor Party. — Convention held in New
York, June 2-8. For President, Joseph Francis Mal-
loney, of Massachusetts; for Vice-President, Valentine
Remmel, of Pennsylvania.
Social Democratic Party of the United States. —
Convention held in Rochester, New York, January 27,
1900. For President, Job Harriman, of California;
for Vice-President, Max S. Hayes, of Ohio.
Social Democratic Party of America. — Convention
held in Indianapolis, March 6, 1900. For President,
Eugene V. Debs, of Indiana; for Vice-President, Job
Harriman, of California.
Union Reform Party. — Convention held in Balti-
more, September 3. For President, Seth W. Ellis, of
Ohio; for Vice-President, Samuel T. Nicholson, of
Pennsylvania. This party restricted its program to a
demand for "direct legislation under the system known
as the initiative and referendum."
The Election
Electoral vote for President and Vice-President:
William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt, Republicans: —
California, 9; Connecticut, 6; Delaware, 3; Illinois, 24; Indiana,
15; Iowa, 13; Kansas, 10; Maine, 6; Maryland, 8; Massachusetts,
330 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1900
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
15; Michigan, 14; Minnesota, 9; Nebraska, 8; New Hampshire, 4;
New Jersey, 10 ; New York, 36 ; North Dakota, 3 ; Ohio, 23 ; Oregon,
4; Pennsylvania, 32; Rhode Island, 4; South Dakota, 4; Utah, 3;
Vermont, 4; Washington, 4; West Virginia, 6; Wisconsin, 12;
Wyoming, 3. Total, 292. Elected.
William J. Bryan and Adlai E. Stevenson, Democrats: — Ala-
bama, 11; Arkansas, 8; Colorado, 4; Florida, 4; Georgia, 13; Idaho,
3; Kentucky, 13; Louisiana, 8; Mississippi, 9; Missouri, 17; Mon-
tana, 3 ; Nevada, 3 ; North Carolina, 1 1 ; South Carolina, 9 ; Ten-
nessee, 12; Texas, 15; Virginia, 12. Total, 155.
Popular vote :
McKinley, 7,219,530; Bryan, 6,358,071; Woolley, 209,166;
Debs, 94,768; Barker, 50,232; Malloney, 32,751 ; Ellis, not collated.
1904
Republican Party
Convention held in Chicago, June 21-23, 1904.
Temporary chairman, Elihu Root, of New York; per-
manent chairman, Joseph G. Cannon, of Illinois.
President Roosevelt was unanimously renominated.
Charles W. Fairbanks, of Indiana, was nominated
unanimously for Vice-President.
Platform :
"Fifty years ago the Republican party came into existence dedi-
cated, among other purposes, to the great task of arresting the exten-
sion of human slavery. In 1860 it elected its first President. Dur-
ing twenty-four of the forty-four years which have elapsed since the
election of Lincoln the Republican party has held complete control of
the government. For eighteen more of the forty-four years it has
held partial control through the possession of one or two branches
of the government, while the Democratic party during the same
period has had complete control for only two years. This long
tenure of power by the Republican party is not due to chance. It
is a demonstration that the Republican party has commanded the confi-
dence of the American people for nearly two generations to a degree
never equaled in our history, and has displayed a high capacity for
rule and government which has been made even more conspicuous
by the incapacity and infirmity of purpose shown by its opponents.
"The Republican party entered upon its present period of com-
plete supremacy in 1897. We have every right to congratulate our-
selves upon the work since then accomplished, for it has added luster
331
332 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL f!904
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
even to the traditions of the party which carried the government
through the storms of civil war.
"We then found the country, after four years of Democratic rule,
in evil plight, oppressed with misfortune and doubtful of the future.
Public credit had been lowered, the revenues were declining, the debt
was growing, the administration's attitude toward Spain was feeble
and mortifying, the standard of value was threatened and uncertain,
labor was unemployed, business was sunk in the depression which
had succeeded the panic of 1893, hope was faint, and confidence was
gone.
"We met these unhappy conditions vigorously, effectively, and at
once. We replaced a Democratic tariff law based on free trade
principles and garnished with sectional protection by a consistent
protective tariff; and industry, freed from oppression and stimulated
by the encouragement of wise laws, has expanded to a degree never
before known, has conquered new markets, and has created a volume
of exports which has surpassed imagination. Under the Dingley
tariff labor has been fully employed, wages have risen, and all indus-
tries have revived and prospered.
"We firmly established the gold standard, which was then men-
aced with destruction. Confidence returned to business, and with
confidence an unexampled prosperity.
"For deficient revenues, supplemented by improvident issues of
bonds, we gave the country an income which produced a large sur-
plus and which enabled us only four years after the Spanish War
had closed to remove over one hundred millions of annual war taxes,
reduce the public debt, and lower the interest charges of the gov-
ernment.
"The public credit, which had been so lowered that in time of
peace a Democratic administration made large loans at extravagant
rates of interest in order to pay current expenditures, rose under
Republican administration to its highest point and enabled us to
borrow at 2 per cent, even in time of war.
"We refused to palter longer with the miseries of Cuba. We
fought a quick and victorious war with Spain. We set Cuba free,
governed the island for three years, and then gave it to the Cuban
1904] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 333
people with order restored, with ample revenues, with education and
public health established, free from debt, and connected with the
United States by wise provisions for our mutual interests.
"We have organized the government of Porto Rico, and its people
now enjoy peace, freedom, order, and prosperity.
"In the Philippines we have suppressed insurrection, established
order, and given to life and property a security never known there
before. We have organized civil government, made it effective
and strong in administration, and have conferred upon the people of
those islands the largest civil liberty they have ever enjoyed.
"By our possession of the Philippines we were enabled to take
prompt and effective action in the relief of the legations at Peking
and a decisive part in preventing the partition and preserving the
integrity of China.
"The possession of a route for an Isthmian canal, so long the
dream of American statesmanship, is now an accomplished fact. The
great work of connecting the Pacific and Atlantic by a canal is at
last begun, and it is due to the Republican party.
"We have passed laws which will bring the arid lands of the
United States within the area of cultivation.
"We have reorganized the army and put it in the highest state of
efficiency.
"We have passed laws for the improvement and support of the
militia.
"We have pushed forward the building of the navy — the defense
and protection of our honor and our interests.
"Our administration of the great departments of the government
has been honest and efficient, and wherever wrong-doing has been
discovered the Republican administration has not hesitated to probe
the evil and bring the offenders to justice without regard to party or
political ties.
"Laws enacted by the Republican party which the Democratic
party failed to enforce and which were intended for the protection
of the public against the unjust discrimination or the illegal encroach-
ment of vast aggregations of capital, have been fearlessly enforced by
a Republican President, and new laws insuring reasonable publicity
334 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1904
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
as to the operations of great corporations, and providing additional
remedies for the prevention of discrimination in freight rates, have
been passed by a Republican Congress.
"In this record of achievement during the past eight years may be
read the pledges which the Republican party has fulfilled. We
promise to continue these policies, and we declare our constant adher-
ence to the following principles:
"Protection, which guards and develops our industries, is a cardi-
nal policy of the Republican party. The measure of protection
should always at least equal the difference in the cost of production
at home and abroad. We insist upon the maintenance of the princi-
ple of protection, and therefore rates of duty should be readjusted only
when conditions have so changed that the public interest demands*
their alteration, but this work cannot safely be committed to any
other hands than those of the Republican party. To entrust it to
the Democratic party is to invite disaster. Whether, as in 1892, the
Democratic party declares the protective tariff unconstitutional, or
whether it demands tariff reform or tariff revision, its real object is
always the destruction of the protective system. However specious
the name, the purpose is ever the same. A Democratic tariff has
always been followed by business adversity, a Republican tariff by
business prosperity. To a Republican Congress and a Republican
President this great question can be safely entrusted. When the
only free trade country among the great nations agitates a return to
protection, the chief protective country should not falter in main-
taining it.
"We have extended widely our foreign markets, and we believe in
the adoption of all practicable methods for their further extension,
including commercial reciprocity wherever reciprocal arrangements
can be effected consistent with the principles of protection and with-
out injury to American agriculture, American labor, or any Ameri-
can industry.
"We believe it to be the duty of the Republican party to uphold
the gold standard and the integrity and value of our national cur-
rency. The maintenance of the gold standard, established by the
Republican party, cannot safely be committed to the Democratic
1904) NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 335
party, which resisted its adoption and has never given any proof
since that time of belief in it or fidelity to it.
"While every other industry has prospered under the fostering
aid of Republican legislation, American shipping engaged in foreign
trade in competition with the low cost of construction, low wages,
and heavy subsidies of foreign governments, has not for many years
received from the government of the United States adequate encour-
agement of any kind. We therefore favor legislation which will
encourage and build up the American merchant marine, and we cor-
dially approve the legislation of the last Congress which created the
Merchant Marine commission to investigate and report upon this
subject.
"A navy powerful enough to defend the United States against
any attack, to uphold the Monroe doctrine, and watch over our com-
merce, is essential to the safety and the welfare of the American
people. To maintain such a navy is the fixed policy of the Republi-
can party.
"We cordially approve the attitude of President Roosevelt and
Congress in regard to the exclusion of Chinese labor, and promise a
continuance of the Republican policy in that direction.
"The Civil Service law was placed on the statute-books by the
Republican party, which has always sustained it, and we renew our
former declarations that it shall be thoroughly and honestly enforced.
"We are always mindful of the country's debt to the soldiers and
sailors of the United States, and we believe in making ample provi-
sion for them and in the liberal administration of the Pension laws.
"We favor the peaceful settlement of international differences by
arbitration.
"We commend the vigorous efforts made by the administration to
protect American citizens in foreign lands, and pledge ourselves to
insist upon the just and equal protection of all our citizens abroad.
It is the unquestioned duty of the government to procure for all our
citizens, without distinction, the rights of travel and sojourn in
friendly countries, and we declare ourselves in favor of all proper
efforts tending to that end.
"Our great interests and our growing commerce in the Orient
336 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1904
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
render the condition of China of high importance to the United
States. We cordially commend the policy pursued in that direction
by the administrations of President McKinley and President Roose-
velt.
"We favor such Congressional action as shall determine whether
by special discriminations the elective franchise in any State has been
unconstitutionally limited, and if such is the case we demand that
representation in Congress and in the Electoral Colleges shall be pro-
portionally reduced as directed by the Constitution of the United
States.
"Combinations of capital and of labor are the results of the
economic movement of the age, but neither must be permitted to
infringe upon the rights and interests of the people. Such combi-
nations, when lawfully formed for lawful purposes, are alike entitled
to the protection of the laws, but both are subject to the laws and
neither can be permitted to break them.
"The great statesman and patriotic American, William McKinley,
who was reflected by the Republican party to the Presidency four
years ago, was assassinated just at the threshold of his second term.
The entire nation mourned his untimely death and did that justice
to his great qualities of mind and character which history will con-
firm and repeat.
"The American people were fortunate in his successor, to whom
they turned with a trust and confidence which have been fully justi-
fied. President Roosevelt brought to the great responsibilities thus
sadly forced upon him a clear head, a brave heart, an earnest patriot-
ism, and high ideals of public duty and public service. True to the
principles of the Republican party and to the policies which that
party had declared, he has also shown himself ready for every emer-
gency and has met new and vital questions with ability and with
success.
"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.
1904] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 337
"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.
338 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1904
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"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
1904] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 339
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
340 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1904
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
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.
1904] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 341
"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-
342 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1904
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
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
1904J NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 343
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
344 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1904
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
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; reflected 1892; died July 24, 1908,
Princeton, N. J.
1904] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 345
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.
346 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1904
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"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
»904] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 347
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
348 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1904
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
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."
Other Parties
People's Party. — Convention held in Springfield,
Illinois, July 4-6, 1904. For President, Thomas E.
Watson, of Georgia; for Vice-President, Thomas H.
Tibbies, of Nebraska.
Prohibition Party. — Convention held in Indianapo-
lis, June 29-July 1, 1904. For President, Silas C.
Swallow, of Pennsylvania; for Vice-President, George
W. Carroll, of Texas.
Socialist Labor Party. — Convention held in New
York, July 3-9, 1904. For President, Charles H. Cor-
rigan, of New York; for Vice-President, William W.
Cox, of Illinois.
Socialist Party. — Convention held in Chicago, May
1-6, 1904. For President, Eugene V. Debs, of Indi-
ana; for Vice-President, Benjamin Hanford, of New
York.
1904] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 349
The Election
Electoral vote for President and Vice-President:
Theodore Roosevelt and Charles W. Fairbanks, Republicans: —
California, 10; Colorado, 5; Connecticut, 7; Delaware, 3; Idaho,
3; Illinois, 27; Indiana, 15; Iowa, 13; Kansas, 10; Maine, 6;
Maryland, 1; Massachusetts, 16; Michigan, 14; Minnesota, 11;
Missouri, 18; Montana, 3; Nebraska, 8; Nevada, 3; New Hamp-
shire, 4; New Jersey, 12; New York, 39; North Dakota, 4; Ohio,
23; Oregon, 4; Pennsylvania, 34; Rhode Island, 4; South Dakota,
4; Utah, 3; Vermont, 4; Washington, 5; West Virginia, 7; Wis-
consin, 13; Wyoming, 3. Total, 336. Elected.
Alton B. Parker and Henry G. Davis, Democrats: — Alabama,
11; Arkansas, 9; Florida, 5; Georgia, 13; Kentucky, 13; Louisiana,
9; Maryland, 7; Mississippi, 10; North Carolina, 12; South Carolina,
9; Tennessee, 12; Texas, 18; Virginia, 12. Total, 140.
Popular vote:
Roosevelt, 7,628,834; Parker, 5,084,491; Debs, 402,460; Swal-
law, 259,257; Watson, 114,753; Corrigan, 33,724.
1908
Republican Party
Convention held in Chicago, June 16-19, 1908.
Temporary chairman, Julius C. Burrows, of Michi-
gan; permanent chairman, Henry Cabot Lodge, of
Massachusetts.
William H. Taft, of Ohio, was nominated for Presi-
dent on the first ballot, the vote standing: Taft, 703;
Philander C. Knox, of Pennsylvania, 68 ; Charles E.
Hughes, of New York, 67; Joseph G. Cannon, of Illi-
nois, 40; Robert M. LaFollette, of Wisconsin, 25;
Joseph B. Foraker, of Ohio, 16; Theodore Roosevelt, 3.
James S. Sherman, of New York, received the Vice-
Presidential nomination on the first ballot, having 816
votes to 163 for four others.
Platform :
"Once more the Republican party, in national convention assem-
bled, submits its cause to the people. This great historic organiza-
tion that destroyed slavery, preserved the Union, restored credit,
expanded the national domain, established a sound financial system,
developed the industries and resources of the country, and gave to
the nation her seat of honor in the councils of the world, now meets
the new problems of government with the same courage and capac-
ity with which it solved the old.
"Republicanism under Roosevelt. — In this, the greatest era of
American advancement, the Republican party has reached its highest
service under the leadership of Theodore Roosevelt. His administra-
350
1908] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 351
tion is an epoch in American history. In no other period since
national sovereignty was won under Washington, or preserved under
Lincoln, has there been such mighty progress in those ideals of gov-
ernment which make for justice, equality, and fair-dealing among
men. The highest aspirations of the American people have found a
voice. Their most exalted servant represents the best aims and wor-
thiest purposes of all his countrymen. American manhood has been
lifted to a noble sense of duty and obligation. Conscience and cour-
age in public station and higher standards of right and wrong in pri-
vate life have become cardinal principles of political faith; capital
and labor have been brought into closer relations of confidence and
interdependence; and the abuse of wealth, the tyranny of power,
and all the evils of privilege and favoritism have been put to scorn
by the simple, manly virtues of justice and fair play.
"The great accomplishments of President Roosevelt have been,
first and foremost, a brave and impartial enforcement of the law; the
prosecution of illegal trusts and monopolies; the exposure and pun-
ishment of evil-doers in the public service; the more effective regula-
tion of the rates and service of the great transportation lines; the
complete overthrow of preferences, rebates, and discriminations; the
arbitration of labor disputes; the amelioration of the condition of
wage-workers everywhere; the conservation of the natural resources
of the country; the forward step in the improvement of the inland
waterways; and always the earnest support and defense of every
wholesome safeguard which has made more secure the guarantees of
life, liberty, and property.
"These are the achievements that will make for Theodore Roose-
velt his place in history, but more than all else the great things he
has done will be an inspiration to those who have yet greater things
to do. We declare our unfaltering adherence to the policies thus
inaugurated, and pledge their continuance under a Republican admin-
istration of the government.
"Equality of Opportunity. — Under the guidance of Republican
principles the American people have become the richest nation in the
world. Our wealth to-day exceeds that of England and all her
colonies, and that of France and Germany combined. When the
352 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1908
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Republican party was born the total wealth of the country was
$16,000,000,000. It has leaped to $110,000,000,000 in a genera-
tion, while Great Britain has gathered but $60,000,000,000 in five
hundred years. The United States now owns one-fourth of the
world's wealth and makes one-third of all modern manufactured pro-
ducts. In the great necessities of civilization, such as coal, the
motive power of all activity; iron, the chief basis of all industry;
cotton, the staple foundation of all fabrics; wheat, corn, and all the
agricultural products that feed mankind, American's supremacy is
undisputed. And yet her great natural wealth has been scarcely
touched. We have a vast domain of three million square miles,
literally bursting with latent treasure, still waiting the magic of
capital and industry to be converted to the practical uses of man-
kind; a country rich in soil and climate, in the unharnessed energy
of its rivers, and in all the varied products of the field, the forest,
and the factory. With gratitude for God's bounty, with pride in
the splendid productiveness of the past, and with confidence in the
plenty and prosperity of the future, the Republican party declares for
the principle that in the development and enjoyment of wealth so
great and blessings so benign there shall be equal opportunity for
all.
"Revival of Business. — Nothing so clearly demonstrates the sound
basis upon which our commercial, industrial, and agricultural inter-
ests are founded, and the necessity of promoting their continued wel-
fare through the operation of Republican policies, as the recent safe
passage of the American people through a financial disturbance
which, if appearing in the midst of Democratic rule or the menace
of it, might have equaled the familiar Democratic panics of the past.
We congratulate the people upon this renewed evidence of American
supremacy and hail with confidence the signs now manifest of a com-
plete restoration of business prosperity in all lines of trade, com-
merce, and manufacturing.
"Recent Republican Legislation. — Since the election of William
McKinley in 1896, the people of this country have felt anew the
wisdom of entrusting to the Republican party, through decisive ma-
jorities, the control and direction of national legislation.
1908] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 353
"The many wise and progressive measures adopted at recent ses-
sions of Congress have demonstrated the patriotic resolve of Repub-
lican leadership in the legislative department to keep step in the
forward march toward better government.
"Notwithstanding the indefensible filibustering of a Democratic
minority in the House of Representatives during the last session,
many wholesome and progressive laws were enacted, and we espe-
cially commend the passage of the Emergency Currency bill, the
appointment of the National Monetary commission, the Employers'
and Government Liability laws, the measures for the greater efficiency
of the army and navy, the Widows' Pension bill, the Child Labor law
for the District of Columbia, the new statute for the safety of rail-
road engineers and firemen, and many other acts conserving the public
welfare.
"Tariff. — The Republican party declares unequivocally for a re-
vision of the tariff by a special session of Congress immediately fol-
lowing the inauguration of the next President, and commends the
steps already taken to this end in the work assigned to the appro-
priate committees of Congress which are now investigating the
operation and effect of existing schedules.
"In all tariff legislation the true principle of protection is best
maintained by the imposition of such duties as will equal the dif-
ference between the cost of production at home and abroad, together
with a reasonable profit to American industries. We favor the
establishment of maximum and minimum rates to be administered by
the President under limitations fixed in the law, the maximum to be
available to meet discriminations by foreign countries against Ameri-
can goods entering their markets, and the minimum to represent the
normal measure of protection at home — the aim and purpose of the
Republican policy being not only to preserve, without excessive duties,
that security against foreign competition to which American manu-
facturers, farmers, and producers are entitled, but also to maintain
the high standard of living of the wage-earners of this country, who
are the most direct beneficiaries of the protective system. Between
the United States and the Philippines we believe in a free inter-
35+ POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1908
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
change of products with such limitations as to sugar and tobacco as
will afford adequate protection to domestic interests.
"Currency. — We approve the emergency measures adopted by the
government during the recent financial disturbance, and especially
commend the passage by Congress at the last session of the law
designed to protect the country from a repetition of such stringency.
The Republican party is committed to the development of a perma-
nent currency system, responding to our greater needs; and the
appointment of the National Monetary commission by the present
Congress, which will impartially investigate all proposed methods,
insures the early realization of this purpose. The present currency
laws have fully justified their adoption; but an expanding commerce,
a marvelous growth in wealth and population multiplying the cen-
ters of distribution, increasing the demand for the movement of crops
in the west and south, and entailing periodic changes in monetary
conditions, disclose the need of a more elastic and adaptable system.
Such a system must meet the requirements of agriculturists, manu-
facturers, merchants, and business men generally, must be automatic
in operation, minimizing the fluctuations in interest rates, and, above
all, must be in harmony with the Republican doctrine which insists
that every dollar shall be based upon and as good as gold.
"Postal Savings. — We favor the establishment of a postal savings
bank system for the convenience of the people and the encourage-
ment of thrift.
"Trusts. — The Republican party passed the Sherman Anti-Trust
law over Democratic opposition, and enforced it after Democratic
dereliction. It has been a wholesome instrument for good in the
hands of a wise and fearless administration. But experience has
shown that its effectiveness can be strengthened and its real objects
better attained by such amendments as will give to the Federal gov-
ernment greater supervision and control over, and secure greater pub-
licity in, the management of that class of corporations engaged in
interstate commerce having power and opportunity to effect monopo-
lies.
"Railroads. — We approve the enactment of the Railroad Rate law
and the vigorous enforcement by the present administration of the
1908] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 355
statutes against rebates and discriminations, as a result of which the
advantages formerly possessed by the large shipper over the small
shipper have substantially disappeared; and in this connection we
commend the appropriation by the present Congress to enable the
Interstate Commerce commission to thoroughly investigate and give
publicity to the accounts of interstate railroads. We believe, how-
ever, that the Interstate Commerce law should be further amended so
as to give railroads the right to make and publish tariff agreements
subject to the approval of the commission but maintaining always the
principle of competition between naturally competing lines and avoid-
ing the common control of such lines by any means whatsoever. We
favor such national legislation and supervision as will prevent the
future over-issue of stock and bonds by interstate carriers.
"Railroad and Government Employes. — The enactment in consti-
tutional form at the present session of Congress of the Employers'
Liability law; the passage and enforcement of the Safety Appliance
statutes, as well as the additional protection secured for engineers
and firemen; the reduction in the hours of labor of trainmen and
railroad telegraphers; the successful exercise of the powers of media-
tion and arbitration between interstate railroads and their employes,
and the law making a beginning in the policy of compensation for
injured employes of the government, are among the most commend-
able accomplishments of the present administration. But there is
further work in this direction yet to be done, and the Republican
party pledges its continued devotion to every cause that makes for
safety and the betterment of conditions among those whose labor
contributes so much to the progress and welfare of the country.
"Wage-Earners Generally. — The same wise policy which has in-
duced the Republican party to maintain protection to American labor ;
to establish an eight-hour day in the construction of all public works ;
to increase the list of employes who shall have preferred claims for
wages under the bankruptcy laws; to adopt a child labor statute for
the District of Columbia; to direct an investigation into the condi-
tion of working women and children, and later, of employes of tele-
phone and telegraph companies engaged in interstate business; to
appropriate $150,000 at the recent session of Congress in order to
356 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1908
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
secure a thorough inquiry into the causes of catastrophies and loss of
life in the mines; and to amend and strengthen the law prohibiting
the importation of contract labor, will be pursued in every legitimate
direction within Federal authority to lighten the burdens and in-
crease the opportunity for happiness and advancement of all who toil.
The Republican party recognizes the special needs of wage-workers
generally, for their well-being means the well-being of all. But
more important than all other considerations is that of good citizen-
ship, and we especially stand for the needs of every American, what-
ever his occupation, in his capacity as a self-respecting citizen.
"Court Procedure. — The Republican party will uphold at all
times the authority and integrity of the courts, State and Federal,
and will ever insist that their power to enforce their processes and
to protect life, liberty, and property shall be preserved inviolate. We
believe, however, that the rule of procedure in the Federal courts with
respect to the issuance of the writ of injunction should be more
accurately defined by statute, and that no injunction or temporary
restraining order should be issued without notice, except where
irreparable injury would result from delay, in which case a speedy
hearing thereafter should be granted.
"The American Farmer. — Among those whose welfare is as vital
to the welfare of the whole country as is that of the wage-earner,
is the American farmer. The prosperity of the country rests pecu-
liarly upon the prosperity of agriculture. The Republican party
during the last twelve years has accomplished extraordinary work in
bringing the resources of the national government to the aid of the
farmer, not only in advancing agriculture itself but in increasing the
conveniences of rural life. Free rural mail delivery has been estab-
lished; it now reaches millions of our citizens, and we favor its
extension until every community in the land receives the full benefits
of the postal service. We recognize the social and economical ad-
vantages of good country roads, maintained more and more largely at
public expense and less and less at the expense of the abutting owner.
In this work we commend the growing practice of State aid, and we
approve the efforts of the national Agricultural department by experi-
1908] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 357
ments and otherwise to make clear to the public the best methods of
road construction.
"Rights of the Negro. — The Republican party has been for more
than fifty years the consistent friend of the American negro. It
gave him freedom and citizenship. It wrote into the organic law the
declarations that proclaim his civil and political rights, and it be-
lieves to-day that his noteworthy progress in intelligence, industry,
and good citizenship has earned the respect and encouragement of the
nation. We demand equal justice for all men, without regard to
race or color ; we declare once more, and without reservation, for the
enforcement in letter and spirit of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and
Fifteenth amendments to the Constitution which were designed for
the protection and advancement of the negro; and we condemn all
devices that have for their real aim his disfranchisement for reasons of
color alone as unfair, un-American, and repugnant to the supreme law
of the land.
"Natural Resources and Waterways. — We endorse the movement
inaugurated by the administration for the conservation of natural
resources; we approve all measures to prevent the waste of timber;
we commend the work now going on for the reclamation of arid
lands, and reaffirm the Republican policy of the free distribution of
the available areas of the public domain to the landless settler. No
obligation of the future is more insistent, and none will result in
greater blessings to posterity. In line with this splendid undertaking
is the future duty, equally imperative, to enter upon a systematic im-
provement upon a large and comprehensive plan, just to all portions
of the country, of the waterways, harbors, and Great Lakes, whose
natural adaptability to the increasing traffic of the land is one of the
greatest gifts of a benign Providence.
"The Army and Navy. — The Sixtieth Congress passed many com-
mendable acts increasing the efficiency of the army and navy ; making
the militia of the States an integral part of the national establish-
ment; authorizing joint manoeuvers of army and militia; fortifying
new naval bases and completing the construction of coaling stations;
instituting a female nurse corps for naval hospitals and ships; and
adding two new battleships, ten torpedo-boat destroyers, three steam
358 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1908
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
colliers, and eight submarines to the strength of the navy. Although
at peace with all the world, and secure in the consciousness that the
American people do not desire and will not provoke a war with any
other country, we nevertheless declare our unalterable devotion to a
policy that will keep this republic ready at all times to defend her
traditional doctrines and assure her appropriate part in promoting
permanent tranquillity among the nations.
"Protection of American Citizens Abroad. — We commend the
vigorous efforts made by the administration to protect American citi-
zens in foreign lands, and pledge ourselves to insist upon the just and
equal protection of all our citizens abroad. It is the unquestioned
duty of the government to procure for all citizens, without distinc-
tion, the rights of travel and sojourn in friendly countries, and we
declare ourselves in favor of all proper efforts tending to that end.
"Extension of Foreign Commerce. — Under the administration of
the Republican party the foreign commerce of the United States has
experienced a remarkable growth, until it has a present annual valua-
tion of approximately three billions of dollars and gives employment
to a vast amount of labor and capital which would otherwise be idle.
It has inaugurated, through the recent visit of the Secretary of State
to South America and Mexico, a new era of Pan-American com-
merce and comity, which is bringing us into closer touch with our
twenty sister American republics having a common historical heritage,
a republican form of government, and offering us a limitless field of
legitimate commercial expansion.
"Arbitration and The Hague Treaties. — The conspicuous contri-
butions of American statesmanship to the great cause of international
peace, so signally advanced in The Hague conferences, are an occa-
sion for just pride and gratification. At the last session of the Senate
of the United States eleven Hague conventions were ratified, estab-
lishing the rights of neutrals, laws of war on land, restriction of sub-
marine mines, limiting the use of force for the collection of contractual
debts, governing the opening of hostilities, extending the application
of Geneva principles, and in many ways lessening the evils of war and
promoting the peaceful settlement of international controversies. At
the same session twelve arbitration conventions with great nations
1908] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 359
were confirmed, and extradition, boundary, and naturalization treaties
of supreme importance were ratified. We endorse such achievements
as the highest duty a people can perform, and proclaim the obligation
of further strengthening the bonds of friendship and good-will with
all the nations of the world.
"Merchant Marine. — We adhere to the Republican doctrine of
encouragement to American shipping and urge such legislation as will
revive the merchant marine prestige of the country so essential to
national defense, the enlargement of foreign trade, and the industrial
prosperity of our own people.
"Veterans of the Wars. — Another Republican policy which must
be ever maintained is that of generous provision for those who have
fought the country's battles and for the widows and orphans of those
who have fallen. We commend the increase in the widows' pension
made by the present Congress and declare for a liberal administration
of all Pension laws, to the end that the people's gratitude may grow
deeper as the memories of heroic sacrifice grow more and more sacred
with the passing years.
"Civil Service. — We reaffirm our former declarations that the
Civil Service laws, enacted, extended, and enforced by the Republican
party, shall continue to be maintained and obeyed.
"Public Health. — We commend the efforts designed to secure
greater efficiency in national public health agencies and favor such
legislation as will effect this purpose.
"Bureau of Mines and Mining. — In the interest of the great
mineral industries of our country, we earnestly favor the establish-
ment of a Bureau of Mines and Mining.
"Cuba, Porto Rico, Philippines, and Panama. — The American
government, in Republican hands, has freed Cuba, given peace and
protection to Porto Rico and the Philippines under our flag, and begun
the construction of the Panama canal. The present conditions in
Cuba vindicate the wisdom of maintaining, between that republic and
this, imperishable bonds of mutual interest, and the hope is now
expressed that the Cuban people will soon again be ready to assume
complete sovereignty over their land.
"In Porto Rico the government of the United States is meeting
360 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1908
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
loyal and patriotic support, order and prosperity prevail, and the well-
being of the people is in every respect promoted and conserved. We
believe that the native inhabitants of Porto Rico should be at once
collectively made citizens of the United States, and that all others
properly qualified under existing laws residing in said island should
have the privilege of becoming naturalized.
"In the Philippines insurrection has been suppressed, law estab-
lished, and life and property made secure. Education and practical
experience are there advancing the capacity of the people for govern-
ment, and the policies of McKinley and Roosevelt are leading the
inhabitants step by step to an ever-increasing measure of home rule.
"Time has justified the selection of the Panama route for the great
Isthmian canal, and events have shown the wisdom of securing author-
ity over the zone through which it is to be built. The work is now
progressing with a rapidity far beyond expectation, and already the
realization of the hopes of centuries has come within the vision of the
near future.
"New Mexico and Arizona. — We favor the immediate admission
of the Territories of New Mexico and Arizona as separate States in
the Union.
"Centenary of the Birth of Lincoln. — February 12, 1909, will be
the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, an
immortal spirit whose fame has brightened with the receding years
and whose name stands among the first of those given to the world by
the great republic. We recommend that this centennial anniversary
be celebrated throughout the confines of the nation by all the people
thereof, and especially by the public schools, as an exercise to stir the
patriotism of the youth of the land.
"Democratic Incapacity for Government. — We call the attention
of the American people to the fact that none of the great measures
here advocated by the Republican party could be enacted, and none of
the steps forward here proposed could be taken, under a Democratic
administration or under one in which party responsibility is divided.
The continuance of present policies, therefore, absolutely requires the
continuance in power of that party which believes in them and which
possesses the capacity to put them into operation.
BENJAMIN HARRISON
Benjamin Harrison, 23d president; born at North Bend, Ohio,
August 20, 1833; lawyer; served in civil war; United States
senator, 1881-87; elected president, 1888; defeated for reelec-
tion by Grover Cleveland, 1892; died at Indianapolis, Ind.,
March 13, 1901.
1908] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 361
"Fundamental Differences Between Democracy and Republican-
ism.— Beyond all platform declarations there are fundamental differ-
ences between the Republican party and its chief opponent which
make the one worthy and the other unworthy of public trust.
"In history, the difference between Democracy and Republicanism
is that the one stood for debased currency, the other for honest cur-
rency ; the one for free silver, the other for sound money ; the one for
free trade, the other for protection; the one for the contraction of
American influence, the other for its expansion; the one has been
forced to abandon every position taken on the great issues before the
people, the other has held and vindicated all.
"In experience, the difference between Democracy and Republi-
canism is that one means adversity, while the other means prosperity ;
one means low wages, the other means high ; one means doubt and debt,
the other means confidence and thrift.
"In principle, the difference between Democracy and Republican-
ism is that one stands for vacillation and timidity in government, the
other for strength and purpose; one stands for obstruction, the other
for construction ; one promises, the other performs ; one finds fault, the
other finds work.
"The present tendencies of the two parties are even more marked
by inherent differences. The trend of Democracy is toward socialism,
while the Republican party stands for a wise and regulated individu-
alism. Socialism would destroy wealth, Republicanism would prevent
its abuse. Socialism would give to each an equal right to take ; Repub-
licanism would give to each an equal right to earn. Socialism would
offer an equality of possession which would soon leave no one anything
to possess; Republicanism would give equality of opportunity which
would assure to each his share of a constantly increasing sum of pos-
sessions. In line with this tendency the Democratic party of to-day
believes in government ownership, while the Republican party believes
in government regulation. Ultimately Democracy would have the
nation own the people, while Republicanism would have the people
own the nation.
"Upon this platform of principles and purposes, reaffirming our
adherence to every Republican doctrine proclaimed since the birth of
362 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1908
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
the party, we go before the country asking the support not only of
those who have acted with us heretofore, but of all our fellow-citizens
who, regardless of past political differences, unite in the desire to main-
tain the policies, perpetuate the blessings, and make secure the achieve-
ments of a greater America."
A minority report on platform was presented to the
convention by Henry Allen Cooper, member of the
committee on resolutions from Wisconsin. This em-
bodied resolutions in favor of 1. Physical valuation of
the railways as the basis for determination of just and
reasonable railway rates; 2. Recognition of the princi-
ple that tariff duties should not be levied to such extent
as to establish monopoly; 3. Maintenance, enforce-
ment, and strengthening of the Sherman Anti-Trust
law as applied to trusts and combinations to control
production and prices, but exemption of labor organiza-
tions from the operation of that law; 4. Election of
United States Senators by direct popular vote; 5. Pub-
licity of campaign contributions and expenditures; 6.
Interstate regulation of telegraph and telephone serv-
ices and rates; 7. No ship subsidies, or other privileges
to special interests at public expense; 8. Prohibition of
the issuance of injunctions in cases arising out of labor
disputes; 9. Enlargement of the President's cabinet by
the appointment of a Secretary of Labor; 10. Exten-
sion of the Eight-hour law to all employes engaged on
government work; and 11. Enactment by Congress of
a general Employers' Liability law.
The minority report was briefly debated on the floor
of the convention. Albert J. Hopkins, of Illinois, the
chairman of the committee on resolutions, said:
1908] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 363
"Everything that is Republican in any one of those planks is
already adopted in the majority report. We [the committee] rejected
in those planks that have been offered by the gentleman from Wiscon-
sin the doctrines of socialism embodied in them. . . . The ques-
tion for you to determine is whether you will stand by the report of
the majority, or whether you will take the Socialist-Democratic utter-
ances of Wisconsin."
Separate votes by roll-call were taken on Mr. Coop-
er's resolutions Nos. 1, 4, and 5, with the following re-
sults: No. 1 — ayes 63, nays 917; No. 4 — ayes 1 14, nays
866; No. 5 — ayes 94, nays 880. The remaining resolu-
tions were voted on as a whole and rejected by 28 ayes
to 952 nays.
Democratic Party
Convention held in Denver, July 7-10, 1908. Tem-
porary chairman, Theodore A. Bell, of California;
permanent chairman, Henry D. Clayton, of Alabama.
On the first day of the convention, immediately after
completion of the organization, resolutions on the death
of Grover Cleveland, offered by I. J. Dunn, of Ne-
braska, were adopted,1 and as a further mark of respect
to the departed leader adjournment was taken until the
following day.
The convention nominated William J. Bryan for
*A more extended and laudatory expression in honor of Mr. Cleveland
had been prepared for submission to the convention by Alton B. Parker,
but before he could present it Mr. Dunn had been recognized by the chair-
man, and so the Dunn resolutions had priority. Mr. Parker thereupon rose
and read his intended expression, but did not offer it as a substitute.
The incident has been referred to by some writers as evidencing a
purpose on the part of Mr. Cleveland's old antagonists — if not of the Demo-
cratic convention itself — to do him but scant honor. But the wording of the
364 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL 1 1908
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
President, only one ballot being taken, which stood:
Bryan, 888^ ; George Gray, of Delaware, 59^ ; John
A. Johnson, of Minnesota, 46.
John W. Kern, of Indiana, was nominated for Vice-
President by acclamation.
Platform (unanimously adopted) :
"We, the representatives of the Democracy of the United States,
in national convention assembled, reaffirm our belief in, and pledge
our loyalty to, the principles of the party.
"We rejoice at the increasing signs of an awakening throughout the
country. The various investigations have traced graft and political
corruption to the representatives of predatory wealth, and laid bare
the unscrupulous methods by which they have debauched elections and
preyed upon a defenseless public through the subservient officials whom
they have raised to place and power.
"The conscience of the nation is now aroused to free the govern-
ment from the grip of those who have made it a business asset of the
favor-seeking corporations. It must become again a people's govern-
ment, and be administered in all its departments according to the
Jeffersonian maxim, 'Equal rights to all ; special privileges to none.'
"Shall the people rule? is the overshadowing issue which manifests
itself in all the questions now under discussion.
"Increase of Office-H aiders. — Coincident with the enormous in-
crease in expenditures is a like addition to the number of office-holders.
During the past year 23,784 were added, costing $16,156,000, and in
the past six years of Republican administration the total number of
new offices created, aside from many commissions, has been 99,319,
Dunn resolutions gave no indication of such a design. The following
tribute was paid in them to Mr. Cleveland:
"We, the delegates of the party in national convention assembled, rec-
ognize in him one of the strongest and ablest characters known to the world's
statesmanship, who possessed to an extraordinary degree the elements of
leadership and by his able, conscientious, and forceful administration of
public affairs reflected honor upon his country and upon his party."
See Official Report of the convention, pp. 31-35.
1908] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 365
entailing an additional expenditure of nearly $70,000,000, as against
only 10,279 new offices created under the Cleveland and McKinley
administrations, which involved an expenditure of only $6,000,000.
We denounce this great and growing increase in the number of office-
holders as not only unnecessary and wasteful, but also as clearly indi-
cating a deliberate purpose on the part of the administration to keep
the Republican party in power at public expense by thus increasing the
number of its retainers and dependents. Such procedure we declare
to be no less dangerous and corrupt than the open purchase of votes at
the polls.
"Economy in Administration. — The Republican Congress in the
session just ended made appropriations amounting to $1,008,000,000,
exceeding the total expenditures of the past fiscal year by $90,000,000
and leaving a deficit of more than $60,000,000 for the fiscal year just
ended. We denounce the heedless waste of the people's money which
has resulted in this appalling increase as a shameful violation of all
prudent considerations of government and as no less than a crime
against the millions of working men and women, from whose earnings
the great proportion of these colossal sums must be extorted through
excessive tariff exactions and other indirect methods. It is not surpris-
ing that in the face of this shocking record the Republican platform
contains no reference to economical administration or promise thereof
in the future. We demand that a stop be put to this frightful extrava-
gance, and insist upon the strictest economy in every department com-
patible with frugal and efficient administration.
"Arbitrary Power — The Speaker. — The House of Representatives
was designed by the fathers of the Constitution to be the popular
branch of our government, responsive to the public will.
"The House of Representatives, as controlled in recent years by
the Republican party, has ceased to be a deliberative and legislative
body responsive to the will of a majority of its members, but has come
under the absolute domination of the Speaker, who has entire control
of its deliberations and powers of legislation.
"We have observed with amazement the popular branch of our
Federal government helpless to obtain either the consideration or
enactment of measures desired by a majority of its members.
366 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1908
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"Legislative control becomes a failure when one member in the
person of the Speaker is more powerful than the entire body.
"We demand that the House of Representatives shall again become
a deliberative body, controlled by a majority of the people's representa-
tives, and not by the Speaker ; and we pledge ourselves to adopt such
rules and regulations to govern the House of Representatives as will
enable a majority of its members to direct its deliberations and control
legislation.
"Misuse of Patronage. — We condemn as a violation of the spirit
of our institutions the action of the present Chief-Executive in using
the patronage of his high office to secure the nomination for the Presi-
dency of one of his cabinet officers. A forced succession to the Presi-
dency is scarcely less repugnant to public sentiment than is life tenure
in that office. No good intention on the part of the Executive, and no
virtue in the one selected, can justify the establishment of a dynasty.
The right of the people freely to select their officials is inalienable and
cannot be delegated.
"Publicity of Campaign Contributions. — We demand Federal leg-
islation forever terminating the partnership which has existed between
corporations of the country and the Republican party under the ex-
pressed or implied agreement that in return for the contribution of
great sums of money wherewith to purchase elections, they should be
allowed to continue substantially unmolested in their efforts to
encroach upon the rights of the people.
"Any reasonable doubt as to the existence of this relation has been
forever dispelled by the sworn testimony of witnesses examined in the
insurance investigation in New York, and the open admission of a
single individual — unchallenged by the Republican national committee
— that he himself, at the personal request of the Republican candidate
for the Presidency, raised over a quarter of a million dollars to be used
in a single State during the closing hours of the last campaign. In
order that this practice shall be stopped for all time, we demand the
passage of a statute punishing by imprisonment any officer of a corpo-
ration who shall either contribute on behalf of or consent to the con-
tribution by a corporation of any money or thing of value to be used
1908] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 367
in furthering the election of a President or Vice-President of the
United States or of any member of the Congress thereof.
"We denounce the Republican party, having complete control of
the Federal government, for their failure to pass the bill, introduced
in the last Congress, to compel the publication of the names of con-
tributors and the amounts contributed toward campaign funds, and
point to the evidence of their insincerity when they sought by an abso-
lutely irrelevant and impossible amendment to defeat the passage of
the bill. As a further evidence of their intention to conduct their
campaign in the coming contest with vast sums of money wrested
from favor-seeking corporations, we call attention to the fact that the
recent Republican national convention at Chicago refused, when the
issue was presented to it, to declare against such practices.
"We pledge the Democratic party to the enactment of a law pro-
hibiting any corporation from contributing to a campaign fund and
any individual from contributing an amount above a reasonable maxi-
mum, and providing for the publication before election of all such
contributions.
"The Rights of the States. — Believing, with Jefferson, in 'the
support of the State governments in all their rights as the most com-
petent administrations for our domestic concerns, and the surest bul-
warks against anti-republican tendencies,' and in 'the preservation of
the general government in its whole constitutional vigor as the sheet
anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad,' we are opposed to the
centralization implied in the suggestion, now frequently made, that
the powers of the general government should be extended by judicial
construction. There is no twilight zone between the nation and the
State in which exploiting interests can take refuge from both ; and it
is as necessary that the Federal government shall exercise the powers
delegated to it as it is that the State governments shall use the author-
ity reserved to them; but we insist that Federal remedies for the
regulation of interstate commerce and for the prevention of private
monopoly shall be added to, not substituted for, State remedies.
"Tariff. — We welcome the belated promise of tariff reform now
offered by the Republican party in tardy recognition of the righteous-
ness of the Democratic position on this question ; but the people can-
368 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1908
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
not safely entrust the execution of this important work to a party
which is so deeply obligated to the highly protected interests as is the
Republican party. We call attention to the significant fact that the
promised relief is postponed until after the coming election — an elec-
tion to succeed in which the Republican party must have that same
support from the beneficiaries of the high protective tariff as it has
always heretofore received from them; and to the further fact that
during years of uninterrupted power no action whatever has been
taken by the Republican Congress to correct the admittedly existing
tariff iniquities.
"We favor immediate revision of the tariff by the reduction of
import duties. Articles entering into competition with trust-controlled
products should be placed upon the free list, and material reductions
should be made in the tariff upon the necessaries of life, especially upon
articles competing with such American manufactures as are sold
abroad more cheaply than at home ; and gradual reductions should be
made in such other schedules as may be necessary to restore the tariff
to a revenue basis.
"Existing duties have given to the manufacturers of paper a shelter
behind which they have organized combinations to raise the price of
pulp and of paper, thus imposing a tax upon the spread of knowledge.
We demand the immediate repeal of the tariff on wood pulp, print
paper, lumber, timber, and logs, and that these articles be placed upon
the free list.
"Trusts. — A private monopoly is indefensible and intolerable.
We therefore favor the vigorous enforcement of the criminal law
against guilty trust magnates and officials, and demand the enactment
of such additional legislation as may be necessary to make it impossible
for a private monopoly to exist in the United States. Among the addi-
tional remedies we specify three: First, a law preventing a duplication
of directors among competing corporations; Second, a license system
which will, without abridging the right of each State to create corpo-
rations, or its right to regulate as it will foreign corporations doing
business within its limits, make it necessary for a manufacturing or
trading corporation engaged in interstate commerce to take out a
Federal license before it shall be permitted to control as much as
1908] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 369
twenty-five per cent, of the product in which it deals, the license to
protect the public from watered stock and to prohibit the control by
such corporation of more than fifty per cent, of the total amount of
any product consumed in the United States; and Third, a law com-
pelling such licensed corporations to sell to all purchasers in all parts
of the country on the same terms, after making due allowance for cost
of transportation.
"Railroad Regulation. — We assert the right of Congress to exercise
complete control over interstate commerce and the right of each State
to exercise like control over commerce within its borders.
"We demand such enlargement of the powers of the Interstate
Commerce commission as may be necessary to enable it to compel rail-
roads to perform their duties as common carriers and prevent discrimi-
nation and extortion.
"We favor the efficient supervision and rate regulation of railroads
engaged in interstate commerce. To this end we recommend the valu-
ation of railroads by the Interstate Commerce commission, such valua-
tion to take into consideration the physical value of the property, the
original cost of production, and all elements of value that will render
the valuation fair and just.
"We favor such legislation as will prohibit the railroads from
engaging in business which brings them into competition with their
shippers ; also legislation which will assure such reduction in transpor-
tation rates as conditions will permit, care being taken to avoid reduc-
tion that would compel a reduction of wages, prevent adequate service,
or do injustice to legitimate investments.
"We heartily approve the laws prohibiting the pass and the rebate,
and we favor any further necessary legislation to restrain, correct, and
prevent such abuses.
"We favor such legislation as will increase the power of the Inter-
state Commerce commission, giving to it the initiative with reference to
rates and transportation charges put into effect by the railroad com-
panies, and permitting the Interstate Commerce commission, on its
own initiative, to declare a rate illegal and as being more than should
be charged for such service. The present law relating thereto is
inadequate by reason of the fact that the Interstate Commerce com-
370 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1908
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
mission is without power to fix or investigate a rate until complaint
has been made to it by the shipper.
"We further declare in favor of a law providing that all agree-
ments of traffic or other associations of railway agents affecting inter-
state rates, service, or classification shall be unlawful unless filed with
and approved by the Interstate Commerce commission.
"We favor the enactment of a law giving to the Interstate Com-
merce commission the power to inspect proposed railroad tariff rates
or schedules before they shall take effect, and, if they be found to be
unreasonable, to initiate an adjustment thereof.
"Banking. — The panic of 1907, coming without any legitimate
excuse, when the Republican party had for a decade been in complete
control of the Federal government, furnished additional proof that it
is either unwilling or incompetent to protect the interests of the gen-
eral public. It has so linked the country to Wall Street that the sins
of the speculators are visited upon the whole people. While refusing
to rescue the wealth producers from spoliation at the hands of the
stock gamblers and speculators in farm products, it has deposited
treasury funds, without interest and without competition, in favorite
banks. It has used an emergency for which it is largely responsible
to force through Congress a bill changing the basis of bank currency
and inviting market manipulation, and has failed to give to the fifteen
million depositors of the country protection in their savings.
"We believe that in so far as the needs of commerce require an
emergency currency, such currency should be issued and controlled by
the Federal government and loaned on adequate security to National
and State banks. We pledge ourselves to legislation under which the
National banks shall be required to establish a guarantee fund for the
prompt payment of the depositors of any insolvent National bank,
under an equitable system which shall be available to all State banking
institutions wishing to use it.
"We favor a postal savings bank if the guaranteed bank cannot be
secured, and that it be constituted so as to keep the deposited money
in the communities where it is established. But we condemn the
policy of the Republican party in providing postal savings banks under
a plan of conduct by which they will aggregate the deposits of the
"08] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 371
rural communities and redeposit the same while under government
charge in the banks of Wall Street, thus depleting the circulating
medium of the producing regions and unjustly favoring the speculative
markets.
"Income Tax. — We favor an income tax as part of our revenue
system, and we urge the submission of a constitutional amendment
specifically authorizing Congress to levy and collect a tax upon indi-
vidual and corporate incomes, to the end that wealth may bear its
proportionate share of the burdens of the Federal government.
"Labor and Injunctions. — The courts of justice are the bulwark
of our liberties, and we yield to none in our purpose to maintain their
dignity. Our party has given to the bench a long line of distinguished
Judges, who have added to the respect and confidence in which this
department must be jealously maintained. We resent the attempt of
the Republican party to raise a false issue respecting the judiciary. It
is an unjust reflection upon a great body of our citizens to assume
that they lack respect for the courts.
"It is the function of the courts to interpret the laws which the
people create, and if the laws appear to work economic, social, or
political injustice it is our duty to change them. The only basis upon
which the integrity of our courts can stand is that of unswerving jus-
tice and protection of life, personal liberty, and property. If judicial
processes may be abused, we should guard them against abuse.
"Experience has proved the necessity of a modification of the present
law relating to injunctions, and we reiterate the pledge of our national
platforms of 1896 and 1904 in favor of 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.
"Questions of judicial practice have arisen especially in connection
with industrial disputes. We deem that the parties to all judicial
proceedings should be treated with rigid impartiality, and that injunc-
tions should not be issued in any cases in which injunctions would not
issue if no industrial dispute were involved.
"The expanding organization of industry makes it essential that
there should be no abridgment of the right of wage-earners and pro-
372 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1908
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
ducers to organize for the protection of wages and the improvement
of labor conditions, to the end that such labor organizations and their
members should not be regarded as illegal combinations in restraint
of trade.
"We favor the eight-hour day on all government work.
"We pledge the Democratic party to the enactment of a law by
Congress, as far as the Federal jurisdiction extends, for a general
Employers' Liability act covering injury to body or loss of life of
employes.
"We pledge the Democratic party to the enactment of a law
creating a Department of Labor represented separately in the Presi-
dent's cabinet, in which department shall be included the subject of
mines and mining.
"Merchant Marine. — We believe in the upbuilding of the Ameri-
can merchant marine without new or additional burdens upon the
people and without bounties from the public treasury.
"The Navy. — The constitutional provision that a navy shall be
provided and maintained means an adequate navy, and we believe that
the interest of this country would be best served by having a navy
sufficient to defend the coasts of this country and protect American
citizens wherever their rights may be in jeopardy.
"Protection of American Citizens. — We pledge ourselves to insist
upon the just and lawful protection of our citizens at home and
abroad, and to use all proper methods to secure for them, whether
native-born or naturalized, and without distinction of race or creed,
the equal protection of the law and the enjoyment of all rights and
privileges open to them under our treaties; and if, under existing
treaties, the right of travel and sojourn is denied to American citizens,
or recognition is withheld from American passports by any countries
on the ground of race or creed, we favor prompt negotiations with
the governments of such countries to secure the removal of these
unjust discriminations.
"We demand that all over the world a duly authenticated passport
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.
1908] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 373
"Civil Service. — The laws pertaining to the civil service should be
honestly and rigidly enforced, to the end that merit and ability shall
be the standard of appointment and promotion rather than services
rendered to a political party.
"Pensions. — We favor a generous pension policy, both as a matter
of justice to the surviving veterans and their dependents and because it
tends to relieve the country of the necessity of maintaining a large
standing army.
"Health Bureau. — We advocate the organization of all existing
national public health agencies into a national Bureau of Public
Health with such power over sanitary conditions connected with fac-
tories, mines, tenements, child labor, and other such subjects as are
properly within the jurisdiction of the Federal government and do
not interfere with the power of the States controlling public health
agencies.
"Agricultural and Mechanical Education. — The Democratic party
favors the extension of agricultural, mechanical, and industrial edu-
cation. We therefore favor the establishment of district agricultural
experiment stations and secondary agricultural and mechanical col-
leges in the several States.
"Popular Election of Senators. — We favor the election of United
States Senators by direct vote of the people, and regard this reform as
the gateway to other national reforms.
"Oklahoma. — We welcome Oklahoma to the sisterhood of States
and heartily congratulate her upon the auspicious beginning of a great
career.
"Panama Canal. — We believe that the Panama canal will prove of
great value to our country, and favor its speedy completion.
"Arizona and New Mexico. — The national Democratic party has
for the last sixteen years labored for the admission of Arizona arid
New Mexico as separate States of the Federal Union, and recognizing
that each possesses every qualification successfully to maintain separate
State governments we favor the immediate admission of these Terri-
tories as separate States.
"Grazing Lands. — The establishment of rules and regulations, if
any such are necessary, in relation to free grazing upon the public
374 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL 1 1908
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
lands outside of forest or other reservations, until the same shall
eventually be disposed of, should be left to the people of the States
respectively in which such lands may be situated.
"Waterways. — Water furnishes the cheaper means of transporta-
tion, and the national government, having the control of navigable
waters, should improve them to their fullest capacity. We earnestly
favor the immediate adoption of a liberal and comprehensive plan for
improving every water course in the Union which is justified by the
needs of commerce; and to secure that end we favor, when practi-
cable, the connection of the Great Lakes with the navigable rivers and
with the Gulf through the Mississippi River, and the navigable rivers
with each other, and the rivers, bays, and sounds of our coasts with
each other by artificial canals, with a view to perfecting a system of
inland waterways to be navigated by vessels of standard draught.
"We favor the coordination of the various services of the govern-
ment connected with waterways in one service, for the purpose of
aiding in the completion of such a system of inland waterways ; and we
favor the creation of a fund ample for continuous work, which shall
be conducted under the direction of a commission of experts to be
authorized by law.
"Post Roads. — We favor Federal aid to States and local authori-
ties in the construction and maintenance of post roads.
"Telegraph and Telephone. — We pledge the Democratic party to
the enactment of a law to regulate, under the jurisdiction of the
Interstate Commerce commission, the rates and services of telegraph
and telephone companies engaged in the transmission of messages
between the States.
"Natural Resources. — We repeat the demand for internal develop-
ment and for the conservation of our natural resources contained in
previous platforms, the enforcement of which Mr. Roosevelt has
vainly sought from a reluctant party ; and to that end we insist upon
the preservation, protection, and replacement of needed forests, the
preservation of the public domain for homeseekers, the protection of
the national resources in timber, coal, iron, and oil against monopo-
listic control, the development of our waterways for navigation and
every other useful purpose, including the irrigation of arid lands, the
1908] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 375
reclamation of swamp lands, the clarification of streams, the develop-
ment of water-power, and the preservation of electric power generated
by this natural force, from the control of monopoly ; and to such end
we urge the exercise of all powers, national, State, and municipal, both
separately and in cooperation.
"We insist upon a policy of administration of our forest reserves
which shall relieve it of the abuses which have arisen thereunder, and
which shall, as far as practicable, conform to the police regulations of
the several States wherein the reserves are located, which shall enable
homesteaders as of right to occupy and acquire title to all portions
thereof which are especially adapted to agriculture, and which shall
furnish a system of timber sale available as well to the private citizen
as to the larger manufacturer and consumer.
"Hawaii. — We favor the application of the principles of the land
laws of the United States to our newly acquired Territory, Hawaii, to
the end that the public lands of that Territory may be held and
utilized for the benefit of bona fide homesteaders.
"The Philippines. — We condemn the experiment in imperialism as
an inexcusable blunder which has involved us in enormous expense,
brought us weakness instead of strength, and laid our nation open to
the charge of abandoning a fundamental doctrine of self-government.
We favor an immediate declaration of the nation's purpose to recog-
nize the independence of the Philippine Islands, as soon as a stable
government can be established, such independence to be guaranteed
by us as we guarantee the independence of Cuba, until the neutraliza-
tion of the islands can be secured by treaty with other powers. In
recognizing the independence of the Philippines our government should
retain such land as may be necessary for coaling stations and naval
bases.
"Alaska and Porto Rico. — We demand for the people of Alaska
and Porto Rico the full enjoyment of the rights and privileges of a
Territorial form of government, and that the officials appointed to
administer the government of all our Territories and the District of
Columbia should be thoroughly qualified by previous bona fide
residence.
"Pan-American Relations. — The Democratic party recognizes the
376 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1908
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
importance and advantage of developing closer ties of Pan-American
friendship and commerce between the United States and her sister
nations of Latin America, and favors the taking of such steps, con-
sistent with Democratic policies, for better acquaintance, greater
mutual confidence, and larger exchange of trade as will bring lasting
benefit not only to the United States but to this group of American
republics having constitutions, forms of government, ambitions, and
interests akin to our own.
"Asiatic Immigration. — We favor full protection, by both national
and State governments within their respective spheres, of all foreigners
residing in the United States under treaty, but we are opposed to the
admission of Asiatic immigrants who cannot be amalgamated with our
population, or whose presence among us would raise a race issue and
involve us in diplomatic controversies with Oriental powers.
"Foreign Patents. — We believe that where an American citizen
holding a patent in a foreign country is compelled to manufacture
under his patent within a certain time, similar restrictions should be
applied in this country to the citizens or subjects of such a country.
"Conclusion. — The Democratic party stands for democracy; the
Republican party has drawn to itself all that is aristocratic and pluto-
cratic. The Democratic party is the champion of equal rights and
opportunities to all; the Republican party is the party of privilege
and private monopoly. The Democratic party listens to the voice of
the whole people and gauges progress by the prosperity and develop-
ment of the average man; the Republican party is subservient to the
comparatively few who are the beneficiaries of governmental
favoritism.
"We invite the cooperation of all, regardless of previous political
affiliation or past differences, who desire to preserve a government of
the people, by the people, and for the people, and who favor such an
administration of the government as will insure, as far as human wis-
dom can, that each citizen shall draw from society a reward commen-
surate with his contribution to the welfare of society."
WILLIAM MCKINLEY
William McKinley, 25th president; born at Niles, Ohio.,
January 29, 1843; lawyer; served in civil war; prosecuting at-
torney, Stark County, Ohio, 1869-71; member of congress, 1877 to
1884/1885-1891; governor of Ohio, 1892-1896; elected president,
1896; reelected 1900; assassinated while attending the Pan-
American Exposition at Buffalo and died in that city on Sep-
tember 14, 1901.
1908] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 377
Other Parties
Prohibition Party. — Convention held in Columbus,
Ohio, July 15-16, 1908. For President, Eugene W.
Chafin, of Illinois; for Vice-President, Aaron S. Wat-
kins, of Ohio.
People's Party. — Convention held in St. Louis, April
2-3, 1908. For President, Thomas E. Watson, of Geor-
gia; for Vice-President, Samuel W. Williams, of
Indiana.
Independence Party. — Convention held in Chicago,
July 28-29, 1908. For President, Thomas L. Hisgen,
of Massachusetts; for Vice-President, John Temple
Graves, of Georgia. This organization was developed
from the Independence League; it represented the
views of William R. Hearst in favor of public owner-
ship of public utilities, etc.
Socialist Party. — Convention held in Chicago, May
10-17, 1908. For President, Eugene V. Debs, of In-
diana; for Vice-President, Benjamin Hanford, of New
York.
Socialist Labor Party. — Convention met in New
York and on July 6 nominated for President Martin
R. Preston, a prisoner in the Nevada State Prison, who
was serving a twenty-five years' sentence for murder.1
He declined, and August Gillhaus, of New York, was
substituted. For Vice-President, Donald Munro, of
Virginia.
International Year Book, 1908, p. 586.
378 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1908
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
The Election
Electoral vote for President and Vice-President:
William H. Taft and James S. Sherman, Republicans: — Cali-
fornia, 10; Connecticut, 7; Delaware, 3; Idaho, 3; Illinois, 27;
Indiana, 15; Iowa, 13; Kansas, 10; Maine, 6; Maryland, 2; Massa-
chusetts, 16; Michigan, 14; Minnesota, 11; Missouri, 18; Montana,
3; New Hampshire, 4; New Jersey, 12; New York, 39; North
Dakota, 4; Ohio, 23; Oregon, 4; Pennsylvania, 34; Rhode Island, 4;
South Dakota, 4; Utah, 3; Vermont, 4; Washington, 5; West Vir-
ginia, 7; Wisconsin, 13; Wyoming, 3. Total, 321. Elected.
William J. Bryan and John W. Kern, Democrats : — Alabama, 1 1 ;
Arkansas, 9; Colorado, 5; Florida, 5; Georgia, 13; Kentucky, 13;
Louisiana, 9; Maryland, 6; Mississippi, 10; Nebraska, 8; Nevada, 3;
North Carolina, 12; Oklahoma, 7; South Carolina, 9; Tennessee, 12;
Texas, 18; Virginia, 12. Total, 162.
Popular vote :
Taft, 7,679,006; Bryan, 6,409,106; Debs, 420,820; Chafin,
252,683; Hisgen, 83,562; Watson, 28,131 ; Gillhaus, 13,825.
1912
Republican Party
Convention held in Chicago, June 18-22. The great
contest for the Presidential nomination between the
supporters of President Taft and those of former Presi-
dent Roosevelt was ushered in by a disputation con-
cerning the national committee's temporary roll of dele-
gates and refusal on the part of the Roosevelt men to
accept the committee's nomination of Elihu Root as
temporary chairman of the convention. Francis E.
McGovern, of Wisconsin, was proposed for the tem-
porary chairmanship by the opposition. The roll-call
resulted: Root, 558; McGovern, 501; scattering and
not voting, 19. It was not until the fifth and last day
that the proceedings as to contested seats were con-
cluded. These proceedings resulted in establishing the
Taft forces in full control of the permanent organiza-
tion, and Mr. Root was continued in the chairmanship.
Thereupon Henry J. Allen, of Kansas, read a message
from Mr. Roosevelt to his supporters in the conven-
tion, in which the action taken regarding the contests
was severely condemned and the following advice was
given : "I hope the men elected as Roosevelt delegates
will now decline to vote on any matter before the con-
vention. I do not release any delegate from his honor-
379
380 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1912
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
able obligation to vote for me if he votes at all, but
under the actual conditions I hope he will not vote
at all."
President Taft was renominated on the first ballot.
The vote was as follows: Taft, 561; Roosevelt, 107;
LaFollette, 41; Albert B. Cummins, of Iowa, 17;
Charles E. Hughes, of New York, 2; present and not
voting, 349; absent, 6.
Vice-President Sherman also was renominated, re-
ceiving on the first ballot 595 votes to 58 for five others ;
not voting but present, 352; absent, 72.
Platform :
"The Republican party, assembled by its representatives in national
convention, declares its unchanging faith in government of the people,
by the people, for the people. We renew our allegiance to the prin-
ciples of the Republican party and our devotion to the cause of repub-
lican institutions established by the fathers.
"It is appropriate that we should now recall with a sense of venera-
tion and gratitude the name of our first great leader, who was nomi-
nated in this city, and whose lofty principles and superb devotion to
his country are an inspiration to the party he honored — Abraham
Lincoln. In the present state of public affairs we should be inspired
by his broad statesmanship and by his tolerant spirit toward men.
"The Republican party looks back upon its record with pride and
satisfaction, and forward to its new responsibilities with hope and con-
fidence. Its achievements in government constitute the most luminous
pages in our history. Our greatest national advance has been made
during the years of its ascendancy in public affairs. It has been
genuinely and always a party of progress; it has never been either
stationary or reactionary. It has gone from the fulfillment of one
great pledge to the fulfillment of another in response to the public
need and to the popular will.
"We believe in our self-controlled representative democracy, which
1912] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 381
is a government of laws, not of men, and in which order is the
prerequisite of progress.
"The principles of constitutional government, which make provision
for orderly and effective expression of the popular will for the protec-
tion of civil liberty and the rights of men and for the interpretation of
the law by an untrammelled and independent judiciary, have proved
themselves capable of sustaining the structure of a government which,
after more than a century of development, embraces one hundred mil-
lions of people, scattered over a wide and diverse territory but bound
by common purpose, common ideals, and common affection to the Con-
stitution of the United States.
"Under the Constitution and the principles asserted and vitalized
by it, the United States has grown to be one of the great civilized
and civilizing powers of the earth. It offers a home and an opportu-
nity to the ambitious and the industrious from other lands. Resting
upon the broad basis of a people's confidence and a people's support,
and managed by the people themselves, the government of the United
States will meet the problems of the future as satisfactorily as it has
solved those of the past.
"The Republican party is now, as always, a party of advanced
and constructive statesmanship. It is prepared to go forward with
the solution of those new questions which social, economic, and
political development have brought into the forefront of the nation's
interest. It will strive, not only in the nation but in the several States,
to enact the necessary legislation to safeguard the public health; to
limit effectively the labor of women and children, and to protect wage-
earners engaged in dangerous occupations ; to enact comprehensive and
generous workmen's compensation laws in place of the present waste-
ful and unjust system of employers' liability, and in all possible ways
to satisfy the just demand of the people for the study and solution of
the complex and constantly changing problems of social welfare.
"In dealing with these questions it is important that the rights of
every individual to the freest possible development of his own powers
and resources and to the control of his own justly acquired property,
so far as those are compatible with the rights of others, shall not be
interfered with or destroyed. The social and political structure of the
382 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
United States rests upon the civil liberty of the individual ; and for the
protection of that liberty the people have wisely, in the national and
State Constitutions, put definite limitations upon themselves and upon
their governmental officers and agencies. To enforce these limitations,
to secure the orderly and coherent exercise of governmental powers,
and to protect the rights of even the humblest and least favored indi-
vidual are the function of independent courts of justice.
"The Republican party reaffirms its intention to uphold at all times
the authority and integrity of the courts, both State and Federal, and
it will ever insist that their powers to enforce their process and to
protect life, liberty, and property shall be preserved inviolate. An
orderly method is provided under our system of government by which
the people may, when they choose, alter or amend the constitutional
provisions which underlie that government. Until these constitutional
provisions are so altered or amended, in orderly fashion, it is the duty
of the courts to see to it that when challenged they are enforced.
"That the courts, both Federal and State, may bear the heavy
burden laid upon them to the complete satisfaction of public opinion,
we favor legislation to prevent long delays and the tedious and costly
appeals which have so often amounted to a denial of justice in civil
cases and to a failure to protect the public at large in criminal cases.
"Since the responsibility of the judiciary is so great, the standards
of judicial action must be always and everywhere above suspicion and
reproach. While we regard the recall of Judges as unnecessary and
unwise, we favor such action as may be necessary to simplify the
process by which any Judge who is found to be derelict in his duty
may be removed from office.
"Together with peaceful and orderly development at home, the
Republican party earnestly favors all measures for the establishment
and protection of the peace of the world and for the development of
closer relations between the various nations of the earth. It believes
most earnestly in the peaceful settlement of international disputes and
in the reference of all justiciable controversies between nations to an
international court of justice.
"Monopoly and Privilege. — The Republican party is opposed to
special privilege and to monopoly. It placed upon the statute-book
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 383
the Interstate Commerce act of 1887 and the important amendments
thereto, and the Anti-Trust act of 1890, and it has consistently and
successfully enforced the provisions of these laws. It will take no
backward step to permit the reestablishment in any degree of conditions
which were intolerable.
"Experience makes it plain that the business of the country may be
carried on without fear or without disturbance, and at the same time
without resort to practices which are abhorrent to the common sense
of justice. The Republican party favors the enactment of legislation
supplementary to the existing Anti-Trust act which will define as
criminal offenses those specific acts that uniformly mark attempts to
restrain and to monopolize trade, to the end that those who honestly
intend to obey the law may have a guide for their action and that those
who aim to violate the law may the more surely be punished.
"The same certainty should be given to the law prohibiting combi-
nations and monopolies that characterizes other provisions of commer-
cial law, in order that no part of the field of business opportunity may
be restricted by monopoly or combination, that business success honor-
ably achieved may not be converted into crime, and that the right of
every man to acquire commodities, and particularly the necessaries of
life, in an open market, uninfluenced by the manipulation of trust or
combination, may be preserved.
"Federal Trade Commission. — In the enforcement and administra-
tion of Federal laws governing interstate commerce and enterprises
impressed with a public use engaged therein, there is much that may
be committed to a Federal Trade commission, thus placing in the
hands of an administrative board many of the functions now neces-
sarily exercised by the courts. This will promote promptness in the
administration of the law and avoid delays and technicalities incident
to court procedure.
"The Tariff. — We reaffirm our belief in a protective tariff. The
Republican tariff policy has been of the greatest benefit to the coun-
try, developing our resources, diversifying our industries, and pro-
tecting our workmen against competition with cheaper labor abroad,
thus establishing for our wage-earners the American standard of
living. The protective tariff is so woven into the fabric of our indus-
384 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1912
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
trial and agricultural life that to substitute for it a tariff for revenue
only would destroy many industries and throw millions of our people
out of employment. The products of the farm and of the mine should
receive the same measure of protection as other products of American
labor.
"We hold that the import duties should be high enough, while
yielding a sufficient revenue, to protect adequately American industries
and wages. Some of the existing import duties are too high and should
be reduced. Readjustment should be made from time to time to con-
form to changing conditions and to reduce excessive rates, but without
injury to any American industry. To accomplish this correct infor-
mation is indispensable. This information can best be obtained by an
expert commission, as the large volume of useful facts contained in the
recent reports of the Tariff board has demonstrated. The pronounced
feature of modern industrial life is its enormous diversification. To
apply tariff rates justly to these changing conditions requires closer
study and more scientific methods than ever before. The Republican
party has shown by its creation of a Tariff board its recognition of
this situation and its determination to be equal to it. We condemn
the Democratic party for its failure either to provide funds for the
continuance of this board or to make some other provision for securing
the information requisite for intelligent tariff legislation. We protest
against the Democratic method of legislating on these vitally import-
ant subjects without careful investigation.
"We condemn the Democratic tariff bills passed by the House of
Representatives of the Sixty-second Congress as sectional, as injurious
to the public credit, and as destructive of business enterprise.
"Cost of Living. — The steadily increasing cost of living has become
a matter not only of national but of world-wide concern. The fact
that it is not due to the protective tariff system is evidenced by the
existence of similar conditions in countries which have a tariff policy
different from our own, as well as by the fact that the cost of living
has increased while rates of duty have remained stationary or been
reduced. The Republican party will support a prompt scientific
inquiry into the causes which are operative, both in the United States
and elsewhere, to increase the cost of living. When the exact facts
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 385
are known, it will take the necessary steps to remove any abuses that
may be found to exist in order that the cost of the food, clothing, and
shelter of the people may in no way be unduly or artificially increased.
"Banking and Currency. — The Republican party has always stood
for a sound currency and for safe banking methods. It is responsible
for the resumption of specie payments, and for the establishment of
the gold standard. It is committed to the progressive development of
our banking and currency system. Our banking arrangements to-day
need further revision to meet the requirements of current conditions.
We need measures which will prevent the recurrence of money panics
and financial disturbances and which will promote the prosperity of
business and the welfare of labor by producing constant employment.
We need better currency facilities for the movement of crops in the
west and south. We need banking arrangements under American
auspices for the encouragement and better conduct of our foreign
trade. In attaining these ends, the independence of individual banks,
whether organized under national or State charters, must be carefully
protected and our banking and currency system must be safeguarded
from any possibility of domination by sectional, financial, or political
interests.
"It is of great importance to the social and economic welfare of this
country that its farmers have facilities for borrowing easily and
cheaply the money they need to increase the productivity of their land.
It is as important that financial machinery be provided to supply the
demand of farmers for credit as it is that the banking and currency
systems be reformed in the interests of general business. Therefore
we recommend and urge an authoritative investigation of agricultural
credit societies and corporations in other countries, and the passage of
State and Federal laws for the establishment and capable supervision
of organizations having for their purpose the loaning of funds to
farmers.
"The Civil Service. — We reaffirm our adherence to the principle of
appointment to public office based on proved fitness, and tenure during
good behavior and efficiency. The Republican party stands committed
to the maintenance, extension, and enforcement of the Civil Service
law, and it favors the passage of legislation empowering the President
386 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1912
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
to extend the competitive service so far as practicable. We favor
legislation to make possible the equitable retirement of disabled and
superannuated members of the civil service, in order that a higher
order of efficiency may be maintained.
"We favor the amendment of the Federal Employers' Liability
law so as to extend its provision to all government employes, as well
as to provide a more liberal scale of compensation for injury and
death.
"Campaign Contributions — We favor such additional legislation
as may be necessary more effectually to prohibit corporations from
contributing funds, directly or indirectly, to campaigns for the nomi-
nation or election of the President, the Vice-President, Senators, and
Representatives in Congress. We heartily approve the recent act of
Congress requiring the fullest publicity in regard to all campaign con-
tributions, whether made in connection with primaries, conventions,
or elections.
"Conservation Policy. — We rejoice in the success of the distinctive
Republican policy of the conservation of our national resources, for
their use by the people without waste and without monopoly. We
pledge ousrelves to a continuance of such a policy.
"We favor such fair and reasonable rules and regulations as will
not discourage or interfere with actual bona fide homeseekers, pros-
pectors, and miners in the acquisition of public lands under existing
laws.
"Parcels Post. — In the interest of the general public, and particu-
larly of the agricultural or rural communities, we favor legislation
looking to the establishment, under proper regulations, of a parcels
post, the postal rates to be graduated under a zone system in propor-
tion to the length of carriage.
"Protection of American Citizens. — We approve the action taken
by the President and the Congress to secure with Russia, as with other
countries, a treaty that will recognize the absolute right of expatria-
tion, and that will prevent all discrimination of whatever kind between
American citizens, whether native-born or alien, and regardless of
race, religion, or previous political allegiance. The right of asylum
1912] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 387
is a precious possession of the people of the United States, and it is to
be neither surrendered nor restricted.
"The Navy. — We believe in the maintenance of an adequate navy
for the national defense, and we condemn the action of the Democratic
House of Representatives in refusing to authorize the construction of
additional ships.
"Merchant Marine. — We believe that one of the country's most
urgent needs is a revived merchant marine. There should be American
ships, and plenty of them, to make use of the great American inter-
oceanic canal now nearing completion.
"Flood Prevention in the Mississippi Valley. — The Mississippi
River is the nation's drainage ditch. Its flood-waters, gathered from
thirty-one States and the Dominion of Canada, constitute an over-
powering force which breaks the levees and pours its torrents over
many million acres of the richest land in the Union, stopping mails,
impeding commerce, and causing great loss of life and property.
These floods are national in scope, and the disasters they produce
seriously affect the general welfare. The States unaided cannot cope
with this giant problem; hence, we believe the Federal government
should assume a fair proportion of the burden of its control so as to
prevent the disasters from recurring floods.
"Reclamation. — We favor the continuance of the policy of the
government with regard to the reclamation of arid lands ; and for the
encouragement of the speedy settlement and improvement of such
lands we favor an amendment to the law that will reasonably extend
the time within which the cost of any reclamation project may be
repaid by the landowners under it.
"Rivers and Harbors. — We favor a liberal and systematic policy
for the improvement of our rivers and harbors. Such improvements
should be made upon expert information and after a careful compar-
ison of cost and prospective benefits.
"Alaska. — We favor a liberal policy toward Alaska, to promote
the development of the great resources of that district, with such safe-
guards as will prevent waste and monopoly. We favor the opening
of the coal lands to development through a law leasing the lands on
such terms as will invite development and provide fuel for the navy
388 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL H912
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
and the commerce of the Pacific Ocean, while retaining title in the
United States to prevent monopoly.
"Porto Rico. — We ratify in all its parts the platform of 1908
respecting citizenship for the people of Porto Rico.
"Philippine Policy. — The Philippine policy of the Republican party
has been and is inspired by the belief that our duty toward the Filipino
people is a national obligation which should remain entirely free from
partisan politics.
"Immigration. — We pledge the Republican party to the enactment
of appropriate laws to give relief from the constantly growing evil of
induced or undesirable immigration, which is inimical to the progress
and welfare of the people of the United States.
"Safety at Sea. — We favor the speedy enactment of laws to provide
that seamen shall not be compelled to endure involuntary servitude,
and that life and property at sea shall be safeguarded by the ample
equipment of vessels with life-saving appliances and with full com-
plements of skilled, able-bodied seamen to operate them.
"Republican Accomplishment. — The approaching completion of
the Panama canal, the establishment of a Bureau of Mines, the insti-
tution of postal savings banks, the increased provision made in 1912
for the aged and infirm soldiers and sailors of the republic and for
their widows, and the vigorous administration of the laws relating to
pure food and drugs, all mark the successful progress of Republican
administration and are additional evidence of its effectiveness.
"Economy and Efficiency in Government. — We commend the
earnest effort of the Republican administration to secure greater
economy and increased efficiency in the conduct of government busi-
ness ; extravagant appropriations and the creation of unnecessary offices
are an injustice to the taxpayer and a bad example to the citizen.
"Civic Duty. — We call upon the people to quicken their interest in
public affairs, to condemn and punish lynchings and other forms of
lawlessness, and to strengthen in all possible ways a respect for law
and the observance of it. Indifferent citizenship is an evil from which
the law affords no adequate protection and for which legislation can
provide no remedy.
"Arizona and New Mexico. — We congratulate the people of Ari-
1912] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 389
zona and New Mexico upon the admission of those States, thus merg-
ing in the Union in final and enduring form the last remaining portion
of our continental territory.
"Republican Administration. — We challenge successful criticism
of the sixteen years of Republican administration under Presidents
McKinley, Roosevelt, and Taft. We heartily reaffirm the endorse-
ment of President McKinley contained in the platforms of 1900 and
of 1904 and that of President Roosevelt contained in the platforms
of 1904 and 1908.
"We invite the intelligent judgment of the American people upon
the administration of William H. Taft. The country has prospered
and been at peace under his Presidency. During the years in which
he had the cooperation of a Republican Congress an unexampled
amount of constructive legislation was framed and passed in the
interest of the people and in obedience to their wish. That legislation
is a record on which any administration might appeal with confidence
to the favorable judgmnt of history.
"We appeal to the American electorate upon the record of the
Republican party and upon this declaration of its principles and pur-
poses. We are confident that under the leadership of the candidates
here to be nominated our appeal will not be in vain ; that the Repub-
lican party will meet every just expectation of the people whose
servant it is ; that under its administration and its laws our nation will
continue to advance; that peace and prosperity will abide with the
people, and that new glory will be added to the great republic."
The members of the committee on resolutions from
Wisconsin and North Dakota submitted a minority
report which embodied the ideas of Senator LaFollette;
this was laid on the table without a division. The
platform as above was then adopted by the following
vote : — ayes, 666; nays, 53 ; not voting but present, 343 ;
absent, 21.
390 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Democratic Party
Convention held in Baltimore, June 25-July 2, 1912.
For the position of temporary chairman the national
committee designated Alton B. Parker. This choice
was strongly opposed by William J. Bryan, who nomi-
nated John W. Kern, but Mr. Kern declined to be a
candidate and advocated the election of Mr. Bryan.
On roll-call Parker was chosen by 579 votes to 508 for
Bryan — scattering or not voting, 7. Ollie M. James,
of Kentucky, was made permanent chairman.
Forty-six ballots were required to nominate the
Presidential candidate. First ballot: — Champ Clark,
of Missouri, 440*4 ; Woodrow Wilson, of New Jersey,
324; Judson Harmon, of Ohio, 148; Oscar W. Under-
wood, of Alabama, 117^ ; Thomas R. Marshall, of In-
diana, 31; Simeon E. Baldwin, of Connecticut, 22;
William Sulzer, of New York, 2; William J. Bryan,
1 : not voting, 2. On the tenth ballot Clark had 556,
eleven more than a majority; this proved to be his
maximum vote, though for many ballots following he
continued largely in the lead, Wilson meantime retain-
ing second place and slowly gaining. The thirtieth
ballot showed 460 for Wilson to 455 for Clark; and on
all the subsequent ballots Wilson held the lead. Forty-
sixth and last ballot:— Wilson, 990; Clark, 84; Har-
mon, 12; not voting, 2.
The defeat of Mr. Clark, the failure of either Mr.
Harmon or Mr. Underwood to develop promising
strength, and the consequent success of Mr. Wilson were
greatly due to the activities of Mr. Bryan and the
1912] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 391
growing feeling among the delegates that it would be
unwise to provoke discord by the choice of a candidate
unacceptable to him. At the opening of the struggle
for the nomination Bryan offered a resolution, which
the convention adopted (883 ayes to 201^ nays), de-
claring opposition to "the nomination of any candidate
for President who is the representative of or under
obligation to J. Pierpont Morgan, Thomas F. Ryan,
August Belmont, or any other member of the privilege-
hunting and favor-seeking class." Bryan was hostile
to the New York delegation and determined to beat any
aspirant having its preference. On the early ballots
he voted for Clark, while New York gave its solid sup-
port of 90 votes to Harmon. But on the tenth and fol-
lowing ballots New York went solidly for Clark.
Bryan sat silent until the fourteenth ballot was being
taken, when he rose and in a vigorous speech announced
that a condition had arisen in the convention that
obliged him to withdraw his support from Clark. "I
shall withhold my vote from Mr. Clark," he said, "as
long as New York's vote is recorded for him. And
the position that I take in regard to Mr. Clark I will
take in regard to any other candidate whose name is
now or may be before the convention." He then cast
his vote for Wilson. His action did not at once pro-
duce a marked effect upon the situation, but Clark's vote
began to fall off, a few at a time, while Wilson's stead-
ily rose. New York stood unitedly by Clark until the
final ballot, when it joined the stampede to Wilson.
Mr. Bryan's course created very great bitterness among
the friends of Mr. Clark — probably not so much, how-
392 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1912
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
ever, on account of the loss of the nomination, as be-
cause of the assumption and implications involved in
the discrimination against him.
For Vice-President Thomas R. Marshall, of Indiana,
was nominated on the second ballot, the vote for him
being made unanimous after changes.
Platform (unanimously adopted) :
"We, the representatives of the Democratic party of the United
States, in national convention assembled, reaffirm our devotion to the
principles of Democratic government formulated by Thomas Jeffer-
son and enforced by a long and! illustrious line of Democratic
Presidents.
"Tariff Reform. — We declare it to be a fundamental principle of
the Democratic party that the Federal government, under the Consti-
tution, has no right or power to impose or collect tariff duties except
for the purpose of revenue, and we demand that the collection of such
taxes shall be limited to the necessities of government, honestly and
economically administered.
"The high Republican tariff is the principal cause of the unequal
distribution of wealth ; it is a system of taxation which makes the rich
richer and the poor poorer ; under its operations the American farmer
and laboring man are the chief sufferers; it raises the cost of the
necessaries of life to them, but does not protect their product or wages.
The farmer sells largely in free markets and buys almost entirely in
the protected markets. In the most highly protected industries, such
as cotton and wool, steel and iron, the wages of the laborers are the
lowest paid in any of our industries. We denounce the Republican
pretense on that subject and assert that American wages are estab-
lished by competitive conditions and not by the tariff.
"We favor the immediate downward revision of the existing high,
and, in many cases, prohibitive tariff duties, insisting that material
reductions be speedily made upon the necessaries of life. Articles
entering into competition with trust-controlled products and articles
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president; born October 27, 1858,
New York City; publicist; member of assembly, 1882; candidate
for mayor of New York, 1886; United States civil service com-
missioner, 1889-95; president of New York City police board,
1895-97; assistant secretary of the navy, 1897-8; served in
Spanish-American war; governor of New York, 1899-1900;
vice president, March 4 to September 20, 1901, when he became
president upon the death of President McKinley; elected presi-
dent, 1904; defeated candidate for president on progressive
ticket in 1912; died at Oyster Bay, N. Y., January 6, 1919.
1912] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 393
of American manufacture which are sold abroad more cheaply than at
home should be put upon the free list.
"We recognize that our system of tariff taxation is intimately con-
nected with the business of the country, and we favor the ultimate
attainment of the principles we advocate by legislation that will not
injure or destroy legitimate industry.
"We denounce the action of President Taft in vetoing the bills to
reduce the tariff in the cotton, woolen, metal, and chemical schedules
and the Farmers' Free List bill, all of which were designed to give
immediate relief to the masses from the exactions of the trusts.
"The Republican party, while promising tariff revision, has shown
by its tariff legislation that such revision is not to be in the people's
interest, and having been faithless to its pledges of 1908 it should no
longer enjoy the confidence of the nation. We appeal to the American
people to support us in our demand for a tariff for revenue only.
"High Cost of Living. — The high cost of living is a serious prob-
lem in every American home. The Republican party in its platform
attempts to escape from responsibility for present conditions by deny-
ing that they are due to a protective tariff. We take issue with them
on this subject and charge that excessive prices result in a large
measure from the high tariff laws enacted and maintained by the
Republican party and from trusts and commercial conspiracies fostered
and encouraged by such laws, and we assert that no substantial relief
can be secured for the people until import duties on the necessaries of
life are materially reduced and these criminal conspiracies broken up.
"Anti-Trust Law. — A private monopoly is indefensible and intol-
erable. We therefore favor the vigorous enforcement of the criminal
as well as the civil law against trusts and trust officials, and demand
the enactment of such additional legislation as may be necessary to
make it impossible for a private monopoly to exist in the United States.
"We favor the declaration by law of the conditions upon which
corporations shall be permitted to engage in interstate trade, including,
among others, the prevention of holding companies, of interlocking
directors, of stock watering, of discrimination in price, and the control
by any one corporation of so large a proportion of any industry as to
make it a menace to competitive conditions.
394 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1912
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"We condemn the action of the Republican administration in com-
promising with the Standard Oil Company and the Tobacco Trust
and its failure to invoke the criminal provisions of the Anti-Trust law
against the officers of those corporations after the court had declared
that, from the undisputed facts in the record, they had violated the
criminal provisions of the law.
"We regret that the Sherman Anti-Trust law has received a judi-
cial construction depriving it of much of its efficiency, and we favor
the enactment of legislation which will restore to the statute the
strength of which it has been deprived by such interpretation.
"Rights of the States. — We believe in the preservation and mainte-
nance in their full strength and integrity of the three coordinate
branches of the Federal government — the executive, the legislative,
and the judicial, — each keeping with its own bounds and not en-
croaching upon the just powers of either of the others.
"Believing that the most efficient results under our system of gov-
ernment are to be attained by the full exercise by the States of their
reserved sovereign powers, we denounce as usurpation the efforts of
our opponents to deprive the States of any of the rights reserved to
them, and to enlarge and magnify by indirection the powers of the
Federal government.
"We insist upon the full exercise of all the powers of the govern-
ment, both State and national, to protect the people from injustice
at the hands of those who seek to make the government a private asset
in business. There is no twilight zone between the nation and the
State in which exploiting interests can take refuge from both. It is as
necessary that the Federal government shall exercise the powers dele-
gated to it as it is that the States shall exercise the powers reserved to
them, but we insist that Federal remedies for the regulation of inter-
state commerce and for the prevention of private monopoly shall be
added to, and not substituted for, State remedies.
"Income Tax and Popular Election of Senators. — We congratulate
the country upon the triumph of two important reforms demanded in
the last national platform, namely, the amendment of the Federal
Constitution authorizing an income tax and the amendment providing
for the popular election of Senators, and we call upon the people of
1912] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 395
all the States to rally to the support of the pending propositions and
secure their ratification.
"Publicity of Campaign Contributions- — We note with gratifica-
tion the unanimous sentiment in favor of publicity before the election
of campaign contributions — a measure demanded in our national plat-
form of 1908 and at that time opposed by the Republican party, — and
we commend the Democratic House of Representatives for extending
the doctrine of publicity to recommendations, verbal and written,
upon which Presidential appointments are made, to the ownership and
control of newspapers, and to the expenditures made by and in behalf
of those who aspire to Presidential nominations, and we point for
additional justification for this legislation to the enormous expenditures
of money in behalf of the President and his predecessor in the recent
contest for the Republican nomination for President.
"Presidential Primaries. — The movement towards more popular
government should be promoted through legislation, in each State,
which will permit the expression of the preference of the electors for
national candidates at Presidential primaries.
"We direct that the national committee incorporate in the call for
the next nominating convention a requirement that all expressions of
preference for Presidential candidates shall be given, and the selection
of delegates and alternates made, through a primary election con-
ducted by the party organization in each State where such expression
and election are not provided for by State law. Committeemen who
are hereafter to constitute the membership of the Democratic national
committee, and whose election is not provided for by law, shall be
chosen in each State at such primary elections, and the service and
authority of committeemen, however chosen, shall begin immediately
upon the receipt of their credentials respectively.
"Campaign Contributions. — We pledge the Democratic party to
the enactment of a law prohibiting any corporation from contribut-
ing to a campaign fund and any individual from contributing any
amount above a reasonable maximum.
"Term of President. — We favor a single Presidential term, and
to that end urge the adoption of an amendment to the Constitution
396 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1912
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
making the President of the United States ineligible to reelection,
and we pledge the candidate of this convention to this principle.
"Democratic Congress. — At this time, when the Republican party,
after a generation of unlimited power in its control of the Federal
government, is rent into factions, it is opportune to point to the
record of the accomplishment of the Democratic House of Repre-
sentatives in the Sixty-second Congress. We endorse its action and
we challenge comparison of its record with that of any Congress
which has been controlled by our opponents.
"We call the attention of the patriotic citizens of our country to
its record of efficiency, economy, and constructive legislation.
"It has, among other achievements, revised the rules of the House
of Representatives so as to give to the representatives of the American
people freedom of speech and of action in advocating, proposing, and
perfecting remedial legislation. It has passed bills for the relief of the
people and the development of our country; it has endeavored to
revise the tariff taxes downward in the interest of the consuming
masses and thus to reduce the high cost of living; it has proposed
an amendment to the Federal Constitution providing for the elec-
tion of United States Senators by the direct vote of the people; it
has secured the admission of Arizona and New Mexico as two
sovereign States; it has required the publicity of campaign expenses,
both before and after election, and fixed a limit upon the election
expenses of United States Senators and Representatives.
"It has passed a bill to prevent the abuse of the writ of injunc-
tion; it has passed a law establishing an eight-hour day for work-
men on all national public work; it has passed a resolution which
forced the President to take immediate steps to abrogate the Russian
treaty; and it has passed the great supply bills which lessen waste
and extravagance and which reduce the annual expenses of the gov-
ernment by many millions of dollars.
"We approve the measure reported by the Democratic leaders i'n
the House of Representatives for the creation of a Council of National
Defense which will determine a definite naval program with a
view to increased efficiency and economy. The party that pro-
claimed and has always enforced the Monroe doctrine and was
1912] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 397
sponsor for the new navy will continue faithfully to observe the
constitutional requirements to provide and maintain an adequate
and well-proportioned navy sufficient to defend American policies,
protect our citizens, and uphold the honor and dignity of the nation.
"Republican Extravagance. — We denounce the profligate waste
of money wrung from the people by oppressive taxation through the
lavish appropriations of recent Republican Congresses, which have
kept taxes high and reduced the purchasing power of the people's
toil. We demand a return to that simplicity and economy which
befits a democratic government, and a reduction in the number of
useless offices, the salaries of which drain the substance of the people.
"Railroads, Express Companies, Telegraph and Telephone Lines.
— We favor the efficient supervision and rate regulation of railroads,
express companies, telegraph and telephone lines engaged in inter-
state commerce. To this end we recommend the valuation of rail-
roads, express companies, telegraph and telephone lines by the Inter-
state Commerce commission, such valuation to take into considera-
tion the physical value of the property, the original cost, the cost of
reproduction, and any element of value that will render the valuation
fair and just.
"We favor such legislation as will effectually prohibit the rail-
roads, express, telegraph, and telephone companies from engaging in
business which brings them into competition with the shippers or
patrons; also legislation preventing the overissue of stocks and bonds
by interstate railroads, express companies, telegraph and telephone
lines, and legislation which will assure such reduction in transporta-
tion rates as conditions will permit, care being taken to avoid reduc-
tion that would compel a reduction of wages, prevent adequate serv-
ice, or do injustice to legitimate investments.
"Banking Legislation. — We oppose the so-called Aldrich bill, or
the establishment of a central bank, and we believe the people of the
country will be largely freed from panics and consequent unemploy-
ment and business depression by such a systematic revision of our
banking laws as will render temporary relief in localities where such
relief is needed, with protection from control or dominion by what
is known as the Money Trust.
398 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1912
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"Banks exist for the accommodation of the public, and not for
the control of business. All legislation on the subject of banking
and currency should have for its purpose the securing of these accom-
modations on terms of absolute security to the public and of complete
protection from the misuse of the power that wealth gives to those
who possess it.
"We condemn the present methods of depositing government funds
in a few favored banks, largely situated in or controlled by Wall
Street, in return for political favors, and we pledge our party to pro-
vide by law for their deposit by competitive bidding in the banking
institutions of the country, national and State, without discrimination
as to locality, upon approved securities and subject to call by the
government.
"Rural Credits. — Of equal importance with the question of cur-
rency reform is the question of rural credits or agricultural finance.
Therefore we recommend that an investigation of agricultural credit
societies in foreign countries be made, so that it may be ascertained
whether a system of rural credits may be devised suitable to condi-
tions in the United States, and we also favor legislation permitting
National banks to loan a reasonable proportion of their funds on
real estate security.
"We recognize the value of vocational education, and urge Fed-
eral appropriations for such training, and extension teaching in agri-
culture in cooperation with the several States.
"Waterways. — We renew the declaration in our last platform
relating to the conservation of our natural resources, and the develop-
ment of our waterways. The present devastation of the lower Mis-
sissippi valley accentuates the movement for the regulation of river
flow by additional bank and levee protection below, and the diversion,
storage and control of the flood waters above, and their utilization
for beneficial purposes in the reclamation of arid and swamp lands
and development of water-power, instead of permitting the floods
to continue, as heretofore, agents of destruction.
"We hold that the control of the Mississippi River is a national
problem; the preservation of the depth of its waters for the pur-
pose of navigation, the building of levees to maintain the integrity of
1912] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 399
its channel, and the prevention of the overflow of the land and its
consequent devastation, resulting in the interruption of interstate
commerce, the disorganization of the mail service, and the enormous
loss of life and property, impose an obligation which alone can be
discharged by the general government.
"To maintain an adequate depth of water the entire year, and
thereby encourage water transportation, is a consummation worthy of
legislative attention and presents an issue national in its character.
It calls for prompt action on the part of Congress, and the Demo-
cratic party pledges itself to the enactment of legislation leading to
that end.
"We favor the cooperation of the United States and the respective
States in plans for the comprehensive treatment of all waterways, with
a view of coordinating plans for channel improvement with plans
for drainage of swamps and overflowed lands, and to this end we
favor the appropriation by the Federal government of sufficient funds
to make surveys of such lands, to develop plans for draining the same,
and to supervise the work of construction.
"We favor the adoption of a liberal and comprehensive plan for
the development and improvement of our inland waterways, with
economy and efficiency, so as to permit their navigation by vessels of
standard draught.
"Post Roads. — We favor national aid to State and local authorities
in the construction and maintenance of post roads.
"Rights of Labor. — We repeat our declarations of the platform of
1908, as follows:
' 'The courts of justice are the bulwark of our liberties, and we
yield to none in our purpose to maintain their dignity. Our party
has given to the bench a long line of distinguished Justices who have
added to the respect and confidence in which this department must be
jealously maintained. We resent the attempt of the Republican party
to raise a false issue respecting the judiciary. It is an unjust reflection
upon a great body of our citizens to assume that they lack respect for
the courts.
" 'It is the function of the courts to interpret the laws which the
people enact, and if the laws appear to work economic, social, or
400 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1912
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
political injustice it is our duty to change them. The only basis
upon which the integrity of our courts can stand is that of unswerving
justice and protection of life, personal liberty, and property. As judi-
cial processes may be abused, we should guard them against abuse.
;< 'Experience has proved the necessity of a modification of the
present law relating to injunctions, and we reiterate the pledges of our
platforms of 1896 and 1904 in favor of a measure which passed the
United States Senate in 1896 relating to contempt in Federal courts
and providing for trial by jury in cases of indirect contempt.
" 'Questions of judicial practice have arisen, especially in connec-
tion with industrial disputes. We believe that the parties to all judi-
cial proceedings should be treated with rigid impartiality and that
injunctions should not be issued in any case in which an injunction
would not issue if no industrial dispute were involved.
' 'The expanding organization of industry makes it essential that
there should be no abridgement of the right of the wage-earners and
producers to organize for the protection of wages and the improve-
ment of labor conditions, to the end that such labor organizations and
their members should not be regarded as illegal combinations in
restraint of trade.
" 'We pledge the Democratic party to the enactment of a law
creating a Department of Labor, represented separately in the Presi-
dent's cabinet, in which department shall be included the subject of
mines and mining.
' 'We pledge the Democratic party, so far as the Federal jurisdic-
tion extends, to an Employes' Compensation law providing adequate
indemnity for injury to body or loss of life.'
"Conservation. — We believe in the conservation and the develop-
ment, for the use of all the people, of the natural resources of the
country. Our forests, our sources of water supply, our arable and our
mineral lands, our navigable streams, and all the other material
resources with which our country has been so lavishly endowed, con-
stitute the foundation of our national wealth. Such additional legis-
lation as may be necessary to prevent their being wasted or absorbed
by special or privileged interests should be enacted, and the policy of
their conservation should be rigidly adhered to.
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 401
"The public domain should be administered and disposed of with
due regard to the general welfare. Reservations should be limited to
the purposes which they purport to serve, and not extended to include
land wholly unsuited therefor. The unnecessary withdrawal from
sale and settlement of enormous tracts of public land, upon which
tree growth never existed and cannot be promoted, tends only to retard
development, create discontent, and bring reproach upon the policy
of conservation.
"The public land laws should be administered in a spirit of the
broadest liberality towards the settler exhibiting a bona fide purpose to
comply therewith, to the end that the invitation of this government to
the landless should be as attractive as possible; and the plain provisions
of the Forest Reserve act permitting homestead entries to be made
within the national forests should not be nullified by administrative
regulations which amount to a withdrawal of great areas of the same
from settlement.
"Immediate action should be taken by Congress to make available
the vast and valuable coal deposits of Alaska under conditions that
will be a perfect guaranty against their falling into the hands of
monopolizing corporations, associations, or interests.
"We rejoice in the inheritance of mineral resources unequalled in
extent, variety, or value, and in the development of a mining industry
unequaled in its magnitude and importance. We honor the men
who, in their hazardous toil underground, daily risk their lives in
extracting and preparing for our use the products of the mines, so
essential to the industries, the commerce, and the comfort of the
people of this country. And we pledge ourselves to the extension of
the work of the Bureau of Mines in every way appropriate for
national legislation, with a view of safeguarding the lives of the
miners, lessening the waste of essential resources, and promoting the
economic development of mining, which, along with agriculture, must
in the future, even more than in the past, serve as the very founda-
tion of our national prosperity and welfare and our international
commerce.
"Agriculture, — We believe in encouraging the development of a
modern system of agriculture and a systematic effort to improve the
402 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL U912
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
conditions of trade in farm products so as to benefit both the con-
sumers and producers. And as an efficient means to this end we favor
the enactment by Congress of legislation that will suppress the perni-
cious practice of gambling in agricultural products by organized
exchanges or others.
"Merchant Marine. — We believe in fostering by constitutional
regulation of commerce the growth of a merchant marine, which
shall develop and strengthen the commercial ties which bind us to
our sister republics to the south, but without imposing additional bur-
dens upon the people and without bounties or subsidies from the pub-
lic treasury.
"We urge upon Congress the speedy enactment of laws for the
greater security of life and property at sea, and we favor the repeal
of all laws and the abrogation of so much of our treaties with other
nations as provide for the arrest and imprisonment of seamen charged
with desertion or with violation of their contract of service. Such
laws and treaties are un-American, and violate the spirit, if not the
letter, of the Constitution of the United States.
"We favor the exemption from tolls of American ships engaged in
coastwise trade passing through the Panama canal.
"We also favor legislation forbidding the use of the Panama canal
by ships owned or controlled by railroad carriers engaged in transpor-
tation competitive with the canal.
"Pure Food and Public Health. — We reaffirm our previous declara-
tions advocating the union and strengthening of the various govern-
mental agencies relating to pure foods, quarantine, vital statistics, and
human health. Thus united, and administered without partiality to
or discrimination against any school of medicine or system of healing,
they would constitute a single health service, not subordinated to any
commercial or financial interests but devoted exclusively to the con-
servation of human life and efficiency. Moreover, this health service
should cooperate with the health agencies of our various States and
cities without interference with their prerogatives, or with the freedom
of individuals to employ such medical or hygienic aid as they may
see fit.
"Civil Service Law. — The law pertaining to the civil service should
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 403
be honestly and rigidly enforced, to the end that merit and ability
should be the standard of appointment and promotion, rather than
service rendered to a political party; and we favor a reorganization
of the civil service with adequate compensation commensurate with
the class of work performed for all officers and employes; we also
favor the extension to all classes of civil service employes of the benefits
of the provisions of the Employers' Liability law; we also recognize
the right of direct petition to Congress by employes for the redress of
grievances.
"Law Reform. — We recognize the urgent need of reform in the
administration of civil and criminal law in the United States, and we
recommend the enactment of such legislation and the promotion of
such measures as will rid the present legal system of the delays,
expense, and uncertainties incident to the system as now administered.
"The Philippines. — We reaffirm the position thrice announced by
the Democracy in national convention assembled against a policy of
imperialism and colonial exploitation in the Philippines or elsewhere.
We condemn the experiment in imperialism as an inexcusable blunder
which has involved us in enormous expense, brought us weakness
instead of strength, and laid our nation open to the charge of abandon-
ment of the fundamental doctrine of self-government.
"We favor an immediate declaration of the nation's purpose to
recognize the independence of the Philippine Islands as soon as a stable
government can be established, such independence to be guaranteed
by us until the neutralization of the islands can be secured by treaty
with other powers. In recognizing the independence of the Philip-
pines, our government should retain such land as may be necessary for
coaling stations and naval bases.
"Arizona and New Mexico. — We welcome Arizona and New
Mexico to the sisterhood of States, and heartily congratulate them
upon their auspicious beginning of great and glorious careers.
"Alaska. — We demand for the people of Alaska the full enjoyment
of the rights and privileges of a Territorial form of government, and
we believe that the officials appointed to administer the government of
all our Territories and the District of Columbia should be qualified
by previous bona fide residence.
404 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
" The Russian Treaty. — We commend the patriotism of the Demo-
cratic members of the Senate and House of Representatives which
compelled the termination of the Russian treaty of 1832, and we
pledge ourselves anew to preserve the sacred rights of American
citizenship at home and abroad. No treaty should receive the sanction
of our government which does not recognize that equality of all our
citizens, irrespective of race or creed, and which does not expressly
guarantee the fundamental right of expatriation.
"The constitutional rights of American citizens should protect
them on our borders and go with them throughout the world, and
every American citizen residing or having property in any foreign
country is entitled to and must be given the full protection of the
United States government, both for himself and his property.
"Parcels Post and Rural Delivery. — We favor the establishment
of a parcels post or postal express, and also the extension of the rural
delivery system, as rapidly as practicable.
"Panama Canal Exposition. — We hereby express our deep interest
in the great Panama Canal Exposition to be held in San Francisco in
1915, and favor such encouragement as can be properly given.
"Protection of National Uniform. — We commend to the several
States the adoption of a law making it an offense for the proprietors
of places of public amusement and entertainment to discriminate
against the uniform of the United States, similar to the law passed by
Congress applicable to the District of Columbia and the Territories
in 1911.
"Pensions. — We renew the declaration of our last platform relating
to a generous pension policy.
"Rule of the People. — We direct attention to the fact that the
Democratic party's demand for a return to the rule of the people,
expressed in the national platform four years ago, has now become
the accepted doctrine of a large majority of the electors. We again
remind the country that only by the larger exercise of the reserved
power of the people can they protect themselves from the misuse of
delegated power and the usurpation of governmental instrumentalities
by special interests. For this reason the national convention insisted
on the overthrow of Cannonism and the inauguration of a system by
1912] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 405
which United States Senators could be elected by direct vote. The
Democratic party offers itself to the country as an agency through
which the complete overthrow and extirpation of corruption, fraud,
and machine rule in American politics can be effected.
"Conclusion. — Our platform is one of principles which we believe
to be essential to our national welfare. Our pledges are made to be
kept when in office, as well as relied upon during the campaign, and
we invite the cooperation of all citizens, regardless of party, who
believe in maintaining unimpaired the institutions and traditions of
our country."
Progressive Party
After the nomination of Taft by the Republican con-
vention steps were taken by the followers of Roosevelt
for the establishment of a new political organization
to be known as the Progressive party. Convention
held in Chicago, August 5-7, 1912. Chairman, Albert
J. Beveridge, of Indiana.
Theodore Roosevelt was nominated for President,
and Hiram W. Johnson, of California, for Vice-Pres-
ident — each by unanimous vote.
Platform (unanimously adopted) :
"The conscience of the people, in a time of grave national prob-
lems, has called into being a new party, born of the nation's awakened
sense of injustice.
"We of the Progressive party here dedicate ourselves to the fulfill-
ment of the duty laid upon us by our fathers to maintain that govern-
ment of the people, by the people, and for the people whose founda-
tions they laid.
"We hold, with Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln, that the
people are the masters of their Constitution to fulfill its purposes and
to safeguard it from those who, by perversion of its intent, would
convert it into an instrument of injustice. In accordance with the
needs of each generation the people must use their sovereign powers
406 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1912
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
to establish and maintain equal opportunity and industrial justice, to
secure which this government was founded and without which no
republic can endure.
"This country belongs to the people who inhabit it. Its resources,
its business, its institutions, and its laws should be utilized, main-
tained, or altered in whatever manner will best promote the general
interest. It is time to set the public welfare in the first place.
"Political parties exist to secure responsible government and to
execute the will of the people. From these great tasks both the old
parties have turned aside. Instead of instruments to promote the
general welfare, they have become the tools of corrupt interests which
use them impartially to serve their selfish purposes. Behind the
ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government, owing
no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To
destroy this invisible government, to dissolve the unholy alliance be-
tween corrupt business and corrupt politics, is the first task of the
statesmanship of the day.
"The deliberate betrayal of its trust by the Republican party, the
fatal incapacity of the Democratic party to deal with the new issues
of the new time, have compelled the people to forge a new instrument
of government through which to give effect to their will in laws and
institutions.
"Unhampered by tradition, uncorrupted by power, undismayed by
the magnitude of the task, the new party offers itself as the instrument
of the people to sweep away old abuses, to build a new and nobler
commonwealth.
"This declaration is our covenant with the people, and we hereby
bind the party and its candidates in State and nation to the pledges
made herein.
"Rule of the People. — The Progressive party, committed to the
principle of government by a self-controlled democracy expressing its
will through representatives of the people, pledges itself to secure such
alterations in the fundamental law of the several States and of the
United States as shall insure the representative character of the gov-
ernment. In particular the party declares for direct primaries for the
nomination of State and national officers, for nation-wide preferential
1912] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 407
primaries for candidates for the Presidency, for the direct election of
United States Senators by the people; and we urge on the States the
policy of the short ballot, with responsibility to the people secured by
the initiative, referendum, and recall.
"The Progressive party, believing that a free people should have
the power from time to time to amend their fundamental law so as
to adapt it progressively to the changing needs of the people, pledges
itself to provide a more easy and expeditious method of amending the
Federal Constitution.
"Nation and State. — Up to the limit of the Constitution, and later
by amendment of the Constitution, if found necessary, we advocate
bringing under effective national jurisdiction those problems which
have expanded beyond reach of the individual States.
"It is as grotesque as it is intolerable that the several States should
by unequal laws in matter of common concern become competing
commercial agencies to barter the lives of their children, the health
of their women, and the safety and well-being of their working people
for the profit of their financial interests.
"The extreme insistence on States rights by the Democratic party
in the Baltimore platform demonstrates anew its inability to under-
stand the world into which it has survived or to administer the affairs
of a Union of States which have in all essential respects become one
people.
"Social and Industrial Justice. — The supreme duty of the nation
is the conservation of human resources through an enlightened measure
of social and industrial justice. We pledge ourselves to work unceas-
ingly in State and nation for:
"Effective legislation looking to the prevention of industrial acci-
dents, occupational diseases, overwork, involuntary unemployment, and
other injurious effects incident to modern industry;
"The fixing of minimum safety and health standards for the various
occupations, and the exercise of the public authority of State and
nation, including the Federal control over interstate commerce and
the taxing power, to maintain such standards;
"The prohibition of child labor;
408 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"Minimum wage standards for working women, to provide a liv-
ing scale in all industrial occupations;
"The prohibition of night work for women and the establishment
of an eight-hour day for women and young persons;
"One day's rest in seven for all wage-workers;
"The eight-hour day in continuous twenty-four hour industries ;
"The abolition of the convict contract labor system; substituting
a system of prison production for governmental consumption only ; and
the application of prisoners' earnings to the support of their dependent
families ;
"Publicity as to wages, hours, and conditions of labor; full reports
upon industrial accidents and diseases and the opening to public
inspection of all tallies, weights, measures, and check systems on labor
products ;
"Standards of compensation for death by industrial accident and
injury and trade diseases which will transfer the burden of lost earn-
ings from the families of working people to the industry, and thus to
the community;
"The protection of home life against the hazards of sickness,
irregular employment, and old age through the adoption of a system
of social insurance adapted to American use ;
"The development of the creative labor power of America by lifting
the last load of illiteracy from American youth and establishing con-
tinuation schools for industrial education under public control and
encouraging agricultural education and demonstration in rural
schools ;
"The establishment of industrial research laboratories to put the
methods and discoveries of science at the service of American
producers.
"We favor the organization of the workers, men and women, as a
means of protecting their interests and of promoting their progress.
"Regulation of Interstate Corporations. — We believe that true
popular government, justice, and prosperity go hand in hand, and, so
believing, it is our purpose to secure that large measure of general
prosperity which is the fruit of legitimate and honest business, fostered
by equal justice and by sound progressive laws.
WILLIAM H. TAFT
William H. Taft, 27th president; born at Cincinnati, Ohio,
September 15, 1857; lawyer; assistant county solicitor Hamilton
County, 1885-87; judge superior court of Cincinnati, 1887-90;
solicitor general United States, 1890-92; circuit judge, 1892-
1900; secretary of war under President Roosevelt, 1904-08;
elected president, 1908; defeated for reelection by Woodrow
Wilson, 1912; appointed by President Harding chief judge
United States supreme court, 1921.
1912] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 409
"We demand that the test of true prosperity shall be the benefits
conferred thereby on all the citizens, not confined to individuals or
classes, and that the test of corporate efficiency shall be the ability
better to serve the public; that those who profit by control of business
affairs shall justify that profit and that control by sharing with the
public the fruits thereof.
"We therefore demand a strong national regulation of interstate
corporations. The corporation is an essential part of modern business.
The concentration of modern business, in some degree, is both inevi-
table and necessary for national and international business efficiency.
But the existing concentration of vast wealth under a corporate system
unguarded and uncontrolled by the nation has placed in the hands of a
few men enormous, secret, irresponsible power over the daily life of
the citizen — a power insufferable in a free government and certain
of abuse.
"This power has been abused in monopoly of national resources, in
stock watering, in unfair competition and unfair privileges, and,
finally, in sinister influences on the public agencies of State and nation.
We do not fear commercial power, but we insist that it shall be
exercised openly under publicity, supervision, and regulation of the
most efficient sort, which will preserve its good while eradicating
its evils.
"To that end we urge the establishment of a strong Federal Admin-
istrative commission of high standing, which shall maintain permanent
active supervision over industrial corporations engaged in interstate
commerce, or such of them as are of public importance, doing for them
what the government now does for the National banks, and what is
now done for the railroads by the Interstate Commerce commission.
"Such a commission must enforce the complete publicity of those
corporation transactions which are of public interest ; must attack un-
fair competition, false capitalization, and special privilege, and by con-
tinuous trained watchfulness guard and keep open equally to all the
highways of American commerce. Thus the business man will have
certain knowledge of the law and will be able to conduct his business
easily in conformity therewith, the investor will find security for his
capital, dividends will be rendered more certain, and the savings of
410 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1912
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
the people will be drawn naturally and safely into the channels of
trade.
"Under such a system of constructive regulation legitimate business,
freed from confusion, uncertainty, and fruitless litigation, will develop
normally in response to the energy and enterprise of the American
business man.
"Commercial Development. — The time has come when the Federal
government should cooperate with manufacturers and producers in
extending our foreign commerce. To this end we demand adequate
appropriations by Congress and the appointment of diplomatic and
consular officers solely with a view to their special fitness and worth,
and not in consideration of political expediency.
"It is imperative to the welfare of our people that we enlarge and
extend our foreign commerce. We are preeminently fitted to do this
because, as a people, we have developed high skill in the art of manu-
facturing; our business men are strong executives, strong organizers.
In every way possible our Federal government should cooperate in
this important matter.
"Any one who has had opportunity to study and observe first-hand
Germany's course in this respect must realize that their policy of
cooperation between government and business has in comparatively
few years made them a leading competitor for the commerce of the
world. It should be remembered that they are doing this on a
national scale and with large units of business, while the Democrats
would have us believe that we should do it with small units of business,
which would be controlled not by the national government but by
forty-nine conflicting sovereignties. Such a policy is utterly out of
keeping with the progress of the times and gives our great commercial
rivals in Europe — hungry for international markets — golden oppor-
tunities of which they are rapidly taking advantage.
"The Tariff. — We believe in a protective tariff which shall equalize
conditions of competition between the United States and foreign coun-
tries, both for the farmer and the manufacturer, and which shall main-
tain for labor an adequate standard of living. Primarily the benefit
of any tariff should be disclosed in the pay envelope of the laborer.
We declare that no industry deserves protection which is unfair to
1912] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 411
labor or which is operating in violation of Federal law. We believe
that the presumption is always in favor of the consuming public.
"We demand tariff revision because the present tariff is unjust to
the people of the United States. Fair-dealing toward the people
requires an immediate downward revision of those schedules wherein
duties are shown to be unjust and excessive.
"We pledge ourselves to the establishment of a non-partisan scien-
tific Tariff commission, reporting both to the President and to either
branch of Congress, which shall report first, as to the costs of produc-
tion, efficiency of labor, capitalization, industrial organization and
efficiency, and the general competitive position in this country and
abroad of industries seeking protection from Congress; second, as to
the revenue-producing power of the tariff and its relation to the
resources of government; and thirdly, as to the effect of the tariff
on prices, operations of middlemen, and on the purchasing power of
the consumer.
"We believe that this commission should have plenary power to
elicit information, and for this purpose to prescribe a uniform system
of accounting for the great protected industries. The work of the
commission should not prevent the immediate adoption of acts reducing
those schedules generally recognized as excessive.
"We condemn the Payne- Aldrich bill as unjust to the people. The
Republican organization is in the hands of those who have broken, and
cannot again be trusted to keep, the promise of necessary downward
revision. The Democratic party is committed to the destruction of
the protective system through a tariff for revenue only — a policy which
would inevitably produce widespread industrial and commercial
disaster.
"We demand the immediate repeal of the Canadian Reciprocity act.
"High Cost of Living. — The high cost of living is due partly to
world-wide and partly to local causes ; partly to natural and partly to
artificial causes. The measures proposed in this platform on various
subjects, such as the tariff, the trusts, and conservation, will of them-
selves remove the artificial causes. There will remain other elements,
such as the tendency to leave the country for the city, waste, extrava-
gance, bad systems of taxation, poor methods of raising crops, and bad
4'2 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1912
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
business methods in marketing crops. To remedy these conditions
requires the fullest information and, based on this information, effec-
tive government supervision and control to remove all the artificial
causes. We pledge ourselves to such full and immediate inquiry and
to immediate action to deal with every need such inquiry discloses.
"Improvement of the Currency. — We believe there exists impera-
tive need for prompt legislation for the improvement of our national
currency system. We believe the present method of issuing notes
through private agencies is harmful and unscientific. The issue of
currency is fundamentally a government function, and the system
should have as basic principles soundness and elasticity. The control
should be lodged with the government and should be protected from
domination or manipulation by Wall Street or any special interests.
"We are opposed to the so-called Aldrich Currency bill because its
provisions would place our currency and credit system in private hands,
not subject to effective public control.
"Conservation of Natural Resources. — The natural resources of
the nation must be promptly developed and generously used to supply
the people's needs, but we cannot safely allow them to be wasted,
exploited, monopolized, or controlled against the general good. We
heartily favor the policy of conservation and we pledge our party to
protect the national forests without hindering their legitimate use, for
the benefit of all the people. Agricultural lands in the national forests
are, and should remain, open to the genuine settler. Conservation
will not retard legitimate development. The honest settler must
receive his patent promptly without needless restrictions or delays.
"We believe that the remaining forests, coal and oil lands, water-
powers, and other natural resources still in State or national control
(except agricultural lands) are more likely to be wisely conserved and
utilized for the general welfare if held in the public hands.
"In order that consumers and producers, managers and workmen,
now and hereafter, need not pay toll to private monopolies of power
and raw material, we demand that such resources shall be retained by
the State or nation and opened to immediate use under laws which
will encourage development and make to the people a moderate return
for benefits conferred.
1912J NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 413
"In particular we pledge our party to require reasonable compensa-
tion to the public for water-power rights hereafter granted by the
public. We pledge legislation to lease the public grazing lands under
equitable provisions now pending which will increase the production
of food for the people and thoroughly safeguard the rights of the
actual homemaker. Natural resources whose conservation is neces-
sary for the national welfare should be owned and controlled by the
nation. ! > ,£$j
"Waterways. — The rivers of the United States are the natural
arteries of this continent. We demand that they shall be opened to
traffic as indispensable parts of a great nation-wide system of trans-
portation in which the Panama canal will be the central link, thus
enabling the whole interior of the United States to share with the
Atlantic and Pacific seaboards in the benefit derived from the canal.
"It is a national obligation to develop our rivers, and especially the
Mississippi and its tributaries, without delay, under a comprehensive
general plan covering each river system from its source to its mouth,
designed to secure its highest usefulness for navigation, irrigation,
domestic supply, water-power, and the prevention of floods. We
pledge our party to the immediate preparation of such a plan, which
should be made and carried out in close and friendly cooperation be-
tween the nation, the States, and the cities affected.
"Under such a plan the destructive floods of the Mississippi and
other streams, which represent a vast and needless loss to the nation,
would be controlled by forest conservation and water storage at the
headwaters and by levees below, land sufficient to support millions of
people would be reclaimed from the deserts and swamps, water-power
enough to transform the industrial standing of whole States would be
developed, adequate water terminals would be provided, transporta-
tion would revive, and the railroads would be compelled to cooperate
as freely with the boat lines as with each other.
"The equipment, organization, and experience acquired in con-
structing the Panama canal soon will be available for the Lakes-to-
the-Gulf deep waterway and other portions of this great work, and
should be utilized by the nation in cooperation with the various States
at the lowest net cost to the people.
414 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"Panama Canal. — The Panama canal, built and paid for by the
American people, must be used primarily for their benefit. We
demand that the canal shall be so operated as to break the transporta-
tion monopoly now held and misused by the transcontinental railroads
by maintaining sea competition with them ; that ships directly or indi-
rectly owned or controlled by American railroad corporations shall
not be permitted to use the canal, and that American ships engaged in
coastwise trade shall pay no tolls.
"The Progressive party will favor legislation having for its aim
the development of friendship and commerce between the United
States and Latin-American nations.
"Alaska. — The coal and other natural resources of Alaska should
be opened to development at once. They are owned by the people of
the United States and are safe from monopoly, waste, or destruction
only while so owned. We demand that they shall neither be sold nor
given away except under the Homestead law, but while held in gov-
ernment ownership shall be opened to use promptly upon liberal terms
requiring immediate development.
"Thus the benefit of cheap fuel will accrue to the government of
the United States and to the people of Alaska and the Pacific coast,
the settlement of extensive agricultural lands will be hastened, the
extermination of the salmon will be prevented, and the just and wise
development of Alaskan resources will take the place of private extor-
tion or monopoly.
"We demand also that extortion or monopoly in transportation
shall be prevented by the prompt acquisition, construction, or improve-
ment by the government of such railroads, harbor, and other facilities
for transportation as the welfare of the people may demand.
"We promise the people of the Territory of Alaska the same
measure of local self-government that was given to other American
Territories, and that Federal officials appointed there shall be qualified
by previous bona fide residence in the Territory.
"Equal Suffrage. — The Progressive party, believing that no
people can justly claim to be a true democracy which denies politi-
cal rights on account of sex, pledges itself to the task of securing
equal suffrage to men and women alike.
1912] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 415
"Corrupt Election Practices. — We pledge our party to legislation
that will compel strict limitation on all campaign contributions and
expenditures, and detailed publicity of both before as well as after
primaries and elections.
"Publicity and Public Service. — We pledge our party to legisla-
tion compelling the registration of lobbyists; publicity of committee
hearings, except on foreign affairs, and recording of all votes in com-
mittee; and forbidding Federal appointees from holding office in
State or national political organizations or taking part as officers or
delegates in political conventions for the nomination of elective State
or national officials.
"Popular Review of Judicial Decisions. — The Progressive party
demands such restriction of the power of the courts as shall leave to
the people the ultimate authority to determine fundamental questions
of social welfare and public policy. To secure this end, it pledges
itself to provide:
"First. — That when an act passed under the police power of the
State is held unconstitutional under the State Constitution by the
courts, the people, after an ample interval for deliberation, shall
have an opportunity to vote on the question whether they desire the
act to become law, notwithstanding such decision.
"Second. — That every decision of the highest appellate court of a
State declaring an act of the Legislature unconstitutional on the
ground of its violation of the Federal Constitution shall be subject
to the same review by the Supreme Court of the United States as is
now accorded to decisions sustaining such legislation.
"Administration of Justice. — The Progressive party, in order to
secure to the people a better administration of justice, and by that
means to bring about a more general respect for the law and the
courts, pledges itself to work unceasingly for the reform of legal
procedure and judicial methods.
"We believe that the issuance of injunctions in cases arising out of
labor disputes should be prohibited when such injunctions would not
apply when no labor disputes existed.
"We also believe that a person cited for contempt in labor dis-
putes, except when such contempt was committed in the actual pres-
416 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1912
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
ence of the court or so near thereto as to interfere with the proper
administration of justice, should have a right to trial by jury.
"A Department of Labor. — We pledge our party to establish a
Department of Labor, with a seat in the cabinet and with wide juris-
diction over matters affecting the conditions of labor and living.
"Country Life. — The development and prosperity of country life
are as important to the people who live in the cities as they are to
the farmers. Increase of prosperity on the farm will favorably affect
the cost of living and promote the interests of all who dwell in the
country and all who depend upon its products for clothing, shelter,
and food.
"We pledge our party to foster the development of agricultural
credit and cooperation, the teaching of agriculture in schools, agricul-
tural college extension, the use of mechanical power on the farm,
and to reestablish the Country Life commission, thus directly promot-
ing the welfare of the farmers and bringing the benefits of better
farming, better business, and better living within their reach.
"National Health Service. — We favor the union of all the exist-
ing agencies of the Federal government dealing with the public
health into a single National Health Service, without discrimination
against or for any one set of therapeutic methods, school of medi-
cine, or school of healing, with such additional powers as may be
necessary to enable it to perform efficiently such duties in the pro-
tection of the public from preventable diseases as may be properly
undertaken by the Federal authorities, including the executing of
existing laws regarding pure food, quarantine and cognate subjects,
the promotion of appropriate action for the improvement of vital
statistics and the extension of the registration area of such statistics,
and cooperation with the health activities of the various States and
cities of the nation.
"Patents. — We pledge ourselves to the enactment of a Patent law
which will make it impossible for patents to be suppressed or used
against the public welfare in the interests of injurious monopolies.
"Interstate Commerce Commission. — We pledge our party to secure
to the Interstate Commerce commission the power to value the physi-
1912] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 417
cal property of railroads. In order that the power of the commis-
sion to protect the people may not be impaired or destroyed, we
demand the abolition of the Commerce Court.
"Good Roads. — We recognize the vital importance of good roads,
and we pledge our party to foster their extension in every proper
way, and we favor the early construction of National highways. We
also favor the extension of the rural free-delivery service.
"Inheritance and Income Tax. — We believe in a graduated inheri-
tance tax as a national means of equalizing the obligations of holders
of property to government, and we hereby pledge our party to enact
such a Federal law as will tax large inheritances, returning to the
States an equitable percentage of all amounts collected. We favor
the ratification of the pending amendment to the Constitution giv-
ing the government power to levy an income tax.
"Peace and National Defense. — The Progressive party deplores
the survival in our civilization of the barbaric system of warfare among
nations, with its enormous waste of resources even in time of peace,
and the consequent impoverishment of the life of the toiling masses.
We pledge the party to use its best endeavors to substitute judicial
and other peaceful means of settling international differences.
"We favor an international agreement for the limitation of naval
forces. Pending such an agreement, and as the best means of pre-
serving peace, we pledge ourselves to maintain for the present the
policy of building two battleships a year.
"Treaty Rights. — We pledge our party to protect the rights of
American citizenship at home and abroad. No treaty should receive
the sanction of our government which discriminates between Ameri-
can citizens because of birthplace, race, or religion, or that does not
recognize the absolute right of expatriation.
"Immigration. — Through the establishment of industrial standards
we propose to secure to the able-bodied immigrant and to his native
fellow-workers a larger share of American opportunity.
"We denounce the fatal policy of indifference and neglect which
has left our enormous immigrant population to become the prey of
chance and cupidity. We favor governmental action to encourage the
distribution of immigrants away from the congested cities, to rigidly
418 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1912
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
supervise all private agencies dealing with them, and to promote
their assimilation, education, and advancement.
"Pensions. — We pledge ourselves to a wise and just policy of
pensioning American soldiers and sailors and their widows and chil-
dren by the Federal government.
"And we approve the policy of the southern States in granting
pensions to the ex-Confederate soldiers and sailors and their widows
and children.
"Parcels Post. — We pledge our party to the immediate creation
of a parcels post, with rates proportionate to distance and service.
"The Civil Service Law. — We condemn the violations of the
Civil Service law under the present administration, including the
coercion and assessment of subordinate employes, and the President's
refusal to punish such violations after a finding of guilty by his
own commission; his distribution of patronage among subservient
Congressmen, while withholding it from those who refuse support
of administration measures; his withdrawal of nominations from the
Senate until political support for himself was secured, and his open
use of the offices to reward those who voted for his renomination.
"To eradicate these abuses we demand not only the enforcement
of the Civil Service act in letter and spirit, but also legislation which
will bring under the competitive system postmasters, collectors,
marshals, and all other non-political officers, as well as the enactment
of an equitable retirement law, and we also insist on continuous
service during good behavior and efficiency.
"Government Business Organization. — We pledge our party to
readjustment of the business methods of the national government and
a proper coordination of the Federal bureaus which will increase
the economy and efficiency of the government service, prevent dupli-
cations, and secure better results to the taxpayers for every dollar
expended.
"Supervision Over Investments. — The people of the United States
are swindled out of many millions of dollars every year through worth-
less investments. The plain people, the wage-earners, and the men and
women with small savings have no way of knowing the merit of
concerns sending out highly colored prospectuses offering stock for
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 419
sale, prospectuses that make big returns seem certain and fortunes
easily within grasp.
"We hold it to be the duty of the government to protect its
people from this kind of piracy. We therefore demand wise, care-
fully thought-out legislation that will give us such government super-
vision over this matter as will furnish to the people of the United
States this much needed protection, and we pledge ourselves thereto.
"Conclusion. — On these principles and on the recognized desira-
bility of uniting the progressive forces of the nation into an organiza-
tion which shall unequivocally represent the Progressive spirit and
policy, we appeal for the support of all American citizens, without
regard to previous political affiliations."
Other Parties
Prohibition Party. — Convention held in Atlantic
City, July 10-11, 1912. For President, Eugene W.
Chafin, of Arizona; for Vice-President, Aaron S. Wat-
kins, of Ohio.
People's Party (Populists). — Beginning its national
career in 1892, the Populist organization at once be-
came a powerful factor and so continued for a number
of years. Its decline was due to its fusions and the
wide acceptance of progressive political ideas, espe-
cially on the part of the Democracy in the western and
southern States. In 1912 the People's party held a
national convention at St. Louis, August 13, but made
no nominations. It has not since appeared in national
politics.
Socialist Party. — Convention held in Indianapolis,
May 12-17, 1912. For President, Eugene V. Debs, of
Indiana; for Vice-President, Emil Seidel, of Wiscon-
sin.
420 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Socialist Labor Party. — For President, Arthur E.
Reimer, of Massachusetts; for Vice-President, August
Gillhaus, of New York.
The Election
Electoral vote for President and Vice-President:
Woodrow Wilson and Thomas R. Marshall, Democrats: —
Alabama, 12; Arizona, 3; Arkansas, 9; California, 2; Colorado, 6;
Connecticut, 7; Delaware, 3; Florida, 6; Georgia, 14; Idaho, 4;
Illinois, 29; Indiana, 15; Iowa, 13; Kansas, 10; Kentucky, 13;
Louisiana, 10; Maine, 6; Maryland, 8; Massachusetts, 18; Missis-
sippi, 10; Missouri, 18; Montana, 4; Nebraska, 8; Nevada, 3;
New Hampshire, 4; New Jersey, 14; New Mexico, 3; New York,
45; North Carolina, 12; North Dakota, 5; Ohio, 24; Oklahoma, 10;
Oregon, 5; Rhode Island, 5; South Carolina, 9; Tennessee, 12;
Texas, 20; Virginia, 12; West Virginia, 8; Wisconsin, 13; Wyo-
ming, 3. Total, 435. Elected.
Theodore Roosevelt and Hiram W. Johnson, Progressives: — Cali-
fornia, 11; Michigan, 15; Minnesota, 12; Pennsylvania, 38; South
Dakota, 5 ; Washington, 7. Total, 88.
William H. Taft and Nicholas Murray Butler,1 Republicans: —
Utah, 4; Vermont, 4. Total, 8.
Popular vote:
Wilson, 6,286,214; Roosevelt, 4,126,020; Taft, 3,483,922;
Debs, 897,011; Chafin, 208,923; Reimer, 29,079.
ijames S. Sherman, the Republican nominee for Vice-President, died on
October 30, 1912, and Nicholas Murray Butler, of New York, received the
Vice-Presidential votes of the Republican Electors.
1916
Democratic Party
Convention held in St. Louis, June 14-16, 1916.
Temporary chairman, Martin H. Glynn, of New York ;
permanent chairman, Ollie M. James, of Kentucky.
President Wilson and Vice-President Marshall were
renominated, both by acclamation.
Platform:
"The Democratic party, in national convention assembled, adopts
the following declaration to the end that the people of the United
States may both realize the achievements wrought by four years of
Democratic administration and be appraised of the policies to which
the party is committed for the further conduct of national affairs.
"1. Record of Achievement. — We endorse the administration
of Woodrow Wilson. It speaks for itself. It is the best exposi-
tion of sound Democratic policy at home and abroad.
"We challenge comparison of our record, our keeping of pledges,
and our constructive legislation with those of any party of any time.
"We found our country hampered by special privilege, a vicious
tariff, obsolete banking laws, and an inelastic currency. Our foreign
affairs were dominated by commercial interests for their selfish ends.
The Republican party, despite repeated pledges, was impotent to
correct abuses which it had fostered. Under our administration,
under a leadership which has never faltered, these abuses have
been corrected and our people have been freed therefrom.
"Our archaic banking and currency system, prolific of panic and
disaster under Republican administration — long the refuge of the
money trust, — has been supplanted by the Federal Reserve act, a
421
422 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1916
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
true democracy of credit under government control already proved
a financial bulwark in a world crisis, mobilizing our resources, plac-
ing abundant credit at the disposal of legitimate industry, and mak-
ing a currency panic impossible.
"We have created a Federal Trade commission to accommodate
the perplexing questions arising under the Anti-Trust laws so that
monopoly may be strangled at its birth and legitimate industry en-
couraged. Fair competition in business is now assured.
"We have effected an adjustment of the tariff, adequate for reve-
nue under peace conditions and fair to the consumer and to the
producer. We have adjusted the burdens of taxation so that swol-
len incomes bear their equitable share. Our revenues have been
sufficient in times of world stress, and will largely exceed the expendi-
tures for the current fiscal year.
"We have lifted human labor from the category of commodities
and have secured to the workingman the right of voluntary associa-
tion for his protection and welfare. We have protected the rights
of the laborer against the unwarranted issuance of writs of injunc-
tion, and have guaranteed to him the right of trial by jury in cases
of alleged contempt committed outside the presence of the court.
"We have advanced the parcel post to genuine efficiency, enlarged
the postal savings system, added ten thousand rural delivery routes
and extensions, thus reaching two and one-half millions additional
people, improved the postal service in every branch, and for the first
time in our history placed the post office system on a self-supporting
basis, with actual surplus in 1913, 1914, and 1916. ,
"2. Economic Freedom. — The reforms which were most obvi-
ously needed to clear away special privilege, prevent unfair dis-
crimination, and release the energies of men of all ranks and ad-
vantages, have been effected by recent legislation. We must now
remove, as far as possible, every remaining element of unrest and
uncertainty from the path of the business men of America, and
secure for them a continued period of quiet, assured, and confident
prosperity.
"3. Tariff. — We reaffirm our belief in the doctrine of a tariff
for the purpose of providing sufficient revenue for the operation of
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 423
the government economically administered, and unreservedly endorse
the Underwood Tariff law as truly exemplifying that doctrine.
We recognize that tariff rates are necessarily subject to change to
meet changing conditions in the world's protection and trade. The
events of the last two years have brought about many momentous
changes. In some respects their effects are yet conjectural and wait
to be disclosed, particularly in regard to our foreign trade. Two
years of a war which has directly involved most of the chief industrial
nations of the world and which has indirectly affected the life and
industry of all nations are bringing about economic changes more
varied and far-reaching than the world has ever before experienced.
In order to ascertain just what those changes may be, the Democrat-
ic Congress is providing for a non-partisan Tariff commission to
make impartial and thorough study of every economic fact that may
throw light either upon our past or upon our future fiscal policy
with regard to the imposition of taxes on imports or with regard
to the changed and changing conditions under which our trade is
carried on. We cordially endorse this timely proposal and declare
ourselves in sympathy with the principle and purpose of shaping
legislation within that field in accordance with clearly established
facts rather than in accordance with the demands of selfish interests
or upon information provided largely, if not exclusively, by them.
"4. Americanism. — The part which the United States will play
in the new day of international relationship that is now upon us
will depend upon our preparation and our character. The Demo-
cratic party, therefore, recognizes *the assertion and i triumphant
demonstration of the indivisibility and coherent strength of the
nation as the supreme issue of this day in which the whole world
faces the crisis of manifold change. It summons all men of what-
ever origin or creed who would count themselves Americans, to join
in making clear to all the world the unity and consequent power of
America. This is an issue of patriotism. To taint it with partisan-
ship would be to defile it. In this day of test, America must show
itself not a nation of partisans but a nation of patriots. There is
gathered here in America the best of the blood, the industry, and
the genius of the world, the elements of a great race and a magnifi-
424 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1916
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
cent society to be welded into a mighty and splendid nation. Who-
ever, actuated by the purpose to promote the interest of a foreign
power in disregard of our own country's welfare or to injure this gov-
ernment in its foreign relations or cripple or destroy its industries
at home, and whoever by arousing prejudices of a racial, religious,
or other nature creates discord and strife among our people so as to
obstruct the wholesome process of unification, is faithless to the trust
which the privileges of citizenship repose in him and is disloyal to
his country. We therefore condemn as subversive of this nation's
unity and integrity, and as destructive of its welfare, the activities
and designs of every group or organization, political or otherwise,
that has for its object the advancement of the interest of a foreign
power, whether such object is promoted by intimidating the gov-
ernment, a political party, or representatives of the people, or which
is calculated and tends to divide our people into antagonistic groups
and thus to destroy that complete agreement and solidarity of the
people and that unity of sentiment and purpose so essential to the
perpetuity of the nation and its free institutions. We condemn all
alliances and combinations of individuals in this country, of what-
ever nationality or descent, who agree and conspire together for the
purpose of embarrassing or weakening our government or of improp-
erly influencing or coercing our public representatives in dealing or
negotiating with any foreign power. We charge that such con-
spiracies among a limited number exist, and have been instigated for
the purpose of advancing the interests of foreign countries to the
prejudice and detriment of our own country. We condemn any
political party which, in view of the activity of such conspirators,
surrenders its integrity or modifies its policy.
"5. Preparedness. — Along with the proof of our character as a
nation must go the proof of our power to play the part that legiti-
mately belongs to us. The people of the United States love peace.
They respect the rights and covet the friendship of all other
nations. They desire neither any additional territory nor any advan-
tage which cannot be peacefully gained by their skill, their industry,
or their enterprise; but they insist upon having absolute freedom of
national life and policy, and feel that they owe it to themselves
WOODROVV WILSON
Woodrcnv Wilson, 28th president; born at Staunton, Va.
December 28, 1856; teacher; president of Princeton university;
governor of New Jersey, January 17, 1911 to March 1, 1913;
elected president of United States, 1912; reflected, 1916.
1916] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 425
and to the role of spirited independence which it is their sole ambi-
tion to play that they should render themselves secure against the
hazard of interference from any quarter, and should be able to
protect their rights upon the seas or in any part of the world. We
therefore favor the maintenance of an army fully adequate to the
requirements of order, of safety, and of the protection of the nation's
rights ; the fullest development of modern methods of seacoast defense,
and the maintenance of an adequate reserve of citizens trained to
arms and prepared to safeguard the people and territory of the
United States against any danger of hostile action which may unex-
pectedly arise; and a fixed policy for the continuous development
of a navy, worthy to support the great naval traditions of the
United States and fully equal to the international tasks which this
nation hopes and expects to take a part in performing. The plans
and enactments of the present Congress afford substantial proof of
our purpose in this exigent matter.
"6. International Relations. — The Democratic administration
has throughout the present war scrupulously and successfully held to
the old paths of neutrality and to the peaceful pursuit of the legiti-
mate objects of our national life which statesmen of all parties and
creeds have prescribed for themselves in America since the beginning
of our history. But the circumstances of the last two years have
revealed necessities of international action which no former genera-
tion can have foreseen. We hold that it is the duty of the United
States to use its power not only to make itself safe at home, but
also to make secure its just interests throughout the world, and, both
for this end and in the interest of humanity, to assist the world in
securing settled peace and justice. We believe that every people has
the right to choose the sovereignty under which it shall live ; that the
small states of the world have a right to enjoy from other nations
the same respect for their sovereignty and for their territorial integ-
rity that great and powerful nations expect and insist upon; and
that the world has a right to be free from every disturbance of
its peace that has its origin in aggression or disregard of the rights
of peoples and nations; and we believe that the time has come when
it is the duty of the United States to join with the other nations
426 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1916
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
of the world in any feasible association that will effectively serve
those principles, to maintain inviolate the complete security of the
highway of the seas for the common and unhindered use of all
nations.
"The present administration has consistently sought to act upon
and realize in its conduct of the foreign affairs of the nation the
principle that should be the object of any association of the nations
formed to secure the peace of the world and the maintenance of
national and individual rights. It has followed the highest American
traditions. It has preferred respect for the fundamental rights of
smaller states even to property interests, and has secured the friendship
of the people of such states for the United States by refusing to make
a mere material interest an excuse for the assertion of our superior
power against the dignity of their sovereign independence. It has re-
garded the lives of its citizens and the claims of humanity as of greater
moment than material rights, and peace as the best basis for the just
settlement of commercial claims. It has made the honor and ideals
of the United States its standard alike in negotiation and action.
7. Pan-American Concord. — We recognize now, as we have al-
ways recognized, a definite and common interest between the United
States and the other peoples and republics of the western hemisphere
in all matters of national independence and free political development.
We favor the establishment and maintenance of the closest relations
of amity and mutual helpfulness between the United States and the
other republics of the American continents for the support of peace
and the promotion of a common prosperity. To that end we favor
all measures which may be necessary to facilitate intimate intercourse
and promote commerce between the United States and our neighbors
to the south, and such international understandings as may be prac-
ticable and suitable to accomplish these ends.
"We commend the action of the Democratic administration in
holding the Pan-American Financial conference at Washington in
May, 1915, and organizing the International High commission which
represented the United States in the recent meeting of representatives
of the Latin- American republics at Buenos Aires, April, 1916, which
1916] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 427
have so greatly promoted the friendly relations between the people of
the western hemisphere.
"8. Mexico. — The Monroe doctrine is reasserted as a principle
of Democratic faith. That doctrine guarantees the independent repub-
lics of the two Americas against aggression from another continent.
It implies, as well, the most scrupulous regard upon our part for the
sovereignty of each of them. We court their good will. We seek not
to despoil them. The want of a stable, responsible government in
Mexico, capable of repressing and punishing marauders and bandit
bands, who have not only taken the lives and seized and destroyed the
property of American citizens in that country, but have insolently
invaded our soil, made war upon and murdered our people thereon, has
rendered it necessary temporarily to occupy, by our armed forces, a
portion of the territory of that friendly state. Until, by the restoration
of law and order therein, a repetition of such incursions is improbable,
the necessity for their remaining will continue. Intervention, implying
as it does military subjugation, is revolting to the people of the United
States, notwithstanding the provocation to that course has been great,
and should be resorted to, if at all, only as a last recourse. The
stubborn resistance of the President and his advisers to every demand
and suggestion to enter upon it, is creditable alike to them and to the
people in whose name he speaks.
"9. Merchant Marine. — Immediate provision should be made for
the development of the carrying trade of the United States. Our
foreign commerce has in the past been subject to many unnecessary
and vexatious obstacles in the way of legislation of Republican Con-
gresses. Until the recent Democratic tariff legislation, it was ham-
pered by unreasonable burdens of taxation. Until the recent banking
legislation, it had at its disposal few of the necessary instrumentalities
of international credit and exchange. Until the formulation of the
pending act to promote the construction of a merchant marine, it
lacked even the prospect of adequate carriage by sea. We heartily
endorse the purposes and policy of the pending Shipping bill and favor
all such additional measures of constructive or remedial legislation as
may be necessary to restore our flag to the seas and to provide further
facilities for our foreign commerce, particularly such laws as may be
428 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1916
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
requisite to remove unfair conditions of competition in the dealings
of American merchants and producers with competitors in foreign
markets.
"10. Conservation, — For the safeguarding and quickening of the
life of our own people we favor the conservation and development of
the natural resources of the country through a policy which shall be
positive rather than negative, a policy which shall not withhold such
resources from development but which, while permitting and encour-
aging their use, shall prevent both waste and monopoly in their
exploitation, and we earnestly favor the passage of acts which will
accomplish these objects, reaffirming the declaration of the platform of
1912 on this subject.
"The policy of reclaiming our arid lands should be steadily
adhered to.
"11. The Administration and the Farmer. — We favor the vigor-
ous prosecution of investigations and plans to render agriculture more
profitable and country life more healthful, comfortable, and attract-
ive, and we believe that this should be a dominant aim of the nation
as well as of the States. With all its recent improvement, farming
still lags behind other occupations in development as a business, and
the advantages of an advancing civilization have not accrued to rural
communities in a fair proportion. Much has been accomplished in
this field under the present administration, — far more than under
any previous administration. In the Federal Reserve act of the last
Congress and the Rural Credits act of the present Congress, the
machinery has been created which will make credit available to the
farmer constantly and readily, placing him at last upon a footing of
equality with the merchant and the manufacturer in securing the
capital necessary to carry on his enterprises. Grades and standards
necessary to the intelligent and successful conduct of the business of
agriculture have also been established or are in the course of being
established by law. The long-needed Cotton Futures act, passed by
the Sixty-third Congress, has now been in successful operation for
nearly two years. A Grain Grades bill, long needed, and a Permis-
sive Warehouse bill, intended to provide better storage facilities and
to enable the farmer to obtain certificates upon which he may
1916] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 429
secure advances of money, have been passed by the House of
Representatives, have been favorably reported to the Senate, and
will probably become law during the present session of the Con-
gress. Both houses have passed a Good Roads measure which will be
of far-reaching benefit to all agricultural communities. Above all,
the most extraordinary and significant progress has been made, under
the direction of the Department of Agriculture, in extending and
perfecting practical farm demonstration work which is so rapidly
substituting scientific for empirical farming. But it is also neces-
sary that rural activities should be better directed through coopera-
tion and organization, that unfair methods of competition should
be eliminated, and the conditions requisite for the just, orderly,
and economical marketing of farm products created. We approve
the Democratic administration for having emphatically directed
attention for the first time to the essential interests of agriculture
involved in farm marketing and finance, for creating the Office
of Markets and Rural Organization in connection with the Depart-
ment of Agriculture, and for extending the cooperation machinery
necessary for conveying information to farmers by means of demon-
strations. We favor continued liberal provision, not only for the
benefit of production, but also for the study and solution of prob-
lems of farm marketing and finance and for the extension of exist-
ing agencies for improving country life.
"12. Good Roads. — The happiness, comfort, and prosperity of
rural life, and the development of the city, are alike conserved by
the construction of public highways. We therefore favor national
aid in the construction of post roads and roads for military pur-
poses.
"13. Government Employment. — We hold that the life, health,
and strength of the men, women, and children of the nation are its
greatest asset, and that in the conservation of these the Federal govern-
ment, wherever it acts as the employer of labor, should, both on its
own account and as an example, put into effect the following princi-
ples of just employment:
"(i.) A living wage for all employes.
430 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1916
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"(ii.) A working day not to exceed eight hours, with one day
of rest in seven.
"(iii.) The adoption of safety appliances and the establishment
of thoroughly sanitary conditions of labor.
"(iv.) Adequate compensation for industrial accidents.
"(v.) The standards of the 'Uniform Child Labor law' where-
ever minors are employed.
"(vi.) Such provisions for decency, comfort, and health in the
employment of women as should be accorded the mothers of the
race.
"(vii.) An equitable retirement law providing for the retire-
ment of superannuated and disabled employes of the civil service, to
the end that a higher standard of efficiency may be maintained.
"We believe also that the adoption of similar principles should be
urged and applied in the legislation of the States with regard to
labor within their borders, and that through every possible agency
the life and health of the people of the nation should be conserved.
"14. Labor. — We declare our faith in the Seamen's act, passed
by the Democratic Congress, and we promise our earnest continu-
ance of its enforcement.
"We favor the speedy enactment of an effective Federal Child
Labor law, and the regulation of the shipment of prison-made goods
in interstate commerce.
"We favor the creation of a Federal Bureau of Safety in the
Department of Labor, to gather facts concerning industrial hazards
and to recommend legislation to prevent the maiming and killing
of human beings.
"We favor the extension of the powers and functions of the
Federal Bureau of Mines.
"We favor the development, upon a systematic scale, of the means,
already begun under the present administration, to assist laborers
throughout the Union to seek and obtain employment, and the exten-
sion by the Federal government of the same assistance and encourage-
ment as is now given to agricultural training.
"We heartily commend our newly established Department of
1916] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 431
Labor for its fine record in settling strikes by personal advice and
through conciliating agents.
"15. Public Health. — We favor a thorough reconsideration of
the means and methods by which the Federal government handles
questions of public health, to the end that human life may be con-
served by elimination of loathsome diseases, the improvement of
sanitation, and the diffusion of a knowledge of disease prevention.
"We favor the establishment by the Federal government of tuber-
culosis sanitariums for needy tubercular patients.
"16. Senate Rules. — We favor such alteration of the rules of
procedure of the Senate of the United States as will permit the
prompt transaction of the nation's legislative business.
"17. Economy and the Budget. — We demand careful economy
in all expenditures for the support of the government, and to that
end favor a return by the House of Representatives to its former
practice of initiating and preparing all Appropriation bills through
a single committee chosen from its membership, in order that respon-
sibility may be centered, expenditures standardized and made uni-
form, and waste and duplication in the public service as much as
possible avoided. We favor this as a practicable first step toward
a budget system.
"18. Civil Service. — We reaffirm our declarations for the rigid
enforcement of the Civil Service laws.
"19. Philippine Islands. — We heartily endorse the provisions
of the bill recently passed by the House of Representatives further
promoting self-government in the Philippine Islands, as being in
fulfillment of the policy declared by the Democratic party in its
last national platform, and we reiterate our endorsement of the pur-
pose of ultimate independence for the Philippine Islands, expressed in
the preamble of that measure.
"20. Woman Suffrage. — We recommend the extension of the
franchise to the women of the country by the States upon the
same terms as to men.
"21. Protection of Citizens. — We again declare the policy that
the sacred rights of American citizenship must be preserved at home
and abroad, and that no treaty shall receive the sanction of our
432 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL U916
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
government which does not expressly recognize the absolute equality
of all our citizens irrespective of race, creed, or previous nationality,
and which does not recognize the right of expatriation. The Amer-
ican government should protect American citizens in their rights
not only at home but abroad, and any country having a govern-
ment should be held to strict accountability for any wrongs done
them, either to person or to property. At the earliest practical
opportunity our country should strive earnestly for peace among
the warring nations of Europe and seek to bring about the adoption
of the fundamental principle of justice and humanity, that all men
shall enjoy equality of right and freedom from discrimination in the
lands wherein they dwell.
"22. Prison Reform. — We demand that the modern principles
of prison reform be applied in our Federal penal system. We favor
such work for prisoners as shall give them training in remunerative
occupations so that they may make an honest living when released
from prison; the setting apart of the net wages of the prisoner to
be paid to his dependent family or to be reserved for his own use
upon his release; the liberal extension of the principles of the Fed-
eral Parole law, with due regard both to the welfare of the prisoner
and the interests of society; the adoption of the probation system,
especially in the case of first offenders not convicted for serious crime.
"23. Pensions. — We renew the declarations of recent Demo-
cratic platforms relating to generous pensions for soldiers and their
widows, and call attention to our record of performance in this
particular.
"24. Waterways and Flood Control. — We renew the declara-
tion in our last two platforms relating to the development of our
waterways. The recent devastation of the lower Mississippi valley
and several other sections by floods accentuates the movement for
the regulation of river-flow by additional bank and levee protec-
tion below, and diversion, storage, and control of the flood waters
above, and their utilization for beneficial purposes in the reclama-
tion of arid and swamp lands and development of water-power,
instead of permitting the floods to continue as heretofore agents of
destruction. We hold that the control of the Mississippi River
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 433
is a national problem. The preservation of the depth of its waters
for purposes of navigation, the building of levees and works of bank
protection to maintain the integrity of its channel and prevent the
overflow of its valley resulting in the interruption of interstate
commerce, the disorganization of the mail service, and the enormous
loss of life and property, impose an obligation which alone can be
discharged by the national government.
"We favor the adoption of a liberal and comprehensive plan for
the development and improvement of our harbors and inland water-
ways, with economy and efficiency, so as to permit their navigation
by vessels of standard draft.
"25. Alaska. — It has been and will be the policy of the Demo-
cratic party to enact all laws necessary for the speedy development
of Alaska and its great natural resources.
"26. Territories. — We favor granting to the people of Alaska,
Hawaii, and Porto Rico the traditional Territorial government
accorded to all Territories of the United States since the beginning
of our government, and we believe that the officials appointed to
administer the government of these several Territories should be
qualified by previous bona fide residence.
"27. Candidates. — We unreservedly endorse our President and
Vice-President, Woodrow Wilson, of New Jersey, and Thomas Riley
Marshall, of Indiana, who have performed the functions of their
great offices faithfully and impartially and with distinguished ability.
"In particular, we commend to the American people the splen-
did diplomatic victories of our great President, who has preserved
the vital interests of our government and its citizens and kept us
out of war.
"Woodrow Wilson stands to-day the greatest American of his
generation.
"28. Conclusion. — This is a critical hour in the history of
America, a critical hour in the history of the world. Upon the
record above set forth, which shows great constructive achievement
in following out a consistent policy for our domestic and internal
development; upon the record of the Democratic administration,
which has maintained the honor, the dignity, and the interests of
434 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL 1 1916
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
the United States, and at the same time retained the respect and
friendship of all the nations of the world; and upon the great
policies for the future strengthening of the life of our country, the
enlargement of our national vision, and the ennobling of our inter-
national relations, as set forth above, we appeal with confidence
to the voters of the country."
The twentieth resolution, expressing favor for the
cause of woman suffrage, was objected to by a minority
of the committee on resolutions composed of the mem-
bers from Georgia, New Jersey, Indiana, and Texas,
who offered a substitute plank in which no mention of
the subject of woman suffrage was made and it was
declared that the States alone had power to prescribe
the qualifications of voters. The substitute was de-
feated by 181^ ayes to 888>^ nays (not voting, 22),
and the platform as reported was then adopted.
Republican Party
Convention held in Chicago, June 7-10, 1916. Tem-
porary and permanent chairman, Warren G. Harding,
of Ohio. Overtures were received from the conven-
tion of the Progressive party, which at the same time
was in session in Chicago, and a committee of confer-
ence was appointed.
Three ballots were taken for President. First bal-
lot:—Charles E. Hughes, 253^; John W. Weeks, of
Massachusetts, 105; Elihu Root, 103; Albert B. Cum-
mins, of Iowa, 85 ; Theodore E. Burton, of Ohio, 77l/2 ;
Charles W. Fairbanks, 74^ ; Lawrence Y. Sherman, of
Illinois, 66; Theodore Roosevelt, 65; Philander C.
Knox, of Pennsylvania, 36; Henry Ford, of Michigan,
1916] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 435
32; Martin G. Brumbaugh, of Pennsylvania, 29;
Robert M. LaFollette, 25; William H. Taft, 14; Cole-
man du Pont, of Delaware, 12; Frank B. Willis, of
Ohio, 4; William E. Borah, of Idaho, 2; Samuel W.
McCall, of Massachusetts, 1 ; absent, 2*/2. The second
ballot, taken immediately, showed 328^ for Hughes,
while no one of the other candidates had as high as 100
votes. The convention then adjourned until the next
day, June 10.
During the recess the nomination of Hughes was
decided on by the leading men of the convention.
Meantime the conferees of the Republican and Pro-
gressive conventions had met; the Progressives uncom-
promisingly demanded the choice of Roosevelt, but the
Republican party was in no mood to accept him. After
the agreement of the Republican leaders on Hughes,
the Republican conferees sent a communication to the
Progressives recommending Hughes. This communi-
cation was read to the Republican convention upon its
reassembling on the morning of June 10, together with
a message from Roosevelt (addressed to the Progres-
sive conferees) in which the nomination of Henry
Cabot Lodge, as a compromise candidate, was pro-
posed. Mr. Roosevelt's suggestion, however, did not
find favor. The names of Weeks, Sherman, Burton,
Fairbanks, and Root were withdrawn, and Hughes was
nominated on the third ballot by the following vote: —
Hughes, 949^ ; Roosevelt, 18^ ; Lodge, 7; du Pont, 5;
LaFollette, 3 ; Weeks, 3 ; absent, 1.
Former Vice-President Charles W. Fairbanks was
436 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL 1 1916
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
nominated for the Vice-Presidency on the first ballot,
having 863 votes to 120 for five others; not voting, 4.
Platform :
"In 1861 the Republican party stood for the Union. As it
stood for the Union of States, it now stands for a united people
true to American ideals, loyal to American traditions, knowing no
allegiance except to the Constitution, to the government, and to
the flag of the United States.
"We believe in American policies at home and abroad.
"Protection of American Rights. — We declare that we believe in
and will enforce the protection of every American citizen in all the
rights secured to him by the Constitution, by treaties, and the laws
of nations, at home and abroad, by land and sea. These rights, which,
in violation of the specific promise of their party made at Baltimore
in 1912, the Democratic President and the Democratic Congress have
failed to defend, we will unflinchingly maintain.
"Foreign Relations. — We desire peace, the peace of justice and
right, and believe in maintaining a strict and honest neutrality
between the belligerents in the great war in Europe. We must
perform all our duties and insist upon all our rights as neutrals
without fear and without favor. We believe that peace and neu-
trality, as well as the dignity and influence of the United States,
cannot be preserved by shifty expedients, by phrase-making, by per-
formances in language, or by attitudes ever changing in an effort to
secure groups of voters. The present administration has destroyed
our influence abroad and humiliated us in our own eyes. The
Republican party believes that a firm, consistent, and courageous
foreign policy, always maintained by Republican Presidents in
accordance with American traditions, is the best, as it is the only
true way, to preserve our peace and restore us to our rightful place
among the nations.
"We believe in the pacific settlement of international disputes,
and favor the establishment of a world court for the purpose.
"Mexico. — We deeply sympathize with the fifteen million people
of Mexico who for three years have seen their country devastated,
1916] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 437
their homes destroyed, their fellow-citizens murdered, and their
women outraged by armed bands of desperadoes led by self-seeking
conscienceless agitators who when temporarily successful in any local-
ity have neither sought nor been able to restore order or establish
and maintain peace.
"We express our horror and indignation at the outrages which
have been and are being perpetrated by these bandits upon American
men and women who were or are in Mexico by invitation of the
laws and of the government of that country and whose rights to
security of person and property are guaranteed by solemn treaty
obligations. We denounce the indefensible methods of interference
employed by this administration in the internal affairs of Mexico
and refer with shame to its failure to discharge the duty of this
country as next friend to Mexico, its duty to other powers who
have relied upon us as such friend, and its duty to our citizens in
Mexico, in permitting the continuance of such conditions, first by
failure to act promptly and firmly, and second by lending its
influence to the continuation of such conditions through recogni-
tion of one of the factions responsible for these outrages.
"We pledge our aid in restoring order and maintaining peace
in Mexico. We promise to our citizens on and near our border,
and to those in Mexico, wherever they may be found, adequate
and absolute protection in their lives, liberty, and property.
"Monroe Doctrine. — We reaffirm our approval of the Monroe
doctrine, and declare its maintenance to be a policy of this coun-
try essential to its present and future peace and safety and to the
achievement of its manifest destiny.
"Latin America. — We favor the continuance of Republican
policies which will result in drawing more and more closely the
commercial, financial, and social relations between this country and
the countries of Latin America.
"Philippines. — We renew our allegiance to the Philippine policy
inaugurated by McKinley, approved by Congress, and consistently
carried out by Roosevelt and Taft. Even in this short time it has
enormously improved the material and social conditions of the islands,
given the Philippine people a constantly increasing participation in
438 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1916
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
their government, and, if persisted in, will bring still greater benefits
in the future.
"We accepted the responsibility of the islands as a duty to civiliza-
tion and the Filipino people. To leave with our task half done
would break our pledge, injure our prestige among nations, and
imperil what has already been accomplished.
"We condemn the Democratic administration for its attempt to
abandon the Philippines, which was prevented only by the vigorous
opposition of Republican members of Congress, aided by a few
patriotic Democrats.
"Right of Expatriation. — We reiterate the unqualified approval
of the action taken in December, 1911, by the President and Con-
gress, to secure with Russia, as with other countries, a treaty that
will recognize the absolute right of expatriation and prevent all dis-
crimination of whatever kind between American citizens, whether
native-born or alien, and regardless of race, religion, or previous
political allegiance. We renew the pledge to observe this principle
and to maintain the right of asylum, which is neither to be sur-
rendered nor restricted, and we unite in the cherished hope that the
war which is now desolating the world may speedily end, with a com-
plete and lasting restoration of brotherhood among the nations of
the earth and the assurance of full equal rights, civil and religious,
to all men in every land.
"Protection of the Country. — In order to maintain our peace and
make certain the security of our people within our own borders the
country must have not only adequate but thorough and complete
national defenses ready for any emergency. We must have a suffi-
cient and effective regular army and a provision for ample reserves,
already drilled and disciplined, who can be called at once to the
colors when the hour of danger comes.
"We must have a navy so strong and so well proportioned and
equipped, so thoroughly ready and prepared, that no enemy can gain
command of the sea and effect a landing in force on either our west-
ern or our eastern coast. To secure these results we must have a
coherent and continuous policy of national defense, which even in
1916] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 439
these perilous days the Democratic party has utterly failed to develop,
but which we promise to give to the country.
"Tariff. — The Republican party stands now, as always, in the
fullest sense for the policy of tariff protection to American industries
and American labor, and does not regard an anti-dumping provision
as an adequate substitute.
"Such protection should be reasonable in amount but sufficient to
protect adequately American industries and American labor and so
adjusted as to prevent undue exactions by monopolies or trusts. It
should, moreover, give special attention to securing the industrial
independence of the United States, as in the case of dye-stuffs.
"Through wise tariff and industrial legislation our industries can
be so organized that they will become not only a commercial bulwark
but a powerful aid to national defense.
"The Underwood Tariff act is a complete failure in every respect.
Under its administration imports have enormously increased in spite
of the fact that intercourse with foreign countries has been largely
cut off by reason of the war, while the revenues of which we stand
in such dire need have been greatly reduced.
"Under the normal conditions which prevailed prior to the war
it was clearly demonstrated that this act deprived the American pro-
ducer and the American wage-earner of that protection which enabled
them to meet their foreign competitors, and but for the adventitous
conditions created by the war would long since have paralyzed all
forms of American industry and deprived American labor of its just
reward.
"It has not in the least degree reduced the cost of living, which
has constantly advanced from the date of its enactment. The wel-
fare of our people demands its repeal and the substitution of a meas-
ure which in peace as well as in war will produce ample revenue
and give reasonable protection to all forms of American production
in mine, forest, field, and factory.
"We favor the creation of a Tariff commission with complete
power to gather and compile information for the use of Congress in
all matters relating to the tariff.
"Business. — The Republican party has long believed in the rigid
440 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL U916
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
supervision and strict regulation of the transportation and of the
great corporations of the country. It has put its creed into its deeds,
and all really effective laws regulating the railroads and the great
industrial corporations are the work of Republican Congresses and
Presidents. For this policy of regulation and supervision the Demo-
crats, in a stumbling and piecemeal way, are within the sphere of
private enterprise and in direct competition with its own citizens, a
policy which is sure to result in waste, great expense to the tax-
payer, and in an inferior product.
"The Republican party firmly believes that all who violate the
laws in regulation of business should be individually punished. But
prosecution is very different from persecution, and business success,
no matter how honestly attained, is apparently regarded by the
Democratic party as in itself a crime. Such doctrines and beliefs
choke enterprise and stifle prosperity. The Republican party believes
in encouraging American business, as it believes in and will seek to
advance all American interests.
"Rural Credits. — We favor an effective system of rural credits
as opposed to the ineffective law proposed by the present Democrat-
ic administration.
"Rural Free Delivery. — We favor the extension of the rural free-
delivery system and condemn the Democratic administration for cur-
tailing and crippling it.
"Merchant Marine. — In view of the policies adopted by all the
maritime nations to encourage their shipping interests, and in order
to enable us to compete with them for the ocean-carrying trade, we
favor the payment to ships engaged in the foreign trade of liberal
compensation for services actually rendered in carrying the mails, and
such further legislation as will build up an adequate American mer-
chant marine and give us ships which may be requisitioned by the
government in time of national emergency.
"We are utterly opposed to the government ownership of vessels
as proposed by the Democratic party, because government-owned
ships, while effectively preventing the development of the American
merchant marine by private capital, will be entirely unable to pro-
WARREN G. HARDING
Warren G. Harding, 29th president; born at Corsica, Ohio,
November 2, 1865; publisher; member Ohio state senate, 1900-
1904; lieutenant governor of Ohio, 1904-06; defeated for gov-
ernor, 1910; United States senator, 1915-21; elected president,
November 2, 1920.
1916] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 441
vide for the vast volume of American freights and will leave us
more helpless than ever in the hard grip of foreign syndicates.
"Transportation. — Interstate and intrastate transportation have
become so interwoven that the attempt to apply two, and often sev-
eral, sets of laws to its regulation has produced conflicts of authority,
embarrassment in operation, and inconvenience and expense to the
public.
"The entire transportation system of the country has become
essentially national. We therefore favor such action by legislation
or, if necessary, through an amendment to the Constitution of the
United States, as will result in placing it under complete Federal
control.
"Economy and a National Budget. — The increasing cost of the
national government and the need for the greatest economy of its
resources in order to meet the growing demands of the people for
government service call for the severest condemnation of the waste-
ful appropriations of this Democratic administration, of its shameless
raids on the treasury, and of its opposition to and rejection of Presi-
dent Taft's oft-repeated proposals and earnest efforts to secure
economy and efficiency through the establishment of a simple busi-
nesslike budget system, to which we pledge our support and which
we hold to be necessary to effect any real reform in the administra-
tion of national finances.
"Conservation. — We believe in a careful husbandry of all the
natural resources of the nation — a husbandry which means develop-
ment without waste, use without abuse.
"Civil Service Reform. — The Civil Service law has always been
sustained by the Republican party, and we renew our repeated
declarations that it shall be thoroughly and honestly enforced and
extended wherever practicable. The Democratic party has created
since March 4, 1913, thirty thousand offices outside of the Civil Serv-
ice law at an annual cost of forty-four million dollars to the tax-
payers of the country.
"We condemn the gross abuse and the misuse of the law by the
present Democratic administration, and pledge ourselves to a reor-
ganization of this service along lines of efficiency and economy.
442 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"Territorial Officials. — Reaffirming the attitude long maintained
by the Republican party, we hold that officials appointed to adminis-
ter the government of any Territory should be bona fide residents
of the Territory in which their duties are to be performed.
"Labor Laws. — We pledge the Republican party to the faithful
enforcement of all Federal laws passed for the protection of labor.
We favor vocational education ; the enactment and rigid enforcement
of a Federal Child Labor law; the enactment of a generous and
comprehensive Workmen's Compensation law, within the commerce
power of Congress; and an Accident Compensation law covering all
government employes. We favor the collection and collation, under
the direction of the Department of Labor, of complete data relating
to industrial hazards for the information of Congress, to the end that
such legislation may be adopted as may be calculated to secure the
safety, conservation, and protection of labor from the dangers inci-
dent to industry and transportation.
"Suffrage. — The Republican party, reaffirming its faith in gov-
ernment of the people, by the people, for the people, as a measure
of justice to one-half the adult people of the country favors the
extension of the suffrage to women, but recognizes the right of each
State to settle this question for itself.
"Conclusion. — Such are our principles, such are our 'purposes and
policies.' We close as we began. The times are dangerous, and the
future is fraught with perils. The great issues of the day have
been confused by words and phrases. The American spirit, which
made the country and saved the Union, has been forgotten by those
charged with the responsibility of power. We appeal to all Ameri-
cans, whether naturalized or native-born, to prove to the world that
we are Americans in thought and in deed, with one loyalty, one hope,
one aspiration. We call on all Americans to be true to the spirit
of America, to the great traditions of their common country, and,
above all things, to keep the faith."
The member of the committee on resolutions from
Wisconsin offered a substitute platform expressive of
the familiar LaFollette ideas, inclusive of disfavor
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 443
toward Americans engaged in assisting belligerent na-
tions in the European War — meaning, of course, the
Entente Allies, as there could be no possible assistance
to Germany on account of the Allied control of the seas.
A division on the question of adopting the substitute
was refused, and the original platform was approved
viva voce.
Other Parties
Progressive Party. — Convention held in Chicago,
June 7-10, 1916. Temporary and permanent chair-
man, Raymond Robins. As above related (see Re-
publican Party), the conferences with the Republicans
were without result. The convention was advised by
Roosevelt to nominate Henry Cabot Lodge for Presi-
dent, but was for Roosevelt only and chose him as the
candidate by acclamation. John M. Parker, of Louis-
iana, was unanimously nominated for Vice-President.
Mr. Roosevelt declined. On June 26 the Progressive
national committee, by a vote of 26 to 6, endorsed
Hughes. A conference of the party was called by some
of its radical supporters, which met in Indianapolis on
August 3 and repudiated Hughes but did not make a
new Presidential nomination. Parker continued as the
Vice-Presidential candidate. The party nominated
Electors in a few States, but received no substantial
support and went out of existence.
Prohibition Party. — Convention held in St. Paul,
July 19-21, 1916. For President, J. Frank Hanly, of
Indiana; for Vice-President, Ira D. Landrith, of Ten-
nessee.
444 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1916
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Socialist Party. — No national nominating convention
was held. The candidates were chosen by referendum
vote of the party members. For President, Allan L.
Benson, of New York; for Vice-President, George R.
Kirkpatrick, of New Jersey.
Socialist Labor Party. — For President, Arthur E.
Reimer, of Massachusetts; for Vice-President, Caleb
Harrison, of Illinois.
The Election
Electoral vote for President and Vice-President:
Woodrow Wilson and Thomas R. Marshall, Democrats: — Ala-
bama, 12; Arizona, 3; Arkansas, 9; California, 13; Colorado, 6;
Florida, 6; Georgia, 14; Idaho, 4; Kansas, 10; Kentucky, 13; Louisi-
ana, 10; Maryland, 8; Mississippi, 10; Missouri, 18; Montana, 4;
Nebraska, 8; Nevada, 3; New Hampshire, 4; New Mexico, 3;
North Carolina, 12; North Dakota, 5; Ohio, 24; Oklahoma, 10;
South Carolina, 9; Tennessee, 12; Texas, 20; Utah, 4; Virginia, 12;
Washington, 7 ; West Virginia, 1 ; Wyoming, 3. Total, 277.
Elected.
Charles E. Hughes and Charles W. Fairbanks, Republicans: —
Connecticut, 7; Delaware, 3; Illinois, 29; Indiana, 15; Iowa, 13;
Maine, 6; Massachusetts, 18; Michigan, 15; Minnesota, 12; New
Jersey, 14; New York, 45; Oregon, 5; Pennsylvania, 38; Rhode
Island, 5; South Dakota, 5; Vermont, 4; West Virginia, 7; Wiscon-
sin, 13. Total, 254.
Popular vote:
Wilson, 9,129,606; Hughes, 8,538,221; Benson, 585,113; Hanly,
220,506; Progressive Electors, 41,894; Reimer, 13,403.
1920
i
Democratic Party
Convention held in San Francisco, June 28-July 6,
1920. Temporary chairman, Homer S. Cummings, of
Connecticut; permanent chairman, Joseph T. Robin-
son, of Arkansas. At the opening the convention sent to
President Wilson a message expressive of its "admir-
ing and respectful greetings." The proceedings were
marked by full accord with the President in his poli-
cies, especially in relation to the League of Nations.
James A. Reed, of Missouri, one of the leading
opponents of the League in the United States Senate,
who had been chosen as a delegate from his dis-
trict but afterward had been rejected by the Missouri
Democratic State convention, was refused a seat by
action of the credentials committee, which was ap-
proved by the national convention.
First ballot for President: — William G. McAdoo. of
New York, 266; A. Mitchell Palmer, of Pennsylvania,
256; James M. Cox, of Ohio, 134; Alfred E. Smith, of
New York, 109; Edward I. Edwards, of New Jersey,
42; Thomas R. Marshall, of Indiana, 37; Robert L.
Owen, of Oklahoma, 33 ; John W. Davis, of West Vir-
ginia, 32; Edwin T. Meredith, of Iowa, 27; Carter
Glass, of Virginia, 26^ ; Homer S. Cummings, of Con-
445
446 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
necticut, 25; F. S. Simmons, of North Carolina, 24;
James W. Gerard, of New York, 21 ; John Sharp Wil-
liams, of Mississippi, 20; Gilbert M. Hitchcock, of
Nebraska, 18; eight others, 23}^. The contest at all
stages was practically confined to the three candidates
who led at the start — McAdoo, Palmer, and Cox; the
others having appreciable support were mostly favorite
sons, none of whom made gains of any significance ex-
cept Davis, whose vote at the highest reached only 76
(fortieth ballot). After the early ballots it became
manifest that the supreme struggle was between Mc-
Adoo and Cox. The Palmer vote presently declined
until it was under 200, but after that retained marked
solidity and for a brief time even showed a decided rise ;
as late as the thirty-sixth ballot Palmer had 241, against
399 for McAdoo and 377 for Cox. A noteworthy inci-
dent of the long contest was a motion offered at the end
of the thirtieth ballot to drop the lowest candidate after
each succeeding ballot until a nomination should be
effected. When Ohio was reached in the roll-call on
this motion Governor Cox's manager, Edmond H.
Moore, announced that his State passed to await Penn-
sylvania's vote and would vote as Pennsylvania did —
this course being plainly taken in deference to Palmer
as the weakest of the leading candidates. Pennsylvania
voted against the motion, as did Ohio; and it was de-
feated by 820^ nays to 256 ayes. Following the thirty-
eighth ballot the Palmer vote disintegrated; on the
thirty-ninth Cox had 468^, McAdoo 440, Palmer 74,
others 108^. The forty-fourth and last ballot as com-
192°J NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 447
pleted before changes stood : Cox, 699^ ; McAdoo,
270; Davis, 52; Owen, 34; Glass, \y2 ; Palmer, 1 ; Bain-
bridge Colby, 1. Changes were at once made to Cox
which gave him more than the necessary two-thirds,
and he was then nominated unanimously.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, of New York, received the
nomination for Vice-President by unanimous vote.
Platform (unanimously adopted) :
"The Democratic party, in its national convention now assembled,
sends greetings to the President of the United States, Woodrow Wil-
son, and hails with patriotic pride the great achievements for country
and the world wrought by a Democratic administration under his
leadership.
"It salutes the mighty people of this great republic, emerging with
imperishable honor from the severe tests and grievous strains of the
most tragic war in history, having earned the plaudits and the
gratitude of all free nations.
"It declares its adherence to the fundamental progressive principles
of social, economic, and industrial justice and advance, and purposes
to resume the great work of translating these principles into effective
laws begun and carried far by the Democratic administration and
interrupted only when the war claimed all the national energies for
the single task of victory.
"League of Nations. — The Democratic party favors the League of
Nations as the surest, if not the only, practicable means of maintain-
ing the peace of the world and terminating the insufferable burden of
great military and naval establishments. It was for this that America
broke away from traditional isolation and spent her blood and treas-
ure to crush a colossal scheme of conquest. It was upon this basis
that the President of the United States, in prearrangement with our
Allies, consented to a suspension of hostilities against the imperial
German government ; the armistice was granted and a treaty of peace
negotiated upon the definite assurance to Germany, as well as to the
powers pitted against Germany, that 'a general association of nations
448 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL U920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
must be formed, under specific covenants, for the purpose of affording
mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity
to great and small states alike.' Hence, we not only congratulate the
President on the vision manifested and the vigor exhibited in the
prosecution of the war, but we felicitate him and his associates on the
exceptional achievement at Paris involved in the adoption of a League
and treaty so near akin to previously expressed American ideals and
so intimately related to the aspirations of civilized peoples everywhere.
"We commend the President for his courage and his high concep-
tion of good faith in steadfastly standing for the covenant agreed to
by all the associated and allied nations at war with Germany, and we
condemn the Republican Senate for its refusal to ratify the treaty
merely because it was the product of Democratic statesmanship, thus
interposing partisan envy and personal hatred in the way of the peace
and renewed prosperity of the world.
"By every accepted standard of international morality the Presi-
dent is justified in asserting that the honor of the country is involved
in this business; and we point to the accusing fact that, before it was
determined to initiate political antagonism to the treaty, the now
Republican chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee himself
publicly proclaimed that any proposition for a separate peace with
Germany, such as he and his party associates thereafter reported to
the Senate, would make us 'guilty of the blackest crime.'
"On May 15 last the Knox substitute for the Versailles treaty was
passed by the Republican Senate ; and this convention can contrive no
more fitting characterization of its obloquy than that made in the
Forum magazine of June, 1918, by Henry Cabot Lodge, when he
said:
' 'If we send our armies and young men abroad to be killed and
wounded in northern France and in Flanders with no result but this,
our entrance into war with such an intention was a crime which
nothing can justify. The intent of Congress and the intent of the
President was that there could be no peace until we could create a
situation where no such war as this could recur. . . . We can-
not make peace except in company with our Allies. ... It
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 449
would brand us with everlasting dishonor and bring ruin to us also if
we undertook to make a separate peace.'
"Thus to that which Mr. Lodge in saner moments considered 'the
blackest crime,' he and his party in madness sought to give the
sanctity of law; that which eighteen months ago was of 'everlasting
dishonor' the Republican party and its candidates to-day accept as the
essence of faith.
"We endorse the President's view of our international obligations
and his firm stand against reservations designed to cut to pieces the
vital provisions of the Versailles treaty, and we commend the Demo-
crats in Congress for voting against resolutions for separate peace
which would disgrace the nation. We advocate the immediate rati-
fication of the treaty without reservations which would impair its
essential integrity; but do not oppose the acceptance of any reserva-
tions making clearer or more specific the obligations of the United
States to the League associates. Only by doing this may we retrieve
the reputation of this nation among the powers of the earth and
recover the moral leadership which President Wilson won and which
Republican politicians at Washington sacrificed. Only by doing this
may we hope to aid effectively in the restoration of order throughout
the world and to take the place which we should assume in the front
rank of spiritual, commercial, and industrial advancement.
"We reject as utterly vain, if not vicious, the Republican assump-
tion that ratification of the treaty and membership in the League of
Nations would in any wise impair the integrity or independence of
our country. The fact that the covenant has been entered into by
twenty-nine nations, all as jealous of their independence as we are of
ours, is a sufficient refutation of such charge. The President repeat-
edly has declared, and this convention reaffirms, that all our duties and
obligations as a member of the League must be fulfilled in strict con-
formity with the Constitution of the United States, embodied in which
is the fundamental requirement of declaratory action by the Congress
before this nation may become a participant in any war.
"Conduct of the War. — During the war President Wilson ex-
hibited the very broadest conception of liberal Americanism. In his
conduct of the war, as in the general administration of his high office,
450 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
there was no semblance of partisan bias. He invited to Washington
as his councillors and coadjutors hundreds of the most prominent and
pronounced Republicans in the country. To these he committed
responsibilities of the gravest import and most confidential nature.
Many of them had charge of vital activities of the government.
"And yet, with the war successfully prosecuted and gloriously
ended, the Republican party in Congress, far from applauding the
masterly leadership of the President and felicitating the country on
the amazing achievements of the American government, has meanly
requited the considerate course of the Chief-Magistrate by savagely
defaming the commander-in-chief of the army and navy and by assail-
ing nearly every public officer of every branch of the service intimately
concerned in winning the war abroad and preserving the security of
the government at home.
"We express to the soldiers and sailors and marines of America
the admiration of their fellow-countrymen. Guided by the genius
of such commanders as General John J. Pershing, the armed forces
of America constituted a decisive factor in the victory and brought
new luster to the flag.
"We commend the patriotic men and women who sustained
the efforts of their government in the crucial hours of the war and
contributed to the brilliant administrative success achieved under the
broad-visioned leadership of the President.
"Financial Achievements. — A review of the record of the Demo-
cratic party during the administration of Woodrow Wilson presents
a chapter of substantial achievements unsurpassed in the history of
the republic. For fifty years before the advent of this administra-
tion periodical convulsions had impeded the industrial progress of the
American people and caused inestimable loss and distress. By the
enactment of the Federal Reserve act the old system, which bred
panics, was replaced by a new system, which insured confidence. It
was an indispensable factor in winning the war, and to-day it is the
hope and inspiration of business. Indeed, one vital danger against
which the American people should keep constantly on guard is the
commitment of this system to partisan enemies who struggled against
its adoption and vainly atempted to retain in the hands of speculative
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 451
bankers a monopoly of the currency and credits of the nation. Already
there are well-defined indications of an assault upon the vital prin-
ciples of the system in the event of Republican success in the elections
in November.
"Under Democratic leadership the American people successfully
financed their stupendous part in the greatest war of all time. The
treasury wisely insisted during the war upon meeting an adequate
portion of the war expenditure from current taxes and the bulk of the
balance from popular loans, and, during the first full fiscal year after
fighting stopped, upon meeting current expenditures from current re-
ceipts notwithstanding the new and unnecessary burdens thrown upon
the treasury by the delay, obstruction, and extravagance of a Repub-
lican Congress.
"The non-partisan Federal Reserve authorities have been wholly
free of political interference or motive, and in their own time and their
own way have used courageously, though cautiously, the instruments
at their disposal to prevent undue expansion of credit in the country.
As a result of these sound treasury and Federal Reserve policies, the
inevitable war inflation has been held down to a minimum, and the
cost of living has been prevented from increasing in this country in
proportion to the increase in other belligerent countries and in neutral
countries which are in close contact with the world's commerce and
exchanges.
"After a year and a half of fighting in Europe, and despite another
year and a half of Republican obstruction at home, the credit of the
government of the United States stands unimpaired, the Federal
Reserve note is the unit of value throughout all the world, and the
United States is the one great country in the world which maintains
a free gold market.
"We condemn the attempt of the Republican party to deprive
the American people of their legitimate pride in the financing of
the war — an achievement without parallel in the financial history
of this or any other country, in this or any other war. And in
particular we condemn the pernicious attempt of the Republican
party to create discontent among the holders of the bonds of the
government of the United States and to drag our public finance and
452 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
our banking and currency system back into the arena of party politics.
"Tax Revision. — We condemn the failure of the present Congress
to respond to the oft-repeated demand of the President and the Secre-
taries of the Treasury to revise the existing tax laws. The continu-
ance in force in peace times of taxes devised under pressure of impera-
tive necessity to produce a revenue for war purposes is indefensible
and can only result in lasting injury to the people. The Republican
Congress persistently failed, through sheer political cowardice, to make
a single move toward a readjustment of tax laws which it denounced
before the last election and was afraid to revise before the next
election.
"We advocate tax reform and a searching revision of the War
Revenue acts to fit peace conditions, so that the wealth of the nation
may not be withdrawn from productive enterprise and diverted to
wasteful or non-productive expenditure.
"We demand prompt action by the next Congress for a complete
survey of existing taxes and their modification and simplification with
a view to secure greater equity and justice in tax burdens and improve-
ment in administration.
"Public Economy. — Claiming to have effected great economies in
government expenditures, the Republican party cannot show the
reduction of one dollar in taxation as a corollary of this false pretense.
In contrast, the last Democratic Congress enacted legislation reducing
taxes from eight billions, designed to be raised, to six billions for
the first year after the armistice, and to four billions thereafter; and
there the total is left undiminished by our political adversaries. Two
years after Armistice day a Republican Congress provides for expend-
ing the stupendous sum of $5,403,390,327.30.
"Affecting great paper economies by reducing departmental esti-
mates of sums which would not have been spent in any event, and by
reducing formal appropriations, the Republican statement of expendi-
tures omits the pregnant fact that the Congress authorized the use of
one and a half billion dollars in the hands of various departments and
bureaus which otherwise would have been covered back into the
treasury, and which should be added to the Republican total of ex-
penditures.
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 453
"High Cost of Living. — The high cost of living and the deprecia-
tion of bond values in this country are primarily due to the war itself,
to the necessary governmental expenditures for the destructive pur-
poses of war, to private extravagance, to the world shortage of capital,
to the inflation of foreign currencies and credits, and, in large degree,
to conscienceless profiteering.
"The Republican party is responsible for the failure to restore
peace and peace conditions in Europe, which is a principal cause of
post-armistice inflation the world over. It has denied the demand of
the President for necessary legislation to deal with secondary and local
causes. The sound policies pursued by the treasury and the Federal
Reserve system have limited in this country, though they could not
prevent, the inflation which was world-wide.
"Elected upon specific promises to curtail public expenditures and
to bring the country back to a status of effective economy, the Repub-
lican party in Congress wasted time and energy for more than a year
in vain and extravagant investigations, costing the tax-payers great
sums of money while revealing nothing beyond the incapacity of
Republican politicians to cope with the problems. Demanding that
the President, from his place at the peace table, call the Congress into
extraordinary session for imperative purposes of readjustment, the
Congress when convened spent thirteen months in partisan pursuits,
failing to repeal a single war statute which harassed business or to
initiate a single constructive measure to help business. It busied itself
making a preelection record of pretended thrift, having not one
particle of substantial existence in fact. It raged against profiteers
and the high cost of living without enacting a single statute to make
the former afraid or doing a single act to bring the latter within
limitations.
"The simple truth is that the high cost of living can only be reme-
died by increased production, strict governmental economy, and a
relentless pursuit of those who take advantage of post-war conditions
and are demanding and receiving outrageous profits.
"We pledge the Democratic party to a policy of strict economy in
government expenditures, and to the enactment and enforcement of
454 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
such legislation as may be required to bring profiteers before the bar
of criminal justice.
"The Tariff. — We reaffirm the traditional policy of the Demo-
cratic party in favor of a tariff for revenue only, and we confirm the
policy of basing tariff revisions upon the intelligent research of a non-
partisan commission rather than upon the demands of selfish inter-
ests, temporarily held in abeyance.
"Budget. — In the interest of economy and good administration,
we favor the creation of an effective budget system that will function
in accord with the principles of the Constitution. The reform should
reach both the executive and legislative aspects of the question. The
supervision and preparation of the budget should be vested in the
Secretary of the Treasury as the representative of the President. The
budget, as such, should not be increased by the Congress except by a
two-thirds vote, each house, however, being free to exercise its consti-
tutional privilege of making appropriations through independent bills.
The Appropriation bills should be considered by single committees of
the House and Senate. The audit system should be consolidated and
its powers expanded so as to pass upon the wisdom of, as well as the
authority for, expenditures.
"A Budget bill was passed in the closing days of the second session
of the Sixty-sixth Congress which, invalidated by plain constitutional
defects and defaced by considerations of patronage, the President was
obliged to veto. The House amended the bill to meet the Executive
objection. We condemn the Republican Senate for adjourning with-
out passing the amended measure, when by devoting an hour or two
more to this urgent public business a budget system could have been
provided.
"Senate Rules. — We favor such alteration of the rules of procedure
of the Senate of the United States as will permit the prompt transac-
tion of the nation's legislative business.
"Agricultural Interests. — To the great agricultural interests of the
country the Democratic party does not find it necessary to make
promises. It already is rich in its record of things actually accom-
plished. For nearly half a century of Republican rule not a sentence
was written into the Federal statutes affording one dollar of bank
"20] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 455
credits to the farming interests of America. In the first term of this
Democratic administration the National Bank act was so altered as
to authorize loans of five years' maturity on improved farm lands.
Later was established a system of Farm Loan banks, from which the
borrowings already exceed three hundred millions of dollars and under
which the interest rate to farmers has been so materially reduced as to
drive out of business the farm loan sharks who formerly subsisted by
extortion upon the great agricultural interests of the country.
"Thus it was a Democratic Congress in the administration of a
Democratic President which enabled the farmers of America for the
first time to obtain credit upon reasonable terms and insured their
opportunity for the future development of the nation's agricultural
resources. Tied up in Supreme Court proceedings, in a suit by hostile
interests, the Federal Farm Loan system, originally opposed by the
Republican candidate for the Presidency, appealed in vain to a Repub-
lican Congress for adequate financial assistance to tide over the interim
between the beginning and the ending of the current year, awaiting a
final decision of the highest court on the validity of the contested act.
We pledge prompt and consistent support of sound and effective
measures to sustain, amplify, and perfect the Rural Credits statutes
and thus to check and reduce the growth and course of farm tenancy.
"Not only did the Democratic party put into effect a great Farm
Loan system of land mortgage banks, but it passed the Smith-Lever
Agricultural Extension act, carrying to every farmer in every section
of the country, through the medium of trained experts and by demon-
stration farms, the practical knowledge acquired by the Federal Agri-
cultural department in all things relating to agriculture, horticulture,
and animal life; it established the Bureau of Markets, the Bureau of
Farm Management, and passed the Cotton Futures act, the Grain
Grades bill, the Cooperative Farm Administration act, and the Fed-
eral Warehouse act.
"The Democratic party has vastly improved the rural mail system
and has built up the parcel post system to such an extent as to render
its activities and its practical service indispensable to the farming com-
munity. It was this wise encouragement and this effective concern
of the Democratic party for the farmers of the United States that
456 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
enabled this great interest to render such essential service in feeding
the armies of America and the Allied nations of the war and succoring
starving populations since Armistice day.
"Meanwhile the Republican leaders at Washington have failed
utterly to propose one single measure to make rural life more tolerable.
They have signalized their fifteen months of Congressional power by
urging schemes which would strip the farms of labor ; by assailing the
principles of the Farm Loan system and seeking to impair its efficiency ;
by covertly attempting to destroy the great nitrogen plant at Muscle
Shoals upon which the government has expended $70,000,000 to
supply American farmers with fertilizers at reasonable cost ; by ruth-
lessly crippling nearly every branch of agricultural endeavor, literally
starving the productive mediums through which the people must be
fed.
"We favor such legislation as will confirm to the primary produc-
ers of the nation the right of collective bargaining and the right of
cooperative handling and marketing of the products of the workshop
and the farm, and such legislation as will facilitate the exportation of
our farm products.
"We favor comprehensive studies of farm production costs and the
uncensored publication of facts found in such studies.
"Labor and Industry. — The Democratic party is now, as ever, the
firm friend of honest labor and the promoter of progressive industry.
It established the Department of Labor at Washington, and a Demo-
cratic President called to his official council board the first practical
workingman who ever held a cabinet portfolio. Under this adminis-
tration have been established employment bureaus to bring the man
and the job together; have been peaceably determined many bitter dis-
putes between capital and labor ; were passed the Child Labor act, the
Workingmen's Compensation act (the extension of which we advocate
so as to include laborers engaged in loading and unloading ships and
in interstate commerce), the Eight-hour law, the act for vocational
training, and a code of other wholesome laws affecting the liberties
and bettering the conditions of the laboring classes. In the Depart-
ment of Labor the Democratic administration established a Woman's
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 457
bureau, which a Republican Congress destroyed by withholding ap-
propriations.
"Labor is not a commodity; it is human. Those who labor have
rights, and the national security and safety depend upon a just recog-
nition of those rights and the conservation of the strength of the
workers and their families in the interest of sound-hearted and sound-
headed men, women, and children. Laws regulating hours of labor
and conditions under which labor is performed, when passed in
recognition of the conditions under which life must be lived to attain
the highest development and happiness, are just assertions of the
national interest in the welfare of the people.
"At the same time, the nation depends upon the products of labor ;
a cessation of production means loss and, if long continued, disaster.
The whole people, therefore, have a right to insist that justice shall
be done to those who work, and in turn that those whose labor cre-
ates the necessities upon which the life of the nation depends must
recognize the reciprocal obligation between the worker and the state.
They should participate in the formulation of sound laws and regula-
tions governing the conditions under which labor is performed, recog-
nize and obey the laws so formulated, and seek their amendment when
necessary by the processes ordinarily addressed to the laws and regu-
lations affecting the other relations of life.
"Labor, as well as capital, is entitled to adequate compensation.
Each has the indefeasible right of organization, of collective bargain-
ing, and of speaking through representatives of their own selection.
Neither class, however, should at any time nor in any circumstances
take action that will put in jeopardy the public welfare. Resort to
strikes and lockouts which endanger the health or lives of the people
is an unsatisfactory device for determining disputes, and the Demo-
cratic party pledges itself to contrive, if possible, and put into effective
operation, a fair and comprehensive method of composing differences
of this nature.
"In private industrial disputes we are opposed to compulsory arbi-
tration as a method plausible in theory but a failure in fact. With
respect to government service, we hold distinctly that the rights of
the people are paramount to the right to strike. However, we profess
458 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
scrupulous regard for the conditions of public employment and pledge
the Democratic party to instant inquiry into the pay of government
employes and equally speedy regulations designed to bring salaries to
a just and proper level.
"'Woman Suffrage. — We endorse the proposed Nineteenth amend-
ment of the Constitution of the United States granting equal suffrage
to women. We congratulate the Legislatures of the thirty-five States
which have already ratified said amendment, and we urge the Demo-
cratic Governors and Legislatures of Tennessee, North Carolina, and
Florida, and such States as have not yet ratified the Federal Suffrage
amendment, to unite in an effort to complete the process of ratification
and secure the thirty-sixth State in time for all the women of the
United States to participate in the fall election. We commend the
effective advocacy of the measure by President Wilson.
"Welfare of Women and Children. — We urge cooperation with
the States for the protection of child life through infancy and mater-
nity care, in the prohibition of child labor, and by adequate appropria-
tions for the Children's bureau and the Woman's bureau in the De-
partment of Labor.
"Women in Industry. — We advocate full representation of women
on all commissions dealing with women's work or women's interests
and a reclassification of the Federal civil service free from discrimina-
tion on the ground of sex; a continuance of appropriations for educa-
tion in sex hygiene ; Federal legislation which shall insure that Ameri-
can women resident in the United States, but married to aliens, shall
retain their American citizenship, and that the same process of natu-
ralization shall be required for women as for men.
"Education. — Cooperative Federal assistance to the States is im-
mediately required for the removal of illiteracy, for the increase of
teachers' salaries, and instruction in citizenship for both native and
foreign-born ; increased appropriation for vocational training in home
economics; reestablishment of joint Federal and State employment
service with women's departments under the direction of technically
qualified women.
"Disabled Soldiers. — The Federal government should treat with
the utmost consideration every disabled soldier, sailor, and marine of
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 459
the World War, whether his disability be due to wounds received in
line of action or to health impaired in service ; and for the dependents
of the brave men who died in line of duty the government's tenderest
concern and richest bounty should be their requital. The fine patriot-
ism exhibited, the heroic conduct displayed by American soldiers,
sailors, and marines at home and abroad, constitute a sacred heritage
of posterity, the worth of which can never be recompensed from the
treasury and the glory of which must not be diminished.
"The Democratic administration wisely established a War Risk
Insurance bureau, giving four and a half millions of enlisted men
insurance at unprecedentedly low rates and through the medium of
which compensation of men and women injured in service is readily
adjusted and hospital facilities for those whose health is impaired are
abundantly afforded.
"The Federal Board for Vocational Education should be made a
part of the War Risk Insurance bureau, in order that the task may be
treated as a whole, and this machinery of protection and assistance
must receive every aid of law and appropriation necessary to full and
effective operation.
"We believe that no higher or more valued privilege can be
afforded to an American citizen than to become a freeholder in the soil
of the United States, and to that end we pledge our party to the en-
actment of soldier settlements and home aid legislation which will
afford to the men who fought for America the opportunity to become
land and home-owners under conditions affording genuine government
assistance unencumbered by needless difficulties of red tape or advance
financial investment.
"The Railroads. — The railroads were subjected to Federal control
as a war measure without other idea than the swift transport of troops,
munitions, and supplies. When human life and national hopes were
at stake profits could not be considered and were not. Federal opera-
tion, however, was marked by an intelligence and efficiency that mini-
mized loss and resulted in many and marked reforms. The equipment
taken over was not only grossly inadequate, but shamefully outworn.
Unification practices overcame these initial handicaps and provided
additions, betterments, and improvements. Economies enabled opera-
460 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
tion without the rate raises that private control would have found
necessary, and labor was treated with an exact justice that secured the
enthusiastic cooperation that victory demanded. The fundamental
purpose of Federal control was achieved fully and splendidly, and at
far less cost to the taxpayer than would have been the case under
private operation. Investments in railroad properties were not only
saved by government operation, but government management returned
these properties vastly improved in every physical and executive detail.
A great task was greatly discharged.
"The President's recommendation of return to private ownership
gave the Republican majority a full year in which to enact the neces-
sary legislation. The House took six months to formulate its ideas,
and another six months was consumed by the Republican Senate in
equally vague debate. As a consequence, the Esch-Cummins bill went
to the President in the closing hours of the time limit prescribed, and
he was forced to a choice between the chaos of a veto and acquiescence
in the measure submitted however grave may have been his objections
to it.
"There should be a fair and complete test of the law, and until
careful and mature action by Congress may cure its defects and insure
a thoroughly effective transportation system under private ownership
without government subsidy at the expense of the taxpayers of the
country.
"Improved Highways. — Improved roads are of vital importance
not only to commerce and industry, but also to agriculture and rural
life. The Federal Road act of 1916, enacted by a Democratic Con-
gress, represented the first systematic effort of the government to
insure the building of an adequate system of roads in this country.
The act, as amended, has resulted in placing the movement for im-
proved highways on a progressive and substantial basis in every State
in the Union and in bringing under actual construction more than
13,000 miles of roads suited to the traffic needs of the communities in
which they are located.
"We favor a continuance of the present Federal aid plan under
existing Federal and State agencies, amended so as to include as one of
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 461
the elements in determining the ratio in which the several States shall
be entitled to share in the fund, the area of any public lands therein.
"Inasmuch as the postal service has been extended by the Demo-
cratic party to the door of practically every producer and every con-
sumer in the country (rural free delivery alone having been provided
for 6,000,000 additional patrons within the past eight years without
material added cost), we declare that this instrumentality can and will
be used to the maximum of its capacity to improve the efficiency of
distribution and reduce the cost of living to consumers while increas-
ing the profitable operations of producers.
"We strongly favor the increased use of the motor vehicle in the
transportation of the mails and urge the removal of the restrictions
imposed by the Republican Congress on the use of motor devices in
mail transportation in rural territories.
"Merchant Marine. — We desire to congratulate the American
people upon the rebirth of our merchant marine, which once more
maintains its former place in the world. It was under a Democratic
administration that this was accomplished after seventy years of in-
difference and neglect, thirteen million tons having been constructed
since the act was passed, in 1916. We pledge the policy of our party
to the continued growth of our merchant marine under proper legis-
lation so that American products will be carried to all ports of the
world by vessels built in American yards, flying the American flag.
"Port Facilities. — The urgent demands of the war for adequate
transportation of war materials, as well as for domestic need, revealed
the fact that our port facilities and rate adjustments were such as to
seriously affect the whole country in times of peace as well as war.
"We pledge our party to stand for equality of rates, both import
and export, for the ports of the country, to the end that there may be
adequate and fair facilities and rates for the mobilization of the
products of the country offered for shipment.
"Inland Waterways. — We call attention to the failure of the
Republican national convention to recognize in any way the rapid
development of barge transportation on our inland waterways, which
development is the result of the constructive policies of the Demo-
cratic administration. And we pledge ourselves to the further devel-
462 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
opment of adequate transportation facilities on our rivers and to the
further improvement of our inland waterways; and we recognize the
importance of connecting the Great Lakes with the sea by way of the
Mississippi River and its tributaries, as well as by the St. Lawrence
River. We favor an enterprising foreign trade policy with all nations,
and in this connection we favor the full utilization of all Atlantic,
Gulf, and Pacific ports, and an equitable distribution of shipping
facilities between the various ports.
"Transportation remains an increasingly vital problem in the con-
tinued development and prosperity of the nation.
"Our present facilities for distribution by rail are inadequate, and
the promotion of transportation by water is imperative.
"We therefore favor a liberal and comprehensive policy for devel-
opment and utilization of our harbors and interior waterways.
"Flood Control. — We commend the Democratic Congress for the
redemption of the pledge contained in our last platform by the passage
of the Flood Control act of March 1, 1917, and point to the success-
ful control of floods of the Mississippi River and the Sacramento
River, California, under the policy of that law, for its complete justi-
fication. We favor the extension of this policy to other flood-control
problems wherever the Federal interest involved justifies the expendi-
ture required.
"Reclamation of Arid Lands. — By wise legislation and progressive
administration we have transformed the government reclamation
projects, representing an investment of $100,000,000, from a condi-
tion of impending failure and loss of confidence in the ability of the
government to carry through such large enterprises, to a condition of
demonstrated success, whereby formerly arid and wholly unproductive
lands now sustain 40,000 prosperous families and have an annual crop
production of over $70,000,000, not including the crops grown on a
million acres outside the projects supplied with storage water from
government works.
"We favor ample appropriations for the continuation and exten-
sion of this great work of home-building and internal improvement
along the same general lines, to the end that all practical projects shall
be built, and waters now running to waste shall be made to provide
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 463
homes and add to the food supply, power resources, and taxable prop-
erty, with the government ultimately reimbursed for the entire outlay.
"The Trade Commission. — The Democratic party heartily endorses
the creation and work of the Federal Trade commission in establish-
ing a fair field for competitive business, free from restraints of trade
and monopoly, and recommends amplification of the statutes governing
its activities so as to grant it authority to prevent the unfair use of
patents in restraint of trade.
"Live-Stock Markets. — For the purpose of insuring just and fair
treatment in the great interstate live-stock markets and thus instilling
confidence in growers through which production will be stimulated
and the price of meats to consumers be ultimately reduced, we favor
the enactment of legislation for the supervision of such markets by the
national government.
"Mexico. — The United States is the neighbor and friend of the
nations of the three Americas. In a very special sense our interna-
tional relations in this hemisphere should be characterized by good
will and free from any possible suspicion as to our national purpose.
"The administration, remembering always that Mexico is an inde-
pendent nation and that permanent stability in her government and
her institutions could come only from the consent of her own people
to a government of their own making, has been unwilling either to
profit by the misfortunes of the people of Mexico or to enfeeble their
future by imposing from the outside a rule upon their temporarily
distracted councils. As a consequence, order is gradually reappearing
in Mexico ; at no time in many years have American lives and interests
been so safe as they now are; peace reigns along the border and
industry is resuming.
"When the new government of Mexico shall have given ample
proof of its ability permanently to maintain law and order, signified its
willingness to meet its international obligations, and written upon its
statute-books just laws under which foreign investors shall have rights
as well as duties, that government should receive our recognition and
sympathetic assistance. Until these proper expectations have been
met, Mexico must realize the propriety of a policy that asserts the
right of the United States to demand full protection for its citizens.
464 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"Petroleum. — The Democratic party recognizes the importance of
the acquisition by Americans of additional sources of supply of petjjo-
leum and other minerals, and declares that such acquisition both at
home and abroad should be fostered and encouraged. We urge such
action, legislative and executive, as may secure to American citizens
the same rights in the acquirement of mining rights in foreign coun-
tries as are enjoyed by the citizens or subjects of any other nation.
"New Nations. — The Democratic party expresses its active sym-
pathy with the people of China, Czecho-Slovakia, Finland, Jugoslavia,
Poland, Persia, and others who have recently established representative
governments and who are striving to develop the institutions of true
democracy.
"Ireland. — The great principle of national self-determination has
received constant reiteration as one of the chief objectives for which
this country entered the war, and victory established this principle.
"Within the limitations of international comity and usage, this
convention repeats the several previous expressions of the sympathy of
the Democratic party of the United States for the aspirations of Ire-
land for self-government.
"Armenia. — We express our deep and earnest sympathy for the
unfortunate people of Armenia, and we believe that our government,
consistently with its Constitution and principles, should render every
possible and proper aid to them in their efforts to establish and main-
tain a government of their own.
"The Philippines. — We favor the granting of independence without
unnecessary delay to the 10,500,000 inhabitants of the Philippine
Islands.
"Hawaii. — We favor a liberal policy of homesteading public lands
in Hawaii to promote a large middle-class citizen population, with
equal rights to all citizens. The importance of Hawaii as an outpost
on the western frontier of the United States demands adequate appro-
priations by Congress for the development of our harbors and high-
ways there.
"Porto Rico. — We favor granting to the people of Porto Rico the
traditional Territorial form of government, with a view to ultimate
statehood, accorded to all Territories of the United States since the
NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 465
beginning of our government, and we believe that the officials
appointed to administer the government of such Territories should be
qualified by previous bona fide residence therein.
"Alaska. — We commend the Democratic administration for inau-
gurating a new policy as to Alaska as evidenced by the construction of
the Alaska Railroad and opening of the coal and oil fields.
"We declare for the modification of the existing Coal Land law,
to promote development without disturbing the features intended to
prevent monopoly ;
"For such changes in the policy of forestry control as will permit
the immediate initiation of the paper pulp industry;
"For relieving the Territory from the evils of long-distance gov-
ernment by arbitrary and interlocking bureaucratic regulation, and to
that end we urge the speedy passage of a law containing the essential
features of the Lane-Curry bill now pending, coordinating and con-
solidating all Federal control of natural resources under one depart-
ment to be administered by a non-partisan board permanently resident
in the Territory ;
"For the fullest measure of Territorial self-government with the
view of ultimate statehood, with jurisdiction over all matters not of
purely Federal concern, including fisheries and game; and for an
intelligent administration of Federal control we believe that all offi-
cials appointed should be qualified by previous bona fide residence in
the Territory;
"For a comprehensive system of road construction with increased
appropriations, and the full extension of the Federal Road Aid act to
Alaska ;
"For the extension to Alaska of the Federal Farm Loan act.
"Asiatic Immigrants. — The policy of the United States with refer-
ence to the non-admission of Asiatic immigrants is a true expression
of the judgment of our people, and to the several States whose geo-
graphical situation or internal conditions make this policy and the
enforcement of the laws enacted pursuant thereto of particular con-
cern, we pledge our support.
"The Postal Service. — The efficiency of the Post Office department
has been vindicated against a malicious and designing assault by the
466 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
efficiency of its operation. Its record refutes its assailants. Their
voices are silenced and their charges have collapsed.
"We commend the work of the joint commission on the Reclassifi-
cation of Salaries of Postal Employes, recently concluded, which com-
mission was created by a Democratic administration. The Demo-
cratic party has always favored and will continue to favor the fair and
just treatment of all government employes.
"Free Speech and Press. — We resent the unfounded reproaches
directed against the Democratic administration for alleged interference
with the freedom of the press and freedom of speech. No utterance
from any quarter has been assailed, and no publication has been re-
pressed, which has not been animated by treasonable purposes and
directed against the nation's peace, order, and security in time of war.
"We reaffirm our respect for the great principles of free speech and
a free press, but assert as an indisputable proposition that they afford
no toleration of enemy propaganda or the advocacy of the overthrow
of the government of the State or nation by force or violence.
"Republican Corruption. — The shocking disclosure of the lavish
use of money by aspirants for the Republican nomination for the
highest office in the gift of the people has created a painful impression
throughout the country. Viewed in connection with the recent con-
viction of a Republican Senator from the State of Michigan for the
criminal transgression of the law limiting expenditures on behalf of a
candidate for the United States Senate, it indicates the reentry, under
Republican auspices, of money as an influential factor in elections, thus
nullifying the letter and flaunting the spirit of numerous laws, enacted
by the people, to protect the ballot from the contamination of corrupt
practices. We deplore these delinquencies and invoke their stern
popular rebuke, pledging our earnest efforts to a strengthening of the
present statutes against corrupt practices and their rigorous enforce-
ment.
"We remind the people that it was only by the return of a Repub-
lican Senator in Michigan, who is now under conviction and sentence
for the criminal misuse of money in his election, that the present
organization of the Senate with a Republican majority was made
possible.
"20] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 467
"Conclusion. — Believing that we have kept the Democratic faith,
and resting our claims to the confidence of the people not upon
grandiose promises but upon the solid performances of our party, we
submit our record to the nation's consideration and ask that the
pledges of this platform be appraised in the light of that record."
Several minority resolutions were offered and de-
bated on the floor of the convention. The most im-
portant of these were:
By William J. Bryan: — "We heartily congratulate the Demo-
cratic party on its splendid leadership in the submission and ratifica-
tion of the Prohibition amendment to the Federal Constitution, and
we pledge the party to the effective enforcement of the present
enforcement law, honestly and in good faith, without any increase in
the alcoholic content of permitted beverages and without any weaken-
ing of any of its provisions." Defeated, 929^ nays to 155^2 ayes.
By W. Bourke Cockran, of New York:— "The validity of the
Eighteenth amendment to the Constitution has been sustained by the
Supreme Court, and any law enacted under its authority must be
enforced. In the interest of personal liberty, and to conserve the
rights of the States, we favor Federal legislation under the Eighteenth
amendment allowing the manufacture and sale, for home consumption
only, of cider, light wines, and beer; reserving to the various States
power to fix any alcoholic content thereof lower than that fixed by
Congress, as may be demanded by the opinion and conscience of each
locality." Defeated, 726^ nays to 356 ayes.
By Edward L. Doheny, of California. — "Ireland. — Mindful of
the circumstances of the birth of our nation, we reiterate the principle
that all governments derive their just powers from the consent of the
governed. We will support the continuance of our long-established
and useful practice of according recognition without intervention in
all cases where the people of a nation have by the free vote of the
people set up a republic and chosen a government to which they yield
willing obedience." Defeated, 676 nays to 402^ yeas.
In addition, resolutions were proposed by Mr. Bryan
468 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
for 1. Establishment by the government of a "National
Bulletin" ; 2. Preventing "excessive charges by middle-
men" ; and 3. An amendment to the Federal Constitu-
tion providing for "the ratification of treaties by a ma-
jority vote," immediate ratification of the Versailles
treaty with such reservations as a majority of the Sena-
tors might agree to, and "selection of the nation's dele-
gates in the League of Nations by popular vote in dis-
tricts." All these were voted down without division, as
was a plank offered by Thomas J. Lyons, of Oklahoma,
for extending governmental aid to the ex-service men.
Republican Party
Convention held in Chicago, June 8-12, 1920. Tem-
porary and permanent chairman, Henry Cabot Lodge.
First ballot for President: — Leonard Wood, of New
Hampshire, 2%7l/2 ; Frank O. Lowden, of Illinois,
21 \y2 ; Hiram W. Johnson, of California, 133^ ; Wil-
liam C. Sproul, of Pennsylvania, 84; Nicholas Murray
Butler, of New York, 69^ ; Warren G. Harding, of
Ohio, 6$l/2 ; Calvin Coolidge, of Massachusetts, 34;Rob-
ert M.LaFollette, of Wisconsin, 24; Peter C. Pritchard,
of North Carolina, 21 ; Miles Poindexter, of Washing-
ton, 20; Howard Sutherland, of West Virginia, 16;
Coleman du Pont, of Delaware, 7; Herbert Hoover, of
California, 5^; William E. Borah, of Idaho, 2;
Charles B. Warren, of Michigan, 1 ; not voting, 1. For
the first eight ballots the contest for first place was be-
tween Wood and Lowden, the vote of each rising, at the
maximum, to slightly over 300; necessary to a choice,
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 469
493. Johnson gained until after the fourth ballot, and
then lost. No other candidate except Harding showed
increase. Hoover, who had been the hope of many inde-
pendents in the country at large, at no time on the first
nine ballots had more than 6 votes. Following the
eighth ballot the leaders in the convention agreed on
Harding, who received 374^ on the ninth ballot and
was nominated on the tenth by the following vote:—
Harding, 6921-5; Wood, 156; Johnson, 844-5; La
Follette, 24; Lowden, 11; Hoover, 9^; Coolidge. 5;
Butler, 2; Irvine L. Lenroot, of Wisconsin, 1 ; Will H.
Hays, of Indiana, 1 ; Philander C. Knox, 1 ; not vot-
ing, y2..
For Vice-President Calvin Coolidge received the
nomination on the first ballot, having 694^ to 300 V£
for six others ; not voting, 9.
Platform (unanimously adopted) :
"The Republican party, assembled in representative national con-
vention, reaffirms its unyielding devotion to the Constitution of the
United States and to the guarantees of civil, political, and religious
liberty therein contained. It will resist all attempts to overthrow the
foundations of the government or to weaken the force of its controlling
principles and ideals, whether these attempts be made in the form of
international policy or domestic agitation.
"For seven years the national government has been controlled by
the Democratic party. During that period a war of unparalleled
magnitude has shaken the foundations of civilization, decimated the
population of Europe, and left in its train economic misery and suffer-
ing second only* to the war itself.
"The outstanding features of the Democratic administration have
been complete unpreparedness for war and complete unpreparedness
for peace.
470 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"Unpreparedness for War. — Inexcusable failure to make timely
preparations is the chief indictment against the Democratic adminis-
tration in the conduct of the war. Had not our associates protected
us, both on land and sea, during the first twelve months of our par-
ticipation, and furnished us to the very day of the armistice with
munitions, planes, and artillery, this failure would have been punished
with disaster. It directly resulted in unnecessary losses to our gallant
troops, in the imperilment of victory itself, and in an enormous waste
of public funds literally poured into the breach created by gross
neglect. To-day it is reflected in our huge tax burdens and in the
high cost of living.
"Unpreparedness for Peace. — Peace found the administration as
unprepared for peace as war found it unprepared for war. The vital
need of the country demanded the early and systematic return of a
peace-time basis.
"This called for vision, leadership, and intelligent planning. All
three have been lacking. While the country has been left to shift for
itself, the government has continued on a war-time basis. The admin-
istration has not demobilized the army of place-holders. It continued
a method of financing which was indefensible during the period of
reconstruction. It has used legislation passed to meet the emergency
of war to continue its arbitrary and inquisitorial control over the life
of the people in time of peace, and to carry confusion into industrial
life. Under the despot's plea of necessity or superior wisdom, Exe-
cutive usurpation of legislative and judicial functions still undermines
our institutions. Eighteen months after the armistice, with its war-
time powers unabridged, its war-time departments undischarged, its
war-time army of place-holders still mobilized, the administration con-
tinues to flounder helplessly.
"The demonstrated incapacity of the Democratic party has de-
stroyed public confidence, weakened the authority of the government,
and produced a feeling of distrust and hesitation so universal as to
increase enormously the difficulty of readjustment and to delay the
return to normal conditions.
"Never has our nation been confronted with graver problems. The
people are entitled to know in definite terms how the parties purpose
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 471
solving these problems. To that end the Republican party declares
its policies and program to be as follows:
"Constitutional Government. — We undertake to end Executive
autocracy and restore to the people their constitutional government.
"The policies herein declared will be carried out by the Federal and
State governments, each acting within its constitutional powers.
"Foreign Relations. — The foreign policy of the administration has
been founded upon no principle and directed by no definite conception
of our nation's rights and obligations. It has been humiliating to
America and irritating to other nations, with the result that after a
period of unexampled sacrifice our motives are suspected, our moral
influence impaired, and our government stands discredited and friend-
less among the nations of the world.
"We favor a liberal and generous foreign policy founded upon
definite moral and political principles, characterized by a clear under-
standing of and a firm adherence to our own rights, and unfailing
respect for the rights of others. We should afford full and adequate
protection to the life, liberty, property, and all international rights of
every American citizen, and should require a proper respect for the
American flag; but we should be equally careful to manifest a just
regard for the rights of other nations. A scrupulous observance of our
international engagements when lawfully assumed is essential to our
own honor and self-respect, and the respect of other nations. Subject
to a due regard for our international obligations, we should leave our
country free to develop its civilization along lines most conducive to
the happiness and welfare of its people, and to cast its influence on the
side of justice and right should occasion require.
"(a) Mexico
"The ineffective policy of the present administration in Mexican
matters has been largely responsible for the continued loss of American
lives in that country and upon our border; for the enormous loss of
American and foreign property; for the lowering of American stand-
ards of morality and social relations with Mexicans, and for the
bringing of American ideals of justice, national honor, and political
integrity into contempt and ridicule in Mexico and throughout the
world.
472 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"The policy of wordy, futile written protests against the acts of
Mexican officials, explained the following day by the President him-
self as being meaningless and not intended to be considered seriously
or enforced, has but added in degree to that contempt, and has earned
for us the sneers and jeers of Mexican bandits and added insult upon
insult against our national honor and dignity.
"We should not recognize any Mexican government unless it be a
responsible government willing and able to give sufficient guarantees
that the lives and property of American citizens are respected and pro-
tected, that wrongs will be promptly corrected, and just compensation
will be made for injury sustained. The Republican party pledges
itself to a consistent, firm, and effective policy towards Mexico that
shall enforce respect for the American flag and that shall protect the
rights of American citizens lawfully in Mexico to security of life and
enjoyment of property in accordance with established principles of
international law and our treaty rights.
"The Republican party is a sincere friend of the Mexican people.
In its insistence upon the maintenance of order for the protection of
American citizens within its borders a great service will be rendered
the Mexican people themselves; for a continuation of present condi-
tions means disaster to their interests and patriotic aspirations.
"(b) Mandate for Armenia
"We condemn President Wilson for asking Congress to empower
him to accept a mandate for Armenia. We commend the Republican
Senate for refusing the President's request to empower him to accept
the mandate for Armenia. The acceptance of such mandate would
throw the United States into the very maelstrom of European quar-
rels. According to the estimate of the Harboard commission, organized
by authority of President Wilson, we would be called upon to send
59,000 American boys to police Armenia and to expend $276,000,000
in the first year and $756,000,000 in five years. This estimate is made
upon the basis that we would have only roving bands to fight ; but in
case of serious trouble with the Turks or with Russia, a force exceed-
ing 200,000 would be necessary.
"No more striking illustration can be found of President Wilson's
disregard of the lives of American boys or of American interests.
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 473
"We deeply sympathize with the people of Armenia and stand
ready to help them in all proper ways, but the Republican party will
oppose now and hereafter the acceptance of a mandate for any country
in Europe or Asia.
" (c) League of Nations
"The Republican party stands for agreement among the nations
to preserve the peace of the world. We believe that such an inter-
national association must be based upon international justice, and
must provide methods which shall maintain the rule of public right
by the development of law and the decision of impartial courts, and
which shall secure instant and general international conference when-
ever peace shall be threatened by political action, so that the nations
pledged to do and insist upon what is just and fair may exercise their
influence and power for the prevention of war.
"We believe that all this can be done without the compromise of
national independence, without depriving the people of the United
States in advance of the right to determine for themselves what is
just and fair when the occasion arises, and without involving them as
participants and not as peacemakers in a multitude of quarrels, the
merits of which they are unable to judge.
"The covenant signed by the President at Paris failed signally to
accomplish this great purpose, and contains stipulations not only intol-
erable for an independent people but certain to produce the injustice,
hostility, and controversy among nations which it proposed to prevent.
"That covenant repudiated, to a degree wholly unnecessary and
unjustifiable, the time-honored policies in favor of peace declared by
Washington, Jefferson, and Monroe, and pursued by all American
administrations for more than a century, and it ignored the universal
sentiment of America for generations past in favor of international
law and arbitration, and it rested the hope of the future upon mere
expediency and negotiation.
"The unfortunate insistence of the President upon having his own
way, without any change and without any Kgard to the opinions of a
majority of the Senate, which shares with him in the treaty-making
power, and the President's demand that the treaty should be ratified
without any modification, created a situation in which Senators were
474 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
required to vote upon their consciences and their oaths acording to
their judgment against the treaty as it was presented, or submit to
the commands of a dictator in a matter where the authority and the
responsibility under the Constitution were theirs, and not his.
"The Senators performed their duty faithfully. We approve their
conduct and honor their courage and fidelity. And we pledge the
coming Republican administration to such agreements with the other
nations of the world as shall meet the full duty of America to civiliza-
tion and humanity, in accordance with American ideals and without
surrendering the right of the American people to exercise its judgment
and its power in favor of justice and peace.
"Congress and Reconstruction. — Despite the unconstitutional and
dictatorial course of the President and the partisan obstruction of the
Democratic Congressional minority, the Republican majority has
enacted a program of constructive legislation which in great part,
however, has been nullified by the vindictive vetoes of the President.
"The Republican Congress has met the problems presented by the
administration's unpreparedness for peace. It has repealed the greater
part of the vexatious war legislation. It has enacted a Transporta-
tion act making possible the rehabilitation of the railroad systems of
the country, the operation of which under the present Democratic
administration has been wasteful, extravagant, and inefficient in the
highest degree. The Transportation act made provision for the
peaceful settlement of wage disputes, partially nullified, however, by
the President's delay in appointing the Wage board created by the
act. This delay precipitated the outlaw railroad strike.
"We stopped the flood of public treasure recklessly poured into the
lap of an inept Shipping board, and laid the foundations for the
creation of a great merchant marine; we took from the incompetent
Democratic administration the administration of the telegraph and
telephone lines of the country and returned them to private ownership;
we reduced the cost of postage and increased the pay of the postal em-
ployes— the poorest paid of all public servants; we provided pensions
for superannuated and retired civil servants, and for an increase in
pay of soldiers and sailors. We reorganized the army on a peace
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 475
footing, and provided for the maintenance of a powerful and efficient
navy.
"The Republican Congress established by law a permanent
Woman's bureau in the Department of Labor; we submitted to the
country the constitutional amendment for woman suffrage, and fur-
nished twenty-nine of the thirty-five Legislatures which have ratified
it to date.
"Legislation for the relief of the consumers of print paper, for the
extension of the powers of the government under the Food Control act,
for broadening the scope of the War Risk Insurance act, better pro-
vision for the dwindling number of aged veterans of the Civil War
and for the better support of the maimed and injured of the Great
War, and for making practical the Vocational Rehabilitation act, has
been enacted by the Republican Congress.
"We passed an oil-leasing and water-power bill to unlock for the
public good the great pent-up resources of the country ; we have sought
to check the profligacy of the administration, to realize upon the
assets of the government, and to husband the revenues derived from
taxation. The Republicans in Congress have been responsible for cuts
in the estimates for government expenditure of nearly $3,000,000,000
since the signing of the armistice.
"We enacted a national Executive Budget law ; we strengthened
the Federal Reserve act to permit banks to lend needed assistance to
farmers; we authorized financial incorporation to develop export
trade, and, finally, amended the rules of the Senate and House, which
will reform evils in procedure and guarantee more efficient and
responsible government.
"Agriculture. — The farmer is the backbone of the nation. National
greatness and economic independence demand a population distributed
between industry and the farm, and sharing on equal terms the pros-
perity which it holds is wholly dependent upon the efforts of both.
Neither can prosper at the expense of the other without inviting joint
disaster. The crux of the present agricultural condition lies in prices,
labor, and credit.
"The Republican party believes that this condition can be improved
by: Practical and adequate farm representation in the appointment
476 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
of governmental officials and commissions; the right to form coopera-
tive associations for marketing their products, and protection against
discrimination; the scientific study of agricultural prices and farm
production costs at home and abroad, with a view to reducing the
frequency of abnormal fluctuation ; the uncensored publication of such
reports; the authorization of associations for the extension of personal
credit; a national inquiry on the coordination of rail, water, and motor
transportation with adequate facilities for receiving, handling, and
marketing food; the encouragement of our export trade; an end to
unnecessary price-fixing and ill-considered efforts arbitrarily to reduce
prices of farm products which invariably result to the disadvantage
both of producer and consumer; and the encouragement of the pro-
duction and importation of fertilizing material and of its extensive
use.
"The Federal Farm Loan act should be so administered as to
facilitate the acquisition of farm land by those desiring to become
owners and proprietors, and thus minimize the evils of farm tenantry,
and to furnish such long-time credits as farmers may need to finance
adequately their larger and long-time production operations.
"Industrial Relations. — There are two different conceptions of the
relations of capital and labor. The one is contractual, and empha-
sizes the diversity of interest of employer and employe. The other
is that of copartnership in a common task.
"We recognize the justice of collective bargaining as a means of
promoting good-will, establishing closer and more harmonious rela-
tions between employers and employes, and realizing the true ends of
industrial justice.
"The strike or the lockout, as a means of settling industrial dis-
putes, inflicts such loss and suffering on the community as to justify
government initiative to reduce its frequency and limit its conse-
quences.
"We deny the right to strike against the government; but the
rights and interests of all government employes must be safeguarded
by impartial laws and tribunals.
"In public utilities we favor the establishment of an impartial
tribunal to make an investigation of the facts and to render a decision
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 477
to the end that there may be no organized interruption of service
necessary to the lives, health, and welfare of the people. The decisions
of the tribunal should be morally but not legally binding, and an
informed public sentiment be relied on to secure their acceptance.
The tribunal, however, should refuse to accept jurisdiction except for
the purpose of investigation, as long as the public service be inter-
rupted. For public utilities we favor the type of tribunal provided
for in the Transportation act of 1920.
"In private industries we do not advocate the principle of compul-
sory arbitration, but we favor impartial commissions and better facili-
ties for voluntary mediation, conciliation, and arbitration, supple-
mented by the full publicity which will enlist the influence of an
aroused public opinion. The government should take the initiative in
inviting the establishment of tribunals or commissions for the purpose
of voluntary arbitration and of investigation of disputed issues.
"We demand the exclusion from interstate commerce of the
products of convict labor.
"National Economy. — A Republican Congress reduced the esti-
mates submitted by the administration almost $3,000,000,000. Greater
economies could have been effected had it not been for the stubborn
refusal of the administration to cooperate with Congress in an
economy program. The universal demand for an executive budget
is a recognition of the incontrovertible fact that leadership and sincere
assistance on the part of the executive departments are essential to
effective economy and constructive retrenchment.
"The Overman act invested the President of the United States
with all the authority and power necessary to restore the Federal gov-
ernment to a normal peace basis and to reorganize, retrench, and
demobilize. The dominant fact is that eighteen months after the
armistice the United States government is still on a war-time basis,
and the expenditure program of the Executive reflects war-time
extravagance rather than rigid peace-time economy.
"As an example of the failure to retrench which has characterized
the post-war-time administration, we cite the fact that not in-
cluding the War and Navy departments, the executive departments
and other establishments at Washington actually record an increase
478 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
subsequent to the armistice of 2,184 employes. The net decrease in
payroll costs contained in the 1921 demands submitted by the admin-
istration is only one per cent, under that of 1920. The annual ex-
penses of Federal operations can be reduced hundreds of millions
of dollars without impairing the efficiency of the public service.
"We pledge ourselves to a carefully planned readjustment on a
peace-time basis and to a policy of rigid economy, to the better
coordination of departmental activities, to the elimination of unneces-
sary officials and employes, and to the raising of the standard of indi-
vidual efficiency.
"The Executive Budget. — We congratulate the Republican Con-
gress on the enactment of a law providing for the establishment of
an executive budget as a necessary instrument for a sound and busi-
nesslike administration of the national finances ; and we condemn the
veto of the President which defeated this great financial reform.
"Reorganization of Federal Departments and Bureaus. — We ad-
vocate a thorough investigation of the present organization of the
Federal departments and bureaus, with a view to securing consolida-
tion, a more businesslike distribution of functions, the elimination of
duplication, delays and overlapping of work, and the establishment
of an up-to-date and efficient administrative organization.
"War Powers of the President. — The President clings tenaciously
to his autocratic war-time powers. His veto of the resolution declar-
ing peace and his refusal to sign the bill repealing war-time legislation,
no longer necessary, evidenced his determination not to restore to the
nation and to the States the form of government provided for by the
Constitution. This usurpation is intolerable and deserves the severest
condemnation.
"Taxation. — The burden of taxation imposed upon the American
people is staggering; but in presenting a true statement of the
situation we must face the fact that, while the character of the
taxes can and should be changed, an early reduction of the amount
of revenue to be raised is not to be expected. The next Republican
administration will inherit from its Democratic predecessor a float-
ing indebtedness of over $3,000,000,000, the prompt liquidation of
which is demanded by sound financial considerations. Moreover,
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 479
the whole fiscal policy of the government must be deeply influenced
by the necessity of meeting obligations in excess of $5,000,000,000
which mature in 1923. But sound policy equally demands the early
accomplishment of that real reduction of the tax burden which may
be achieved by substituting simple for complex tax laws and pro-
cedure; prompt and certain determination of the tax liability for
delay and uncertainty; tax laws which do not, for tax laws which
do, excessively mulct the consumer or needlessly repress enterprise
and thrift.
"We advocate the issuance of a simplified form of income returns;
authorizing the Treasury department to make changes in regulations
effective only from the date of their approval ; empowering the Com-
missioner of Internal Revenue, with the consent of the taxpayers,
to make final and conclusive settlements of tax claims and assess-
ments barring fraud; and the creation of a Tax board consisting of
at least three representatives of the taxpaying public and the heads
of the principal divisions of the Bureau of Internal Revenue to act
as a standing committee on the simplification of forms, procedure,
and law, and to make recommendations to the Congress.
"Banking and Currency. — The fact is that the war, to a great
extent, was financed by a policy of inflation through certificate bor-
rowings from the banks, and bonds issued at artificial rates sustained
by the low discount rates established by the Federal Reserve board.
The continuance of this policy since the armistice lays the adminis-
tration open to severe criticism. Almost up to the present time,
the practices of the Federal Reserve board as to credit control have
been frankly dominated by the convenience of the treasury. The
results have been a greatly increased war cost, a serious loss to the
millions of people who in good faith bought Liberty bonds and Vic-
tory notes at par, and extensive post-war speculation, followed to-day
by a restricted credit for legitimate industrial expansion. As a
matter of public policy we urge all banks to give credit preference
to essential industries.
"The Federal Reserve system should be free from political influ-
ence, which is quite as important as its independence of domination
by financial combinations.
480 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"The High Cost of Living. — The prime cost of the high cost
of living has been first and foremost a fifty per cent, depreciation
in the purchasing power of the dollar, due to a gross expansion
of our currency and credit. Reduced production, burdensome taxa-
tion, swollen profits, and the increased demand for goods arising
from a fictitious but enlarged buying power have been contributing
forces in a greater or less degree.
"We condemn the unsound fiscal policies of the Democratic
administration which have brought these things to pass, and their
attempts to impute the consequences to minor and secondary causes.
Much of the injury wrought is irreparable. There is no short
way out, and we decline to deceive the people with vain promises
or quack remedies. But as the political party that throughout its
history has stood for honest money and sound finance, we pledge
ourselves to earnest and consistent attack upon the high cost of
living by rigorous avoidance of further inflation in our government
borrowing, by courageous and intelligent deflation of over-expanded
credit and currency, by encouragement of heightened production
of goods and services, by prevention of unreasonable profits, by exer-
cise of public economy and stimulation of private thrift, and by
revision of war-imposed taxes unsuited to peace-time economy.
"Profiteering. — We condemn the Democratic administration for
failure impartially to enforce the anti-profiteering laws enacted by
the Republican Congress.
"Railroads. — We are opposed to government ownership and opera-
tion or employe operation of the railroads. In view of the con-
ditions prevailing in this country, the experience of the last two
years, and the conclusions which may fairly be drawn from an obser-
vation of the transportation systems of other countries, it is clear
that adequate transportation service both for the present and future
can be furnished more certainly, economically, and efficiently through
private ownership and operation under proper regulation and control.
"There should be no speculative profit in rendering the service
of transportation; but in order to do justice to the capital already
invested in railway enterprise, to restore railway credit, to induce
future investment at a reasonable rate, and to furnish enlarged facili-
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 481
ties to meet the requirements of the constantly increasing develop-
ment and distribution, a fair return upon actual value of the rail-
way property used in transportation should be made reasonably sure
and at the same time provide constant employment to those engaged
in transportation service, with fair hours and favorable working con-
ditions, at wages or compensation at least equal to those prevailing
in similar lines of industry.
"We endorse the Transporation act of 1920, enacted by the
Republican Congress, as a most constructive legislative achievement.
"Waterways. — We declare it to be our policy to encourage and
develop water transportation service and facilities in connection
with the commerce of the United States.
"Regulation of Industry and Commerce. — We approve in gen-
eral the existing Federal legislation against monopoly and combina-
tions in restraint of trade, but since the known certainty of a law
is the safety of all we advocate such amendment as will provide
American business men with better means of determining in advance
whether a proposed combination is or is not unlawful. The Federal
Trade commission, under a Democratic administration, has not
accomplished the purpose for which it was created. This com-
mission, properly organized and its duties efficiently administered,
should afford protection to the public and legitimate business interests.
There should be no persecution of honest business, but to the extent
that circumstances warrant we pledge ourselves to strengthen the
law against unfair practices.
"We pledge the party to an immediate resumption of trade rela-
tions with every country with which we are at peace.
"International Trade and Tariff. — The uncertain and unsettled
condition of international balances, the abnormal economic and trade
situation of the world, and the impossibility of forecasting accu-
rately even the near future, preclude the formulation of a definite
program to meet conditions a year hence. But the Republican party
reaffirms its belief in the protective principle and pledges itself to
a revision of the tariff as soon as conditions shall make it necessary
for the preservation of the home market for American labor, agricul-
ture, and industry.
482 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"Merchant Marine. — The national defense and our foreign com-
merce require a merchant marine of the best type of modern ship,
flying the American flag, manned by American seamen, owned by
private capital, and operated by private energy. We endorse the
sound legislation recently enacted by the Republican Congress that
will insure the promotion and maintenance of the American mer-
chant marine.
"We favor the application of the Workmen's Compensation act
to the merchant marine.
"We recommend that all ships engaged in coastwise trade and all
vessels of the American merchant marine shall pass through the
Panama canal without payment of tolls.
"Immigration. — The standard of living and the standard of citizen-
ship of a nation are its most precious possessions, and the preserva-
tion and elevation of those standards is the first duty of our govern-
ment. The immigration policy of the United States should be such
as to insure that the number of foreigners in the country at any
time shall not exceed that which can be assimilated with reasonable
rapidity, and to favor immigrants whose standards are similar to ours.
"The selective tests that are at present applied should be improved
by requiring a higher physical standard, a more complete exclusion
of mental defectives and of criminals, and a more effective inspec-
tion applied as near the source of immigration as possible, as well
as at the port of entry. Justice to the foreigner and to ourselves
demands provision for the guidance, protection, and better economic
distribution of our alien population. To facilitate government super-
vision, all aliens should be required to register annually until they
become naturalized.
"The existing policy of the United States for the practical exclu-
sion of Asiatic immigrants is sound and should be maintained.
"Naturalization. — There is urgent need of improvement in our
Naturalization law. No alien should become a citizen until he has
become genuinely American, and adequate tests for determining the
alien's fitness for American citizenship should be provided for by
law.
"We advocate, in addition, the independent naturalization of
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 483
married women. An American woman, resident in the United
States, should not lose her citizenship by marriage to an alien.
"Free Speech and Alien Agitation. — We demand that every
American citizen shall enjoy the ancient and constitutional right of
free speech, free press, and free assembly and the no less sacred right
of the qualified voter to be represented by his duly chosen represen-
tatives; but no man may advocate resistance to the law, and no
man may advocate violent overthrow of the government.
"Aliens within the jurisdiction of the United States are not entitled
of right to liberty of agitation directed against the government or
American institutions.
"Every government has the power to exclude and deport those
aliens who constitute a real menace to its peaceful existence. But
in view of the large numbers of people affected by the Immigration
acts and in view of the vigorous malpractice of the Departments of
Justice and Labor, an adequate public hearing before a competent
administrative tribunal should be assured to all.
"Lynching. — We urge Congress to consider the most effective
means to end lynching in this country, which continues to be a terri-
ble blot on our American civilization.
"Public Roads and Highways. — We favor liberal appropriations
in cooperation with the States for the construction of highways which
will bring about a reduction in transportation costs, better market-
ing of farm products, improvement in rural postal delivery, as well
as meet the needs of military defense.
"In determining the proportion of Federal aid for road construction
among the States, the sums lost in taxation to the respective States
by the setting apart of large portions of their area as forest reserva-
tions should be considered as a controlling factor.
"Conservation. — Conservation is a Republican policy. It began
with the passage of the Reclamation act signed by President Roose-
velt. The recent passage of the Coal, Oil, and Phosphate Leasing
act by a Republican Congress and the enactment of the Water-power
bill fashioned in accordance with the same principle, are consistent
landmarks in the development of the conservation of our national
resources. We denounce the refusal of the President to sign the
484 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Water-power bill, passed after ten years of controversy. The Repub-
lican party has taken an especially honorable part in saving our
national forests and in the effort to establish a national forest policy.
Our most pressing conservation question relates to our forests. We
are using our forest resources faster than they are being renewed.
The result is to raise unduly the cost of forest products to consumers
and especially farmers, who use more than half the lumber pro-
duced in America, and in the end to create a timber famine. The
Federal government, the States, and private interests must unite in
devising means to meet the menace.
"Reclamation. — We favor a fixed and comprehensive policy of
reclamation to increase national wealth and production.
"We recognize in the development of reclamation through Federal
action, with its increase of production and taxable wealth, a safe-
guard for the nation.
"We commend to Congress a policy to reclaim lands and the
establishment of a fixed national policy of development of natural
resources in relation to reclamation through the now designated gov-
ernment agencies.
"Army and Navy. — We feel the deepest pride in the fine cour-
age, the resolute endurance, the gallant spirit of the officers and
men of our army and navy in the World War. They were in all
ways worthy of the best traditions of the nation's defenders, and
we pledge ourselves to proper maintenance of the military and
naval establishments upon which our national security and dignity
depend.
"The Service Men. — We hold in imperishable remembrance the
valor and patriotism of the soldiers and sailors of America who
fought in the great war for human liberty, and we pledge ourselves
to discharge to the fullest the obligations which a grateful nation
justly should fulfill, in appreciation of the services rendered by its
defenders on sea and on land.
"Republicans are not ungrateful. Throughout their history they
have shown their gratitude toward the nation's defenders. Liberal
legislation for the care of the disabled and infirm and their depen-
dents has ever marked Republican policy toward the soldier and
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 485
sailor of all the wars in which our country has participated. The
present Congress has appropriated generously for the disabled of
the World War.
"The amounts already applied and authorized for the fiscal year
1920-21 for this purpose reached the stupendous sum of $1,180,571,-
893. This legislation is significant of the party's purpose in gen-
erously caring for the maimed and disabled men of the recent war.
"Civil Service. — We renew our repeated declaration that the
Civil Service law shall be thoroughly and honestly enforced and
extended wherever practicable. The recent action of Congress in
enacting a comprehensive Civil Service Retirement law and in work-
ing out a comprehensive employment and wage policy that will
guarantee equal and just treatment to the army of government
workers, and in centralizing the administration of the new and pro-
gressive employment policy in the hands of the Civil Service com-
mission, is worthy of all praise.
"Postal Service. — We condemn the present administration for its
destruction of the efficiency of the postal service, and the telegraph
and telephone service when controlled by the government, and for
its failure to properly compensate employes whose expert knowledge
is essential to the proper conduct of the affairs of the postal system.
We commend the Republican Congress for the enactment of legisla-
tion increasing the pay of postal employes, who up to that time were
the poorest paid in the government service.
"Woman Suffrage. — We welcome women into full participation
in the affairs of government and the activities of the Republican party.
We earnestly hope that Republican Legislatures in States which have
not yet acted on the Suffrage amendment will ratify the amendment
to the end that all the women of the nation of voting age may par-
ticipate in the election of 1920, which is so important to the wel-
fare of our country.
"Social Progress. — The supreme duty of the nation is the conser-
vation of human resources through an enlightened measure of social
and industrial justice. Although the Federal jurisdiction over social
problems is limited, they affect the welfare and interest of the nation
as a whole. We pledge the Republican party to the solution of
486 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
these problems through national and State legislation in accordance
with the best progressive thought of the country.
"Education and Health. — We endorse the principle of Federal
aid to the States for the purposes of vocational and agricultural
training. j
"Wherever Federal money is devoted to education, such educa-
tion must be so directed as to awaken in the youth the spirit of
America and a sense of patriotic duty to the United States.
"A thorough system of physical education for all children up to
the age of nineteen, including adequate health supervision and instruc-
tion, would remedy conditions revealed by the draft and would add
to the economic and industrial strength of the nation. National
leadership and stimulation will be necessary to induce the States to
adopt a wise system of physical training.
"The public health activities of the Federal government are
scattered through numerous departments and bureaus, resulting in
inefficiency, duplication, and extravagance. We advocate a greater
centralization of the Federal functions, and in addition urge the
better coordination of the work of the Federal, State, and local health
agencies.
"Child Labor. — The Republican party stands for a Federal Child
Labor law and for its rigid enforcement. If the present law be
found unconstitutional or ineffective, we shall seek other means to
enable Congress to prevent the evils of child labor.
"Women in Industry. — Women have special problems of employ-
ment which make necessary special study. We commend Congress
for the permanent establishment of the Women's bureau in the United
States Department of Labor to serve as a source of information to
the States and to Congress.
"The principle of equal pay for equal service should be applied
throughout all branches of the Federal government in which women
are employed.
"Federal aid for vocational training should take into considera-
tion the special aptitudes and needs of women workers.
"We demand Federal legislation to limit the hours of employ-
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 487
ment of women engaged in intensive industry the product of which
enters into interstate commerce.
"Housing. — The housing shortage has not only compelled care-
ful study of ways of stimulating building, but it has brought into
relief the unsatisfactory character of the housing accommodations of
large numbers of the inhabitants of our cities. A nation of home-
owners is the best guarantee of the maintenance of those principles
of liberty, law, and order upon which our government is founded.
Both national and State governments should encourage in all proper
ways the acquiring of homes by our citizens. The United States
government should make available the valuable information on hous-
ing and town planning collected during the war. This informa-
tion should be kept up to date and made currently available.
"Hawaii. — For Hawaii we recommend Federal assistance in
Americanizing and educating their greatly disproportionate foreign
population; home rule; and the rehabilitation of the Hawaiian race.
"Pointing to its history and relying on its fundamental principles,
we declare that the Republican party has the genius, courage, and
constructive ability to end executive usurpation and restore constitu-
tional government; to fulfill our world obligations without sacrificing
our national independence; to raise the national standards of educa-
tion, health, and general welfare; to reestablish a peace-time adminis-
tration and to substitute economy and efficiency for extravagance and
chaos; to restore and maintain the national credit; to reform unequal
and burdensome taxes ; to free business from arbitrary and unnecessary
official control; to suppress disloyalty without the denial of justice; to
repel the arrogant challenge of any class and to maintain a govern-
ment of all the people as contrasted with government for some of the
people ; and finally, to allay unrest, suspicion, and strife, and to secure
the cooperation and unity of all citizens in the solution of the complex
problems of the day, to the end that our country, happy and prosper-
ous, proud of its past, sure of itself and of its institutions, may look
forward with confidence to the future."
As in previous Republican conventions a minority
report on platform was presented by the member of
488 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
the committee on resolutions from Wisconsin; rejected
without a division.
Prohibition Party
Convention held in Lincoln, Nebraska, July 21-22,
1920.
William J. Bryan, of Nebraska, was unanimously
nominated for President, but declined ; and the nomina-
tion then went to Aaron S. Watkins, of Ohio.
For Vice-President, D. Leigh Colvin, of New York.
Platform:
"The Prohibition party, assembled in national convention in the
city of Lincoln, Nebraska, on this twenty-second day of July, 1920,
expresses its thanks to Almighty God for the victory over the beverage
liquor traffic which crowns fifty years of consecrated effort. The
principles which we have advocated throughout our history have been
so far recognized that the manufacture and traffic in intoxicating
drink have been forever prohibited in the fundamental law of the
land ; Congress has rightly interpreted the Eighteenth amendment in
laws enacted for its enforcement ; and the Supreme Court has upheld
both the amendment and the law.
"Asking that it be clothed with governmental power, the Prohibi-
tion party challenges the attention of the nation and requests the votes
of the people on this declaration of principles.
"Nullification Condemned. — The organized liquor traffic is en-
gaged in a treasonable attempt to nullify the amendment by such
modification of the enforcement act as will increase the alcoholic con-
tent in beer and wine and thus thwart the will of the people as con-
stitutionally expressed.
"In the face of this open threat the Republican and Democratic
parties refused to make platform declarations in favor of law enforce-
ment, though petitioned so to do by multitudes of people. Thus the
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 489
Prohibition party remains the sole political champion of national
prohibition.
"The Prohibition party in its platform in 1872 declared: 'There
can be no greater peril to the nation than the existing party competi-
tion for the liquor vote; any party not openly opposed to the traffic,
experience shows, will engage in this competition, will court the favor
of the criminal classes, will barter away the public morals, the purity
of the ballot, and every object of good government for party success.'
Notwithstanding the liquor traffic is now outlawed by the Constitu-
tion, this fitly describes the present political attitude of the old parties.
"The issue is not only the enforcement but also the maintenance
of the law to make the amendment effective.
"The proposed increase in the alcoholic content of beverages
would be fraught with grave danger in that it would mean the return
of the open saloon with all its attendant evils.
"The League of Nations. — The League of Nations is now in exis-
tence and is functioning in world affairs. We favor the entrance of
the United States into the League by the immediate ratification of the
treaty of peace, not objecting to reasonable reservations interpreting
American understanding of the covenant. The time is past when the
United States can hold aloof from the affairs of the world. Such
course is short-sighted and only invites disaster.
"Peace. — We stand for a constitutional amendment providing that
treaties of peace shall be ratified by a majority of both houses of
Congress.
"We stand by our declaration of 1916 against militarism and
universal military training. Without it our boys were in a short time
trained to whip the greatest army ever assembled, and with national
prohibition to make sure the most virile manhood in the world we
should encourage universal disarmament and devotion to the arts
of peace.
"Education. — We stand for compulsory education with instruction
in the English language, which, if given in private or parochial schools,
must be equivalent to that afforded by the public schools, and be under
State supervision.
"Suffrage. — The Prohibition party has long advocated the enfran-
490 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
chisement of women. Suffrage should not be conditioned upon sex.
We congratulate the women upon the freedom which the party has
helped them to achieve.
"Women and the Home. — We approve and adopt the program of
the National League of Women Voters for:
"The prohibition of child labor;
"Adequate appropriation for the Children's bureau;
"Protection for infant life through a Federal program for mater-
nity and infant care;
"A Federal Department of Education, Federal aid for the removal
of illiteracy, and the increase of teachers' salaries;
"Instruction of the youth and the newcomer to our shores in the
duties and ideals of citizenship;
"Vocational training in home economics;
"Federal supervision of the marketing and distribution of food;
the enactment and enforcement of such measures as will open the
channels of trade, prevent excess profits, and eliminate unfair competi-
tion and control of the necessities of life ;
"The establihment of a Woman's bureau in the Department of
Labor to determine standards and policies which will improve work-
ing conditions for women and increase their efficiency ;
"The appointment of women in the mediation and conciliation
service and on any industrial commissions and tribunals which may
be created ;
"The establishment of a joint Federal and State Employment
service with women's departments under the direction of qualified
women ;
"The merit system in the civil service free from discrimination on
account of sex, with a wage scale determined by skill demanded for
the work and in no wise below the cost of living as established by offi-
cial investigation;
"Appropriations to carry on a campaign against venereal diseases
and for public education in sex hygiene ;
"Federal legislation permitting an American-born woman to retain
her citizenship while resident in the United States, though married to
an alien;
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 49«
"And further, that an alien woman who marries an American citi-
zen must take the obligation of citizenship before she can become a
citizen.
"Economy in Administration. — We believe in the budget system
and we stand for economy in governmental administration. There
should be a reduction in boards, committees, commissions, and offices
which consume taxes and increase expenses.
"Labor and Industry. — We stand for industrial peace. We believe
the time has come for the government to assume responsibility for the
protection of the public against the waste and terror of industrial
warfare, and to that end we demand legislation defining the rights of
labor and the creation of industrial courts which will guarantee to
labor and employing capital equal and exact justice, and to the general
public protection against the paralysis of industry due to this warfare.
"Profiteering. — The Prohibition party pledges the nation to rid
it of the profiteer and to close the door against his return. It will
endeavor to eliminate all unnecessary middlemen by the encourage-
ment of organizations among producers that will bring those who sell
and those who use nearer together. It will enact and enforce laws
needful to effectively prevent excessive charges by such middlemen.
To this end it will demand legislation subjecting to the penalties of
the criminal law all corporate officers and employes who give or carry
out instructions that result in extortion ; it will make it unlawful for
anyone engaged in interstate commerce to make the sale of one article
dependent upon the purchase of another article, and it will require
such corporation to disclose to customers the difference between cost
price and selling price or limit the profit that can be legally charged,
as the rate of interest is now limited.
"Agriculture. — We pledge our aid to the farmers in working out
a plan to equalize prices, to secure labor, and to organize a system of
cooperative marketing, including public terminals, mills, and storage
for the purpose of encouraging agriculture and securing for the
farmer such return as will tend to increased production.
"We favor such extension of the parcel post as will further facili-
tate the direct traffic between the producer and consumer.
"Presidential Qualifications. — The qualifications for President
492 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
stated in the Constitution have to do with age and citizenship. We
call attention to the fact that of greater importance are those not so
stated, referring to moral, intellectual, and spiritual endowments. The
President of the United States in his daily life, his home and family
relationships, and in his official career is expected to typify the finest
and best the country can produce. He is the leader of the nation.
The moral force and power of his example are immeasurable. No
man or woman should ever be elected to the high office who is out of
harmony with the purposes of the people or who lacks sympathy with
their highest and holiest ideals and with the Christian principles upon
which the nation was founded.
"Law and Order. — A crying evil of the day is the general lax
enforcement of law. Without obedience to law and maintenance of
order our American institutions must perish.
"The Prohibition party now, as ever, pledges impartial enforce-
ment of all law.
"Conclusion. — In this national and world crisis the Prohibition
party reminds the people of its long-time faithfulness and its wisdom,
proved by the many reforms which it was the first to advocate ; and
on its record as the oldest minority party — one which has never sold
its birthright for a mess of pottage but throughout the years has stood
for the best interests of the country — it asks the favorable considera-
tion of the voters, believing that by its support they can make it neces-
sary for all political organizations to come up to a higher level and to
render a finer quality of service.
"It pledges itself resolutely to stand for the right and oppose the
wrong and dauntlessly to lead in the advocacy of righteous and
patriotic principles. On its record and on this declaration of principles
it submits its case to the American people."
Farmer-Labor Party
The so-called "Forty-Eighters," consisting of radi-
cals from the forty-eight States, met in Chicago on July
11, 1920. Owing to dissensions the delegates split into
several factions. The most numerous element organ-
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 493
ized the new Farmer-Labor party, which on July 15
nominated Parley P. Christensen, of Utah, for Presi-
dent, and Max S. Hayes, of Ohio, for Vice-President.
Platform :
"Preamble. — The American Declaration of Independence, adopted
July 4, 1776, states that governments are instituted to secure to the
people the rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, and that
governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.
"Democracy cannot exist unless all power is preserved to the people.
The only excuse for the existence of government is to serve, not to
rule, the people.
"In the United States of America the power of government, the
priceless and inalienable heritage of the people, has been stolen from
the people — has been seized by a few men who control the wealth of
the nation and by the tools of these men, maintained by them in
public office to do their bidding.
"The administrative offices of the government and Congress are
controlled by the financial barons — even the courts have been prosti-
tuted,— and the people as a result of this usurpation have been reduced
to economic and industrial servitude.
"Under the prevailing order in the United States wealth is mon-
opolized by a few and the people are kept in poverty, while costs of
living mount until the burden of providing the necessaries of life is
well-nigh intolerable.
"Having thus robbed the people first of their power and then of
their wealth, the wielders of financial power, seeking new fields of
exploitation, have committed the government of the United States,
against the will of the people, to imperialistic policies and seek to ex-
tend these enterprises to such lengths that our nation to-day stands in
danger of becoming an empire instead of a republic.
"Just emerging from a war which we said we fought to extend
democracy to the ends of the earth, we find ourselves helpless while
the masters of our government, who are also the masters of industry
and commerce, league themselves with the masters of other nations
to prevent self-determination by helpless people and to exploit and rob
494 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
them, notwithstanding that we committed ourselves to guaranty of
self-government for all such peoples.
"Following the greedy spectacle of the Peace conference, the
money-masters feared an awakening of the people which threatened
to exact for mankind those benefits for which the war was said to
have been fought. Thereupon these masters in the United States,
through their puppets in public office, in an effort to stifle free discus-
sion, stripped from the inhabitants of this land rights and liberties
guaranteed under American doctrines on which this country was
founded and guaranteed also by the Federal Constitution.
"These rights and liberties must be restored to the people.
"More than this must be done. All power to govern this nation
must be restored to the people. This involves industrial freedom, for
political democracy is only an empty phrase without industrial democ-
racy. This cannot be done by superficial, palliative measures such
as are from time to time thrown as sops to the voters by the Repub-
lican and Democratic parties. Patchwork cannot repair the destruc-
tion of democracy wrought by these two old parties. Reconstruction
is necessary.
"The invisible government of the United States maintains the two
old parties to confuse the voters with false issues. These parties,
therefore, cannot seriously attempt reconstruction, which, to be effect-
ive, must smash to atoms the money power of the proprietors of the
two old parties.
"Into this breach step the amalgamated groups of forward-looking
men and women who perform useful work with hand and brain,
united in the Farmer-Labor party of the United States by a spon-
taneous and irresistible impulse to do righteous battle for democracy
against its despoilers, and more especially determined to function to-
gether because of the exceptionally brazen defiance shown by the two
old parties in the selection of their candidates and the writing of their
platforms in this campaign. This party, financed by its rank and file
and not by big business, sets about the task of fundamental reconstruc-
tion of democracy in the United States, to restore all power to the
people and to set up a governmental structure that will prevent
seizure henceforth of that power by a few unscrupulous men.
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 495
"The reconstruction proposed is set forth in the following platform
of national issues, to which all candidates of the Farmer-Labor party
are pledged :
"1. One Hundred Per Cent. Americanism. — Restoration of civil
liberties and American doctrines and their preservation inviolate, in-
cluding free speech, free press, free assemblage, right of asylum, equal
opportunity, and trial by jury; return of the Department of Justice to
the functions for which it was created, to the end that laws may be
enforced without favor and without discrimination ; amnesty for all
persons imprisoned because of their patriotic insistence upon their
constitutional guarantees, industrial activities, or religious beliefs;
repeal of all so-called 'espionage,' 'sedition,' and 'criminal syndicalist'
laws; protection of the right of all workers to strike, and stripping
from the courts of powers unlawfully usurped by them and used to
defeat the people and foster big business, especially the power to issue
anti-labor injunctions and to declare unconstitutional laws passed by
Congress.
"To Americanize the Federal courts we demand that Federal
Judges be elected for terms not to exceed four years, subject to recall.
"As Americanism means democracy, suffrage should be universal.
We demand immediate ratification of the Nineteenth amendment and
full, unrestricted political rights for all citizens, regardless of sex,
race, color, or creed, and for civil service employes.
"Democracy demands also that the people be equipped with the
instruments of the initiative, referendum, and recall, with the special
provision that war may not be declared, except in cases of actual mili-
tary invasion, before referring the question to a direct vote of the
people.
"2. Abolish Imperialism at Home and Abroad. — Withdrawal
of the United States from further participation (under the treaty
of Versailles) in the reduction of conquered peoples to econom-
ic or political subjection to the small groups of men who manipu-
late the bulk of the world's wealth; refusal to permit our govern-
ment to aid in the exploitation of the weaker people of the earth by
these men ; refusal to permit use of the agencies of our government
(through dollar diplomacy or other means) by the financial interests
496 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
of our country to exploit other peoples, including emphatic refusal
to go to war with Mexico at the behest of Wall Street; recognition
of the elected government of the republic of Ireland and of the gov-
ernment established by the Russian people; denial of assistance,
financial, military, or otherwise, for foreign armies invading these
countries, and an embargo on the shipment of arms and ammuni-
tion to be used against the Russian or Irish people; instant lifting
of the blockade against Russia; recognition of every government set
up by people who wrest their sovereignity from oppressors, in accord-
ance with the right of self-determination for all peoples; abolition
of secret treaties and prompt publication of all diplomatic documents
received by the State department; withdrawal from imperialistic
enterprises upon which we already have embarked (including the
dictatorship we exercise in varying degrees over the Philippines,
Hawaii, Hayti, the Dominican Republic, Porto Rico, Cuba, Samoa,
and Guam), and prevention of the imposition upon the people of the
United States of any form whatever of conscription, military or
industrial, or of military training.
"We stand committed to a league of free peoples, organized and
pledged to destruction of autocracy, militarism, and economic impe-
rialism throughout the world, and to bring about a world-wide dis-
armament and open diplomacy, to the end that there shall be no
more kings and no more wars.
"3. Democratic Control of Industry. — The right of labor to an
increasing share in the responsibilities and management of industry;
application of this principle to be developed in accordance with the
experience of actual operation.
"4. Public Ownership and Operation. — Immediate repeal of the
Esch-Cummins law; public ownership with democratic operation of
the railroads, mines, and natural resources, including stockyards, large
abbatoirs, grain elevators, water-power, and cold storage and ter-
minal warehouses; government ownership and democratic operation
of such natural resources as are in whole or in part bases of con-
trol by special interests of basic industries and monopolies, such as
lands containing coal, iron, copper, oil, large water-power and com-
mercial timber tracts, pipe-lines and oil-tanks, telegraph and tele-
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 497
phone lines, and establishment of a public policy that no land
(including natural resources) and no patents shall be held out of
use for speculation or to aid monopoly; establishment of national
and State-owned banks where the money of the government must,
and that of individuals may, be deposited; granting of credit to
individuals or groups according to regulations laid down by Congress
which will safeguard deposits.
"We denounce the attempt to scuttle our great government-owned
merchant marine, and favor bringing ocean-going commerce to our
inland ports.
"5. Promotion of Agricultural Prosperity. — Legislation that will
effectively check and reduce the growth and evils of farm tenancy;
establishment of public markets; extension of the Federal Farm
Loan system, making personal credit readily available and cheap to
farmers; maintenance of dependable transportation for farm prod-
ucts; organization of a State and national service that will furnish
adequate advice and guidance to applicants for farms and to farmers
already on the land; legislation to promote and protect farmers' and
consumers' cooperative organizations conducted for mutual benefit;
comprehensive studies of costs of production of farm and staple man-
ufactured products and uncensored publication of facts found in such
studies.
"6. Government Finance. — We demand that economy in gov-
ernmental expenditures shall replace the extravagance that has run
riot under the present administration. The governmental expendi-
tures of the present year of peace, as already disclosed, exceed
$6,000,000,000 — or six times the annual expenditures of the pre-war
period. We condemn and denounce the system that has created one
war millionaire for every three American soldiers killed in the war
in France, and we demand that this war-acquired wealth shall be
taxed in such a manner as to prevent the shifting of the burden of
taxation to the shoulders of the poor in the shape of higher prices
and of increased living costs.
"We are opposed, therefore, to consumption taxes and to all
indirect taxation for support of current operations of the govern-
ment. For support of such current operations we favor steeply
498 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
graduated income taxes, exempting individual incomes amounting
to less than $3,000 a year, with a further exemption allowance of
$300 for every child under eighteen and also for every child over
eighteen who may be pursuing an education to fit himself for life.
In the case of State governments and of local governments we favor
taxation of land value, but not of improvements or of equipment,
and also sharply graduated taxes on inheritance.
"7. Reduce the Cost of Living. — Stabilization of currency so
that it may not fluctuate as at present, carrying the standard of liv-
ing of all the people down with it when it depreciates ; Federal con-
trol of the meat-packing industry; extension and perfection of the
parcel post system to bring producer and consumer closer together;
enforcing existing laws against profiteers, especially the big and
powerful ones.
"8. Justice to the Soldiers. — We favor paying the soldiers of the
late war, as a matter of right and not as charity, a sufficient sum to
make their war pay not less than civilian earnings. We denounce
the delays in payment and the inadequate compensation to disabled
soldiers and sailors and their dependents, and we pledge such changes
as will promptly and adequately give sympathetic recognition of their
services and sacrifices.
"9. Labor's Bill of Rights. — During the years that labor has
tried in vain to obtain recognition of the rights of the workers at
the hands of the government through the agencies of the Republican
and Democratic parties, the principal demands of labor have been
catalogued and presented by the representatives of labor, who have
gone to convention after convention of the old parties — to Congress
after Congress of old-party office-holders. These conventions and
sessions of Congress have from time to time included in platforms
and laws a few fragments of labor's programme, carefully rewritten,
however, to interpose no interference with the opposition to labor by
private wielders of the power of capital. It remains for the Farmer-
Labor party, the people's own party, financed by the people them-
selves, to pledge itself to the entire Bill of Rights of Labor, the
conditions enumerated therein to be written into the laws of the
land to be enjoyed by the workers, organized and unorganized, with-
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 499
out the amelioration of a single word in the program. Abraham
Lincoln said: 'Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves the
highest consideration.'
"We pledge the application of this fundamental principle in the
enactment and administration of legislation.
"(a) The unqualified right of all workers, including civil serv-
ice employes, to organize and bargain collectively with employers
through such representatives of their unions as they choose.
"(b) Freedom from compulsory arbitration and all other attempts
to coerce workers.
"(c) A maximum standard eight-hour day and forty-four-hour
week.
"(d) Old age and unemployment payments and workmen's com-
pensation to insure workers and their dependents against accident and
disease.
"(e) Establishment and operation, through periods of depression,
of governmental work on housing, road-building, reforestation,
reclamation of cut-over timber, desert, and swamp lands, and develop-
ment of ports, waterways, and water-power plants.
"(f) Reeducation of the cripples of industry as well as the
victims of war.
"(g) Abolition of employment of children under sixteen years of
age.
"(h) Complete and effective protection for women in industry,
with equal pay for equal work.
"(i) Abolition of private employment, detective, and strike-
breaking agencies, and extension of the Federal Free Employment
service.
"(j) Prevention of exploitation of immigration and immigrants
by employers.
"(k) Vigorous enforcement of the Seamen's act, and the most lib-
eral interpretation of its provisions. The present provisions for the pro-
tection of seamen and for the safety of the travelling public must
not be minimized.
"(1) Exclusion from interstate commerce of the products of
convict labor.
500 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
"(m) A Federal Department of Education to advance democ-
racy and effectiveness in all public school systems throughout the
country, to the end that the children of workers in industrial and
rural communities may have maximum opportunity of training to
become unafraid, well-informed citizens of a free country."
Single Tax Party
The Single Tax delegates in attendance at the con-
vention of Forty-Eighters left that body and held a
separate convention, Chicago, July 12, 1920, which
nominated for President Robert C. Macauley, of Penn-
sylvania, and for Vice-President Richard C. Barnum,
of Ohio.
Platform :
"We, the Single Tax party, in national convention assembled,
recognizing that the earth was created for all the people for all time,
and that all have an equal and inalienable right to live on it and to
produce from it the things that they require for their welfare and
happiness; recognizing that all wealth, whatever its form, is pro-
duced only by labor applied to land, or to the products of land,
and that the denial of the equal access to land is a denial of the
right to produce, and thus a denial of the right to life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness as proclaimed by the Declaration of Inde-
pendence; recognizing further that under our tax laws and our sys-
tem of land tenure a small number of the people own most of the
land of our country, and exact tribute in the form of ground rent
from all the rest of the people in exchange for the mere permission
to work and produce, thus not only reaping where they have not
sown but also holding idle the greater part of the earth's surface
and restricting the amount of wealth we otherwise easily could and
would produce; recognizing further that the value of the land, as
expressed in its ground rentals or in its capitalized selling price, is
a community value created by the presence of the people and, there-
fore, belongs to the people and not to the individuals;
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 501
"We, therefore, demand that the full rental value of the land be
collected by the government instead of all taxes, and that all build-
ings, implements, and improvements on land, all industry, thrift,
and enterprise, all wages, salaries, incomes, and every product of
labor be entirely exempt from taxation. And we pledge ourselves
that, if entrusted with the power to do so, we will express in law
and enforce to the utmost such measures as will make effective these
demands to the end that involuntary poverty and want may be
abolished and economic and civic freedom for all be assured."
Socialist Party
Convention held in New York, May 8-15, 1920.
For President the nominee was Eugene V. Debs, an
inmate of the Federal prison at Atlanta, Georgia, hav-
ing been convicted and sentenced to a ten years' term
for violation of the Espionage act by his public utter-
ances at Canton, Ohio, in July, 1918. After Debs's
nomination a delegation of Socialists requested Presi-
dent Wilson to pardon him, but without success.
For Vice-President, Seymour Stedman, of Chicago.
Platform :
"In the national campaign of 1920 the Socialist party calls upon
all American workers of hand and brain, and upon all citizens who
believe in political liberty and social justice, to free the country from
the oppressive misrule of the old political parties, and to take the
government into their own hands under the banner and upon the
program of the Socialist party. The outgoing administration, like
Democratic and Republican administrations of the past, leaves behind
it a disgraceful record of solemn pledges unscrupulously broken and
public confidence ruthlessly betrayed. It obtained the suffrage of
the people on a platform of peace, liberalism, and social betterment,
but drew the country into a devastating war and inaugurated a regime
of despotism, reaction, and oppression unsurpassed in the annals of
502 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
the republic. It promised to the American people a treaty which
would assure to the world a reign of international right and true
democracy: it gave its sanction and support to an infamous pact
formulated behind closed doors by predatory elder statesmen of
European and Asiatic imperialism. Under this pact territories have
been annexed against the will of their populations and cut off from
their sources of sustenance; nations seeking their freedom in the
exercise of the much heralded right of self-determination have been
brutally fought with armed force, intrigue, and starvation blockades.
"To the millions of young men who staked their lives on the field
of battle, to the people of the country who gave unstintingly of their
toil and property to support the war, the Democratic administra-
tion held out the sublime ideal of a union of peoples of the world
organized to maintain perpetual peace among nations on the basis of
justice and freedom. It helped create a reactionary alliance of impe-
rialistic governments, banded together to bully weak nations, crush
working-class governments, and perpetuate strife and warfare. While
thus furthering the ends of reaction, violence, and oppression
abroad, our administration suppressed the cherished and fundamental
rights and civil liberties at home. Upon the pretext of war-time
necessity, the Chief-Executive of the republic and the appointed heads
of his administration were clothed with dictatorial powers (which
were often exercised arbitrarily), and Congress enacted laws in open
and direct violation of the constitutional safeguards of freedom of
expression. Hundreds of citizens who raised their voices for the
maintenance of political and industrial rights during the war were
indicted under the Espionage law, tried in an atmosphere of prejudice
and hysteria, and many of them now serving inhumanly long jail
sentences for daring to uphold the traditions of liberty which once
were sacred in this country. Agents of the Federal government
unlawfully raided homes and meeting-places and prevented or broke
up peaceful gatherings of citizens.
"The Postmaster-General established a censorship of the press
more/ autocratic than that ever tolerated in a regime of absolutism,
and has harassed and destroyed publications on account of their
advanced political and economic views, by excluding them from the
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 503
mails. And after the war was in fact long over, the administration
has not scrupled to continue a policy of repression and terrorism
under the shadow and hypocritical guise of war-time measures.
"It has practically imposed involuntary servitude and peonage on
a large class of American workers by denying them the right to quit
work and coercing them into acceptance of inadequate wages and
onerous conditions of labor. It has dealt a foul blow to the traditional
American right of asylum by deporting hundreds of foreign-born
workers by administrative order, on the mere suspicion of harbor-
ing radical views and often for the sinister purpose of breaking labor
strikes. In the short span of three years our self-styled liberal
administration has succeeded in undermining the very foundation of
political liberty and economic rights which this republic has built up
in more than a century of struggle and progress. Under the cloak
of a false and hypocritical patriotism and under the protection of
governmental terror the Democratic administration has given the rul-
ing classes unrestrained license to plunder the people by intensive
exploitation of labor, by the extortion of enormous profits, and by
increasing the cost of all necessities of life. Profiteering has become
reckless and rampant, billions have been coined by the capitalists
out of the suffering and misery of their fellow-men. The American
financial oligarchy has become a dominant factor in the world, while
the condition of the American workers has grown more precarious.
"The responsibility does not rest upon the Democratic party alone.
The Republican party, through its representatives in Congress and
otherwise, has not only openly condoned the political misdeeds of
the last three years but has sought to outdo its Democratic rival in
the orgy of political reaction and repression. Its criticism of the
Democratic administrative policy is that it is not reactionary and
drastic enough.
"America is now at the parting of the roads. If the outraging of
political liberty and concentration of economic power into the hands
of the few is permitted to go on, it can have only one consequence,
the reduction of the country to a state of absolute capitalist despotism.
We particularly denounce the militaristic policy of both old parties,
of investing countless hundreds of millions of dollars in armaments
504 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
after the victorious completion of what was to have been the 'last
war.' We call attention to the fatal results of such a program in
Europe, carried on prior to 1914 and culminating in the Great War;
we declare that such a policy, adding unbearable burdens to the work-
ing class and to all the people, can lead only to the complete Prussian-
ization of the nation, and ultimately to war ; and we demand immedi-
ate and complete abandonment of this fatal program. The Socialist
party sounds the warning. It calls upon the people to defeat both
parties at the polls, and to elect the candidates of the Socialist party
to the end of restoring political democracy and bringing about a
complete industrial freedom.
"The Socialist party of the United States therefore summons
all who believe in this fundamental doctrine to prepare for a com-
plete reorganization of our social system, based upon public owner-
ship of public necessities; upon government by representatives chosen
from occupational as well as from geographical groups, in harmony
with our industrial development and with citizenship based on serv-
ice, that we may end forever the exploitation of class by class. To
achieve this end the Socialist party pledges itself to the following
program :
"I. Social. — 1. All business vitally essential for the existence
and welfare of the people, such as railroads, express service, steam-
ship lines, telegraphs, mines, oil wells, power plants, elevators, pack-
ing houses, cold storage plants, and all industries operating on a
national scale, should be taken over by the nation.
"2. All publicly-owned industries should be administered jointly
by the government and representatives of the workers, not for reve-
nue or profit, but with the sole object of securing just compensation
and humane conditions of employment to the workers and efficient
and reasonable service to the public.
"3. All banks should be acquired by the government and incor-
porated in a unified public banking system.
"4. The business of insurance should be taken over by the govern-
ment and should be extended to include insurance against accident,
sickness, invalidity, old age, and unemployment, without contribution
on the part of the worker.
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 505
"5. Congress should enforce the provisions of the Thirteenth,
Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments with reference to the negroes,
and effective Federal legislation should be enacted to secure to the
negroes full civil, political, industrial, and educational rights.
"II. Industrial. — 1. Congress should enact effective laws to
abolish child labor, to fix minimum wages based on an ascertained
cost of a decent standard of life, to protect migratory and unemployed
workers from oppression, to abolish detective and strike-breaking
agencies, and to establish a shorter work-day in keeping with increased
industrial productivity.
"III. Political. — 1. The constitutional freedom of speech, press,
and assembly should be restored by repealing the Espionage law and
all other repressive legislation, and by prohibiting the executive
usurpation of authority.
"2. All prosecutions under the Espionage law should be discon-
tinued, and all persons serving prison sentences for alleged offenses
growing out of religious beliefs, political views, or industrial activities
should be fully pardoned and immediately released.
"3. No alien should be deported from the United States on
account of his political views or participation in labor struggles, nor
in any event without proper trial on specific charges. The arbitrary
power to deport aliens by administrative order should be repealed.
"4. The power of the courts to restrain workers in their strug-
gles against employers by the writ of injunction or otherwise, and
their power to nullify Congressional legislation, should be abrogated.
"5. Federal Judges should be elected by the people and be subject
to recall.
"6. The President and the Vice-President of the United States
should be elected by direct popular election, and be subject to recall.
All members of the cabinet should be elected by Congress and be
responsible at all times to the vote thereof.
"7. Suffrage should be equal and unrestricted, in fact as well as
in law, for all men and women throughout the nation.
"8. Because of the strict residential qualification of suffrage in
this country, millions of citizens are disfranchised in every election;
506 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
adequate provision should be made for the registration and voting
of migratory voters.
"9. The Constitution of the United States should be amended
to strengthen the safeguards of civil and political liberty, and to
remove all obstacles to industrial and social reform and reconstruc-
tion, including the changes enumerated in this program, in keep-
ing with the will and interest of the people. It should be made
amendable by a majority of the voters of the nation upon their own
initiative, or upon the initiative of Congress.
"IV. Foreign Relations. — 1. All claims of the United States
against Allied countries for loans made during the war should be
cancelled upon the understanding that all war debts among such
countries shall likewise be cancelled. The largest possible credit in
food, raw materials, and machinery should be extended to the stricken
nations of Europe in order to help them rebuild the ruined world.
"2. The government of the United States should initiate a
movement to dissolve the mischievous organization called the 'League
of Nations' and to create an international parliament, composed of
democratically elected representatives of all nations of the world,
based upon the recognition of their equal rights, the principles of
self-determination, the right to national existence of colonies and
other dependencies, freedom of international trade and trade routes
by land and sea, and universal disarmament, and be charged with
revising the treaty of peace on the principles of justice and concilia-
tion.
"3. The United States should immediately make peace with the
Central powers and open commercial and diplomatic relations with
Russia under the Soviet government. It should promptly recognize
the independence of the Irish republic.
"4. The United States should make and proclaim it a fixed prin-
ciple in its foreign policy that American capitalists who acquire con-
cessions or make investments in foreign countries do so at their own
risk, and under no circumstances should our government enter into
diplomatic negotiations or controversies or resort to armed conflicts
on account of foreign property claims of American capitalists.
"V. Fiscal. — 1. All war debts and other debts of the Federal
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 507
government should immediately be paid in full, the funds ot such
payment to be raised by means of a progressive property tax whose
burden should fall upon the rich and particularly upon great for-
tunes made during the war.
"2. A standing progressive income tax and a graduated inheri-
tance tax should be levied to provide for all needs of the govern-
ment, including the cost of its increasing social and industrial
functions.
"3. The unearned increment of land should be taxed; all land
held out of use should be taxed at full rental value."
The following "Declaration of Socialist Principles"
was adopted by the convention :
"The Socialist party of the United States demands that the
country and its wealth be redeemed from the control of private
interests and turned over to the people to be administered for the
equal benefit of all.
"America is not owned by the American people. Our so-called
national wealth is not the wealth of the nation, but of the privileged
few.
"These are the ruling classes of America. They are small in
numbers but they dominate the lives and shape the destinies of their
fellow-men.
"They own the people's jobs and determine their wages; they
control the markets of the world and fix the prices of farm products ;
they own their own homes and fix their rents; they own their food
and set its cost; they own their press and formulate their con-
victions; they own the government and make their laws; they own
their schools and mould their minds.
"Around and about the capitalist class cluster the numerous and
varied groups of the population generally designated as the 'middle
class.' They consist of farm-owners, small merchants and manu-
facturers, professional and better paid employes. Their economic
status is often precarious. They live in hopes of being lifted into
the charmed spheres of the ruling classes. Their social psychology
is that of retainers of the wealthy. As a rule they sell their gifts,
508 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
knowledge, and efforts to the capitalist interests. They are staunch
upholders of the existing order of social inequalities.
"The bulk of the American people is composed of workers.
Workers on the farm and in the factory, in mines and mills, on
ships and railroads, in offices and counting-houses, in schools and in
personal service, workers of hand and brain, all men and women
who render useful service to the community in the countless ramified
ways of modern civilization. They have made America what it is.
They sustain America from day to day. They bear most of the
burdens of life and enjoy but few of its pleasures. They create the
enormous wealth of the country, but live in constant dread of poverty.
They feed and clothe the rich, and yet bow to their alleged superi-
ority. They keep alive the industries, but have no say in their man-
agement. They constitute the majority of the people, but have no
control in the government. Despite the forms of political equality
the workers of the United States are virtually a subject class.
"The Socialist party is the party of the workers. It espouses their
cause because in the workers lies the hope of the political, economic,
and social redemption of the country. The ruling class and their
retainers cannot be expected to change the iniquitous system of which
they are the beneficaries. Individual members of these classes often
join in the struggle against the capitalist order from motives of
personal idealism, but whole classes have never been known to
abdicate their rule and surrender their privileges for the mere
sake of social justice. The workers alone have a direct and com-
pelling interest in abolishing the present profit system.
"The Socialist party desires the workers of America to take the
economic and political power from the capitalist class, not that they
may establish themselves as a new ruling class, but in order that all
class divisions may be abolished forever.
"To perform this supreme social task the workers must be
organized as a political party of their own. They must realize that
both the Republican and Democratic parties are the political instru-
ments of the master classes, and equally pledged to uphold and per-
petuate capitalism. They must be trained to use the ballot-box to vote
out the tools of the capitalist and middle classes and to vote in repre-
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 509
sentatives of the workers. A true political party of labor must be
founded upon the uncompromising demand for the complete socializa-
tion of the industries. That means doing away with the private own-
ership of the sources and instruments of wealth production and dis-
tribution, abolishing workless incomes in the form of profits, interest,
or rents, transforming the whole able-bodied population of the country
into useful workers, and securing to all workers the full social value
of their work.
"The Socialist party is such a political party. It strives by means
of political methods, including the action of its representatives in the
Legislatures and other public offices, to force the enactment of such
measures as will immediately benefit the workers, raise their standard
of life, increase their power, and stiffen their resistance to capitalist
aggression. Its purpose is to secure a majority in Congress and in
every State Legislature, to win the principal executive and judicial
offices, to become the dominant and controlling party, and when in
power to transfer to the ownership by the people of industries, begin-
ning with those of a public character, such as banking, insurance, min-
ing, transportation, and communication, as well as the trustified
industries, and extending the process to all other industries susceptible
of collective ownership as rapidly as their physical conditions will
permit.
"It also proposes to socialize the system of public education and
health, and all activities and institutions vitally affecting the public
needs and welfare, including dwelling-houses.
"The Socialist program advocates the socialization of all large
farming estates and land used for industrial and public purposes, as
well as all instrumentalities for storing, preserving, and marketing
farm products. It does not contemplate interference with the private
possession of land actually used and cultivated by occupants.
"The Socialist party when in political control proposes to reor-
ganize the government in form and substance so as to change it from a
tool of repression into an instrument of social and industrial service.
It affirms a fundamental truth of the American Declaration of Inde-
pendence, that when a government fails to serve us, or becomes de-
structive of human happiness, 'It is the right of the people to alter or
510 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
abolish it and to institute a new government, laying its foundations
on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them
shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.'
"The socialist transformation cannot be successfully accomplished
by political victories alone. The reorganization of the industries upon
the basis of social operation and cooperative effort will require an
intelligent and disciplined working class, skilled not only in the pro-
cesses of physical work but also in the technical problems of manage-
ment. This indispensable training the workers can best gain as a
result of their constant efforts to secure a greater share in the manage-
ment of industries through their labor unions and cooperatives. These
economic organizations of labor have also an immediate practice and
vital function. Their daily struggles for betterment in the sphere of
their respective industries supplement and reinforce the political efforts
of the Socialist party in the same general direction, and their great
economic power may prove a formidable weapon for safeguarding the
political rights of labor.
"The Socialist party does not intend to interfere in the internal
affairs of labor unions, but will always support them in their economic
struggle. In order, however, that such struggle might attain the
maximum of efficiency and success, the Socialists favor the organiza-
tion of workers along lines of industrial unionism in closest organic
cooperation as an organized working-class body.
"The Socialist party does not seek to interfere with the institution
of the family as such, but promises to make family life fuller, nobler,
and happier by removing the sordid factor of economic dependence of
woman on man, and by assuring to all members of the family greater
material security and more leisure to cultivate the joys of the home.
"The Socialist party adheres strictly to the principle of complete
separation of state and church. It recognizes the right of voluntary
communities of citizens to maintain religious institutions and to wor-
ship according to the dictates of their conscience.
"The Socialist party seeks to attain its end by orderly and consti-
tutional methods so long as the ballot-box, the right of representation,
and civil liberties are maintained. Violence is not the weapon of the
Socialist party but of the short-sighted representatives of the ruling
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 511
classes, who stupidly believe that social movements and ideals can be
destroyed by brutal physical repression. The Socialists depend upon
education and organiation of the masses.
"The domination of the privileged classes has been so strong that
they have succeeded in persuading their credulous fellow-citizens that
they, the despoilers of America, are the only true Americans; that their
selfish class interests are the sacred interests of the nation; that only
those that submit supinely to their oppressive rule are loyal and patri-
otic citizens, and that all who oppose their exactions and pretensions
are traitors to their country.
"The Socialists emphatically reject this fraudulent notion of patri-
otism.
"The Socialist party gives its service and allegiance to the mass of
the American people, the working classes, but this interest is not lim-
ited to America alone. In modern civilization the destinies of all
nations are inextricably interwoven. No nation can be prosperous and
happy while its neighbors are poor and miserable. No nation can be
truly free if other nations are enslaved. The ties of international
interdependence and solidarity are particularly vital among the work-
ing classes. In all the advanced countries of the world the working
classes are engaged in the identical struggle for political and economic
freedom, and the success or failure of each is immediately reflected
upon the progress and fortunes of all.
"The Socialist party is opposed to militarism and to wars among
nations. Modern wars are generally caused by commercial and finan-
cial rivalries and intrigues of the capitalist interests in different coun-
tries. They are made by the ruling classes and fought by the masses.
They bring wealth and power to the privileged few and suffering,
death, and desolation to the many. They cripple the struggles of the
workers for political rights, material improvement, and social justice,
and tend to sever the bonds of solidarity between them and their
brothers in other countries.
"The Socialist movement is a world struggle in behalf of human
civilization. The Socialist party of the United States cooperates with
similar parties in other countries and extends to them its full support
in their struggles, confident that the class-conscious workers all over
512 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
the world will eventually secure the powers of government in their
respective countries, abolish the oppression and chaos, the strife and
bloodshed of international capitalism, and establish a federation of
socialist republics cooperating with each other for the benefit of the
human race and for the maintenance of the peace of the world."
The convention voted to commit the Socialist party
to adherence to the "Third Internationale" — the Mos-
cow organization dominated by Lenin, Trotzky, and
the "Soviet" dictatorship of Russia. On this subject,
however, the action taken was limited to a simple
declaration of affiliation without commitment to any
specific means for establishing the socialistic "interna-
tional" commonwealth. A substitute proposal, de-
signed to give sanction to extreme measures, such as the
"dictatorship" of the "proletariat," was voted down by
90 to 40.
Socialist Labor Party
This party held its fifteenth national convention in
New York, May 5-10, 1920. For President, William
W. Cox, of Illinois; for Vice-President, August Gill-
haus, of New York.
Throughout its career the Socialist Labor party has
been consistently opposed to all expedients and compro-
mises in the fight to establish the extreme program of
socialism. It is frankly revolutionary and especially
rejects the notions that trades-union development or
mere politic action for the sake of securing votes are
either consistent with its objects or desirable in them-
selves even if seemingly accomplishing a measure of
1920] NATIONAL PARTY PLATFORMS 513
success. The convention reaffirmed the party declara-
tion of 1916, as follows:
"Whereas, There exist to-day in the United States two conceptions
of what an economic organization of labor should be ; and
"Whereas, One conception — that held by the American Federation
of Labor and kindred unions — is that the organization should concede
the right of capitalists to own and control industry, and should be
built upon narrow craft lines for the sole purpose of protecting its
members in their employment and of securing petty improvements in
the conditions of labor — thus becoming a mere 'watch-your-job-and-
boost-your-pay' organization; and
"Whereas, The other conception — that held only by the Workers'
International Industrial Union — is that the economic organization of
labor should deny the right of capitalism to continue in the ownership
and control of industry and that it should be built upon industrial
lines, not only with the aim of more efficiently cooperating in the
daily struggle against the employing class but for the supreme pur-
pose of taking possession of the industries and operating them in the
interests of society as a whole ; and
"Whereas, Neutrality toward economic organizations of labor on
the part of a political party of socialism is equivalent to neutrality
toward organizations that endorse and support the system of private
ownership of the social means of producing wealth, the system which
the party is fighting; and
"Whereas, The bona fide or revolutionary socialist movement needs
the economic as well as the political organization of labor — the latter
for propaganda and as a civilized means of registering public opinion
through the ballot, the former as the only conceivable organized
force without which all ballot is impotent, and which force is essen-
tial for ultimately locking out the capitalist class from the industries ;
therefore be it
"Resolved, That the Socialist Labor party do all in its power to
show the fallacy of craft unionism, and urge the workers to organize
industrially on the principles of the Workers' International Industrial
Union."
514 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL [1920
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
The Election
Electoral vote for President and Vice-President:
Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge, Republicans: — Arizona,
3; California, 13; Colorado, 6; Connecticut, 7; Delaware, 3; Idaho,
4; Illinois, 29; Indiana, 15; Iowa, 13; Kansas, 10; Maine, 6; Mary-
land, 8; Massachusetts, 18; Michigan, 15; Minnesota, 12; Missouri,
18; Montana, 4; Nebraska, 8; Nevada, 3; New Hampshire, 4; New
Jersey, 14; New Mexico, 3; New York, 45; North Dakota, 5; Ohio,
24; Oklahoma, 10; Oregon, 5; Pennsylvania, 38; Rhode Island, 5;
South Dakota, 5; Tennessee, 12; Utah, 4; Vermont, 4; Washington,
7; West Virginia, 8; Wisconsin, 13; Wyoming, 3. Total, 404.
Elected.
James M. Cox and Franklin D. Roosevelt, Democrats : — Alabama,
12; Arkansas, 9; Florida, 6; Georgia, 14; Kentucky, 13; Louisiana,
10; Mississippi, 10; North Carolina, 12; South Carolina, 9; Texas,
20; Virginia, 12. Total, 127.
Popular vote:
Harding, 16,152,200; Cox, 9,147,353; Debs, 919,799; Christen-
sen, 265,411; Watkins, 189,408; W. W. Cox (Industrialist and
Socialist Labor), 31,175 (15 States); Macauley, 5,837 (9 States).
In addition there were cast in Texas 47,968 votes for the American
party and 27,247 for the Black and Tan Republican party; and
in South Carolina 360 for Harding, Insurgent Republican party.
INDEX
ABOLITIONISTS, The: Effects of
the Missouri Compromise upon their
movement, 67; Organization and
first convention of the Abolition or
Liberty party, 79-80; Vote in 1840,
84; References to in Democratic
platforms, 82, 107, 132-133, 172;
Convention and platform of 1844,
85-89; Clay and, 96-97; Vote in
1844, 97; Participation in organiz-
ing the Free Soil party, 113.
Accidents to Employes, Compensation
for: See "Employers' Liability" and
"Workmen's Compensation."
Adams, Charles Francis: Presides
over Free Soil convention of 1848
and is nominated for Vice-President,
114; Defeated for Presidential nom-
ination in Liberal Republican con-
vention of 1872, 229.
Adams, John: A leader of the Fed-
eralist party, 17; Elected and re-
elected Vice-President, 20; Elected
President, 21; 22; Nominated for
reelection and defeated, 34-35.
(1) Adams, John Quincy: 49; 50;
Elected President, 51-52; Defeated
for reelection, 53-54.
(2) Adams, John Quincy: Straight-
out Democratic nominee for Vice-
President in 1872, 227.
Adams, Samuel, 21-22.
Administrative Commission : Favored
by Progressives, 409.
Admissions of States to the Union :
Constitutional amendment proposed
by the Hartford convention, 46-47;
"Balances" on the slavery question,
62-63; The California question, 121-
123. — See also "Missouri Compro-
mise" and "Territories."
African Slave Trade, The: Declara-
tion by Republican platform of 1860,
199.
Agriculture: Democratic expressions,
236, 258, 267, 285, 373, 398, 401-402,
428, 454-456, 463; Republican ex-
pressions, 252, 271, 306-307, 334, 356,
440, 475-476; Progressive platform
of 1912, 416; Prohibition platform
of 1920, 491; Farmer-Labor plat-
form of 1920, 497; Socialist posi-
tion, 509. — See also "Farm Loan
Banks," "Public Lands," and Re-
clamation."
Aiken, William: Defeated for Speak-
er,J57.
Alaska: Settlement of the boundary,
337; Resources and their utilization,
387-388, 401, 414, 433, 465.— See also
"Territories."
Albany (N. Y.) : Abolition party con-
vention held in, 79.
Aldrich Currency Bill, The: Opposed
by the Democrats, 397, and Progres-
sives, 412.
Alger, Russell A., 269.
Alien and Sedition Laws, The: En-
actment of, 22; Kentucky and Vir-
ginia Resolutions against, 23-33.
Aliens: Permitted to vote in Kansas
Territory, 154; Ownership of land
by, 257, 294; Women married to,
458, 483, 490; Agitations by and
deportation of, 483, 505. — See "Asia-
tic Immigration," Chinese Exclu-
sion, "Expatriation," Immigration,"
and "Naturalized Citizens."
Allegiance, 213, 216, 222.— See also
"Expatriation."
Allen, Henry J., 379.
Allen, William, 234.
Allied Loans: Socialist demand for
their cancellation, 506.
Allison, William B., 269, 305.
Amendments to the Constitution:
Twelfth amendment, 38 ; Proposals
of the Hartford convention, 46-48;
515
516
POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth
amendments, party expressions con-
cerning, 204, 207, 211-212, 215, 217,
221, 225, 230, 234, 258, 270-271, 279-
280, 283-284, 309, 318, 336, 346, 357,
505; Eighteenth (Prohibition) amend-
ment, 467, 488 ; Amendment proposed
by William J. Bryan concerning
treaties, 468. — See also "Constitu-
tion," "Income Tax," "President,"
"Senators," and "Woman Suffrage."
American Alliance, The, 240, 264, 277.
American Party, The (Know-Noth-
ings) : Origin, 156, Strength at
election of 1854, 156-157; Comment
on, 163-164; Convention of 1856 and
platform, 164-168; Condemned by
Democratic platform of 1856, 171-
172; Overture rejected by Republi-
cans, 178 ; Nominees endorsed by
Whigs, 182; Presidential vote in
1856, 188; Supporters join the Con-
stitutional Union party in 1860, 200.
Annexation of Texas : Advocated by
Democrats in 1844, 93 ; Comment,
94-96; The Whig position, 96; The
result, 97-104.
Anti-Federalists, The, 20.
Anti-Masonic Party, The: Conven-
tion and nominees in 1832, 69-70;
Presidential vote, 74.
Anti-Monopoly Party, The, 263.
Anti-Nebraskans, The, 153, 157, 176.
Anti-Trust Laws, 281, 285, 325, 333-
334, 336, 337, 342, 354, 362, 368-
369, 383, 393, 408-409, 422, 440, 481.
Arbitration, International, and World
Court: 143, 253, 335, 358-359, 382,
417, 426-427, 436.
Arbitration of Labor Disputes, 301,
309, 342-343, 335, 457, 477, 499.
Arid Lands, 281, 318, 327, 333, 343-
344, 357, 374, 387, 398, 413, 428,
462, 484.
Armenia, 308, 464, 472.
Army, The, 333, 345, 357, 425, 438,
484.
Arthur, Chester A.: Nominated for
Vice-President, 242, and elected,
250; President, fails to receive
renomination, 250-251; Eulogized,
251, 270.
Ashmun, George: Presides over
Republican convention of 1860, 196.
Asiatic Immigration, 376, 465, 482. —
See also "Chinese Exclusion."
Association of Nations, An: Demo-
cratic expression in 1916 favoring,
425-426.
Atchison, David R., and the repeal of
the Missouri Compromise, 150.
Atlantic City: Convention held in,
419.
"BALANCES" Concerning slavery,
62-63.
Baldwin, Simeon E., 390.
Baltimore, Conventions held in: Anti-
Masonic, 69; National Republican,
70; Democratic, 73, 75, 81, 91, 104,
131, 193, 195, 226, 390; Whig, 90,
135, 182; Constitutional Union,
200; Republican, 203; Union Re-
form, 329.
Bank of the United States, The:
Support of by Clay and the Na-
tional Republican party in 1832,
60, 70; The Whigs and, 91; Demo-
cratic platform expressions, 82, 93, »
106-107, 132-133, 171.
Banks (in general) : The Populists
and, 293 ; Democratic expressions,
299, 326, 370, 397, 421-422, 455 ; Re-
publican expressions, 385, 479; Pro-
gressive party, 412; Farmer-Labor
party, 497; Government ownership
favored by the Socialists, 504, 509.
— See also "Financial."
Banks, Nathaniel P.: Elected
Speaker, 157; Nominated for Presi-
dent by anti-slavery Know-Nothings
and withdraws, 168; 178; on the
Union, 185; 228.
Barbour, James: Presides over Na-
tional Republican convention of
1831, 70, and Whig convention of
1839, 80.
Barbour, Philip P., 73.
Barker, Wharton: Nominated for
President by Middle-of-the-Road
Populists, 328; Vote, 330.
Barnburners, The: at Democratic
convention of 1848, 104-105; Con-
nection with organization of Free
Soil party, 113.
Barnum, Richard C., 500.
Bates, Edward, 196.
INDEX
517
Bates, Isaac C. : Presides over Whig
convention of 1839, 80.
Bayard, James A.: Presides over
convention of bolters at Charles-
ton, 191; 227.
Bayard, Thomas F., 234, 246, 256.
Beecher, Henry Ward, and rifles for
Kansas, 161.
Beer: Proposal concerning in Demo-
cratic convention of 1920, 467.
Bell, John: Nominated for President
by Constitutional Union party, 200-
201 ; Vote, 202.
Bell, Theodore A.: Presides over
Democratic convention of 1908,
363.
Belmont, August, 391.
Benson, Allan L.: Nomination for
President by Socialist party, and
vote, 444.
Bentley, Charles E. : Nominated for
President by National party, 312;
Vote, 313.
Bidwell, John: Nominated for Presi-
dent by Prohibition party! 295;
Vote, 296.
Bigler, William: Presides over
Democratic convention of 1864,
208.
Bimetallism: Republican expres-
sions, 279, 307, 316; Democratic
expressions, 286, 299, 303, 325-326;
Favored by Populists, 293.
Birney, James G. : Nominated for
President by Abolitionists in 1840,
79, and vote, 85; Renominated in
1844, 85, and vote, 97.
Black, James: Nominated for Presi-
dent by Prohibition party, 227;
Vote, 228.
Black, Jeremiah S., 227.
Black List, The, 326.
Blackburn, Joseph C. S., 297.
"Blackest crime," 448, 449.
Blaine, James G. : Candidate for
Presidential nomination in Repub-
lican convention of 1876, 229; Con-
vention of 1880, 241-242; Nomina-
tion in 1884, 250, and vote, 264;
269; 278.
Blair, Francis P.: Presides over
Pittsburgh convention of Republican
party in 1856, 177.
Blair, Francis P., Jr.: Nominated for
Vice-President by Democrats, 215;
Vote, 219.
Bland, Richard P., 297.
Boers, The: Referred to, 320, 327.
Boies, Horace, 282, 297.
Borah, William E., 435, 468.
Border States, The, 119.
Botts, John M., 201.
Boundary: The northeastern, 72;
The northwestern, 93-94, 98; The
Alaskan, 337.
Bragg, Edward S., on Mr. Cleve-
land's enemies, 255.
Bramlette, Thomas E., 228.
Brazil, 270.
Breckinridge, John C. : Nominated
by Democrats for Vice-President in
1856, 169, and elected, 187; 193;
Nomination for President by south-
ern Democrats in 1860, 195, 196,
and vote, 202.
Breckinridge, Robert J.: Presides
over Republican convention of
1864, 203.
Bristow, Benjamin H., 229.
Brooks, John A., 276.
Brown, B. Gratz: Nominated for
Vice-President by Liberal Republi-
cans and Democrats, 224, 227;
Votes for President and Vice-Presi-
dent, 228.
Brumbaugh, Martin G., 435.
Bryan, William J. : Nominations for
President in 1896, 297-298, 311, and
vote, 312-313; Nominations in 1900,
321, 328, 329, and vote, 330; Nomi-
nation by Democrats in 1908, 363-
364, and vote, 378; Part in Demo-
cratic convention of 1912, 390-392;
Minority resolutions offered by in
Democratic convention of 1920, 467-
468; Nominated for President by
Prohibitionists in 1920 and declines,
488.
Bryce, J. S. : Presides over Demo-
cratic convention of 1848, 104.
Buchanan, James: 104; 131; Minis-
ter to England and connection with
Ostend Manifesto, 158; Nomination
by Democrats for President, 168-169,
and election, 187-188; Opposition to
Douglas in 1860, 202.
518
POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Buckner, Simon B.: Nominated for
Vice-President by Gold Democrats,
311.
Budget, 431, 441, 454, 475, 478, 491.
Buffalo: Convention of Free Soil
party held in, 113-114.
Burr, Aaron: 21; Contest for Presi-
dency in 1800, 35-37.
Burrows, Julius C. : Presides over
Republican convention of 1908, 350.
Burton, Theodore E., 434.
Business and Government: Repre-
sentative expressions by Demo-
crats, 260, 268, 285, 301, 325, 341-
342, 368-369, 376, 422, 457; by Re-
publicans, 222, 272, 281, 317, 333-
334, 336, 352, 361, 381, 383, 439-440,
476-477, 481; by Populists, 290-291,
293; by Progressives, 409-410, 418;
by Prohibitionists, 491 ; by Farmer-
Labor party, 496-497; by Socialists,
503, 504, 5'07-509.
Butler, Benjamin F. : Resolution of-
fered in Democratic convention of
1884, 263 ; Greenback and Anti-
Monopoly candidate for President,
263; Vote, 264.
Butler, Nicholas Murray: Vote for
Vice-President, 420; 468.
Butler, William O.: Nominated by
Democrats for Vice-President, 104;
Vote, 118.
CABOT, GEORGE, 47.
Caffery, Donelson: Presides over
Gold Democratic convention, 311.
Calhoun, John C.: Elected Vice-
President, 52; Reelected, 54; Reso-
lutions concerning the Territories,
192; Speech on the Compromise
measures, 124.
California: Made a Territory, 102;
Admission as a State without slav-
ery, 120-124; Attempt to divide, 125.
Cameron, J. Donald, 305.
Cameron, Simon, 196.
Campaign Contributions, 324, 362,
366, 386, 395, 396, 415.
Campbell, James E., 282, 297.
Canada: The fisheries, 275; Reci-
procity, 345, 411.
Canal: See "Isthmian Canal," "Nic-
aragua," and "Panama Canal."
Cannon, Joseph G. : Presides over
Republican convention of 1904, 331;
350.
Cannonism, 404.
Capital: Representative expressions
by Republicans, 222, 272, 281, 317,
333-334, 336, 361, 381, 383; by
Democrats, 236, 260, 268, 285, 301,
325, 341, 342, 457; by Populists,
290-291, 293; by Progressives, 409-
410; by Farmer-Labor party, 493,
494; by Socialists, 503, 504, 507-
509.
Carlisle, John G., 282.
Carroll, George W., 348.
Carroll, William: Presides over
Democratic convention of 1840, 81.
Gary, Samuel F., 239.
Cass, Lewis: 92; Nominated for
President by Democrats, 104; De-
feated, 117-118; 131; 168.
Catholics: Antagonized by Know-
Nothings, 156, 167; Democratic ex-
pression, 172.
Caucus, Congressional: See "Con-
gressional Caucus."
Central America, 175, 274.
Centralization of Power: 17, 22-34,
247, 283, 298, 367, 394, 407. — See
"State Rights."
Chafin, Eugene W. : Nomination for
President by Prohibitionists, 377,
and vote, 378; Renominated, 419,
and vote, 420.
Chambers, B. J., 249.
Chapman, John G. : Presides over
Whig convention of 1852, 135.
Charleston (S. C.) : Democratic con-
ventions held in, 189, 191.
Chase, Salmon P.: 130; Signs pro-
test against repeal of the Missouri
Compromise, 152; 196; Commended
by Democratic convention of 1868,
218; 224.
Chicago, Conventions held in: Re-
publicans, 196, 211, 241, 250, 269,
331, 350, 379, 434, 468; Democrats,
208, 255, 282, 297; Greenbackers,
249; Anti-Monopoly party, 263;
Prohibitionists, 329; Socialists, 348,
377; Independence party, 377; Pro-
gressives, 405, 443 ; Farmer-Labor
party, 492; Single Tax party, 500.
INDEX
519
Children, Measures, etc., in the In-
terest of, 289, 317, 353, 355, 407,
430, 442, 456, 458, 486, 490, 499,
505.
China, 319, 333, 335-336, 340.
Chinese Exclusion, 232, 237, 244, 248,
253, 261, 266, 271-272, 287, 335.—
See also "Asiatic Immigration."
Choate, Rufus, on the Republican
party, 185.
Christensen, Parley P.: Nominated
for President by Farmer-Labor
party, 493 ; Vote, 514.
Church and State, 24, 166, 244, 247,
298, 339.
Cider: Proposal concerning in Demo-
cratic convention of 1920, 467.
Cincinnati, Conventions held in:
Democrats, 168, 246; Liberal Re-
publicans, 224; Republicans, 229;
Union Labor party, 276; Prohibi-
tionists, 295 ; Middle-of-the-Road
Populists, 328.
Civil Service, The: Expressions by
Republicans, 221, 231, 246, 253, 275-
276, 281, 318, 335, 359, 385-386, 441,
485; by Liberal Republicans, 225;
by Democrats, 237-238, 247-248, 260,
266-267, 302, 345, 373, 402-403, 431;
by Progressives, 418; by Prohi-
bitionists, 490.
Clark, Champ: Presides over Demo-
cratic convention of 1904, 338;
Contest for Presidential nomination
in Democratic convention of 1912,
390-392.
Clay, Cassius M., 197.
Clay, Henry: Nomination and defeat
for President in 1824, 50-52; Secre-
tary of State, 52-53 ; Leadership of
National Republicans and candidacy
for President in 1832, 58-60, 70-72,
74; Connection with the Missouri
Compromise, 65; Defeated for Whig
nomination in 1840, 81; Candidate
of Whigs in 1844, 90, 96, 97; De-
feated for nomination in 1848, 110;
Connection with Compromises of
1850, 122-123.
Clayton, Henry D.: Presides over
Democratic convention of 1908, 363.
Clayton, John M., 116.
Clayton, Powell : Presides over Re-
publican convention of 1884, 250.
Clayton Compromise, The, 116, 119.
Cleveland (City), Conventions held
in: Radical Republicans, 206; Pro-
hibitionists, 240, 249.
Cleveland, Grover: Nominated for
President by Democrats in 1884,
255-256, and elected, 264; Renomi-
nated and defeated in 1888, 265,
277; Again nominated in 1892, 282,
and elected, 295-296; Endorsement
of administration refused by Demo-
cratic convention of 1896, 304;
Resolution on the death of, 363-364.
Clinton, DeWitt: Candidacy for the
Presidency, 40-44.
Clinton, George: A leader of the
Democratic-Republican party, 17;
20; 22; Elected and reelected Vice-
President, 38-39; Plans of sup-
porters to make him President, 39,
40.
Clintonian Platform, The, 41-43.
Cluskey, Mich. W., 184.
Coal Lands of Alaska, 387-388, 401,
414, 465.
Cochrane, John: Presides over Radi-
cal Republican convention of 1864,
and is nominated for Vice-President,
206.
Cockerill, Francis M., 338.
Cockran, W. Bourke: Offers resolu-
tion in Democratic convention of
1920, 467.
Colby, Bainbridge, 447.
Coler, Bird S., 338.
Coif ax, Schuyler: Nominated for
Vice-President by Republicans, 211,
and elected, 219; Defeated for re-
nomination, 220.
Collamer, Jacob, 196.
Collective Bargaining, 456, 476, 499.
Collier, John A.: Presides over Whig
convention of 1848, 110.
Collins, Patrick A.: Presides over
Democratic convention of 1888, 265.
"Colonial Exploitation": Democratic
condemnations of, 321-323, 340.
Colquitt, Alfred H., 228.
Columbus (O.) : Conventions held in,
227, 377.
Colvin, D. Leigh, 488.
520
POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Commerce, Department of, 319.
Competition, Fair and Unfair: Ex-
presions by Democrats, 285, 324,
341, 342, 369, 393, 397, 422; by Re-
publicans, 309, 317, 475-476, 481;
by Progressives, 409.
Compromise, The Clayton, 116, 119.
Compromise, The Missouri: See
"Missouri Compromise."
Compromise Measures of 1850: En-
actment of and provisions, 122-130;
Approved by Democrats in 1852,
133, and Whigs, 137; Condemned
by Free Soil party, 141; 145; 148;
Again approved by Democrats
(1856), 172-173.
Compulsory Arbitration, 457, 477, 499.
Conant, John A., 264.
Confederacy, The United States not
a, 254.
Confederate Pensions, 418.
"Confiscation of the lands of the
rebels," 207.
Congressional Caucus, The: Origin,
22, 35; Nominations by, 37, 38, 39,
40-41, 48-49; End of, 50-51; The
system condemned by the Clinton-
ian platform, 41.
Conkling, Roscoe: 229; Leads Grant
forces in Republican convention of
1880, 241; 270.
Conservation of Natural Resources:
Expressions by Republicans, 357,
386, 441, 483-484; by Democrats,
374-375, 400-401, 428; by Progres-
sives, 412.
Constitution, The: Kentucky and
Virginia Resolutions on, 23-34;
Adoption of Twelfth Amendment,
38 ; Amendments proposed by Hart-
ford convention, 46-48; Missouri's
restrictions against negroes made
conformable to, 65-66; and slavery
permission, 67; "The Federal gov-
ernment is one of limited powers,
derived solely from the Constitu-
tion," and other expressions of
early Democratic platforms, 81-82,
93, 106-107, 109, 132, 134, 170-174,
191-192, 194; The Calhoun doctrine
that Constitution of its own force
carried slavery into the Territories,
102, 105, 124, 191-192, 198; Fugi-
tive Slave provisions of, 125 ; The
Abolition and Free Soil parties and
constitutional questions, 80, 85-89,
115-116, 140-143; Whig expres-
sions, 136-137, 182-183; Know-
Nothings, 165; Republican plat-
forms of 1856 and 1860, 179-181,
197-199; Constitutional Union party,
201. — Representative party expres-
sions since 1860: by Democrats,
208, 215, 216-217, 234/256, 261, 265,
283, 284, 289-290, 298-300, 321, 322,
338-339, 343, 365-367, 392, 394; by
Republicans, 204, 205, 207 (Radical
Republicans), 221, 230, 231, 232,
243, 244, 245, 254-255, 270, 280, 318,
336, 357, 380-382, 436, 441, 469, 471,
474, 478 ; by Liberal Republicans,
225; by Populists, 292; by Progres-
sives, 405-406, 407; by Prohibition-
ists, 489, 492; by Farmer-Labor
party, 494, 495; by Socialists, 504,
505, 506.— Thirteenth, Fourteenth,
and Fifteenth amendments, party
expressions concerning, 204, 207,
211-212, 215, 221, 225, 230, 234, 270-
271, 279-280, 283-284, 309, 318, 336,
346, 357, 505.— Eighteenth (Prohi-
bition) amendment, 467, 488. — More
expeditious method of amending
favored by Progressives, 409 ;
Amendment proposed by William
J. Bryan concerning treaties, 468;
Amendments demanded by Social-
ists, 506. — The Constitution a su-
preme law and not a mere contract,
243 ; Constitution and the tariff,
284, 289-290, 392; and silver, 298;
follows the flag, 321. — See also "In-
come Tax," "President," "Senators,"
and "Woman Suffrage."
Constitutional Union Party, The:
Convention and platform in 1860,
200-201; Vote, 202.
Contempts in Federal Courts, 343,
371, 400.
Contract and Convict Labor, 289, 294,
317, 356, 408, 430, 432, 477, 499.
Coolidge, Calvin: 468; Nominated for
Vice-President by Republicans, 469,
and elected, 514.
INDEX
521
Cooper, Henry Allen: Resolutions
offered by in Republican convention
of 1908, 362-363.
Cooper, Peter: Nominated for Presi-
dent by Greenbackers, 239; Vote,
240.
Cooperative Farm Administration
Act, The, 455.
Corporations: Grants of public
lands to, 222, 244, 253, 257, 260,
266, 272. — Representative party ex-
pressions concerning: by Republi-
cans, 317, 333-334, 336, 354, 382-
383, 439-440, 480-481; by Democrats,
248, 324-325, 341, 342, 366, 368, 393-
394, 397; by Populists, 290-291; by
Progressives, 408-410; by Farmer-
Labor party, 496-497; by Socialists,
504, 508-509.— See also "Anti-Trust
Laws," "Railroads," and "Trusts."
Corrigan, Charles H.: Nominated
for President by Socialist Labor
party, 348; Vote, 349.
Corruption: Various charges of, 238,
245, 257-258, 290-291, 339, 364, 366,
406, 466.
Cost of Living, The High, 384, 393,
411-412, 439, 453, 480, 498.
Cotton Futures Act, The, 428, 455.
Council of National Defense, The,
396.
Country Life Commission, 416.
Courts, The, 356, 371, 382, 399-400,
415, 495, 505; World Court, 436, 473.
Cowdrey, Robert H.: Nominated for
President by United Labor party,
276; Vote, 277.
Cox, James M.: Nominated for Presi-
dent by Democrats, 445-447 ; Vote,
514.
Cox, William W. : Nominations by
Socialist Labor party, 348, 512, 514.
Cranfill, J. B., 295.
Crawford, William H., 48-49, 50, 51,
52.
Crittenden, John J., 201.
Cuba: Proposed annexation of, 148,
158, 192, 194; Expressions concerning
freedom of and subsequent condi-
tion, 302, 309, 315, 320, 322, 332-333,
359, 469.
Cummings, Homer S.: Presides over
Democratic convention of 1920, 445;
Votes for Presidential nomination,
445-446.
Cummins, Albert B., 380, 434.
Currency: See "Banks," "Financial,"
"Monetary Standard," and "Silver."
Curtin, Andrew G., 224.
Curtis, J. Langdon, 277.
Gushing, Caleb: Presides over Demo-
cratic conventions of 1860, 189, 193,
195.
DALLAS, GEORGE M.: Nominated
for Vice-President by Democrats, 92,
and elected, 97.
Daniel, John W., Presides over Demo-
cratic convention of 1896, 297.
Daniel, William, 264.
Danish Islands, The, 308.
Davis, David, 224, 227, 228.
Davis, Henry G. : Nominated for
Vice-President by Democrats, 338;
Vote, 349.
Davis, Jefferson: 111; on slavery
extension, 124-125; 191.
Davis, John, 90.
(1) Davis, John W.: Presides over
Democratic convention of 1852, 131.
(2) Davis, John W., Ambassador to
Great Britain: Votes for Demo-
cratic Presidential nomination in
1920, 445, 447.
Dayton, William L.: Nomination for
Vice-President by Republicans, 178-
179, and vote, 188; 196.
Debs, Eugene V.: Nominations for
President by Socialists, and votes,
329, 330, 348, 349, S77, 378, 419,
420, 501, 514.
Debt, The National, 132, 206, 212,
215, 221.
Debts of the States, 82, 106, 170.
Democracy vs. Republicanism, Fun-
damental Differences, 361, 376.
Democratic Party, The: Historical
identity with the early Democratic-
Republican, or Republican, party,
18; Jackson's leadership and the
campaigns of 1828 and 1832, 53-58,
60, 73-74; Campaign of 1836, 75-76,
78; Campaign of 1840, 81-84; Cam-
paign of 1844, 91-97; Campaign of
1848, 104-110, 112, 117-118; Cam-
paign of 1852, 131-135, 144; Cam-
522
POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
paign of 1856, 156-157, 168-176, 184-
188; Campaign of 1860, 189-196,
202; Campaign of 1864, 208-210;
Campaign of 1868, 214-219; Cam-
paign of 1872, 226-228; Campaign
of 1876, 233-239, 240; Campaign
of 1880, 246-249; Campaign of 1884,
255-263, 264; Campaign of 1888,
265-269, 277; Campaign of 1892,
282-290, 295-296; Campaign of
1896, 297-304, 312-313; Campaign
of 1900, 321-328, 329-330; Campaign
of 1904, 338-348, 349; Campaign of
1908, 363-376, 378; Campaign of
1912, 390-405, 420; Campaign of
1916, 421-434, 444; Campaign of
1920, 445-468, 514.
Democratic Principles, 169-170, 234,
256, 265-266, 298, 321, 338-339, 376.
Democratic-Republican Party, The,
17-18.— See "Republican Party, The
Early."
Demonetization of Silver, The, 299.
Dennison, William H.: Presides over
Republican convention of 1864, 203.
Denver: Democratic convention held
in, 363.
Department of Commerce, 319.
Department of Labor, 326, 372, 400,
416, 430, 456.
Depew, Chauncey M., 269.
Deportation of Aliens, 505.
Des Moines: Convention held in,
276.
Dickinson, Daniel S., 191, 203.
Dictator: President Wilson referred
to as a, 474.
Dictatorship of the Proletariat, 512.
Dingley Tariff Act, The, 319, 325,
332. "
Direct Primaries, 406. — See also
"Primaries."
Disabled Soldiers, 458-459, 484-485.
Discriminations in Rates, 253, 272,
325, 334, 342, 355, 369.
District of Columbia, The, 83, 86, 87,
123, 125, 173, 289, 355, 375, 403.
Dodge, Henry, 113.
Doheny, Edward L.: Resolution of-
fered by in Democratic conventian
of 1920," 467.
Dollar Diplomacy, 495.
"Domestic Institutions," 107, 132, 172,
198.
Dominican Republic, The, 496.
Donelson, Andrew Jackson: Nomi-
nated for Vice-President by Know-
Nothings, 164, and Whigs, 182;
Vote, 188.
Donnelly, Ignatius, 328.
Doolittle, James R.: Presides over
Democratic convention of 1872, 226.
Douglas, Stephen A.: Connection
with measure to extend Missouri
Compromise line to the Pacific, 103;
Candidacy for Presidential nomi-
nation in Democratic convention of
1852, 131; Introduces the Nebraska
bills and leads in the repeal of the
Missouri Compromise, 149-152; de-
feated for Presidential nomination
in Democratic convention of 1856,
168; Candidacy for President in
1860, 191, 193, "and defeat, 202.
Dow, Neal: Nominated for President
by Prohibitionists, and vote, 249.
du Pont, Coleman, 435, 468.
Dunn, I. J.: Resolution offered by
in Democratic convention of 1908,
363-364.
EARLE, THOMAS. 79.
Economy, 82, 90, 106, 132, 137, 170, 198,
206, 212, 215, 236, 268, 294, 365,
388, 441, 477.
Edmunds, George F., 241, 250, 251.
Education, 458, 486, 489, 500, 509.—
See also "Schools."
Edwards, Edward I., 445.
Eight-hour Law, The, 253, 295, 343,
355, 362, 372, 396, 408, 430, 456,
499.
Eighteenth Amendment, The, 467, 488.
Elections, Federal Control of, 247, 255,
257, 260, 270-271, 279-280, 283, 294,
309.
Electoral Commission, The, 240.
Electors, Presidential: Original
method of voting for President and
Vice-President, 19; Method changed
by Twelfth amendment, 38 ; Choice
of by Legislatures and change to
popular system, 56.
Ellington, C. H., 290.
INDEX
523
Ellis, Seth W. : Nominated for Presi-
dent by Union Reform party, 329.
Ellmaker, Amos: Nominated for
Vice-President by Anti-Masonic
party, 69 ; Vote, 74.
Ellswo'rth, Oliver, 22.
Emancipation: Favored by Republi-
can platform of 1864, 204, 205.
Embargo: Proposed constitutional
amendments against, 47.
Emergency Currency Bill, The, 353,
354, 370.
Emigrant Aid Society, The New Eng-
land, 154.
Emmet, Robert: Presides over Re-
publican convention of 1856, 178.
Employers' Liability, 353, 355, 362,
372, 381, 386.— See also "Workmen's
Compensation."
Employes, Government, 355, 400, 407-
408, 429-430, 457, 466, 474-475, 499.
— See also "Labor."
English, William H.: Nominated for
Vice-President by Democrats in
1880, 247; Vote, 249.
"Entangling Alliances," 136, 254, 259,
280, 287, 327, 339.
"Equal pay for equal work," 486, 499.
Equal Rights Conventions, 264, 276-
277.
"Equality of opportunity," 341, 351-
352, 361, 376, 406.
Equiponderance of the Sections, 119.
Era of Good Feeling, The, 50.
Erwin, John: Presides over Rich-
mond convention of Democrats in
1860, 196.
Esch-Cummins Act, The, 460, 481, 496.
Espionage Law, The, 502, 505.
Estee, Morris M.: Presides over Re-
publican convention of 1888, 269.
Evans, Samuel, 276.
Everett, Edward: Nominated for
Vice-President by Constitutional
Union party, 201 ; Vote, 202.
Ewing, Thomas, in Democratic con-
vention of 1876, 239.
Expatriation, The Right of, 213, 216,
221, 222, 232, 404, 417, 432, 438.
"FACTORY by the side of the farm,"
306.
Fairbanks, Charles W. : Presides over
Republican convention of 1896, 304;
Nominated for Vice-President by
Republicans, 331, and elected, 349;
434; Again nominated, 435-436, and
defeated, 444.
Family, The: The Socialists and,
510.
Farm Loan Banks, 385, 455, 456, 465,
476, 497.— See also "Rural Credits."
Farm Management Bureau, 455.
Farmer-Labor Party, The, 492-500.
Farmers, The: See "Agriculture."
Fassett, J. Sloat: Presides over Re-
publican convention of 1892, 278.
Federal Farm Loan System: See
"Farm Loan Banks."
Federal Reserve System, 421-422, 428,
450, 479.
Federal Trade Commission, 383, 422,
463, 481.
Federalist Party, The: Rise and de-
cline, 17-18; Successes at elections
of 1789-92-96, 20, 21, 22; Defeat
in 1800, 34-35; and Burr's ambition,
36-37; Nominations and vote in
1804, 39; in 1808, 39; in 1812, 41-
44; Discredited by the Hartford
convention, 44-48 ; End of at elec-
tion of 1916, 49; Reasons for un-
popularity, 55.
Fenton, Reuben E., 211.
Field, James G. : Nominated for Vice-
President by Populists, 290; Vote,
296.
Field, Stephen J., 246-247.
Fifteenth Amendment: See "Amend-
ments to the Constitution."
Fifty-four Forty or Fight, 94.
Fillmore, Millard: 90; Nominate^
for Vice-President by Whigs, 110,
and elected, 118; Becomes Presi-
dent, 123; Signature of Fugitive
Slave bill, 130; Defeated in con-
test for renomination, 135-136;
Nominated for President in 1856 by
Know-Nothings and Whigs, 164,
182, 183-184; on Fremont's candi-
dacy, 186; Vote at election of 1856,
188^
Financial: The Bank of the United
States, 60, 70, 82, 91, 93, 106-107,
132-133, 171; Banks in general,
524
POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
293, 299, 326, 370, 385, 397, 412,
421-422, 455, 479, 497, 504, 509;
Independent Treasury, 83, 107, 142,
171 ; Questions following the Civil
War, and resumption of specie pay-
ments, 206, 212, 215, 222, 223, 225-
226, 231, 235-236, 239, 242, 243,
247; The monetary standard, and
silver, 252, 259, 273, 279, 286, 291,
293, 298-300, 303-304, 305, 307, 310-
311, 316, 319, 325-326, 332, 334-335,
347-348; Emergency Currency, Al-
drich bill, and Federal Reserve sys-
tem, 353, 354, 370, 397, 412, 421-422,
428, 450, 479; Farm Loan banks,
385, 455, 456, 465, 476, 497; Na-
tional Banks, 300, 326, 370, 398.
Fisheries Question, The, 275.
Fisk, Clinton B. : Nominated for
President by Prohibitionists, 276;
Vote, 277.
Filler, Edwin H, 269.
Fitzpatrick, Benjamin: Nominated
for Vice-President by Douglas
Democrats and declines, 193.
Flood Control, 387, 398-399, 413, 432-
433, 462. — See also "Rivers and
Harbors" and "Waterways."
Florida, Cession of, 195.
Flournoy, Francis B.: Presides over
Charleston convention of Demo-
crats in 1860, 189.
Floyd, John: Nullificationist, vote
for President, 74.
Food Control Act, The, 475.
Foraker, Joseph B., 350.
Force Bills: See "Elections, Federal
Control of."
Ford, Henry, 434-435.
Foreign Propagandists, 424.
Foreign Relations and Policy: Ex-
pressions by Democrats, 93-95, 108,
134, 175, 192, 194, 216, 237, 248, 259,
261, 266, 287, 302, 322-323, 327, 340,
345, 372, 375-376, 404, 425-427, 431-
432, 447-449, 463, 467; by Republi-
cans, 181, 206, 213, 221, 222, 232,
244, 254, 274-275, 281, 308, 309, 319,
320, 335-336, 337, 358-359, 386-387,
436-437, 438, 471-474, 482; by
Whigs, 136-137; by Free Soil party,
143; by Liberal Republicans, 226;
by Progressives, 414, 417; by Prohi-
bitionists, 489; by Farmer-Labor
party, 495-496; by Socialists, 506,
511. — See "Expatriation," "Interna-
tional Arbitration," "League of Na-
tions," "Mexico," and "Monroe Doc-
trine."
Foreigners: See "Aliens," "Alle-
giance," "Asiatic Immigration,"
"Chinese Exclusion," "Expatria-
tion," "Immigration," and "Natur-
alized Citizens."
Forest Reserve Act, The, 401.
Forests: See "Conservation of Natu-
ral Resources."
Forty-Eighters, The, 492, 500.
Fourteenth Amendment: See "Amend-
ments to the Constitution."
Franking, 222.
Frauds: Various charges of, 245, 248,
255, 256-257, 271, 466.
Free Coinage of Silver: See "Silver."
Free Democrats, 113, 118, 139.
Free Ships, 248, 274.
Free Soil Party, The: Absorbs the
Abolition or Liberty party, 80; Or-
ganization in 1848 and first cam-
paign, 113-120; Nominations, plat-
form, and vote in 1852, 139-144; Its
fusions, 178.
Free States and Slave States in 1854,
147-148.
Free Trade: Democratic expression
concerning in 1856, 175.
Freedman's Bureau, The, 215.
Frelinghuysen, Theodore: Nominated
for Vice-President by Whigs, 90;
Vote, 97.
Fremont, John C.: 168; Nomination
for President by Republicans in 1856,
178-179, and vote, 188; 196; Nomi-
nated by Radical Republicans in
1864, and withdraws, 206.
Front Street Theater (Baltimore)
Democratic convention, 193.
Fugitive Slaves: Declarations by
Liberty party, 87, 88-89; Act of
1850, 123; Constitutional provision,
126; Stipulations and effects of act
of 1850, 126-130; Platform expres-
sions by Democrats, 133, 173, 192,
194; by Whigs, 137; by Free Soil
party, 140-141.
INDEX
525
GADSDEN Purchase, The, 98.
Gallatin, Albert, 51.
Garfield, James A.: Nominated for
President by Republicans, 241-242,
and elected, 249; Eulogized, 251,
270.
Garrison, William Lloyd, and the Re-
publican party, 185.
Garrisonians, The, 80.
General Agreement, Nominations by,
19, 21, 38, 54.
"Geographical" Parties: President
Taylor on, 122; Rufus Choate on,
185-186.
Gerard, James W., 446.
Germans, The: and Fremont, 178;
Democratic reference to, 237.
Germany: and big business, Progres-
sive reference to, 410. — See "World
War."
Gerry, Elbridge: Nominated and
elected Vice-President, 41, 43.
Giddings, Joshua R. : On the south,
185.
Gillhaus, August: Socialist Labor
nominations, 377, 378, 420, 512.
Glass, Carter, 445, 447.
Glynn, Martin H,.: Presides over
Democratic convention of 1916, 421.
Goggin, William L., 201.
Gold, Discovery in California, 120.
Gold Democrats, 311, 313.
Gold Standard, The, 291, 307, 315,
316, 332, 334-335, 347-348.— See also
"Bimetallism" and "Silver."
Goodrich, Chauncey, 47.
Gorman, Arthur P., 282.
Government and Business: Represen-
tative expressions by Democrats,
260, 268, 285, 301, 325, 341-342, 368-
369, 376, 422, 457; by Republicans,
222, 272, 281, 317, 333-334, 336, 352,
361, 381, 383, 439-440, 476-477, 481;
by Populists, 290-291, 293; by Pro-
gressives, 409-410, 418; by Prohibi-
tionists, 491; by Farmer-Labor
party, 496-497; by Socialists, 503,
504, 507-509.
Graham, William A.: Nomination for
Vice-President by Whigs, 136, and
vote, 144; 201.
Grain Grades Bill, The, 428-429, 455.
Granger, Francis: Candidacy on
Whig ticket for Vice-President, 77,
78.
Grant, Ulysses S.: 203; Nominated
for President by Republicans in
1868, 211, and elected, 219; Again
nominated in 1872, 220, 223, and
elected, 227-228; Defeat for nomi-
nation in 1880, 241-242; 270.
Graves, John Temple, 337.
Gray, George, 338, 364.
Great Britain, 63, 72, 93-94, 222, 262
^ 320, 327.— See also "Ireland."
"Greedy Commercialism," 322.
Greeley, Horace: on inaccurate cita-
tions, 15; on the Know-Nothing
movement, 164; Nominated for
President by Liberal Republicans,
224, and Democrats, 227; Death
227, 228.
Greenback Party, The, 239, 240 249
263, 264.
Greer, James B., 277.
Gresham, Walter Q., 269.
Groesbeck, William S., 227, 228.
Guadelupe Hidalgo, Treaty of, 119.
Guthrie, James, 191, 193, "208.
HAGUE, The, 320, 358.
Hale, John P.: Nominated for Presi-
dent by Free Soil party, 139; Vote,
144.
Hamilton, Alexander: A leader of
the Federalist party, 17; 37.
Hamlin, Hannibal: Nominated for
Vice-President by Republicans, 197,
and elected, 201; Fails to secure
renomination, 203.
Hancock, Winfield S.: 214; 234; Nomi-
nation for President by Democrats,
246, and vote, 249.
Hanford, Benjamin, 348, 377.
Hanly, J. Frank: Nominated for
President by Prohibitionists, 443;
Vote, 444.
Harboard Commission, The, 472.
Hard Cider Campaign, The, 84.
Harding, Warren G.: Presides over
Republican convention of 1916, 434;
Nominated for President by Repub-
licans, 468-469, and elected, 514.
Harmon, Judson, 390.
Harper, Robert G., 49.
526
POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Harriman, Job, 329.
Harris, William A., 338.
Harrisburg (Pa.) : Whig convetnion
held in, 80.
Harrison, Benjamin: Nominated for
President by Republicans in 1888,
269, and elected, 277; Renominated
in 1892, 278, 282, and defeated,
296; 305.
Harrison, Caleb, 444.
Harrison, William H.: Presidential
candidacy on Whig ticket in 1836,
77, 78; Nominated in 1840, 81, and
elected, 84; 91.
Hart, Albert Bushnell, on the Aboli-
tion movement, 67.
Hartford Convention, The, 44-48.
Hartranft, John F., 229.
Hawaii, 308, 320, 375, 464, 487, 496.
Hawley, Joseph R., 211, 250, 251, 269.
Hay-Pauncefote Treaty, The, 327.
Hayes, Max S., 329, 493.
Hayes, Rutherford B.: Nominated for
President by Republicans, 229, and
awarded office, 240; 244.
Hays, Will H., 469.
Hayti, 142-143, 496.
Health, The Public, 359, 373, 402, 407,
416, 431, 486, 509.
Hearst, William R., 338, 377.
Henderson, John B. : Presides over
Republican convention of 1884, 250.
Hendricks, Thomas A.: 214, 228;
Nomination for Vice-President by
Democrats in 1876, 234, and vote,
240; Nomination in 1884, 256, and
election, 264.
Henry, John, 22.
High Cost of Living, The, 384, 393,
411-412, 439, 453, 480, 498.
Highways, 318, 356, 374, 399, 417,
429, 460, 483.
Hill, David B.: 282; 297; Resolu-
tions offered by in Democratic con-
vention of 1896, 303-304.
Hill, Isaac: Presides over Democratic
convention of 1840, 81.
Hisgen, Thomas L. : Nominated for
President by Independence party,
377; Vote, 378.
Hitchcock, Gilbert M., 446.
Hoadly, George: Presides over
Democratic convention of 1880, 246.
Hoar, George F. : Presides over Re-
publican convention of 1880, 241.
Hobart, Garrett A.: Nominated for
Vice-President by Republicans, 305;
Elected, 313.
Homesteads, 117, 141-142, 199-200, 218,
266, 277, 309-310, 401.— See "Public
Lands."
Hoover, Herbert, 468, 469.
Hopkins, Albert J. : on minority reso-
lutions offered at Republican con-
vention of 1908, 362-363.
Hopkins, Andrew F. : Presides over
Whig convention of 1844, 90.
Horizontal Reduction, 252.
House of Representatives, The: Elec-
tions of President by, 35-37, 52;
Preponderance of northern mem-
bers in, 64, 146-147; Speakership
contest of 1855-56, 157; Rules and
procedure, 365-366, 396, 431, 475.
Houston, Samuel, 201.
Howard, John E., 49.
Hubbard, Richard B. : Presides over
Democratic convention of 1884, 255.
Hughes, Charles E.: 350; 380; Nomi-
nation for President by Republi-
cans, 434-435; Endorsed by Pro-
gressives, 443 ; Vote, 444.
Hunkers, The, at Democratic conven-
tion of 1844, 104.
Hunt, Washington: Presides over
Constitutional Union convention of
1860, 200.
Hunter, R. M. T., 191.
IMMIGRATION, and Immigrants,
83, 107, 132, 142, 171-172, 200, 205,
213, 216, 221, 222, 232, 244, 248, 253,
261, 271-272, 280, 287, 294, 300, 309,
317, 335, 376, 388, 417-418, 465, 482,
499.
Imperialism, 321-322, 340, 375, 495-
496.
Income Tax: Favored by Populists,
293, 294, 311; Expressions by Demo-
crats, 300, 371, 394-395; by Pro-
gressives, 417; by Farmer-Labor
party, 498; by Socialists, 507.
Independence Party, The, 377, 378.
Independent Treasury, The (Sub-
Treasury), 83, 107, 142, 171.
INDEX
527
Indianapolis, Conventions held in:
Greenbackers, 239, 263; Prohibi-
tionists, 276, 348 ; Gold Democrats,
311; Social Democrats, 329; Social-
ists, 419.
Industrial Accidents, Compensation
for. — See "Employers' Liability"
and "Workmen's Compensation."
Industrial Education, 408. — See "Voca-
tional Education."
Ingersoll, Jared, 41, 43.
Inheritance Tax, 417, 498, 507.
Initiative, The, 295, 311, 329, 407, 495.
Injunctions, 301, 326, 356, 362-363, 371,
396, 400, 415, 505.
Insurance, 317, 408, 499, 504, 509.
Insurance, War Risk, 459, 475.
Insurance Investigation in New York,
The, 364, 366.
Internal Improvements, 59-60, 71, 82,
91, 106, 117, 137, 142, 170, 200.
Internal Revenue, 222, 259, 271.
International Arbitration and Court,
143, 253, 335, 358-359, 382, 417, 426-
427, 436.
Internationale, The Third: Adher-
ence of Socialist party to, 512.
Interstate Commerce Commission,
The, 252, 301, 325, 355, 369-370,
374, 383-384, 397, 416-417.
Investments, Supervision over, 418.
"Invisible Government," 406, 494.
Iowa, Admission of, 146.
Iredell, James, 22.
Ireland, 269, 270, 287, 464, 467, 496,
506.
Irrigation, 281, 318, 327, 333, 343-344,
357, 374, 387, 398, 413, 428, 462, 484.
Isthmian Canal, 175, 319, 327.— See
"Nicaragua" and "Panama Canal."
JACKSON, ANDREW: 18; Candi-
dacy for President in 1824, 50-52;
in 1828, and election, 53-54; Lead-
ership of Democratic party, 57; 59;
and the spoils, 61; 70; 72; Renomi-
nation and reelection in 1832, 73.
74; 299.
James, Ollie M.: Presides over
Democratic convention of 1912, 390,
and 1916, 421.
Jay, John: A leader of the Federalist
party, 17; 22; 35.
Jefferson, Thomas: Leadership of
Democratic-Republican party, 17;
20; Elected Vice-President in 1796,
21 ; Kentucky Resolutions of 1798,
23; Elected President in 1800, 35-
36; Reflected in 1804, 38-39; 327;
340; 367.
Jenkins, Charles J., 228.
Jewell, Marshall, 229.
Jews, The, 280, 287.— See "Russia."
Johnson, Andrew: 191; Nominated
for Vice-President by Republicans,
203, and elected, 210; President,
expressions concerning by Republi-
cans in 1868, 212-213; Vote for in
Democratic convention, 214, and ex-
pression concerning, 218.
Johnson, Hale, 312.
Johnson, Herschel V.: Candidate for
Vice-President on Douglas Demo-
cratic ticket in 1860, 193, and vote,
202.
Johnson, Hiram W. : Nominated for
Vice-President by Progressives, 405,
and vote, 420; 468-469.
Johnson, John A., 364.
Johnson, Richard M. : 73; Nominated
for Vice-President by Democrats,
76; Elected by Senate, 78; 84.
Johnson, William Cost: Presides over
National Republican meeting in
1832, 71.
Johnston, Samuel, 22.
Judges and Judicial Decisions, Pro-
posed recall of, 383, 415, 505.
Julian, George W. : Nominated for
Vice-President by Free Soil party,
139; 228.
KANSAS-NEBRASKA BILL, The:
Introduction and passage, 149-150;
Douglas's responsibility, 150-151;
Political effects, 151-162; President
Pierce on, 159-160; Expression by
Know-Nothings, 164; by Democrats,
174; by Republicans, 179, 180-181;
Conservative opinion, 186-187.
Kansas City: Conventions held in,
321, 329.
Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions:
22-34; Democratic platform expres-
sions concerning, 133-134, 173.
528
POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Kern, John W. : Nominated for Vice-
President by Democrats, 364, and
vote, 378; 390.
King, Rufus, 39, 49.
King, William R. : Nominated for
Vice-President by Democrats, 131,
and elected, 144.
Kirkpatrick, Donald, 240.
Kirkpatrick, George R., 444.
Know-Nothings, The: Origin of
movement and strength in 1854, 156-
157; Comment on, 163-164; Cam-
paign of 1856, 164-168; Democratic
expression concerning movement,
171-172; Republicans refuse fusion,
178; Nominees endorsed by Whigs,
182; Vote in 1856, 188; Support
given Constitutional Union party in
1860, 200.
Knox, Philander C., 350, 434, 469.
Knox Resolution, The, 448.
LA FOLLETTE, ROBERT M.: 350,
380, 389, 435; Pro-Germanism of
supporters, 442-443; 468.
Labor: Representative expressions by
Republicans, 212, 222, 244, 252, 280,
306, 309, 317, 336, 355-356, 362-363,
442, 476-477; by Democrats, 218,
236, 248-249, 257, 260, 262, 280, 284,
289, 300-301, 326, 342, 371-372, 399-
400, 422, 429-431, 456-458; by Popu-
lists. 290-291, 294-295; by Progres-
sives, 407-408, 415-416; by Prohi-
bitionists, 491 ; by Farmer-Labor
party, 493, 498-500; by Socialists,
501-512; by Socialist Labor party,
512-513.
Labor, Department of, 326, 362-363,
372, 400, 416, 430-431.
Labor not a commodity, 422, 457.
Labor Reform Party, The, 227.
Lacock, Abner: Presides over Na-
tional Republican convention of
1831, 70.
Land: The Single Tax doctrine, 500-
501.
Landrith, Ira D., 443.
Lands, Public: See "Public Lands."
Lane, Henry S.: Presides over Re-
publican convention of 1856, 178.
Lane, Joseph: 191; Nominated for
Vice-President on Breckinridge
Democratic ticket, 195, 196; Vote,
202.
Langdon, John, 39, 41.
Latin America: See "Pan-American
Relations."
Law Reform, 403.
Lawrence (Kansas) : Burning of,
156.
Lawrence, Abbott, 110.
LeMoyne, Francis J., 79.
League of Nations: Idea favored by
Democrats in 1916, 425-426; Action
and expressions of Democratic con-
vention of 1920, 445, 447-448, 468;
Expression by Republicans, 473-474;
by Prohobitionists, 489; by Farmer-
Labor party, 496; by Socialists, 506.
Lecompton Constitution, The, 198.
Lee, Henry: Nullificationist, vote for
Vice-President, 74.
Lenroot, Irvine L., 469.
Levering, Joshua: Nominated for
President by Prohibitionists, 312;
Vote, 313.
Liability, Employers', 353, 355, 362,
372, 381, 386.— See also "Work-
men's Compensation."
Liberal Republicans: In campaign of
1872, 224-288.
Liberty Party, The: Organization
and part in the campaign of 1840,
79-80, 84; Campaign of 1844, 85-89,
97.
Licenses for Corporations, 368-369.
"Limited Powers," 81, 106, 136, 140,
170.
Lincoln (Neb.) : Convention held in,
488.
Lincoln, Abraham: Vote for Vice-
President in Republican convention
of 1856, 178; Nominated for Presi-
dent by Republicans in 1860, 196-
197, and elected, 202; Renominated
in 1864, 203; Eulogized in platform,
205; Radical Republicans and, 206;
Reelected, 210; 212; 270; 360; 380;
499.
Lincoln, Robert T., 251, 278.
Liquors: Tax on, 222; "the joint be-
hests of the whiskey trusts and the
agents of foreign manufacturers,"
271 ; Proposals concerning in Demo-
INDEX
529
cratic convention of 1920, 467; Pro-
hibitionists and, 488-489.
Livestock Markets, 463.
Living Wage, 429, SOS.
Lobbyists, 415.
Lockvvood, Belva A., 264, 277.
Lodge, Henry C. : Presides over Re-
publican convention of 1900, 314,
and 1908, 350, and 1920, 468; and
Republican nomination for President
in 1916, 435, 443; Criticised in
Democratic platform of 1920, 448-
449.
Log Cabin Campaign, The, 84.
Logan, John A.: 250; Nomination
for Vice-President by Republicans,
251, and vote, 264; 270.
Loucks, H. L. : Presides over Popu-
list convention of 1892, 290.
Louisiana Purchase, The, 63, 94-95,
146, 147, 148, 151.
Louisville: Convention held in, 227.
Love, Alfred H., 277.
Lowden, Frank O.: Contest for Presi-
dential nomination in Republican
convention of 1920, 468.
Lucas, Robert C.: Presides over
Democratic convention of 1832, 73.
Lyman, Daniel, 47.
Lynching, 280, 388, 483.
Lyons, Thomas J.: Resolution of-
fered by in Democratic convention
of 1920, 468.
MACAULEY, ROBERT C.: Nomina-
tion for President by Single Tax
party, 500, and vote, 514.
Machen, William B., 228.
Macon, Nathaniel, 52.
Madison, James: A leader of the
Democratic-Republican party, 17;
Virginia Resolutions, 29, and report,
33; Elected President, 39; Re-
elected, 40-43; 59.
Maguire, Matthew, 312.
Malloney, Francis, 329.
Mandate for Armenia, 472-473.
Mangum, Willie P.: Candidacy for
President, 77, 78.
Marcy, William L.: 27; Secretary of
State, and Cuba, 158.
Markets and Marketing, 429, 455, 463,
490, 509.
Marsh, Ephraim: Presides over con-
vention of Know-Nothings, 164.
Marshall, John, 49.
Marshall, Thomas R.: 390; Nomi-
nated for Vice-President by Demo-
crats, 392, and elected, 420; Re-
nominated, 421, 433, and reflected,
444; 445.
Maryland Institute (Baltimore) Dem-
ocratic Convention, 195.
Mason, John Y., 158.
Matchett, Charles H., 295, 312.
Matthews, Claude, 297.
Matthews, Stanley: Presides over
Liberal Republican convention, 224.
McAdoo, William G.: Contest for
Presidential nomination in Demo-
cratic convention of 1920, 445-447.
McCall, Samuel W., 435.
(l)McClellan, George B.: Nomina-
tion for President by Democrats,
208; Vote, 210.
(2)McClellan, George B., 338.
McClernand, John A.: Presides over
Democratic convention of 1876, 233.
McDonald, Joseph E., 256.
McGovern, Francis E., 379.
McKinley, William: 269; Presides
over Republican convention of 1892,
and vote for Presidential nomina-
tion, 278 ; Nomination for President
in 1896, 304, and election, 313; Re-
nominated in 1900, 314; Administra-
tion endorsed, 315-316, 319; Elected,
329-330; 389.
McKinley Tariff Act, The, 284, 300.
McLaughlin, Andrew C., on Ken-
tucky and Virginia Resolutions, 34.
McLean, John, 178, 196, 201.
McLean, John R., 297.
McMichael, Morton: Presides over
Republican convention of 1872, 220.
McPherson, Edward: Presides over
Republican convention of 1876, 229.
Medary, Samuel: Presides over Dem-
ocratic convention of 1856, 168.
Merchant Marine, The, 262, 274, 280,
307, 317, 335, 345, 359, 362, 372,
387, 402, 427-428, 440-441, 461, 482.
— See also "Shipbuilding and Ship-
ping."
Meredith, Edwin T., 445.
Metcalf, Henry B., 329.
530
POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Mexican War, The: Events leading
to, 95-97; Results of, 98-104; Demo-
cratic expressions concerning, 108,
134.
Mexico: Republican declaration of
1864 regarding foreign aggression
in, 206; Recent platform expres-
sions, 358, 427, 436-437, 463, 471-
472, 496.
Middle-of-the-Road Populists, The,
328, 330.
Middlemen, Excessive charges by, 468,
491.
Migratory Voters, 506.
Miles, Nelson A., 338.
Militarism, 323-324, 343, 489, 496, 511.
Militia and National Guard, 324, 339.
Mills Bill, The, 271.
Mines and Mining, 359, 388, 401, 430.
Minimum Wage, 408.
Minneapolis: Republican convention
held in, 278.
Minnesota: Organization as a Terri-
tory, 146, 147.
Mississippi River, Improvement of,
262, 288, 303, 343, 387, 398-99, 413,
432-433, 462.
Missouri: and the settlement of Kan-
sas, 154-156.
Missouri Compromise, The: Histori-
cal account, 61-68 ; Proposal to ex-
tend line to the Pacific, 103; Effect
of Compromise measures of 1850,
124-125; Repealed by the Kansas-
Nebraska Act, 148-151; 162; 179.
Monetary Standard, The, 252, 273,
279, 286, 291, 293, 299, 303-304, 307,
310-311, 316-317, 324-325, 334-335,
347-348.
Money Trust, The, 397.
Monopolies: Representative expres-
sions concerning, 248, 324, 342, 354,
362, 368, 376, 382-383, 393, 409, 481.
Monroe, James: 39; 40; Elected and
reflected President, 48-49.
Monroe Doctrine, The: Expressions
by Democrats, 175, 302, 323, 345,
396-397, 427; by Republicans, 206,
207 (Radical Republicans), 274, 275,
308, 335, 337, 437.
Moore, Edmond H., 446.
Morality, 274, 282, 310, 492.
Morehead, John M. : Presides over
Whig convention of 1848, 110.
Morgan, J. Pierpont, 391.
Mormon Church, The, 254, 273.— See
"Polygamy."
Morris, Thomas, 85.
Morrison, William R., 247, 282.
Morton, Levi P.: Nomination for
Vice-President by Republicans, 270,
and election, 277; 304-305.
Morton, Oliver P., 229.
Munro, Donald, 377.
Muscle Shoals Nitrogen Plant, The,
456.
NATION: The United States "a na-
tion, not a league," 230; "a nation,
not a mere confederacy of States,"
254.
National Banks, 300, 326, 370, 398.
National Bulletin, Proposed, 468.
National Defense, Council of, 396.
National Democratic Party, The
(Gold Democrats), 311, 313\
National Guard and Militia, 324, 339.
National Party, The (Bolting Prohi-
bitionists), 312, 313.
National Republican Party, The
Early: Predecessor of Whig party,
18; Campaign of 1828, 53-54; Clay's
leadership, and fundamental prin-
ciples, 58-60; Campaign of 1832,
70-72, 73; Succeeded by Whig
party, 76.
National Silver Party, The, 311.
National Union Conventions (Repub-
lican Party), 203, 211.
Natural Resources, Conservation of:
See "Conservation of National Re-
sources."
Naturalized Citizens: Constitutional
amendment proposed by Hartford
convention, 47; Early affiliation
with Democratic party, 58; Early
Democratic platform expressions,
83, 107, 132, 171-172, 192, 194; The
Free Soil party and, 142; The
Know-Nothings and, 163-164, 165-
166; Republican platform of 1860
on, 200. — Representative platform
expressions since the Civil War, 213,
216, 232, 261, 482-483.— See also
"Aliens," "Expatriation," and ''Im-
migration."
INDEX
531
Navy, The, 254, 257, 266, 274, 280,
287, 309, 317-318, 333, 335, 357-358,
372, 387, 396, 417, 425, 438, 484.
Nebraska: See "Kansas-Nebraska."
Negroes: Republican expressions, 205,
211-212, 221, 270, 280, 318, 336, 357;
Democratic, 215, 216, 258, 283, 346;
Socialists, 505. — See also "Amend-
ments to the Constitution," "Elec-
tions, Federal control of," and
"Slavery."
New England Emigrant Aid Society,
The, 154.
New Mexico: Acquisition of, 100;
Made a Territory, 102; Status un-
der Compromise measures of 1850,
123-124, 145, 147.
New Nations: Sympathy for, 464.
New York City: Conventions held in,
168, 214, 312, 329, 348, 377, 501, 512.
Newlands Irrigation Act, The, 343.
Nicaragua, 275, 281, 288, 308, 327.—
See "Isthmian Canal" and "Panama
Canal."
Nicholson, Samuel T., 329.
Nineteenth Amendment, The: See
"Woman Suffrage."
Northeastern Boundary, The, 72.
Northwest Territory, The, 63, 86, 115.
Northwestern Boundary, The, 93-94,
98.
Nullification, 33, 74.
O'CONOR, CHARLES: Nominated
for President by Straight-out Demo-
crats, 227; Vote, 228.
Oil, 464, 475, 483, 496.
Olney, Richard, 338.
Omaha: Convention held in, 290.
Omnibus Bill, The, 123.
Open door in China, The, 319, 340.
Ordinance of 1787, The, 63, 86, 115.
Oregon: 63; Dispute with England
concerning, 93-94, 98; Establish-
ment as a Territory, 102-103; 147.
Ostend Manifesto, The, 158-159, 181.
Outlaw Railroad Strike, The, 474.
Overman Act, The, 477.
Owen, Robert L., 445, 447.
Owens, William C. : Presides over
Democratic convention of 1892, 282.
PACIFIC, The: Proposed extension
of Missouri Compromise line to,
103, 125; Overland route to, 175,
181, 192, 194, 200, 205, 220.
Palmer, A. Mitchell: Contest for
Presidential nomination in Demo-
cratic convention of 1920, 445-447.
Palmer, Henry L. : Presides over
Democratic convention of 1868, 214.
Palmer, John M.: 228; Nomination
for President by Gold Democrats,
311, and vote, 313.
Pan-American Relations, 259, 358,
375-376, 414, 426-427, 437.
Panama, and Panama Canal, 333, 337,
344, 346, 359, 373, 388, 402. 414, 482.
— See "Isthmian Canal" and "Nic-
aragua."
Paper and Pulp, 368, 475.
Parcels Post, 386, 404, 418, 422, 498.
Parker, Alton B. : Nomination for
President by Democrats, 338, 347-
348, and vote, 349; 363; Presides
over Democratic convention of 1912,
390.
Parker, Joel, 227.
Parker, John M.: Nominated for
Vice-President by Progressives, 443.
Passports, 344, 372.
Patents, 376, 416.
Pattison, Robert E., 282, 297, 338.
Payne, Henry B., 246.
Payne-Aldrich Bill, The, 411.
Pendleton, George H.: Nomination
for Vice-President by Democrats,
208, and vote, 210; Contest for
Presidential nomination in Demo-
cratic convention of 1868, 214.
Pennoyer, Sylvester, 297.
Pensions, 204-205, 209, 213, 218, 222,
232, 254, 257, 266, 274, 276, 282, 287-
288, 294, 302, 307-308, 318, 335, 345,
359, 373, 388, 404, 418, 432, 484, 498.
People's Party, The (Populists): Or-
ganization and first platform
(1892), 290-295; Vote in 1892, 296;
Subsequent campaigns, 311, 313, 328,
329, 348, 349, 377, 378, 419.
Permissive Warehouse Bill, The, 428.
Pershing, John J., 450.
Petroleum, 464, 475, 483.
532
POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Philadelphia, Conventions held in:
Whigs, 110; Republicans, 177, 220,
314.
Philippine Islands, The, 320, 322-323,
333, 341, 353-354, 359, 375, 388, 403,
431, 437-438, 464, 496.
Physical Valuation of Railways, 362-
363, 369, 397.
Pierce, Franklin: Nomination for
President by Democrats, 131, and
election, 144; Signs Kansas-Ne-
braska bill, 150; on the Kansas
struggle, 159-160; Defeated for re-
nomination, 168; Administration
commended by Democrats, 176;
Condemned by Republicans, 181;
191.
Pinckney, Charles C., 22, 35, 39.
Pinckney, Thomas, 21.
Pinkerton System, The, 295.
Pittsburgh: Conventions held in, 139,
164, 177, 263, 312.
Platte, The Proposed Territory of,
148.
Plumer, William, 49.
Poindexter, Miles, 468.
Polk, James K. : 84; Nomination for
President by Democrats, 92, and
election, 97 ; Administration, 98 ;
Eulogized, 109, 110.
Polygamy, 180, 232, 244, 254, 273, 344-
345.
Pomeroy, Samuel M., 264.
Pomeroy, Theodore M.: Presides over
Republican convention of 1876, 229.
Popular Sovereignty, 103, 151, 160,
199.
Popular Vote for President: First re-
corded in 1824, 51.
Populists, The: See "People's Party."
Porto Rico, 321, 327, 333, 359, 375,
388, 464-465, 496.
Postal Service, The, 117, 273, 281, 294,
318, 354, 356, 370, 386, 388, 404,
418, 422, 440, 455, 461, 465-466, 485.
President, The: Original manner of
electing, 19; Changed by Twelfth
amendment, 38; Choice by House of
Representatives, 19, 52; Veto power,
Democratic expressions concerning,
93, 107-108, 133, 171; Choice by
direct popular vote favored by Radi-
cal Republicans, 207, by Populists,
295, by Socialists, 505; Misuse of
patronage, 247-248, 366, 418;
Charges of usurpation, 179-180, 212,
248, 478 ; Moral qualifications in-
sisted on by Prohibitionists, 491 ;
Single term favored, 47, 90, 207,
225, 295, 395-396; Third term op-
posed, 302.
Presidential Electors: Original
method of voting for President and
Vice-President, 19 ; Method changed
by Twelfth amendment, 38 ; Choice
of by Legislatures and change to
popular system, 56.
Preston, Martin R., 377.
Prigg vs. Pennsylvania, 87, 89.
Primaries, 395, 406-407.
Prison Reform, 432. — See also "Con-
tract and Convict Labor."
Pritchard, Peter C., 468.
"Privilege-hunting and profit-seeking
class," 391.
Profiteers, 453, 480, 491, 498, 503.
Progressive Party, The: Organiza-
tion, first nominations, and plat-
form (1912), 405-419; Vote in 1912,
420; Action in 1916, 435, 443, and
vote, 444.
Prohibition, 467, 488-489.
Prohibition Party, The, 227, 228, 240,
249, 263-264, 276, 277, 295, 296, 312,
313, 329, 330, 348, 349, 377, 378, 419,
420, 443, 444, 488-492, 514.
Propagandists, Foreign, 424.
Property, The Rights of, 260, 293, 319,
325, 381.
Protection, Tariff: Favored by Na-
tional Republicans and Whigs, 59,
71, 90, 91, 137; Expressions by Re-
publicans, 199, 222, 271, 278-279,
306, 315, 317, 334, 353, 383-384, 439,
481; by Liberal Republicans, 226;
by Democrats, 216, 258-259, 267-268,
284, 289-290, 341, 368, 392; by Pro-
gressives, 410.
Protection to Citizens Abroad : Ex-
pressions by Republicans, 213, 221,
222, 232, 319, 335, 358, 386-387, 436,
438; by Democrats, 216, 237, 261,
266, 340, 372, 404, 431; by Progres-
sives, 417.
Public Health, The, 359, 373, 402, 407,
416, 431, 486, 509.
INDEX
533
Public Lands, The, 90, 93, 107, 117,
133, 141-142, 171, 199-200, 218, 222,
226, 232, 236, 244, 248, 253-254, 257,
260, 266, 272, 285-286, 294, 373-374,
386, 401, 412-413, 459.
Public Office a public trust, 238, 286.
Public Schools: See "Schools."
Public Utilities, Government Owner-
ship of, 294, 311, 377, 477, 496-497,
504, 509.
Publicity of Campaign Contributions,
362-363, 366, 386, 395, 396, 415.
Publicity of Hearings, 415.
Pulp and Paper, 368, 475.
Pure Food, 402, 416. — See also "Public
Health."
Purity of the Home, 274.
QUAY, MATTHEW S., 304.
RADICAL Republicans: Convention
and Platform (1864), 206-207.
Railroads, 192, 194, 200, 205, 220, 226,
236-237, 248, 253, 257, 272, 286, 293,
294, 301-302, 311, 325, 333-334, 342,
354-355, 362, 369, 397, 409, 441, 459-
460, 462, 474, 480-481, 496, 504, 509.
Randall, Samuel J., 247, 256.
Randolph, Thomas J.: Presides over
Democratic convention of 1872, 226.
Rates, Railroad, 253, 272, 325, 334,
342, 355, 369.
Raymond, Henry J., 177.
Recall, The: 407, 495; of Judges and
judicial decisions, 382, 415, 505; of
President, 505.
Reciprocity, 279, 285, 306, 317, 411.
Reclamation, 281, 318, 333, 343-344,
357, 374, 387, 398, 413, 428, 462,
484.
Reconstruction of Seceding States, 207,
211, 215, 218, 235.
Reed, James A., 445.
Reed, John M., 196.
Reed, Thomas B., 278, 304.
Referendum, The, 295, 311, 329, 407,
495.
Reid, Whitelaw: Nominated for Vice-
President by Republicans, 278 ; Vote,
296.
Reimer, Arthur E.: Nominations by
Socialist Labor party, 420, 444.
Religion and Government: Know-
Nothing antagonism to Catholics,
156, 157, 167; Various references to
religious subjects, 24, 166, 240, 244,
247, 254, 273, 281, 298, 339, 510.
Remmel, Valentine, 329.
Repeal of the Missouri Compromise,
149-153.
Representation in Congress, 46, 336.
Republican Party, The: Origin in
1854, 153; Election of Speaker in
1856, 157; Campaign of 1856, 162,
176-182, 184-188; Campaign of 1860,
196-200, 202; Campaign of 1864,
203-207, 210; Campaign of 1868,
211-214, 219; Campaign of 1872,
220-224, 227-228 ; Campaign of 1876,
229-233, 240; Campaign of 1880, 241-
246, 249; Campaign of 1884, 250-
255, 264; Campaign of 1888, 269-276,
277; Campaign of 1892, 278-282, 295-
296; Campaign of 1896, 304-311, 312-
313; Campaign of 1900, 314-320, 329-
330; Campaign of 1904, 331-338, 349;
Campaign of 1908, 350-363, 378;
Campaign of 1912, 379-389, 420;
Campaign of 1916, 434-443, 444;
Campaign of 1920, 468-488, 514.
Republican Party, The Early (Demo-
cratic-Republican Party) : Origin,
historical identity with present
Democratic party, 17-18; Votes at
elections of 1792-96, 20, 21; Ken-
tucky and Virginia Resolutions is-
sued in its interest, 22-34; Nomina-
tions and success in 1800, 35-37; in
1804, 38-39; in 1808, 39-40; in 1812,
40-41, 43; in 1816, 48-49; in 1820,
49; Disruption in 1824, 50-52; Suc-
ceeded by Democratic and National
Republican parties, 52-59.
Republican Principles, 179-180, 197-
200, 204, 220-221, 229-230, 243, 252,
270-271, 278-279, 306, 316-317, 334,
353-354, 361, 380-382, 469, 473-474,
487.
Republicanism vs. Democracy, Funda-
mental Differences, 361, 376.
Repudiation, 212, 221, 226.
Resumption of Specie Payments, 223,
226, 231, 235, 239.
Retirement of Civil Service Employes,
430.
534
POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Revenue Only, Tariff for, 82, 106, 132,
142, 170, 236, 247, 284, 300, 341, 368,
392, 422-423, 454.
Rhodes, James F. : on the Missouri
Compromise, 150; on the proposed
annexation of Cuba, 158.
Richardson, James D.: Presides over
Democratic convention of 1900, 321.
Richmond, (Va.) : Democratic con-
vention held in, 195.
Rivers and Harbors, 117, 137, 142, 181-
182, 200, 244, 262, 288, 303, 347, 387,
398-399, 413, 432-433, 462.— See also
"Flood Control" and "Waterways."
Rives, William C., 76, 201.
Roads, 318, 356, 374, 399, 417, 429,
460, 483.
Robins, Raymond: Presides over Pro-
gressive convention of 1916, 443.
Robinson, Joseph T. : Presides over
Democratic convention of 1920, 445.
Rochester (N. Y.) : Convention held
in, 329.
Rodney, Daniel, 49.
Roosevelt, Franklin D. : Nomination
for Vice-President by Democrats,
447; Vote, 514.
Roosevelt, Theodore: Nominated for
Vice-President by Republicans, 314,
and elected, 329-330; President, re-
nominated, 331, and elected, 344;
Contest for Republican nomination
in 1912, 379-380; Nomination by
Progressives in 1912, 405, and vote,
420; 434; 435; Again nominated by
Progressives (1916) and declines,
443; References to in platforms, 336-
338, 346-347, 350-351, 366, 374, 389.
Root, Elihu: Presides over Republi-
can convention of 1904, 331, and
1912, 379; 434.
Ross, James, 49.
Rural Credits, 398, 428, 440, 455.—
See also "Farm Loan Banks."
Rush, Richard, 49, 54.
Rusk, Jeremiah M., 269.
Russell, John, 227.
Russell, William E., 282, 297.
Russia, 280, 287, 396, 404, 438, 496,
506.
Ryan, Thomas F., 391.
SAFETY of Employes, 355-356, 407,
430. — See Employers' Liability" and
"Workmen's Compensation."
Samoa, 319, 496.
San Francisco: Democratic conven-
tion held in, 445.
Sanford, Nathan, 52.
Schools, 231, 237, 243-244, 247, 253,
273-274, 280-281, 288-289, 408, 500.
Schurz, Carl: on Jefferson's election,
55; on Clay's championship of the
Bank, 60; on the party conventions
of 1848, 112; Presides over Republi-
can convention of 1868, 211, and
Liberal Republican convention of
1872, 224.
Scott, Winfield: 81; 110; Nomination
for President by Whigs, 135-136, and
defeat, 144.
Seamen, 388, 402, 499.
Secret Societies, 69-70, 163, 172, 240.
Sectarianism, 237, 244.
Seidel, Emil, 419.
Self-Determination of Peoples, 425.
Senate, The: Election of Vice-Presi-
dent by, 78; Composition in 1854,
146-147; Rules of, 431, 454; and the
Versailles treaty, 466, 473-475.
Senators, Popular Election of, 295,
326, 344, 362-363, 373, 394, 404-405,
407.
Sergeant, John: Nominated for Vice-
President by Whigs, 70, 72; Vote,
74.
Service Men, The, 458-459, 468, 484,
498.
Settle, Thomas: Presides over Repub-
lican convention of 1872, 220.
Seventeenth Amendment, The: See
"Senators, Popular Election of."
Sewall, Arthur: Nominated for Vice-
President by Democrats, 298; En-
dorsed by National Silver party,
311; Vote, 313.
Seward, William H.: 130; 178; Con-
test for Presidential nomination in
Republican convention of 1860, 196.
Sex Hygiene, 490.
Seymour, Horatio: Presides over
Democratic convention of 1864, 208,
and 1868, 214; Nominated for Presi-
dent, 214, and defeated, 219; 247.
Seymour, Thomas H., 208.
Sharkey, William L., 201.
Sharps Rifle, The, 161.
Shepard, Edward M.: on Democratic
convention of 1835, 75-76.
INDEX
535
Sheridan, Philip H., 270.
Sherman, James S. : Nomination for
Vice-President by Republicans, 350,
and election, 378; Renomination,
380; Death, 420.
Sherman, John: Contests for Presi-
dential nomination in Republican
conventions, 241-242, 250, 269.
Sherman, Lawrence Y., 434, 435.
Sherman Anti-Trust Act, The, 354,
362-363, 383, 394.
Sherman Silver Act, The, 286.
Shipbuilding and Shipping, 223, 254,
257, 262, 274, 307, 317-318, 328, 335,
345, 359, 362-363, 372, 387, 402, 427-
428, 440-441, 461, 482.— See also
"Merchant Marine."
Shipping Board, The, 474.
Short Ballot, The, 407.
Silver: Expressions by Republicans,
252, 273, 279, 307, 310-311, 316, 332,
334-335; by Populists, 291, 293; by
Democrats,' 286, 298-300, 303-304,
325-326, 347-348.
Silver Party, The National, 311.
Silver Republican Party, The, 329.
Simmons, F. S., 446.
Single Tax Party, The, 500-501.
Single Term for the President, 47, 90,
207, 225, 295, 395-396.
Sioux Falls: Convention held in, 328.
Sixteen to One, 293, 299, 310-311, 325-
326.
Sixteenth Amendment, The: See "In-
come Tax."
Slave States and Free States in 1854,
147-148.
Slavery: Not antagonized by Hart-
ford convention, 48; The Missouri
Compromise, 61-68; Tolerated by
the Constitution, 67; Temporary
subsidence of opposition to, 67-68;
Annexation of Texas and its re-
sults, 94-104, 119-122; Compromise
measures of 1850, 122-131, 144, 156;
Fugitive Slave law, 126-130; Sec-
tional situation in 1854, 146-148;
Repeal of Missouri Compromise,
and the Kansas struggle, 149-162,
184-187; Campaign of 1860, 189-
202; Expressions on constitutional
and political questions by Demo-
crats, 82-83, 93, 107, 109," 132-133,
134, 172-174, 191-192, 194-195, 215;
by Liberty party, 79, 85-89; by Free
Soil party, 114-116, 139-141; by
Whigs, 111-112, 137, 182-183; by
Know-Nothings, 165, 166; by Con-
stitutional Union party, 201 ; by Re-
publicans, 179-181, 197-199, 204, 207,
220; "Slavery sectional, freedom na-
tional," 141; "Domestic institutions,"
107, 132, 172, 198.
Smith, Alfred E., 445.
Smith, Green Clay, Nomination for
President by Prohibitionists, and
vote, 240.
Smith, William, 54.
Social Democratic Party of America,
The, 329.
Social Democratic Party of the United
States, The, 329.
Social Insurance, 408.
Social Progress, 407-408, 485-486.
Socialism: Democratic trend toward,
as alleged by Republicans, 361, 363.
Socialist Labor Party, The, 295, 296,
312, 313, 329, 330, 348, 349, 377,
378, 420, 444, 512-513, 514.
Socialist Party, The, 348, 349, 377,
378, 419, 420, 444, 501-512, 514.
Soldiers and Sailors, 108, 204-205, 207,
209, 213, 218, 222, 226, 232, 239, 244,
254, 259, 266, 274, 276, 282, 287-
288, 294, 302, 307-308, 315, 318, 326,
335, 345, 359, 373, 388, 418, 432,
450, 458-459, 468, 484-485, 498.
Solid South, The, 232-233, 245-247.
Soule, Pierre, 158.
South Africa, 320, 327.
South America (Pan-America), 259,
358, 375-376, 414, 426-427, 437.
Southgate, James H., 312.
Soviet Government of Russia, The,
506, 512.
Spain, 95, 158-159, 315, 320.
Speaker, The, 365.
Specie Payments, Resumption of, 223,
226, 23 1'. 235, 239.
Spencer, Ambrose: Presides over
Whig convention of 1844, 90.
Spencer, John C. : Presides over Anti-
Masonic convention, 69.
Spoils, The, 61, 70, 72.
Springfield (111.): Convention in,
348.
Sproul, William C., 468.
Squatter Sovereignty, 160.
536
POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
St. John, John P.: Nomination for
President by Prohibitionists, and
vote, 263-264.
St. Louis, Conventions held in: Demo-
cratic, 233, 265, 338, 421; Republi-
can, 304; Populist, 311, 377, 419.
St. Paul : Convention held in, 443.
Standard, The Monetary: See "Mone-
tary Standard."
Standard Oil Company, The, 394.
Star Spangled Banner, Supreme Order
of the, 163.
State Banks, Prohibitory 10 per cent,
tax on, 286.
State Rights, 17, 22, 33, 82, 107, 134,
136, 165, 170-173, 198, 209, 215, 217,
223, 243, 254-255, 256, 265, 270, 298,
367, 394, 407.
States, Debts of the, 82, 106, 170.
Stedman, Seymour, 501.
Stevenson, Adlai E. : 282; Nominated
for Vice-President by Democrats,
283, and elected, 295-296; 297;
Again nominated, 321, 328, and de-
feated, 329.
Stevenson, Andrew: Presides over
Democratic convention of 1835, 75,
and 1848, 104.
Stevenson, John W. : Presides _over
Democratic convention of 1880, 246.
Stewart, Gideon T., 240.
Stock Watering, 325, 355, 393, 409.
Stockton, Richard, 49.
Stow, Marietta L., 264.
Straight-out Democrats (1872), 227,
228.
Streeter, Alson J.: Nomination for
President by Union Labor party,
276, and vote, 277.
Strikes, 457, 476.
Sub-Treasury (Independent Treas-
ury), 83, 107, 142, 171.
Subsidies, 244, 295, 328, 345, 362-363,
372.
Suffrage, The: Early limitation of,
56; Discriminations favored by
Know-Nothings, 165-166; Guarantee
of to loyal southerners, 211-212;
The Fourteenth and Fifteenth
amendments (concerning negroes),
217, 221, 225, 230, 234, 258, 270-271,
279-280, 283-284, 309, 318, 336, 346,
357, 505; Woman Suffrage (Nine-
teenth amendment), 414, 431, 434,
442, 458, 475, 485, 495, 505.
Sugar, 307, 354.
Sulzer, William, 390.
Sumner, Charles, 152, 178, 179, 196.
Sumptuary Laws, 234, 247, 260, 289,
339.
Supreme Court, The, 71, 103, 116, 194,
300.
Surplus Revenue, 258, 268.
Sutherland, Howard, 468.
Swallow, Silas C.: Nominated for
President by Prohibitionists, 348 ;
Vote, 349.
TAFT, WILLIAM H.: Nomination
for President by Republicans, 350,
and election, 378; Renomination,
379-380; Eulogized, 389; Defeated,
420; 435; 441.
Tariff, The: National Republicans
and Whigs favor protection, 59, 71,
90, 91, 137; "Tariff of abomina-
tions," and South Carolina nullifica-
tion, 74; Democratic expressions
before the Civil War, 82, 93, 106,
109, 132, 170, 175; Expressions by
Free Soil party, 117, 142; Republi-
can platform of 1860, 199. — Party
expressions since the Civil War: by
Republicans, 222, 231-232, 244, 252,
271, 278-279, 306-307, 315, 317, 334,
353-354, 362-363, 383-384, 439, 481-
482; by Democrats, 216, 236, 247,
258-259, 263, 265, 267-268, 284-285,
289-290, 300, 325, 341, 367-368, 392-
393, 422-423, 454; by Liberal Repub-
licans, 226; by Progressives, 410-
411.
Tariff Board and Tariff Commission,
384, 411, 423, 439.
Taylor, Zachary: Nomination for
President by Whigs, 110-112, and
election, 117-118; Message on ad-
mission of California, 121-122;
Death, 123.
Tazewell, Littleton W., 84.
Telegraphs and Telephones, 294, 311,
355, 362-363, 374, 397, 474, 496-497,
504, 509.
Teller, Henry M.: 297; Resolution on
silver in Republican convention of
1896, 310-311.
Temperance and Morality, 274, 282,
310.
Territorial Expansion, 98, 261.
INDEX
537
Territories, The: Early organization
of as related to slavery, 61-63, 86,
87; The Wilmot Proviso, 100-101;
Calhoun's doctrine, 102; Organiza-
tion of Oregon, 102-103; Clayton
Compromise, 116; Compromise
measures of 1850, 122-125, 145-146;
Kansas and Nebraska, 148-162;
Democratic expressions concerning
slavery in the Territories, 133, 173-
174, 191-192, 194-195; Expression by
Whigs, 137; Expressions by Liberty
party, 86, 87; by Free Soil party,
115-116, 140, 141; by Know-Noth-
ings, 165, 166; by Republicans in
1856 and 1860, 177, 179-181, 197-
. 199. — Representative expressions
concerning the Territories since the
Civil War: 232, 254, 260, 269, 272-
273, 281, 289, 302, 310, 318, 327,
344, 360, 373, 375, 388-389, 396, 403,
414, 433, 442, 464-465.
Texas: Annexation of, 93-99; Ad-
mission as a State, 100, 120; and
the Compromise measures of 1850,
123, 125.
Thirteenth Amendment, The: See
"Amendments to the Constitution."
Thirty-six Thirty: The Missouri Com-
promise line, 65.
Thomas, Charles S. : Presides over
Democratic convention of 1900, 321.
Thompson, A. M., 249.
Thurman, Allen G.: 234; 246; 256;
Nomination for Vice-President by
Democrats, 265, and defeat, 277.
Thurston, John M.: Presides over
Republican convention of 1888, 269,
and 1896, 304.
Tibbies, Thomas H., 348.
Tilden, Samuel J. : Nomination for
President by Democrats, 233-234,
and vote, 240; 247; Eulogized, 248,
262-263.
. Tillman, Benjamin R., 297.
"Tippecanoe, and Tyler Too," 84.
Tobacco, 222, 271, 354, 394.
Tod, John: Presides over regular
convention of Democrats in I860,
193.
Tolls on the Panama Canal, 402, 414,
482.
Tompkins, Daniel D.: Elected and
reflected Vice President, 49.
Toombs Bill, The, 162, 187.
Topeka Constitution, The, 155, 162,
181.
Toucey, Isaac, 191.
Towne, Charles A., 328, 338.
Trade Commission, The Federal, 383,
422, 463, 481.
Transportation, 192, 194, 200, 205, 220,
226, 236-237, 248, 253, 257, 272, 286,
293, 294, 301-302, 311, 325, 333-334,
342, 354-355, 362, 369, 397, 409, 441,
459-460, 462, 474, 480-481, 496, 504,
509.
Treaties: with Great Britain, con-
cerning Oregon, 93-94, 98; with
Spain, cession of Florida, 95; with
Texas Republic (proposed), 95;
Guadelupe Hildago, with Mexico,
98, 119; Gadsden Purchase, with
Mexico, 98; Clayton-Bulwer, with
Great Britain (referred to), 175;
with Spain for annexation of Cuba
(proposed), 158-159, 192, 194; with
Spain after war of 1898, 320; Hay-
Pauncefote, with Great Britain, 327;
Abrogation of the Russian, 396, 404;
Versailles, 447-449, 468, 471, 473-
474, 489, 495-496, 506.— Concerning
Chinese exclusion, 232, 237, 244, 248,
253, 261, 266, 271-272, 287, 335;
Concerning expatriation and the
right of, 213, 216, 221, 222, 232, 404,
417, 432, 438; The Hague, 320, 328;
Advocacy of International Arbitra-
tion and^ Court, 143, 253, 335, 358-
359, 382, 417, 426-427, 436; Con-
cerning ratification of treaties by
majority vote (proposed constitu-
tional amendment), 468.
Trumbull, Lyman, 224.
Trusts : Expressions by Democrats,
267-268, 285, 300, 301, 324, 325, 340,
341, 342, 347, 368-369, 393-394, 422,
463; by Republicans, 272, 281, 317,
333-334, 336, 337, 354, 362-363, 383,
440, 481; by Populists, 291; by Pro-
gressives, 408-410.
Turkey, 308.
Turner, George, 338.
Twelfth Amendment, The, 38.
"Twin relics of barbarism," 180, 232,
244.
Two-thirds Rule, The, in Democratic
conventions, 73, 75, 91-92, 131, 191,
193, 214.
538
POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Tyler, John: Candidacy for Vice-
President in 1836, 77, 78; Nomi-
nated for Vice-President by Whigs
in 1840, 81, and elected, 84; Presi-
dent, recreancy to party, 91 ; Acts
of administration concerning Ore-
gon and Texas, 94, 95, 99.
UNDERWOOD, OSCAR W., 390.
Underwood Tariff Act, The, 423, 439.
"Union (The) as it was, the Union
as it is, and the Union as it shall
be," 109, 134, 174.
Union Labor Party, The, 276, 277.
Union Party, The (Republican Party),
203, 211.'
Union Reform Party, The, 329.
Unit Rule, The, 241, 255.
United Labor Party, The, 276.
United States Bank, The: See "Bank
of the United States."
"Unnecessary taxation is unjust taxa-
tion," 258, 267.
Usurpations by Presidents, Charges of,
179-180, 212, 248, 478.
Utah: Made a Territory by the Com-
promise legislation of 1850, 123;
Popular sovereignty principle ap-
plied to, 124, 145, 147.
Utica (N. Y.) : Convention held in,
113.
Utilities: See "Public Utilities."
VAN BUREN, MARTIN: 52; Nomi-
nated and elected Vice-President by
Democrats (1832), 73, 74; Nomi-
nated and elected President (1836),
76, 78; Renominated and defeated
(1840), 81, 84; Defeated for Demo-
cratic nomination in 1844, 91-92;
Opposition to annexation of Texas,
96; Nomination for President in
1848 by Free Soil party, 113-114,
and .vote, 117-118.
Venezuela, 337.
Versailles Treaty, The, 447-449, 468,
471, 473-474, 489, 495-496, 506.
Veto Power, The, 93, 107, 133, 170.
Vice-President, The: Election by Sen-
ate in 1836, 78.
Vilas, William F. : Presides over
Democratic convention of 1884, 255.
"Vindictive Vetoes" of President Wil-
son, Alleged, 474.
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions:
22-34; Democratic platform expres-
sions concerning, 133-134, 173.
"Virginia Dynasty," The: 37; The
Clintonian platform on, 42.
Vocational Education, 398, 408, 442
456, 458, 475, 486, 490.
WADE, BENJAMIN F., 196, 211.
Wakarusa War, The, 155-156.
Wakefield, W. H. T., 276.
Walker, James B., 242.
Wall, Edward C., 338.
Wall Street, 370, 371, 398.
War, Declaration of: Proposed con-
stitutional amendment concerning,
47.
War of 1812, The, 42, 44.
War Revenue Act, The, 452.
War Risk Insurance, 459, 475.
Ward, John E. : Presides over Demo-
cratic convention of 1856, 168.
Warehouse Act, The, 428, 455.
Warren, Charles B., 468.
Warsaw (N. Y.) : Abolitionist con-
vention held in, 79.
Washburne, Elihu B., 241.
Washington (City): Meeting of Na-
tional Republicans in, 71.
Washington, George: Elected and re-
elected President, 19-20; Declines a
third term, 21; 22; 126.
Water Power, 413, 475, 483.— See
"Conservation of Natural Re-
sources."
Watered Stock, 325, 355, 393, 409.
Waterways, 262, 288, 303, 343, 357,
374, 387, 398, 413, 432-433, 461-462,
481.— See "Flood Control" and
"Rivers and Harbors."
Watkins, Aaron S.: Nominations by
Prohibitionists, 377, 419, 488, 514.
Watson, Thomas E. : Nominations by
People's party, 311, 313, 348, 349,
377, 380.
Watterson, Henry: Presides over
Democratic convention of 1876, 233.
Weaver, James B.: Nomination for
President by Greenback party, and
vote, 249; Nomination by People's
party, 290, and vote, 296.
Webster, Daniel: Candidacy for
President in 1836, 77, 78; on the
INDEX
539
Texas question, 96; 110; and the
Fugitive Slave bill, 129; 135-136.
Weeks, John W., 434, 435.
West, Alanson M., 263.
Wheeler, William A.: Nominated for
Vice-President by Republicans, 229,
and awarded office, 240.
Whig Party, The: Succeeds National
Republican party, 18, 53, 76; Cam-
paign of 1836, 76-78; Campaign of
1840, 80-81, 84; Campaign of 1844,
90-91, 96, 97; Campaign of 1848,
110-112, 117-118; Effects of Fugitive
Slave law upon, 129-130; Campaign
of 1852, 135-139, 144; Decline after
passage of Kansas-Nebraska bill,
156-157; Attitude in campaign of
1856, 182-184; Cooperation of for-
mer supporters with Constitutional
Union party in 1860, 200.
"Whiskey trusts (The) and the
agents of foreign manufacturers,"
271.
White, Hugh L. : Presidential candi-
dacy, 77, 78.
White, Stephen M.: Presides over
Democratic convention of 1888, 265,
and 1896, 297.
Whitney, William C., 282.
Widows' Pensions, 353, 359, 388.
Wilkins, William, 74.
Williams, James Robert, 338.
Williams, John Sharp: Presides over
Democratic convention of 1904, and
vote for Presidential nomination,
338; 446.
Williams, Samuel W., 337.
Wilmot, David: Author of Wilmot
Proviso, 100; 178-179; Presides over
Republican convention of 1860, 196.
Wilmot Proviso, The: Passed by the
House of Representatives, 100-101 ;
Democratic convention of 1848 and,
104-105; Effects upon election of
1848, 113-114, 117-118; The princi-
ple surrendered as result of Com-
promise measures of 1850, 123-124.
Wilson, Henry: Leaves Whig party,
112; Presides over Free Soil con-
vention of 1852, 139; Nominated for
Vice-President by Republicans, 220,
Wilson, William L. : Presides over
Democratic convention of 1892, 282.
223, and elected, 228.
Wilson, Woodrow: Nominated for
President by Democrats in 1912, 390-
391, and elected, 420; Renominated
in 1916, 421, eulogized in platform,
433, and reelected, 444; Democratic
convention of 1920 sends message to,
445, and upholds, 447-443, 449, 450,
455, 458; Republican platform con-
demns, 472, 473, 474, 478, 484; Ad-
ministration condemned by Socialists,
501-503. — "Greatest American of his
generation," 433; "Vision and
vigor," 448; "Moral leadership,"
449; "Disregard of the lives of
American boys," 472; "Insistence
upon having his own way," 473 ;
"Dictator," "Vindictive vetoes," 474;
"Autocratic," "Usurpation," 478.
Windom, William, 241.
Wine: Proposal concerning in Demo-
cratic convention of 1920, 467.
Wing, Simon, 295.
Wirt, William: Nominated for Presi-
dent by Anti-Masonic party, 69;
Vote, 74.
Wisconsin: Minority resolutions from
in Republican conventions, 362-363,
389, 442-443, 487-488.
Wolcott, Edward O.: Presides over
Republican convention of 1900, 314.
Woman Suffrage: Expressions by
Democrats, 431, 434, 458; by Repub-
licans, 442, 475, 485; by Progres-
sives, 414; by Prohibitionists, 489-
490; by Farmer-Labor party, 495;
by Socialists, 505.
Women, Measures, etc., in the Interest
of: Expressions by Republicans,.
223, 232, 310, 319, 475, 486; by-
Democrats, 430, 457, 458; by Pro-
gressives, 408; by Prohibitionists,,
490; by Farmer-Labor party, 499.
Wood, Leonard: Contest for Presi-
dential nomination in Republican
convention of 1920, 468-469.
Woodbury, Levi, 104.
Wool, 252, 271, 279, 307.
Woolley, John G. : Nominated for
President by Prohibitionists, 329;
Vote, 330.
Workers' International Industrial
Union, The, 513.
540 POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Workmen's Compensation, 381, 400, Worth, W. J., 104.
408, 430, 442, 456, 482, 499.— See w • , , „ A • u R T> -A
, ((r« 1 , !•• !_•!• i> Wright, Hendrick B.: Presides over
' of 1844, „.
World War, The, 423-426, 436, 447- Wright, Silas: Nominated for Vice-
451, 469-471, 473-474, 493-494, 502- President by Democrats and de-
503. clines, 92, 96.
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