702 



UNITED STATES. 



subvert the government of our fathers, and establish 

 on its ruins an empire, in which all political power 

 shall be centralized to restrain and oppress the rights 

 of labor, and subordinate its votaries to the merciless 

 demands of aggregated capital and supercilious au- 

 thority. 



Resolved, That the national banking system, being 

 inimical to the spirit of liberty, and subversive of the 

 principles of justice, and without warrant in the Con- 

 stitution of the United States, and wrongfully in- 

 creasing the burdens of the wealth producing classes 

 millions of dollars annually, justice, the aspirations 

 of honest industry, and the spirit of imperilled lib- 

 erty, demand its immediate repeal, and the substitu- 

 tion of legal-tender notes as the exclusive currency 

 of the nation. 



Resolved, That the " National Labor Union" is op- 

 posed to the continuance and creation of banks by 

 acts of incorporation by either State or national au- 

 thority, with the privilege of making, issuing, or put- 

 ting in circulation any; notes, bills, or other paper of 

 any other bank, to circulate as money, except the 

 "legal-tender or Treasury notes" therein contem- 

 plated. 



Resolved. That the present rate of interest is in ex- 

 cess and disproportionate to the increase of national 

 wealth, and, being the governing power in the distri- 

 bution of the products of capital and labor, is oppres- 

 sive to the producing classes. 



Resolved, That the revenue laws of the United 

 States should be altered, so that, instead of subordi- 

 nating labor to capital, they may afford just protec- 

 tion to labor and the industrial interests of the whole 

 country: 



Resolved, That the legal-tender money should be 

 made a legal tender in the payment of all debts, pub- 

 lic and private, and convertible, at the option of the 

 holder, into Government bonds, bearing interest at 

 the rate of three per cent, per annunij with privilege 

 to the holder to reconvert the bonds into money, or 

 the money into bonds, at pleasure. 



Resolved, That the claim of the bondholders, that 

 the bonds which were bought with greenbacks, and 

 the principal of which is by_ law payable in currency, 

 should nevertheless be paid in gold, is unjust and 

 extortionate. 



Resolved^, That the exemption from tax of bonds 

 and securities is a violation of the just principle of 

 revenue laws. 



Resolved, That land monopolies are at variance with 

 the doctrine that " all freemen, when they form a so- 

 cial compact, are equal in rights," and, if persisted in, 

 must ultimately result in the .sub version of free insti- 

 tutions, as also the social and political well-being of 

 the laboring masses. To prevent this calamity^ the 

 public lands adapted to agriculture should be given, 

 in reasonable quantities, to none but American citi- 

 zens and such as have declared their intention to be- 

 come citizens. Individual owners of extensive tracts 

 of land should be encouraged to dispose of the same 

 in small parcels, at reasonable prices, to actual set- 

 tlers, that they may thus become identified with the 

 soil as responsible, intelligent citizens. 



Resolved, That it is a duty which should be exer- 

 cised with pleasure to guard with vigilant care the 

 delicate and sacred rights of the daughters of toil 

 who are engaged in various industrial pursuits, and 

 solicit their" hearty cooperation in our efforts to vin- 

 dicate the rights of the laboring classes, while we 

 pledge them in returi our individual and undivided 

 support. 



Jiesolved, That religion, morality, and knowledge, 

 being necessary to success, schools and other means 

 of education should be encouraged, such as the for- 

 mation of labor unions, mechanics' institutes, lyce- 

 ums, reading-rooms, and whatever additional agencies 

 may hereafter be deemed conducive to the cause of 

 morality and intelligence. 



Resolved, That as labor is the foundation and cause 

 of national prosperity, it is both the duty and interest 



of Government to foster and protect it. Its impor- 

 tance, therefore, demands the creation of an executive 

 department of the Government at Washington, to be 

 denominated the Department of Labor, which shall 

 aid in protecting it above all other interests. 



Resolved, That the protection of life, liberty, and 

 property, are the three cardinal principles of gov- 

 ernment, and the first two more sacred than the lat- 

 ter ; therefore money^ necessary for prosecuting wars 

 should, as it is required, be assessed and collected 

 from the wealth of the country, and not be entailed as 

 a burden on posterity. 



Resolved, That the National Labor Congress ear- 

 nestly recommends the adoption of such measures 

 among all classes of workmen, in all sections of the 

 country, as will secure the adoption of the eight-hour 

 system, and calls upon the respective State Legisla- 

 tures to follow the example of the national Congress 

 in recognizing eight hours as a legal day's work. 



Resolved, That voluntary associations of working 

 men and women are entitled, at the hands of legisla- 

 tion, State and national, to the same chartered rights 

 and privileges granted to associated capital, and we 

 demand their practical recognition and enforcement. 



Resolved, That political equality being one of the 

 cardinal principles of this organization, we therefore 

 urge full restoration of civil and political rights to 

 every American citizen, except such as have been 

 convicted of felony. 



On September 1st the National Temperance 

 Convention assembled in Chicago. It con- 

 sisted of about five hundred members, and had 

 been called for the purpose of organizing a na- 

 tional political party, having the prohibition 

 of liquor-selling for its distinct object. Much 

 opposition was manifested to the design of em- 

 bodying the movement in a distinct political 

 party organization, but it was generally con- 

 ceded that this was the only course open to the 

 advocates of prohibition, both on the score of 

 principle and policy. The views of the con- 

 vention were expressed in the following reso- 

 lutions : 



Whereas, Protection and allegiance are reciprocal 

 duties, and every citizen who yields obedience to the 

 just demands of his Government is entitled to the 

 full, free and perfect protection of that Government 

 in the enjovment of personal security, personal lib- 

 erty, and private property ; and, 



Whereas, The traffic in intoxicating drinks greatly 

 impairs the personal security arid personal liberty of 

 a large mass of citizens, and renders private property 

 insecure; and 



Whereas, The existing parties are hopelessly un- 

 willing to adopt an adequate policy on this question, 

 therefore, we, in National Convention assembled, as 

 citizens of this free republic, sharing in the duties 

 and responsibilities of its government, in discharge 

 of a solemn duty we owe to our country and our race, 

 unite in the following declaration of principles : 



1. That while we acknowledge the pure patriotism 

 and profound statesmanship of those patriots who laid 

 the foundation of the Government, securing at once 

 the rights of the States, severally, and their insepara- 

 ble union by the Federal Constitution, we would not 

 merely garnish the sepulchres of our republican fore- 

 fathers ; but we do hereby renew our solemn pledges 

 of fealty to the imperishable principles of civil and re- 

 ligious liberty embodied in the Declaration of Ameri- 

 can Independence, and our Federal Constitution. 



2. That the traffic in intoxicating beverages is a 

 dishonor to Christian civilization, inimical to the best 

 interests of society, a political wrong of unequalled 

 enormity, subversive of the ordinary objects of gov- 

 ernment, not capable of being regulated or restained 

 by any system of license whatever, but imperatively 



