216 



CONNECTICUT. 



the third section of the fourteenth article 

 aforesaid from all persons whomsoever, ex- 

 cept Senators and Representatives of the 

 Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh Congresses, 

 officers in the judicial, military, and naval ser- 

 vice of the United States, heads of Depart- 

 ments, and foreign ministers of the United 

 States. 



The import duties on tea and coffee were 

 abolished by an act which took effect on July 

 1st. 



This session of Congress terminated on the 

 10th day of June. 



CONNECTICUT. Besides the Democratic 

 and Republican, two other parties appeared, 

 as distinct political bodies in this State ; held 

 State Conventions ; adopted platforms, and 

 nominated their candidates for the several 

 State offices at the general election in April, 

 1872. 



The Temperance party, represented by 

 about one hundred delegates from different 

 sections of the State, met at New Haven on 

 the 13th of December, 1871, and nominated a 

 full State ticket, as follows: For Governor, 

 Francis Gillette, of Hartford ; Lieutenant-Gov- 

 ernor, A. S. Beardsley, of Plymouth ; Secretary 

 of State, Hiram P. Lawrence, of Norfolk; State 

 Treasurer, George Greenm an, of Mystic Bridge; 

 Comptroller, Dabney Carr, of Bridgeport. 



The following platform was adopted: 



Assembled to organize a political party for the le- 

 gal suppression of the liquor-traffic and for the ac- 

 complishment of such other reforms as will promote 

 the welfare and enhance the happiness of the State, 

 we adopt, as expressive of our principles and purposes, 

 the following resolutions : 



Resolved, That the foundation principle of the State 

 is public virtue, and its supreme interest the public 

 safety, and that, therefore, that is hostile to the State 

 which corrupts the one or impairs the other. 



Jfaolved, That nothing so corrupts public virtue, 

 or impairs the public welfare, as the traffic in intoxi- 

 cating liquors, and therefore that traffic is the foe of 

 the State, and should be by it destroyed. 



Resolved, That such is the depravity of those en- 

 gaged in supporting the traffic, that its suppression 

 can be effected only .by force of executed law, and 

 such is its organized power, that it sets private as- 

 sault upon it at defiance ; therefore the State, as in 

 duty bound to protect its citizens, should enact all 

 laws needful for its suppression, and should execute 

 such laws through its own officers, and by its own 

 organized powers. 



Resolved, That the record of the existing political 

 parties of the State forbids the hope that either of 

 them can be relied on, if charged with the administra- 

 tion of the State, to execute its laws against the liquor- 

 traffic, and therefore those injured by that traffic 

 should now no longer relv on those parties, but act 

 directly and independently for their own protection. 



Resolved, That, in organizing for this end, we make 

 a clear distinction between temperance as an enter- 

 prise for the moral reformation of men, and prohibi- 

 tion as a measure of civil protection of the State : 

 that as a reformatory work it should be prosecuted 

 only by moral means ; and therefore, while feeling in 

 it as such work the deepest interest, and recognizing 

 our undiminished obligation as individuals to labor 

 in it, and bidding it ? as conducted by the various 

 reformatory organizations of the State, the warm and 

 heartiest " God speed," with it, as such an enterprise, 

 we, as a political party., have nothing to do. 



Resolved, That while the temperance work is thus 

 to be conducted by moral means, the civil protection 

 of citizens from wrongs and injuries in their persons 

 and property from the liquor-traffic can be secured 

 only through law, and that therefore Buch protection 

 is a proper subject of political action, and this is the 

 case of the liquor nuisance, as in that of any other 

 public nuisance of the State. 



Resolved, That to the suppression of the liquor- 

 traffic by these means this organization is pledged, 

 and that it will prosecute it with all its energy and 

 resources until it is accomplished. 



Resolved, That out of the liquor-traffic, as its source, 

 comes largely that special peril of our institutions, 

 the prevailing public corruption of our time ; it in- 

 flames the passions, clouds the intellect, and weak- 

 ens the conscience, thus brutalizing the man. Hav- 

 ing thus personally demoralized him, it then plies 

 him with the influences of public corruption, beguil- 

 ing him with its offers, and intimidating him with 

 its threats. It is the aim of this party to reform this 

 corruption, and to this end it will demand upright- 

 ness of character in its candidates for public office, 

 and integrity in the administration of public affairs, 



ishness and dishonesty, and use its utmost endeav- 

 ors to weed out all rascals from positions of public 

 trust, and put in their places honest men. 



Resolved, That in this connection we especially 

 commend the fidelity and ability with which the 

 Hartford Evening Post exposes and pursues the cor- 

 ruptions of the lobby system of the State, and we en- 

 courage it to persevere in this necessary and nasty 

 work till this Augean stable is thoroughly cleansed. 



Resolved, That one of the most formidable perils 

 of the future is a system of gigantic consolidations 

 now coming over the land, and that the virtue of the 

 people and the wisdom of the Legislature should be 

 combined in an endeavor to break its threatened 

 power. 



Resolved, That the laborer is worthy of his hire, 

 and his hire should be such as will compensate him 

 for his labor, and this while it allows him time for 

 due enjoyment of his home and of society, and for 

 the intellectual and virtuous culture of himself as a 

 man. 



Resolved, That, as women and helpless children are 

 the chief sufferers from the liquor-traffic, their rights 

 should be considered in dealing with it, and their 

 wishes be expressed in all proper ways. 



Resolved, That the success of republican institu- 

 tions is conditioned on the virtue and intelligence of 

 the people, therefore education, both intellectual and 

 moral, should constitute one of the foremost concerns 

 of the State. 



Resolved, That, in the progress of civilization, the 

 time has come when the old, barbarous method of 

 settling national difficulties by war should come to 

 an end, and we hail with profound satisfaction the 

 conclusion of the treaty of peace between this nation 

 and the mother-country, and we express the hope 

 that the friendly relations thus established between 

 these two great members of the English-speaking 

 race may continue while their history endures. 



Resolved, That the name of this party shall be, the 

 Union Keiorm party of Connecticut, and it shall be 

 constituted of tnose who adopt its principles and as- 

 sociate themselves together to realize them. 



Resolved, That our reliance in the enterprise in 

 which we are engaged is on the truth and justice of 

 our cause, the intelligence and virtue of the people, 

 and above all on the almighty power of God, whom 

 we recognize as the friend of every good cause, and 

 on him humbly confess our dependence, and de- 

 voutly implore his aid. 



> Resolved, That we are in favor of a reform in the 

 civil service of the country, by which qualifications 

 for the office shall be required of every applicant for 



