Y74 



UNITED STATES. 



of labor, to enrich a few capitalists at home and 

 abroad. 



3. That justice demands that the burdens of Gov- 

 ernment should be so adjusted as to bear equally on all 

 classes and interests, and that exemption from taxa- 

 tion of Government bonds, bearing extortionate rates 

 of interest, is a violation of all just principles of rev- 

 enue laws. 



4. That the public lands of the United States be- 

 long to the people, and should not be sold to indi- 

 viduals, nor granted to corporations, but should be 

 held as a sacred trust for the benefit of the people, 

 and should be granted free of cost to landless settlers 

 only, in amounts not exceeding one hundred and 

 sixty acres to each. 



5. That Congress should modify the tariff so as to 

 admit free such articles of common use as we can 

 neither produce nor grow, and lay duties for revenue 

 mainly upon articles of luxury, and upon such articles 

 of manufacture as will we having the raw material 

 in abundance assist in further developing the re- 

 sources of the country. 



6. That_the presence in our country of Chinese 

 laborers, imported by capitalists in large numbers 

 for servile use, is an evil, entailing want and its at- 

 tendant train of misery and crime on all classes of 

 the American people, and should be prohibited by 

 legislation. 



7. That we ask for the enactment of a law by 

 which all mechanics and day-laborers employed by 

 or on behalf of the Government, whether directly or 

 indirectly, through persons, firms, or corporations, 

 contracting with the State, shall conform to the re- 

 duced standard of eight hours a day, recently adopted 

 by Congress for national employes, and also for an 

 amendment to the acts of incorporation for cities and 

 towns, by which all laborers and mechanics, em- 

 ployed at their expense, shall conform to the same 

 number of hours. 



8. That the enlightened spirit of the age demands 

 the abolition of the system of contract labor in our 

 prisons and other reformatory institutions. 



9. That the protection of life, liberty, and proper- 

 ty, forms the three cardinal principles of government, 

 and the first two are more sacred than the latter ; 

 therefore, money needed for prosecuting wars should, 

 as it is required, be assessed and collected from the 

 wealth of the country, and not entailed as a burden 

 on posterity. 



10. That it is the duty of the Government to exer- 

 cise its power over railroads and telegraph corpora- 

 tions, that they shall not in any case be privileged to 

 exact such rates of freight, transportation, or charges 

 by whatever name, as may bear unduly or inequita- 

 bly npon the producer or consumer. 



11. That there should be such reform in the civil 

 service of the national Government as will remove it 

 beyond all partisan influence, and place it in the 

 charge, and under the direction, of intelligent and 

 competent business-nien. 



12. That, as both history and experience teach us 

 that power ever seeks to perpetuate itself, by every 

 and all means at its command, and that its prolonged 

 possession in the hands of one person is always dan- 

 gerous to the liberties of a free people, and believing 

 that the spirit of our organic laws and the stability 

 and safety of our free institutions are best obeyed, on 

 the one hand, and secured, on the other, by a regu- 

 lar constitutional change in the chief of the country 

 at each quadrennial election, therefore, we are in 

 favor of limiting the occupancy of the presidential 

 chair to one term. 



13. That we are in favor of granting general am- 

 nesty, and restoring the Union at once on the basis 

 of the equality of rights and privileges to all, the im- 

 partial administration of justice being the only true 

 bond of union to bind the States together, and re- 

 store the affection of the people to the Government. 



14. That we deem it expedient for Congress to re- 

 vise the patent-laws so as to give laborers more fully 

 the benefits of their ideas and inventions. 



^ 15. That fitness, and not political or personal con- 

 siderations, should be the only recommendation to 

 public office, either appointed or elective, and any 

 or all laws, looking to the establishment of this prin- 

 ciple, are heartily approved. 



16. That we demand the subjection of the military 

 to the civil authorities, and the confinement of its 

 operation to national purposes alone. 



David Davis, of Illinois, one of the judges 

 of the Federal Supreme Court, was nominated 

 for President of the United States, and Joel 

 Parker, of New Jersey, for Vice-President. 

 Subsequently, on June 24th, Judge Davis ad- 

 dressed a letter to the president of the con- 

 vention, declining the nomination, as follows : 



MY DEAB SIB : The National Convention of Labor 

 Eefonners, on the 22d of February last, honored me 

 with a nomination as their candidate for the presi- 

 dency. Having regarded that movement as the ini- 

 tiation of a policy and purpose to unite the various 

 political elements in a compact opposition, and con- 

 sented to the use of my name before the Cincinnati 

 Convention, where a distinguished citizen of New 

 York was nominated under these circumstances, I 

 deem it proper to retire absolutely from the presiden- 

 tial contest, and thus leave the friends, who were gen- 

 erous enough to offer me their voluntary support, 

 free to obey their convictions of duty unfettered by 

 any supposed obligation. 



Sympathizing earnestly with all just and proper 

 measures by which the condition of labor maybe ele- 

 vated and iYnproved, I am, with great respect, your 

 fellow-citizen, DAVID DAVIS. 



On June 28th, Governor Parker likewise 

 declined the nomination, as follows : 



SIR : Your letter, informing me that the Conven- 

 tion of the National Labor Eeform Party, which met 

 at Columbus on the 22d day of February last, placed 

 me in nomination for the office of Vice-President 

 of the United States, has been received. 1 feel hon- 

 ored by the preference thus expressed by the repre- 



sentatives of a large and influential body of my fel- 

 low-citizens. I am in favor of all legal and just 

 measures that tend to improve the condition of the 

 working-men. I have always been a member of the 

 Democratic party. For nearly thirty-five years I 

 have shared its triumphs and defeats, adhering to its 

 fortunes because I considered its success essential to 

 good government and to the elevation of the labor- 



ng-classes. Having been placed in important public 

 positions, as the nominee of that party, I am bo 



und 



in honor as well as by inclination to stand by its or- 

 ganization and abide* by the decision of its National 

 Convention. To be the candidate of one party while 

 supporting the nominee of another (although the 

 two may agree substantially in principle) would be 

 inconsistent, and I therefore respectfully decline the 

 nomination tendered me by the convention you rep- 

 resent. JOEL PAK'KER. 



In consequence of these letters, it was de- 

 cided to hold a conference of working-men in 

 New York, on July 30th. At this conference 

 a convention of delegates of the party was 

 called to meet in Philadelphia on August 22d, 

 to nominate candidates for President and Vice- 

 President. At this convention, on August 22d, 

 Charles O'Conor, of New York, was nomi- 

 nated for President. No nomination for the 

 vice-presidency was made. The following. 

 resolutions were adopted by the convention: 



Resolved, That we. the National Labor Keformers, 

 in convention assembled, declare that we regret that 

 our candidates have withdrawn from the canvass. 

 for what reason we are utterly at a loss to know ; 



