i M.IAN A. 



413 



convention was composed of about 5oO 



ivpiVM-ntin:; i-wry county in tlio 

 intion was adopted asMiinin^ 

 the a. mi of "Independent" for the party to 

 bo orpini/.cd, "a> an expression of tiic.-Miili- 

 and purposes" oi' the delegates, and in 

 ord.-r tii c.iiiiinand due recognition." There 

 considerable disouasion and some division 

 iliiiu-iil as to tlio expediency of forming u 

 political oi'-ani/.ation, which led to the with- 

 drawal of several delegations, including those 

 from tlio fourth, eighth, and ninth congres- 

 sional districts. Finally a platform was adopt- 

 ed and nominations for Male officers made. 

 After a loni; preamble, setting forth the gen- 

 eral principles of the organization and declar- 

 ing that "our government is wholly perverted 

 from its true design, and the sacred names 

 democracy and republicanism are the synonyms 

 of despotism," the platform enumerates the 

 following as the "instrumentalities" by which 

 these wrongs are indicted : 



1. Banking and moneyed monopolies, by which, 

 through ruinous rates of interest, the products of 

 human labor ore concentrated in the hands of non- 

 producers. This is the great central source of these 

 wrongs, in and through which all other monopolies 

 exist and operate. 



2. Consolidated railroads and other transit monop- 

 olies, whereby all industries are taxed to the last mill 

 they will, bear, for the benefit of the stockholders and 

 stock-jobbers. 



/ 8. Manufacturing monopolies, whereby all small 



operators are crushed out, and the price of labor and 



} its products are determined with mathematical cer- 



4. Land monopolies, by which the public domain 

 is absorbed by a few corporations and speculators. 



5. Commercial and grain monopolies, speculating 

 and enriching their bloated corporations on human 

 necessities. 



It is thus proposed to "remedy these evils 

 and remove their results : " 



1. By abandoning the gold-basis fallacy and estab- 

 lishing" a monetary system based on the faith and re- 

 sources of the nation, in harmony with the genius of 

 this Government and adapted to the exigencies of 

 legitimate commerce. To this end the circulating 

 notes of the national and State banks, as well as all 

 local currency, to be withdrawn from circulation, and 

 a paper currency issued by the Government, which 

 shall be a legal tender in the payment of all debts, 

 public and private, duties on imports included, ana 

 declared equal with gold, the lawful money of the 

 Unit- 1 BtatM; ti;i- cimvn.-y ..i- m.iiu-y to In' inter- 

 changeable at the pleasure of the holders for Gov- 

 ernment bonds bearing a low rate of interest, say 

 8.65 per cent. ; the Government creditors to have the 

 privilege of taking the money or bonds at their elec- 

 tion, reserving to Congress the right to regulate the 

 rate of interest on the bonds and the volume of the 

 currency, so as to effect the equitable distribution of 

 the products of labor between money or non-pro- 

 ducing capital and productive industry. 



2. Bv paying the national debt in strict accordance 

 with the laws under which It was originally con- 

 tracted, gold where specifically promised, but all 

 other forms of indebtedness, including the principal 

 of the 5-20 bonds, should be discharged at the earliest 

 option of the Government in the legal-tender cur- 

 rency of the United States, without funding it in 

 long bonds, or in any way increasing the gold-pay- 

 ing and untaxod obligations of the Government. 



The following resolutions are appended to 

 these declarations, and complete thu plat- 

 form : 



Rtolt*l, That we are in favor of the office Making 

 the man, and not the man the office ; that we wifl 

 endeavor to select men to fill the various offices who 

 atv honest and capable, without regard to forun-r po- 

 litical opinions; that we detest bribery, corruption, 

 and fraud, in obtaining votes, either by the use of 

 mom y or whiskey, and will not support any man for 

 office known to be guilty of the same ; and that we 

 are opposed to soliciting any man to fill the same 

 office for more than one term in succession, from the 

 President down. 



Resolved, That we uncompromisingly condemn the 

 practice of our public officers in receiving free passe* 

 from railroad managers. 



Resolved, That we denounce the action of our last 

 Legislature, and representatives in Congress and the 

 Senate, for the increase of taxes, fees, and salaries, 

 and wo will use all honorable means in our power to 

 reduce the taxes, fees, and salaries of all to a reason- 

 able basis. 



Resolved, That we demand the reduction of all 

 public expenditure, to the end that taxation may be 

 reduced to the lowest possible limit. 



Resolved, That it is contrary to the policy of good 

 government to encourage litigation, and that the law 

 allowing 10 per cent, on judgments and the collection 

 of attorneys' fees off of defendant encourages litiga- 

 tion, favors capital, and is a source of corruption and 

 serves no good end. therefore ought to be remedied 

 by appropriate legislation. 



Resolved, That the present assessment law of real 

 estate imposes unequal and unjust burdens on the 

 producing class, and fuvors capital and corporate 

 wealth, and we demand its speedy amendment. 



Resolved, That we demand a change in our grand- 

 jury system, that their jurisdiction extend to felonies 

 only. 



Resolved, That no party is worthy our confidence 

 who denies the right of the people to restrict the 

 abuses of the liquor-traffic. 



The candidates nominated for State officers 

 were : Secretary' of State, Noyes S. White, of 

 Vigo County; Auditor of State, Ebenezer 

 Henderson, of Morgan County; State Treas- 

 urer, Norris 0. Bennett, of Steuben County; 

 Attorney-General, James A. S. Mitchell, of 

 Elkhart County ; Judge of the Supreme Court, 

 Horace P. Biddle, of Cass County; Superin- 

 tendent of Public Instruction, Clarkson Davis, 

 of Henry County. 



Another convention was held at Indianapo- 

 lis on the 12th of August, for the purpose of 

 filling vacancies on the ticket, some of the 

 candidates having refused to run. Messrs. 

 Henderson and Biddle were rejected for having 

 accepted nominations for the same offices from 

 the Democratic Convention. There were only 

 about 75 delegates at this convention, and the 

 ticket finally agreed upon was: J. B. Stout for 

 Secretary of State, T. Z. Truscott for Auditor, 

 N. 0. Bennett for Treasurer, AVra. A. Peebles 

 for Attorney-General, and A. II. Graham for 

 Superintendent of Public Instruction. 



The Republican State Convention Was held 

 at Indianapolis on the 17th of June, and nomi- 

 nated by acclamation the incumbent State offi- 

 cers for reelection, as follows : For Secretary 

 of State, W. F. Curry ; for Auditor, Joseph A. 

 Wildman; for Treasurer, John B. Glover; for 



