414 



INDIANA. 



Attorney-General, James 0. Denny ; for Judge 

 of the Supreme Court, Andrew L. Osborn. 

 The platform, which was unanimously adopted, 

 was prefaced by an appeal to the past history 

 of the party, its great achievements, and its 

 determination to reform abuses and expose 

 and punish fraud and corruption. Then fol- 

 lows the following declaration of principles : 



The Kepublicans of Indiana, therefore, assembled 

 in State Convention, do hereby declare 



1. Their unchangeable determination to adhere to 

 all the fundamental principles of the Eepublican 

 party in so far as the future condition of the country 

 shall require their enforcement. As the Union re- 

 mains unbroken, and the people of all sections are 

 again bound together as brethren by a common des- 

 tiny and under a common flag, we favor such meas- 

 ures as shall develop the material resources of every 

 portion of it, to secure to all, of every class and con- 

 dition, full protection in all just rights of person and 

 property, to remove all acerbities of the past, and to 

 perpetuate the nation as the model republic of the 

 world. 



2. We recognize that as the true policy of govern- 

 ment which shall harmonize all the diversified inter- 

 ests and pursuits necessarily existing in a country 

 of such vast extent as ours, and as this can be done 

 only by so directing legislation as to secure just pro- 

 tection and reward to every branch of industry, we 

 are in favor of giving precedence to those measures 

 which shall recognize agricultural and mechanical 

 pursuits as entitled to the amplest protection and 

 fullest development ; of putting a stop to large 

 grants of the public domain to railroad corporations, 

 and reserving it for settlement and cultivation ; of 

 improving the navigation of our great inland rivers ; 

 of securing cheap transportation and profitable 

 markets for the products of agricultural and manu- 

 facturing labor ; of encouraging such manufactures 

 as shall bring the producer and consumer in the 

 neighborhood of each other, and thus to establish 

 mutual relations between them and those engaged in 

 commerce and transportation; of properly adjusting 

 the relations between capital and labor, in order that 

 each may receive a just and equitable share of the 

 profits ; and of holding those in the possession of 

 corporate wealth and privileges in strict conformity 

 to the law, so that through combined influences peo- 

 ple of varied pursuits may be united together in the 

 common purpose of preserving the honor of the na- 

 tion and developing the immense resources of every 

 section of the Union, and of advancing the social and 

 mutual prosperity of all its industrial and laboring 

 classes. 



_ 3. We are in favor of such legislation on the ques- 

 tion of finance as shall make national banking free, 

 and shall furnish the country with such an addi- 

 tional amount of currency as may be necessary to 

 meet the Wants of the agricultural, industrial, and 

 \J commercial interests of the country, to be distrib- 

 \ uted between the sections according to the population 

 . V of each, as is consistent with the credit and honor 

 of the ^nation, and will prevent the possibility of 

 capitalists and combinations of capital controlling 

 the currency of the country. 



_ 4. We are in favor of such a revision of our patent- 

 rights laws as shall destroy the oppressive monopoly 

 incidental to the present system, and shall regulate 

 and control the manufacture, use, and sale of patent- 

 right articles for the benefit alike of the inventor, 

 consumer, and manufacturer. 



5. That the Eepublican party continues to express 

 its gratitude to the soldiers and sailors of the re- 

 public for the patriotism, courage, and self-sacrifice 

 with which they gave themselves to the preservation 

 of the country during the late civil war, and it will 

 especially recognize the services of the enlisted men 

 "by favoring extension from time to time, a&the abili- 



ty of the Government will admit, of the pension and 

 bounty laws. 



6. In the opinion of this convention, intemperance 

 is an evil against which society has the right to pro- 

 tect itself; that our whole system of legislation 

 throughout all the history of our State, has asserted 

 and maintained this right, and it cannot now be 

 surrendered without yielding up that fundamental 

 principle of American Government which places the 

 power of passing laws in the hands of a majority. 

 Therefore we are in favor of such legislation as 

 will give a majority of the people the right to de- 

 termine for themselves, in their respective towns, 

 townships, or wards, whether the sale of intoxicating 

 liquors, for use as a beverage, shall be permitted 

 therein, and such as will hold the vender responsi- 

 ble for all damages resulting from such sales. 



7. We favor the enactment of a law limiting the 

 power of township trustees, county commissioners, 

 and municipal authorities, to assess taxes and in- 

 crease township, county, and municipal indebted- 

 ness. 



8. Inasmuch as great abuses have grown up under 

 our present system of fees and salaries, we demand 

 such legislation as will so reduce and regulate all 

 fees and salaries as will allow no more than a fair 

 and just compensation for services rendered. 



9. We look with pride and satisfaction upon our 

 common-school system, and regard its munificent 

 fund as a sacred trust to be faithfully and honestly 

 administered, so that all the children of the State 

 may be educated in the duties of citizenship, and 

 thereby become better able to perpetuate our popu- 

 lar institutions ; and whosoever shall seek to strike 

 it down, or impair its usefulness, will meet our cease- 

 less and unrelenting opposition. 



10. We have entire confidence in the integrity and 

 honor of the President of the United States, and our 

 Senators and Bepublican Kepresentatives in Con- 

 gress are entitled to our thanks for the zeal with 

 which they have represented the principles of the 

 Eepublican party during the present session of 

 Congress ; and the Eepublicans of Indiana view 

 with especial pride and hearty approval the course 

 of Senators Morton and Pratt, and the fidelity and 

 ability with which they have represented the senti- 

 ments of the people of this State. 



The Democratic State Convention was held 

 at Indianapolis, on the 15th of July. Governor 

 Thomas A. Hendricks was chosen chairman, 

 and made an extended speech, in which he 

 criticised the course of the Eepublican party, 

 and advocated a return to specie payments, and 

 the adoption of the license system for controlling 

 the traffic in intoxicating liquors. The plat- 

 form arraigns the Federal Administration for 

 overthrowing the government of the State of 

 Louisiana, and preventing the officers elected 

 by the people from taking the positions to which 

 they were chosen ; for corrupting the sources 

 of public j ustice, by squandering money to aid its 

 party ; for farming out the revenues to corrupt 

 and unprincipled men ; for appointing corrupt 

 men to office in the District of Columbia ; for 

 recklessly squandering the money, resources, 

 and public domain of the people, and corrupt- 

 ing the civil service of the country. The Ee- 

 publican party is declared to be responsible for 

 these acts of the Administration, and for the 

 " Cr6dit-Mobilierfrauds, the enormous increase 

 of salaries, and the Sanborn contracts." A de- 

 mand is then made for " a strict construction 

 of the Constitution and its amendments ; a 

 tariff for revenue," and a reduction of salaries. 



