432 



ILLINOIS. 



do this is made by legislating out of existence the 

 whole silver coinage of the country as legal tender, 

 and at the same time depreciating the value of one 

 of its most important products in the markets of the 

 world, the consequences of this nefarious scheme are 

 so far-reaching and disastrous that it calls for un- 

 measured denunciation. 



Resolved. That the proposal to pay the bondhold- 

 ers exclusively in gold (which their bonds do not 

 call for), and at the same time to demonetize silver, 

 except so far as to make it legal tender to some small 

 amount for all other kinds of indebtedness, would 

 be partial class legislation of the very worst charac- 

 ter. We emphatically reject all such compromises. 

 The money that is good enough for the public at 

 large is good enough for the bondholders. We de- 

 mand that the silver dollar be returned to its full 

 legal-tender quality in payment of all debts, both 

 public and private, and we will be satisfied with no- 

 thing less than this; and we pledge ourselves to 

 vote for no man for Congress who is not fully com- 

 mitted in favor of this measure. 



Resolve!, That we will resist the consummation of 

 this wrong by all honorable means within our pow- 

 er. We call upon both Houses of Congress to insist 

 upon the repeal of the demonetizing act and the res- 

 toration of the silver dollar to its rightful place in 

 our currency; and if the President shall, by the use 

 of his negative, succeed in defeating the bill, then 

 we call on Congress to append a similar repealing 

 clause to the general appropriation bill, and stand 

 by it to the last, with full confidence that the people 

 will assuredly stand by them. 



Rssolved, That we view with intense indignation 

 the efforts now being made by the money power of 

 New York and other cities of the East to coerce 

 public opinion in the West and South upon the 

 question of silver remonetization, and that, speak- 

 ing in behalf of the State of Illinois, we say most 

 emphatically that the honest convictions of the peo- 

 ple of this section of the Union will never be surren- 

 dered at the dictation of greedy capitalists and 

 bondholders, be the consequences what they may. 



Resolved, That the President and Secretaries be 

 required to forward a copy of these resolutions to 

 the President of the United States, and to each 

 member of the Cabinet, as well as to the Senators 

 and Represenatives in Congress for the State of Illi- 

 nois. 



The convention of Nationals for the nomi- 

 nation of State officers to be elected assembled 

 at Springfield on March 27th, and was organ- 

 ized by the appointment of Joseph Gillespie, 

 of Madison, as President. General E. N. Bates, 

 of Chicago, was nominated for State Treasurer, 

 and Professor Frank H. Hall, of Sugar Creek 

 Grove, for Superintendent of Public Instruc- 

 tion. Clerks for the Northern, Central, and 

 Southern grand divisions of the Supreme Court 

 were nominated, and also Clerks for the four 

 appellate districts. The platform adopted was 

 the same as that adopted in February at the 

 National Convention in Toledo (see UNITED 

 STATES), to which the following resolutions 

 were added : 



Jfaolved, That we demand an immediate issue of a 

 full legal tender paper currency by the Government 

 the full limit, at least, of the $400,000,000 legal- 

 tender United States Treasury notes. 



k 5T ' Tha l t the credit f the Government can 

 >e strengthened and preserved by its first pay- 

 ins? off its interest-bearing debt before calling in any 

 part of its non-mtorest-bearing obligations" for re- 

 demption. 

 Rnolved, That we recommend and urge upon all 



State, county, and township committees, and all oth- 

 er persons engaged in the work, to organize National 

 Greenback and local clubs that support the principles 

 set forth in the Toledo platform. 



Resolved, That payment of all wages in lawful 

 money of the country is the only valid payment for 

 labor; and that we are opposed to employment of 

 minors in shops and factories under fourteen years 

 of age. 



The Democratic Convention assembled at 

 Springfield on April llth, and organized by 

 the appointment of Michael W. Robinson, of 

 Cook County, as President. E. L. Cronkite 

 was nominated for State Treasurer, and S. M. 

 Etter for Superintendent of Public Schools. 

 The following platform was adopted : 



The Democracy of the State of Illinois, assembled 

 in convention, congratulate the country on the final 

 settlement of the questions resulting from the late 

 civil war upon the principles of local self-govern- 

 ment so long supported by the Democratic party ; 

 and reaffirm confidence in the capacity of the people 

 to govern themselves, and their belief in the supre- 

 macy of the civil over the military power, the liberty 

 of individual action uncontrolled by sumptuary laws, 

 the separation of church and state, the support of 

 free common schools, and the duty of all to yield to 

 the lawfully expressed will of the majority. And we 

 declare 



1. That reform must be made in national, State, 

 county, and municipal government, by the reduction 

 of taxes and expenditures, the dismissal of unneces- 

 sary and incompetent officers and employees from 

 the public service, and the strict enforcement of 

 official responsibility ; and that the provisions of the 

 State Constitution limiting indebtedness and the 

 rate of taxation should be strictly observed and en- 

 forced. 



2. That tariff for revenue only should be adopt- 

 ed, and if discrimination is made, it should be iu 

 favor of the necessaries of life ; and in order to re- 

 move a part of the burden from the mass of the pea- 

 pie who are taxed too much, a graduated tax on in- 

 comes, over a reasonable sum for support, ought to 

 be adopted and placed upon the surplus profits of 

 the wealthy, who escape their just proportion- of the 

 taxation. 



3. That we are in favor of United States bonds 

 and Treasury notes being subject to taxation tho 

 same as other property. 



4. That all contracts ought to be performed in 

 good faith, according to the terms thereof, and the 

 obligations of the Government discharged in lawful 

 money, except where otherwise expressly provided 

 upon their face and by the law under which they 

 were issued, and repudiation should find no favor 

 with an honorable people. 



5. That it is inexpedient to make any further re- 

 duction of the principal of the public debt for the 

 present ; and bonds, as they mature, or sooner if 

 possible, should be replaced by the issue of other 

 bonds bearing a lower rate of interest. It is the 

 duty of the Federal Government to issue bonds, in 

 small denominations, to be sold in this country, for 

 the accommodation of those who wish to invest sav- 

 ings in safe securities. 



6. That we are in favor of the immediate and un- 

 conditional repeal of the resumption act. 



7. That we applaud the action of Congress in the 

 enactment of what is known as the silver bill, and 

 accept it as a partial measure of financial relief; but 

 we demand such further legislation as may result in 

 authorizing free coinage of the silver dollar, the de- 

 monetization of which we denounce as an act merit- 

 ing the condemnation of the people. 



^ 8. That it is the exclusive prerogative of t lie United 

 States to issue all bills to circulate as money, and 



