556 



MICHIGAN. 



tions of dissent was generally supported by the 

 party at the polls. 



The convention at Grand Kapids put forth 

 the following declaration of principles : 



The National Greenback-Labor party of Michigan 

 reaffirms the leading principles of the party, as set 

 forth in the last national platform, which have been 

 forcibly epitomized as follows : First, to destroy sec- 

 tional strife ; second, to pay promptly the public debt ; 

 third, to reduce taxes and expenditures ; fourth, to es- 

 tablish unlimited coinage of gold and silver; Jiitn, to 

 substitute government legal-tender paper for bank- 

 issues ; sixth, to overthrow corruption at the polls and 

 in representative bodies ; seventh, to secure a free bal- 

 lot and a fair count ; eighth, to control by law, and 

 bring into subjection to the interests ot the people, all 

 monopolies which have corrupted the public service. 

 and by combination and extortion have established 

 absolute dominion over money or invention, and over 

 land and labor. 



1, The right to petition to amend the Constitution 

 is a sovereign power of the people, and we therefore 

 favor the submission to the people of the question of 

 constitutional prohibition of the liquor-traffic for ratifi- 

 cation or rejection. 



2. We shall support no candidate for any official 

 position who will not pledge himself that if elected he 

 will not accept from any corporation a free pass on any 

 railroad or public conveyance, or its equivalent, while 

 holding official position. 



4. We denounce the Republican party for having 

 rechartered the national banks ; for having attempted 

 to relieve the banks of taxation rather than the pro- 

 ducing classes ; and for extravagant appropriations of 

 nearly $80,000,000 in excess of former years. 



5. That the assessment of office-holders for a cor- 

 rupt campaign fund is the crowning shame of a party 

 owned by grasping monopolists and bossed by un- 

 scrupulous politicians, who seek power for the spoils 

 afforded through excessive taxation of the people. 



6. That we favor the repeal of the specific tax on 

 railroads and other corporate property, and demand 

 that they be subjected to a tax in the municipality 

 where located, upon the same basis as other property 

 is assessed. 



7. That we invite all good citizens to join us in car- 

 rying these principles to a successful issue at the bal- 

 lot-box. 



The Republican State Convention met at 

 Kalamazoo, on August 30th, nominated a full 

 ticket with great unanimity, and adopted the 

 following exhaustive set of resolutions : 



1. The Republican party of the State of Michigan) 

 assembled in convention for the first time since the 

 tragic death of James A. Garfield, our beloved leader 

 an! revered Chief Magistrate, grateful for the inspir- 

 ing lessons of his life and example of his heroic death, 

 record, first of all, our profound sorrow at his loss and 

 our veneration for his memory ; and next, our strength- 

 ened and abiding faith in the stability of republican 

 institutions ; and our fixed resolve that governments 

 of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall 

 not perish from the earth. 



2. Chester A. Arthur, called to a place of power un- 

 der most trying and delicate circumstances, has proved 

 himself worthy of the high trust reposed in him. He 

 has given to the country an administration conserva- 

 tive, patriotic, and progressive. The Republicans of 

 Michigan extend to him thei^ confidence for the fu- 



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ture, based upon the record of the past. 



3. The Republicans of Michigan once more declare 

 their devotion to the time-honored and fundamental 

 principles of the National Republican party liberty 

 for all men ; equality before the law ; perpetual union 

 of the States ; supremacy of the nation ; and the invio- 

 lable right of every citizen on every foot of American 

 soil to cast his ballot according to his sovereign will, 



and to have such ballots, and only such, honestly 

 counted and truly returned to constitute the " voice of 

 the people," which is the voice of God. 



4. From its organization until now the Republican 

 party has denounced slavery and polygamy as " twin 

 relics of barbarism." The first perished at the hands 

 of the Republican party, shot to death on battle-fields 

 and buried in amendments to the Constitution. The 

 second disgrace of our civilization and our century 

 must die. We demand that polygamy be destroyed. 

 We cordially commend the efforts of our Senators 

 and Representatives in Congress to that end. 



5. Whatever may be our individual views as to the 

 ultimate ideal system of international trade, we are 

 all agreed that the public debt must be paid, the pen- 

 sions of the nation's defenders and their widows and 

 orphans sacredly guarded, and the current expenses 

 of the Government duly provided for ; that the reve- 

 nues necessary for these purposes must in a large part 

 be derived from duties upon imports, and we affirm 

 that in the adjustment of these duties in any revision 

 of the tariff, care should be taken to relieve from taxa- 

 tion, so far as practicable, the necessities of the poor, 

 especially such as do not come into competition with 

 American production, and at the same time to afford 

 incidental protection to American producers, to the 

 end that wages may be maintained at the American 

 standard, and America control the American markets. 



6. We believe that the time has come when the 



Eublic debt and rate of interest upon public securities 

 ave been so far reduced that our national legislators 

 should consider as an immediate duty the reduction 

 of the burdens of taxation, and, as auxiliary thereto, a 

 revision of the tariff. 



7. We believe in a rational civil service which does 

 not create of the official class a separate caste, nor take 

 away from the citizen the inspiration of participation 

 in the administration of the government, yet which 

 requires that offices shall be regarded as trusts to be 

 administered with intelligence, fidelity, and economy, 

 and not as spoils to be distributed as personal per- 

 quisites of political managers. 



8. In the administration of the State and national 

 Governments we demand efficiency, integrity, and 

 economy ; that unfaithful officers be removed and 

 punished : that the public faith and credit be main- 

 tained and the people be provided with a circulating 

 medium, safe, uniform, and constitutional ; that mo- 

 nopolies dangerous to the liberties of the people and 

 purity of the laws be disfavored, and that the purity 

 of the ballot be sacredly protected. 



9. It is the fundamental right of the people to alter 

 from time to time the organic law of the State as new 

 circumstances or growing evils may require, laying its 

 foundations on such principles and organizing its pow- 

 ers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to 

 effect their safety and happiness. The evils of intem- 

 perance have become so great that in the name ot pa- 

 triotism the most efficient measures ought to be taken 

 to reduce those evils to a minimum, and as members 

 of no political party are wholly agreed as to whether 

 this can be best done through prohibition or regula 

 tion of the traffic in taxing liquors, and as the people 

 are and ought to be the final arbitrators of this question, 

 and as more than 100,000 among the moral and mtelJ 

 gent people of the State have asked by petition th 

 the question be put to the people by the submission 

 to them of a prohibitory constitutional amendment, 

 we declare that we believe that it would be wise and 

 patriotic for the next Legislature to submit such an 

 amendment to a direct vote of the people, and we de- 

 mand that it be so submitted. 



10 Republicans of Michigan demand a full legisla- 

 tive investigation of the transportation question, will 

 a view to securing such legislative enactments as will 

 prevent unjust discriminations in rates by n 

 fines operating in the State. 



A Prohibition State ticket was also put in 

 the field, upon a platform demanding the sub- 



