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Survey o
THE DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM.
Framers of the platform adopted by
the Democratic National Convention at
Baltimore, finding it inexpensive to
make declarations, framed a large assortment
of which the following is the
substance: Declares for tariff for
reVemue only.?Denounces the Republican
tariff as the principal cause of the
unequal distribution of wealth.?-Favors
immediate downward revision of duties
on necessities.?Favors gradual reduction
of tariff not interfering with legitimate
business.?(Denounces President
Taft for vetoine tariff bills of Inst
Congress.?Condemns Republican Congress
for failure to redeem Its promises
for downward revision.?Charges that
Republican tariff is chief cause of high
coBt of living.?Favors enforcement of
criminal features of anti-trust law.?
Demands legislation to crush private
monopoly.?Prohibition of holding companies,
inter-locking directors, stockwatering.?Condemns
Republican compromise
with Standard Oil and Tobacco
trusts.?-Denounces efforts of Republicans
to deprive states of their rights.?
Urges support of constitutional amendments
providing for an Income tax and
election of United States senators by direct
vote of the people.?Declares for
presidential primaries and selection of
national committee by primaries.?
Pledges the enactmteint of laws forblddding
campaign contributions by corporations,
and of all unreasonable cam?-vf
m It {/\na I<"V* tTA ra n { n or 1 ft
jmi&ll uuuuiuunuuD. ix- a?vio i u g i c
presidential term, the president not
eligible for second term.?Congratulates
Democratic congress on its record.?
Pledges support of measures for adequate
navy.?Favors supervision and
regulation of railroads, express companies,
telegraph ^nd telephone lines
and valuation of these properties by
the interstate commerce commission.?
Favors legislation againBt over-issuing
of stock of corporations.?Favors revision
of banking laws so as to give relief
in case of financial distress.?
Pledges the enactment of laws for the
depcsit of government funds by competitive
bidding from state and national
banks.?'Pledges the party to the enactment
of laws to protect the lower Mississippi
from floods and the control of
the entire channel.?Favors aid to post
roads.?Renews formir platform statements
as to rights of labor and enactment
of employes' compensation laws.?
Declares against excessive withdrawal
of public lands from settlement.?'Favors
liberality in administration of land
laws, and supports the forest reserve
act permitting homestead entries -within
national forests.?(Declares for immediate
action to make Alaskan coal lands
available and to safeguard the lives of
miners.?Favors encouraging development
of a merchant marine and laws for
greater security of life and property at
sea.?Condemns policy of imperialism
and colonial exploitation in Philippines.
?Favors parcels post and extension of
rural delivery.
PROHIBITION PLATFORM.
The National Prohibition Convention,
m session at Atlantic City, in. j., aaop..ed
a popular platform, of which the
following are leading features: "The
alcoholic drink traffic is wrong, the
most serlc :s drain upon the nation's
wealth and reaources, detrimental to
the general welfare, destructive of the
inalienable rights of life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness, and therefore all
laws taxing or licensing a traffic that
produces crime, poverty and political
corruption and spreads disease and
death should be repealed.?We favor the
election of United States senators by
direct vote of the people.?Presidential
THE PRESBYTERI
>f Currer,
terms of six years, and one term only.?
Uniform marriage and divorce laws.?
The extermination of polygamy and the
complete suppression of the traffic in
giTls.?Suffrage 'or women, upon the
same terms as to men.?Court review as
to post-offlce and other departmental
decisions and orders; the establishment
of postal savings banks, the extension
of the rural delivery and the
establishment of an efficient parcels
post.?The absolute proteotion of the
rights of labor without impairment of
the rights of capital.?The observance
of one day in seven as a day of rest.?
The settlement of all international disDUtes
bv arbitration ?Tho Inl'loilc/.
referendum and recall.?The tariff fixed
on the basis of accurate knowledge secured
by a permanent omnlpartisan
tariff commission with ample powers.?
The abolition of child labor in the
mines, workshops and factories.?Equitable
graduated income and inheritance
taxes.?Conservation of our mineral and
forest reserves, reclamation of arid and
waste lands, all mineral and timber
lands and water powers now owned by
the government be held perpetually and
leased for revenue purposes.?Clearly
defined laws for the regulation and control
of corporations transacting an
interstate business.?Greater efficiency
and economy in government service."
THE BALTIMORE BATTLE.
Grapho. writing in "The Advance," describes
the great Democratic struggle
after this fashion- Ttrvnn la a
but is he a general? Before answering
this question let us look the field over
at Baltimore. In the center was the
Merw York delegation. There were 90
members in it and they represented the
greatest State hi the Union, or that is
what they were alleged to he there for.
But they were absolutely iti the hands
of one man. Murphy, the Tammany
chief, and Murphy represented the interests
which Center In Wall Street.
The "Democracy of thp Empire State
meant Murphy, and Murphy meant all
that the progressive movement of the
times opposes. To see him casting the
vote of this State every time the roll
was called as If It belonged to blm and
to him only was enough to sti*r the blood
of any leader of the people, and Bryan
Is a people's leader. It was more than
he could stand. His great addresses at
religious gatherings reveal a sense of
righteousness and belief in God like
that of the old prophets. He believes
that God Is In the world and that the
voice of the people is the voFce of God.
or if not that, yet that the welfare of
the people is the will of God. His struggle
with the powerful agents of special
privileges and representatives of plutocracy
remind one of the Elijahs and
Isaiahs and Jeremiahs i*n their conflicts
with the kings and courtiers who stood
for Idolatry and heathen alliances. It
was brave, it was heroic. We are bound
to admit that there was much coming
to that crowd from William Jennings
Bryan. He had seen them come Into
one conventi'on after another to fix the
nomination, and then go home to work
for the election of the other man. He
had seen thtettn leave the Denver convention,
which nominated him, to go
back to New York to knife him until the
votes were cast in November, his open
OTiwujiro 111 tut? tuuvenuuu, timi uio iw
trayers In the campaign. Such a scurvy,
treacherous lot of men deserved all that
Bryan could give. And there was B?i
Sullivan In the Illinois delegation, voting
the representatives of the third
gre&test state in the Unfon as If ho
owned them, and perhaps ^hey were
owned. Could Bryan see Sullivan and
AH OP THE SOUTH
it Events
Murphy joining hands in their infamous,
vicious scheme to hand the party over
to predatory interests without feeling
an impulse to turn gatllng guns upon
them? He knew that their Democracy
was a mere pretense, that their allegiance
was to the power which wants to
use political parties for its own selfish
purposes. He could not give them any
more than they desferved. The money
of the interests had been pourned out
Wko water to secure Clark delegates in
States which at heart were for Wilson.
Combinations had been formed on the
principle of anything to beat Wilson.
When the critical hour for the election
of a temporary chairman arrived the
interests which furnished the money
naturally expected the Clark delegations
to line up for their man Parker,
and th'ey lined up. All the parties to
the combination formed to beat Wilson
joined the Tammany chief in the election
of Parker. The scheme was working
well, following the grooves made and
greased for it. Then Bryan gave it a
terrific jolt. That part was good generalship.
It blocked the game, and Clark
suffered. It also made Bryan master of
the situation. He had the predatory
crowd on the run. Did he need to try
to catoh them and scalp them? Did hs
promote or hinder his cause by doing
it? Such a spectacle as that presented
by the bosses in this convention ought
never again to be seen in a body of men
assembled to nominate a candidate for
the presidency of our great iRepublic. flt
is too degrading to the nation. Democrats
can do things decently and in
order, and there ib no decency in a surrender
of the Democracy of the leading
States in the Union to the Murphys and
the Sullivans. If Bryan has dealt this
thing a death blow "he deserveB the
thanks of the country. He has made the
iniquity and infamy of it so conspicuous
that the people should render its rspetion
impossible. The Baltimore convention
should seal its doom.
BRITAIN LOOKING FOB TROUBLE.
Apparently a great axiomatic contest
between the United States ana Great
Britain has begun. Other European
powers are likely to line up with Great
Britain and therety render the issue
more uncertain. The point in controversy
is the right ot this government to
discriminate in favor of American vessels
in its contr^'. of the Panama canal.
It has become clear that the forces in
legislation who favor free tolls to
American ships sailing between American
ports are In control. They deny
that the Hay-Pauncefote treaty under
whose terms our British friends consented
to the canal construction, can interfere
with free tolls as provided by
hills now hnfnrn Cnncrrpflfl. The issue has
been made by a note received from Mitchell
Innes, representing the British embassy.
Great Britain will take the position
that the Hay-iPauncefote treaty
provision, which forbids discrimination
in favor of the Interests of any nation
in the conduct of the canal, would operate
against the provisions of the
Panama bill now under consideration
in the Senate. This contention will be
supported by a lengthy argument now
on its way from' London by mail, which
win De presented to tne state uepartment
and tranamitted to Congress immediately
upon its arrival. The United
States will hold that so long as* the
ships of all foreign nations are accorded
the same treatment in the use of
the canal, the United States may pass
American ships free or rebate the tolls
charged them. This position was taken
by the House, when it reversed the report
of the House Interstate and For
[July 17, 1912 1
eign Commerce Committee, which 1
would have prevented free passage to
American ships. The ultimate passage
of the measure now before the Senate
seems assured. The men behind the
bill in the Senate said that the British
note would not prevent consideration of
the measure whenever It could be
reached in the ordinary course of
business. JuBt as soon aB the bill becomes
law, under Supreme Court decisions,
it supersedes all treaties bearing
on the same subject matter, and
would thuB leave Great Britain no
ground for objection after it had been
written on the statute books. Representative
Sulzer, of New York, chairman
of the House Committee on Foreign
Affairs, made this statement sup
porting tne dux: "ur course, I am surprised
that the British government now
objects to the United States government
regulating the tolls of its own shlpB
through the Panama Canal. However,
nothing serious will come of the objection.
The treaty is plain and clear to
all. The British government should not
and cannot complain if no toll discrimination
is made agaihst British ships in
favor of the ships of other nations.
That is the real meaning of the treaty,
and we shall carry out its provisions
in good faith. We have the right under
the treaty to charge or not to charge
tolls for our own ships. DoubtlesB Congress
will proceed with the Panama
Canal legislation regardless of the
criticisms of our friends across the
water. Besides, second thought will
put them right and show conolusiv'ely
their position is untenable." Should the
bill become law over the protest of
Great Britain, it is scarcely expected
that the matter will end there, as
British, and particularly Canadian, interests,
undoubtedly would force further
diplomatic action by London, and
when these means were exhausted The
Hague Tribunal will be the oourt of last
resort. Although the text was withheld,
it was said at the State Department
that the British government felt
that to allow American vessels to pass
through the Panama Canal without the
payment of tolls, or to refund tolls collected,
would be to violate the HayPauncefote
treaty.
ARMY AEROPLANES.
Three new aeroplanes, one Wright,
one Curtis, and one Burgess-Curtlss, are
to do purchased by the War Department
from the appropriation for aviation
that is available until June 30. The
machines will be sent to the Army's
summer aviation school at College
Park. Those, with those on hand and
under contract, will make thirteen aeroplanes
at that place, of which four will
be fitted with hydroplanes for lighting
on the water. (In addition the army has
one aeroplane in the Phillipplnes and
one In Texas. Two of the army hydroplanes
are to be stationed on the Hudson
river, New York, as soon as the
aviators have 'had some preliminarypractice
with them. The two other hydroplanes
will be stationed on the Potomac.
forTsale.
To settle estate, 831 acres of richest
Piedmont Section of South Carolina.
Address,
M. A. BVRWELL,
Moatreat, I, C.
Pichmond
- College
1 A Standard American College
9 The College pom Aetdllr In resource* and ?tu- I
dent*. Ia recent year* the rndomie it has more than
2 doubled, and attendance hi* I novated 100 per cent. |
1 All present building* thoroughly renovated thi* *um
Imer. Steam heat and electric light*. New building*
to ro*t $600,000. In course ol erection.
import* pre pared otudont* eeHleRy eel
corned. At Mchemid College the Individual Z
2 In not lo?t In the crowd.
Se**k>o open* Sept. 19. For catalogue and In lor- 9
2 ovation, add rem 2
P red dent F. W. BOATWRICHT. Richmond. Va.^^