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The Commoner.
VOLUME 8, NUMBER 21
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THE TWO PLATFORMS COMPARED
Preamble
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DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM
We, the representatives of the democracy of the United States,
hi national convention assembled, reaffirm our belief in, and pledge
our loyalty to, the principles of the party,
We rejoice at the increasing signs of an awakening throughout
the country. The various investigations have traced graft and politi
cal corruption to the representatives of predatory wealth, and laid
bare the unscrupulous methods by which they have debauched elec
tions and preyed upon a defenseless public through the subservient
officials whom they have raised to place and power.
The conscience of the nation is now aroused to free the govern
ment from the grip of those who have made it a business asset of the
favor-seeking corporations; it must become again a people's gov
ernment, and be administered in all its departments according to
(the Jeffersonian maxim of "Equal rights to all and special privileges
to none."
' "REPUBLICAN PLATFORM ' '
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Once more tne repuoncan party, in national convention as-
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onaii trie people ruie. is tne
overshadowing issue which manifests
itself "in all the Questions now under
iscussion. .
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sembled, submits its cause to the people. This great historic organ
ization, that destroyed slavery, preserved the union, restored credit,
expanded the national domain, established a sound financial sys
tem, developed the industries and resources of the country and
gave to the nation her seat of honor in the councils of the world,
now meets the new problems of government with the same courage
and capacity with which it solved the old.
In this, the greatest era of American advancement, the repub
lican party has reached its highest service under the leadership of
Theodore Roosevelt. His administration is an epoch in American
history. In no other period since national sovereignty was won un
der Washington or preserved under Lincoln has there been such
mio-htv Droffress in these ideals of erovernment which make for ins.
i Jt, tice, equality and fair dealing among men. The highest aspirations
''-" of the American people have found a voice. Their most exalted
servant represents tne oest aims ana worthiest purposes ot aU Ins
countrymen. American manhood has been lifted to a nobler sense
of duty and obligation. Conscience and' courage in public station
and higher standards of right and wrong in private life have be
come cardinal principles of political faith; capital and labor have
been brought into closer relations of confidence and interdepen
dence ; and the abuse of wealth, the tyranny of power and all the
' evils of privileges and favoritism have been put to scorn by the
" simple, manly virtues of justice and fair play.
The great accomplishments of President Roosevelt have been,
first and foremost, a brave and imnartial enforcement, of the law!
C, the prosecution of illegal trusts and monopolies ; the exposure and
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'workers everywhere; the conservation of the National resources of
the country; the forward step in the improvement of the inland
waterways; and always. the earnest support and defense of every
wholesome safeguard which has made more secure the guarantee
of life, liberty and property.
These are the achievements that will make for Theodore Roose
velt his place in history, but more than all else the great things he
has done will be an inspiration to those who have yet greater things
: to do. We declare our unfaltering adherence to the policies thus
inaugurated, and pledge their continuance under a republican ad
ministration of the government.
Under the guidance of republican principles the American peo
ple have become the richest nation in the world. Our wealth today
exceeds that of England and all her colonies, and that of Franco
and Germany combined. When the republican party was born the
'liilSnw?16 country was $16,000,000j000. It has leaped to
S inn n ,00 m a generation, while Great Britain has gathered
but $60,000,000,000 in five hundred years. The United States now
owns one-fourth of the world's wealth and makes one-third of all
moaern manufactured products. In the greatness of civilization,
sucn as coal, the motive power of all activity, iron, the chief basis
ot all industry; cotton, the staple foundation of all fabrics; wheat,
corn and all agricultural products that feed mankind, America's
supremacy is undisputed. And yet her great natural wealth has
been scarcely touched. ,
We have a vast domain of three million square miles, literally
bursting with latent treasure, still waiting the magic of capital and
industry to be converted to the practical uses of mankind; a coun
try rich m soil and climate, in the unharnessed energy of its rivers
StS? the v.ariSd Products of the field, the forest and the factory.
With gratitude for God's bounty, with pride in the splendid
productiveness of the past, and with confidence in the plenty and
prosperity of the future, the republican party declares for the prin
CipJei. i m the develPment and enjoyment' of wealth so great
and blessings so benign there shall be' equal opportunities for all.
Officeholders
DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM
Coincident with the enormous increase in the expenditures is a
iike addition to the number of officeholders. During the past year
.xi.
REPUBLiQAN PLATFORM
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