Part 15 (1/2)

We approve the policy of extending to town, villages, and rural communities the advantages of the free-delivery service now enjoyed by the larger cities of the country, and reaffirm the declaration contained in the Republican platform of 1888, pledging the reduction of letter postage to one cent at the earliest possible moment consistent with the maintenance of the Postoffice Department and the highest cla.s.s of postal service.

SPIRIT OF CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM.

We commend the spirit and evidence of reform in the civil service, and the wise and consistent enforcement by the Republican Party of the laws regulating the same.

THE NICARAGUA Ca.n.a.l.

The construction of the Nicaragua Ca.n.a.l is of the highest importance to the American people, both as a measure of defense and to build up and maintain American commerce, and it should be controlled by the United States Government.

TERRITORIES.

We favor the admission of the remaining territories at the earliest practicable day, having due regard to the interests of the people of the territories and of the United States.

FEDERAL TERRITORIAL OFFICERS.

All the federal officers appointed for the territories should be selected from bona fide residents thereof, and the right of self government should be accorded as far as practicable.

ARID LANDS.

We favor cession, subject to the homestead laws, of the arid public lands to the states and territories in which they lie, under such congressional restrictions as to disposition, reclamation, and occupancy by settlers as will secure the maximum benefits to the people.

THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.

The World's Columbian Exposition is a great national undertaking, and Congress should promptly enact such reasonable legislation in aid thereof as will insure a discharging of the expense and obligations incident thereto and the attainment of results commensurate with the dignity and progress of the nation.

SYMPATHY FOR TEMPERANCE.

We sympathize with all wise and legitimate efforts to lessen and prevent the evils of intemperance and promote morality.

PLEDGES TO THE VETERANS.

Ever mindful of the services and sacrifices of the men who saved the life of the nation, we pledge anew to the veteran soldiers of the Republic a watchful care and a just recognition of their claims upon a grateful people.

HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION COMMENDED.

We commend the able, patriotic, and thoroughly American administration of President Harrison. Under it the country has enjoyed remarkable prosperity, and the dignity and honor of the nation, at home and abroad, have been faithfully maintained, and we offer the record of pledges kept as a guarantee of faithful performance in the future.

After the adoption of the platform the Convention adjourned for the day.

At the opening of the session on June 10th, Mrs. J. Ellen Foster, Chairman of the Woman's Republican a.s.sociation of the United States, was heard, and next in order was the nomination of candidates for President.

Senator Wolcott nominated James G. Blaine in an eloquent speech; W. H.

Eustis seconded this nomination, and at the conclusion of his splendid speech there was twenty-seven minutes of the wildest enthusiasm for Blaine; W. E. Mollison and G. B. Boyd also seconded Mr. Blaine's nomination. Richard W. Thompson, ex-Secretary of the Navy, nominated Benjamin Harrison, and was seconded by Chauncey M. Depew, Warner Miller, Senator Spooner and B. E. Finck. The total number of votes was 905, making 453 necessary to a choice. Only one ballot was taken as follows:

Benjamin Harrison ........ 535 1-6 Thomas B. Reed ........... 4 James G. Blaine .......... 182 5-6 Robert T. Lincoln ........ 1 William McKinley ......... 182

Mr. Harrison was thus nominated on the first ballot, and on motion of Mr. McKinley the nomination was made unanimous. Whitelaw Reid of New York was nominated for Vice-President by acclamation, and the Convention adjourned.

The Democratic National Convention a.s.sembled at Chicago, Ill., June 21, 1892. Grover Cleveland, of New York, was nominated for the third time by a vote of 617 1-3 to 114 for David B. Hill, his nearest opponent. Adlai E. Stevenson, of Illinois, was named for Vice-President. The Democratic platform of 1892 denounced Republican protection as a fraud and a robbery of the great majority of the American people for the benefit of the few, and said that the McKinley Tariff Law was the ”culminating atrocity” of cla.s.s legislation, and promised its repeal; the platform declared for a tariff for purposes of revenue only, and advocated the speedy repeal of the Sherman Act of 1890.