PROGRESSIVE STATE PLATFORM* We, the representatives of the Progressive party of the State of Indiana, hereby adopt the bull moose as the party emblem, and also the following platform: The Progressive party of the State of Indiana faces the coming campaign with undiminished faith in the great political and economic principles on which it was founded. 'We hereby solemnly reaffirm our state and national platforms of 1912 and 1914. We continue in the deep conviction that our democracy can only endure if it is controlled by the public will and based on a broad and noble social justice. Our Indiana government has no such control or basis. It is true that the strength and righteousness of the Progressive cause and the fear of the Progressive vote have made both old parties and their leaders at least pretend to be progressive. Yet the 1916 state Republican platform is pitifully reactionary and shows that the convention which adopted it did not understand the pressing economic and social questions of our State and dared not face the challenge of the twentieth century. It talked in terms of outworn party dogmas and war cries, not in terms of modern hopes and needs. The Democratic party has had an opportunity for action. It has not embraced that opportunity. It is true that it finally saw that it could no longer oppose the public demand aroused by the fight of the Progressive party for a direct primary act and a workmen's compensation act, and, at the last moment, rushed through hasty legislation on these subjects. OPPOSE DOUBLE TAXATION But it completely ignored the bills prepared by the Progressive legislative committee dealing with other demands of our platform of 1914. It utterly failed to strengthen our child labor laws; to give free school books to the children in the common schools; to bring about civil service reform; to meet the demand of the Progressive party for the abolition of convict contract labor and the substitution of prison production for state consumption only with the application of wages, earned by prisoners, to the support of their families; it failed to pass any laws preventing industrial diseases or accidents; and it failed to pass any laws restricting the evil of injunctions in labor disputes by prohibiting such injunctions, when they would not issue if there were no labor disputes; it failed to pass a minimum wage law for women workers; to give cities the option of commission government; to give counties a business form of government; to pass a "blue sky" law, or better road laws; or to pass any laws reforming court procedure, as demanded by our platform of 1914. We pledge ourselves anew to these reforms. We are opposed to double taxation, and, therefore, believe that in making assessments the assessed value of bona fide mortgages on farms and other real property should be deducted in full from the assessed value of such farms or other real property. We also believe that there should be an exemption of $200 on household furniture. *Adopted by convention, July 21, 1916. The administration of our state government has steadily grown more extravagant, wasteful and inefficient. It has made its aim the maintenance of a political machine, in preference to the efficient and far-sighted execution of the people's work. It has filled places requiring technical skill with ignorant party workers. The expense of our state government has increased from $6,497,077.25 in 1908 to $12,508,395.45 in 1915. It is increasing eighteen times faster than our population. DEMAND SHORT BALLOT Our state government has grown unwieldy and disorganized. It has more than seventy-five separate branches, boards, commissions and departments. The heads of some of them are elected by the people. Some are appointed by the Governor. Some are appointed by the Governor jointly with other persons. Over some the Governor has no control. Over none is his control effective. It is manifestly impossible for order and efficiency to come out of such a system. It is incoherent and unbusinesslike. It has no central, responsible head. It encourages and maintains the most vicious bossism, because bossism is the only power strong enough to bring any semblance of order out of such chaos. Since there is no central authority inside the government, the boss supplies one outside the government. He makes all state employes party workers, subject to his command. The Governor is not the leader; the leader is the invisible government of the political machine back of the Governor. We, therefore, demand a greater concentration of boards and departments so that with simplicity of organization may come greater efficiency. We also particularly demand that a single state purchasing board for all the institutions of the State be established, thereby saving the taxpayers many hundreds of thousands of dollars. We demand the short ballot, so that political bosses may be deprived of their power obtained through controlling nominations to numerous offices and so that a unified, responsible government may be obtained. We demand that the Governor be given the opportunity to lead public opinion. He should be given the power to present a budget to the Legislature, to introduce bills and speak for them on the floor of the Legislature. In this way our leadership may become open, effective and responsible. To these ends we need a constitutional convention, A constitutional convention is the greatest need of our State today. We need a new constitution because we must adjust our constitutional provisions of a past age to the expanding and complex needs of the twentieth century. We need a constitution which can be amended. Our present one is practically impossible to amend. We need a new constitution in order to obtain the complete separation of the judiciary from party politics, in order to obtain a law permitting jury verdicts in civil cases by a three-fourths vote, to require qualifications for lawyers and to require the status of citizenship as a right preliminary to the vote. We need a new constitution so that we may obtain the initiative and referendum, and the recall for all elective executive, administrative and legislative officers. We need a new constitution in order to obtain genuine tax reform. The Republican platform makes a weak appeal for tax reform, but dares not appeal for the only means by which genuine tax reform can be obtained, namely, by a constitutional convention. We need a new constitution in order to obtain equal suffrage for women. cities. We pledge the legislative candidates of the Progressive party to call a constitutional convention. We favor prohibition of the liquor traffic by national and state constitutional amendment. PROHIBITION STATE PLATFORM THE PREAMBLE The Prohibition party in convention assembled in Indianapolis, Indiana, June 7, 1916, recognizing God as the author of all just government, and adhering with unshanken fidelity to a great central political principle, points with pride to the history of the party in state and national councils, conventions and campaigns. For more than forty years at the general elections our cause and party have at no time received a majority of votes cast, but at no time have they met with defeat. Each contest has proven our strength and at the same time has been a convincing proof-to ourselves and a constantly enlarging circle of the best citizens of our country-of the righteousness of our cause. A new condition is upon us. Our cause has become suddenly popular, and we can, without changing a word, endorse the preamble declaration and the pledge for its fulfillment recently adopted by a great religious body, which declared: . "Grateful to Almighty God for the rising tide of public sentiment which is sweeping toward national and world-wide prohibition of the liquor traffic, rejoicing at the rapidly changing tone of the public press, the closing of its columns to liquor advertisements, the emphatic pronouncements of medical science, the entrance into the prohibition ranks of the manufacturing and business interests of the nation, and the increasing recognition by the industrial classes of alcohol's menace to the workers' safety and welfare; we denounce the traffic as a grave and imminent national peril. "It is the one most prolific cause of insanity, crime and poverty; the most insidious despoiler of legitimate business; the most corrupt and demoralizing influence in politics, and the most dangerous enemy to human welfare in all our civic life. "Statesmanship, ecclesiastical and civil, has denounced it; science has condemned it; business is arraying itself against it; politics is struggling to be freed from its grasp; labor seeks escape from its degrading, merciless bondage, and the embattled nations of half a world find it a more deadly foe than any that they have met on war's red fields. "The expansion of religion and the preservation of civilization require its overthrow-its complete and utter annihilation. "To the consummation of this high acheivement we do now and here solemnly covenant with each other and with God, our Father, and pledge ourselves to fight and spare not until the end shall have been attained." THE TRUTH, THE POLICY, THE METHOD Sanctioning the foregoing statements, we adopt the following declaration of principles: That the manufacture, sale and use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage is wrong, is an almost universally accepted truth. That the policy of both this State and the nation is in direct opposition to this truth is recognized by all thinking people. To establish the accepted truth as the permanent policy of the State and nation a method must be agreed upon by those who advocate the accepted truth. The partisan method of dealing with the problem is legal, sane, and is in common use in the treatment of all political questions. It is coming into greater favor with those who desire the prohibition of the liquor traffic. An active political body, to secure the permanency of any governmental policy, must employ the partisan method. The party organization is at hand to be used by those who will. If faithfulness to truth and principle counts for anything in a republic, then this organization and this method should be used at the coming election by all who are agreed that the liquor traffic is wrong. A coming together in a political party committed to the overthrow of the legalized liquor traffic is a necessity, for as Lincoln said: "Those who think slavery is wrong must quit voting with those who think slavery is right." So those who think that the liquor traffic is wrong must quit voting with those who think it is right. ENDORSING CONGRESSMAN RANDALL We point with pride to the splendid service now being rendered to the country by Charles H. Randall, the Prohibition Congressman from California, and commend his efforts to secure the enactment of the following national statutes, to wit: A. To prohibit all interstate transportation of alcoholic beverages. WOMAN SUFFRAGE The Prohibition party was the first national party to declare for woman suffrage, and we now stand for the ballot for women on the same terms as for men. MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE We favor uniform marriage and divorce laws in all States and national legislation which will forever destroy the crime of polygamy. CHILD LABOR We favor the prohibition of the labor of children in any place under conditions detrimental to health and education, and the enactment and enforcement of laws for their protection. EDUCATION We favor the State supplying public school books and necessary equipment for a thorough education of the children of the commonwealth; and we further favor a non-sectarian use of the Bible in our public schools as a necessity for good citizenship. SECTARIAN APPROPRIATIONS We favor complete separation of church and State, and we are opposed to appropriation of public money for sectarian purposes. HEALTH. We believe the preservation of the health of the people of this State is more important than that of live stock, therefore we favor an adequate appropriation to the Indiana State Board of Health. LABOR We favor sanitary conditions and safety appliances for the welfare of the worker; an eight-hour day in factories and mines under public and corporation management; a minimum wage sufficient to meet the needs of a constantly growing standard of living and the settlement of all labor disputes by mediation. ECONOMY; LAW ENFORCEMENT We declare for economic administration of government and for law enforcement. STOCK GAMBLING We declare for the enactment and enforcement of laws prohibiting gambling in futures, produce and stocks. TARIFF We favor a tariff commission of experts with ample power to stabilize, articulate and safeguard the diversified business interests of the country, having regard to revenue, protection and consumption. |