The platform, as originally reported, contained, instead of the first paragraph of Section 3, the following:
We reiterate the oft-repeated doctrines of the Democratic party that the necessity of the Government is the only justification for taxation, and whenever a tax is unnecessary it is unjustifiable; that when custom-house taxation is levied upon articles of any kind produced in this country, the difference between the cost of labor here and labor abroad, when such a difference exists, fully measures any possible benefits to labor; and the enormous additional impositions of the existing tariff fall with crushing force upon our farmers and workingmen, and, for the mere advantage of the few whom it enriches, exact from labor a grossly unjust share of the expenses of the Government; and we demand such a revision of the tariff laws as will remove their iniquitous inequalities, lighten their oppressions, and put them on a constitutional and equitable basis. But in making reduction in taxes, it is not proposed to injure any domestic industries, but rather to promote their healthy growth. From the foundation of this Government, taxes collected at the custom-house have been the chief source of Federal revenue. Such they must continue to be. Moreover, many industries have come to rely upon legislation for successful continuance, so that any change of law must be at every step regardful of the labor and capital thus involved. The process of reform must be subject in the execution to this plain dictate of justice.
The National Prohibition Convention was held at Cincinnati on the 29th of June, with John P. St. John, of Kansas, as temporary chairman, and Eli Ritter, of Indiana, as permanent chairman. The convention remained in session two days. The following was the only ballot for President:
| John Bidwell, Cal. | 590 |
| Gideon T. Stewart, Ohio | 179 |
| W. J. Demorest, N. Y. | 139 |
| Scattering | 3 |
A single ballot was had for Vice-President, as follows:
| J. P. Cranfill, Texas | 417 |
| Joshua Levering, Md. | 351 |
| W. W. Satterlee, Minn. | 26 |
| T. R. Carskoden, W. Va. | 19 |
The nominations of Bidwell and Cranfill were made unanimous. The following platform was adopted:
The Prohibition party, in national convention assembled, acknowledging Almighty God as the source of all true government, and His law as the standard to which all human enactments must conform to secure the blessings of peace and prosperity, presents the following declaration of principles:
1. The liquor traffic is a foe to civilization, the arch enemy of popular government, and a public nuisance. It is the citadel of the forces that corrupt politics, promote poverty and crime, degrade the nation’s home life, thwart the will of the people, and deliver our country into the hands of rapacious class interests. All laws that, under the guise of regulation, legalize and protect this traffic, or make the Government share in its ill-gotten gains, are “vicious in principle and powerless as a remedy.”
We declare anew for the entire suppression of the manufacture, sale, importation, exportation, and transportation of alcoholic liquors as a beverage, by Federal and State legislation; and the full powers of the Government should be exerted to secure this result. Any party that fails to recognize the dominant nature of this issue in American politics is undeserving of the support of the people.