We believe the citizens of Alaska should have representation in the Congress of the United States, to the end that needful legislation may be intelligently enacted.
We sympathise with all wise and legitimate efforts to lessen and prevent the evils of intemperance and promote morality.
The Republican party is mindful of the rights and interests of women. Protection of American industries includes equal opportunities, equal pay for equal work, and protection to the home. We favor the admission of women to wider spheres of usefulness, and welcome their co-operation in rescuing the country from Democratic and Populist mismanagement and misrule.
Such are the principles and policies of the Republican party. By these principles we will abide and these policies we will put into execution. We ask for them the considerate judgment of the American people. Confident alike in the history of our great party and in the justice of our cause, we present our platform and our candidates in the full assurance that the election will bring victory to the Republican party and prosperity to the people of the United States.
The Democratic National Convention met at Chicago on the 7th of July, and the emphatic deliverance of the Republican convention in favor of the gold standard greatly strengthened the free-silver Democratic element, but the sound-money Democrats had control of the national committee, with William F. Harrity, chairman, whose duty it was to call the convention to order. Earnest efforts were made to harmonize the party in the organization, but the Free Silverites were aggressive from the start, and when the national committee named Senator Hill, of New York, as temporary chairman, a bitter debate was precipitated, and Senator Daniel, of Virginia, an out-and-out Free Silverite, was elected by 556 to 349. On the second day the report of the committee on credentials strengthened the free-silver wing by the admission of the Bryan delegation from Nebraska, and four sound-money Democrats were rejected from Michigan, and their places given to free-silver delegates. Senator White, of California, was made permanent president. The platform was adopted, as is usual, before the nomination for President, and it was in the protracted and intensely bitter debate of the money question that brought out the eloquent and dramatic address of William J. Bryan, that carried him into the Democratic nomination with a tidal wave.
A sound financial plank was offered by the minority, but rejected by 626 to 303. Another resolution, declaring, “We commend the honesty, economy, courage, and fidelity of the present Democratic (Cleveland) administration,” was greeted with a yell of derision and rejected by 564 to 357. Senator Hill offered two amendments to temper the repudiation plank, but they were rejected without a division. The platform was then adopted by 628 to 301. The sound-money Democrats found themselves in a helpless and hopeless minority. Many of them desired to withdraw from the convention, but the more considerate refused to do so, and all of them remained, 178 of them refusing to vote on the 1st ballot for President. Chairman Harrity, of the national committee, with his delegation participated in all the ballots and steadily voted for ex-Governor Pattison. Five ballots were had for President, with Bryan starting at 119 to 235 for Bland, of Missouri, who was the father of the silver dollar, and should have been accepted as the logical candidate of the free-silver party, but Bryan’s “crown of thorns” had captured the convention, and he won an easy victory. The following table gives the five ballots for President in detail:
| First. | Second. | Third. | Fourth. | Fifth. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole number of votes | 752 | 768 | 768 | 769 | 768 |
| Necessary for a choice (two-thirds) | 502 | 512 | 512 | 513 | 512 |
| William J. Bryan, Nebraska | 119 | 190 | 219 | 280 | 500 |
| Richard P. Bland, Missouri | 235 | 283 | 291 | 241 | 106 |
| Robert E. Pattison, Pennsylvania | 95 | 100 | 97 | 97 | 95 |
| Horace Boies, Iowa | 85 | 41 | 36 | 33 | 26 |
| Joseph S. C. Blackburn, Kentucky | 83 | 41 | 27 | 27 | — |
| John R. McLean, Ohio | 54 | 53 | 54 | 46 | — |
| Claude Matthews, Indiana | 37 | 33 | 34 | 36 | 31 |
| Benjamin R. Tillman, South Carolina | 17 | — | — | — | — |
| Sylvester Pennoyer, Oregon | 8 | 8 | — | — | — |
| Henry M. Teller, Colorado | 8 | 8 | — | — | — |
| Adlai E. Stevenson, Illinois | 7 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8 |
| William E. Russell, Massachusetts | 2 | — | — | — | — |
| James E. Campbell, Ohio | 1 | — | — | — | — |
| David B. Hill, New York | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| David Turpie, Indiana | — | — | — | — | 1 |
| Not voting | 178 | 162 | 162 | 162 | 162 |
On the 5th ballot Bryan was only 12 votes short of the necessary two-thirds, and immediately after the roll-call was completed, and before the vote had been given, 78 delegates changed their votes from other candidates to Bryan, giving him the nomination. The convention received the result with the wildest cheers for Bryan, mingled with some hisses and general sullen silence among the sound-money Democrats.
There was a spirited contest for the Vice-Presidency, in which John R. McLean, of Ohio, was well to the front, and led all others on the 4th ballot, but on the 5th a whirl was made to Sewall, of Maine, giving him the nomination. The following table gives the ballot in detail:
| First. | Second. | Third. | Fourth. | Fifth. | |
| Whole number of votes | 670 | 675 | 675 | 677 | 679 |
| Necessary for a choice (two-thirds) | 447 | 450 | 450 | 452 | 453 |
| Arthur Sewall, Maine | 100 | 37 | 97 | 261 | 568 |
| Joseph C. Sibley, Pennsylvania | 163 | 113 | 50 | — | — |
| John R. McLean, Ohio | 111 | 158 | 210 | 296 | 32 |
| George F. Williams, Massachusetts | 76 | 16 | 15 | 9 | 9 |
| Richard P. Bland, Missouri | 62 | 294 | 255 | — | — |
| Walter A. Clark, North Carolina | 50 | 22 | 22 | 46 | 22 |
| John R. Williams, Illinois | 22 | 13 | — | — | — |
| William F. Harrity, Pennsylvania | 21 | 21 | 19 | 11 | 11 |
| Horace Boies, Iowa | 20 | — | — | — | — |
| Joseph S. C. Blackburn, Kentucky | 20 | — | — | — | — |
| John W. Daniel, Virginia | 11 | 1 | 6 | 54 | 36 |
| James H. Lewis, Washington | 11 | — | — | — | — |
| Robert E. Pattison, Pennsylvania | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Henry M. Teller, Colorado | 1 | — | — | — | — |
| Stephen M. White, California | 1 | — | — | — | — |
| George W. Fithian, Illinois | 1 | — | — | — | — |
| Not voting | 260 | 255 | 255 | 253 | 251 |