THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM

Southland Times, Issue 22915, 13 June 1936, Page 7

THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM

Advocacy Of Tariffs FOREIGN ALLIANCES OPPOSED OLD PLEDGES AND NEW (United Press Assn.—Telegraph Copyright.) (Rec. 5.5 p.m.) Cleveland (Ohio), June 11. The Republican Convention assembled twice and went into recess twice because the platform committee was unable to agree on the exact phraseology of the planks. Senator Borah was summoned during the day to again make his wishes known. The platform when finished was ‘about 3500 words long. It combines all the old traditional expressions in which political promises are framed, yet combines new phrases with them to an extraordinary degree. The New Deal to that extent will give the Democrats a marked psychological advantage. The platform makes the following pledges on matters of international significance:— It affirms faith in a protective tariff and advocates the repeal of the reciprocal trade agreements and the end of the secret negotiation of trade agreements. It promises the restoration of the principle of a flexible tariff and opposes further devaluation of the dollar. It demands the repeal of all laws which Congress delegates to the President power to issue and regulate currency. It advocates the international stabilization of currency, but does not indicate when it is to be done. The foreign affairs plank opposes foreign alliances or political commitments, as demanded by Senator Borah, and opposes the entry of the United States into the World Court or the League of Nations. It advocates international co-oper-ation in the limitation of armaments and traffic in arms. It pledges every effort to collect war debts and condemns the Roosevelt Government’s failure to reopen negotiations with the debtor nations. In social and economic questions the platform in many respects is a mirror of the New Deal, except that it advocates the delegation of powers and responsibilities to the States instead of the Federal Government; it advocates the distribution of relief through local agencies with the aid of Federal grants, the States to share the cost of such relief. Works and Pensions. The platform also advocates only meritorious public works. It conde"mns Mr Roosevelt’s social security law, and advocates instead necessary payments to citizens over 65 years old to protect them from want; the funds for this would be obtained direct from widespread Federal taxation. The platform further advocates unemployment insurance by the States. The Labour plank acknowledges Labour’s right to collective bargaining “by representatives of their own choosing,” which is the language of Section 7A of the National Industrial Recovery Act. It further approves the adoption of State laws and inter-State compacts to abolish “sweat-shops” and child labour, and to protect women and children from maximum hours and minimum wages. “This can be done within the Constitution as it now stands,” says the plank. The agricultural plank opposes crop control and advocates “national use of land,” the family type of farms, some system of export bounties for surplus agricultural products and the protection of American farmers against the importation of livestock and dairy and agricultural products. The controversial “monopoly” plank was a victory for Senator Borah. He dictated its wording in private. Monopoly is condemned, and the enforcement of criminal as well as civil laws against monopolies and trusts is promised. Finally, the regulation of business is advocated by new independent tribunals under specific laws. The platform was unanimously adopted immediately the reading was finished by the chairman.