[Joseph Smith] Joseph meets with the Twelve and completes and signs his "views of the powers and policy of the government of the United States." In this platform policy he reviews American leaders from Benjamin Franklin to John Tyler. He then makes eight propositions:
1. Reduce Congress by two-thirds. Pay them $2 a day: "That is more than the farmer gets, and he lives honestly. "
2. Turn penitentiaries into "seminaries of learning" and pardon all convicts except murderers.
3. Abolish slavery by 1850 by paying slave holders a fair price with money from the sale of public lands.
4. Abolish court-martials for desertion from the armed forces.
5. Work for more government economy and fewer taxes.
6. Establish a national bank.
7. Give the president power to suppress mobs.
8. "When we have the Red Man's consent," let the Union spread from coast to coast, inviting Oregon, Texas, Mexico, and Canada to join the Union if they so desire.
[Source: Conkling, Christopher J., Joseph Smith Chronology]
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