The weekly Placer herald., 1854-08-26
Iowa Hill Correspondence
Know NOthinrism

IABB MITcHELL, Esa.-Dear Sir.
As the Wings have introduced into NJ.
political contests in this county and .I,a
where new organization which has r..
it's object nothing less than the di.fran
chisement of our citizens of foreign h;r,h
| thnA j, the duty of all con,istent namo
Gratis to cause the views and purposps oc
this society called "Know Nothinvs,, tn ha
circulated among, and fully explained tn
the people of this county, that it NAV he %
understood how utterly repugnant and
hostile they are to the principles of true
Democracy
By the Constitution of the United Statos
any citizen of foreign birth, who has com.
piled with the requirements of the Natur,-
lizHtion Laws, and becomes legally c;,;-
zen, possesses all the privileges of ono
born in the country, and is eligibl4 e..
ection to any office hut that of Presjden,
this is hut common Justice, for who ca,,
help the accident of his hirth. But wban
disgu>ted with tyranny and oppression At
home he seeks an asylum with us, can.
not for my life see why he cannot appre.
ciate and prize the freedom and liberaIitv
of our institutions quite as well as our
selves, for he has the advantage of con.
trasts which we have not, giving him in
reality an advantage over born citizens
in this respect. How unworthy, there.
fore, is their first and main objects of
organization, q will not dignity it by the
name Of principIe.) Exclusion of citizens
of foreign birth from office, thus evidently
Intending the formation of Il privileged
class, an aristocracy from which to select
ali the occupants of the offices
Judge Conrad, the Know Nothing. and
whig Mayor of Phi ade phia, proclaimed
as his rule Of conduct, that the pretenSions
of no man to Office, no matter what his
qualifications were, could be one moment
considered, after it was ascertained that
he was of foreign birth.
As the society is secret and they are
either afraid or ashamed to proclaim to
the world the objects Of their organization,
as other secret societies do, we are oblig-
ed to Judge them by their actions and such
expressions ofopinion as that given above
hey do not stop at this, however, but
would, if they had the power, abolish
the Natura iZatlon Laws altogether, the
Native Americans claimed twenty -One
years, but they have improved upon them.
Our Constitution tolerates all religions,
hut they have prescribed and waged war
against the Roman Catholics in every i'll
stance. The recent riots in Philadelph
and New York are evidence that they
bnve been the first party in the United
States to introduce religion into politics,
and that alone should be enough to damn
them.
now appeal to all, not to Democrats
alone but to all right minded citizens of
Placer county, men who love our glorious
Constitution. and who respect its obIiga-
tiuuS and intentions. men who are govern
ed in their opinions and actions hy the
eternal and undertaking principles ot right
and Justice. Whether any political so
rifty formed for the above mentioned OBJ
iectS. that has published no declaration of
PRINCIPLES, whose members either through
shame or fear, invariably deny their con-
nection with or knowledge of it. Whose
evident intention is to work injustice upon
portion of the people of the United
States, and to form an ar>,ocratic class
to hod the offices, who have introduced
rrliglous tests into poi tiles, the most
damnny spirit of all, should not he con-
drmned and denounced hy every man
vho has a proper feeling for the rights of
man, and who has the hest interests OF his
country ut heart. Let Washington's
maxim he our guide in this, "l'eware of
secret societies for political purposes.
The Father of his country foresaw that
it was from this source that the greatest
dangers were to he apprehended. 1t has
been and is our proudest boast, that our
free and enlightened country has always
been and always will be an asylum tor
the oppressed of all nations. and now that
they are among Us, let US, by our kind,
generous and just treatment of them, show
that we are sincere in our intentions, and
let us frown on every attempt to detraud
them of the rights guaranteed hy the Con-
stItutiOn.
A NATIVE BoRN DEMOCRAT.