The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1855-02-23

heir State rights, and hold .ag an attitude Of
non-intervenfd on upon this ma
issue This renognition the Know
Nothings have made, and this il the attitude
which they occupy. The individual opinions of
General Wilson may IN some respects be hereti-
cal; but as Know Nothing he declares that
their platform ia,Aores the existence of the sla-
cry question entirely as an element Of politi-
cal agitation, and this, we believe, is all that
the South require Of any political party Of the
North. Let the fugitive law stan get slavery
remain untouched in the District Of Columbia;
let the people Of the States and the Territories,
present and prospective, settle the question Of
slavery for themselves. This is the policy of
the Know Nothings.
And yet their policy is not wholly that Of
non-intervention. They propose to intervene,
not only against such foreign influences as
Germans, or Irish, or Catholics, as balance Of
power in our political elections; but against
those foreign anti-slavery influences Of STRAIT
ford House, and the British aristocracy ope-
rating here through snch agencies as Mrs. Har-
riet Beecher Stove, and the abolition societies
Of which she is the amounted petticoat apostle.
This very antislavery neutrality of the Know
Nothings, though their party should include all
the abolition coteries Of Massachusetts,, will re-
duce them practically to passive obedience to
the laws Of the land and to the recognition
of the rights Of the South. That the Know
Nothings will adhere to this neutrality plat
form may be relied upon, for the moment they
abandon it they win cease to exist as national
homogeneous organization.
Mrs. Harriet Beeeher Stowe, therefore, is well
come to ell that she can make Of Gen. Wilson.
Read her letter. She proclaims the anti-alave-
ry reaction at high tide water mark. So we
think; and that the movement Of this new Ame-
rican party is destined to absorb or overshadow
the anti-slavery sentiment In higher and more
practical political issues. The election of Will
con and the reelection of Seward, and other
recent Northern elections to the Senate, anti
slavery though they may be, do not affect the
national programme of the Know Nothings.
According to General Wilson's letter they
stand upon the compromises Of the constitution,
and upon the settlements of the slavery quss-
ton as they exist. Let the Know Nothings adj
here to this programme, and great and i'm
portant victory will be theirs in 1856.
INTERESTING AND INFORMANT STATISTICS OF
misunderstanding to public document
laid before Congress the other day from the
Department of State, there arrived in this
country in 1s54-the year just closed-from
foreign parts, ,474 persons, Of which aggre-
gate, in round numbers, $4,000 were landed
in New York. OF the whole number, there
we're $4,000 from the island Of Great Britain,
10 1Ol,606 from Ireland--giving from the
United Kingdom total Of 100000, against
FOG, 900 from Germany.
This is o remarkable revolution. Down to
he last year or two, the Irish exodus far eS-
,eeded that from Germany and all the Conti-
mental States put together. Now we find the
from Germany alone more than twice
as large as the shipments from Ireland uand a
third larger than the aggregate exports' of all
the British islands combined. On the other
hand, our accessions amount to $4,000 for the
last year from France, to $4,000 from China.
the Chinese coming in at San Francisco, and the
French mostly at this port.
These are curious and suggestive facts The
small emigration from France naturally conveys
the idea that the mass of the French people are
happy and contented at home,
even their humble resources in
France to all the temptations Of prospective
wealth and political promotion in the United
States. This is very striking proof, not only
Of contented population Of nearly forty mil
lions, but of the popularity Of the government
Of Louis Napoleon, notwithstanding the hazards
of CONSUMPTION for the army. France thus
continues strong, while Great Britain is vast
ing away.
But the most striking feature Of these figures
from the State Department is the overwhelm-
ing and increasing strength Of the Germanic
and the marked decline in the Irish emiga-
ton. Why is this? We presume that the
dangers Of continental war, the pressure Of
taxation, the temptations Of political and reli-
gious liberty, and our rich lands in the West,
to say nothing Of the temptations of lager bier
saloons in our large cities, are bringing over
this mighty influx of the Teutonc and Saxon
tribes 70 our shores.
The great decrease from Ireland, on the
other hand, lie partly due to the fact that old
Erin has been exhausted Of her heavy surplus
By emigration and famine, heretofore-that
there is more work and more bread for the re
mainder at home; and that there is hope,
though vague and indefinite, that something
may turn up" for Irish independence one Of
these days. Perhaps, also, the uprising Of the
Know Nothings on this side may have operated,
to some extent as check upon the Catholics
in Ireland. At all events, the Irish exodus is
rapidly suhsiding, while that from Germany il
rapidly swelling from month to month. Should
this Russian war continue year longer our