Butte record., 1855-10-13
Letter frGm Gen. Cass on Know knothin~
ism and Power of Congress in the Terri
DETROIT, August %, 1855.

/ -AClk- nc Ilitbf3o JO'' 'H'l7 NOhtt'h Il
letter dated July oath, written by Gen
Houston, VIII ch has just met MY eye,
aud in which he says he perceives. by
the papers Of the day, that 'Gen. Cass
has approved the platform of the Amer
lean order, as proclaimed to the world
by the convention at PHILADELPHIA" |
had observed the saae statements to
Gen. Houston aludes, and hid let them
pass unnoticed, FIR it would be hope,
less task to endeavor TO correct all the
misapprehensions and mIsrepr, senta-
tions to which it is my lot, as wei a.
that of all other public men, to be ex>
POSED in these days of party strife. And,
indetd, | could not snppo, that such
assertions would drc,ive airy one W o
had heard Or read nv remarks in the
Senate Of the United States, on the 5.h
of February lasf, uprn the presentation
Of the resolutions of the Legislature Of
Michigan, instrucing the Sen to Of
that State to vote for an act OF Congress
prohibiting the intl oduction Of slavery
into the Territories Of tn" United States
Upon that occasion. While dec iuing to
TO comply with those instructions, | took
the opportunity TO express my senti-
ments in relation to the new political
movement, which sought to acquire and
exerc Sc power by secret combnatlons,
bound together by the sanctions Of an
oath, which, it is sa d, made it the duty
( to III tbaT- md
viduaI convict ons to the express will of
q majority of their associates | then
observed "Strange d ctrines are abroad
and strange organizations are employed
to promulgate and enforce them Oar
political history contains no such chap
ter in the progress Of our co"ntry, as
that which now opening The ques-
tio-s of constitutionality AMI p1licy,
which have been SO long the battle cry
Of parties, are contemptuously rejected,
and intolerance, religious and politica
finds jealous, and ii may be they will
+ prove successful advocates in this middle
of the nineteenth century, boasiIng with
much seli-complacency Of its intelligence
and in this free country founded upon
immigration, ard grown prosperous and
powerful in liberation
We want no new parties, no new plat
fU ms, no new organizations, and the
soone, these dangerous Efforts are aban-
doned, the b tier it will be for US, and
for those who are to FIJI US in this
heritage of freedom"
l might well suppose, after the express
/ sion OF these views on the floor of the
Senate, and under circumstances # pc
eular responsibility, that any further
ac ion or my part would be unnecessary
to prove my Consistency, as a disciple Of
the sci ool Of Washington and jefferson
ard Madison and Jackson, in the rejec
/ lion OF dangerous innova ion, inconsis
tent with ali the principles those patri
cts taught, and which, IN fleet, aims to
transfer the great political duty of an
] American citizen from the sht Of day,
where it should be exercis d in this land
OF freedom to secret corclaves, as un-
fri ndly to calm investigation, as to wise
and patriotic decision But the extract
from the letter of G. n. Houston Las
shown me that these reports have re-
cciyed more credit than | had believed
and this coasldera ion has induced ME
thus publicly to notice and contradict
them My opinions. indeed, upon any
subiret arc but oil little consequence. ex
cept to myself; but if they are worth re-
fe.rIng to, they worth the trouble Of
making the reference a true one.
/ | have no sympathy with this plan of
political organization--n none whatever,
neither with the means it employs, no,
the objects it seeks 10 att in. ll~ So
crccv, its oath bound obl'gati rs. it
control of the ball,t-hox, Its syst m Of
prescription, striking both at po tical
rights and religious duties, and its iney-
table tend ncy to array one portion of
the community against another, and to
carry deadly feuds into every corner of
the land, of which we have just had
pr of, written in characters of blood,
and are doomed to have many more, if
this NOV, ment goes on, for this is but
the first installation Of death, and how
many others are to be paid, and after
what lancntab'e vicissitudes, is known
/ only to HIM who foresees events and
can control them-ihese characteristics
mark it as the most dangerous scheme
which has ever been introduced into our
Country to regulate its public action or
It's social condition. 1t is the Orange
ism of republic, scarcely better in
principle than it. monarchill prototype
of republic whose freedom and equali-
ty justify as little as they invite the in
troduo uotion of machinery whose opera
ton IS concealed from public observation,
but whose consequences are as clear as
they are alarming.
Gen. Houston gives crcdence to the
report that [ approve ''the platform of
tha American order. as proclaimed to
the world by the convention at Philadel-
phia." am aware that changes have
been made bo,h in the name and in some
of the principles ofthis new organization.
But these changes do not remofe my OBJ
jections to it. Its spirit of exclusion and
intolerance remains, and with it, its
evils and its dangers. 1t is a book to
Which | oannat ha rpconcilnd Uhatnver