Daily American organ. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1856, 1855-01-23
NUMBER 50.
Know-Nothingism in Virginia.

count of the present condition of parties in
Virginia. Our readers must take his specu-
lations for what they are worth, for of course
we know nothing about 1T:
have delayed hitherto attempting to give a
sketch Of the rise, progress and prospects OF
Known Nothingism in this State, because / have
not been able till now to obtain the facts and il is
better not to state them at all than not to state
them accurately. have at last obtained them,
and from perfectly reliable source. If they do
not come up to the exaggerated accounts which
have been given, they afford at least reliable data,
for you may depend upon their perfect and entire
accuracy Now on the strength Of these facts,
which you may rely upon as implicitly as IL they
were testified to under oath by five hundred of tho
most respectable men in the community In court
OF justice, you must form your opinion whether
Henry A. Wise has not a rougher road than Jor-
dan to travel and whether he is likely to pass over
with dry slippers
The first organization Of Know Nothing coun-
Gil in Virginia was In Alexandria, in the month of
March last The second was in Norfolk, soon after,
and II was held on board vessel in the harbor In
the municipal elections which soon after took place
in Norfolk, the Know-Nothings gave the first evil
dence Of their power in Virginia, and carried
everything before them. No other Know Nothing
manifestations Of any note occurred till April,
| when slight demonstrations were made In various
| places In the whole State, up to May, thcrc
were but between thirty and forty councils alto
| gethcr, and the number In each was quite small
The first Know Nothing council In Richmond was
organized on the 4th of July last AT the lowest
estimate, there are between fifteen and sixteen
hundred members here, though there have been
at least twenty-five hundred initiated in this city,
| Tho number of members in the Richmond coun-
ellis is steadily increasing Sometimes as many as
| twenty join one of the councils in single night.
If any one thinks Know Nothingism ii the Whig
cat in the meal tub, they need only look at some
of the dyied-in-the-wool Democrats who belong to
the various councils in Richmond, and take an nc
| tive part In them. The first general meeting of
/ the State council was held in this city in the
month Of November last AT that time there were
/ in the State about forty councils and about thirty
/ thousand members At this time there are no
less than three hundred and sixty councils in the
State Of Virginia, one hundred and ninety (which
are in eastern Virginia No State council has been
held since November, and there has been conse-
| quently no report Of the number of members in
the whole State, but from the best data that can
be obtained, the membership at present is about
hftyeight thousand. At this rate of increase there
will certainly be not less than eighty thousand
Know-Nothing votes by the time the election
comes on.
The vote of Virginia in the last Governors eec-
| tion, in 1851, stood as follows: johnson, demo-
cratic candidate, e7,427; Summers, whig cand-
date, 60,2s6, Johnson's majority 7,10l. AT the
Presidential election of 1852, the vote for Pierce
was ~ Alb for Scott 81, 1872; majority for Pierce,
1921. No one pretends that the vote in the
Presidential election was fair indication of the
relative strength Of parties in Virginia. Scott was
anything but favorite with the Virginia wings.
He was suspected of being under the influence Of
Seward, and that was enough to kill him here.
The wings Of Virginia who voted for him gave
him anything but cordial support, while thousands
did not vote at ALL and others voted for Pierce.
The vote in the governors election was the only
q tbai as e S se sssa & Sy psrss Of t6ou
and in round numbers. There changes enough
in half dozen counties of the State to throw the
majority on the other side.
| The whole vote Of the State is 1895 On the
day of the election there will be cast at least eighty
| thousand Know-Nothing votes. Now, according
to my arithmetic, twice eighty thousand is one
| hundred and sixty thousand. Sxty-fve thousand
i Know Nothing votes would defeat Mr.. Wise. The
| Know Nothings will have fifteen thousand more
than enough to defeat him, even if he should poll
the whole strength of his party at this time.
| Out of fifteen or sixteen hundred votes in tho
city of Norfolk-thc largest vote ever cast in that
city--Henry A. Wise will not get over three hun
dred votes. ] am not speaking conectualy, but
upon reliable data. He win get but three hundred
votes there, and they principally foreigners. In
| Norfolk county including Portsmouth, (where is
the navy yard Piercc's majority was five hundred
| and sixty-two. There will be majority Of eight
L nunQrcu 10 m1ic nunufeu hHduL Wlhe, ~
difference Of about twenty-five hundred votes in
Norfolk city and county alone
Let me give you some curious and entertaining
facts in connexion with the inception Of Know
Nothingism in Norfolk and Portsmouth. The first
council as / have told you, organized ON board
vessel in the harbor. Suspicious soon became
rife that Know-Nothingsm had made start in
that region Its enemies determined 10 find out
who belonged to the order, and system Of espion-
age was established which would have done honor
TO the curiosity and vigilance OF the Holy Inqusi-
tors. Men were watched Mt their doors 10 sec
where they went at night The indignation Of the
people, rs soon as this fact was discovered, was
profoundly aroused. IL gave an impetus 10 Know
Nothingism such as Il had never received before.
Numbers who did not belong to the fraternity, and
had no intention Of joining Il, finding themselves
thus watched and dogged, Immediately united
themselves with the Know-Nothings.
Soon after this occurrence, the government sent
on an order for the registration Of eighty more
in the United States navy yard at Portsmouth.
More than eighty native born citizens Of America
applied for appointment The government pro-
cceded tomakeits appointment ofthe eighty,
seventy-six foreigners, and only four natives, were
appointed.
A short time afterwards requisition was made
for forty more men. More than that number OF
native citizens appled--but thirty-cght foreigners
and only two natives were appointed.
There came third requisition for twenty men,
But by this time the powers that be" began to
smell a rat and, trembling in their shoes, they APP
pointed the whole twenty Americans
Can you wonder that Know-Nothingsm has ta-
ken deep root in Virginia and is fourishing like n
green bay tree?
One word as TO Mr. Wise's own county, Acco-
mack, stronghold Of Democracy. There are 800
voters in that county and, at this moment, eight
hundred and fifty ofthem are Know-Nothings, aud
, the number rapidly increasing.
The following extract from the foreign cor
respondence Of the New York Times, will
J give our readers some idea OF the luxu-
rics Of living in Catholic country:
" You may form some idea Of the state Of af
fairs in Italy from the following The Principali-
ties of Massa and Carrara have been placed under
the martial law Of Colonel Casani.. The punish
ment of death is to be inflicted on all persons