The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-07-05
A POLITICAL DEMONSTRATION IN NEW
HAMPSHIRE.

On the 9th of June, meeting of citizens
of New Hampshire and members of its Legis.
lature, was held at Concord, when speeches
were made by the two newlyelected Senators,
Messrs. Hale and Bell. The speech of the
former, as reported by a correspondent of the
Boston Journal, is just what might have been
expected-thoroughly Anti.Slavery, without
particle of Know Nothingism or Native Amer
icanism in it. AS reported, he did not make
the most distant allusion to the thing.
But the speech of Mr.. Bell was mixture of
Free-Soilism, Whigery, and Native American
ism. He was against the extension of Slavery,
against territorial acquisition against the
Homestead bill, Or the policy of giving of the
public lands to the andless, against foreigners,
the best of whom he regarded as hardly fitted
to exercise the rights of citizenship, and in
favor Of the protection of home industry against
foreign labor, &c.
Mr.. Bell is doubtless a very respectable gen
tleman, but his politics are rather antique and
the Cause of Progress in his election has gained
only, because it happened to involve the defeat
of Pro-Slavery sham Democrat
He dwelt upon the course of the slaveocra-
cy, who not only refused to encourage free la
Dor, but actually squandered, upon the most
frivolous pretexts, that vast domain which is
the natural heritage Of free labor tracing it to
the same disregard for the rights of the North.
The readiness with which they admit foreign
ers to the rights of citizenship, he argued, grew
out of the same disregard of the rights of free
laborers.
dwelling upon the subject Of the admission
of foreigners to the rights of citizens, he said
that the best of them were hardly fitted to ex-
ercise that right. When we look upon the rude
and ignorant masses, the tools of priests and
demagogues who have been elevated to citizen
ship, how much more untitled do they appear
to share with us this great privilege? They
should wait until they become prepared"
Mr. Bell, before attempting to enlighten his
fellow citizens, should obtain little more light
himself. The depredations on the public do
main by railroad companies and other specula
tors, are chargeable on Northern and Southern
men, greedy of gain. All sections and all par
ties have been implicated; and it is unjust to
hold any particular section or party to peculiar
responsibility. As to the project of land for
the landless, that is NORTHERN, not a Souri,
ERN policy; and but for the opposition of the
Slave Power, would, ere this, have been carried
through Congress. No less inconsistent with
facts is the assumption that the shareholders
are peculiarly ready to admit foreigners to citi
zenship. Their course On the Nebraska bill,
and subsequently in Congress, showed, on the
contrary, their peculiar readiness to restrain
the rights of foreign immigrants. They have
no better opinion of foreigners than Mr.. Bell
has, and they see, what he has not yet opened
his eyes to, that to diminish foreign immigra-
ton is to retard the growth of the free States.
In this senseless crusade against foreigners, the
Free Soil Mr.. Bell finds himself marching
along, lock-step, with the Slave Propaganda
Mr.. Pike, who, at a recent meeting of Know
Nothings in this city, is reported by the Ameri
can Organ to have held the following lam
guage:
He looked upon politics philosophically.
Now was the time for the American party to
act in the South. delay of five or six wears
would throw the United States Senate into Free
State hands. There would soon be ten new
States, of which eight would certainly be free,
and the other two as likely as not. If we wait
till that time, don't you see that the North will
do what they please with Slavery? Bot this
great party would act the conservative How
is it in Arkansas? We cast 10000 votes, and
in two months from the time Sam was in
troduced he had 10000 of them, and on the
Philadelphia platform they would carry the
State. 1t was no consequence to the laboring
men Of New York whether Slavery went into
Kansas or not but it was of some consequence
whether foreigners crowded in to compete with
their labor, and throw them out of employ. A
gentleman in this city, Mr.. j. c. Mcclure, not
a member OF the American party, had that day
told him that Irish aborers had come and Of
fered to underworld the American laborers
in his employ; but he would not discharge
Americans to give place to foreigners. Ameri-
cans will not labor as cheap as Irish. The
honest, industrious American deserves to live
like gentleman as he is. He himself knew
what labor was he went to Arkansas a wood
chopper, then became typesticker, and lastly
a LAWYER, at which he had worked as hard as at
ANYTHING else. He demanded good pay and
good living for American laboring men,"
Such stuff as this may do for american gen.
tlen,en, who are in the habit'of demanding good
aoork for no pay, from American laboring men
and for Northern men, who, while with philan-
thropic severity they berate the Southern man
for his prejudice against the blacks, cherish in