The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1855-02-20

than simple, consistent ard ecnest minis
tration of the pubic lar 1a. nothing of the
sort can be expected wlit hi /. ng and
log rolling spoils poll ci&af o. "a corrupt
parties remain in 'oEes Tie8 lere is the
Judcious modificaf ~ cs ART laws, the
strengthening of tlc Ast and the recon
struction of the ~ ny N.b ]. the modern
improvements 'a ren to which the
old party fogi I'VE bureaus and
of Congress aave oo ,mselves utterly
incompetent o ay-1ias lew or practical.
But the taYlR d Fmy aua The navy require
only the nor tdet3nt wo king machinery of a
popular modern American party, thoroughly
imbued U.th ibe corrosive ideas of the age
These thing. oulerstand, will be among
the practical meas, of the Know Nothing
platform for 1856. they viii, also, adhere to
their policy Of hostility to "Popery," as they
call it, not as religious, but as political ele-
ment in our elections. The Know Nothings
propose to stand by the constitution upon the
question of religious liberty, as upon other
things but they will aim at the same time, to
destroy all schemes for the monopoly Of any
church property in the hands of the hierarchy,
to the prejudice of the sovereign authority of
the Know Nothings have taken the field against
all such Church and State affiliations as those
between Archbishop Hughes and w. II. Sew
ards party instruments at Carroll Hall. The
Know Nothings, in word, declare that Catho-
lies, as such shall cease to be used by artfal de-
magogues as balance of power in our political
elections, and that the movements of the Papal
ecclesiastics for the monopoly of the property
OF their churches, shall be arrested-that no
such dangerous power shall be secured to the
Pope through his bishops here, over the Catho-
lie laity ascitizens of the United States.
We see nothing very dreadful in all this. On
the contrary, the late proceedings Of the Catho-
lie laity at Hartford and Buffalo, against the
assumptions Of their bishops, prove that the
body of our Catholic citizens are opposed to such
assumptions, and are as tenacious of their rights
under our government as Of their religion it.
SELF So with regard to the naturalization laws.
ThesKnow NOthiDgs contemplate their modif-
cation; but in no way calculated to prejudice
the existing rights of our adopted citizens, nor
the claims and aspirations Of good and substan-
tial emigrants to timely citizenship. But in
this relation it is a part Of this new American
movement as we comprehend it, that all militia
~ and political combinations of citizens in their
old cast off nationalities, as IrishmeD and Ger
mans for example, shall be done away with;
and that all naturalized foreigners in al public
organizations and demonstrations, shall blend
~. 81. g 10
people. In becoming Americans, they must
cesse to he Irish or Germans-that's all.
This will explain what otherwise appears as
siDgeness Of hostility against the Catho-
lies and the Irish. 1t is simply because the
Irish are Catholics, and have, to some extent,
allowed themselves to be managed as such by
reckless demagogues as balance of political
power, distinct from the homogeneous mass of
the American people, that they feel most
heavily the pressure Of this Know Nothing re-
action. 1t is because this balance OF power has
fallen too much under the control of the whis-
key and rowdy influences of our old corrupt
political parties, that the Know Nothings have
risen to abolish the evil, and the rum and
ruffianism Of the wings and the democrats in
the same blow.
Having thus defined the policy and princi-
pies of this great Know Nothing movement
and presuming them to rest upon the solid
basis of the constitution and the Union, we
think there is little evil to fear, but much
good to be anticipated from their success
henceforward to and through November, 1885,
1t is evident that the s. mpathies Of the Ameri-
can masses are with this new party; and its
overwhelming popularity can only be attributed
to the great principles OF wholesome and
comprehensive political reformation. With
proper skill and discretion this movement
then, cannot come TO its elimination SD ort of
the Presidential campaign of So