The true Democrat., 1855-07-03
From the New York National Democrat The Know Nothing Movement-its Absorption by Abolitionism.


 Absorption by Abolitionism.
 We declined to employ any reporter of the proceedings of the secret conclave lately sitting at Philadelphia, and declined also to publish. a day or two since, a letter volunteered from an lnslder," professing to give details which, we have no doubt, he had sworn to keep secret- As we have had occasion heretofore to remark, apropos of Mayor Woods Sunday liquor sell ing prosecutions, we are not over fond of the spy and lnformer trade. A caucus, convention, council or other assemblage of gentleman de- slrlng to keep from the general public its say ngs and doings, is at full liberty to do so under the laws of this land, and the exposure of its proceedings contrary to the desires of the mem- bers, is but mildly characterized by being rated as an ungentlemanly act. Our readers do not require to be assured of our unblenching hos. tility and opposition to know nothingism, in all its features. That is thing. The encour- aging of plmps and spies to hang round the windows and keyholes of know nothing or any other secret society meetings, or the sending into them of scamls who, after swearing se- cresv, sit down and dispatch accounts to the public prints, is another thing entirely. And, contemptible as the spy is, his employer is equally so. We feel ashamed and disgraced to sec conductors of New York newspapers con- descending to retail keyhole reports.
 The New York Express is known to be friend ly to, and in fact, to be a sort of organ of this proscriptive, absurd, bigoted and nti-American American" party-commonly known as know nothings. We are bound, therefore to presume that what lt has contained of reports concern ing this " Councll' is what is sanctioned by its members, and authorized by the rules, degrees and what not of the order" that it, at least. IS not obtained from any evesdropper cowan or perurer; and we have copied the Express re- ports therefore, for the information of our req derS. It is from the Express report of last evening, that we learn of the final breaking up Of the know nothing organization, and of the causes which led thereto
 It appears that the following resolutions, among others, were agreed to by the majority of the council-receiving vote of eighty to htty-nine-four sevenths of the entire body:
 "Reso1ued, That the American party having arisen upon the ruins and in spite of the oppo- sition of the whig and democratic parties, can not be held in any manner responsible for the obnoxious acts or violated pledges of either; that the systematic agitation of the slavery question by those parties have elevated section- al hostility into a positive element of political power, and brought our institutions into peril It has therefore become the imperative duty of the American party to lnterpose, for the purpose of giving peace to the country and perpctuity to the Union That as experience has shown 1t is impossible to reconcile opinions so extreme as those which separate the dsputants, and as there can be no dishonor in submitting to the laws the national council has deemed it the best guarantee of common justice and of future peace to abide by and maintain the existing laws upon the subject of slavery, as final and conclusive settlement of that subject in spirit and in substance.
 Reso1rsa, That regarding 1t the highest duty to avow these opinions upon subject so impor- tant, in distinct and unequiyocal terms, it is hereby declared, as the sense of this national council, that Congress possesses no powers un der the constitution to legislate upon the sub- feet of slavery in the States or to exclude any State from admission into the Union because her constitution does or does not recognize the institution of slavery as part of her social svs. tenn; and expressly pretermltting any expressions of opinion upon the power of Congress to estab- fish or prohibit slavery in any territory. It is the sense of this national council that Congress ought not to legislate upon the subject of slave " within the territories of the United States and that any interference of Congress with slave ry as 1t exists in the District of Columbia would be a violation of the spirit and intention of the compact by which the State of Mary land cedcd the district to the United States, and breach of the national faith.''
 Whereupon, the minority botcd-left and repudiated the order, and at a meeting held yes terday morning at the Girard House, Philadel- phia, the ceceders (who consist of all the dele gates from non-slaveholding States, except New Y ork and \ ew Jersey, organized separately by themselves and put forth the following counter platform:
 To THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES.- The undersigned citizens of the various States, assembled at Philadelphia on the 14th day of June 1855, feel constrained, under the exist ing state of affairs, to affirm the following prin- ciples:
 "FIrst-The unconditional restoration of that time honored compromise known as the Mis- souri Prohibition, which was destroyed in utter disregard of the popular will. 4 wrong no lapse of time can palGate, and no plea for its continuance can justify; and that we will use all constitutional means to maintain the positive guarantee of its compact, until the object for which it was enacted has been consummated by the admission of Kansas and Nebraska ao free States.
 Second-That the rights of settlers in tcrrlto- ries to the free and undisturbed exercise of the elective franchise guaranteed to them by the laws under which they are organized, should be promptly protected by the national executive, whenever violated or threatened, and that cannot conscientiously act with those who will not aid us in the correction of these national wrongs, and will not even permit their fair con- sideration and full discussion.
 Third-We further declare our continued and unaterabe determination to use all honora- ble efforts to secure such modification of the naturalization laws, aided by such elevation of public sentiment as shall preserve the true in- terests of the naton and shall guarantee the three vital principles of a republican govern ment-spritlal freedom and free Bible schools -thereby promoting the great work of Ameri canizing America.
 Fom1h-That we invoke the arm of legisla- tion to arrest that growing evil-the deporta- ton by foreign authorities of paupers and con- victs to our shores-and that our national constitution requires the chief executive of our country to be of native birth, we deem 1t equal ly necessary and important that our diplomatic I lr0r |