Weekly American. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1858-1858, 1858-02-27
LOCAL INTELLIGENCE.

RIoT, VIOLENCE, BLooD--The daily papers
have given accounts Of the bloody doings Of
Saturday night in the vicinity Of Second street
and Massachusetts, avenue, which are not in
many particulars, correct No scene Of yio-
lence and blood can occur in Washington the
blame and disgrace of which is not Immediately
attached to members of the American party
THESE prints appear to have feryent delight
in attributing to the (" Know Nothings," as
they are called, everything Of disgraceful or
wicked nature that transpires among us. Ever
since Bloody Monday" not . misdeed, not
even an ugly word, has been done or spoken,
but the poor Know Nothings are to blame
There is policy in this. The bloody acts of
Bloody Monday" are to be justified in the
eyes ofthe people abroad, and hence Washing
ton and Baltimore are held up to the world as
inhabited by Goddess and Christlesss Know
Nothings, who revel in blood, and delight in
acts Of violence and in the performance Of
murderous deeds, the bare recital Of which
makes the heart turn pale.
Now, the fact is, the very reverse Of this is
the truth. Members Of the American partyin
Washington--that is, those who have the
secuted and oppressed set Of men, and have
been so fiercely set upon, and vindictively fol-
courage to avow their membership per-
lowed up, for the purpose Of depriving them
Of the means of earning bread for their fami-
lies, attacked and assailed by violence in the
public streets and in private and public houses,
that many Of them have not thought it safe to
venture out after night, unless armed to the
teeth for resistance against the outlaws who
lay in wait for them, for the purpose Of taking
their lives.
It is known to every citizen Of Washington
that our city has been for a long Time, in pos
session Of a band of armed ruffians, known as
/" Regulators" and that their declared bust
ness here was to regulGte things in Washing
ton They attacked everything American
everything that bears the name American,
from an engine house to a restaurant, where
Americans were known to resort. Every citi-
zen knows that it was and is dangerous to
walk abroad after night. Robberies, murders,
Standings, assaults, insults offered to women.
are Of daily and nightly occurrence And eve
rybody knows, too, that this was and is q
Democratic association, and many know and
all 6slisUe, that it was brought here at the in
stigation Of some of the heads Of the municipal
government, who put their hands in their poo
kets for their maintenance, and to prevent con-
viction when, accidentally, arrested These
things are true, and cannot be gainsayed.
Lot no one suppose that we are the adyo-
Gates Of wrong in any quarter. Not we We
are for order, quiet peace, "good viii" to men.
But while we would not screen the pcrpetrator
Of wrong from punishment be he who he may,
| we avow ourselves the advocate and defender
of the oppressed, nor shall injustice be done to
any member Of the American party without
due exposure, as far as in us lies Of merited
punishment we do not complain. Ifany mem
Der of that party transgresses thelaws, let him
have a fair trial, and if honestly convicted let
him suffer, say we. But the Democratic prac-
tice Of hiring rufians and rowdies to come to
Washington and violate the peace and security
Of the city, murder Americans, insult females
and rob and main at viii, and then charge the
offence against Americans" is not just the
thing that we are prepared to submit to.
We are american, in every sense of the
term. In our veins flows revolutionary blood.
Our fathers fought and bled for freedom---our
mothers labored and toiled while their hus-
bands and brothers fought, and when they
could do nothing else, they prayed for the sue
cess Of their husbands and brothers, under the
lead of their noble chieftain, George Washing
ton. We will not submit to wrong. We know
our rights, and knowing, dare maintain them.
Suffer, we may-but IL we do suffer, 1t shall be
in the cause Of right So go ahead, ye min
ions Of an arbitrary dynasty, and do your worst
I'VE despise and defy you.
In the days of our fathers, there were those
who basely truckled TO the power of the King.
So, in these days, there are some who basely
truckle to the power Of an arbitrary President
the President of party, not the President
Of the people. They are more despicable, IL
possible, than the tyrants to whom they cringe.
They are degenerate sons Of noble sires, or
worthy representatives Of Tory ancestors We
despise them. tB
The following, in relation 10 the riot on Sat-
urday night we have from the lips Of one of
the wounded upon that occasions
Hearing there was to be rattle Of pig
at the house Of man named Dasey, and not
knowing exactly where the house was, be and
some others walked down as far as Second
street and Massachusetts, avenue, and when
within about forty feet Of the house, a crowd
came out ofthe gate, and fred severalshots, by
which Rawlings was killed, and he and Nell
fresh wounded. Dasey's house pas not at
tackled first. Now, the accounts published
make It appear that the party in the house was
attacked by those outside, which drew he fire
Of those within by which Rollins was killed and
the others wounded The articles alluded to
are calculated and, we believe, intended TO pro-
duce the impression that the attack was made
upon the house by the bloody Know Moth
ings,n in continuation Of the plan putin opera
ton on the I'd Of June last by which the coun-
try was flooded with falsehoods in relation to
the events of that day. We wish to correct
that impression abroad.
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