Weekly American. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1858-1858, 1858-05-22
INFAmoUsi INFAmoUsii

fredericksburg afterna ards, to allow any nves-
tigation into the causes Of such wholesale MUIR
der. To read this insolent and infamous sheet,
one would suppose that he was living in Para
quay under the tyrant Francia, or in Buenos
Ayres, under the bloody Rosas. 1t threatens
FREEMAN that If they dare vote against BERREr,
they shall, every mothers son of them, aoatk
the plank! One would think tn. miserable,
scurvy editor of this contemplate sheet was
an oyerseer of a chain gang of criminals, be-
laboring them with his foul tongue and knotted
whip such is the petty tyranny and ihsolent
character of his language. Hear him;
"To those who will reflect upon the cir
cumstances that surround the existence of
: the Knew Nothing party, or faction, in the
Sixth Ward, (which includes the Navy Yard,
the numerical strength of that faction will
Seem almost incredulous.
Nine-tenths, at least of them, gain their
daily bread from their employment within
the Navy Yard"
ga large majority of them are married
men, men of families, who are settled in
homesteads of their own, purchased-paid
for, or being paid for, out Of the savings of
their daily labor"
"When they bargained for these homes,
they did it under the impression and desire
that they should live under the protection of
their roofs for the remainder of their days,
surrounded with all the pleasures Of the
family circle.'n
'''1'hey looked to their expectation Of steady
employment within the yard, as the medium
through which their desires were to be OBJ
tanned. They bad been employed years be-
fore, with but little cessation, and they look
ed to the future in anticipation OF a continu-
ance of the great blessing of steady employ
ment within the Yard"
".Whtther they have ever properly esl-
mated this great blessing, or have ever given
thought of the pain it would give them to
be compelled to sever the tender ties that
bind them to their hea' stones, and to seek
employment as strangers in strange places
away from the comforts of pleasant home,
away from the affectionate presence of wife
and children, and the companionship of init
mate friends--we are not able to say; but"
and now, reader, we beg you to mark well
what follows: observe the threat about to be
made, that these employees in the Navy Yard,
who have so long lived in this Paradise of
workmen, shall be forthwith turned adrft
upon the world, driven from their homes, de.
prived of the means of living, and compelled
to wander over the earth as exes and crimi-
mails, unless,-what? Unless they will give
up all the rights and privileges of freemen,
have no will of their own, and vote as their
masters dictate!
"But," continues this insolent overseer,
'"but, from appearances, from the pertinacity
with which they cling to forlorn hope,
that Of seeing honest men in powell from
the stubborn determination they manifest to
assai, [false] to villify [Gale again. and to in
jure the hands that give them their daily
bread, false and insolent; they earn their
daily bread and live not upon charity we
are led to believe that they have either failed
to give thought to their own interests, and
the happiness of those who are depending
upon them, or else they build far too high
upon the forbearance Of the present national
Administration, and its agents within the
Yard"
There, Mr.. Native-born American, Democrat,
Wing, Republican, or whatever you may call
yourself, what think you of that? What
think We of such threats to freemen in a
country protesting to be free? Can you be-
lieve your eyes, when you see it, your ears
when you hear it? Where are wei under
what tyranny do we live! Who is the despot
that rules US with rod Of iron, and treats us
as if we were mere galley slaves as if our
backs were made for the whip, our necks for
the yoke, and our livers were white with fearl
Senator Hammond declares that all white
men who labor, are slaoes,-as much slaves as
the negroes of his State are slaves and here,
within sight of ths Capitol OF this boosted Re-
y,,h vy;th he of z,
the very nose Of democratic President, the
white laborers Of the Navy Yard are treated
as stdces by democratic paper, the campaign
organ of the democratic party of this city
They are told how happy they are, what com.
forts they enjoy, how long they have been per-
mitted to earn their daily bread and support
their families by their daily labor in the
"Yard," and then they are told that all these
great priUileges, all these comforts, all this
happiness, they will be deprived Of unless they
meanly, and like cowardly slaves, vote as bid
den by their masters "the bosses" at the
Navy Yardl Could tyranny do more2 Could
audacity 60 farther? Could the tool Of tyrant
be more insolentp
But, thank God, the white men who labor
in the Navy Yard are not slaves, nor are they
to be intimidated by any such insolent threats
as these They labor in the Yard, " il is true,
and they receive their pay, but not until they
earn it; but though they labor there, they arc
as free and independent as the President who
labors in the White House and receives his
pay; as free and independent as Senator's and
members Of the House of Representatives who
labor in the Capitol and receive their pay as
free and independent as the Secretary of the
Navy who labors in his Department and re-
ceives bis pay; and just as much right have
they TO dictate TO the President how he shall
vote, as the President, or Secretary of the
Navy has to dictate to them how they shall
vote.
Strange times we have fallen upon, indeed