Saint Paul weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1858-1859, 1859-08-06

Foreigners in Democratic South caro-.
lima required to reside two years aiter
Citizenship before voting, holding Of.
fee or serving on Juries!
No little sensation was produced over the
lily yesterday morning, by our complete ex-
posture of the Pioneers deception relative to
the fact, that the Democratic State of South
Carolina does require foreigners to live two
years in that State after naturalization and
50 Citizenship" before being allowed to vote,
to hold Office, or to serve on Juries!
1t was then made clear to our foreign-born
citizens that the Minnesota organ of the Dem
ocratic Party-counting, probably, on the re-
moteness of South Carolina and on the little
likelihood of the Republicans obtaining from
thence the exact facts in an official form,-had
boldly ventured ON game Of pulling wool !"
over their eyes-and had sought to cheat their
judgment into false conclusions by, in the first
place, holding the Republican party unfairly
responsible for the Anti-Republican action of
Massachusetts,, while, on the other hand, it
covered up, concealed, denied and misrepre-
scented the previous similar, or even ,oorse, &C.
ton of Democratic South Carolina
The very attempt Of the Pioneer md DEM
c,at to make capital for the Democratic party
by such falsehool and Geception-to gain the
votes of foreign-born citizens by such bold
and reckless lying to tlem--they naturally
feel to have been = gross ins4it to their intel
ligence and understanding; and it is net SUR:
prising there is quite reaction therefore 60
ing ON in favor Of the Republican party u
mongst that class of our ctizens-n tavor OF
that party as the one which boldly and unan-
imously, from the first, denounced the two
years amendment in Massachusetts; an
amendment the passage Of which it is clear
the Democratic party in that State could have
defeated, had they not wanted it adopted SO
as to use it in other States to the injury of the
Republican party Of the nation!
But how different from the conduct of the
Republicans as to Massachusetts,, has been the
course of the Democratic party upon the SIM
liar amendment adopted by South Carolina.
As far back az 1856, the Democracy of that
State amended It's Constitution so that no for
eigner could vote unless he had been q "citi-
zen" of the State-that is, taken out bis full
natul a,ization papers,-two years before the
the election at which he offered his vote!
Where, in all this time, were the Democrat
ic presses and the Democratic leaders, that
they raised no voice of condemnation against
this discrimination between foreign born and
native "citizenss"
At every election since December 20, 1855,
this discrimination has been enforced. This,
the Democratic papers of South Carolina in
form us Of Two years and u half, therefore,
this injustice has been operating. Yet, in all
this while, no Democratic voice was ever rails.
ed to repudiate or condemn it'll
But 10 when Massachusetts, suffering un-
der the abuses of the naturalization laws per-
petrated upon the eve of every election, by
crowds of Milesians whom reckless politicians
induced to violate law and conscience-when
Massachusetts, in the evaporation of local
feeling from this cause, temporarily lost sight
Of justice and the principles of equality, and
adopted the requisition Of two years residence
after citizenship before voting, what howl
did We then hear raised by every Democratic
press in the landl
And when Democratic South Carolina was
referred to by the Republican press as having
preceded Massachusetts, in adopting such a
law, and without the local excuse of the lat.
ter to paliate it, and when the action Of both
States was condemned without qualification
by Republican men, presses and conventions
what did we then witness? Why, we beheld
the Democratic presses, here and elsewhere
attempting in the most brazen-faced name,
to lie out of the antithesis, and by the bold
assertion of negative, and by vile abuse o.
those who promulgated the fact, trying to Gre
ate the impression. that the skirts of the d..
mocracy were clear in this matter-that il
was falsehood South Carolina had so enact
ed-no, the love of the Democracy for the for.
eigner was too pure, undefiled and unimpeach.
ably fond to have ever done anything of the
kind-in fact, the Democracy had never in
South Carolina nor anywhere else prescribed
him beyond the extent allowed by the present
naturalization laws of the United States =
And in this tall kind of lying did the Ponce,
and Democrat most especially indulge, with
the coolest effrontery and the most overbear-
ing style of insolence. But "pride goeth be-
fore falr' saith the Scriptures
We are most curious, now, We confess, to
see how the Pioneer and Democrat will get
out of this new predicament in which its own
turpitude and mendacity has placed tin
what manner it will make the necessary
correction" There is a manly way to relieve
itself, and there is sneaking mode to try and
get out of it. Will it not adopt the first and
candidly address its readers in something of
this style:
Friends, we are sorry to acknowledge that
We have been mistaken. 1t is true, that on
the Naturalization Question South Carolina
and Massachusetts, are both tarred with the
same stick. 1t is true, that our strongest
Democratic Sister of the South adopted the
two years amendment two and half years
before Massachusetts, did. We acknowledge
that the amendment is even worse in South
Carolina than in the Yankee professionalism
while the latter only prohibits voting, until
two years have elapsed, in the former State
the foreigner is also deprived of that other
privilege of freedom, that badge of equality,
the right to sit as juror, to act as a peer of
the land; and is likewise, after citizenship,
prohibited from being eligible to any Office, and
all this though he had been previously for
twenty years a resident of the State! We
are sorry for these facts-they show bad De-
mocracy, just as the conduct of Massachu-
sets was bad Republicanism-iet us therefore
cry set off, on those two States, as between