The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1859-06-02
Mr.. SMITH O'BRIEN ON AMERICAN
POLITICS.

Mn. SMIId O'BRlEN On AMERICAN
POLITICS.
Mr.. William Smith O'Brien arrived in Bos-
ton on the evening of the 18th of May, and met
with grand reception at the fremont House,
from six or seven thousand Irishmen. In re-
ply to an address of welcome from Mr.. Patrick
Donohue, he made speech of considerable
length, reviewing his journey through the
Union, repeating his animadversions upon the
tendency of the laboring Irish in this country
to expend their earnings for liquor, and severely
censurlng the American party and the Repub
hcans of Massachusetts for the recent adoption
of the constitutional amendment
After some Introductory observations, Mr.
O'Brien said
"There is scarcely point that have touch
ed, where / have not been informed by Irish.
men themselves that it depended entirely on
the conduct and industry of individuals, whether
or not they shall succeed in this country-for
that fair field is open to every man IN this
country for ultimate success. In this respect
it differs unhappily from our country; for there
a man who is a laborer must expect to be a
laborer all his life and man who is a small
farmer can scarcely ever expect to be large
one. Here, on the contrary, in the case of
tens of thousands as / have learned, men who
in their hands have become proprietors of land !;
and those who entered into other departments
of business have become possessors of enor-
nous wealth. Cheers. The only exception
to that rule rs the case Of the LdbOrers upon the
lines Of railways and other similar tcorks, ioho
are az the habit Of squd1dering TOR tchiSky the
money which they might otherwise employ in
establishing an independence for themselves.
take 1t for granted that in the mighty crowd
before me, there is not one single man who
has been in the habit of pursuing this career.
Laughter. If there be such an one, it is well
that l should invoke the spirit of my departed
friend, thatapostle and saint-Father Mathew
and ask him to invite that man to abandon that
lnsidious temptation, and to apply himself, like
his successful fellow-countrymen, to pursuits
which would obtain for him an independence.
l am happy also to tell you, that in Canada |
have found very nearly the same success that
find in the United States. was gratifed to
find that in Canada, as in the United States.
the Irish are eminently successful | am hap
py also to tell you that they now enjoy that
which we struggled for, and which, if we had
been true TO ourselves, we could have obtain
ed mean the right to govern ourselves"
Mr.. O'Brlen went on TO speak in praise Of
the Canadian system of Government, and then
turned his attention to the subject of Know
Nothingism, as follows
Now, / must tell you frankly, at the same
time, that in the United States have been fire..
quently told by my cOuntrymen, and if there
are any here who are opposed to the immigra-
ton of foreigners, l am not sorry that thew
should have an opportunity to hear what | am
about to say on the present occasion. have
been told, IN various parts of the United States,
that their happiness in this country at one pc
Rod, about three or four years ago, was very
considerably diminished by the prevalence of a
spirit hostile to the introduction of foreigners
and, In fact, in some remarkable instances, /
learned that men who had lived in this country
upwards OF forty years, expressed determine.
ton to leave the country, in consequence of
the prevalence of the Know Nothing spirit
which at that time prevailed. regret to say,
that in some localities have found traces of a
continuance of that spirit and it has been to
me source of the greatest grief-grief to me,
not only as friend of my own race alone, but
as triend-for such l sincerely am-of the
people OF the United States. Cheers Be-
cause feel perfectly assured that the prevalence
o. such a sentiment as as equally pernicious TO
the people Of the United States as II is TO the
foreign population Of this country
have had opportunities of seeing that
nearly all the labor which requires great physi.
cal Ugor, such as the labor of CONSTRUCTING
railways, the labor of loading and dischargipg
the cargoes of vessels, the labor on the leyee
at New Orleans, the labor on steamboats, ON
the large rivers-in short, every kind of labor
where great muscular vigor is required, is per-
formed by lrishmen. What is to be thought of
the policy which tends to prevent from coming
to this country that industrious population
which has tended so much to develop the re.
sources OF this great country? Upon all other
questions of American politics am neutral.
int upon his question of Kno,c Nothin0ieyr
I am not neutral, belierinq 1t eo,tally disoSfroms
TO the United States and to tie adopted uopn.
tdtion Of This country.
What would be the result, if you succeeded
IN driving away from your shores, to Canada or
elsewhere, halfa million of Irish people What
would be the advantage gained by the party
accomplishing that end 2 Would it in any de-
gree increase their happiness? Would It in.
crease their wealth d? Would it not denreciata
the value of their property The ground Won
stand upon is such that vast masses of popula.
ton that might come to this country and make
use OF these enormous resources which are at
the present moment susceptible of qualification.
but which cannot be subjected to fructi6cation
without human labor, that they may remain for
years, and leave these resources in a state of
wilderness, unless you encourage immigration
Look at the Western cities. What has created
Chicago but the emigrant population Any
man who values the greatness of this empire
ought to feel that the encouragement of emf.
grant population, whether of German or Irish
origin, is one of the fundamental features of
the policy of the United States. [Cheers.l
Now, take the case of Canada again. spent
a couple of days with gentleman, Pole, who
is member of the Legislative Council of
Canada. He came an exile to Canada. He
became connected with the French Cana.
dams by marriage. And l find that al
though he is q Pole, utterly unconnected by
property or by language, he is elected mem
Der of the Legislative Council for the district in
which he lives. 1t is only required that he
should remain in the country for three years to
render him eligible to that position, which is
equivalent to the Congress of the United States.
But here, my friend Mr.. Richard o German, or
my friend Themas F. Meagher, cannot enter
Congress until he has served probationary
period of twelve years. Now, want to know
whether this is not sufficient time. ] want to
know whether twelve years is not sufficient