The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1866-11-26
rh... Know.yothing Issues.

Thn.e eKnow.Nothing ISSUE"
The negro suffrage sheet IN TINS Guy
,os tbot we have revived the OLD
;.Snss Of Kuow-Nothingism to aid the
Democracy in carrying the charter elec-
49, - Ionuary. The fact that the De
,aonrocv does not need any special ex-
.sIiort 70 enable it to triumph in this
city is a clear refutation OF the inte'h-
ccncer,s assertion. The Democrats and
conservatives of Ohio county are strong
srourh and active enough to carry the
elections here whenever they choose,
and if they so determine, will control
tbe politics of both city and county, not
only Mt the January election, but upon
all similar occasions The silly declara-
tion. that we are bringing forward
Know-NOthing issues as means OF Dem
orratic success, is so much miserable
baIderdash, introduced as n prelude to
the pitiful claptrap which follows 1T.
The fop lays traps for compliments, the
professional Jester maneuvres for op-
nortunities to fire off his carefully pre-
pared witticisms, and with the same
vanity and strategy the negro suffrage
editor has smoothed the way for his
precogitated smartness about the In
consistency of Democracy and the record
of some of its supporters.
Ifhe were at all addicted to practical
honesty-a possibility on which no pru-
dent man would bet very largely-he
would confess the past Know Nothing
procliYities of Radicalism and would
show, fit were possible, that his par
" has now renOunced the follies and
errors of political and religious intolcr-
ance But instead of meeting the qucs-
tion with candor and common sense, he
seeks TO relieve himself and party from
the odium of Know Nothingism and to
prove that the Democrats have all be-
come Know Nothings, by showing that
certain gentlemen now acting with the
Democracy were formerly favored with
frequent glimpses of the mythical SAM
UEL. We know but little and care less
about the truth or falsity of the Infelli-
gsRcer'S asseveratiOns on this point.
Whatever Nessrs. RICHARDSON and
SMITH may have been, there is certainly
more merit in the renunCiatiOn of error
when it becomes palpable, than i'll blind
" and obstinatcly adhering to fatal
follies merely for the sake of cOnsisten-
cy. The man who never changes an
opinion is almost certain to become a
permanent fool, and the men who, see
ing the faults of Know Nothing intoler-
ance, have abandoned its tenets, have
the same advantage over Radical
Know Nothings of the CAMPBELL and
HARRIS stamp, that candid wisdom al
ways has over stubborn stupidity.
Since the negro suffrage organ insists
upon Judging the Democracy by the
record Of few individuals in the or
ganization, it cannot object to the use
ofthe same style of reasoning in deter
mining the character of its own party.
Ifthe past acts of a few gentlemen now
acting with the Democrats be taken as
criterion of the whole party, much
more should the recent and present
course of q few specimen Radicals he re-
garded as Il fair exposition of the char
acter of their entire organization. If
Mr.. Nat. RICHARDSON'S record makes
Know NOthings Of all the Demo-
Gratis, then NAT HARRIsoN's false swear
ing PeTurcs the Radical party. If
Mayor SwEENEY's former political
views make the Democracy anti-Cath-
olic and anti-foreign, then the past re-
bcihous prOclivities Of KITCHEN and Ed.
MAXWELL make the Radical party
reasonable organization, (Which it
lS.) If Colonel SMITHS past course
makes Democracy proscriptive, then the
present and distinguished rascality of
JIM. FERGUSON convicts the entire
Radical party of grand larceny. If the
cooperation of any man with the Dem
ocratic party compels that party to en-
dorSe his every act, there is no reason
why RadiCalism should not he held re-
Sponsible for the faults of its votaries.
and Its entire membership be consider
ed hog thieves like FARNSwoRTH.
swindlers like SAM. Young, or murder
erS like that imported ruffian, CYRUS
NEwLIN. The Radical party in West
Virginia, n party that numbers among
It's leaders the patrons of every vice.
and the experts in every special vii
iiny, cannot very well afford to be
Judged by the acts of particular mem.
'erS, and its organs may find that in
seeking TO taStcn npon Democracy the
charge OF hnow Nothingism, they are
establishing precedent by which their
own organization may be convicted of
every iolble known to folly. and .of
every ottense i'll the catalogue ofrr;me