The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1873-10-30


The Austin STATESMAN quotes the Journal
as saying that the Germans Of Texas gener-
ally will support the Radical ticket headed
by Governor Davis. We can hardly credit
the statement; but we know that for a long
time insidious and persistent efforts have
been made TO induce the Germans Of Texas
to adopt a separate political organization
whether with a view to lead or follow the
lead Of some other party has been hard to
determine. In either case, we can only re-
gard such an Independent organization, on
the basis of a separate race-of foreign
birth-as impOlitic and injurious, both to
those who engage In the movement and to
the country at large, in which all parties pro-
fess to ignore, and should discountenance,
any party formed on prejudices Of nationality
or race We well remember the evils that re-
suited from the organization of the old Know
Nothing party, and were among those who
most zealously combatted that heresy in
American politics. That party, which APP
pealed 10 the prejudices of the predominant
ing race, was signal and disastrous failure,
and the attempt to build up party of nat
uralized citizens, in opposition to the lead
ing political parties of the country, must be
equally unsuccessful, and quite as prejudi-
cial to the interests of naturahzed citizens
as was the Know Nothing movement, which
was based upon the then unfounded as
sumption that foreigners were attempting to
rule the country. and peryert its institu-
tions. The Germans of Texas, at least, who
are mostly old citizens of the State will
very likely remember that the Democratic
party stood up in defense of the rights of
naturalized citizens in that contest and over
threw the proscriptive organization arrayed
against them. We know many of these old
naturalized Germans too well to believe that
the mass or a majority of them are to be in
weighed into this new and mischievous
scheme.
But it appears that these appeals to ma
tional preiudices are not confined to single
race. At San Antonio the Erie Prose-,
Republican paper, says, efforts had been
made in certain quarters to foster prejudices
of race and nationality, -" and that NE
groes, Frenchmen, Alsatians, are to be
bounded against the Germans, while one of
the delegates to the Republican nominating
convention declared that he was "a German
Know-Nothing, and that the Germans had
resolved that German influence and German
power should be felt and recognized"
Now the fact is that Germans constitute
large proportion of the best population of
Texas; most of the leading mem among
them are very old citizens, many having
come to the country previous to annexation;
they have intelligence industry, property,
and valuable interests of every sort in the
State, and are entitled to all due weight
and influence as citizens of the State They
are much more Americans and Texans than
Germans in their interests and political pro-
clivities, and it is but proper that they
should have their full share in the direction
of the affairs of the State. But we do not
believe that the effort to control their votes
by appealing to their old sympathies fer
their fatherland will have any material
weight in the present canvass, in which they
are called upon to vote as Texans and not
as Germans Gd10eston Neaos