The Portland daily press., 1882-09-25
The Irish Vote.

solid for slavery and all Its crimes. Why this
is SO nobody can tell. The German vote is
nationally independent vote, that is sometimes
strongly Republican and sometimes Democrat
ic. So independent is the German vote that
both parties are always.in doubt how the Ger
mans will vote, knowing that it takes but
slight difference of opinion to cut the Germans
loose from party gods The negro vote at the
South is not solid for the Republican party, for
the negroes have discovered that even when
the Republican party is in power it does not
have the pluck to defend the rights of the COL
CRED voter, so that Sambo, with sound practical
sense, says he had better vote with his old mas
ters, who viii give him half loaf of protec-
tion than with the Republican party that suf-
fers his whole loaf to be wrested from his
grasp, SO that, curse the negro as we may, for
his lack of heroic endurance, he surely acts
with common sense in deserving an army that
will not fire shot for the late contraband we
are never weary of styling ''a man and a bloth-
err" While the German vote is caprlcious
element variable quantity that cannot be
connted upon for the unreasoning loyalty of
the cansman TO his hereditary chief; while
the negro is quick to discover that the Demo-
CTdtiC party az buo OOubu lS d SAFER refuge IMAM
the Republican ranks the Irish voter year af-
ter year votes the Democratic ticket without
bride or even q blessing from the party No
concessions are granted the Irish for their
vote; if promises are made to them they are US
ually broken. The most bigoted enemies of
the Irishman's religious faith are contained In
the Democratic ranks From the Democratic
ranks comes all the stupid anti-Catholic nom
sense; it was native Democratic votes that
nearly defeated Mayor Grace of New York
cirV aQnfinn 1880 hapauaa ha
Irishman and a Catholic. The native Ameri-
| can ignorance and knownothing nonsense of
our politics is chiefly contained in the ranks of
| the Democratic party The New York World,
| the leading Democratic paper In the nation ad-
| mitted that $4,000 Democrats voted against
| Francis Herman when he went for governor,
because he was an Irishman and Catholic,
| while the official returns of the city of New
| York proved that $4,000 Democrats voted
against Mayor Grace because he was an Irish
man and Catholic, and he owed his election
| to the few Irish votes that the Republican par
ty contained. The brutes that composed the
mob that fred the Roman Catholic convent
| near Boston many years ago were Democratic
| roughs, and the native American "pug ugies''
/ of Baltimore that years ago mobbed the Irish
| emigrant, as the Irish emigrant mobs the Chi
| naman, are all Democratic voters to-days
| There is no political bond or tradition that
binds the Irish to the Democracy that does not
/ equally affect the German, who is an indepen-
/ dent voter at all times. Furthermore, the Re-
1 publican party has treated the Irishmen of abil-
| ity and influence who have sought its ranks
| With distinguished consideration. While the
Democracy scratched" Herman $4,000 because
of race and religion, General J. B. Carr of
Troy, an Irishman and a Catholic received the
full party vote, when nominated as Secretary
of State on the Republican ticket The Re-
publican party is too intelligent to have the
Roman Catholic tapeworm always in its brains,
or the bugaboo of Popish plot to rule in poll
tics always dancing before its eyes, SO our par
| ty is always ready to give an Irishman and
| Catholic fair show in proportion to his intel
| tigence and capacity, and when we nominate
HIM we do not scratch" him as the native
| Democrats do, because of his race or religion.
| Why should not the Irish voter cast his lot
with the Republican party quite as much as
| with the Democrats? No reasonable answer
| can be given to this question. The employers
| of labor, who are Republicans, outnumber the
| Democrats ten to one they, as a rule, use their
| labor as fairly and squarely as Democratic cap
| italsts do. 1t cannot be the labor question
| therefore, for Democratic capitalists are as re-
lenteSS in their insistance upon their rights as
| the sternest Republican employer in the land.
1t cannot be OF any arstocratic quality in the
/ Republican party, because as a rule you will
find Irish workingmen going to the Republican
| employer with perfect confidence when they
| need advice in matters of business, or need
| help in time of unavoidable adversely. 1t can
not be because there is less charity, siberality
| integrity and human fellowship among the
| Republicans than among the Democrats; it
| cannot be because there is more bgotry of race
| or religion, for the Republican when he stands
| up for the common school does not do it be-
| cause he has any war with the Roman Catho-
| lie church, but because under our form of gov
| eminent church and state must be kept separ-
| ate, and we cannot abandon our public schools
for the benefit of our parochial schools of the
| Catholic church without surrenderiDg the vi
| tai principle of our American form of govern
ment that the state shall know no church.
What then is the reason that the Irish masses,
without hope of reward, without satisfaction of
public or private interest, continue to vote for
| the party that contains nine-tenths of the
| brutal, bigoted hate of their race and religion
that is found in American public opinion?
| we cannot tell unless 1t be the Irish habit of
! being fooled by names rather seeking to search
| the essential fibre of things. The Irishman's
| lma3lnaton and often his memory holds SO
sirong store OF misery and wrong, wreaked
| by pitiess government in the past that the
name OF Democracy seems to capture him as
| quickly as patch of poisoned molasses does
flies. There is no sound reason why the Irish
vote should be solid for the Democracy any
more than the German vote or the vote of any
other nationality. Indeed, the New York
Tablet, an Irish Catholic journal, argues with
force that the Irish vote to be potential in
America, ought to be an independent vote, not
flock OF sheep racing after some old bellwetb-
er. The Tablet advises Irish voters to cast off
| the shackles of the Democratic party, and vote
! as the Germans vote, with rational indepen-
| dence that is not controlled by local politicians
| or corrupt party leaders, It believes they
| are learning to do this more and more every
| year, and that the time is not far distant when
t9ey will value their citizenship above all ALE
| glance to party. On this point we quote the
| exact language of the Table, as follows
| The rising and thinking generation of Hish-Amer-
leans have opened their eyes to the fact that there
is TO political issue at stake between the parties;
1 that Democratic leaders founce over to the Repub-
llcen ranks when it suits their interest do So and
that there is possibly Know Nothingism
Republicans. 1t is creditable to the REPUBLICAN
partys sense of honor and allegiance to their prin
ciples that when they put Catholic or an Irish
American in nomination for Off e, as in the
of Gen. Carr, they give him the full benefit of
the party vote. We afraid we cannot say SO
much for the Democrats, for the New York World
admitted that 90, 900 Democrats voted against Sem
ator Herman, when he ian for Governor simply
account of his RELIGION, while in the city of New
York alone the official returns showed that 18 GOO
Democrats voted against Mr. Grace, their candi-
date for mayor, account of his religion and ma
tionality, and he owed his election mainly to the
| Irish votes in the Republican ranks We would
like to see the Irish like the Germans, independent
OF party affiliations, voting as their judgment and
sense of duty as citizens of the United States would
dictate to them. On this question would recon-
mend to the consideration of readers the follow
ing SOUND political advice given to his people by the
Rev. Denis O'Donaghue of st. Johns cathedral In
| dianapos, secretary of Bishop Chetard and chan
eellor OF the diocese of Vincennes: 81 Think he
says, 'the time has passed when Irshmen could be
counted upon as naturally belonging to the Demo-
cratic party. do believe that religion ought to
consolidate apy class of people into political party
Each citizen should vote as his judgment directs
krow that at the present time Whatever there may
nave been in the past there is disposition the
part OF the Catholic church clergy to keep any
man in the Democratic party; and on the other
hand, there is everywhere disposition on the part
OF Irish Catholics to break loose from allegiance to