Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-10-27
COURAGEOUS.
A STRONG, MANLY SPEECH BY
MR.. SWIFT.
The Principles of Party and
Rights of Candidates.

| / hear that in certain portions of the
State there are Republicans who are dissat
! isfed with letter addressed some week:
| ago to the Hon. Frank NJ. Pixley. editor o
| the irg0Rdta, in which | declined to accep
the 4rgondutS nomination for Governor.
have no doubt that Mr.. Pixley, in offering
me the support of the 4rgondut, meant tC
aid me in my election, and it was with re
( greet that / felt it my duty 10 decline the
nomination. have known Mr.. Pixley fol
many years, and am under many obliga
tons to him in the past which | have nc
disposition to deny or ignore. But the
candidate of the Republican party for Gov.
ernor belongs for the time being 10 the
party, and he has no right to forget thai
fact or TO evade the consequence in order tc
obtain a personal advantage. Since writ
ing that letter a new ticket has come
into the field, with the Hon. P. D, Wig
CLINTON as its candidate for Governor
1t has taken the name of the American
ticket, and stands upon a platform recog-
nizing the rights of foreign born citizens
now in the country to participate in all the
privileges of citizenship, such as holding
office and the like, and makes no distinc-
ton on account of religious faith. The
only difference between this platform and
that of the Republican party is that Mr..
Wiggington's platform declares in favor OF
changing the naturalization laws so as to
stop admitting foreigners to citizenship in
the future.
There seems to be q confusion in the
public mind on the object of my letter to
Mr. Pixley. There is an impression that
have declined the nomination of the new
American party organized at Fresno, the
nomination now held by Mr. Wigginton
80 vol, I hay-a nc do
clined that nomination. it has not been
rendered to me- The nomination declined
| by me was denomination of the Argoadut
Mr.. Pixley, acting in consultation with
| twelve gentlemen holding the same views
as the -4rg0n1W, ignoring the action of the
! Fresno party, put me on an ArgOndm ticket,
and anticipated it by more than week. As
understand the views of the ArgOndm
| and which declined to agree to, they were
not identical with those set forth in the
platform on which Mr.. Wigginton now
stands, but quite different. The nomina-
ton | was offered by Mr.. Pixley and his
twelve friends would have committed me
to the doctrine of denying to portion OF
our fellow-c citizens the full rights of citi-
zenship because of their religious opinions,
doctrine distinctly contravening the
Declaration of American Independence,
the Constitution of the United States and
of this State, and distinctly in violation OF
the principles of the Republican party, of
which l was the nominee for Governor.
For my refusal, Mr.. Pixley has accused me
of bidding for the Irish Democratic vote.
This / most respectfully deny. l was SIM
ply doing my duty by the ticket of which |
was the head, in endeavoring to deserve
and retain the votes of 10000 foreign-bor
citizens and native-born Catholic and He
brews who Vote the Republican ticket
Loyalty at every election.
| would have had no right to expect that
vote had l done otherwise than l did.
Through that vote the Republican party
has again and again carried this State at
periods of our countrys history when for
the Republican party not to carry this and
other States would have been disaster to
the nation, and jeopardizedits existence.
With the Fresno platform ! have no spe-
cial quarrel But ] have not been asked to
stand upon it, but solely on the ArgonGla
platform, which seemed to me to be an in
suit to the 10000 good Republicans, Ger
mans, Swiss, Scandinavians and Irish who
faithfully vote our ticket. The Fresno
platform confines itself to future immi-
grants, pledging the American party
not to stop their coming, but to deny them
| the rights of citizenship when they do
come, and consequently to divide our CON-
munity into two classes-a superior gov
erning class, possessing the ballot and po-
litical power, and an inferior class deprived
of both.
Into the policy of such course l shall
make no -inquiry at this time; though, If
l thought there would ever be a national
party founded upon such an idea, | would
certainly have something to say about it.
But have the gentlemen who favor the
Fresno movement reflected upon the obvi-
Gus fact that we are rapidly approaching
the verge and close of the foreignciti
question in the United States? That it is
at this.yery moment, while we are agitat
ing it and growing furious over 1.-THE
thing we are disputing about is fading
away, and in twenty-five years will have
disappeared altogether. let such is the
manifest truth. l will demonstrate my
proposition. We are now about 10000, 900
people in this country, of whom about
100000 are of foreign birth. We double
our population by natural increase once in
twenty five years, and would do so without
immigration. In twenty-five years from
now our population will be 100000.
Now, i the foreign born citizens should in
crease at the same ratio, they would be,
relatively considered only half as numer-
GUS in twenty five years as now. But
they will not Already thoughtful men
who understand the subject and have made
it study see that immigration from En-
rope is substantially at an end.
A few years ago they came at the rate of
100000 a year. They have now reduced
their coming to 100000 a year. This is
because the country is filling up, not with
foreign-born citizens. for they are not rela-
lively as numerous as before, but with
native born citizens The death rate of
foreign-born citizens is certainly as high as
200 600 a year, and is probably near 800 900
year. And as the country fills up with
native-born people, thus rendering the con-
ditions of life more severe and the induce
ment for people in other countries to leave
their homes and native land and come
among US is diminished, 1t Will be safe to
assume that within twenty years from now
the stream of immigration will practically
cease flowing. Then why, at this late
hour, having gone on as we have done un-
der a system given to US by men wise
enough to form and model our institutions,
to the admiration of the world, and has SO
stood until the system OF immigration of
foreigners is closing up by natural causes,
suddenly revive subject tending only to
anger men and give rise to bitterness be-
tween citizens, and set them against each
other. when in fact God Almighty is set
Ting the question more rapidly and better
than we can by the death and burial of
generations of men.
Mr.. Pixley himself, if he lives to the age
that his venerable father did which pray
he may do, will live 10 see our country as
free from foreign-born citizens, relatively
considered, as it was when be was i boy in
Western New York. And some of these
young gentlemen, who. in their anxiety to
evinee their love for their country, would
draw from foreign citizens privileges their
fathers have given them, viii live TO see
the time when a foreign-born citizen will
be rare thing IN this country. Then why
strike blow at that Republican party
which has done so much to perpetuate the
Union, to make of us a nation among the
nations of the earth-has done so much
for liberty, so much for human rights and
so much towards preserving those sacred
institutions of which they are so proud
Those who do so am sure will, on second
thought, regret their action and come back
again, but possibly not till they have weak
ened our party in its power and prestige,
as they certainly will do should they secure
the election of Mr.. Bartlett, by throwing
away thei- votes in favor of Mr.. Wigginton.
For my part, am willing 10 abide by the
Republican vote. | am proud 10 remeIn-
Der that | canvsssed this State from one
end to the other making fifty-three
speeches for Abraham Lincoln, at q time
when Mr.. Bartlett and Mr.. Wigginton were