Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1904-11-02
WEDNESDAY EVENING. NOV. ?. 1904
The SHAMEFUL attempt of the repub-

THE SHAMEFUL attempt OF tue iepuo-
,ican wireworkers to get what they call
the Catholic vote for their candidate, on
the ground that he has shown them
more fayors than any other President, Is
destined to fail ingloliously. There is
no Catholic vote, and if there was
Catholics understand quite well that the
Ao-called favors shown them are but
rights which a democratic administra-
ton is quite as likely to give them. They
have never given a united vote through
out the country but once and that was
when the Wing party succumbed to the
so.called Know Nothings in their en-
desyor to ostracise them. There were
several local votes of the kind arising
from the same and one of them defeated
Henry Clay for the presidency on nc
count of the alliance OF the Wings with
the party who had burned two OF their
churches in Philadelphia, anu thereby
electing their local ticket in that city
the result being the loss of enough Wing
votes in New York city to give the
State to Polk by five thousand, and
thereby elect him. Blaine met the
same fate in consequence OF the cele'
brated "Rum, Romanism and Rebel
lion" ALTERATION OF his friend Burchard,
which was seized upon by the democratic
orators to bring back to their party
many Irish democrats who, for some
reason we have never heard explained,
proposed voting for him. A friend ~ho
has studied carefully the political atti-
tude of the Catholics from the adoption
of the constitution tells us that those OF
American birth were generally federal
lists, whilst those OF Irish origin were
democrats. The passage of the alien and
sedition acts confirmed the latter in
their allegiance to their party and the
war with England bound them to it still
more closely. When the federal party
ceased to exist many of those who had
been federalists became democrats, and
Jackson being an Irishman by parentage
and what Mr. Roosevelt would call a
very strenuous man, many of them fol-
lowed him because he called himself
democrat and in most things was one.
After the Know Nothings had been joined
by the Wings, the Catholics had, for
their own protection, to remain in the
democratic party; some, whose opposl-
tion to slavery was strong, may have
voted for Fremont, the candidate of the
newly organized republican party, but
Fillmore was in the field, representing the
former Know Nothings and many Wings.
and Buchanan became President. When
the democrats split in 1860 the demo-
cratic Catholics did the same, most of
those in the north and some in the south
supporting Douglas, while others voted
FIR Breckenridge but all who had be,
come republicans stood by Lincoln.
Theu came the war for southern in
dependence. Almost all Catholics
took sides with their own section,
even though they might have voted
against secession in the South, or
done their best to avert the struggle in
the North, where the immense majority
of them lived. The armies of both had
more than their relative proportion of
them and Beauregard in the South and
ROsecranz and Sheridan from the North |
commanded armies. Still, very large
number of Irish Catholics in New York
aud elsewhere undoubtedly voted for
Mcclellan in 1864, in the hope that
the union might be restored in some
way, without further bloOdshed.
Though the democratic ticket carried
only New Jersey, Delaware and Ken
lucky, vet Lincoln was reelected by
somewhat less than two-thirds of the
popular vote. As the passions arising
from the war subsidized, Catholics gen.
orally resumed their former political af-
fiations. Many German Catholics
had epe in and most of these are re-
publcans, while the Irish emigrants,
now much fewer than formerly, are
chiefly democrats. Of course there are
men in all organizations who can be
bribed by Office or money, but that
Catholics especially can be induced to
vote for imperialism, commercialism
and militarism because the administra
ton has acted fairly, as they think,
in some matter in which they are inter-
ested, while it has been anything but
fair in others, is so improbable that We
feel sure should Mr.. Roosevelt be
elected it will not be by the votes of
Catholic democrats.
THE Brooklyn Eagle, after careful
canyass &c tba ;nl;oo,;o.,. e A. ..o.;,. |