The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-10-04
Frederick Haskin's Letter
A Dip Into Political History

" VAiy Tue narrOWeaf -
margins in nine states. In isss
eight OF the then 81 states h,d -
tive American governors. but in ~
presidential election Of that w.
the new party did not do 50 Vail
polling only about one-fifth Of IT,
popular vote and carrying onl, :
single state, Maryland, which ss,s
it but eight electoral votes.
In the thirty-fourth consfe..
1866, the Know-nothing party NJ
five United States senators ana :,
members OF the house who ~
out-and-out know-nothings
addition there were 70 member. =
the house who called themselvss
Republicans, but who were knov.
to be members of the Know-nothirs
councils. Two years later thsrs
were five Know-nothing senator.
and IA Representatives in tho Am
congress, and in the 36th conrres,
this membership had dwindled ~
two senators and % representative
OIL AAOAu oVutueTu STATES,
New Party Peters Qua.
know-nothingism petered ont or
died even more rapidly than II Ia
come into existence as a real IA.
tor in the national political arena
1t had no representatives in cop.
gress after the Both and little was
heard of it from that date. The all
clifton Of slavery and the preserya.
ton OF the union became thejoyer-
shadowing issues and religions
prejudice or church affiliations
were little heard of in politics
thereafter for two or three decades
The real name of the secret So
ciety that was back of the Know.
nothing party was Sons of '76. or
Order OF the Star Spangled Ban
ner." The countersign at its lodge
meetings was an order said to have
been issued by George Washington
on some memorable but unspecihed
occasion-"Put none but Ameri-
cans on guard tonight"
Its political program was
somewhat similar to that Of the
farmer-labor coalition of the pres
ent year in that it never nominated
candidates on separate ticket Of
its own. Instead, it adopted the
policy of endorsing candidates
chosen by the parties already In the
field. This action was taken in Sec
ret convention of delegates from
the various lodges of the society,
at which every member had to vote
or render himself liable to expul-
sion. Inasmuch as there was never
any public announcement as to the
candidates that were favored by the
Know-ncthings, all the plans and
calculations of the old-line parties
were knocked galley-west 1t hap
pened that the candidates Of the
American party, which came into
the open field in 1854, were almost
invariably supported by the Know
nothings, and some historians clas-
sify it as the real know-nothing
party. That is not SO important,
however, as the facts as to the mas
ture of the political movement the
momentum 1t gained and the sud-
denness with which it crashed.
Horace Greeley was one OF tho
most vigorous opponents Of Know
nothingism and said of that lit con-
tanned about as much OF the ele-
ments of permanence as an anti
cholera or an anti-potato-rot so
ciety." Henry Ward Beecher was
another Of the more prominent op-
ponents Of the movement
The beginning Of the movement
however, was not without its JUS
LITIGATION. In the earliest days OF
the Republic, immigrants who had
left Europe because Of too free in
diligence in freedom OF speech.
thought, and action, showed 4 de-
cided disposition to take possession
of and run the government Of the
country that offered them sanctu-
airy. This resulted in 1895 in a
change in the naturalization term
from two to five years, and IN liSS
it was increased to IA years, only
To he placed again on the five-year
basis in 1902.
In New York City there develop
ed with the passing years COM
pact and clannish body OF immi-
| grants, hungry for office anu the
rewards of politics, who arra!ea
themselves openly as foreigners
against the natives. In one cam
paign they made a great demon
stration in which a Transparent,
was displayed that acaually carried
the threat. Americans shant RUE
u.s." In the face of a challenge y.
that kind, it is not surprising tha'
the native sons decided il was up "
tboy, IN pat tuSy