CHAPTER XIX. — II.—HOW COMES IT THAT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY, WITH SUCH A
WEIGHT OF SIN UPON IT, CAN STILL BE KEPT ALIVE?
TO answer this question, we would first direct your attention to the United States census returns for the years 1850,'60,'70, and 80. We only go back four decades, for from these we can draw correct conclusions just as well as if we commenced at an earlier date. These returns show that for the ten years preceding 1850 there arrived in this country from Europe 1,713,251 persons; for the ten preceding 1860, 2,598,214; for the ten preceding 1870, 2,491,209; and for the ten preceding 1880, 2,742,137. Of those that came from Catholic countries, 95 out of every 100 went into the Democratic party. Of those that came from Germany and other Protestant countries, probably about one-half went into the Democratic party; for even though they came from nominally Protestant countries, fully one-half of the emigrants from those countries are Catholics. Of those who are Protestants in Europe, but few join the Democratic party after reaching this country. Estimating that one out of every five of these emigrants becomes a voter, and that 85 out of every 100 of these voters joined the Democratic party, we should have as added to that party from naturalization alone, for the ten years preceding 1850, 290,753 votes; for the ten preceding 1860, 431,696 votes; for the ten preceding 1870, 424,505 votes; and for the ten preceding 1880, 466,164 votes. Meanwhile, while these immense additions are being made from year to year to the Democratic party from naturalization, it loses large numbers every year from increased civilization. The Whig party was, and the Republican party is, the party of enlightenment; and as foreigners, and especially their children, become more enlightened as to the advantages of a republican or representative form of government—more and more enlightened as to the advantages of a free press—they leave that party and go into the Republican; or, what is more frequent, their children, having been educated in our free schools, learn to love freedom of thought as well as of action, and, on becoming of age, join the Republican party, and some of them join Protestant churches. But for this retroactive process, which is constantly going on, this country long ago would have been completely under foreign influence, and we never should have been permitted to have celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of American independence.
Now let us take a retrospective view and see what has been the practical outcome of these two antagonistic principles. In 1852 the number of Democratic votes cast for President was 1,601,474; number of Whig votes, 1,542,403; total, 3,143,877; population of the United States in 1850, 23,191,876. In 1860, number of Republican votes, 1,866,352; Democratic and all others, 2,810,501; total, 4,676,853; population that year, 31,443,321. In 1872, number of Republican votes, 3,597,070; Democratic, 2,834,078; total, 6,431,148; population for 1870, 38,558,371. In 1880, number of Republican votes, 4,450,921; Democratic, 4,447,888; total, 8,898,809; population for 1880, 50,155,783.
The immigration for the last few years has been exceedingly large, reaching the enormous figures of 457,257 for 1880, and 669,431 for 1881. Among these were 2,600 Jews from Russia, of whom it is announced there are 10,000 more to come soon, and for whom contract has already been made with the Hamburg line of steamers. Of these it is safe to calculate that 95 out of every 100 voters will go into the Democratic party.
As showing the effect of the retroactive process heretofore spoken of, whereby enlightenment turns Catholics into Protestants and Democrats into Republicans, it may be stated (as census returns show) that while in 1801 there were in the two Protestant countries of Great Britain and the United States about 6,000,000 Roman Catholics to about 15,000,000 Protestants, or about one to two and a-half, in 1880 there were about 12,000,000 Catholics to about 74,000,000 Protestants, or about one to six. In using the word enlightenment in connection with the words Republican and Protestant, we would by no means have it inferred that all Democrats and all Catholics are ignorant. In both are to be found men of the highest intelligence and of the most exalted character; but these form the exception rather than the rule—the leading few, who have their own purposes to subserve, rather than the following many, with whom party is madness only for the benefit of the few.
Now, my friend (the reader), you can begin to see, can you not, why it is that the Democratic party, notwithstanding all its sins, has still been kept alive? But yet there is one more item to be added to account for its continued existence: namely, that it is not only supplied with recruits from Europe, but with money as well. We have heretofore shown from official sources how many hundreds of thousands of dollars have been, and are constantly being sent from Europe to this country to "propagate" the Catholic faith—which is, indeed, but another name and another way of propagating the Democratic party—and but for the extreme secrecy of their movements, we might show just as plainly that other hundreds of thousands are sent here at every Presidential election by European capitalists, European manufacturers, and European sovereigns, with a view to influence our elections. Bribery at elections being made a misdemeanor in nearly all the States, movements of this character have to be conducted with extreme secrecy; but that the thing has been done for the past forty years (ever since the inauguration of the protective system by Henry Clay), and is still being done, there is not a shadow of doubt; nor is there a doubt that this is another one of the reasons why the Democratic party is kept alive. A single Hartford convention killed the Federal party; a single set of pro-slavery resolutions, adopted by a National convention, killed the Whig party; and the part which the Democratic party took in the late rebellion would have killed it so effectually that no resurrection could have ever reached it, but for the support it has had, and still has, from European powers, through emigration and through the Catholic Church, and with the once avowed, and now no less steadily held, object of overthrowing our representative form of government, and of destroying the liberty of our press. Thus, my friend (the reader), your second query is answered beyond, as we think, all possibility of successful contradiction.