Nashville Daily Patriot

Daniel Webster on Americanism.

In November, 1844, after the defeat of Mr. Clay for the Presidency, Daniel Webster made a speech in Faneuil Hall, Boston, in which the necessity for the American organization of the present day was distinctly asserted. Said Mr. Webster:

"The results of the recent election (defeat of Mr. Clay) in several of the States have impressed my mind with one deep conviction—that is, that there is an imperative necessity for reforming the Naturalization laws of the United States The preservation of the government, and consequently the interests of all parties, in my opinion, clearly and strongly demand this, All are willing and desirous of course, that America should continue to be the safe asylum of the oppressed of all nations. We are willing and desirous that the blessings of a free government should be open to the enjoyment of the worthy and industrious from all countries, who may come hither for the purpose of bettering their circumstances, by the successful employment of their own capital, enterprise or labor, But it is not reasonable that the elective franchise should be exercised by a person of foreign birth, until after such a residence among us as that he may be supposed to have become, in some measure, acquainted with our constitution and laws, our social and our federal interests of the country, and to have become an American in feeling, principle, character and sympathy, as well as having established his domicile among us, Those already naturalized have, of course, their rights secured, but I can conceive of no reasonable objection to a different provision in regard to future cases,"