Daily American Organ

The following preamble and resolutions,

adopted at a mass meeting of the citizens of

Washington, on the 27th day of September

last, present the general sentiments of the

"American party" in this city, and will doubt-

less be read with interest by the friends of

American principles throughout the country,

to wit:

Whereas, a public meeting of citizens of Washing-

ton was held at Carusi's Saloon, on the 19th instant,

upon a call made in and approved by the Executive

organ, the proceedings of which, in the resolutions

said to have been adopted at that meeting, and in the

speeches of certain selected orators at a subsequent

adjourned meeting, are now spread before the public

eye in the columns of said organ, and its kindred

presses, with approbation; and whereas said resolu-

tions, however dressed up in abstract professions of

patriotism, and principles dear to the American

heart and necessary to the safety of the constitution

and to the peace and prosperity of our country; and

whereas, the Executive is invoked therein to remove

from public employment such officeholders as enter-

tain those principles, thereby to perpetrate a ruthless

proscription of both Whigs and Democrats for an

honest difference of opinion: therefore-

Resolved, That mere professions of love to the con-

stitution and to civil and religious freedom, when

contradicted by actions, cannot deceive the sensible

and vigilant guardians of American liberty, whose

apprehensions have been excited at beholding the

strides that have been made toward a complete con-

trol of our government by the subjects of a foreign

potentate well-known as the avowed enemy of our

whole American system, to whose overthrow they

are solemnly devoted.

Resolved, That, as vigilant custodians of that bene-

ficent system of civil and religious freedom bequeath-

ed to us by the fathers of the republic, it is our duty

to meet and repel all insidious attacks upon our lib-

erties as well as all open assaults; and that we view

with indignation and alarm the assertion of princi-

ples and purposes, on the part of the recognized ex-

ponents of the Roman Catholic Church in the United

States, subversive of our republican institutions,

which constitute aggressions of such a character

that, if not now resisted, will lead, at no distant day,

to the overthrow of the American Constitution and

the complete establishment of despotism.

Resolved, That while, in the past political divisions

of the country, as Whigs and Democrats, we have

struggled in honest conflict over contested principles

and measures, all of which are now settled, yet in

the present crisis of danger to all that both parties

hold dear we will bury every remembrance of past

opposition, and pledge to each other our lives, our

fortunes, and our sacred honor not to cease our ex-

ertions until our country shall be freed from the

dangers that now menace it.

Resolved, That we proclaim, as the cardinal princi-

ples of our political and moral creed, a sacred regard

for the constitution in all its provisions, upon which

are based our glorious American principles-freedom

of speech, freedom of opinion, freedom of conscience,

freedom of the press, together with a school system

for the diffusion of intelligence, sanctified by an open

Bible as the rule of faith and practice, holding as an

established principle that intelligence and virtue are

essential to the success of a free government.

Resolved, That while we welcome to our country

the victims of tyranny from foreign lands, and offer

them a place by our side under the shield of our con-

stitution, we claim for Americans the right to govern

their own country; and those who do not like our

government have our hearty consent to go elsewhere

in the pursuit of happiness.

Resolved, That the fourth resolution of the meeting

at Carusi's Saloon, recommending to the President of

the United States proscription of all officers of the

federal government who may have thought fit to be-

come members of the association of Know-Noth-

ings-recommendation which, before its adoption,

had been recognised and acted upon by the Execu-

tive of the United States-proposes an alarming and

dangerous infraction of the principles of self-govern-

ment, and calls for the prompt and decisive rebuke

of all the free citizens of these United States,

without distinction of party, sect, or creed.

Resolved, That every Protestant denomination in

the United States maintains the constitutional prin-

ciple of a separation of Church and State in which

principle many American Catholics sincerely concur,

while on the other hand, the Papal Church abroad

openly, and everywhere maintains the doctrine of

obedience of the civil to the ecclesiastical authority, both in Europe and America; the sad and ruinous effects of which, in the one, are seen in countless emigrants flying from its tyranny and misery to our own happy land, and in the other, in the ignorance and poverty of the masses, in the wealth and vices of the clergy, and in the ceaseless insurrections, massacres and proverbial instability of our Southern sister Republics.

Resolved, That upon these principles we appeal from the opinions, whose proclamation has caused this meeting, to the people of the United States and, although we might infer they are an exponent of executive feelings, from the official positions of those who controlled the proceedings, yet we will still hope that the President, who alone has the power will arrest the proscription already begun of faithful office-holders, both Democrats and Whigs, for daring to entertain American and Protestant sentiments, and will reject the mercenary suggestion urged upon him by the fourth resolution of the meeting last week, as a covert scheme to gratify the appetite of office-seekers at the expense of many who zealously and efficiently aided in his elevation to power, and whose removal under existing circumstances will fix an indelible stain upon him as man and as the President of the United States.

Resolved, That having seen the denunciations that almost daily issue from certain presses against the "fusionists" of the North, who are denounced as ab-sorbed in "the traitorous factions" which distract those States, by which they are one after another be-ing placed in opposition to the administration, we were astonished to hear the pressing invitation in the second resolution of our opponents to men of all po-litical opinions, without regard to their "political antecedents," to form a "fusion" with them in their future action-an invitation broad enough to include Garrisen, Abby Kelly, and Fred. Douglas, besides their coadjutors in the two houses of Congress.

Resolved, That we, too, appeal to all Americans who love the Union, which "must be preserved," and the constitution, which established and maintains it, and the rights of the States which compose it, and especially to the religious, the moral, and the order-loving classes, to unite with us in effecting the re-forms necessary to the safety and prosperity of our country, believing, as we do, that it is high time the career of interested and unscrupulous demagogues should be checked, and the government be placed in the hands of men acquainted with its character and spirit, and who duly value its countless blessings.

And whereas we believe in the competency, ability, and right of American-born citizens to govern their own country: therefore

Resolved, That we will not vote for nor assist in elevating foreigners by birth to offices of trust, emol-ument, or honor under our government; nor will we vote for or assist in elevating to such offices any American-born citizens who recognise or hold them-selves under any allegiance whatever to any foreign prince, potentate, power, or authority.

Resolved, That the naturalization laws ought to be totally repealed or materially altered, and the term of residence before admission to the rights of citizen-ship be extended to the period of twenty-one years.