Brownlow's Knoxville Whig. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1866-1869, 1868-03-25
The Opportunity Of the Hour.

The Opportunity Of the Hour.
Whatever may be the result of the inn
parchment case now pending before Con-
gress. there is one benefit that should be
secured from it, which ought not to be lost
to the country. We ought not, in short, to
lose the rare opportunity which is now af
forded us to put through the Constitutional
Amendment limiting the Presidential office
to a single term The want of that reform
| in the Constitution has long been seriously
felt. There is no proposition upon which
the people are SO entirely agreed. 1t was
earnestly recommended by both Washing
ton and Jackson at their retirement from
Office, and it has never had an opponent in
any party, or section Of the country, that
we ever heard of Why, then, should it
not at once be passed, under the admonition
Of the present scandal at the Capitol, we
confess we are at a loss to guess.
The reeligibility of the President has a
direct tendency to convert every occupant
Of the Executive char into amere political
adventurer. Even good men, under such
pressure of temptation, can easily persuade
themselves that the extension Of their power
the country and when once their con-
science has turned this corner, the best of
them will hardly hesitate to put rascals
into the places of good men provided the
change shall enure to their own presiden-
tial fortunes The Executive example is
thus made the very source and fountain of
all the political decentralization of the coun-
try and official dishonesty must be the
rule, and continue to increase in all the
subordinate departments, while this cor
ruption at headquarters is maintained. But
under the one term principle the President
can have no interest except in the public
welfare. His controlling ambition will then
be to serve the country honestly, in order
that he may leave behind him good name
Upon the reflective principle, on tie con
trary, he rapidly subordinates al consider
ations OF the public welfare to his personal
designs, and becomes, at least, the chief of
clan instead of q servant of the People.
Ii OF extreme moral turpitude, he may not
hesitate, as we have seen, to assume sove-
eign powers, or even to mediate the be-
trayal of the Government to hostile hands
At the time of the adoption Of the Con-
stitutIon, the mischievous tendency Of the
reflective principle was not entirely fore
seen or, if it was, the general confidence
of that simple age in the Judgment Of the
people, was thought to be sufficient guar
antee against the reelection of any man
who had not been clear in his great Office.
But party spirit soon appeared, and even in
Washingtons time had condensed itself
sufficiently to reveal the formation of
Dagon, which to degraded minds took
rank above an original love of country
He saw, in fact, that, after all the labor of
the fathers, door had been unwarily left |
open in the Constitution for the furtiYe en- |
trance Of the repudiated principle of mon
archy. There could be no stronger proof |
Of thus than the fact that he had been ten |
dered third term Of Office under this very |
Constitution, and he therefore entreated !
his eountrymen in his farewell address to /
close it up against this danger The equal |
ly patriotic Jackson, who also voluntarily |
retired from office, followed Washington's |
example with a similar caution. II cannot |
too earnestly invite your attention to the |
propriety of promoting such amendment of |
the Constitution as will render the PFesi- /
dent ineligible after one term of service" /
were the words of his parting message, and |
the most valuable legacy he left. These /
illustrious men had discovered, that as |
parts of their own incorruptible integrity. |
there were insidious parasites daring enough |
to venture to seduce even them, and they
plead for the weaker successors who might
not be SO able to resist, and likewise for the /
country that stood within the shadow of /
such danger. Their experience in Office
taught them also that this temptation to a
President to reflect himself is at war with
hear IN ct
1t is the first instinct Of a republic to dis
perse the consolidating tendencies of official
power, by changing the occupants of the
greater offices as frequently as possible
while IN monarchy, if there is one inclina
ton more prominent than any other, it is
the disposition to take a hereditary grip on
place, and make The occupants thereof
privileged class. y too ardent Democracy
may carry the former system to wild ex-
treme, but It cannot make mistake in limi-
ting the terms Of those potential placemen,
VINO, being robed in the attitude Of kings,
are too easily persuaded to usurp the attri-
butes of sovereignty.
But the single tendency Of the reflective
principle, to corrupt the incumbent Of the
Presidential Office ID the misuse of the
public patronage, Is reason enough why the
evil should be abated as proposed That
temptation has constant tendency. as we
said before, 10 convert the man who should /
be public servant, into a mere political
adveAtuuer, and to render him capable. if
ne be not Of strong original moral fiber, of
perpeuatlng any crime. Out Of considera-
ton for poor human nature, therefore. as
well as for the safety Of the country. this
temptation should be removed. We can
not constantly stand ready to impcach every
President who is guilty Of indirect practi /
ces toward his own reelection; and It Is
much better TO remove a cause tor miscon-
duct, than TO invent statues TO punish mis-
conduct after it is done We arc exceed
ingly earnest in this matter, for we believe
the danger is deeper than most men sup
pose. And we are not alone In this appre-
hension, for there are many who revere the
memory of Abraham Lincoln, who believe.
that had not his career been cut short bv /
violence, we should not have seen another
President during his lifetime, even though /
he had reached the period of four-score /
years And there are many. also who. /