Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1869-09-30

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In one Of his private letters Mr..
Webster speaks OF gentleman who
! had "the Presidential air." When
Mr.. Buchanan, who, as Minister in
England, had been known to expec-
torate upon carpets, was elected
President, there were those who were
delighted that there was at last ga
gentleman" in the White House
Mr.. Buchanan's claim to that dis
tinctiOn apparently residing in his
, white cravat. When Mr.. Lincoln
succeeded Mr.. Buchanan there were
: sunny Southern gentlemen" who
could easily break an oath to the
} government, but who bitterly re-
GREETED that such an "uncouth bOor"
was made President. Undoubtedly
there are many persons who take
great comfort in Turveydrops, and
in what may be called a grandilo-
quent department.; and Mr.. Crabb
Robinson, in his lately published
"Diary," speaks Of a clergyman who
twas gentIemanly person, and in
spired respect-especially by very
large white wig"
1t happens that President Grant
does not wear very large white wig
Of any kind whatever, and for that
reason, apparently, he forfeits good
deal of respect in certain quarter.
The great constituency of Buncombe,
for instance, is in high wrath. Here
is President who is one of the sim
plest Of men. He does everything
in the quietest manner. He takes
no attitudes, rolls off no resounding
twaddle, but TRANQUILITY and efficient
ly attends to his duty as modest
and faithful officer. "Is this brill
liant, is this splendid, is this the
Presidential air?" roars indignant
Buncombe, with one accord; "where
is the very large white wig, pray;
and how can a President inspire re-
spect without it?" The prestige of
) his administration, we are more So
berly told, is declining, and, absurd
as it may be, simply from the alb
sence of the great white wig.
This is very possible. There is
such an immense quantity of white
wig in our politics and statesman
ship that its absence may really
appear to some persons to be the
absence of wisdom. IfGeneral Grant
had only followed the counsels of
BuncOmbe-if he had staid steadily
in the White House, and had made
solemn speeches to complimentary
delegations--if he had surrounded
himself with reporters, and loudly
: expressed declarations Of doing this
and that---if to all invitations he had
r replied in fine flights of epistolary
: eloquence instead Of by aplain yes
I and no-if he had only worn an i'm
: mense white wig that could be seen
from every corner of the Union, even
s the Turveydrops would have conce-
a ded to him the Presidential air, and
: his administration, being, as it is,
Q really efficient and economical,
;, would have been saluted as splendid.
!. The truth is, that we Americans
0 like rhetoric and flap-doodle, and
: what is very commonly and express
g lively called squirt" Our repre-
: sentatives talk to Buncombe, not to
, the House. The very nature of our
q political debates in late years has
Q increased this tendency, because they
t have dealt with The rights of man
i and with moral duties. Before this
! debate fairly began the questions at
i issue also admitted of magnificence
g in the treatment. After the war OF
1912 there was the tariff, "the Amer
J. lean SYSTEM" internal improve
h ments, and n national university.
n Thus President John Quincy Adams,
Q unlike his grandson, amplified the
t functions Of government. Aclassical
Y scholar and well-read in history, he
# enriched his messages with illusions
n to the monuments of Rome, the
+ aqueducts, the highways, and he
J, filled the national imagination with
|. the vision of a vast system of explo'
; rations, and structures, and institu.
9 tions, which were all words, butsucf
9 amazingly fine words that they did
e duty for things. No President ever
8 wore a more enormous white wig
! than the excellent John Quincy Ad
n ans. General Jackson's was as large
: but it was very different. Ignorant
8 imperious, violent, and vindictive
: he destroyed the bank and removed
the deposits, and whatever he die
: was done withsuc slap and bang