Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1873-08-14
The Third-TeTm BUphear


The New York Herald is amusing it.
self with an average of some six columns
per week to the effect that President
Grant, otherwise yclept "the later
Caesar, is arranging the wires for a
third term of Office; and from that
source the same fancy dribbles in dilu-
ted potions through the columns of the
Democratic and independent press.
Strange to relate, the only authority
which any Of them cite in the matter.
and with which all of them profess to be
perfectly satisfied, is the erstwhile pre-
dlction of Frank Blair that Gen. Grant
would make himself Caesar if elevated
to the head of our armies. Just why
Gen. Blair should receive credence as a
prophet IS not discernible in his past
career. He has, or rather had, prior to
1872, a very excellent reputation at
home as a manager of political caucuses.
provided they were not too large but
whenever he came into play in a politi-
cal gathering of national extent. his
failures have been as ridiculous as they
well could be ust as many General
III our sad episode" managed brigade
lndltferently well, but failed utterly with
a division. The absurdity of accepting
HIM as prophet is in perfect keeping
with the absurdity of the prophecy
itself.
so the war passed and Grant was not
Caesar, but, like the Millerite Adventists,
the third-term agitators extended the
limit to give the prophecy, as it were. a
falr chance. 1t was played again, with
4oA5 e
during the campaign of 1872, and fail
ing then also, comes up once more for
1886. This time margin of three
years is allowed, in order that disap-
polptment may not arrive too quickly.
A more transparent bugbear was never
raised for a political audience, and
probably none have less faith in its
reality than those who are pretending to
be SO Mortified. Though there is no
provision of Constitution or statutes
that would Interfere with President
Grant running for third term, there
is law stronger still-a law ranking
with the common law OF England that
is to say, a custom dating with the birth
OF our country itself. It is hardly
necessary to point out that at the adop-
ton OF our Constitution many of our
leading statesmen, with Alexander
Hamilton in the front, were warmly in
favor OF llfe-term for the Presidency
III favor OF forms approaching as nearly
as possible to limited monarchy. That
policy met with a death beyond resur-
rectlcn in the Philadelphia Convention.
and though Col. Hamilon's leaning tow
ards monarchy was strongly exhibited
III his after course, it met with no APP
proval from the people, and but little
from Congress.
We We're, however, but an untried
people, under an untried government,
and it seemed unwise to create any bar
Tier that should prevent our retaining
at the head of the nation a man in whom
we had implicit confidence. It was left
to after years and to custom to deter
mine how often a President might be
subject to reelection. There can be
little doubt that had Washington de-
cllned reelection, as he was strongly
DESTROYS OF doing, the one-term policy
would have passed into law of pre-
scription as inviolable almost as that of
the Constitution. His second term.
however, and the subsequent one OF MIR.
Jefferson, handed down to us different
usage-a policy which advises us ''not
to swap horses in the middle of a
stream"
There, however, we stopped, and not
only has there never been a thought
among the people of third term for
any President of this country, but there
has been growing conservatism as to
the second term-a desire to grant it
only when the stream was really SO
boisterous as to prevent a safe GO swap
ping" From 1882 to 1864 there was no
two-term President in this country and
subsequent to 1910 there was not at
tempt at one. That of 1910, indeed, is
hardly worth mention, President Van
Buren, being hardly placed in the race.
] Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson,
Lincoln and Grant have held their two
terms because our first President estab-
lished the precedent but none of them
have thought Of third term, and no
new President is likely to. The bug
bear frightens no Cincinnati
Times