The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-06-06

can secure third nomination by the repuD-
lican party; and, secondly, whether his nom
ination and election would be dangerous to
our tree institutions. When, last year, the
HERALD sounded a note of alarm, and dis
cussed at some length both branches of the
question an incredulous portion of the public
press attempted to belittle the subject by
alleging that the apprehended danger was
purely fanciful and visionary. 1t was con-
tended that Grant could not possibly think of
running for third term, and that even if he
did, and was elected, his success would be no
just occasion of alarm 1t will not be difficult
to show that our contemporaries were in
error on both these heads As to the first,
nothing need be said at present, when half
the newspapers OF the country are discussing
the question Of q denomination in tone
which comedies that it rests in
the choice of the President himself
whether he will be again the candidate
of the party which has twice elected him.
The truth seems to be recognized now that a
President who yields the colossal patronage
which attaches to that office since the war, may
easily secure majority of the delegates to the
National Convention, if he chooses to exert
his influence for that purpose. So convinced
have many OF our leading contemporaries be-
come that the idea of third election is not
chimerical, that one of the ablest and
shrewdest of them, the Cincinnati Commercial.
. journal which has long been in pronounced
hostility to Grant and was an ardent promoter
of the Cincinnati Convention IN 1872, has
recently attempted to show that third cleo
ton would not be an event to make any great
fuss about, inasmuch as it could happen only
by the votes Of the American people who
would retain their freedom to vote against him
for fourth term if they should not continue
to like him. Nothing could be more idle than
for leading anti-Grant journal to promulgats
this reassuring view, if there be no
danger of his reelection. 1t would be all-suf-
! elected if there was any good warrant tor
holding that opinion. The fact that such an
opinion is now felt to be untenable is full
vindication of the forecasting sagacity of the
HERALD in rousing public attention to this
danger last year. 1t only remains, therefore,
to vindicate the soundness Of the HERALD's
| Judgment in thinking that such an event would
be fraught with extreme peril to our institu-
/ tons.
We do not ask the country to pay implicit
Difference to our unsupported opinions We
are aware Of the grudging reluctance with
which credit is given, either to public man or
public journal for more than one kind of
excellence. When journal has acquired the
HERLD's reputation for procuring news SUI
perfcial minds are apt to imagine that this
is incompatible with COOL clear judgment of
4 the drift of political tendencies, and when it
expresses an opinion which is both true and
startling it is attributed to desire to make a
sensation, and exact inquiry is seldom made
into its soundness. What the HERALD said
last year as to the stupendous peril Of
electing President for third term was,
in substance, the opinion OF the greatest
and most trusted statesmen who have
acted leading parts - our government
and of the most philosophic foreign observ.
ers who have closely studied our institutions.
The arguments we presented when we intro
duced this subject ought to have been con-
vincing but for the sake of those who regard
high authority as of greater weight than sound
reasons we will show that our opinions are
such as all judges of recognized competence
have felt themselves compelled to adopt after
mature reflection on this subject. Lest our
citations should seem tedious we will select
only names of the first distinction and repro
duce only fragments Of their emphatic Lam
guage.
We begin with Jefferson, man Of genius
and political sagacity, if we have ever had one
great statesmen who ever expressed himself
with decision on this question. In 1907,
when jefferson second term was approach
ing its honored Close the legislatures of
several States made formal addresses to him
requesting him to stand for third election.
To all those addresses he replied in tone of
grateful, appreciative courtesy, and in all the
replies, though differing in other respects, he
inserted, in precisely the same words, this
deliberate and carefully prepared passage =
IF some termination to the services of the
Chief Magistrate be not fixed by the constitu-
ton, or supplied by practice, his Office, nomi-
nally for years, will in fact become for life !;
and history shows how easily that degenerates
into an inheritance. Believing that a
representative government, responsible at
short periods Of election, is that
which produces the greatest sum of happiness
to mankind, I feel it duty to do no act
which shall essentially impair that principle,
and should unwillingly be the person who,
disregarding the sound precedent set by an
illustrious predecessor should furnish the
first example Of prolongation beyond the sec
ond term of Office" The country &C
cepted Jefferson's well weighed views on this,