New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-07-30
STNGUL1R "1FTTRM4NCE.'

To the casual reader the eighth prOposi'ioh
of fine platform of the Minnesota Republicans
cuunciated in thor State Convention on
"wednesday seems something of middle. IL
states "Ihat the example of Washington IN
" r,fusiuc to be q candidate for thru
% Presidential term, and the aiiirmance
"hv President Grant of that principle
"is one We sacredly cherish, ana VIC
should regard departure from 1t danger
Gus Innovation The other eleven propo-
sitions or "planksr in the platform are
clearly and intelligibly expressed and gram
matically stated; and the whole docu-
mcut, with the exception noted, Il
in most rcspects far better than the average
Of such productions But this one seems 10
lack Conference as we'll as truth. "hch 'iio
Minnesota Republicans say "thc example OF
Washington" "and the afiirmance by Presi-
" dent Grant of that principle is one we cher
ISL" they do doubtless mean something out
what on earth Is it that they cherish--thc
example, or the aifrmancc, or the principe
Or do they cherish all of them. and regard n
" drpayturcr from all or any of them as Il
" dangerous innovation y This shOcklngly
bid grammar and mixed sense or nonsense,
coming a. it does in the middle OF Il series oi
intelisible and wcll-cxpressed propositions Is
calculated to confuse ard mystify the reader
The only exclamation for it that we can
imagine is that the words " and the alllrnance
"by President Grant Of that principle were
iuterpoJatrd in the original resolution, and
that the doyctailing was impcrfcctly done.
Leaving out the words quoted. it will
be seen that the resolution makes
impression of the belief of tE. Minnesota
and all other Republicans not oilcc-holdcrs
upon the Third Term question. The interpo-
Iation is open to two objections: nrst, ID
makes nonsense and bad GRAMMAR OF the
original proposition. and, second. it conveys a
wlong and untluthiul impression. There has
been no "afirmance by President Grant
of the "principlen established by "thc
"rxamplc of Washington in refusing to he a
candidate for third Presidential term.
There has been but one public utte'ance OF
! President Grant on the subject, and that was
in hi, letter to Gen. Harry White of Pcnnsyl-
yania. That letter was open to the constrllc-
tion of n withdrawal of his name as candi-
date and the cagcrncSs with which the
party leaders FASTENED 40 to constlue
il must have been pleasing surprise to the
writer. But there was nothing in it that could
be tortured into the "afirmancc" or so much
a. Il recognition of any "princpe" what
ever in the matter Indeed what he
did say was in direct contradic-
ton of any such idea. fiat denial in fact that
there was any principle or rule or precedent
or anything else that could hinder third
term. "Thc question of tho number OF
"tcr1ns allowed TO any one Executive
said the President, can only come up
fairly in the shape of u proposition to amend
"thc Constitution, shape IN which all political
"partics can participate, fixing the length OF
time or the number of terms Tor which any one
"pcrson shall he eligible for the Office Of Presi-
dent Until such an amendment is adopted, the
people cannot be restricted in their choice by
"rcsoluion further than they are now restricted
Gas to age, nativity, &c. II may happen
Sin he future history Of me country
that TO change an ESecufire because
abe has been eight gears in office mH prore
unfortunate, if not diSostroas.' That does
not sound much like an "alirmancc OF the
principle established by the example of Wash
/ ington. Nor do the words i'll which he de-
cincs a denomination, to wit 81 would not
"acccpt Il nomination if it were rendered, an
"less il sLouM come under such circumstances
"0s 10 make il on imperative dufy.'
1t is of course gratifying to know that the
Republicans of Minnesota cherish the example
! of Washington or tho principle established by
it. if that is what they meant to say,
but it was hardly worth while to
choke up good resolution with useless words,
and destroy it, sensc, just to convey the false
impressi that President Grant chcriShes the
example of Washington in this particular us
fondly as the Minnesota Republicans do.