The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1875-12-02
The Ghost Again.

The Republicans of New York, Penn
sylyania. and Ohio. with those of the
great Western and Eastern States, have
declared emphaticalIy against u third
term, and most of the representative and
influential Republican Journals in the
country have made equally positive de
claratioRs. But a Sunday paperin Wash
Ington recently announced that General
Grant is the only candidate who can save
the Republican party in 1876, and there
I upon we are informed by the Presidents
opponents that he has "unmasked," and
tha, he is to be run" for Il third term
upon the school question. The dishon'
| estv Of this kind of partisanship is shown
in an article in a Democratic organ, which
! saws that 10 his Des Moines speech the
President, delivered himself. of his
belief that something had happened in
the history of the country to make it dis
, asterous to change an Executive because
he had been eight years in Office" OF
course every one who read that speech
kEOWE lIlIL lIC ltSiNtLL odih hOl'lhS
that coulL be tortured into such q state
ment. lie said that in his opinion the
dividing line Of another contest in the
. country would not be Mason and
Dixon's. but "bctween patriotism and
intelligence on one side, and superstition,
ambition. and ignorance upon the other.
This. il !. now said, meal the school
question. and that means 'the circum-
stances" under which te said, in his let
ter on the 29tll of May, that it might be
disastrous to change, and in view of
which he might think it his duty TO ac-
cept a denomination if it should be offered
to him. But he also said that those cir
cumstances were not likely to arise"
And what happened between the 2Jth of
Nav and the 2gth of September, when he
delivered the Des Moines speech, to jus
tify Il theory that he supposed they had
arisen?
The tenacity with which the opposition
insist upon the probability, and even the
purpose OF a denomination Of the Presi-
dent shows that they are driven to invent
q bug bear in order to appeal to the Il
try. They can not say that the Rcpubli-
cans as Il party are the friends of rag
money. They can not say, while the
Secretary Of the Treasury is dispensing
the Republican Whisky Ring, Sending
its chiefs to prison, and recovering its
stolen money to the Treasury, that there
$50 -. -. IL 49,, - a., t,,-a ,lf1pr, f,,a,,
K pusiicans. They can not assume, in
view of the defeat Of the Force Bill and
the general demand of Republican State
Conventions for a generous policy in the
Southern States, that the Republicans in
siSt upon sectional mIsrule and Injustice.
And they are compelled, therefore, to as
sert in desperation that there Is a deep
and dark plot upon the part of the Re
pu5licans in all the Great States TO eat
their words, to declare that the Pope is
coming and that nobody can resist him
but General Grant. This paper has prob
ably done rs much as any other to arouse
the country 10 a clear PERCEPTION of the
ecclesiastical assault upon the public
school system. There is 40 doubt of
that attack, nor will there be any wavcr-
ing in our exposition to it. But if it were
il hundred fold more immediately threat
enine than it is, that fact would be no
reason for the denomination of the Presi-
dent. If it were an imperatiYely con-
troling issue, taking precedence of all
other questions, the friends OF the public
school system would naturally look fOr Il
candidate who, with the proper charac-
ter and opinions, had the fewest disad-
yartagcs. But none of them WHO were
wise would select the President as pecu-
liarly or exclusively such a candidate.
Again it is suggested that the Demo
crats may, after all, lay down a soft
money platform next year., and that the
Republican, o~fice-holders will then re-
nominate the President as a hard-money
candidate, and cocTce all the friends Of a
sound currency, whether Republicans or
Democrats, into the dilemma of Grant
or rag money. But the National Repub-
lican Convention could not renoninate
the President upon any platform what
ever, without u bolt which would make
success impossible. And even if ar open
bolt were avoided, the moral alienation
and secession of Republicans would
equally prevent victory. 1t is, moreover, |
anQuesti0nable thai immense numbers of
the friends of Il sound currency in both
parties would feel that the precedent of
"a third term brought about by the power
of Executive patronage would be o
perilous th1n a ~proiongation Of the pres
financial uncertainty and trouble.
This theory, therefore, is quite as vision
AIRY as the other.
The conditions under which a third
term nomination would even be cOntem-
plated by the country as possible do not
exist. If We were in IA mortal struggle, az
Mt the time Of Mr.. Lincoln's second nom
and the Chief Magistrate had the
confidence of the people, it
is easily conceivable that they would
take what would seem to them the lesser
risk. Bat when there is no great divid
ing issue, when both parties make sub
stantially the same promises. when both.
speaking what is well known to be the
universal sentiment, condemn the sug-
Of a third term. the proposition
that one of them is likely 10 adopt as a
means of succcss u course which II knows
would be fatal is amlsingly~ preposterous,
argues an uniimely return of the silly
eason.-Harperfs Heesty.