Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1875-06-09
THE PRESIDENTS LETTER

THE PRESIDENTS LETTER.
GEN. GRANTS letter to Mr.. White
Chairman of the recent Republican
Convention of Pennsylvania, upon the
s'third term" question, is q most ad-
mirable production. 1t is simple,
plain, and Of the most unequivocating
character. Every position taken in il,
10 sound and beyond the power Of any
man to successfully controvert. II
seems to 10 to be 90 convincing, that
no honest, unprejudiced man can have
cause to carp at it.
OF course, however, the Democratic
press will hawk at It, ~ It is In the
nature Of sll birds Of prey to do.
These structures, however, will fall
harmless, % the President in this let
ter has silenced them In advance. It
has been an utter mystery to rs to di-
vine upon the basis Of an honest pur-
pose on the part Of those few Rerub-
licans who have dealt in insinuations
that the President was conniving at .
third term, how they arrived at any
such conclusion. Such Republicans
have simply been 50 weak % to per-
NIT their enemies to tweak them by
the nose aud lead them at their will.
We have always supposed that the
man who could lead our armies to
victory in . great rebellion, and con-
duct for six years the administration
Of Tho affairs of the nation, second to
no other we ever had, was not . fool,
and would not attempt the prspostsr-
oas thing Of forcing or cajoling the
people into making him President for
. third time. he puts this point very
plainly In his letter. c
In our WEEKLY issue Of August 9th,
1874, We find our views upon this sub
ject of . third term and the Presidents
position, cot forth In an editorial at
that time, and - NO cannot now bet
Ter ssste them, we republish that edi-
terisl, and from II, in the light of the
Prssidsnt's recent letter, It can be seen
how correctly we have all the time
judged the Presidents position. We
then said: q
"Ths so-callsd Independent Journals,
or At least . share of them, misled by
their success in leading the lamented
Horace Greeley to political and physi.
cal death, are now flAttered into the
hope Of inducing President Grant to
commit haTi kari by becoming the
Presidential candidate OF the opposi.
tion to the Republican party.
'sOf oil these hszing Journals the
(ky.) Courier. Journal 10.
perhaps the plainest spoken. This
paper boldly says sbecause Gen. Grant
did not suit us yesterday 10 NO reason
he may not suit us Tomorrow
What Q fruitless errand these fel.
lows are on now. No sweet scented,
oily-tongued, heartless, gay deooiver
svef got more rudely Tilted than these
fellows will. II they ever presume to
call for an encouragement from the
President. Having reached the high.
oes point OF same among m0rtals 40.
the Etit OF grateful people bestowed
gladly for able, gallant and conscien.
ti0us duty performed TO his country
the Same large measure OF good, sound
sense which has thus far 90 successfu
y led him In the commission OF the
feweat errors, will lead him TO scorn
the unwise, the impolitic, the wrong
step, OF for n moment, entertaining tho
idea OF third term.
"A third Presidential term for any
one man In the ordinary course of gov.
ernmental Affairs would be fraught
with the very highest possible danger
to tho Republic.
"Whenever the people shall be
broukh to the point Of committing
such an act, IL will indicate such q de-
cline in the minds Of the people Of true
Democratic principles, as to give the
strongest warrant for the belief that as
. nation we are almost remedilessly
drifting into the breakers Of destruc-
ton. Gen. Grant il not the man to be
induced to commit .felo dc Sc.
I'VE are aware that the late Southern
rebels are, many of them, inclined to
favor the plan OF the Courfcr.J Journal
. nd We are greatly mistaken II their
favor docs not arise from the same
feeling which led them into the rebel
lion, viz: A desire to sec the nation
60 down to ruin, and the dissolution
OF the Union. ~ sr
Z There sro cases where we would not
swap horses until the stream 10 cross
ed. The times surrounding the re-
nomination and the second election Of
Abraham Lincoln was ono of thess,
and II 1t had been q third term il
might have been justiflable under the
circumstances to have still retained
tho services Of that great man In the
Nations Executive Chair, butwe deem
II In the clear, unmistakable line Of
duty to irrevocsbly and with oil our
power oppose the denomination or
re-election Of any man to the Presi-
denoy for third term, save possibly
In some such sxtraotdinary case % We
have montioao0.
What we have said upon this sub
ject 10 written merely - an expression
Of our views In view Of what We re-
gard the senseless talk had upon II,
but with no idea 1t I'll, that the present
situation indicates anything 90 far ~
the President % concerned demanding
any discussion Of the question.
Gen. B. II. Hill, recently chosen to
Cosgssss by thS Democracy in the
Northern District Of Georgis, delivered
himselfa few days ago at Atlanta Of
. carefully prepared speech. 1t il
really quite an able argument. and
there 10 mach OF Z seeming desire ex.