New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-06-01
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No TIIIRD TERM.


The nomination of candidate for the
Presidency must be justified, if at all, by at
least one of two consderations-his singular
fitness or his singular availability. The former
might be trusted to bring out large vote for
candidate who was not personally popular; the
latter for candidate who was not pre-
eminently qualified. We are willing-at
least for the sake of argument-tO COncede to
the Grant managers fidelity to the interests
of their party and the country. They realize
the Importance of the coming election. They
know that it will secure or leopard all that true
patriotism has won in war and in peace for the
last twenty years. They are aware that the
Democratic party has the power to nominate IA
candidate for the Presidency whose defeat would
be no easy matter, and they are bound as
honest men and as wise men to select for the
emergency the strongest candidate that the
Republican party can furnish. And we are
willing to cOncede to them this purpose. Their
determination to nominate General Grant,
then, must be fixed by the belief that he is
either peculiarly qualified for the Presidency
or prominently the favorite of the people. We
hardly think the former of these alternatives
Is entitled to moments consideration.
General Grants best friends would never
appeal to the country on the record of his eight
wears in the Presidential chair. However
warmly they may, as individuals, ap-
preciate his craftsmanship, however staunchly
they may defend him from the scandals of his
official term, they know that a great body of
the Republican party does not approve his adj
ADMINISTRATION. Assuming that the Grant
leaders are perfectly honest in their determine
ton to secure the nomination of the ex-Presi-
dent as The best that could be made, there is
only one consideration that can be reasonably
held to Justify their cOurse-the belief that he
would be enthusiastically supported by the
marty. What grounds have sane men for such
belief
There was doubtless q time, Immediately
preceding and following General Grants
return to this country, when the affection and
regard of the people were Z so stimulated
that n great number of Republican voters be-
lieved that he would be nominated by acclama-
ton and carried into the White House OH n
wave of popular impulse. The multitude had
given little thought to the bad precedent of a
third term and many even of those who dislIked
the idea were for q time carried away. We
believe that General Grants personal
popularity remains that he is still as strongly
intrenched as he ever was in the grateful
affection Of the country. But an amazing
change has taken place in the attitude of the
people toward the thirdterm idea. The
managers who are striving to force General
Grant upon an unwilling party fOresaw that
this change was inevitable and fastened to call
the State Conventions of New York and Penn
sylvania on the earliest possible dates, know
ing that they could not control them few
weeks later. The event has justified this
apprehension. Senators COnkling and Cameron
now have the modification of seeing the dele
cations which they instructed to vote as a unit
for General Grant at Chicago broken by the
conscientious withdrawal from the third-term
line of more than onequarter of their aggregate
strength, in obedience to the will of determined
constituencies. In Springfield, by tactics which
exhausted the ingenuity of Senator Logan and
his followers, while they violated every pre-
cedent Of party usage, the Republican State
Convention, by an insignificant majority, voted
to support General Grant at Chicago. That
vote will be- strange certificate for n cand date