Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1880-03-03
JUDGE BLACK on THE THIRD
TERN.
THE ARGUMENT or A STATESMAN AND 4
PATRIOT.

TERM
THE ARGUMENT OF A STATESMAN AND A
PATRIOT.
/ "Re'olrtd, That in the opinion OF this house
/ the precedent established by Washington aud
other Presidents Of the United States, in retiring
{ from the Presidential Office after their second
| term, has become by universal consent, part Of
our republican system Of Government and that
any departure from this time-honored custom
would be unwise, unpatriotic and iraught with
/ peril TO our free institutions"
This is resolution passed by the
House of Representatives on the 18th
day of December, 1875. ltwas offered
by Mr.. Springer, of Illinois, after con.
sultation with leading friends Of the
principle and was carried Immediately
and almost unanimously, being opposed
by the votes OF only eighteen members
out Of two hundred and fiity-onc. 1t
received the support and appreciation
of all parties Men who quarreled bit.
terly upon all other political subjects
were of one heart and one mind when
it came to he a question whether the
custom established by Washinton and
other Presidents, of retiring after
their second term, ought to be respec-
ted or could be safely departed from.
And now here, to wit, in the pages
of this Reuieio, comes Mr.. Howe, of
Wisconsin, and the part Of Gen. Grant,
for whom he appears, denounces the
resolution aforesaid, impugns the doc
trine embodied in it, and assalls the
integrity Of its supporters in the most
violent manner. | am asked, "Under
which king, Boaonian 2' Do give in
my concurrenceY lfnot, what grounds
of oposition can presume TO stand on2
Believing in the resolution Of the Rep.
resentatives, and dissenting from Mr.,
Howe's article, the readers OF the
ReuietC shall have the why and where.
fore not because my individual opin.
ions are worth q rush, but because, on
a subject SO important, truth is entitled
to every mans defence because this
faith is shared in our time, by the
most respectable citizens OF all classes,
and because it is delivered to us from
a past generation strongly stamped
with the appreciation of the best men
that have lived in all the ages.
A President of the United States
may legally be elected and reelected
for an indefinite number of terms
there is nothing in the Constitution to
forbid it but the two.term precedent
set by Washington, followed by his
SUCCESSORS, consecrated by time, and
approved by all the public men Of
the country, ripcned into a rule
as efficient in its operation as If it had
been part of the organic law. A
distinguished and very able Senator of
the Grant party, who had carefully
inquired into the state of popular fele.
ing told me in 1875 that the sentiment
which opposed a third term was strong.
er than constitutional interdict the
people would more readily assent to a
breach of positive law textually in.
serted into the Constitution than TO
any disturbance Of an unwritten rule
which they regarded as so sacred.
Certainly it was adhered toby all
parties, with o fidelity which some of
them did not show TO the Constitution
itself, down to 1875, when the first at
tempt was made to contravene it by
putting up Gen. Grant for third elec-
ton. This was everywhere received
by the rank and file with mutterings
of mutiny, and the most devoted par.
tisans responded with curses which if
not loud were deep, The movement,
rs Mr.. Howe tells us, was met by
solemn warnings from the newspaper
press, by strong protests from political
conventions, and finally by the resolu.
ton quoted at the head Of this article,
which was a rebuke so overwhelming
that the supporters of the third term
candidate fed from him in tear do.
serted him utterly, and left him without
a single vote IN the nominating con.
venton Of his own party.
Mr.. Howe has no doubt that this
resolution was the sole cause of Grants
defeat in 1876. lie is equally certain
that il was all wrong
However that may be, the present
intent of Mr.. Howe is to rally the
routed third termers, and restore the
courage of the recreants by the assur.
ance that the Jobs and offices are safe,
after all.
Popular vcneration for the men who
builLup our institutions is the strongest
support for the institutions themselves.
1t is not only great good intrinsically,
but also the motive principle to other
virtues which are indispensable in a
Government like ours. Anything,
therefore, which uniustly detraots
from their regulations rs a grevions
public injury. This applies most espe.
pecially to Washington, who is &C.
knowlcdged, not only by us, but by
every nation, tongue and kindred and
heaven, to have been incomparably the
greatest man that any country ever
produced. An indecent criticism upon
him shocks and shames us like bias.
phemy. Nevertheless, we would not
abridge the liberty Of speech. A rag.
ing third.tcrmcr has as good q right to
sneer at the Father Of bis Country as
an independent Hottentot has to beat
his mother.
Jefferson also comes under review.