The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1880-05-18
THE NTI.TH1RD.TERMERz.

ouJI-ttIlIu-'ClH SOiiNSHbioASA - oSSSAoAA - ~"
Louis OH the sixth instant, that We have pur-
, posely ~abstained from all mention of that
body of anticlpatory soreheads, until such
time as the mail should bring a full account
of their proceedings. This we find in the
Salt Lake Tribune ofthe It'll inst, and upon
reading it we are confirmed in our suspicion
that these third-termers, like the Liberal Re
publicans of Y are too pure to cut any figure
in the practical politics of this wicked world.
They are Republican idealists whose mission
is not to do anything themselves, but rather
to c~riticise, to carp at the potential activity of
the practical men, whose hard fighting is apt
to bear of the best prizes offered in the world
as it is, while their peevish critics are satisfied
with nothing but their political Utopia to be
reached in the Millennium, and not till then.
The success achieved in the field of practical
politics was well illustrated in ~ when they
set out with a great flourish Of trumpets with
the avowed intention of nominating Charles
Francis Adams, or bristow, or some other
candidate " without a stain" and succeeded
IN allowing themselves to be captured by
Horace Greeley, who, to judge from the ver-
dict rendered at the polls in the ensuing
Presidential election must have fallen some
what short of the degree of purity described
as " without a STAIN" This was their record
in 1872 and this year they rival it in the con-
~vention of 400 " delegates " assembling in St.
Louis. Those delegates do not claim to rep
resent anybody but themselves. They are
strictly s~elf-appointed, and self-representa-
tive. Their convention would be of political
significance only if were considered at all
strange that from the great republican party
there could be selected four hundred private
gentlemen, willing to meet together and unite
their forces in a protest against the nomina-
ton of General Grant for a third term. The
following are the resolutions adopted. They
are chiefly of value through their quotations
from Republican platforms adopted in past
years ; platforms enabling lis to compare the
past record with the present attitude Of the
Republican " machine - and, until the meet
ing Of the Chicago convention We remain un-
changed in our belief that the machine - is
the controlling power in the Republican
camp. After preamble reciting the hostility
ofthe convention to a third term, it was
Resolre0, That the members of this con-
ventIon for themselves and those whom they
represent hereby real1irn their adhesion to the
principles of the Republican party as hereto
fore SET forth by its authorized representatives,
and i'll view OF the present eXigencies, we do
especially reatflm the recent determinations
of the State Republican conventions as fol-
lows: BY the State convention of New York,
1Sgn awe Iarlar "a nm ltna ltnp ahto nr,ne;t;D,,
to the election of any President for a third
term" BY the State convention of Pennsyl-
vania, 1915, and r6attirmed in 1876, "We are
unalterably opposed to the election to the
Presidency OF any person for a third term"
By the State convention of Ohio, THE OBJ
servance of Washington's example will be in
the future as it has been in the past regarded
as a fundamental rulei in the unwritten law of
the Republic" BY the Massachusetts Repub-
lican convention of 1875, Sound reason, as
we'll as wise and unbroken usage of the Re-
public, illustrated by the example of Wash
ingtOn, requires that the Term of the Chief
Magistrate Of the United States shall not
exceed a second term Like sentiments hav-
ing been announced by the Republican con-
v%entions of Minnesota and other Republican
States, all having been affirmed in December,
1879, by an overwhelming majority of both
political parties in the National House.
Resolred, That the nomination of a third
term candidate is especially to be deprecated
because it will unavoidably put the Republi-
can party on the defensive, because it will
revive the memory of public scandals and
official corruption which brought our party to
the verge of ruin and will AGAIN ALLEVIATE "A
large and powerful body OF voters without
whose aid success is neither possible nor
deserved. While in the character and sur
~roundings of the third term candidate we
find no guarantee against their recurrence,
but rather renewed maintenance IN the history
of the men who are lOudest in his support.
Res0lred, That We believe that the questions
now agitating the public mind, connected as
they are with currency. tariff, civil service,
railroads and other means of in"tcrcommuni-
cations require talents of a trained statesman.
We find objections to a third term nomination
now urged upon the count y, in that it
would substitute a dangerous tendency to
personal government for a determined and
unwearied effort for Il true reform of the civil
service, that reform and thorough we declare
to be vital to the safety of the Republic itself.
ResOircd, That as Republicans we can not
be hero worshippers, and We demaid from q
party without d master the nomination of a
candidate without a stain.
ReSOired, That q national committee of 1OU
be appointed and instructed, in the event OF
the nomination of General Grant, to meet i'm
the city of New York at the call of the chair
man of this committee, and there to act in
such manner as they shall deem best to carry
out the spirit and purposes of these resolu.
tons, the SAID committee to be selected by a
committee OF thirteen and published at its
earliest convenience.