The Washington critic., 1886-03-19
TOPICS OF THE DAY.

land Leddor, whether he thought Presi.
dent Cleveland would be candidate
for n second term. lie replied: "If he
is not, he Is not human. / have known
many Presidents, and number init
mately. have known them to 60 into
the White House, promising the peo.
pie that they would not accept the po-
sition second time. have yet to find
the first who towards the close of his
term was not anxious for renomina.
ton, and ready to plot and work to gct
1t. II took long persuasion to ret
Grant into the Presidential fever, but
after he was In one term, we find him
ready for second, and not averse to
third. The atmosphere of the White
House is 9 seductive one, aud though
the dweller there may not like it at
first, when his veins become poisoned
with II he feels he cannot ret along
without 1t. | called upon President
Arthur about three months after his
accession, and we had a long talk to.
gether in which the position of
the President was one of the
subjects. President Arthur then
suiu w uic' iHc ITeSluenCy is
the most uncomfortable, unsatisfactory
and disagreeablc office in tho world I
have never been so unhappy in my
life as during these past three months.
/ am bound here as in n vice. My per-
sonal liberty Is taken from me, and
cannot move around among my friends
as ! used TO- / dare not treat my
friends well, nor punish my enemies.
! have not an hour to myself here. and
| am more of slave than the most per.
secuted of the chain-gangs of the
Southern States. wish | was ont Of
the White House, and could / be free
once more | assure you would not ac-
cept the Presidency if it was offered
me by the people en- masse.' AS the
President concluded this sentence |
laughed and told him 1 thought he
would change his mind before the
close of the term. Within two years
from that time he was laying his plans
for denomination, and horses were
not fast enough, nor telegraph commu-
nications quick enough to keep pace
with his desires. l called upon
him shortly before the Chicago
Convention, when he was anxious 10
get every delegate he could, and told
him, rather facetiously, that though
might be one of the delegates at large
from my State, I did not know who |
should vote for, and after the speech
he had made to me against accepting q
second term, l had not thought it pos.
sible that these stories about him being
a candidate could be true. He blushed
to his temples rs he recalled the con-
versation, and after stammering little,
said he thought any man might be
proud, after one term in the White
House, to receive the Endorsement of
the people by second election"
~~%
The Minneapolis Tribune says that
letter from Dave Wallace about the
way the farm was getting on has
caused Zelda Seguin any amount of
worry lest it should cause wrong idea
of the Hoosier State to get abroad.
Indiana is famous State" said she
Saturday evening as she re.read the
letter for the tenth time and folded it
up in despair, "and our farm Is Ger.
tainly very fine one, even for Indiana.
But indeed we don't have miracles
happen there. That letter from Dave
about '32 pigs and a heifer calf in one
litter must not be taken literally you
know. I'll see Dave in st. Louis and
ask him what it means. don't think
we've any such stock on the place.
Probably her husband was late for the
mail when he wrote.
x*#
Says the st. Paul Globe: The tall
form and cleanly- -shaven face of eX-
Senator Morton s. Wilkinson of Wells,
Mimi, were visible in the lobby of the
st. Paul hotels yesterday. He did not
appear day older than when he graced
the United States Senate chamber at
Washington as a representative of
Minnesota twenty years ago. Senator
Wilkinson is delightful talker at
close range. He impresses those with
whom he converses that he is
in deep earnest and is not carried
away by any desire either to
please or to pose as o great man. He
statesmen the forced fight between
| the Republican Senate and the Demo.
| cratic Executive over the refusal of the
latter to transmit the private papers
| touching the removal of Republicans
from office. He said that he was sur
prised to think that Senator Edmunds
would consent to play leading part in
such forced issue, as lie thought it
hardly worthy, the Republican Sena-
| tors abilities. Its shallowness would
make President Cleveland stronger
than ever with the people, as it dem.
| onstrated that the issue was not nat.
ural or honest.
Says an Inter- Ocean special: There
is q feeling in the Senate that
Senator Jones of Florida, whose long
continued absence at Detroit has
caused so much comment, is non COM
pos montiS. One Of his warmest friends
said to-day that he had no doubt Mr..
Jones was actually insane, or, at least,
that his mind had been affected to such
an extent that he was not responsible
for his actions. The Senator now ig,
nores every effort made to induce him
to return to Washington, no responses
being received TO any of the urgent
messages which have been sent to him
on the subject. 1t is said by his
friends that had Mr., Jones paid any
sort of attention to his Senatorial du-
ties this winter he would have had no
difficulty in securing q reelection to
the Senate for the term beginning next
year. Now, however, his chances of
being his own successor are regarded