St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1893-03-16
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1nry THE PRESIDENCY.

Oc''uh'ar(ord B. Hayes, ex'president Oh
Inrn;ted States. They may seem
the ae o" and aippant, but they
un Iptain much truth and some humor
e s,d deserve the attention OF every
An nFscbew political ambition, my
d.,r Young friend" said an ola New
9 Tap,sr, whose thick white hair and
l ,ar ewes spoke Of long years well
S i.:ad ! He was speaking to a young
Ilytu' ot education, good health and
ma MAJ. u ortune who had been express
s sou dseust at the neglect OF the
nj nahlic service by prosperous young
Pn" ,o";cans and declaring his inten-
. e', 70 20 into politics. He could
wv No ~ reason why he should not
w s.oire to be president as much as
a ospp"l boatman's assistant or any
| o,ncr poor boy OF the kind familiar
IN American history.
!" Now Now mind, do not object to
.ol;t;cs on the ground that it is a
pp;osrenntable calling" continued the
u ,1 pan 81 lead this easy and
o Wv , lie not because l feel
ssSner;or to the politicians, but be-
s sapse have right under the con-
s s';tntion to live long and be happy.
"Whv, sir, to be president is one OF
.he most unhealthy occupations in
t tbs country. 1t is worse than max
; .n needles. The average length of
lie e among needemakers may be
oh. .borter than among presidents, but
tb the president before assuming
Office c has had at least 80 years at
\ some occupation more healthy than
Matchmaking The fewness of years
which a man is likely to enjoy on
mi, earth after he has become pres
dent is an appalling fact.
~ is the ambition of every
American boy to become president,
we are told by writers OF school
& hooks and other fatuous persons. !
have also seen theremark of French
\ writer quoted with pride in an
American history. 1t is to this et-
& Gct In France every man holds
i himself in readiness to be president
ofthe United States. Poorinnocent
little school children Poor aspiring
voungmen now happily pulling canal
q boats or splitting rails They
might hold themselves in readiness
n for slavery of mild kind with less
danger Of ending their lives misera-
ably and untlmely
1T is a pernicious practice to bring
a boy up with hope of becoming
president of the United States. No
parents who have the true interests
Of their children at heart would do
it. Let the mothers of the country
think Of the death-rate among pres
idents and am sure they will try to
suppress any such fatal ambition in
their loved ones.
II have a son, a dear fellow,
bright, ambitious, full OF mental and
1 physical energy, who is just going
q into the world. have brought
him up to be a dude, sir, and am
happy to say he is going to be one.
"a ltiSnot necessary to do this, you
will say, in order to prevent him
from becoming president. No, it is
not. He might have gone into the
law or some other profession and be-
come great without troubling him
self about the presidency. But he is
the light and the support of my de-
Ginning years and | would run no
q risks He is totally devoid of any
ambition which might lead him into
public life and thence on to the fatal
81 path to thepresidency. Thank God
He is safe.
Perhaps you think | am speaking
Wildly ltso, my dear young friend,
8 you are evidently unfamiliar with
n inc facts on which | base my warn
ing They are facts which are
Enown to the great majority Of even
larry weII-intormed people, but
VaF mat many of them do not
ponder these facts sufficiently and
Junk OF their meaning. | could talk
''v.S ana statistics to you for hours.
There is living now only one ex-
president and he is also president
V'ecV' Mr.. Cleveland certainly de-
s!FSeS second term as a consola-
o oon Tor his unhappy fate in having
.L been elected president. After
oue +th OF March Mr.. Harrison will
o.VuPy the dangerous position of ex-
m pun Whether Mr.. Cleveland
VIII then be an ex-president as we'll
" as president is nice question. How
Ns'' most people will say when Mr..
O 0gye'and is president that there is
t"'y one ex,president, Mr. Harrison,
" Wit; Ut course | am assuming
with us. WIN sum ~
NOW, what does this mean? 1t
t ,n'o.S that a president cannot hope
W. "l'alll the psalmist's allotment OF
m n'asS' The average age at which a
I 1%i Is elected president is so. From
1 t Lincoln down to Arthur
br average number of years spent
% no d president in this world after he
gave gave up office was four and half
S ir"u, Two of them were removed
oUa' tn, |ne White House by death and
VT"V, Arthur, only lived yeor of.o~