The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1896-06-20
Discusses the Dignity Of the Vice
President as Well.as Other
Things. I
The Vice-President Was Original
ly Intended to Be the Friend
of the President.
And Then 1t Was Found Neces-
.sary to Give Him a Job to
Keep Him Employed:

Keep Him Employed:
The following dispatch was sent from
st. Louis to the Chicago Tribune on last
Saturday by ex-senator Ingalls,, and as
there was at that date such discussion as
to the dignity of vice presidency it Will
be Interesting to read the senator's views
upon the position, and no matter what
other work may be performed at St.
Louis, which we all now know, it will De
Interesting to learn how near Mr.. ingalls,
reached being reliable prophet. The
dispatch follows:
No one of the first rank in this genera
tion has been willing to rest under the
in1putation of cherishing an ambition for
the vice presidency. To be suspected OF
such desire would be resented with in
dignation and derision.
Hendricks was coerced into accepting
the nomination with Cleveland, and Lo-
gan hesitated long before yielding to the
OPPORTUNITIES of his friends to go on the
ticket with Blaine, while the convention
was waiting at Chicago to learn his de-
cision
The office is honorable. It has dig
nifty. It's yoke is easy and it's burden Is
light. The compensation is ample. 10
man of fortune 1t affords exceptional
opportunities for social distinction. Its
duties are entirely optional The incum-
bent need never attend a session OF the
Senate except to take the oath OF office,
and his absence would neither be noticed
nor felt. In the majority OF instances
the public business would proceed better
without him than with him. The right
to vote in case of g, tie can be exercised
only to carry measure, for when the
Senate is 81, tally divided the question is
lost. To an idle man or vain man the
place might have charms, but to an am
bilious man it offers no field for the
7. .aoti iydtyef fshis energies and no opportu-
nifty for promo tfon, except by a tragedy,
crime, or catastrophe, or what Ed
munds onceecalled "the lottery Of assas-
snation."
In the early days of the republic there
were great vice e-pres;dents-Burr, Adams,
and Calhoun-but by subtle changes in OUT
political system the Office has steadily de-
clined in estimation and Importance till 1t
has become place administered to ap-
pease sullen antagonist or propitlate
doubtful locality That he might not ap-
pear to be waiting at the Capitol for the
fatality that alone could put the scepter In
his hands, like a spendthrift impatient for
the demise of his ancestor, it became neces-
sary to givethe vice-pres:dent some pubic
function to apparently justify his existence,
and he was made the president OF the SEN
ate. He might as we'll have been speaker
OF the house or chief justice of the supreme
court or governor Of the District OF Colum-
bia, and, historically would have been as
we'll qualified.
The original design undoubtedly was
that the vice-pres!dent should be the
friend and assistant of the president, as
the Acknowledgements co-operates with
the executive of a state. But IN the muta-
tons Of our politics it usually happens that
he represents hostile faction and IS re-
garded with Indifference or aversion by the
chief magistrate and his adherents.
For many weeks before his death Car
field was as incapable of dischargsng any
public duty as the. ashes IN his sepulchre
would be- today. He was unable to write
his anne Much of the time he was uncon-
sc;ous. The public business was in abey-
ance. Here was plainly the condition OF
desirability, to meet which the office Of the
vice-presldent was created, but had
Arthur entered the door of the White
House in that interval and attempted 70
perform the least important executive act,
the smoldering passions Of that troubled
epoch might have burst out into protest
and perhaps into revolution. Fortunately
that gracious and princeiy man conducted
himself with such dignity and propriety
that enmity was disarned and a formidable
crisis averted. But it was an admonit.on
to fhe nation that should be remembered
now, -Four times within the memory OF
living men have the tremendous posi-
b:ltt.es Of the vice. presidency been Sexhb-
ited. Four times, twice by death and
twice by assassination, has the vice-presi-
dent, and in each case for q large part OF
| the presidential term. In three OF these
instances the accidental president has
abandoned and betrayed the party to which
he owed his elevation. a
The nominations. of Mckinley being g
foregone conclusion, the question there
fore Of his associate is assuming prominence
/ in the public mind.
It is more than conjecture and surmise
that the managers would exult If Reed
would consent to take the. second place
on the ticket. His location is good. His
opinions are sound. He could placate
New England and the conservative ele-
ments. His equipment is unrivaled.
The people are not enam0reds Of the Sen-
ate. They are impatient with its meth
ocds. Its forms and ceremonies and prece-
, dents are antiquated. It is regarded az
& fnggy, cob&ebby, rnoldy body that
needs 8to be mod ernized and hsouE p
to date, and the people believe Tom Reed
could do it. It seems absurd that the le-
Sgeilfis and tradition and nsages of an
| fiquity should enable one man or five
me- men, by per tinacious loqnacity and sfrir-
|. .oIous motions, to defy justice and defeat
the will Of the people. Reed could put
tie Senate in line with the Nineteenth
century. but the late arrivals from Wash.
ington report that HIS refusal to Ike any
I.snbordinate posi- ftion IL ather more than
tpositiyea Deing garnished with exple-
lives and epithets Rh Itch leave no dotib,
;of I'LL sinceri ity. has been suggested
I{fha I conyent ionEiinig SIT nominate him
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