The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-12-04
MAYOR TAGGART AND THE VICE
PRESIDENCY.

The political deal now going on between
Boss" Croker and some of the Democratic
politicians of this State is said to include
some provision for Mayor Taggart COM
mensurate with his abilities as a states
man, publicist and municipal archon. When
1t was suggested that he might be made
the Democratic nominee for Vice President
in 1900, Mr.. Taggart is said to have re-
piled, I'm Ineligible I was born in Ire
land. I'll never be President or Vice Pres-
dent 1t is not related that Mr. Taggart
accompanied this statement with his Gus
tomary smile The fact that the accident of
birth placed it out of the power of the peo-
pie TO elect him to one of the two highest
executive offices in the government with
out amending the Constitution, probably
impressed him as no laughing matter Some
evil-minded persons might suggest that, in
Mr.. Taggart's case. there are other disqual-
ifications for the office Of President or Vice
President, but as he does not see them they
need not be mentioned. Where ignorance
is bliss tits folly to be wise"
But perhaps Mr.. Taggart does not know
how near he came to being eligible to the
vice presidency, notwithstanding his foreign
birth. The Constitution, as first adopted,
applied the native-birth qualification only
to the President, leaving the vice presi-
dency open to be filled by a citizen of for
eign birth. This was clearly omission,
because the Constitution provides that in
case of the death or disability of the Presi-
dent the powers and duties of the office
shall devolve on the Vice President There
fore, in order to cover the possible case Of
a Vice President of foreign birth becoming
President an amendment to the Constitu-
ton, adopted in 1894, declared that mo
person ineligible to the office of President
shall be eligible to that of Vice President
of the United States" Nevertheless. there
was a period of about fifteen years, from
1879 till 1904 when the amendment above
referred to was adopted, that a citizen of
foreign birth was eligible to the office Of
Vice President. If it had been Mr. Tag
CARTS good fortune to have lived at that
time the American people would not have
been deprived of the privilege of electing
hifl Vice President, but then he could not
have been mayor of Indianapolis, for the
obvious reason that the city did not exist
One cannot eat his cake and have it too,
and probably his Honor would rather be
live mayor than a dead Vice President
But there are, or were, two other states
men who had a greater grievance against
the American people in connection with the
vice presidency than Mr.. Taggart has. Alex
ander Hamilton and Albert Gallatin, emf
nent statesmen of the revolutionary period
were both Of foreign birth. one having been
born in the West Indies and the other in
Switzerland. They were both great men and
both in politics during the period from 1889
to 1904, when there was no constitutional
prohibition against the election of citizen
of foreign birth to the vice presidency, yet
neither of them ever received vote Per-
haps they were not popular as Mr.. Tag
CART would have been had he lived at that
time, or, perhaps, there was sort of I'M
written law. afterwards placed in the Con-
stitution, against the election of any but
native-born citizen as Vice President. At
any rate, neither Hamilton nor Gallatin
ever received a vote for Vice President, or,
as far as is known, was ever mentioned for
the ONCE. MI. IaggafC mas Deen mentioned,
because he himself mentioned it in CONVEX
sation with Journal reporter, and one or
two other persons have mentioned it since.
If he sometimes feels inclined to think hard
of the American people for having amended
the Constitution so as to make him inelgi-
BILE for Vice President, he should remember
that Hamilton and Ciallatin had a greater
grievance than he has. If he was a disap-
pointed statesman there were others.