Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1904-11-22
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- Letter X
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Especial Washington Letter.
AYOW that the campaign is over
Al the public mind should con-
Germ itself seriously and sys-
tematically touching two con-
stitutional amendments for the better
ment Of the public service: ~ To elect
president for term Of six years and
make him forever ineligible for re-elec-
ton; ~ to choose United States senators
by popular vote. OF course all 1ntelli-
gent observers know that to amend the
constitution is a most difficult per-
Torrance. Many amendments have
been proposed and only fifteen adopted,
the last three being shot into 1t; there
fore patient, energetic and systematic
effort will be required-years of per-
sistent and intelligent endeavor-to
work the reforms above mentioned,
but the good to be accomplished is well
worth all that 1t will cost. There never
has been but one president who did not
desire and labor for second term, and
that was George Washington, WHO did
not want first term. His fame was
already secure and nobody was at all
sanguine about the perpetuity of the
republic. which began its life March
4, 1850. On the contrary, there were
many misgivings on the subject. 1t is
safe to say that the constitution would
never have been adopted, the republic
would not have been born, had it not
been for the vast and powerful per-
sonality of General Washington and
for the certainty in the public mind
that he would be the first president
He had more to lose than to gain by
accepting the presidency. 1t was an
experiment Of extreme hazard, with the
chances In favor of failure. This bad
state Of affairs grew chiefly out Of the
Jealousy Of the states toward each
other. The big states thought that the
constitution conferred too much in.
fuence upon the little states, and the
latter thought that 1t did not give them
enough. Rhode Island and North Caro-
lima went SO far as to stay out Of the
republic for year or more after the
federal government was organized
Really, Washington did more good as
president Of the constitutional conven.
ton than as commander in chief Of the
Revolutionary armies. A great soldier
Is not rarity under the sun, but q
man who can take thirteen discordant
and Jealous states and weld them into
a great nation is seldom seen among
men. Washington did 1t, and they arr
immortal. No wonder that Washing
ton did not banker after the presi
dency, and no wonder that he prepared
a farewell address at the end Of his
first term declining second election
and was only dissuaded from publishing
It by the combined efforts Of Jefferson
Hamilton and all the leaders Of al
, factions.
, But barring Washington, all tn
rest Of the presidents spent larg
portion Of their first term striving TO
a second. That the ambition for {
second term Influenced to a greater o
smaller degree their conduct during
their first term grows inevitably GU
Of the fact that they were human
, merely that and nothing more. That
, sometimes affected the public servic
injuriously cannot be questioned. Tha
a six year term with the ineligibtltt
clause would take away that tempts
ton Is patent to all, and that const
tutonal amendment providing for tha
3 should be adopted is clear as crystal.
t The proposition to elect United State
: senators by popular suffrage has bee
much more discussed and appears t
meet with general favor. 1t rests o
different grounds from the presidentif
proposition, and It Is this: The close
that all elections are brought to th
: great body Of the people the better
will be for all concerned. 1t is muc
easier to manipulate small body {
men in a legislature than to manip'
late the voters Of an entire state, an
o It is easier to influence the few tina
v the many by forbidden means. Col
v mel Robert q. Ingersoll contemptuousl
i dubbed the senate 1.-The millionaire
= Club" Scandals touching the electio
= OF senators have become so numerou
! and 30 fragrant that decent people al
D weary Of them and earnestly desire
j change Of methods. So both amend
r msnts ought to be adopted.
Gulf Exports.
n There ia great revolution going o