Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-04-23

III National Remedies Compa
Ill Phone NJ
III apl Loot
inner consciousness the disagreeable side
of presidential life.
Tired of White House.
Tuesday, November 2, 1S47, he writes
Il am fifty-two years old today. nave
now passed through two-thirds of my
presidential term, and most heartily wish
that the remaining third was over.
Again he writes: Il most sincerely wish
that / had no offices to bestow. If | had
not, it would add much to the happiness
and comfort Of my position The PEG.
pie Of the United States have no idea or
the extent to which the Presidents time,
which ought to be devoted to more I'M
portant matters. is occupied by the vo-
racious and often unprincipled persons
who seek office. If a kind providence per-
mits me length of days and health L VIII,
after | retire from the presidential office,
write the secret and hitherto unknown
history of the workings of the govern
ment in this respect" Il am
thoroughly satisfied that the patronage
of the government greatly weakens any
President of the United States, SO much
So, indeed, that 1 doubt whether any
President will ever again be reelected
1 begin, more than l had ever done be-
fore, to distrust the disinterestedness ana
honesty of all mankind And here Is
one of the few little glimpses of humor to
which I alluded zone thing is certain,
and that is that l could soon have an
army of officers, such as they would be,
if l could appoint all the applicants
You will remember that President Lin
coin made similar remark concerning
the appointment Of brigadier generals.
1t is extraordinary that Polk kept
Buchanan in his cabinet so long. feeling
so little confidence in his honor and IN
tegrity, as is shown In his diary. He
saws: "Mr. Buchanan Is a man of talent
and is fully competent to discharge the
high duties of Secretary of State; but It
is one of his weaknesses tand perhaps all
great men have SUCH that he takes on
and magnifies small matters into great
and undeseryed Importance"
On All Sides of Question.
Mr.. Buchanan was on all sides Of the
Oregon question, and shifted about like
weathercock, while the boundary line
between the United States and British
Columbia was i'm controversy. Some
times, as the President records In his
diary. "he was the most strenuous ad-
vocate of settling the question by MAX
ing treaty on the basis of forty nine
degrees, and several times he was will
ing to take the whole responsibility of
settling on that basis at other times he
was insisting upon the ''fifty-four- forty"
demands, and as the President says
without the assignment of any reason
he suddenly took the opposite extreme
shall be disappointed if any message
which ! can draw will receive his assent.
He will choose to dissent. and if it is
condemned he will escape all responsible
ity. His course is one which ] cannot APP
prove. Mr.. Marcy Secretary of War.
and Mr.. Bancroft Secretary of the
Navy both condemned it in decided
terms Mr.. B. seems to have been so
much absorbed with the idea of being
President that I cannot rely upon his
advice given in cabinet upon public sub
jects. My impression Is that all his opin-
consideration of the means best calculat-
ed to enable him to succeed in getting
the nomination as my successor"
Mr.. Buchanan was equally uncertain
on all questions provoked by the Mexi-
can war. He was originally opposed to
hostilities and later advocated them with
great ardor and earnestness. He opposed
Gen. SCOTS advance upon the City of
Mexico for time, and then, wheeling
about, became impatient because the in
vasion was so slow. And when the time
came to treat for peace he swung like a
pendulum between the two extremes, one
day being in favor of the annexation of
all Mexico and the next violently OPP
posed even to adding California to our
territory All of which President Polk
attributed to his presidential aspirations.
Declines Place on Bench.
Buchanan was dissatisfied with his po-
sition as Secretary of State and applied
for an appointment as minister to Eng
he eli cd
vacancy on the Supreme bench, and Pres
ident Polk offered him that appointment,
but insisted that he should remain in the
cabinet until after the adjournment Of
Congress, because it would be very en-
barrassing to select his successor at the
time. After much conversation he re-
marked that he supposed the matter was
now settled and understood between us
that he would go on the bench at the
close of the present session or congress.
told him he might CONSIDER II SO set
chanan informed the President that he
did not desire to join the judiciary. be-
cause it would take him out of public
life.
Then Buchanan wanted to go to Mexico
to make a treaty to negotiate peace. and
he wanted to go alone, so that he could
get all the credit, but the President would
not trust him. yet he retained him in his
ca binet. attributing all OF his eccentrici-
ties to his presI0entldl d11fDltlOH.
At the beginning of the administration.
in selecting the members of his cabinet,
President Polk required a pledge from
each OF them that he would not
become a candidate for the presi
dency. and Mr.. Buchanan, well
as the others, gave him a written
assurance to that effect. He accepted
his place in my cabinet writes Polk in
his diary under the written pledge, as
did all the members of my cabinet, that
during his continuance in it he would
not become a candidate for the presi-
dency and yet it is manifest that he de-
sired to control my patronage with that
view. ] have not permitted this, and
have made my own appointments without
reference to the succession /
am not a candidate for reelection. and
will lend myself to none of them I will
not be identified with any of them, l
will do my duty to my country and if my
measures fail the responsibility shall rest
where it belongs"
Aided Newspaper Criticism.
The most serious difficulty between the
President and Mr.. Buchanan was similar
to that which alienated Washington and
Jefferson, and was caused by criticisms
of the Presidents policy published by
newspaper correspondent who was on