Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1912-06-16
|IR[ THIRD TERM Is UNPOPULAR Farmer Presidents Have De- clined to Accept More Than
 Two and Set Precedents REASONS FOR IT
REASONS FOR
q, ,,,,d Roosevelt or Taft or Some 9th. CT Triumph Third Term Will
 Play Important Part.

through the roll call for the selec-
 finn of favored son to head the Re-
 nnblican party in it's fight for the n,aaidency, there is one thing that is surs to play large and important
 nsrt in their ultimate decision-and fiat ia third term president and pre-
 ,naice Cohorts of La Toilette and raft will rise to the occasion and hurl ,hoir oratorcal broadsides against tbis sgross violation. of an unwrit- ton law: this defamation of Wash ington's precedent. And the hench- men of MT. Roosevelt, also arising to .the occasion, will refute these broad sides with quotations from the sacred : constitution itself and even from the words of General Washington.
 The third term ghost, like Marley's s immortal shade, is no new character . to Americans. Periodically politi- clans have oiled it's clanking chains ,, and led it forth to exhibit to the yo- tess Fodr of these occasions arose 2 tdWard the end of the second terms sd Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Jackson and Grant, and in all of &em, with the exception of Grant, fine third term was repudiated-Gra ssnade a bid for third nomination on ssfha Republican ticket and was beaten ''ffin 1880.
 \ X The arguments for and against ssssaccessive' terms at the White House, however, date back to the days sM the framing of the constitution, 5 for even then the bogey of ''dieta- 3i6f" haunted some, while others held ! that succession to the office of the Chief Executive should not be denied Z wise and good President who shall yk. neeyled by the people in time of Eiational danger.,'
 5fiEst -slisesission -ofzthe subject, that has heen officially recorded, was that which took place in Philadelphia s,At the constitutional convention. Here l Edmund Randolph, delegate fronl Virginia, first raised the question of ssa practical dictatorship through the Submission of a resolution providing tthat the president should be elected for six years and should be ineligible .sfor reelection. This resolution was Z tentatively adopted, but was later re- placed by the resolution of Charles Pinckney, from South Carolina, which provided for four year term for the President and said nothing about his s eligibility for reelection. This was 5 the resolution finally incorporated ill fhe constitution.
 \ The next matter that will be con edered by the pro and anti-third term men on Tuesday will be the admins siiation of General George Washington, sthe Father of His Country"
 Y Washington was tired of the ardu- ous duties of Chief Executive even eelore his first term elapsed and an- nounced, through correspondence and conversations, that he would not be candidate for even second elec- < ton.
 At that time Thomas Jefferson ex- pressed himself in thorough accord wisn the views of General Washington Md placed himself on record against 1ne re-eligibility of President for ''s'scllon Popular opinion and press
 w political reasons, however, pre-
 Alled and Washington accepted a second term at the White House. ~ the close of his second term,
 usneral Washington. steadfastly re- { 'se0 to consider third and retired
 v pflvate life, without. however, plac- aaas himself squarely on record as -eaanst third term for a President, i sFs Dy his physical action. In fact, ( -s 'eit a loophole for the present day 2 zs'vcates of third term for the Pre-
 sSnt Dy saying that "he could see
 ptopriety in precluding ourselves
 S'n tne services of any man who, 2 some great emergency, shall be sned universally, most capable of
 ing the public." Despite this as-
 n' Congress, taking his physical
 eon as proof of his desired, pass
 resolution expressing an earnest Ssa,s sa mat his example might be ss,0e to his successors.
 Aerson himself was the next to \ gx J lsced with the necessity of decid- p M & spon the third term question. 2s.v <. .aid that should President con . NJ ss0 s.. be a candidate for third
 uon. trust he will be rejected
 's demonstration of ambitious " Jackson was the third Pre-
 to meet the third term ghost