New-York tribune., 1912-03-06

any statement it is not only necessary ~ ~
consider what the man actually means az e.
actually says and VIII be unuei stooa ooT,t 81
saving by people who intelltsen1y dCCePe
his statement at its face value, bul also - -
consider what the statement wiz pe No.
70 mean by the great mas OF peoPIS' ore
are obliged 70 get their intoTmStioGA ~ tI,U, ~
or less at second hand, and largely thI Ovs,, @
instgumentalities like most OF Ihe ~, W y
York dailies, whose one purpose, as S IA ID al
! am concerned, IS TO invent IaiseHoON "iiN
70 distort truth. .,..4 ,,.o,,15
accept II nominated, II would pc tai :,
abroad by all my enemieo, ana uu'lll!1 s ~; =, =
believed BY a large portion sNeH, ~ "a n
good friends and well wishCrs, that nav, nSo ~
my own interest announced my Cd!luiIU,&1U 80 .
that | was an active candidate IldI "oo "%9
striving by every means TO secure the r,ta mO5it
ination for President. At tnts UNIV tie. so
ever may be the case in the tutuICI,55 ~
not see that any other outcome Souau .bc Sc
expected. IT is simply a case WHeIt ts tits
exact face value and would ineIYtapiS ,,,S, ng
given a false construction; ana, ~ ~
SO. 81 seems to be wise not 10 use 'Nc ''''
guase.
What Ele Meant by Third Term.
Let me illustrate what 1 mean by ref or
ring you 10 the language IN when alle,
tile election OF 1874 l announce that
would not be q candidate for renomuatIoH;
At the time good friends OF mine susSesleu
that 1 should use some such tofmuia a.
stating that / would not be a candidate
in 1873 because of the custom tnat hdu
grown up not 10 elect a man as PreslGell
Tor third consecutive term; but on thlnhI
ing II over l became convinced tnaJ u
used such language II would lneVltaDiy pe
taken as an announcement that / would pG
a candidate FOR another term in lyl2-aHu
this I'm spite OF the fact that, OF course, tHe
language, if taken literally. would nave
referred only 10 1908 and have had 10 more
bearing on 1912 than on 1916 or 1913.
Accordingly. l used language which SIM
ply stated that l paid heed 10, the essence
and not the form of the wise custom OF ouI
forefathers in reference to the thlrd TERM
the essence, Of course, being that the GUS
tom applied just as much when my nrss
term was the filing out Of an uneApTeu
term Of my predecessor as If 1t had oeen
sn elective term, and that on the other
hand, il had no applicat ton Whatever 20
the candidacy Of man who was not at tne
been President before. Yet, even as II was,
men at once began to ask me whether my
refusal was to be held TO apply 10 1917 OF
TO 1916; to which /, Of course, respohueu
that II would be prepostero TO answer
any such question ore way or the other.
BY the way. 1 may recall to YOU that
The very IaIeIs VIII n are now hoWn
TO have me make s. me pu lie statement
ere the ones which four and flfe years ago
when l had made a definite pubic StIte-
nnent. were continually bowling l snot
make some additional staten Mt. Tn $
people. people such as tEe "a tors OF M
newspapers above referred 10. are not hon
est; they do not wish the truth aIG -
nav anv heed 20 their demands would De
worse than folly. If at present ] said wh3,tt I
you think ] ought to say they WoUlu
merely substitute a worse set o. mlsslale-
ments for the set to which they are no"
giving currency
Now, my dear SIR. as to what you say
as to the desirabiitv, no matter what inc
result Of my being frank ant telling
the whole public what 7 feel wthou re-
gard 10 whether or not il can he misrepre-
eented. let me refer you to bn9s9to'
Surely there was re or a more StTalghuor-
ward ncr a more sincere man than Lincoln,
nor man who more UnhesitatnglY, Whe'l-
ever the ft occasion arose. took the pubic
fully and freely into his entire conhden e.
But he consistently declined to make state
nnents which. though true, would give o.
porturities Ter misrepresentat' on.
He sometimes mace denials oi taISe any
scandalous accusations when he deem-d y
necessary. hut as ain and again he refused
TO do 80 when ne thought that the DE- IA
would merely 90 additional hrrm. Ak. aNe
the first volume Of THE Speeches, Letters
end state Papers Of Lincoln edited hE
IFsy and NicolaN. and turn To pages 65j'