The sun., 1916-02-01
THE PRESIDENT AND THE
SINGLE TERM PLEDGE.
Able and Generous Plea in Behalf Of
Dr. Woodrow Wilson's Moral Right
10 Run Again. NOtw outstanding.
From the North American Reuieu.

cious ointment: it is, even in these
degenerate days, "a tangible political
asset. Undoubtedly. as has been so
often suggested, the candidacy Of Mr..
Wilson in 1912 profited in no small de-
party; but chief among the various
factors which contributed to his sue
cess was his reputation. He appeared
before the eyes Of the people as one of
highly. sensitiZed conscience whose
marked aloofness from the sins. il not
the temptations. of the world had been
attained through course of rigid
moral training. 1t was this valuable
possession which drew to his support
thousands of our best citizens who
might otherwise have been attracted
TO the banner borne aloft by Mr..
Roosevelt with the approval. since
withdrawn. Of Miss Jane Adams. AZ
President, too, In consequence Of COM
mon recognition of his lofty motives,
Mr.. Wilson has been spared no little
criticism which would have been WIS.,
itedy relentlessly upon one known as
a hardy politician.
But prominence OF whatever ma
ture Is never wholly free from attend
ant disadvantages chief among which
in this instance Is the exceptional ex-
pectation OF a stern or obstinate NOR
alist as contrasted with the modest
demand put upon more tolerant or
easygoing person. II solomon had
Mr.. Wilson IN mind when he defined
the good name" as rather to be
chosen than great riches" We can but
believe that he also glimpsed our Colo
mel when he added "and loving favor
rather than gold and silver The dis
tinction becomes clear and its unfair
ness manifest when one stops to think
that thing done by Mr.. Roosevelt
and laughed away as a mere idiosyn-
crasy might readily be regarded as
grave offence on the part of Mr.. Will
son.
That, We take II. Is the reason why
political antagonists of the President
are striving 50 earnestly to make II
appear that. in accepting renomlna-
ton. he would bc guilty Of a moral
derelction no less reprehensible than
that of Mr.. Roosevelt. a possible OPP
posing Cand date in the coming cam
paign, when he rcpudiated his volun-
tary pledge never TO seek "A third term
The two cases, OF course, are in no
wise parallel or alike. az a recital OF
the circumstances and analysis of the
criticisms will clearly show.
Brushing aside as unworthy OF com
sideraton the sneers which constitute
the usual accompaniment of a general
partisan assaul, upon President by
opposing members OF Congress, Mr..
Wilson stands accused upon two
points: first. that 10y his silence he
tacitly indorsed the Baltimore declara-
tlun and so appealed to the voters
under a false pretenCe. and secondly.
that after having been safely elected,
ne surreptitious,y smothered the reso-
luton putting that declaration into
effect. in the interest Of his own per-
sonal ambition
With respect to point No. !, Il
should be recalled that. for the first
time IN history. consideration Of the
platform was deferred until after the
naming OF the candidate This was
done at the instance Of MIR, Bryan for
some actual reason known only to
himself but ostensibly TO make GER
tain that the principles avo"ed
should accord with the views of the
candidate" As We have already noted.
the fact that this SPECIFIC plank did
| not harnloni2e with Mr.. Wilson $
| Judgment was brought to the atten-
! tion OF Mr. Bryan and other members
OF the committee Ivy his personal
representative. Mr. William +. Nc
Combs If then the real purpose OF
the unusual order of procedure was TO
make the platform square with the
! candidate" clearly when the uneX-
pected nomination had been accom-
! pi!shed the obligation TO remove the
disparity rested not upon the cand!-
date. but upon the committee who
| made no sign.
| To the assertion that MIR. Wilson'S
| tacit aCQuesCence compares unfavor-
| ably with the blunt refusal Of the
| Hon. Alton r Parker To accept
| his nom m.naton in 1904 unless the gold
standard was definitely upheld. il suf-
hces to say that the plank to which
| Mir Parker objected constituted the
overshad, wing vital issue of the cam
pa!gn, while that confronting Mr.. VIII
son was of so little Importance that
probably not one-tenth of the delegates
| who voted for il even knew II was in
Vorporated in the platform. Bearing
| tbs fact in mind and considering fur
ther that this could have been but one
| of several minor declarations not
| wholly To the candidates liking. II
must be evident To any fair mind that
| peremptory dictatorial action on the
part of Mr.. Wilson would have heer
regarded throughout the country as
unnecessarily mctic culous and undul,
presumptuous. Moreover he Coul,
later, as in fact he did in his speech
of acceptance, make the fact clear tha
he did not accept the platform lit,
orally in all its parts as a definite
programme" Herein We find no caus,
for complaint except possibly y--anC
only possibly, al that-from the view
point of hypercritiCism.
| The second acCusation---that of Mr.
Wilson smotherng the resolution IL
his personal interest Involves Ques
tons Of fact and propriety. That hi,
letter addressed to Mr., Mitchell Pal
mcr had the effect indicated and wa,
designed to have II there can be n,
doubt But to assert that lie Wa.
lobbying" infercnt.any unworthly
in his own behalf is TO speak absurd
ity. He had become the leader of tn,
Democratic party. and the Democrat,
congressman naturally and properl,
sought an expression OF his judgmen