The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1920-04-02
Friday, April 2, 1895
THE THIRD TERM SPECTER

up things a little in Congressional
circles Friday of last week when ne
made an anti third term speech which
m6lHawaken many echoes The tradl@
ton against third term is strong
although the argument on which 1t
rests was strained in the case of
Grant, in 1880, who sought a third
nomination after having served two
terms, and of Roosevelt in 1912 who
obtained a second nomination after
having served term and three quar-
ters. Neither of these was candidate
for a third successive term. No A
nerican statesman ever has been.
. There was some talk in 1874 Of a
third successive term for Gen Grant.
In history of the Republican party
by Francis Curtis, this is found
From a letter written by Mr.. Grant
to General Harry White, president OF
the Pennsylvania Republican con-
vention, it was evident that a third
term would not be refused, although
it would not be diligently sought.
President Grant remained in a recep-
tive frame Of mind throughout 1875,
but in December of that year the
House of Representatives passed
resolution expressing the opinion
that the precedent establised by
Washington and other presi-
dents in retiring from Of
flee after a second term had become
= part Of our republican system of
government. The resolution goes on
to say, "Any departure from this
time honor custom twopld be unwise
unpatriotic and fraught with peril to
our free institutions" The vote on
the resolution resulted in an over
whelming majority in favor of its
passage-234 to 1s. That vote set-
tied the third term movement by
Grants supporters.
Representative Humphreys
doesn't charge directly that Presi-
dent Wilson is seeking a nomination
fer third successive term. But he
eemplains: that President Wilson's
failure to say, one way 6r the other,
inevitably creates the belief that the
President is willing to set aside the
ancient precedent and it painfully
embarrasses the ayeWed candidates
for the Democratic n6niihation.
Naturally one Of these aspirants does
not want to do anything to antago-
nize the Administration and Mr.. Will
sons silence tends to make most of
them hesitant about permitting
their names to be placed on the list
of candidates in the state primaries.
AS one of the Metropolitan dailies
has it "President Wilson's reticence
has put the soft pedal on all candi-
dacies likely to interfere with his
own, should he desire to become a
candidate. And his treaty policy has
left open an issue on which he alone
could adequately lead the party in
the next campaign. If that campaign
is to be-as he wants it to be a
great and solemn referendum an ap-
peal to the pepole to vindicate his
demand for ratification without
reservations annoying to. him, who
could direct the Democratic cam
paign as we'll as he could?
"a great many Democratic politi-
clans are aghast at the idea that M.
Wilson may feel it his duty to run
again. Mr.. Humphreys undoubtedly
speaks for a large majority of his
party in the House of Representa-
tives. Will he and his sympathizers
have the courage to introduce in the
House a duplicate of the Grant reso-
luton of 1875"
Even leaving out the question of
whether the President should seek