Year: 1873




have been superseded by Chase.


Now with dutiful Congress behind him,
and with oil these thousands Of honors and
emoluments, and all these hundreds of mil
lions of collections and disbursements in his
hands, with all these national banks bonds
and bondholders Of our national debt under
his control, and with a gold reserve in the
Treasury found useful in political crisis for
the regulation Of Wall street-with the con-
troll, in q word, of financial system upon
the manipulations Of which all our material
interests and all classes of our people, from
the railway king to the street vagrant, are
vitality interested from day to day, where Is
the limit of the Presidents power in reference
to the succession II he had arrayed against
him powerful opposition, like that which
frequently bafiled the designs of Jackson and
which constantly engaged him along the whole
line of his defences there would be nothing
perhaps, to tempt General Grant to the un-
tried and dangerous ground of third term.
But with the electoral vote OF thirty-one States
and popular majority of seven hundred thou
sand as the issue of the late fercely contested
Presidential campaign, and with the liberal
republicans and the democracy oil adrift
where is the opposition army which, in q
General Grant, can successfully dispute his
passage2


Let us suppose then, that this formidable
host of ofice-holders, contractors, banks
bond-holders, fnanciers and powerful cor
porations have combined to secure to General
Grant third term, how can his party conven-
tion resist these forces, and how is he to resist
the call of his party? Accepting the call and
reelected upon it, why may he not be elected
again and again, until hardly the formality of
ON election remains to mark the passage from
one term to another? This peril to the Re-
public lies in this foreshadowed precedent of
a third term to General Grant. He may not
desire it, he may wish to retire, he may now
recoil from the very thought Of another term;
but he may be tempted beyond his strength.
The one-term principle may be fallacy, but
the limitation to two terms is barrier which,
in passing, we pass to C@sarism. We know not
and care not to inquire what were the reasons
of General Frank Blair for his declaration in
1868, that if General Grant were advanced to
the White House he would remain there 1t
is sufficient for our present purpose that all
the signs Of the times point to his nomination
for third term, and that, conceding to
him the highest patriotic motives should he
accept this perilous honor, it is still sufficient
that we pass through this gate from the
Republic to Cesar.


Are we, then, unreasonable in submitting
that, as General Grant is absolutely master of
the situation, we cannot too soon have some
authoritative declaration in his behalf that he
is not, and does not intend to be, a candidate
for another Presidential term? We are GER
tainly within the line Of safety and wise pre-
caution in suggesting to Congress and to the
people the propriety in the interval to 1876 of
new amendment to the constitution, not
only simplifying the work of the election of
President and Vice President. but limiting the
President to two TERMS according TO the wise
and good example of Washington.