134 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



that no person who has held or who may here- 

 after hold the office shall ever again be eligible 

 for that office, believing that there never will 

 be a time when suitable candidates cannot be 

 found who will be more than willing to take 

 the office upon those conditions. Whether I 

 shall add anything more upon this question 

 will depend upon what may be said by other 

 gentlemen during the discussion. I now yield 

 to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. New)." 



Mr. New, of Indiana, said : " I call for the 

 reading of the joint resolution, introduced by 

 myself, for information." 



The resolution was read as follows : 



Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives 

 of the United States of America in Congress assem- 

 bled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), 

 That the following article be proposed to the Legis- 

 latures of the several States as an amendment to the 

 Constitution of the United States, which, when rati- 

 fied by three-fourths of said Legislatures, shall be 

 valid as a part of the Constitution, namely : 



ARTICLE XVI. From and after the next election 

 for the President of the United States the President 

 shall hold his office during the term of four years, 

 and, together with the Vice-President chosen for the 

 same term, be elected in the manner now provided 

 by law, or as may hereafter be provided. But nei- 

 ther the President, the Vice-President, nor any other 

 person in the office of President, as devolved upon 

 him by law. shall be eligible to the office of Presi- 

 dent a third time. 



Mr. New : " Mr. Speaker, it will be ob- 

 served that the joint resolution just read leaves 

 the matter of the presidential term where it 

 is, except that a third term by the same Presi- 

 dent is prohibited. 



" I shall not occupy much time. I cannot 

 hope to present anything new, or which would 

 not upon reflection occur to the minds of other 

 members. The reasons which I shall assign in 

 opposition to a one-term limitation, and in fa- 

 vor of eligibility to a second term witli ineli- 

 gibility to a third, will perhaps be familiar to 

 all the members of this body. For the most 

 part my arguments will be such as I have 

 gleaned from reading the past history of this 

 question and the history of the country. 



" We cannot over-estimate the importance of 

 the subject. We cannot fail to appreciate the 

 disagreeable attitude in which we place our- 

 selves, as also the possible serious consequences 

 to the future of the country, if our action here 

 should lead to a change in the Constitution, 

 and that change should turn out to be a mis- 

 take. For one, sir, I admit now at the very 

 threshold of my remarks that I am not fully 

 convinced that the public safety requires any 

 alteration in the Constitution relating to the 

 Executive term. But if any step is to be 

 taken in that direction, then, sir, in my judg- 

 ment the modification proposed in my propo- 

 sition is the one and only one that should be 

 made. 



" In the convention which framed the Con- 

 stitution there was a marked difference of 

 opinion among the delegates as to what should 

 be the length of the President's term of office, 



as also the manner of his election and the pow- 

 ers with which he should be invested. 



" It has been said by a distinguished Amer- 

 ican patriot that there is no nation which has 

 not at some period or other in its history felt 

 an absolute necessity of the services of par- 

 ticular men in particular stations as vital even 

 to the preservation of its political existence. 

 Thus we have Madison entering upon his sec- 

 ond term while the War of 1812 was in prog- 

 ress. Jackson had been voted for and elect- 

 ed the second time when, in December, 1832, 

 it became necessary to promptly rebuke and 

 put down nullification. The salutary effect 

 will not soon be forgotten of the proclamation 

 which he issued at that time, containing an ex- 

 position of the principles and powers of the 

 General Government, and expressing a deter- 

 mination to maintain the laws. 



" General Grant is now serving his second 

 term. It is probably too soon to impartially 

 judge of his first, while, as for the second, it 

 is not yet concluded. Seme of us, doubtless 

 in some degree affected by party bias and po- 

 litical prejudice, think his executive services 

 to the country not of extraordinary merit; 

 but whether it would have been better or 

 worse for the people if some other aspirant 

 had secured the prize we can never know. 

 The fair thing probably in this regard would 

 be to give all aspirants who failed to obtain 

 the place the benefit of the doubt. 



" I maintain that no argument unfavorable 

 to the second election of the eame President 

 can fairly be drawn from the past history of 

 the country taken as a whole. 



" Would it be w r ise to limit the Executive to 

 a single term in the future ? I answer that 

 it would not. If confined to one term, he 

 would, in my opinion, be more inclined to 

 overlook and disregard the public good where 

 his own personal interest or ambition was in 

 the way. If eligible to reelection there would 

 be greater disposition and inducement to keep 

 within the lines marked out for him by the 

 Constitution, and make his administration effi- 

 cient and just, for to do this would be to give 

 himself character with his countrymen, and 

 thus prepare the way for reelection. He 

 would be more attentive to learn the will and 

 the wants of the people. lie would give less 

 heed to the counsels of bad men-and court the 

 advice and good-will of those in whom the 

 people have confidence, and who by their pub- 

 lic services and high character give tone to 

 public opinion." 



Mr. Frye, of Maine, said : " Now, sir, the ma- 

 jority resolution is that no person who has 

 held or may hereafter hold the office of Pres- 

 ident of the United States shall ever again bo 

 eligible to the office. 



" Now there seem to me, Mr. Speaker, two 

 or three well-founded objections to the ma- 

 jority resolution. And, first, the term of office 

 is too short. Why, sir, there are no men in 

 the country who understand better than mem- 



