the contest and the injury to business
would be intensified, proportionately. It is doubtful whether in a
period of twenty or fifty years any appreciable relief to business
would be furnished by an extension of the term of the Presidential
office.

It is by no means certain that the total of business is not as great
as it would be in the same four years if the term were ten years
instead of four. The total of production and consumption cannot be
affected seriously by a political controversy that does not extend
usually, over a period of more than three months. If business is
diminished during those months there will be a corresponding gain in
the months that are to follow.

In a popular government there must be elections, and in all such
governments business interests must be subordinated to the general
welfare. The changes that have taken place since the Government was
organized would justify the shortening rather than the lengthening
of the Presidential term. The means of communication are such that
two years may give the mass of the people better means for judging
men and measures than could be had in four years at the opening of this
century.

There is no form of education that more fully justifies its cost than
the education that is gained in a Presidential canvass. The
newspapers, the magazines, and more than all the speakers--"stump
orators" as they are called--communicate information and stimulate
thought. The voters are converted into a great jury, and after full
allowance is made for weakness, corruption and coercion, they are
advanced at each quadrennial contest in their knowledge of men, in
their ability to deal with measures of policy, and in comprehension
of the principles of government. If the losses in business were as
great as is ever represented, the educational advantages of a
Presidential canvass are an adequate set-off. The people have an
opportunity to see and hear the men who are engaged in public affairs
and questions are discussed upon their intrinsic merits. In the sixty
years of my experience there has been a great advance in the quality
of the speeches to which the people have listened. The speeches of
1840 would not be tolerated in 1900.

When great questions are under debate appeals are made to the
principles of government and proportionately the education of the
people is of a higher grade.

A serious objection to a long term in the Presidential office is the
fact that