The Oregon daily journal., November 08, 1908, Page 29, Image 29

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What Former Executives
Have Done After Leav
ing the White House
T ERHAPS never before have the Amer
r ican people been so deeply interested
in the question. What shall we do
with our ex-Presidents f
Mr. Ropsevelfs future seems assured.
When he leaves the White House next March
he will devote himself for several months in
pursuit of wild game in Africa.
After that he may be expected to engage
in those lines of activity that appeal to a man
of his ardent t active nature. No one can im
agine Mr, Roosevelt retiring to private life
and becoming a virtual nonentity. He is
bound to do something.
For that very reason, it is interesting to
note what phazes of life have appealed to his
predecessors, who, giving up office, havejre
tired to the status of a private citizen. -' In
other words, What have our Presidents done
in the past after departing from the White
H ousef
L
OOKINO backward over th vista of h!tory
ons naturally beglni a research of this kind
by ascertaining how General Washington spent
bis last days.
' At the conclusion of his second term he retired
gladly to his Virginia plantation. Mount Vernon,
happy In the expectation of passing the closing days
of a busy and eventful career In the peaceful pursuits
of a farmer.
His fame was too widespread and too firmly fixed,
however, to permit him to remain in obscurity. Hun
dreds of visitors from all parts of the country, as It
then existed, and from Europe, made pilgrimages to
Mount Vernon, wnere tney were entertained.
rule, with all the noted Virginia hospitality.
less than three years of this happiness was per
mitted General Washington in that Interval, in fact. It
was Interrupted by the unfortunate quarrel with France.
When It seemed that armed conflict with that country
muBt come, he was again chosen as commander-in-chief
of the American forces. I .
Fortunately, he was not required to take the field,
and when the threatening storm blew over he re
turned gladly to his agricultural pursuits.
George Washington died December 14, 1799, from
an attack of acute laryngitis. His wife, the accom
plished and gracious Martha Washington, survived
him but two years, dying in 1801.
John Adams, the second President, lived a quarter
of a century after his retirement from the first office
in the land. He had lost much of his former popu
larity, and the chances were that he could not have
re-entered publlo life in a prominent way even had
he desired,
Mr. Adams lived long enough to see his son, John
Qulncy Adams, become president. When his term
ended, he retired to his estate at Qulncy, Mass., and
engaged in agricultural pursuits. He entertained
himself a great deal by writing, mostly In self-defense.
... .
His last years found him almost in solitude, as his
accomplished and helpful wife died in 1818, and his
son was actively engaged in his public duties. He
died July 4, 1826. -the same day that witnessed the
departure of his great political rival, Thomas Jeffer
son. Jefferson, Madison and Monroe owned estates in
Virginia, to which they retired after leaving the pres
idency. Both Jefferson and Monroe were badly pinched
by poverty In their later years; visitors overran Jef
ferson's famous estate of Montlcello, and his open
handed hospitality proved a heavy drain upon his
diminishing resources.
He busied himself with efforts to improve Vir
ginia's system of education and to establish the Uni
versity of Virginia, which he saw in working order
over a year before his death. Financial straits com
pelled him to sell his valuable library to Congress at
a quarter of its worth, and but for the assistance of
friends and the benefit' of publio subscription he would
have lost Montlcello. . .
WORKED NOBLY TO THE LAST
i v. a
Jefferson was burled in the family graveyard at
Montlcello, and oyer him a stone was placed bearing
this inscription, prepared by himself: "Here was
burled Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of
Independence, of the statutes of Virginia for religious
freedom and father of the University of Virginia.
The latter institution remains as one of his greatest
monuments; few ex-Presidents have employed the
closing years of life to better purpose.
From the time of Madison's retirement In 1817 to
his death in 1831 ha lived on his Montpeller estate In
Virginia, not a great distance from the home of Jef
ferson. There he and Mrs. Madison were almost con
stantly entertaining visitors the house parties at
Montpeller were famous.
This proved a severe drain upon the resources of
the estate, and It became necessary to make retrench
ments. The French gardener, Beasee, whose wages
amounted to $400 a year, was dismissed, and the
stable was gradually reduced until only one pair of
driving horses remained. Mr, -Madison owned over a
hundred slavea Many of them were too old to work,
and were a source of additional expense.
During his retirement Mr. Madison entertained -himself
by writing, keeping up an extensive corre
spondence. He lent his services gladly to the Vir
ginia Legislature in sompletlng plans for a revision
of the constitution, and was of great assistance to
Jefferson la organising th University of Virginia. So
that Madison, too, was Of service to his country after
. retiring from th first office in the land. .
' A less kindly fate pursued Monroe. Although he
had received something like $350,000 In salaries dur
ing his long public career, his last years were ambit- .
tered by poverty and th loss of his horn at Oak
Hill, Va. .
MtAn a f f A v ftnrnlnr tifc VI rw! n I a fMm IV, TXT 1. 1
Rouse Mr. Monro was elected a justice of th peace
for hi, county, and as such sat In - the coraty court.
In 182 he was chosen as a member of th convention
to revise the constitution of that state and was made
S resident of th body. Ill health-, however, compelled
Im to resign and return to his home at Oak Hill
I- M.0lAro;',i,st yar wr8 pathtio. . Hj. wlf died
in 1830, and he was left alone In poor health and
wretched poverty. Soon, after th loss of his wif h
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left Virginia and made his home with his son-in-law,
Samuel L. Gouverneur, In New York city, where he
died.
John Qulncy Adams was one of the few Presidents
to return to public life after quitting the Whit
House. He was elected to represent his district in
Congress, and continued in that service nearly sixteen
years, until his death. He was on of the hardest
working, most prominent and influential members of
the House of Representatives, and it was on the floor
of the House that be was seised by fatal Illness.
Andrew Jackson was enfeebled and broken In body,
although not In spirit, when he retired from Wash
ington to spend his last days quietly at his beloved
"Hermitage, in Tennessee. Although he refrained
from taking part in public life, he was deeply Inter
ested In publlo affairs until the end. and his advice
was sought by men from all parts of the country.
About five years ago the Ladles' Hermitage Asso
ciation, of Nashville, secured control of fne old man-
T
HE visiting expert ef the state Agricul
tural Bureau, sliding off with the twig
he carried several hundred of the tiny,
dark insects that blackened the under
side of the corn leaf, gazed pityingly at the
farmer, who, glum, stood beside Lim" in tt field.
"These chinch bugs .that you are so industri
ously cultivating," remarked the expert "cost the
country about $20,000,000 a year.
"But tty species which besets you is only a
single tribe of unaccountable enemies the farmer
braves. Why, man, these insects cost us, all told,
$700,000,000 a year."
frHK United States pays a heavier toll to man's in--i
I " t enemies than any other land on the fac of
X th earth. f - - -
For It has lUea discovered and the United
States Department Of jAgrlcultur baa rcntly mad
S&700.00QOOD
JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY HORNING, ' NOVEMBER 8, 1908
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a.oa, and restored it to the condition In which It was
at tne time of the general's death.
A curious ceremony still takes place in the old
Jackson home on the 8th of each January, and con
sists in the burning of a candle for only a few min
utes. This is one of a box of candles found in the tent
of Lord Cornwallla when he surrendered at York
town, and which were distributed among the officers
In the Continental army an souvenirs. One of these
candles was sent to General Jackson, with the request
that he light it on the Sth of each January. This he
did as long as he lived, and now those who have made
It their work to preserve his memory will carry o
the custom until the old candle is burned away.
Except for two vcars of. foreign travel. 1853-55.
Martin Van Buren lived In dlgnifl-d and apparently
happy retirement on his estate, "Lindenwald." near
Klnderhook, N. Y.. after his retirement from the pres
idency. He was known as "the sasre of Klnderhookt
"j.
It public that th losing., bat tit we wag e'very year
against th chinch bu and his various and Tsgarlou
wiS"
and was universally esteemed by his neighbors.
His oniy reappearance in public life was when he
was nominated lur President, over his protest, by the
Free Soli party in lS-IS. receiving enough votes to de
feat the Lemucratic candidate, Lewis Cass, and elect
General Zachary Taylor.
John Tyler lived an active and useful life for
many years after retiring from the presidency. Ha
made his home at "Sherwood Forest," in Charles City
county. Virginia, and devoted himself to agriculture
and the preparation of addresses upon various topics,
invitations for which were constantly coming to him.
At the beginning of the troublesome year of 1861,
Mr. Tyler found himself elected by his county to. the
state convention in Richmond. It was his earnest de
sire to preserve the union, and he proposed the peace
conference of states, which was held In Washington in
February nnd of which he was made president.
Latei1 he was a delegate to the southern provisional
congress, and still later was elected a member of the
Confederate House of Representatives, but died be
fore taking his seat. IB
James K. Polk lived only la few months after re
tiring from the presidency. With his savings he had
f purchased a tine old mansion In Nashville. Tenn., and
ooked forward with the greatest pleasure to the
hoped-for long and peaceful life to be spent there.
His constitution, never the strongest, had become
undermined by the work of the executive office during
the trying times of the Mexican War, and he fell a
speedy victim to the cholera epidemic that swept
Nashville In the summer of 1849.
Millard Fillmore retired from the presidency In
1853. and In 1856 was nominated for that office by the
American party, but gained the electoral vote of only
one state, Maryland That campaign closed his par
"YEAELY TOLL
BY INSECTS..
-- 7
- . - v -v..
allies of tfleld and forest furnish an annuafdeflclt on
farm products that ar worth, f 5,000,009.000. bf $700,"
000.000. , - : :" ; .,-;----v
Not only do thos defeat cost us more than th army
and th grand navy w would hat
to use, but they x
ticipation in public life, and his remaining year wr
spent quietly. In 1855 and In 1866 he made trips to
Europe, and was received with every evidence of s
teem on the part of prominent people.
Franklin Pierce retired to his home at Concord, N.
m.. after expiration of his term, and lived ther until
his death in 18. His last years were spent under
the shadow of domestic affliction, and It Is probabl
he had not the heart, even If opportunity had offered,
for a return to public life. He was accounted wealthy
for those times, and left a considerable estate.
The only bachelor who occupied the presidential
chair, -James Buchanan, died at his "Wheatland" farm,
near Lancaster, Pa., in June, 1868. There followed him
Into his retirement a widespread opinion that ha was
largely responsible for the Civil War, and he spent a
considerable part of his later years writing a vindi
cation of his policies, which was published in 18(1,
under the title, "Buchanan's Administration."
Andrew Johnson's accidental occupancy of 'th
presidential chair did not satisfy him. It is true ho
lived a somewhat secluded life at his home In Green
ville, Tenn., until 1875, but bis desire to re-enter pub
lic life was ever present
In 1875 he was elected to the United States Senat
by the Legislature of Tennessee, and took his seat on
March 5 of that year. President Grant having called s,
special session of the Senate. His term, however, was)
cut short by death the following July.
TOUR OP TRIUMPH . !
General Grant was the only ex-President to mak s
tour of the world. He started on this remarkable trip
In May, 1877, sailing from Philadelphia, and for two
years and four months his progress through various
lands was a continuous personal triumph, such as
the world has rarely witnessed.
A determined effort to nominate him for th pres
idency in 1880 failed. His closing years wer clouded
by financial troubles and bodily affliction; his business
ventures were disastrous and he toiled sturdily wlttt
his pen to redeem his fortunes. He died in July. 1885.
Rutherferd B. Hayes- retired from th Whit
House to his home at Fremont, Ohio, where he lived
peacefully and happily until his death in 1883. H
devoted much of his time to furthering charitable
educational and prison-reform work, and was content
to serve his feilow-men in such occupations.
Ex-President 'Arthur resided In New York after hi
retirement, taking little part in public affairs. Ex
President Harrison resumed the practice of law, and
was retained In a number of Important cases, among;
them the famous Venezuelan claims case. Mr. Cleve
land, the only President to return to th Whit Ho us
after Its occupancy by a successor, practiced law in
New York after his first term, and after hie second
lived In dignified retirement at Princeton, N. J.
Washington and Van Buren wer th wealthiest
men as wealth in those times went ever elected to
the presidency. In fact, it is said that Van Bursa
did not trouble to draw his salary until the expira
tion of his four years' term, when ha draw the $100,000
due him In a lump. John Qulncy Adams. Fillmore-,
Pierce and Buchanan were all pretty well provided
with this world's goods, and Andrew 'Johnson was
fairly well ofT.
It is said that the most extravagant President; was
Arthur, who not infrequently gave dinners costing a
much as $5000. He was worth probably half a mil-, '
lion when elected Vice President.
-.-J;
ceed, besides, the expense of th whole pension list and
the price we pay for maintaining th entir national cor.
eminent.
Half a billion of that stupendous tax levied by ear
Insect enemies yearly is taken away from us while w
ar growing the crops that ar to feed us from year to
year; the foe does not wait until his loot I rip. .- "r--r
Another $100,000,000 is destroyed while cereals and for
age crops are in storage, before their human owners can
consume them: and still another $100,000,000 is ruined In our
forests and forest products, a resource In which our own
Improvidence has already left us poor as church mice.
The chinch bug takes from th nation' tL 000,000,000
corn crop, a toll no larger than th corn root worm; and
the $20,000,000 worth ruined by each of them is equaled by
the depredations of half a hundred other Insatiable rob
bers wire worms, cutworms, army worms, stalk-borers,
plant lie, locusts and grasshoppers.
Th Hessian fly usually charges our wheat crop about
$40,000,000 for the cost of his entertainment; but sometimes. -as
in 1900. he cost $100,000,000.
In the South th cotton boll weevil, chewing up"n9,-
000,000 of one of th land's great staples, is aided to th
extent of $10,000,000 by the bollworm and the leafworra.
In the apple orchards, th ubiquitous coddling moth
enjoys a baitquet that eorta ua $20,000,009, while th Insect
enemies of trees, pursuing their nefarious activities into
the farmer's woodlot and th national forest reserves, sat
up no less than $70,000,000 of growing timber during any
twelvemonth, the foresters keep watch upon them, ;
Thos bloody culprits, th ox waxbl. and th vartoui
biting fl! and ticks Including buffalo gnats, gadget,
botflies and screw-worm flies amid an tndla anlrtu.t
anguish which maa, has thus far failed to prevent, slims ",
ter values In live stock to th axtant of $17S,Oxi,o5,
, And If an wer to betake himself tomorrow to t
Department of Agriculture at . Washington, whr t ,
fearful might of our Insect toes Is most thoroug'. y ".
spected, intent upon observing the deftpalr au h t
odds should lnspjr. h would be greet.!. In?' . i.
aces smiling over victories that ar blng si :
tended and th hlstoria words of old Paul Juibs,
'yrbj. w have Just begun, to fUl' -