JAMES K.JONj THE PLUMED KNIGHT OF ARKANSAS FARRAR NEWBERRY iiiiiittiiii lliil Class Book B 66 ^ 1^1 r 4± Copyright N?._ Qff^L COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. James K. Jones, The Plumed Knight of Arkansas By FARRAR NEWBERRY Author of A Life of Mr. Garland of Arkansas. SIFTINGS-HERALD PRINTING CO. PTTBLISHEB8 1913. J- Copyright 1913, By FARRAR NEWBERRY. A. M. All Rights Reserved. ©CLA351348U_ Ok f : To My Wife and Infant Son This Volume Is Lovingly Inscribed. TABLE OF ILLUSTRATIONS Late Photo of the Plumed Knight Frontispiece Photo of the Author Opposite page 14 Boyhood Home of Senator Jones " " 64 Old Arkansas State Capitol, Little Roek " " 136 United States Capitol, Washington, D. C. " " 246 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Dedication 5 Prefatory 9 Chapter I. — Ancestry, Boyhood and Training of James K. J ones 15 Chapter II. — The War and After — Life on a Farm. . 32 Chapter III. — Political Beginnings — State Senatorial Activities 49 Chapter IV. — Congressional Campaigns 69 Chapter V. — Contests for the Senatorial Toga 85 Chapter VI. — The Plain and Simple Record 105 Chapter VII.— Big Battles for Tariff Reform— Part One 119 Chapter VIII.— Big Battles for Tariff Reform— Part Two 133 Chapter IX.— Big Battles for Tariff Reform— Part Three 151 Chapter X.— Big Battles for Tariff Reform— Part Fonr 169 Chapter XL— The Fight for Silver 186 Chapter XII. — The Fight for Silver — The Democratic National Chairmanship 200 Chapter XIII. — The Indians and Homestead Lands . 225 Chapter XIV.— Mr. Jones and State's Rights 237 Chapter XV.— The Problem of the Southern Negro, and National Aid to Education 243 Chapter XVI. — Various a-nd Sundry — Part One .... 252 Chapter XVII. — Various and Sundry — Part Two . . . 265 Chapter XVIII. — After the Senate — The Lawyer and His Last Days 277 Chapter XIX.— The Man Behind the Gun 286 Appendix 321 PREFATORY. Biography is not very popular nowadays. Its de- crease in favor has been coincident with the increase of fiction and other works of lighter character. One of the greatest books in existence is "Plutarch's Lives," but it was published when the minds of the nations were anxious to seize upon any story which told of military triumph. Most of Plutarch's heroes illustrate the characteristics of physical valor and persistency in courses leading to success upou the held. I am not unaware that the writ- ten history of a man whose life reveals few efforts save those of an intellectual kind, is even now seldom perused with that enthusiasm which is usually stimulated by the story of a chieftain. The achievements of the great in- telligences of the age are too infrequently regarded with that degree of scrutiny which should be indulged in before the public makes up its mind upon what it so pleases to think, upou hasty conclusion, is a true estimate of the subject. Biography does not consist in fulsome praise or need- less panegyric. If the hero of the sketch needs this, it is positive evidence that his acts are not worthy the care and labor entailed in preserving what little he has actually accomplished. The work of the biographer is rather to tell, in as interesting way as possible, and always ac- curately, the story of the subject's life and work, that they, thus faithfully revealed and stripped of eulogy, may stand forever as his most fitting monument. It is the aim of this volume to set forth the character of a great man as revealed in public deed and utterance, 9 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY and in private life. The Commonwealth of Arkansas is proud to boast of the two brilliant pioneer statesmen, Ashley and (Sevier, by whom her name was first glorified in the (Senate of the United (States, and whose careers shed a luster upon her annals that grows brighter with the increase of the years. (She glories in Albert Pike, who was perhaps more of a literary scholar and more nearly developed into that polished and finished state which the literati only reveal, than the subject of this work. In the estimate of many A. H. Garland takes first place among the lawyer-statesmen in her galaxy of the great. But no man who has yet represented the State is considered to have been more typically Arkansan than James K. Jones. The book intends to show that the life here pictured, the character here studied, is typical of the Southwest of to- day. The life of James K. Jones is a veritable voice cry- ing out of this rough land, inviting development. Great in the lists of political leadership, possessing a powerful influence nationally as well as within his own State, Mr. Jones was with it all a man of irreproachable character in private life. Considered from every angle, measured up one side and down the other, the subject of this biography is about the biggest and best who has yet hailed from Arkansas. The closest scrutiny of his life, as 1 have been able to make it, has but revealed new traits of virtue and manliness. Like Launcelot brave, like Galahad clean, — he at once commands the wonder and praise of all who study him. He is like the Greek Socrates, unconquered in defeat, in sorrow undismayed, and ever working on 10 f // « I JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY without rest for the success of the cause in which he has buried himself. He is like the Roman Regulus, unwilling to compromise with the enemy of predatory influence for the sake of a national campaign fund and political aid which will ensure success for the party, the cause and himself. He is like William the Silent, a man of small words and large work ; like Plato, with a philosophical turn which is able to see the logic of a situation and profit by it, ahead of time; and like Marcus Aurelius, of great character and commanding personal virtue. More than all, he is like Washington, standing Four-square to all the winds tliat blow; — great in every trial, capable in every difficulty, and of marked efficiency in every task he is called upon to under- take Whether he be endowed with the gift of prophecy which to so remarkable a degree the Father of his Country possessed, only time can reveal. I have called Mr. Jones "the Plumed Knight of Ark- ansas," using the two words with which Robert Ingersoll characterized Mr. Blaine, not so much for any great simi- larity in personality, character or career detected be- tween the two statesmen, as because he was in truth a knight on all occasions and under all conditions, the like of whom has not hailed from our State, before him nor since. Like the Plumed Prince Henry of Navarre, his banner — not his, but his party's — was ever in the fore- front of the line, commanding. And I have thought it fitting to so designate him in the title of this volume. The detailed treatment of Mr. Jones's activities has necessitated the recitation of facts connected with the dif- 11 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY ferent phases of both state and national history in which he was so conspicuous a figure. For instance, in the chapter on "Political Beginnings — State Senatorial Ac- tivities," that the reader may the better appreciate his efforts in connection with it, a brief history of the Brooks- Baxter War is given. Likewise, in the chapters which treat of his tariff and money labors, outlines of the gov- ernment's experience in dealing with these great prob- lems are made. Something, too, is told of the history of reconstruction in south Arkansas. Let it be understood, however, that this intends to be no history, except inci- dentally; it is primarily the study of a great character in our state and national life. The reader will find that copious notes are given and many references cited, which for the most part are to authorities for my statements or to comments which [ make myself. In many places I throw words into italics, for emphasis. My plan has been to cite authorities for all quotations made, and for many statements not quoted. A few excerpts, however, have been taken from clippings, which may be taken as quasi-authentic, the names and dates of publication of which I am unable to furnish. But no such quotations are made as are not in harmony with the facts revealed by those sources which are abso- lutely authoritative. I may assign as a special reason for quoting freely that, it being impossible to give any of his great speeches in their entirety within the narrow compass of a volume like this, the reader may, nevertheless, while studying 12 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY character from spoken words, be also not unappreciative of his style of writing and speaking. I am indebted to many sources for data and informa- tion. The greater portion of his record in the American Congress was obtained by a careful and laborious, but pleasant search through scores of volumes of government publications which record the activities of public officials Hi rough the long term in which Mr. Jones served his country as Congressman and Senator. I must make my special acknowledgements to the widow of the late Senator, and to his son, James K. Jones, for giving, from the storehouse of years of family contact and most intimate of all associations, invaluable data, for scrap-book, clippings and letters, and finally for revising and correcting the manuscript; to Mrs. Jennie Grow, a sister, for clippings and letters; to Mrs. J. H. Johnson, a sister-in-law. for letters and valuable information; and to Genera] B. W. Green, perhaps the closest personal, and surely the first political, friend of the Senator, for facts obtained in the many interviews which he generously granted me. I likewise tender my thanks to ex-Governor Dan W. Jones, who was a boyhood friend and later a law partner, for the information giveu from personal reminiscence; and to the late E. L. Givens, of Batesville, for data on the Senator's home life. I here acknowledge, too, the assistance of Messrs. W. .1 Bryan, W. H. (Coin) Harvey, United States Senator Bobert L. Owen, of Oklahoma, and Dr. J. E. McDaniel, 13 FAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY of Nashville, Tenn., for their gracious testimonials bear- ing on certain phases of Mr. Jones's public career. I have conducted an extensive correspondence; and many friends of the Senator have written little items of interest which are herein embodied. Many published works have been drawn from for information, also, among them Tarbell's "The Tariff in Our Time," many histories of the United States, Shinn's "History of Arkansas," Hempstead's"History of Arkansas," Eeynolds's "Makers of Arkansas History," HarrelPs ''Brooks-Baxter War," and some articles in the publications of the Arkansas His- torical Association. To each and all I hereby tender my sincerest thanks. The work has taxed time, patience and labor; but I trust the result, since it is the tribute of a grateful and patri- otic heart, will not prove unsatisfactory to the many friends and admirers, the country over, of the "plumed knight." FARRAR NEWBERRY. Marion, Arkansas, January, 1913. 14 CHAPTEE I. ANCESTRY, BOYHOOD AND TRAINING OF JAMES K. JONES Carlyle the master penman said that the world's history is but the biography of a few great men; and other thinkers of distinction have agreed with him. To the student of history the most interesting way to learn the French Revolution is to watch closely, study per- sonally and follow individually the Little Corsican who was the central figure in its dark arena. Perhaps the most accurate conclusions as to the early educational ad- vancement of Athens are to be drawn from scrutinizing the teachings and works of Homer, Herodotus, and the other mighties of its history. The Protestant Reforma- tion stands out in history inseparably linked with the names of Calvin, Zwingli, Luther and the others, names which are synonymous with every word in our language that stands for religious toleration, self-reliance and free- dom of belief. Jesus Christ is the embodiment to us of unselfish service, of mercy made practical — nay, of the historical growth itself of the early church in the West. We cannot think of the American Revolution without there flashing up before us the stately and magnificent personage, Washington, nor of the Civil War without seeing Lee and Lincoln, Grant and Jackson, Sherman and Sidney Johnston. Neither can we Arkansans recall to mind the chief incidents in the development of our Commonwealth, the 15 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY historical strides progressward by which the State's name has been and is being cleared of the stigma of derision and the slurs of cheap insinuation, without associating with those movements such names as Ashley, Cockrill, Sevier, Woodruff, Garland, Pike, Conway, Kector, Jones and Berry. Arkansas is a frontier state — or, rather, it was. Its early citizenship comprised people from Tennessee, Geor- gia. Mississippi, Kentucky, Florida, Virginia, and the Carolinas. A few came from the North, but very few. Only at a very late day have Northern men and Northern capital come into our Commonwealth to develop and im- prove. The early westward pioneer movement, compris- ing the hordes of home-seekers that poured through the great Cumberland Gap of the Alleghenies and followed the basins of the rivers as they sloped gently to the Missis- sippi, was temporarily stopped when it reached the great Father of Waters. Tt was not until sixty to seventy-five years later, when the population began to be congested in the new territory around the banks of the Tennessee and the Cumberland, that the room-hunters crossed over and took up their abode in Arkansas. Thousands did not stay ; they did not come to stay. Some came to escape punishment for crimes committed — though the picture of this has been entirely too highly colored by the sensa- tion-mongers — others merely for adventure and for for- tune. Rut many families came to settle. Some of these were influential in the communities whence they came. Thousands were homesteaders — there was of course much government land. To be sure, the swampy delta country just west of the Mississippi Kiver did not present the 16 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY most pleasing prospect nor offer the most alluring invi- tation to the new-comers. But they came, nevertheless, and many stayed. And so it happens that nearly every great man who has hailed from Arkansas was born in some other Com- monwealth. Ashley, influenced by his good friend, Wil- liam Russell, came to the State as a young man, as did Sevier and others, and later became one of our most stal- wart and prominent pillars of presentation to the other states upon the floor of the United States Senate. Pike was another New Englander who drifted South, fell in love with Arkansas and stayed, becoming in after years one of her proudest boasts. A threatened family disgrace brought the father of Augustus Hill Garland, when the latter was about one year of age, from Tipton County, Tennessee, to Hempstead County, Arkansas. (1) The work of Gus Garland is a matter of public property, the delight of every patriotic American citizen. The location of one's birth makes very little differ- ence, anyway. Alexander Hamilton first saw the light of day on an obscure island in the West Indies, and became the brightest star in the immediate post-Revolutionary constellation of our national history. Lincoln, first open- ing eyes upon the roof of a small hut in Kentucky, is today the pride of the whole world. Washington does not be- long to Virginia any more than to Arkansas, though Vir- ginians claim he does. The lowly Nazarene, born in an insignificant hovel of a stable, radiated from His mighty personality a light that has shown "far and far" into the (1) For full account, see "Life of Garland," page 4. 17 ■I \\lf=!S K. JONES NEWBERRY islands of the sounding sea, and made radiant the shores of every land. "Fair fortune smiled not on his humble birth"; but what did that have to do with the future civilizing and Christianizing of the races, the process of which he himself initiated? James Kimbrough Jones was not born on Arkansas soil. No, the proud State of Mississippi claims the dis- tinction of having first rocked the infant form of Arkan- sas' widest known political chieftain upon her breast. On Mississippi soil, by the decision of fate, he was born; but that is about all. In fact, the locality of his birth was a matter of accident. His mother simply happened to be visiting relatives at Love, in Marshall County, that State, and on the visit she prematurely gave birth to a boy — and that is how it happened. They lived in Tennes- see at that time, and really Tennessee is the State which ought to have the claim of his birthplace. y In 1848. when the boy was but nine years old, the father, like many other men from the states east of the Mississippi River, decided to go west. Unlike thousands of others who came to this Slate merely for adventure, he came to settle permanently, and live the balance of his days upon the bosom of the new country. Here the fer- tile, virgin land was cheaper than that east of the river, and money, none too plentiful — though he was a well-to- do farmer, even then — would go further. He had a par- ticular fondness for the possession of land, and it was said by friends that Nat Jones would never be satisfied as long as anjbody owned land adjoining his. There was no probable disgrace attached to his remaining in 18 JAMES K. JO X ES V E WBERB Y Tennessee, the fear of which, some years before, beset Eufe Garland, the father of Arkansas' famous jurist above mentioned, the said Rufus having, in a drunken brawl, slashed a friend with a pocket knife, which incident be- came the prompting motive that caused him to sell out and move to Arkansas. No, Nat Jones brought his brood to the new Stale that he might find a better investment for his hard-earned funds on the sunset side of the mighty Mississippi stream. We might pause here to relate briefly a little cir- cumstance—a coincidence — of unusual interest. Coming to Arkansas Nat Jones entered much lands, chiefly, at first, in Pulaski County, now the richest in the State, and in which Little Rock is situated. It so happened, in 1S!»4 or 5 that dames K. Jones, then United States Senator, purchased some land in this County, and looking back into the record of transfers for the verification of his title, found that the identical piece of land had formerly been owned by his father. Now, this Nat Jones was a smart man and a good manager. He was of a quiet, intellectual disposition. Being a man of tine judgment and tine business qualities, he soon acquired considerable possessions, and became, to use the common expression, "well-fixed." He was a self-made man, with some education, though lacking the extensive finish of the large school. But more of him later. James K. Jones has been dead but half a decade. His widow and some of his childern and kin still live; but it seems impossible now to find very much informa- 19 ./ I 1//:n A. JONES VEWBERRY tion, either of the family before him, or of his own very early boyhood. It is strange that this is the case. I have searched carefully through the scrap-book kept by his widow, have conducted au extensive correspondence with many of his closest friends, and talked with others; and beyond a letter which he himself wrote to a cousin, dated February 21, 1897, I find but very few sources of any in- formal ion whatever along the lines of his ancestry. "I am ashamed to say." he wrote, "that I know little of our family. I have somewhere a sketch of it written by Pa, but have not been able to find it for years. Neither have T been able to find any trace of it." But the tempting let- ter leads us further: "I have also a family tree of my mother's family, but can't find that. It goes back to the landing in Virginia, before North Carolina had a citizen." Alas, that this is not permitted to be recorded upon the pages of this biography! But this is not so hard to understand when we reflect that one of Mr. Jones's prominent characteris- tics was his utter disgust and loathing of that kind of people who boast of their ancestry. Though he was "ashamed to say" that he did not know more of his people, he thought that a man's family amounted to but very little, anyway — often nothing. He believed in indi- vidual character, integrity and energy. On one occasion Napoleon was standing in the presence of a group of his generals who were vicing with each other in citing the longest list of names of distinction connected with their respective ancestries. When it came the little conquer- or's time to recite the greatness of his forebears, he sim- 20 JAMES K. JOXES NEWBERRY ply said: "Gentlemen, I am the founder of my own house !" I think this was pretty nearly the sentiment of James K. Jones. I find no instance where he refers to the greatness of his people before him; and there were some great ones among them. The family originally came from Wales. The grand- father of Senator Jones, Matthew Jones, was a patri- otic citizen of the Tar Heel State, and one of its best men. He was born August 29, 1768, and served his country courageously in the War for Independence. Whether he took any part in the struggle of 1812-1815, I do not know. He was married January 31, 1797, to Sarah Kimbrough. The "Kimbrough" was preserved as the middle name of our subject, being transmitted to him from an uncle, his father's brother. The pioneer, Matthew Jones, came West iu the great influx which just after the Revolution poured through the Cumberland Gap and down the winding valleys of the mountain streams into Tennessee and Kentucky. But we know nothing further of him. Let us suppose, justly as we may, that he was one of the bravest of the brave, the hardiest of the hardy, and successfully withstood the dangers of field and stream and Indians, establishing a homestead and partici- pating in the building of this mighty western civilization, whose pure, new democracy first empowered and revealed itself before the world in the Presidency of Andrew Jack- son — which triumph this grandfather of our hero lived to see. He died November 9, 1843. Living through the most important period of our history, he saw the infant Repub- lic successful in the storm of war, and the imminent peril 21 •/ !!//>' K. JONES NE^YBERRY which beset the .young commonwealths as they undertook the settlement and management of the great untram- melled West. He saw and took part in that wonderful develop- ment. He saw the democracy of the West come into j lower; and he lived long enough to scent the fume and smoke of that other master struggle which was the culmi- nation of a century-old quarrel over State's rights and the black man, and in which struggle his posterity was to take a noble part. It was in 1827 when this Matthew Jones moved to West Tennessee, and he lived the remainder of his days on a farm nine miles from Bolivar, in Hardeman County. There were several children in the family: Mary, born in 1797, Kimbrough in 180.'!, Anne in 1805, Dan in 1808, six month's before the mother's death, and Nat, the father of James K. Jones, and the second child. May 22, 1800. Xat was named for a brother of Matthew Jones. On this farm lived for a number of years the father and mother of the future United States Senator. In 1836, the year, it so happened, of the admission to state- hood of the Commonwealth his son was to serve so loyally, Xat Jones was married to Miss Caroline Jane Jones, daughter of Edmund Jones, a Methodist minister of .Madison County, Tennessee. She was very prominently connected, being related to such families as the O'Neals, of Alabama. A woman of fine mind and superior qualifi- cations, it w r as said of her by one who knew her closely, that she was "the very smartest woman" he had ever known. She was born January 31, 1814, and died in 1845. JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY She and Nat Jones were not related, though bearing the same name. James K. Jones was born of this happy union, September 29, 1839, in Marshall County, Missis- sippi, under the circumstances named above. He was a boy of six years when his mother died and his father re- moved to Arkansas. The one great memory which Mr. Jones treasured up in the store-room of his mind, even until death, was the character of his mother. Her gentle presence accom- panied him through all his arduous and admirable career. Her mystic touch, the touch of spirit, ever inspired him to success. Only a few years before his death, while one of the most distinguished members of the world's highest law-making body, and an old man, writing of that mother, he said : "I was a little over six years old when my mother died ; and how vividly I remember the whole scene, even to the words of old Brother Pierce's (1) prayer: 'O God, the cup of our sorrow is full, heaped up, shaken together and running over.' How can it have been so many long weary years? Our paths (2) di- verged then — they are converging now, and will, ere long, be one again." And then he goes on to say, speaking of that mother's care and love : "Although Pa was one of the best, if not the very best man I ever knew, and although he was a model father, tender, cautious, careful and anxious, still I believe the greatest calamity that ever befell me was the loss of my mother, then. I believe that the moulding part of a boy's life and character is (1) I do not know who he was. I suppose he was the preacher who conducted the funeral services. (2) His, and his mother's. 23 JAMES K.JONES NEWBERRY the period between two and twelve years old, and the mother is the guide and model by which God intends to shape his life and his work, even after he is dead. For fifty years I have not seen her grave, although God knows 1 have longed to a thousand times/' How may we better judge than by this of the boy's love for his mother while she lived? And what more assurance can we have than this that, like Robert E. Lee, the cardinal tenet of his young life was faithfulness to her? And to his father, too, he showed not only respect, but implicit confidence and even reverence. The father died in 1882, in Hempstead County, Arkansas, whither he had removed a few years before from Dallas County. He had been an invalid for some time. The Little Bock Democrat, in brief announcement of his death, spoke of him as a "most worthy and useful citizen, honored and beloved by his neighbors." The thought of leaving a son to honor his name and to transmit the family's sterling qualities to still another generation must have soothed the last lingering moments of this venerated and beloved sire! Happy fortune, that permitted him to see that son a leader of the greatest political party of the State, and one of the Slate's two greatest men ! In the letter quoted from above Mr. Jones spoke of his father as "one of the best, it' not the very best man I ever saw." In the same strain he continued: "I do want to come home and rest. I long to go to Pa's grave and stay around it for a week, and live again the days of my boyhood, and recall the thousands of things that come trooping through my memory when I go to old scenes." 24 ./ I UE8 K. JOXEs XEWBERRY But back to those very boyhood days themselves. With his two boys, Nat Kinibrough and James Kiinbrough, seven and nine years old, he cast his fortunes in the new- State in 1848, moving to Dallas County, in what is now a part of Clark County, and settling upon a large planta- tion. Here he engaged in the mercantile business also, leaving James, in whom he placed from the very earliest time the highest confidence, in charge of the farm. The younger son, Nat, died very suddenly, and being a strong, healthy, rollicking boy, was greatly mourned by father and brother, and the shock to the nervous boy, James, caused his father great uneasiness. He soon brought to his help, however, the second wife, who was .Miss Lucy Norinent, when James was twelve years old. This marriage was very fortunate for the son, for the step- mother was a finely educated woman, always affectionate and interested in him ; and her deeply pious, moral char- acter led his thoughts into channels whose virtuous ef- fect followed him through life. To this second marriage came two daughters, and the father and son rejoiced to have the companionship of the two girls. But alas! soon after the birth of the second daughter the step-mother died, and their hopes were blasted, for the two girls were taken to be reared by Kim- Krough Jones, Nat Jones's brother, and thus James was again left alone with his father. He was then about fourteen years of age, and he was sent to the neighbor- hood school at Cachemasso, now Dalark, in the vicinity of which the Jones plantation was situated. This asso- ciation with children was helpful to him, and especially 25 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY in drawing him out of himself. Having been much alone with his father, he was prematurely developed in mind and disposition. His father was a remarkably taciturn, thoughtful, studious man, and seldom had entered into the sports and pleasures so necessary and helpful to the moral, natural development of the young son. He was, however, very proud of him, and was always quiet in the pleasure it gave him when the teachers praised the won- derful advancement the son made. The boy had a high and ungovernable temper, which often gave the father much concern. Once he was actually taken out of school because he would not apologize for some little misde- meanor. In his congressional autobiography Mr. Jones states that he "received a classical education." But this he got outside the walls of any great school. He had not the educational advantages which Garland, his great compeer, received. He never attended any great college, most of his training being in the private and district schools. At Tulip, Dallas Comity, adjoining Clark County, where Nat Jones lived, was a settlement of as fine people as ever immigrated to the new State from Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee. They were people of wealth, education, refinement and molality; and here they had established male and female schools which were not sur- passed anywhere in the South. To the male school at Tulip young Jones, now about sixteen years old, was sent. This school had as its Principal W. D. Leiper, a college graduate and a Pennsylvanian, who was ably assisted, thoroughly appreciated and most successful. I may add, 26 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY he left the school to join the Confederate army and went through the entire War a gallant, brave soldier, becoming Major of his regiment. He is still living. A certain person, who knew him more closely than anyone else at the time he was growing into manhood, told me that James K. Jones had, even in his 'teens, a most brilliant and susceptible mind, and that teachers and pupils alike realized this fact. He possessed a special fondness for Latin and Mathematics. As we come to study his public record we shall see how he put this mathematical mind to extensive service in the welfare of his country, in the work of the tariff and financial legis- lation. We shall see that he had a remarkable fondness for the most minute details of the silver problem and the schedules of the revenue measures. In this little town of Tulip, noted for its moral at- mosphere, were churches of different denominations, with good pastors. In almost every home there was an altar, where night and morning the family and servants were assembled to render praise and homage to the God of their fathers and their God. The Sunday Schools were well attended and the lessons were made most interesting to the young. In the Methodist church a fine class was taught by Miss Kate Somervell, and young Jones was one of the class. The teacher, full of enthusiasm and well versed in Biblical lore, infused into her pupils a love for the study of the Scriptures and the research necessary to obtain a knowledge of the origin and history of the Book. James K. Jones here, as in the other schools, was an apt pupil, and later on in his life he often said that he learned 27 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY mure Bible history in this very class than all the rest of his life. It may be remarked that both his first and sec- ond wife were his class-mates in this (Sunday School, and his second wife was the sister of the teacher. She and the young Jones were counted among the best and most studious pupils, and though she was often his equal in recitations, the teacher always gave him the highest mark because he showed more thought and preparation. Beyond the close-at-hand schools, as said, Mr. Jones had few opportunities for an education. Indeed, part of almost every school year he was compelled, on account of poor health, to drop out. In such periods his father would usually employ private tutors for him. Compara- tively close at hand lived men who for the most part practically without charge, knowing the wonderful ca- pacity of the lad, became his private teachers and grounded him well in the arts, and later in the law. Among these worthies must be mentioned Judge Hawes H. Coleman, for many years a prominent lawyer of Clark County, and who later enjoyed the reputation of being one of the strongest legists of the State. Before coming to Arkansas, though originally from Virginia, he had resided for some time in Mississippi, and while there had ventured into the political field. I am informed that he was a candidate for Congress against the Honor- able Jefferson Davis the first time that gentleman was a candidate for the office. They had a lively campaign, with the result Mr. Davis's election. Moving to Arkansas, the Judge had settled upon a large plantation not far from the Jones place, and prac- 28 / I WES K. JONES NEWBERRY tised law all over the State. He was an educated gentle- man, a close student and fond of literature aud the clas- sics. He took a very great interest in Jim Jones and in- sisted that he continue his studies. He became the lat- ter's private tutor, Jones actually moving to Judge Cole- man's home and occupying to himself an "office" in the yard near the family residence, and taking up the life of a sure enough student. Jt was during the early days of this study that there began to develop a spirit of careful, laborious and dili- gent painstaking which we see manifest in all his public work, marking him among all his fellow-legislators as one of the great students of the United States Senate. Endowed with a retentive mind, he remembered nearly everything lie read, storing the good and useful away in his big head. Judge Coleman himself remarked to his friend, Judge Sumervell, the father of the girl Jim Jones afterwards married, that the boy was positively the brightest and most apt he had ever known; that no in- tellectual labor appalled him. And this, too, when Jim was not yet out of his 'teens! Judge Coleman became so interested in Jones that the second year he opened his house, enlarged for the pur- pose, for older boys and girls, and employed an exper- ienced lady teacher. Miss Anna E. Webb, to assist him. This school was very select and continued until inter- rupted by the War. The gaunt, pale and slender boy rather early decided that he would make the law his profession. And though the War was soon to come along and divert his efforts from 29 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY the immediate full prosecution of his legal study, causing a break which continued for several years after the strug- gle itself had ended, yet he did not lose the consuming desire t<> be a lawyer and public man, and throughout the War and reconstruction period liis ambition's fire eon- 1i lined to blaze with undiminished heat. As is natural with boys of very studious nature, Jim Jones loved the company of older people rather than the companionship of those nearer his age. Whenever there were older folks around, and especially when they were engaged in conversation of a serious nature, he would sit and listen to them, rather than engage in the frolics of the boys and girls. So far as physical height is concerned, James K. Jones reached the fulfillment of the country boy's ambi- tion of six feet before he was of age. Reared on the farm, and in what was for most people a healthy section of coui*- try, virile, vi'vy energetic, and as the fart was. of ravenous appetite, he ought to have sprung into the very picture of health. But he didn't. Though he grew up like a sap- ling, he was from early boyhood frail and delicate. He had little strength and endurance at physical labor. His gray eyes, piercing and bright as they were, and full of kindness, were set far back in their sockets and under- lined with dark streaks. The sallow complexion, the high cheek bones, the scarcity of tlesh upon his face, combined to give him the unmistakable appearance of a con- sumptive. One of his boyhood friends told me, as he used repeatedly to tell Mr. Jones, that he didn't believe he 30 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY would ever reach the age of twenty-five years. At twenty- one he weighed about a hundred and ten pounds. Notwithstanding the physical frailty, those honest gray eyes of his were bright and speaking. They told of the keenest sympathy with all that Avas right and true. I imagine the eyes, though of different color, were, in their burning intelligence and unmistakable love of mankind, like those of Alexander Stephens. In the cut of his feat- ures, style of manners and characteristics he appeared as a youth an admirable admixture of the Southerner and Westerner. In his sympathies and inclinations he was of course Southern to the core; but the West developed in him a disposition of sturdiness which was, and is, not so marked a characteristic of the Southerner as of the Westerner. Fortunately, the man was built on a large frame. He was later to develop into a robust and healthy physique. This frame was the outline upon which was to be rounded out a physique that was to stand a multitude of hard and rigorous tests of strength, in the strain and wear in- cident to the great labors for the country's weal. 31 CHAPTER II. THE WAR AND AFTER— LIFE ON A FARM (1) "I was a private soldier in the 'late unpleasantness' on the losing- side." These are the words with which Senator Jones many years later told the story of his army life in the Congressional autobiography which every representative is asked to write when he goes to Congress. While some of the soldiers tell at length of their bravery in that struggle, and scatter copies of their self-laudation throughout the length and breadth of the States which honor them, and by this and works of like character per- petuate themselves in power, the "plumed knight," in speaking of his service, used the simple words above quoted. Mr. .Jones, in fact, being characteristically neither self-praising nor verbose, eared least of all to say any- thing which might be calculated to arouse a sectional feel- ing among those who read what he had to say. Friends who knew him closest tell me that he, so far from boasting of his record in the Confederate service, even refused many times to speak of it on occasions where it might be of profit to him. He was not even a Confederate Reunion en- thusiast, becausehe believed that often through these meet- ings bitter animosities and rabid hate are revived. How- ever he never found fault with those who did love to come together and renew their old ties of friendship, which "like (1) The reader will find some very valuable information on the Jones war record from a letter to the writer from J. R McDaniel, of Nashville, Tennessee, which is set down, in part, in the Appendix to this volume. 32 J A 1/ BB K. JO V EB ' N B W BERRY hoops of steel" bound man to man in the fierce conflict of the sixties. He simply deprecated the fact that along with all this good was necessarily mixed the evil of per- petuated sectionalism; and since he had "buried the hatchet" upon the surrender at Appomattox, he could not conscientiously grow enthusiastic over them. When the War came on Jim Jones, a young man of twenty-two. was engaged in a mercantile business at Aikadeiphia. his father having a partnership with Mr. Joe Thomas. From all accounts they enjoyed an ever- increasing trade, and were going nicely along the road to business prosperity. Jones was a hustling young fellow, able to stir up trade where others could not; — and com- petition was keen at Arkadelphia, eveu in those times. After the labors of the day were ended, he would pore over his law books until far into the wee hours, by the light of a dim oil lamp. I have said that he was a boy of slender and delicate constitution. He took poor care of himself during those days. When a problem presented itself to Jim Jones, that problem had to be solved, despite the cost in physical labor and endurance. When he set his head to do a task, his efforts did not relax until that task was accomplished. It was not his plan to stay in the mercantile business many years. But the firm, as indicated, was making some money and there was no reason for his quitting soon. The fact, too, that he did most of the purchasing for the concern assured him occasional trips to the cities of the North from which, only, the best goods could be had in those days. These outings were at once instruct- 33 JAMES K. J ONES NEWBERRY ive and physically beneficial to him; and he enjoyed them to the full. But he did not like the confinement of the work behind the counter; and what is more, he was pre- paring himself for the law and public service, and wished as soon as possible to get into the active practice of his chosen work. Unhappily the cruel War cut short his plans. The State suddenly became wild with enthusiasm for the new Confederacy, and almost every male of acceptable age and good physique hastened to enlist for service. The volun- teers should not have included James Iv. .Jones, however, because he was in no condition to undergo the hardships of the field. His friends looked for him to die at any time as it was, without his adding any further and more se- vere labors. He himself, I think, entertained litle hope of ever being strong. At this time he was simply a shadow, and probably did not weigh more than a hundred pounds, though over six feet tall! When he expressed his determination to go to the front, his father and others tried to prevail upon him to stay at home. And it is a tribute to the downright man- liness, as well as the patriotic love for a fight when prin- ciple and the interests of State are at issue, that he posi- tively refused to listen to the entreaties of loved oues and friends to remain there, or to go west in the effort to build up his poor constitution. A company of raw and un- trained volunteers was organized in May, 18(>1, at Prince- ton, not far from his home, in Dallas County. This he joined, enlisting as a private. It was a cavalry company, was railed Company "A," and was attached to Bourland's :i4 JAMES K.JONES NEWBERRY battalion. The company was commanded by Captain Holmes, and the battalion, subsequently commanded by Colonel F. G. Earl, and still later by Colonel A. W. Hob- son, of Camden, became known as the famous Third Ark- ansas Cavalry. It was joined to General Hardee's com- mand. The battalion first came to Little Rock, and a little later marched to Pocahontas. They engaged in some skirmishing in North Arkansas and South Missouri, and finally went to Greenville, Missouri. It was at Poca- hontas that the young Jones was first made to realize that he could not stand the hard life of a soldier. He was taken seriously ill with pneumonia, and his friends feared for the worst. Many years afterwards he used to tell how one of the army surgeons left him in charge of an old woman who lived out in the country near there. The physician gave instruction that Mr. Jones should have no food except a little chicken broth. When he be- gan to convalesce he got ravenously hungry, and longed for more substantial food. He refused to take the cus- tomary meal of broth one day, and the lady left the room, seemingly indignant. He called her back, however, de- ciding that it was to be chicken broth or nothing at all. To his surprise she now refused even this, stating that she would give him only a small bowl of chicken water. When he reached out to take this, she withdrew it, and compelled him, for his contrariness, to go until the next meal without any sustenance whatever. She conquered him all right; but the next morning he got up and dressed, saddled his horse and left the 35 ./ I ]//>' A . ,/O.N i:s Xi: WBEBRY place. (He said he had heard the Yankees were coming, anyway, and did not wish to be taken prisoner by them.) From there he came home as fast as he could travel. Let it be understood here that he came with the full con- sent of the army authorities. In fact, he carried through- out the struggle a physician's certificate of inability be- cause of supposed "phtisis pulinonalis," which would have excused him from service at the very beginning, or at any subsequent time during the War. "It did not take a surgeon's certificate, however," states one of his fellows, still living, "to attest his condition; for he was tall and thin and almost a shadow." When he had partially recovered at his home, his father finally prevailed upon him, after much effort, to make a western trip. Taking wagon and team, a tent and complete camping outfit, along with plenty of read- ing matter and other things which would tend to make the journey pleasant, the young man went to Laredo, Texas, where he stayed for two or three weeks. From there he went to other places along the coast, camping all the time and living the out-of-doors life without having to stand the hardships of the army service. He returned home, apparently much improved from the trip. Almost immediately he joined again the Third Arkansas Cavalry, his old battalion. This time he saw service in Mississippi and Tennessee. He participated in some of the larger battles there, and among them the en- gagement at Corinth, Mississippi. Here, relates one who served with him, lie was slightly wounded. This state- ment is denied by others. 1 know that he was sick at the 36 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY time, and hardly able to do anything. He became so fee- ble in a few days that the army physician who attended him thought he would die. He was therefore again paroled, and was taken and placed upon a boat bound for Pine Bluff, Arkansas. When he reached that city he was in a delirious condition, and remained so for days and days, at the home of one of his father's friends. Under ihe kindly ministrations of this good family, his health began Lo improve once more, and it wasn't long before he was able to sit in a carriage and be taken home again. On the way from Pine Bluff to Dalark an accident hap- pened which came near cutting short both his career as a soldier and his chance for future usefulness. The driver, coming to a swollen stream, hesitated about crossing. When he did finally try to ford it the horses became frightened, the vehicle floated down the stream, and it was only with great difficulty that Mr. Jones was saved from drowning. He was rescued, however, and brought home. The rest and quiet of home life again wrought im- provement; and this time he stayed several months. It was on this trip that on January 16, 1863, he was mar- ried to Miss Sue Bust Eaton, one of the most prominent and popular of the Dallas County belles, and especially noted for her remarkable beauty. She was a college bred young lady, having been educated at the Greensboro (North Carolina) Female College, just before the War. One of her young men friends, who was also a confidante of Mr. Jones, tells me that she wrote a beautifully sym- metrical hand; and I mention this here simply to stress the fact that she was very accomplished and refined, be- 37 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY (a use this symmetry was so characteristic of the chirog- raphy of the educated ladies of the time. Besides being- possessed of beauty and education, she was a woman of great amiability and lovely disposition. Early left an orphan, she lived much of her life in the home of Judge Somervell, a first cousin of her father, James Eaton; and here she became the constant companion and classmate of her cousin, Sue Somervell, afterwards the wife of Mr. Jones. In a few months Mr. -Jones thought himself well enough to enlist again and go into the active service. Tin' Confederacy came to be more and more in need of men; and he decided that, health or no health, he would do the best he could, down to the end. Hearing that a company was to be organized at Arkadelphia, he weir, there with the intention of joining it. I must mention here, by way of parenthesis, that by this time debts were piling up against the dry goods firm of Thomas and Jones. Northern creditors were demand- ing their money for goods purchased just before and dur- ing the early years of the War. Under an act of the Ton- federate Congress, Mr. Jones and Mr. Thomas paid off, in Confederate money, all of the outstanding claims against them. They were resolved to settle as best they could, even with Yankee creditors! Reuben C. Reed's Gompany "A" was organized in the late summer or early fall. Mr. Jones was elected firs! s; rgeant of this company, and so, in reality, though it was not yet a part of the forces of the Confederacy, he had already risen above the rank of private. For being ser- 38 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY geant he never, of course, took any credit or glory to him self. This company, like others that were being formed at the time, was composed mostly of young men and boys, and very old men, who had not before been called upon for service. Most of the able-bodied and stalwart men had gone to the front at the outset; but their ranks had been terribly thinned, and to till the gaps youth and age were "prescribed." "We were organized and mustered into service by one 'Colonel Trader'," says a member of the batallion of which Captain Reed's company became a part, "who was appointed by Governor Flanagin for the pur- pose, and went into winter quarters at Columbus, Ark- ansas, in December, 1863." Now, in January, 1864, the Governor gave orders that a Lieutenant Colonel be chosen to lead the battalion into active service. A member of Company "B" informs me that Mr. Jones was favorably spoken of for this place, though he did not offer himself as a candidate for it. Cap- tain Allen T. Pettus, of Company "C," was chosen to take charge of the battalion. About this time the Federal army under General Steel was raiding in south and east Arkansas, wrecking and plundering as they went from place to place. The battalion in which Mr. Jones served was thereupon joined to General Cabell's brigade. The young knight did gal- lant and patriotic service at Marks Mill, Prairie de Ann, and Poison Springs, in South Arkansas. "I was in every fight on Steel's raid," says one who was a messmate of Mr. Jones from the time of the organization of the battalion to the surrender, "and I saw Jim in every one, always at his 39 ■I I \lfJS K. JONES NEWBERRY post." It was in the struggle at Marks Hill that Lieuten- ant Colonel Pettus fell mortally wounded. Lieutenant Gilliam, of Company "C," also fell in the heat of that fight, with bullet-pierced breast. At that moment (1) Mr. Jones, always at the very thickest of the fighting, was so close to Leiutenant Gilliam that he caught the latter as he fell, and helped to carry him from the field. Jones came away with clothes blood-spattered. A regiment was finally, in the latter part of 1864, re- formed out of Mr. Jones's and other companies, and turned over to the exclusive service of the Confederacy. He had by this time become very popular among the soldiers for his perseverence in the fighting despite his physical condi- tion, and was put forward by his friends for the position of Colonel, at the re-organization, and until his death he was familiarly spoken of as "Colonel" Jones. He was perhaps more frequently addressed as "Colonel" than as Senator. He was defeated by only one vote by Robert C. Newton. The regiment, known as the Tenth Arkansas Mounted Volunteers, though often called the Robert C. Newton Regiment, performed difficult and invaluable ser- vice in Arkansas from that time until the end of the War. Part of this time was spent in scouting between Dardan- elle and Fort Smith. Mr. Jones was made Purchasing Agent of the Commissary Department, and served as such until the surrender. "The late lamented Jas. K. Jones," said another of his company to me, "was at all times ready and willing (1) The command had been forced to dismount and fight on foot. 40 JAMES K.JONES NEWBERRY to perform any duties when called upon. He was highly esteemed throughout the command, and would have been made an official of high rank if his health had not given way." It is out of place, in a work of this kind, to burden the tale with too many minor details, or relate too many incidents in which the subject figured. The reader will pardon one story, however, told me by a war companion of Mr. .Jones, that illustrates so well the spirit of grati- tude for favors done him, which characteristic throughout his long life we shall find so prominent in his make-up. In one of the fiercest of the tights in which he took part, he became so weak and worn out and sick as to be almost beyond the point of going farther. Exhausted and fam- ished, he finally lay down and began to call feebly for a stimulant. Lieutenant William Harris, of one of the other companies, himself wounded and lying close by, heard Mr. Jones's call for water, and crawling over to where he was, gave him his canteen. The liquid revived the sick man, and he managed to continue in the fight. Thirty years later Mr. Jones, the most distinguished representative of Arkansas in the councils of the nation, learned that Lieutenant Harris was stricken down with an incurable disease. Knowing his financial condition, he promptly sent him a check for one hundred dollars, to alleviate the burdens with which he knew Mr. Harris must be beset. Having made it a practice of his life never to try to remember a personal injury— and there were many in- juries done him in the course of his eventful service— 41 JAMES E. JONES NEWBERRY James K. Jones at the same time strove to let no personal favor go unrecompensed at his hands. II. The break-up came in May, lSoo, and Mr. Jones re- turned to his paternal home in Dallas County. He was now the proud father of a daughter. The next year an- other girl was born to them; but bis happiness was soon blasted by the loss of his wife. Needless to say, he was still in wretched health, liis condition had improved little if any, and he had suf- fered from the hardships of the camp. No one believed that he would live much longer, though he had now passed his quarter-century mark. It will be remembered that just before the War broke out his father had put him in control of a mercantile busi- ness at Arkadelphia, with Mr. Thomas. He had not liked the indoor confinement of this work, though it was no worse, if indeed as bad, upon his constitution as the life in the held which followed it. Now the War left its withering blight upou the mercantile as well as all other interests at the South. Just previous to the breaking out of the struggle he had gone to New York to buy goods, and he had, as stated, legally under a statute passed by the Confederate Congress, paid every cent of the debt he owed the New York concerns. But Confederate money had depreciated rapidly, and was now worth nothing. He was therefore called upon by the Northern houses to pay in good legal tender. He was compelled to go into bankruptcy. For this he was, many years later, accused of being a poor business manager, and therefore unworthy 42 JAMES K. JOKES NEWBERRY a seat iu the United States Senate! Think of it: A young merchant, along with thousands of others all over the desolate, poverty-stricken South, the victim of a dearth that .swept the section, leaving disaster and squalor in its wake, honestly going into bankruptcy when he saw he could not meet the obligations of the business, and de- clared unworthy and a bad business manager! Few busi- ness men, relatively, survived the ruin of that War: the wrecked concerns all over the South attested the fact. And it is more than many would have done, that later he paid again every cent of the indebtedness to the cred- itors of the firm, bearing the whole burden himself, his partner having died! After the War Mr. Jones lived at the family home- stead in Dallas County until September, 1867. The out- come of a business deal was the hammer of fortune whose stroke sent him to Hempstead, which to the day of his death he claimed as his home county. His father during the War had sold one of his plantations on the Ouachita liiver to Mr. Gus Johnson, of Washington, Arkansas. For the payment of the price asked Mr. Johnson had mort- gaged his own plantation in his home county. After the AVar he was a ruined man and unable to pay the debt. The farm went, under the mortgage, to the senior Jones. Now a year after his first wife, Sue Eaton Jones, had died, James K. married again, this time Miss Sue, the brilliant and accomplished daughter of Judge Somervell, of Dallas County. This was a most fortunate match in- deed, as Mr. Jones afterward many times declared he could never have made the successful record he did make, 43 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY without her ceaseless assistance, care and inspiration. She was the link of value that fitted so well into his life- chain, making it strong for all the conflicts and prob- lems with which he was to deal. He married Miss Somervell in June, 1806. The farm in Hempstead being large and rich in soil possibili- ties, it struck the father as a happy thought that James and his young bride should go and live upon and develop it, at the same time obtaining the physical benefits which would come from a change of water and climate. This proved for the frail young man a positive blessing. Moving there in September of the next year, it wasn't long before he began to build up a little. The pure lime-water, together with the out-of-doors life he led while managing and working on the farm, began to evince themselves in brawn and tan. That he did not take on flesh as he later did when he came to Little Rock in 1873, is due, I think, to the fact that he simply worked too hard developing the farm. When anything was to be done, he would not stop until the task was finished, even though the labor involved physical exhaustion. It was on this farm that Mr. Jones had his first ex- perience with freed negroes. He had been accustomed to slaves whom he could drive at will, "saying to one, 'Go,' and he goeth, and to another, 'Come,' and he cometh." After the War the situation was materially changed. With the ballot, and in many cases with the balance of political power, in his hands, the negro was by no means an easy creature to get work out of and to control. In the successful management of this farm for six years, 44 ./ I 1£ES K. JONES NEWBERRY working many negroes and dealing with them all per- sonally, overseeing the whole business of the plantation, be showed exceedingly well that admirable knack of "get- ting along" with anybody, which afterwards easily ob- tained, where the good intentions and earnest efforts of others failed, concessions from the leaders of the political party in power. The first year after the War was a specially hard one. The treaty of peace had been made in April, 1865, but tbe crops, where tbere were hands left on the farms to make tbem, were already planted. Cotton and corn were up and had to be worked. The wbites were of course dependent on their freedmen staying with tbem if they were to have any crop returns. So, through the Federals who stepped in and got control of the situation, they made contracts with the negroes for their services until the first of the next year. In return for their labor they agreed to feed, clothe and care for them just about as they had formerly done. The negroes only consented to tbis be- cause they themselves were still dependent upon their old masters, having made no arrangements for change, and not knoAving whither they would go, or what they would do. The Federals really kept order in Hempstead County, for a few months, seeing to it that the contracts of the black men were carried out. The emancipation day for the negroes in the farming sections of the South, especially in Hempstead County, Arkansas, where the plantation of James K. Jones was located, was January 1, 1866. It was then that they were first let loose to the world as free men to go and to 45 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY do as they pleased. "Well do I remember," says one who lived there at the time, and who knows, "the hurry and bluster, the moving out and in, the happiness that was de- picted on every negro's countenance; for was he not now his own man, and was he not acting on his own responsi- bility for the first time?" Now the setting free of the negro was not the real cause of reconstruction horrors. The negro had always been, and Avas at that time, perfectly willing to go on and live upon the very best terms with his white superiors. But when the carpet-bagger stepped in, with malicious in- tent against the better class of Southern white men, and made him the tool of his own damnable criminality and treachery by manipulating for him the ballot placed in his hands by act of government, the trouble, dire and decade- long, came on. Reconstruction came to Hempstead County in 1867,and with it the radical element of Repub- licanism, and bought for a song of flattery his new-given influence, making him believe it to be for his own best interests. The black man enjoyed his privileges, but he has paid dearly for them, in misery, despair and cease- less bloodshed. Dr. T. J. Draper, now of Texarkana, Arkansas, writes me a very humorous but characteristic story which I think it worth while to relate here. His father's plan- tation was situated just across Plum Creek from Mr. Jones's. The latter hired many of his former slaves after they were freed from their contracts in 1866. Mr. Draper states that in the spring of that year his father took him over to Mr. Jones's place. The young farmer was that 46 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY morning busily engaged in fixing a fence that had been washed away the night before by a spring flood. The rails of the "previous" fence were scattered far and near down the bottom, and were all covered with Plum Creek mud. "There is only one kind of Plum Creek mud," says Dr. Draper, "and though it has various degrees of ten- acity, being sticky, stickier and stickiest, it is also slip- pery in the super-superlative degree when it is fresh and soft I have seen a good team of mules stall in it when the mud was not over hoof deep and the wagon was not loaded." Mr. Jones and about a dozen negroes, so the story goes, were at work trying to "reconstruct" the fence when the Drapers came along. "Jones was literally covered with the mud from the crown of his head to the sole of his feet. He was barefooted, with his trousers rolled above his knees." The story gives us a fine illustration of Mr. Jones's ability to make the most of a situation, no matter how gloomy. He appreciated and made the most of the fact that the stubborn and egotistical freedman could no longer be commanded to go and do a piece of work, but must be led to it by the white man himself. Jones was willing to go right in and do any kind of rough work with him. But there was a happier side to his life on the farm than association with biggoted negroes in building rail fen- ces in a muddy bottom. I do not know but that those were really about ashappy days as thegreatArkansan ever spent. I will give you a day's schedule of work, in crop-making 47 •/ I l//> A. JONES NEWBERRY time. Rising with the sun, he eats a hasty breakfast, and is off for the field. With plow, hoe or rake, he works there until the dinner horn announces to his faithful mare that "taking out'' time has come. He springs astride the ani- mal and comes in to the house, where, inside, the wife of his young manhood is preparing the noonday repast. While he waits for the final call, to come in and eat, he sits down, after he has "washed up," under a great tree in the yard, and eagerly begins to read a law book which he happens to have on hand. After dinner and a romp with the two children, he hastens back to the shade and spends the remainder of the hour there. When the la- bor? of the afternoon are over — and they only close with sundown — he enjoys the family comradeship, reads some more, and retires, to sleep the honest sleep that knows no fitful restlessness. If he is not contented, he is at least happy. It was here at "Sunshine" (1) there began that family congeniality and happiness, and that home love, which lasted through all the years of Mr, Jones's busy and eventful life. Mrs. Jones herself told me that those days at "Sunshine," when she was doing all the housework which farm life necessitates, including cooking, washing, milk- ing the cows, making clothes for and rearing the children in these hard times of reconstruction in Hempstead County, were "the happiest days of all her life!" (1) The name Mr. Jones gave to the new house he built on this farm. 48 CHAPTER II L POLITICAL BEGINNINGS— STATE SENATORIAL ACTIVITIES James K. Jones as a young man was not much of what would be called a political being, using the term Apolitical" in its common acceptation. He was not a fel- low to make friends rapidly, although full of fun and to a degree approachable. Cue had to know Jim Jones the young lawyer to appreciate and love him. He gave the si ranger a slight impression of being cold and distant. I do not know the exact reason for this. It could have been the result of one or more of two or three natural causes. It could, for instance, have been a matter of heredity. I have no record of whether his father was an exceptionally good mixer or not. I do not think, however, that he was such, though he was well liked and highly esteemed wherever he lived. So it may be that Jim Jones came by his seeming coldness ••honestly." I rather think, however, that the real cause of this apparent distant disposition was his early bad health. The reader will recall that as a boy he had been gaunt and sallow instead of robust and fat, as we should like to have him: hollow-cheeked and dark of skin, instead of full and rosy-faced. He had even been theatened with tuber- culosis, and had been excused from service for a great part of the AVar period. He was at this time recovering his health, to be sure. The lime- water of Hempstead County was working the medicinal wonder with him, bringing to him a vigor which he had never before pos- 49 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY sessed; and he was now building upon the tall frame a constitution which, toughened by many a fight with the elements and with environment, was to stand him in such faithful stead throughout his career of public service. Rut even at this time, though now a good many years be- yond his majority, he could not take a prize as an athlete. And so, he had to cultivate those mixing qualities which later worked to such advantage for him. We have seen that after the War Mr. Jones had set- tled down to farming, and to deeper and more comprehen- sive study of the branches of the law. We have noted llial he spent his spare time in trying to satisfy his inor- dinate desire to master the principles of the profession which he had chosen. In those days farming and the law went well in hand. However, not being particularly fond of managing negroes under the new regime, he decided that he would get ready to apply for admission to prac- tice. So he went to Dan W. Jones, his boyhood friend, himself destined to take his place of prominence in the annals of our history, and asked that he coach him for (lie tests. It was in Dan Jones's office that the young farmer put the finishing touches of study preparatory to his entrance upon the arena of his work. Being almost of the same age, James K. and Dan W. had been fast freinds from boyhood. Though of the same name, they were related by no other ties than those of a friendly com- radeship, which had begun when they were both in knee breeches. The distance between the home of Nat Jones, in Dallas County, and Alex W. Littlejohn, an uncle of Ran Jones, was only Pour or five miles: and it was while 50 JAMES K. JOtfES SEW BERRY visiting this uncle that be was taken over to the neigh- bor's home, and met the future United States Senator. The friendship tunned had ripened and increased with the years. The War had come on, and they had been separated. They came together again, in the happy asso- ciation at the bar of Washington. James K. filed his petition for examination, and after a three hours' rigid and thorough test in open court he was grunted license. He immediately entered into work, forming an equal part- nership with his Cornier boyhood comrade. This partnership was formed in 1872. It was des- tined, however, soon to be terminated, as Dan Jones w.as the next year elected to the Prosecuting Attorneyship of I hat district. Mr. Jones then formed a partnership with Robert A. Carrigan, a former partner of Dan Jones. But our subject, too. was soon to enter the political field — a held I hat was to lead him from the active practice and keep him from it practically all the time until his public career was ended. It was only a few months until his services were in demand for beating and driving from that section forever the influence and power of the Republican carpet -baggers. Now it is impossible to fully understand the situa- tion when Mr. Jones was first elected to the State Senate in 1873 without briefly reviewing the history < >f the time in Hempstead County. The reconstruction period had been unusually hard in that section of the State, owing chiefly to the fact that there were so many negroes there. Every Southerner knows of the terrors and gloom of that awful period of carpet-bag and negro rule in the South. This 51 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY horror was doubled a hundred times in places where so huge a percentage of the population were negroes. The novelists have ably drawn the story of the dan- gers to home and family of the negro's new-given freedom. No white man now dared to go away, as a few years before all had done, and leave his place in the charge of the black men who worked upon it. Mrs. Jones told me that the only time she was ever mad with her husband was on one occasion, at the incipieney of the Brooks-Baxter Contest, when, being in town one day, Mr. Jones was suddenly called to Little Rock, and being too rushed to come out to I he house before train time, he had gone away, leaving her on the farm alone with her two little ones. Frightened half to death, without protection, negroes all around, and ;i fearful storm raging, she waited sleeplessly her hus- band's return until far into the night, thinking perhaps he had been waylaid by some of the black brutes. Suddenly, having dropped off into a fitful sleep, she was awakened by the sound of some one calling her from the yard, and looking out she saw a great, flaring light. Thinking the negroes had set fire to the house, she crept, horrified, to the window. Fortunately, it was a friend with a torch who had come to tell her of her husband's hasty departure. Though Mr. Jones had instructed the friend to go to the Imnse before dark and stay there for the night, yet Mrs. •Jones says she could scarcely forgive him for being even the irresponsible cause of her fright that night. Dangerous to family and home, the negroes of the reconstruction period were also dangerous factors in the politics of the South. To this day, almost, as Senator 52 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY Jones many years later pointed out upon the Senate floor, the negroes allow themselves to be duped by some of the wiley and unscrupulous champions of the .Republican party. The black man is very kindly disposed when act- ing upon his own initiative, but at ail times he is a child in the hands of the white man whom he thinks his friend, and is often easily led astray. Extremely subject to flat- tery, the promise of 'forty acres and a mule" kept him lor decades voting the iiepublican ticket. At no place was the negro better managed by these scalawags than in Hempstead and Nevada Counties, Ark- ansas. By 1873 the evils of the period had been some- what palliated, but the power of the Kepublicans having been practically undisputed for almost a decade, was still patent. The time had come, however, when, as some of the leading Democrats thought, the carpet-baggers could be driven from that section. When the day came for the Convention to meet at Washington to nominate a candidate for the State Senate, Mr. Jones was still living on his farm six miles from town. I have no positive proof that he tried to win this nomination, and 1 possess some good evidence that he had not dreamed of winning it. I know that the Convention decided to nominate no one at all as the Democratic candidate, it being the opinion of the ma- jority that no one could whip the Kepublican nomi- nee, Mr. Calhoun Williamson. So the delegates had ad- journed without taking any action, leaving the matter, under the statute law, to the County Executive Commit- tee to do as they thought best about it. 53 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY One of this Committee still lives, (1) and he is my au- thority for ilif facts herein slated. This small Executive Committee met a lew d;iys after the doubting Convention had adjourned, in the rear of Halt's Drug Store, at Wash- ington. They lamented that no candidate had been put out against the carpet-baggers, and determined them- selves to select a nominee. For this honor only two men were considered, as the merits of possible candidates were discussed: Mr. .Jones, who had the reputation of being unafraid of the leaders of the dominant party, and Hon- orable Elmore Mitchell, an older and more widely known man than Mr. Jones, it so happened that Mr. Green was the youngest committeeman present; and because of this fad the members agreed he should cast the first vote. Not hesitating in the least Mr. Green cast his ballot for James K. Jones; and the latter was by a majority and almost unanimously declared the nominee of the Democratic party, although it was a question with them whether he would consent to make the race. And that youngest committeeman, now an old man, will tell you how proud he is of the fact that he cast the vote that started James K. Jones upon the road of his splendid and eventful politi- cal career. It is an honor of which he may be justly proud! Mr. Green went out to Mr. Jones's farm to notify him officially of the new honor and responsibility. The latter expressed the greatest surprise that the duty had been placed upon him of waging a battle which he knew would test every fibre of bravery in his make-up, and charge him (1) General B. W. Green, now Adjutant General, Ark- ;nis;is National Guard. 54 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY with the success or failure of the party at the polls. •Whatever could have persuaded you to choose me?" he asked. Quickly came the humorous reply from Mr. Green : "Because you look like the devil, aud we knew you could scare the scalawags if anybody could!" Per- haps his statement was true; for Mr. Jones at that time, in addition to being gaunt and tall, wore a black, grizzly beard, and this, with the deep-set, gray hashing eyes and high cheek bones, did, 1 expect, give him a very formid- able appearance. "All right, then," came the decision of James K. Jones to B. \Y. Green, after standing there, meditatively, for several moments, "if you think best, Tin your man, and I will light your battle!" Mr. Jones sprang into prominence by the vigorous campaign he waged against the opposition; for he ac- cepted the nomination in good faith, and went to work in dead earnest. Some of his friends believed his nomina- tion a joke, and told him he could never win: he answered that they would see when the votes were counted. The Republicans had demanded that the citizens pay a fee or tax for the privilege of voting. When they complied, Republicans and Democrats alike, they were listed as voters of the district, and given certificates of lull citizenship. The bosses pretended to keep an accur- ate record. But they knew, from counting them all, that the Democrats had the majority. So that whenever elec- tion time came some of the qualified Democratic voters were invariably met with the statement that they were not registered. They produced their certificates, signed by the Republican Committee, to no avail ; their names 55 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY had been deliberately scratched from the books, and they were turned away from the polls. There was no remedy for this evil so good as intimi- dation ; and I think that General Green's opinion that Mr. Jones "'looked like the devil" must have been signifi- cant, lie was not only the very picture of boldness and defiance, but had a heart that did not quake at any dan- ger. That same nature that Judge Coleman years before had spoken of as being unappalled by any intellectual task, had now combined an unconquerable will power with a most splendid physical courage. Against the charge of fraud and previous corrup- tion which he hurled at the Republicans, Calhoun Wil- liamson asked him : "What are you going to do about it?" Quick as a Hash came the retort: "1 will till the peniten- tiary with scalawags and carpet-baggers if you scratch oil any more names from the register! You fellows. with the negroes, have ruled this State long enough." Williamson was a bright and prominent man. He had been a Democrat before the War, as had his people before him. But he had killed a fellow, and had turned Repub- lican to save his neck. He was now popular, however, and a good debater; and every one realized that if Mr. Jones heat him, it would only be after a hard race. Mr. Jones developed, however, into a wonderful cam- paigner. One of the humorous stories which he told from the stump, while intending to represent the relation be- tween himself and his opponent, is interesting because it reveals pretty well the inborn characteristics of persist- ency and pluck which he possessed. A fellow was going 56 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY along the country road, says the tale, when be came upon a man who was climbing one tree alter another as hard as he could go. He seemed to be after something. When asked what he was doing he replied that he was -trying to catch that woodpecker yonder." "Why, yon cannot do that," replied the onlooker. "Possibly not," came the re- ply, "but I can worry him like h— 1 !" Mr. Jones intended lo at least worry Calhoun Williamson: the latter was to have no easy victory, if he won at all. Mr. -Jones was possessed of a wonderful persuasive power, too, in individual campaigning. A man who was there and one who knows told me that Jones would talk to a citizen in snch a manner that the fellow would go away believing that it would simply be a disgrace to the State to vote against him. The misrule of the Republicans in the South was a good thing to harp on; and he made the most of it. To the utter astonishment of some, and the surprise of many, the contest resulted in the election of James K. .Jones to the Senate of Arkansas. His career was begun. His first political campaign had terminated snccessfuly. He had made a good start; and that counts for much. From that time on, though he continued to practice his profession when not engaged in legislative work, he was almost constantly in the public arena and figuring in the limelight of public scrutiny and criticism, up until a few years before his death. And he only failed of success' in political battle twice in his career: once, in his first cam- paign for Congress, against W. F. Slemmons; and the 57 JAMES K. JOXES NEWBERRY next and last time by J. P. Clarke for the United States Senate, whe,n he retired to the shades of private life. II. The election took place in the fall of 1873. Mr. Brooks had appointed thirty or forty of the legislators elected the year before — and who were Republicans — to certain offices which he had the power to fill, with his henchmen. This called for elections in the counties where the representatives had been thus "promoted," for the pur- pose of choosing successors. One of these fortunate leg- islators had been the Senator from Hempstead and ad- joining Counties, Mr. John Brooker; and it was to take his place that Mr. Jones was elected. It is now necessary to go back and state briefly from the beginning the facts connected with the fierce domes- tic trouble known in our State history as the Brooks- Baxter War, that tore the people of Little Rock and the State into hostile factions, each set on winning the con- trol of the State government, even at the cost of life. Most of the Union or anti-secession men in Arkansas had been Whigs before the War. After the struggle was over they helped wonderfully in the reorganization of the State and the expulsion of the carpet-baggers from power. One of these men, Elisha Baxter, was contesting the gov- ernorship with Mr. Brooks when Mr. Jones came to Little Rock for the first time in official capacity. Baxter was a North Carolinian, who had refused to take either side dur- ing the Civil War. Because he had refused to ally him- self with one camp or the other he had been compelled to go North. During the conflict he had been captured by 58 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY the Confederates in Missouri, and sent to Little Rock as ;i prisoner. He was to be placed on trial for his life on the charge of treason ; but being an honest man and know- ing that he had committed no crime he had escaped and raised a Union regiment, stationing himself at Bates- ville, Arkansas. During the reconstruction period he had been prominent in the service of his state. In 1864 he had taken his place upon the Supreme Bench, and had, later, been the choice of the people at the polls for United States Senator; but like the other representatives from the South at that time, he had been refused his seat. In 1873 he was inaugurated Governor, having been chosen to that office over Joseph Brooks, above men- tioned. The latter, a brilliant speaker and capable man, was from Ohio, and had come South during the War as i he Chaplain of a negro regiment. He had supported the carpet-bag government, but later opposed it. The carpet -bag wing of the Republican party supported Bax- ter in (lit- race, while the "native" wing favored Brooks. Most of the Democrats helped Brooks, because he turned against the carpet-baggers. Mr. Brooks claimed that he v as the choice of the people, and after a few weeks man- aged to get an order from the circuit court to oust Gov- ernor Baxter by force. This he proceeded to do, using the military force at his command, which w r as composed largely of negroes. Baxter, rejected and unable to get control of the Stale House again, retired that night to St. Johns .Military College for protection. The President of the school told his charges of the insult to Governor Baxter, and asked how many of them would stand by 59 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY him. No1 one failed to respond. They guarded him that night, and .soon afterwards General Newton, having mag- nanimously offered liis services, look charge of the forces which had gathered to champion the cause of Baxter, and headquarters were moved to the old Anthony House, a hotel close by. In the meantime the sentiment of the Democrats had changed from Brooks to Baxter. They found that the new Governor was honest and capable, and meant to do the square thing even by those who had helped the cause of his opponent. He had begun to appoint Democrats to places of trust, and had opposed the passage of bills by the legislature which he deemed injurious to the people at large. On the other hand, the Republican leaders who had supported him, when they found that they couldn't make a tool of him, deserted him and went over to Brooks. Thus the sympathies of the two sets of adherents were exactly reversed. For more than a month each side watched every move of the other. The most intense excitement prevailed. Two armies of considerable size faced each other, and each dared the other to make a move. A third force was sent by the United States Government to see that no fight look place bet ween the two. This meant that the Federal troops stood between Baxter and the re-entrance to the State House, for the fear that his attempt to regain posses- sion would precipitate an open war. Skirmishing was indulged in several times, some blood was shed, and a few were killed in the sheets. The situation grew desperate. But Mr. Baxter, as also Mr. Brooks, had been in com- 60 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY munication with President Grant. Both urged their claims and asked for a sett lenient of the difficulty by the legislature which would have to he called in extraordi- nary session for the purpose. Brooks was unwilling, how- ever, to let the newly chosen members, whom he knew were his hitter opponents, take part in thai settlement, hut wished the old legislature, which had sat previous to I he trouble, and which he knew would declare him Gov- ernor, to have charge. Baxter, however, took the stand thai it was the present and not a past assembly that should decide the matter. Presently (li Governor Baxter received 'a wire from ['resident Grant ordering that the legislature be convened in extraordinary session for the purpose of determining the rightful incumbent of the gubernatorial chair; and Mr. Baxter issued the call. The Brooks men waited, watched, and refused to have anything to do with the session, and it was left almost entirely to the new-made representatives to go ahead. Now these gentlemen were confronted with the fact that they had no credentials. They could not lake part in any legislative work without I heir certificates of election. The Secretary of State's office was in the hands of the Brooks men, and the official returns couldn't be had. Fortunately, however, Secretary of State Johnson had previously appointed Augustus H. Garland, sometime United States Senator, and Federal Attorney General, as his deputy; and it was Garland who certified to the returns and swore in the new members, thus authorizing them to go ahead with business. They (1) May 13. 61 JAMES K. JONEU VEWBERBT accordingly, with a few out of the previous assembly who were persuaded to come over, met within the Baxter lines, in the Ditter Block, Little Rock. To their chagrin, they found that they did not have a quorum, and could therefore transact no business. It is here that I must lell of an action of Senator Jones which I think is the equal of any he performed while a member of that body. Senator McCabe, of Clark County, and a friend of Mr. Jones in former days, was a Brooks man. and had stubbornly refused to come to this extraordinary session which he saw was to be dominated by the Baxter element. Bu1 a few men thought that McCabe was simply "on the fence" in the matter, and be- lieved that he could be converted. Among them was Mr. Jones; ami the latter went 1o him. and sat up practically the whole night long trying the persuasive power on him in get him to come into the Baxter fold. McCabe agreed, niter the mosl persistent pleading on the part of Mr. Jones, and then only upon the condition that Grant be written to and asked to recognize Baxer before the legis- lature passed ;i resolution to that effect. Another Sena- tor. Mr. Dunagin, also came in the next day. and the quorum was made. I do not know what influence brought him in. Bui it was generally conceded, says one of (he Assembly who si ill lives, that the young senator from Bempstead was the force which brought about the quorum accessary to start the legislative restoration of the State of Arkansas to the Democratic party and a sensible ad- ministration of affairs. The Assembly accordingly passed a resolution the 62 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY next morning (1) declaring Mr. Baxter Governor, and another stating "thai the President of the United States be requested to put the legislature in possession of the legislative halls, and that the public property on the State i loose square be placed under the supervision and control of this body." Finally, it provided unanimously for the calling of a State Constitutional Convention. These things were done in the twinkling of an eye, and before the Brooks-ites could interfere. (Iran! sent the order on the fifteenth demanding that all hostilities cease, that "all turbulent and disorderly persons disperse and return peaceably to their respective abodes/' and that Baxter be recognized as Governor and go into the State House as such. Articles of truce were drawn up between the con- tending forces, and under the white flag the Brooks men left the city. In a day or so all were gone, and the usual quiet was restored, to the relief of everybody. The State militia did remain at the capitol until the Constitu- tional Convention met. to prevent any disorder that might arise. "By this war." says Harrel (2), '"the people of Ark- ansas were relieved from the imposition of a cancerous oligarchy of amateurs in political economy, if not merely criminal wreckers and plunderers by design or intent." At this, the first session in which Mr. Jones rendered service in the lawmaking body of his State, he was made a member of the committees on Finance, Printing and (Maims. His ability was recognized from the very first. (1) May 14. '(2) Data is taken from Harrel's "Brooks and Baxter War." 63 •/ I WES K. JONES NEWBERRY After calling the Constitutional Convention to meet July 14, the body adjourned, May 28. The Convention which met that summer of 1874 adopted the Constitution under which the Stale is gov- erned today. The political power of the carpet-baggers was crushed for all time, and since then the Democrats have remained in possession of the reigns of government. Augustus II. Garland, above mentioned, one of the leaders in the movement and later one of the chief represent a- tives of his State in the councils of the Nation, was elected the first governor tinder it; and James H. Kerry, then Speaker of the lower House, was second. I do nol think that this regeneration would have come so easily — it would have come one way or another — had it nol been for the diplomacy of .lames K. Jones in winning McCabe over to the cause. It is not without the range of probability that the strain of the riot would have continued for months, and Republican rule for years, had it not been for this coup d speed yon. Senators, to your homes and firesides, and when we meet again may our political sun he even warmer ami more radiant than that which so kindly smiles upon us today." An adjourned session met, pursuant to a joint reso- tion of the Houses (2), on the following November 1. and lasted until December 10. In all the deliberations, in the passage of every im- portant bill, and in all the transactions <»f the upper branch of that trusted body. Mr. Jones held a position of Hi He \v;is Chairman of tins Committee. ( '2 1 Number 31. 65 ./AMES K. JONES NEWBERRY conceded prominence. "Mr. Jones was regarded as a leader from the time he came to the Senate," said one of his fellow-Senators in that history-making body, to me. "He was then looked upon as a man of remarkable execu- tive ability. He was direct and forceful in anything he undertook. He always drove direct to what he was after, and usually succeeded in the undertaking. And," he added, "a sense of righl and obligation always predomi- nated in liis character.'* I am sure that this latter sen- tence of liis fellow-Senator's opinion amounted to more than all else with those who were to place him so high in the lisls of public activities. Mr. Jones was re-elected without difficulty to the session which met January S. 1S77. When the or- ganization of the Senate began, his name was presented for President of that body, against the former popular incumbent, Mr. Bunch. Mr. Jones received sixteen votes, against twelve for Bunch. "It was a kind of contest," one of the Senators, still living, told me, "between the younger element of the Senate and the older." Mr. Bunch had for two years been the presiding officer. Widely known, he was one of the most popular men in the whole Assembly. Noted for his practical common sense, like .Mr. .tones well up in parliamentary tactics, and the soul of honor, at the same time \ think he had held his place not without the aid of his ability to mix well — a quality which Mr. Jones possessed to a less degree. The two gen- tlemen were the best of friends. This wns a greai victory for Mr. .(ones, as it wns considered that no man had ever done more as a presiding officer of that body than Mr. 66 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY Bunch. Mrs. Jones told me that at Washington this was considered a wonderful victory, and that she in fact did not believe she "enjoyed any of the later and bigger tri- umphs quite so much as this defeat of Bradley Bunch." •Mr. Jones made a splendid presiding officer," a man who knows told me. "and his deeisions were marked by great dignity and absolute fairness. On the whole, he was a man of more ability than Mi-. Bunch." And the Gazette, speaking generally of the legislature's heads, said (1) : "The legislature completed its organization with less wrangling and in better spirils than is usual in such bodies. The officers elected to preside are men of exper- icnce in legislative business and more than ordinary abil- ity. . . . On the whole, from the character of the present legislature we look lor improvement in our laws." An examination of the journals of the Senate for these years i 2 I does reveal an improvement in those laws. It is unnecessary here to go deeply into the deliberations of that body. Suffice it to say that the work of con- structive statesmanship which marked so plainly the As- sembly of 1X74 was continued by that body over the upper branch of which .James K. Jones presided in 1877. In appreciation of his services Secretary Frolich pre- sented Mr. .Tones with a handsome, gold-headed ebony cane. "The good-looking President deserves the compli- ment." said one of the papers, "and we hope it may be many decades vet ere his straight form and firm step shall need it as a support." H) Tssne of January 11. (2) Tn tlie original: They were not printed at all, un- fortunately, the Democrats from the very first practising the strictest economy. 67 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY Thus f;ii- successful in the political field, Mr. Jones was. in the next venture, in 187s, to meet the first defeat of his long career. When his next loss came time had already swung the curtains of the twentieth century, he was au old man, ami forces were marshalled against him over which no man could have come to victory. His State Senatorial activities ended in a blaze of glory. 68 CHAPTER IV. CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGNS By this lime (1) Mr. .Jones was recognized as one of the leaders of t lie Democracy of Arkansas. He had proven his ability as ;i campaigner against the carpet-baggers in a hard senatorial district. He had taken his place among the most distinguished in the State's upper law-making body. Finally, he had been made President of that body, and had revealed an unexpected strength and ability as a presiding officer. He was a young man. comparatively, full of vigor, possessed of a wonderful capacity lor work, far above the average in intellectual gilts, and ambitious to progress. There was really no good reason why he should not have announced for Congress against Colonel Slemrnons when he did. He could have gone back to the Senate again, undoubtedly, had he chosen to make that race. But this was unnecessary. There were no great issues before the State at the time; no great problems demanding extraor- dinary labor or ability for their solution. On the other hand, the councils of the Nation were in the sorest need of new blood and new life. So he sought the Congressional nomination in 1878 — and lost. The time was not yet ripe to beat Colonel Slemmons. While the latter had not accomplished any- thing of great notice or prominence in the American Congress, yet he was recognized as a sturdy, hardworking and fearless man; and the people of the district thought best to give him another term. He made the promise, (1) 1878. JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY which he faithfully kept, that if elected to this, his third term, he would noi again be a candidate. When the result of the primary was known Mr. Jones immediately cast his hat into the ring for Colonel Slemmons in the general election, and went so far as to make a thorough stump canvass of the district in his behalf. This revealed a trail of his character which had not, for lack of opportunity, been prominently shown be- fore. Beaten for the nomination, he showed himself pa- triotic and unselfish enough to do what not one mau in ten would have done under similar circumstances. This made Mr. Jones tremendously popular. Practically every paper in the district, Democratic and .Republican alike, came mil in open commendation of this generous cam- paign. The Southern Standard of Arkadelphia, one of the oldest papers of the State, said: "Honorable .James K. Jones, of Hempstead County, although defeated in the nominating congressional convention, is doing all in his power to elect Colonel Slemmons. The whole conduct of Colonel Jones is worthy of all praise, and the citizens of his district will not fail to remember him in the future. He will certainly be rewarded." And one of the great Siaic papers ill, commenting on this editorial, said ap- provingly: 'Yes, sir, the Democracy of the second dis- trict know the worth of such talented, fearless, energetic and unselfish men as Jas. K. Jones. And they appreciate them. Every day Colonel Jones is putting in his strong est efforts for Colonel Slemmons, not only in private but (1) The Arkansas Democrat. 7o JAMES A. JONES NEWBERRY in public. We regard kini as llie rising man of Arkansas, and predict for liim a brilliant career of usefulness to his State and honor lo himself." The result was that Colonel Sleinnious was elected over the combination of Republicans, Scalawags and Greenbackers, by a good majority. Mr. Jones had lost, temporarily, the prize he coveted; but his unselfish con- duct of the campaign in Colonel Sleninions's behalf won thousands of friends to his standard for future victories. During the following two years of Colonel Slemmons's term he was busy at Washington and at the other courts of the Slate practising his profession. He was a popular and successful advocate at the bar, a lawyer of recognized ability, and his public career attracted hun- dreds of clients to him. And what is more, f hud no record of his having placed, as many lawyers do, after they have obtained a wider recognition and reputation at the bar, near-prohibitive fees upon his legal services. In f880 Mr. Jones decided again to offer his name to the public for Congress; and this time he was chosen over his opponent, Colonel Ben W.Johnson, by a good majority. This nomination, however, only meant his success at the general election provided every Democrat came to the polls armed with a Jones ballot — a thing which was by no means assured, notwithstanding the candidate's popu- larity. The insane Greenback heresy, at the time sweep- ing the country, found thousands of adherents in Arkansas. This party was the outgrowth of the strained financial conditions which resulted from the stringency and panic of 1873. Great misery had been caused among the work- 71 JAMES K, JUXEii NEWBERRY ing classes, more than ever widening the gap between capital and labor, between the privileged rich and the hi niggling poor, between monopoly and want. Along with the demands of labor, through the labor congresses held in many of the larger cities over the country, came the plea for the direct issue of money by the government instead of by the banks. The sentiment grew so rapidly that in 1870 a Greenback-Labor party was formed, one of whose demands was thai the government suppress the bank issues of currency, and make its own unlimited is- sues of greenback legal lender for the payment of all debts. Cooper, presidential candidate, only polled 82,000 voles; but in the following congressional election (1) the party registered over a million adherents. Everyone familiar with the period will recall the fiercely torn, radical public sentiment at the election of Hayes over Tilden. which lasted through the administra- tion of President Hayes. The bitter's seeming aloofness, and his failure to conciliate the hostile factors of his party, together with the prejudice against him of the former Tilden adherents, made his renoininat ion impossi- ble, and Garfield was put up against Hancock, the candi- date of the 1 democrats. So the year, 1880, when Mr. Jones for the second time offered himself for Congress, was one of great importance, nationally speaking. It was a presidential as well as a congressional year. The Greenbackers had no less promi- nent a leader, in this State, than the brilliant Colonel R. (1) 1878. 72 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY K. Garland, of Prescott, brother of Augustus Hill Gar- land ami candidate two years previous, with a creditable showing, for Governor. A resident of the second dis- trict, lie canvassed against .Mr. Jones on the Greenback ticket. Now the Republicans, broadly speaking, advo- cated reform of the national bank itself, though they favored the maintenance of that institution, while both the Greenbackers and Democrats believed that the issue of money should he assumed by the government, and differed only on the proposition of what the new currency should be. F<»r the most part the Democrats advocated the coinage of the white metal with gold, and the Green- hackers believed that the government greenbacks should till up the gap. When Colonel Garland was put forward, it was confidently hoped by his friends that, though not a Republican, he could command sufficienl strength, with Republican assistance, to assure his election. These friends seemed to have been promised this help, and not until late in the canvass did any other candidate appear in the held. But, as slated, it was a presidential year, and one likely to bring out a tremendous vote. So the Republican managers began to figure on probabilities, and it occurred to them that a straight-out Republican might win the election. They did not by any means want Gar- land it a good Republican could be chosen. A few of the leaders met and placed upon the ticket the name of Hon- orable .John Atlas Williams, of l'ine Bluff, a prominent and able federal judge. Judge Williams issued an ad- dress, calling upon all Republicans to yield him their sup- 73 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY port. The Greenbackers were told to go ahead and sup- port their little man, if they so desired, and elect him if they could. The face of the canvass changed. If Williams had not been put in the held, it would likely have been a close race between -Jones and Garland, for the latter as well as the former was tremendously popular in the dis- trict, personally. However, when Williams entered, all knew that Garland had no chance, as he could then com- mand no Republican support. The party which he repre- sented held the balance of power, though, and it then be- came a problem of whom they would support if they did not stick to him. On one side stood -lames K. -Tones, the staunch ad- vocate of Democracy and the peoples' rights. Since the election of A. H. Garland, under the constitution of 1S74, the Democrats had continued in power, and the sec- ond district was at this lime the only really doubtful sec- tion of the State. It remained with Mr. Jones whether the Republicans should again wrest the reigns of power. The papers of the State reflect pretty well the anti- Republican sentiments of the time, and the fear of the probable consequences attendant upon Republican success. "If Williams should get to Congress," said one, "it would be another foothold for the radicals in Arkansas. . . . and it would doubtless prove to be a sick and sore day to the good poeple of the State." Another sheet made bold to say : "It would be a shameful surrender of Arkansas and Democratic manhood to turn down Colonel Jones for a radical who would care no more for its interests and people than the representative of Passamaquoddy Bay 74 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY in (he State of Maine." Still another, speaking of the course the Greenbackers should pursue, said: "By aid- ing to elect Judge Williams you would increase, in the Slate and Congress, t lie strength of a political party whose oppression and corrupt rule they assisted in over- throwing in 1X74." The Greenbackers realized that the Democrats came far nearer to voicing their own beliefs on the money prob- lem than did the Republicans. The whole national bank system had been one of the principal boasts of Republi- canism for many years. On the other hand, as one of the Greenback enthusiasts remarked in a country paper, "Mr. Jones is stoutly and uncompromisingly opposed to all the ideas of Williams and the Republican party. They i 1 i are the friends of I he protective system and adherents of the gold standard of money. Jones contends for the remonetization of silver and for a sound paper currency . . . . thus creating a larger volume of money. Now friends," he concluded, "which one of these men should we, as lib- erty loving citizens, vote for? Animal instinct (2), to say nothing of discerning judgment, prompts us to answer, •Jones, first, last and all the time!'" lint more than all else, the Greenbackers realized that Mr. Jones and the Democratic party stood for progress, while Williams ami the Republicans stood for radicalism; and they dreaded a return of the Republican rule far more than they could possibly fear the Democrats on the money question. Judge Williams was a member of that party whose career, during the dark days of reconstruction, (1) The Republicans. (2) The italics are mine. 75 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY could not, "even alter the Lapse of years, be recalled with- out evoking exclamations of horror.'' In Congress, as one of the editors thought, he would probably have ''co- operated with the ultra-element of the Republican party, whose iron hand was not taken from the throats of the people of Arkansas until the oppressed masses, organized and acting as Democrats, and led by such men as Colonel .Jones, hurled its representatives from place and power." Needless to say that, under the influence of conditions such as these, most of the constituents of Garland threw their influence to Mr. Jones. The contest was the warm- est ever known in that district and Jones won, by a fair majority. "Sincerely do we compliment the district." said the editor of the Texarkana Democrat, "upon the election of its ablest man to < Nmgress. In deeds as in name he will make a representative of the people, by the people and for the people." In the chapter on -The Plain and Simple Record" 1 give a resume which includes the important works of .Mi-. Jones, in < Nmgress and in Senate. Other chapters aim to treat, in exhaustive detail, his relation to the great questions of the day. It is therefore not necessary here to say more than that his first two years of service in the lower House proved satisfactory to a large majority of his constituents. Though absent much of the time on account of sickness, he never failed to lift his voice, where opportunity afforded, in behalf of his people. That voice was heard from the wvy beginning of his career, and that influence felt, in full sympathy with every measure in- tended to alleviate poor conditions and give protection 76 JAMES K. JOKES NEWBERRY to (be rights (d' rhe people. "A pure, upright, conscien- tious and able representative," said Colonel A. S. Morgan, speaking through the columns of an El Dorado paper, ''the peer of any member of his age in Congress, whose possibilities to serve you faithfully and well will be lim- ited only by his opportunities, James K. Jones will he true to yon to the end." The Texarkana News expeeled to he "called upon soon to advocate his election to the United States Senate." and continued by characterizing him as possessing "the aggressive energy, the purity of character, the knightly manners, the political learning and the mental industry which air the requisites and the guarantees of success in politics." .Mr. Jones had taken his place positively and promi- nently as an exponent of those greal tenets which are the foundation of the Democratic party. Representing Arkansas, he was nevertheless distinguished and lauded, even at this early time, as being identified with measures for the betterment of the whole South and West. But he had more than this to bring before the people in advocacy of his re-election : from the very jaws of defeat, when the opposing forces had combined two years before to over- throw the Democratic party, and when the cry of Repub- lican success had already gone forth through the State, he had carried the party of his district through to a glorious victory in that presidential year of 1880! Nominated unanimously by that party, he had this time two contesting rivals from the ranks of the Republi- cans: this time again .fudge Williams of Pine Bluff, who had been put out by a little contingent of office-holders, 77 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY "a .small junta of dissatisfied men." at Camden; and Rob- ert (i. Samuels, a negro, who, as Mr. Jones said, "was out on his own hook." "This (daces the Republicans in an awkward situation," he said to the voters, "and the best thing you can do is to come on and vote for me and make the thing unanimous." Samuels of course had no chance of election; and yet lie was likely to take a good many votes away from Williams. The latter was personally of good reputation and notable ability. But he had been in the past closely identified with the party by some of whose representatives the South had been robbed, oppressed and impoverished to the point of suffering want. He had been, and was, a "shining light" of that party. Coining before his constituents upon the claims above set forth, Mr. -lones looked over the personal attacks which were made upon liim by some narrow-minded ene- mies, who fancied they had been and were being hurt by him, with but a passing allusion. Such a mode of war- fare as they employed, he believed, was not used by decent and respectable people, and he was perfectly willing to have all such attacks dealt with by the people of his dis- trict. 1 do not think that Judge Williams took any stock in these slanderous personal attacks. Nor, as intimated above, do 1 find any objection to him. personally. He simply stood for principles which the people realized would be ruinous to all progress if again engrafted upon the South. Colonel Morgan, concluding his appeal to the voters of Union County, placed the two men before the public gaze in the following splendid language: "And now, fellow-citizens of Union County, — for it is to you JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY that we appeal, of whatever political creed or faith, who desire to substitute responsibility, honesty and integrity. . . . for usurpation, corruption and every form of irrespon- sible rule, look on this picture and then on that. 'Tis Hyperion to a Satyr. 'Tis peace, stability and safety to a very Pandora's box of ills again to be emptied on your devoted heads. Look on lliis picture and on that, and rally promptly around the banner upon whose folds is inscribed, 'Liberty from Radical Domination and misrule for yourselves, and safety for your rights!'" The Greenbackers came out almost solidly for the Democratic candidate, acting under such appeals as con- tained in the following question and answer: "Green- back friends, which one of these men shall we vote for? We tli ink we sec the old love-light of patriotic democracy again man I ling your cheeks, and hear your voices shout- ing. 'We will vole for -Jones, first, last, and all the time!'" To show the excitement over the result, and because it will spice the record which I am setting down here with a trine of humor. I quote a little poem written by a young lady, just after I he election. Mr. Fred I. Dean, at the time the editor of ike Hope Radical*, while in a neighbor- ing town met Ibis young woman, and the conversation shifted to the congressional contest I hen being waged so fiercely. In his enthusiasm for Williams, he offered to wager a new hat that Jones would meet with defeat. She, herself a pretty good politician, as it turned out, took him up. Shortly after the defeat of Williams she sent him the following: 79 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY "During fair week you did bet Thai Williams would in Congress get; I said, with democratic heat, Surely -/ones would take that seat. You said Jones wouldn't, I said he would ; You said .Jones couldn't, 1 said he could. Then you, with vim boiling over, Bet me there a cranium-cover. •Jones is happy — veroum sat; So send me an order for that hat." The young lady won the wager; for, though every ar- tifice was used to defeat Mr. .lones; though the slander mill w;is in full operation, and contumely and low canl ran not in the radical Republican press of the district, yet the hard work of .Mr. Jones and thousands of other patriotic Democrats saved the day for the party. Some of l lie leaders urged that the majority for Jones he made large, that the Republicans would have no opportunity to contest the result. Pleas were made for Democratic bug- gies to convey the farmers to the polls. Many Jones clubs were formed and no stone was left unturned by the Democratic enthusiasts. The result was a still greater victory than before, for Jones, "the tried and true." The House lo which the tall Congressman from Ark- ansas returned in 1883 was Democratic, and thus he had a greater opportunity for exercising his abilities in behalf of his constituents than before. He took a commanding position upon several of the important House committees, 80 JAMES K. .Kt\ lis \ IAYBERRY chief of which was the great Committee on Ways and Means. His influence was the result, I think, at this special time, of his conservative good sense, there being much fear and danger thai the "Democratic fools" would gel possession of things and create, by their radicalism, a reaction in favor of the Republicans in 1884. His career, as above staled, is elaborated in other chapters. Suffice it to say here that lie continued to be reckoned as one of the big men of his parly in the lower law-making branch of that high tribunal. That he was by far the ablest repre- sentative from Arkansas in that body at that time, there can he no doubt. "There is a general and growing belief," said no less prominent a paper than the Arkansas Demo- crat, "not only among Democrats but among Republicans and Independents as well, that his place cannot be filled; and there are lew. if any. in the district, who can bring to bear so much of strong common sense, thorough in- formation on public affairs, and deep devotion to the pub- lic weal, as are combined in the person of James K. Jones." And the Democrat editor closed his article by predicting for him "a long and brilliant career." The Camden Bea- con believed thai "the district doesn't contain an abler or more worthy man to succeed James K. Jones than Jones himself"; and after reviewing his prominent connect ion with the great tariff and other debates in Congress, con- cluded with the Avoids: "Again we say, let James K. •lones be his own successor." Acting under the encouragement of such friendly ar- ticles as these, and proud of the record he had thus far made, Mr. -Jones a third time announced himself as a can- 81 JAMES K. JONES SEW BERRY didate for Congress. His territory was now, under the new apportionment, the third district. This time he was bitterly opposed by Elmore Mitchell, whose people before him had been good Democrats, and who had himself been until recently an apparently strong adherent of that party. He had, in the two previous congressional campaigns, made ineffectual canvasses for the Democratic nomination againsl Mr. Jones. His efforts to dislodge the young knighl proving unavailing, he had turned to the Repub- ciins in the hope of beating him with their aid. The Republican leaders, though they feared since the second trouncing of Judge Williams that they could not oust Mr. .I<»nes. nevertheless welcomed a former Democrat to their ranks, and zealously supported him as their candidate. Tin's C. Elmore Mitchell was a son of one of the most distinguished and admirable anti-bellnm citizens of south Arkansas, Dr. diaries B. Mitchell, former United States Senator, of whom a friend said that he was a ''rare combi- nation of a medical sawbones and orator." 1 cannot re- frain from giving the reader some of the impressions, as recorded in a letter to the Gazette, received by an auditor of Mr. Mitchell's speech, delivered in the joint debate at Arkadelphia. This auditor was no less a person than Judge Hawes H. Coleman, under whom Mr. Jones had studied as a young man. The judge in this article told with what delight he had learned that Messrs. Jones and Mitchell! were to speak, and how lie had hurried to the Clark County Seat thai lie might listen to the boy whom he had taught, and greel him as "the father of the good knight of Ivanhoe should have greeted him on his return 82 JAMES K. ./OA E& \ EWBERR V from the Holy Laud." And he would for the first time hear in public speech the son of that distinguished Chas. 15. Mitchell. Called, however, to attend the funeral of a friend. Judge Coleman related that he had got to the Court House too late to hear the speech of Mr. Jones. Elmore Mitchell was to furnish him with sufficient food for disgust to do him the balance of his days. "As I en- tered the Court House," went the letter, "his (1) loud voice betokened his interest in his subject. And what was that subject? It was himself. Yes! himself was the subject of his story. . . What I heard of that speech was concentrated egotism, unrelieved by interludes, which he meanl to be attacks on somebody he called 'Jones'. .. He bawled, he screamed, he vociferated, he bellowed and he stormed, as if a hurricane were blowing and the world would perish if the people did not bow at his bidding, and be instructed of him how to vote." It was the can- did judgment of the speaker, thought this auditor, that it would require a thousand Calhouns and a thousand Websters welded together to make one Elmore Mitchell. '•Ft is difficult to resist the temptation to say that if he had lived in the days of paganism he would have claimed the dominion of the skies, and have driven down old Jupiter from his throne . . . . " 1 think that Mr. Jones or any other courteous speaker would never have been so undignified as to refer i" ;in honorable opponent for the high position of United Stutes Congressman, as did Mr. Elmore Mitchell in sarcas- tically alluding to him as 'Jones.' Tf he ever did do such I (1) Mitchell's. 83 JAMES K. JOKES NEWBERRY can find no record of it. True chivalry frowned upon such discourtesy in public debate. When we take into consid- eration this bombastic egotism of his opponent, the becom- ing modesty of James K. Jones stands in beautiful and res) ful contrast. The oft-repeated "I's" and "me's," the loudness, and unchivalric conduct of Mitchell must have made him a revolting spectacle, indeed. "I have listened In discussions in many states for sixty years," concluded Judge Coleman, "yet in all that time I have not heard so much and so disgusting profanity, irreverence and im- politeness in public debate, as were crowded into that speech yesterday — irreverence toward God, and insulting disrespect to all who believe in God." It wjis only to be expected that Mr. Jones would be overwhelmingly voted back to a third term in that great tribunal, to whose dignity he had added new weight, and to whose broad democracy he had given a new luster, by Ms zealous devotion to the interests of the people, his lofty courage and his unimpeachable integrity. 84 CHAPTER V. CONTESTS FOR THE SENATORIAL TOGA Mr. Jones was not to enter upon the services of his third term in the lower House of the American Congress before a grateful people, acting through their state legis- lature, were to say to him : "Thou hast been faithful over a few things: we will make you ruler over many." Ever watchful of his brilliant achievements, and well aware of his extraordinary abilities, his south Arkansas friends in the legislature came thirty strong to stand invincibly for his promotion to the United States Senate, to fill the place soon to be made vacant by the Honorable J. D. Walker, of Fayetteville. Briefly stated, the whole situation at this time was as follows: While it was certain that there would be one vacancy, everybody thought that in a short time there would be two. Cleveland had just been elected President for the first time, and it was rumored that Au- gustus H. Garland, then in the United States Senate, would be asked to take a cabinet portfolio. These rumors were so strong as to be generally believed, in Arkansas at least. Expecting this promotion, the legislators were really looking about for two men of senatorial caliber. And so it happened a month later that they were called upon to fill Garland's place, and ex-Governor Berry, one of the candidates against Mr. Jones, was chosen. He and Mr. Jones were to serve for eighteen years together in that high law-making assembly. But the candidates were not openly after Mr. Gar- 85 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY Laud's place at this time, because his promotion was at leasl ;ii tended with uncertainty. Repeatedly the Gazette empasized editorially, before the balloting for a succes- sor to Mr. Walker began, that none of them were seeking Mr. Garland's place, for the reason stated. This first race for rlie United States Senate between Mr. .Jones and his opponents was one of the friendliest and most honorable political contests in the history of our State. From the first it was conducted upon the high- est principles and each candidate bore himself with knightly grace and dignity. There was no trickery, no fraud, no bribery of influence or votes. There was not the leasl evidence of feeling between them or their friends. The lending candidates, -Jones, Berry and Dunn, were the very highest type of men. each possessing a character above reproach. General Berry had served one term as Governor of the State, his administration being noted for its honesty and sound common sense. 1'oindexter Dunn \v;is rounding ou1 a decade of admirable service in the lower House of Congress. Each contestant had a record of which he might feel proud, and each, as every one well knew, would make a safe man for the Senate, and would add luster to the State. The first ballot was taken with the two Houses sit- ting separately in their respective halls. As the roll was called the first to mention the name of Senator Jones was a Mr. Gardner, in the Senate. Xo one in the alphabetical list above the G's had voted for him. Mr. Gardner rose and said, in answer to his name: "Mr. President, I cast my vote for United States Senator for Honorable James 8 6 JAMES K. JOXES NEWBERRY K. Jones." A burst of enthusiastic but brief applause came from the south-State delegation which had come pledged to "die fighting" for him. Senator Thompson, about the tifth Jones man, added more life to the occa- sion when he arose and said, in calling- the name of his choice: " ...He is a young man, in the prime of his vigor, lie has broad and liberal views, an unstained character, and is a Democrat with no guile. He is schooled in legislative work, and trained in the affairs of statesmanship. . . I will not attempt a eulogy of his char- acter; it would be like gilding refined gold!" In the House Colonel McMillan, of Clark County, himself later a candidate for Congress, nominated Mr. Jones, basing the hitter's claim to the senatorship upon his record and what his comrades at Washington thought of him. He concluded, happily: "While he loves his birth-place as a mother, he loves Arkansas as he would his wife." In the Senate the vole stood, on the first ballot: Dunn 10, Berry 0, and Jones 7; in the House, Dunn 31, Jones 25, and Berry 24. Mr. Jones continued the third man in the race until the nineteenth ballot showed Dunn's total to be 42. Jones's 40 and Berry's 39. The contest contin- ued until January ."SI, ami thirty ballots had been taken. Here occurred a most admirable act upon the part of Governor Berry. Believing that there was no longer any hope of his election, as he stated in his letter to the joint assembly, "and that the contest should be terminated," which could only be accomplished by the withdrawal of one of the candidates, "and believing that the greatest 87 JAMES K. J0.\ i:s NEWBERRY obligatioD is upon him receiving the least number of yotes," he wrote to Mr. J. H. Harrod, who had placed his name before them, asking that it be withdrawn, and the deadlock broken. Now while Mr. Dunn had led on every ballot up to the twenty-fifth, yet when Governor Berry withdrew Mr. Jones was immediately chosen by a big majority. Of Mr. Berry's thirty-nine adherents, Dunn was the second choice of only eight. The thirty-first ballot gave Jones seventy-two votes and Dunn forty-nine. As the roll was called it was seen that many had realh possessed strong inclinations toward Mr. Jones, and had voted for Mr. Berry not only because he was a fearless and able man, but because they were from north Arkansas, Mr. Berry's section, and of course could not vote against him while he remained in the contest. His name withdrawn, however, they could show their appre- ciation of Mr. Jones in a helpful and telling way. As they rose to answer to their names, they gave various reasons for casting their votes for him. Many brief tributes were paid; but Mr. Baker, a tall and uncouth mountaineer from Benton, Governor Berry's own county, took the house down with singing and his humorous allu- sions to his meeting with Mrs. Jones. I set down an ac- count of it, briefly, for wlial it is worth. In my conclud- ing chapters more is told about the helpful influence of this admirable lady, who throughout her married life was a helpmate in deed as well as in name. Mr. Baker related that since his candidate had withdrawn he had sized up tin 1 remaining aspirants. He had admired the fine head 88 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY of Mr. Dunn. "But," he said i 1 >, "I'll tell you what did the work for nie. I met Mrs. Jones, the wife of the Hon- orable .lames K. .Jones, and that settled it. ... I met her and went and called on her- — yes. I did. I didn't hardly know what to do, but she sal by the piano and I asked her to play a little tune on it for me — asked her if she could play 'My Old Cabin Home.' She said she would if 1 would sin" a verse of it, and I said Fd try. She touched up the piano, hit the very key-note of the piece — the tune I know and love best on earth. . . The place was full of women, .they crowded around, and right there I stood and sung the verse." Greeted by cries of "Sing, sing it now," he agreed to do so. And, interrupted with the cheers of the densely packed throng, the uncouth legisla- tor sang a verse and the chorus of that old song. When the applause had subsided he continued: "When Mrs. Jones stopped playing I seized her hand and said : 'Madam, I am in love with you !' (2) Yes, I told her that I had fal- len in love with her, and she said she wished T would fall in love with her husband, as well.. . . Now 1 am a rough old man," he concluded, "'but ladies have great attractions for the old mountaineer boomers." And acting upon Mrs. •Jones's wish that he might be pleased with her husband, .Mr. Baker told how he had looked him over, admired his large head and deep-set eyes, which he said had a "thinking look in ihein," and had decided to cast his ballot for James K. Jones. The speech of Mr. Raker added fuel to the Jones (1) Issue of Gazette, January 31, 1885. (2) This statement was greeted by a thunder of applause. 89 JAMES K. JONES ■ NEWBERRY flame of enthusiasm. One representative after another arose in his place and said that not having had any sec- ond choice lie would cast his vote for Jones, and the com- pletion of the thirty-first roll call showed the result stated above. As Mr. Jones himself entered the chamber a great burst of applause greeted him, and he of course had to make a speech. Alter he had sounded a note of apprecia- tion of his worthy opponents, he pledged his love and loyalty to the State he was so proud to represent in the higher branch of Congress. A speech from Poindexter Dunn, praising Mr. Jones, and assuring the State that a wise choice had been made, elicited great applause. Governor Berry was called for, but it was answered that he had left for home Ihe day before. The crowd dispersed, and Mr. Jones held a reception al which hundreds of ad- mirers expressed their compliments and best wishes for success in his new field of labor. The papers of the State immediately began to sing the praises of the Senator-elect. His record tip to that time came more prominently than ever into the public view. The Gazette editor briefly stated: "A gallant soldier during the late War; a conspicuous member of the General Assembly and President of the Senate: u representative in Gongress lor two terms and elected for a third term, his career so familiarized the people with his record and his character as a public man as well as a pri- vate citizen, as to single him out for higher honors." And the paper added: "That career illustrates the reward of ability, integrity, manliness, devotion to public interests 90 J AM EH K. JON EH NEWBERRY and fidelity to friends." "He is a big-brained, big-hearted man, true i<> principle, true to his people, well informed on all the great questions of the day and a strong man in Congress," said the Arkansas Democrat. "A statesman and a patriot." commented the Hot Springs News, "an untiring worker and an ambitious student, the soul of honor and the epitome of manhood; quiet and able in de- bate, lie will soon lake rank with the ablest and most influential members of the Senate ill. The News regards him today as the brightest and most promising man in the State.'" Papers outside of the State took notiee of his election. The Chicago Tribune contained an article reviewing his record and emphasizing his fitness for the place. On the Ways and Means Committee in the House, to which Speaker Carlisle had appointed him. he had been "one of the most studious members" and "second to none in point of influence." And it added : "He is better fitted for the calmer atmosphere of the Senate than the turbulent at- mosphere of the House." But perhaps the best and briefest summary of his record and ability appeared in the paper published in his home town, the Washington (2), Press : "A broad-gauged man in all respects; a man of the highest moral character, whose life is without reproach or stain of any sort (3), a man of indefatigable energy and iron will : a hard stu- dent and a tireless worker; able and experienced, tried and found true; wanting in no respect (4), ever watchful (1) Time and hard work were to fulfill this prediction. (2) Arkansas. (3) Of how many of our public officials, when they have served as long as he had then, can we say as much? (4) Italics mine again. 91 JAMES E.JONES NEWBERRY of his peoples' interests, and prompt to respond to all their claims upon him " Mr. and Mrs. Jones received numbers of telegrams from people at home and "abroad," complimentary in nature. Among them I find messages from United States Senator .J. 1). Walker, whose place he was to take, and Congressman C. K. Breckinridge. From Arkadelphia, where Sena I or Jones had studied and engaged in the mer- cantile business before the War. came the telegram: "Everybody at your old home sends congratulations"; from his then present home, Washington, Arkansas: "Washington congratulates you en masse'; from friends at Port Smith : " May you live a thousand years"; and from the friend who had cast the first political vote for his nomination to the State Senate twelve years be- fore, General B. W. Green: "Praise God from whom all blessings flow!" When the first burst of applause over the happy ter- mination of the deadlock had subsided at Washington, Arkansas, preparations were made to give him a fitting reception on his return from Little Rock. A delegation went to Hope to meet him, and the crowd that gathered about him there showed the greatest enthusiasm. A throng surrounded him that night after supper at Wash- ington, and speeches were called for. Judge A. B. Wil- liams (1) spoke the sentiments of the crowd, and voiced (he confidence of the Senator's home people with the con- clusion : "And now again, 'without regard to race, color or previous condition of servitude,' we one and all con- (1) Not John Atlas Williams, the Republican, mind you. 92 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY gratulate yon and cry. 'All hail, Senator Jones! Senator Jones, all hail!'" I have made all these quotations not for the purpose of extravagant praise <>r fulsome tribute. I have set down excerpts from a few estimates given by his fellows that the reader may appreciate the well-nigh universal esteem in which Mr. Jones was held at this time. The scarcity of prominent men from Arkansas, so held in the public eye today, makes ns appreciate all the more this "plumed knight." There was really no reason why he should not make a record that would adorn the place he was to fill. In addition to possessing the reputation which he had al- ready made for ability, energy, study and incorruptible character, he was now jnst entering his prime of life. Only forty-five years of age. he was full of health, activity and physical vigor — a human dynamo, with all his powers aimed toward the accomplishment of the greatest good for his home people, the nation and humanity. ft is a noticeable fact that Mr. Jones was at the time the only private ex-Confederate soldier in the whole Con- gress. The South has since the War had plenty of Majors and Colonels to send there, but few privates. Tt is partly at least, from the fact that he was a private soldier in that conflict that "Private" John Allen, of Mississippi, has attracted such notice. Mr. Coke, at that time Senator from Texas, had been a private at the beginning of the War, but had risen to the rank of Captain before it closed. Mr. Jones's record in the United States Senate, what he accomplished while there, how he ranked among the ablest of that great body, are things developed at greater /I \1E>S K. jum:s NEWBERRY length in oMier pages of this biography. He was elected to a second term of six years without serious opposition. Mr. Fishbaek at first had appeared as a candidate before the legislature, but soon withdrew for the sake of harmony in the ranks of the party. In the House Judge Trieber, Republican, was put forward, receiving twelve votes. Mr. Barker received four votes, the labor representation in both Houses. Mr. .Jones did not even gel to come to Little Rock this time. The necessities of the hour were so great at the nation's capitol that he was compelled to remain at his post. Always true to his trust, he was unwilling. owing to the great demand for his services there, to neg- lect his duty, even if it should— though there was little probability of it then — cost him his place. Speaking gen- era! ly of his fidelity to trust, Mr. Wimberly, of Hemp- stead, said of him: "In every hour of our need, when called to our service he has been found faithful to his trust and efficient in the discharge of his duty. No taller cham- pion hns arisen to do battle in behalf of the people. On every question affecting their interest for good or for evil, he is vigilant and active. So conspicuous is his ability that his fame has become national On every great question of the day he stands in the lists as the peoples' knight, and wields a mace his foemen fear With but a backward glance of appeal to you. Senator Jones stands today shoulder to shoulder with a gallant little band of patriots fighting for the liberties of his country." Mr. Morgan, of Union, in a ringing speech, plead that they "elect him so unanimously that even the suspicion of division or discord in the Democratic party 94 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY will find lodgement in no Unman heart." His friends and admirers gladly rewarded him with a second term of six years by a unanimous vote. The third time he appeared in the lists as a candidate for the senatorial toga. Governor .lames P. Clarke came out against him. This was just after Mr. Jones had put through his admirable tariff compromise known as the Jones-Gorman Bill, which was the Wilson measure in amended form. Mr. Jones was at that time the recog- nized leader of the Democracy in the Tinted States Sen- ate It would be extremely difficult to beat him: but Governor Clarke entered upon the contest with zest. In some of the counties where pre-election primaries were being held, chief and first of which was Sebastian, con- sidered a Clarke stronghold, the two gentlemen entered upon a joint canvass and debate. The friends of Clarke claimed this comity for him by a vote of at least two to one. ft had never been enthusiastic Jones territory. The contest was conducted upon the very highest plane. Said the Gazette in an editorial of February 7 (1), just before this contest closed : "The Senatorial contest is be- ing conducted in such a dignified manner as to elicit the respect of the citizens of Arkansas. Neither can- didate hits the other below the licit Senator Jones courted the criticism of his opponent .... Tt is one of the most interesting contests ever made in Arkansas — a con- test between two political Titans." Governor Clarke's principal charge against Mr. Jones was that lie w as a compromiser, and not a — as he called (1) 1896. 95 J A ME8 K. JO V ES NEWBERRY it — "straight-forward Democrat," which meant nothing more nor less than that lie was a conservative (1) and nol a radical (2) reformer. When the Sebastian voles were counted it was found that Mr. Jones was considerably in the lead. He also carried several others of the up-State counties in which primaries were held. On March eighteenth Governor Clarke withdrew from (he contest, leaving the field open for Mr. Jones, who was chosen without further opposition for the third time to the United States Senate. It was in the fourth contest that "the plumed knight'' met the first successful opposition since his race for Con- gress against Colonel Slemmons in 1878. This defeat came in 1!M>2. when upon his record he announced for a fourth term in the Senate. It will be remembered (•*>» that he had won honor and distinction attained by few in the annals both of that high tribunal and of the political organizations of the nation. He had proved himself so indispensible in a fight as to be [ticked for the leadership of the hosts of silver in two campaigns (4i- — the fact that those tights had been lost was charged against him. The fact that the Democratic candidate had not won out was thrown in his teeth as a stigma of individual incompetency. He had directed the tariff fight through to a successful compromise, placing many commodities of common con- sumption hitherto taxed upon the free list, and lowered (1) Which meant "successful," at that time. (2) Which could have meant nothing other than "unsuc- cessful." ()')) After reading the chapters that treat of his record there. (4) The record of thai management, in LS96 and 1900, is given in the second chapter on "The Fight for Silver." 96 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY the duties upon scores of others : the fact thai this compro- mise had been repealed in 1S!»7 by the Dingley measure was likewise laid at his door ;is a personal rebuke. Be- cause he was no radical reformer il was charged that he was no reformer at all. Other charges, personal in their nature, were heaped upon those honest but mistaken accusations staled. Another successful politician of the State, funning for re-election to his own office, threw himself into the senatorial race in behalf of his friend againsl Senator Jones. And "the Plumed Knight of Arkansas," honored by his Commonwealth often and long, who had in return "placed a crown of glory upon the brow of that State" whose brilliance time could not efface, who had grown gray in the faithful and arduous service of that Stale, was now to go down in the gloom of defeat. I said thai charges personal and vitriolic were 1 pre- ferred againsl him in this race. Ex-Governor Clarke again opposed him. and tin's time not to withdraw before the contest should be finished. But .Mi-. Clarke, so far as I can find, was not (he instigator of those charges, and their injustice was not a filing for which he was primarily to blame. I have already told upon what high plane the former debate between Mr. Clarke and Senator Jones Mas conducted. Generally speaking, the attacks upon Mr. Jones's public record the charge that he had not been a line advocate of i'\cc silver, low tariff and the peoples' rights, were made by Governor Clarke. To these criti- cisms Senator Jones wished his record to speak for itself; and since 1 have set it down, faithfully as I could. 97 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY since it speaks in trumpet tones that lie was tried at every turn and everywhere proved true, I think that if consulted he would desire no explanation from me. Be- sides, it would he like trying to purify already refined metal; for this record itself is the loftiest encomium thai could he recited now. Againsi tlie charge that he was not a true free silveriie let it simply he remembered thai .Mr. .Jones in behalf of the Memphis free silver movement, whose work he had thoroughly organized, came to Chicago and demanded thai a free silver champion he chosen as Temporary Chairman of the great Convention; that Sena- tor Daniel, of Virginia, was given this [dace on his ac- count; that he headed the committees on Resolutions and on Platforms; that he was the moving spirit of the whole Convention; that no single move was made by anyone in that mighty gathering without his consent; that he gave, from his own time, the opportunity of his life to the greatest free silver champion the world has ever known ; that it was he of whom Mr. Bryan said, referring to his silver activities: "I knew that his whole heart was in the work"; that throughout the stress of two national cam- paigns he guided the destinies of the white metal fear- lessly and with glory to the party and to himself. Let these things he recalled, and no sane and lair-minded reader will ever charge "the Plumed Knight of Arkansas'' with having been a gold-bug in his sympathies! Let it be said, in answer to the charge that he was not a tariff-for-revenue-only enthusiast, that his management of the compromise of the Wilson-Gorman or Jones-Gorman Bill through an uncertain Senate iu 1893, while the best 98 JAMES K. JO \ ES DEWBERRY example on record in this country of successful tact, and an everlasting tribute to his own genius for diplomacy, was also the most democratic measure that could have been steered to success at that time, and that it was un- dertaken by him in order thai some if not all of the bur- dens under which the masses groaned tnighl be removed. Lei this be remembered, and then present the insinuation of "stand-patism" to the mind of reason! An enlight- ened public opinion will mi her give "glory, laud and honor" to this lover of humanity, this unsurrendering champion of the public weal! With reference to the personal charges, T am sure thai if Mi-. Jones were consulted in the matter he would coun- sel thai (he cheap demagoguery which was the source of these base insinuations be considered by an unprejudiced public ;is their best answer. Nevertheless, f think it fit ihiti I take up the chief ones which compassed his defeat, and tell with candor the facts connected with each, thai there may be no longer, if there si ill remain, the least feel- in- against him h, the heart of any fellow-citizen, and thai (he fair-minded out-State public who read these pages may understand, as they always do when apprised of such, the cheap politics i<> be seen in every allegation. hi the first place it was declared that Mr. Jones was asking for glory for having been a brave Confederate sol- dier in the late War, upon a record of actual ser- vice extending a little over a mouth. Mr. Jones never in his life, so far as T can find, made reference to his own bravery. His modesty strictly forbade the least affecta- tion. If he had been a full general T think he would not 99 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY have boasted of the fact. Bui when in joint debate at New Lewisville, Arkansas, this accusation was made, old Captain Ed Alexander, who served in the same regimenl with Mr. Jones and therefore knew liis record for courage and faithfulness to duty, and who was in the crowd, arose and told the people the truth about it — how Mr. Jones would have been excused from service at the very begin- ning of the War if he had desired it, on account of his poor health; how he had chosen to go ahead and stand the rough life of the army as long as he could, and had been compelled to drop out after a brief period of service, car- rying a doctor's certificate with him all the time; how he had recuperated and gone back, how he stood so highly in the estimation of his fellow-soldiers, as attested by the close race he had made for Colonel of his regiment, etc, etc. A full account of his war activities has been given in the chapter. "The War and After — Life on a Farm." Again, it was told on the stump that Mr. Jones had bankrupted just after the War. and was therefore such a poor business manager as to be certainly unworthy of tak- ing charge of the business of the public in the United States Senate. Yes. he had taken advantage of the bank- ruptcy law, in 1868. When the War broke out, as we have seen, he was carrying on a mercantile business with Mr. Thomas at Arkadelphia. The firm being in debt to New York wholesale establishments when the War broke out, it paid every dollar of the debt to its creditors in Confederate money, under a law passed by the Confederate Congress. When the War was over, ;is everyone knows, the whole South, and not merely the firm of Thomas and Jones, was 100 JAAIEU K. JONES NEWBERRY bankrupt. Scarcely anyone had money or goods left. Money for the same debt which had been paid in Confed- erate money was now demanded in the "coin of the realm.'* Air. Jones was tiien compelled to declare the lirm in a stale of bankruptcy, his partner being dead and the whole responsibility of the old business devolving upon him. This he did, in order to gain lime to get on his feet again. Is this alone not enough defense? Then let it be added that his father, who lived in Dallas County on a rich plan- tation, got together some cotton which he had saved through the War. Owing to the shortage of the cotton crop for the four hard years, the selling price of the great staple was almost fabulous just after the struggle, .lames K. Jones procured some of this cotton, and paid every coil of the indebtedness of the old firm! To say that he was an incapable business manager because he bankrupted at this time in our history is to cast the stigma of incompetency upon forty-five out of every fifty merchants of the old South. And what a brand upon the business responsibility of those grand old men! Finally, it was stated that Mr. Jones was a close friend to many rich people in the North; that he was a stock-holder in the American Cotton Company, of New Jersey, and for these reasons was not in full sympathy with the cause of the people. And all upon no juster war- rant than the following facts: An old fellow named Graves, from Drew County, Arkansas, and somewhat of an inventor, but at the same time out of funds, carried to Mr. Jones a simple device for compressing cotton in round bales which could be rolled about much more easily than 101 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY the cumbersome square bales. Mr. Jones at the time had no idea of later becoming interested in the invention, but repeatedly let the old fellow, as lie often let others, have money to get the machine, as the latter said, "perfected." He expected and believed that every cent would be re- turned. Graves was also obtaining money from Mr. Thomas Lanagin, of Fort Smith, who was employed in one of the departments at Washington. Finally, Mr. Jones found that be and Mr. Lanagin bad let the thing rock along until together they had let Graves have almost ;i thousand dollars. When they called upon the inventor to set lie up, the latter, while be did manage to get to- gether a little cash, could only agree to give each a third interest in the thing and let them take charge of it. Mr. Jones sent the device to his old friend, General B. \Y. Green, at Little Rock, and told him to go ahead and get the necessary machinery to display the benefits of it to (he public. Mr Green did so, Messrs. Jones and Lanagin putting up the money. Finally, Mr. Jones sent an expert to lake charge of the machinery, and this mechanic, after finding that it worked well, took it to Argenta to show and sell it. For some reason, however, it failed to reap the ex- pected results, and Mr. Jones went to New York to try to gel some company to take it over. He and Lanagin had by this time put several thousand dollars into it, and they naturally wished to make it a snccesss. He finally arranged with a business acquaintance there to turn it over jnst as it stood, upon the condition that he form a coi]. oral ion in which Mr. Jones and Mr. Lannagin should each have some common stock, and in addition should 102 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY recieve cash to an amount about equal to their outlay — part <>1' which, by the way, had been borrowed money. The corporation formed began to make the machines, and rented them in different localities over the South to public ginners. In order to sell them readily they would buy the seed cotton from the farmer for the ma- chine and when it was ginned and baled agree to sell it again for the farmers in the round bale. This having to sell the cotton for the farmers as well as ginning it for them, caused the thing to collapse; for when they had bought up many thousands of bales the price of cotton sud- denly fell ! The above are the facts concerning Mr. Jones's con- ned ion with the alleged trust, the American Cotton Round Hale Company, which he quoted W. J. Bryan and others as saying was in no sense a trust, but a company organ- ized to sell a patented machine. He did no more than own common stock in it, and lost even this when the com- pany went to the wall. Looked at in the light of sound reason, sound judg- ment and plain common sense, the charges, to use the lan- guage of one of the country papers of the State (1), "don't even make good nonsense." I feel that no words of an unbiased public, when they have read the account herein set down, can possibly do the accusations better "justice" than these. Rut, notwithstanding the absurdity of the charges made against Senator Jones, they nevertheless conspired with other things to compass his defeat at the polls. The (1) The Center Point, Arkansas, Press. 103 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY Gazette, able and accurate summarize!*, in an editorial with the heading, "How it Happened," added the other causes of his defeat : "The hard hitters were in the field againsl Senator Jones. The young, vigorous democracy oi Arkansas were arrayed againsl him. Two or three old friends, who had been close to him from their boyhood days, broughl to hear every influence at their command to compass his defeat Judge Kavanaugh's management of Clarke's campaign was superb and faultless." For several days after the campaign closed the result was somewhat in doubt, and the Jones headquarters in Little Rock were kept open. His friends gathered about him like soldiers around a defeated but unconquerable chieftain. He had been in the public eye so long, he had won so many triumphs for Arkansas, he had held so high a place in the esteem of the nation, that these men believed defeat impossible. Alas, they did not reck the uncertain- ties of the public fortune- wheel, nor consider the fatality of political chicanery! Without excitement and without bitterness or hate, the now aged Senator, covered in all the glory and dignity that a long career of distinguished ser- vice could afford, retired to a field of work less subject to the criticism of disgruntled and unscrupulous politicians, mihI far more pleasant and profitable to himself. 104 CHAPTER VI. "THE PLAIN AND SIMPLE RECORD" There are several reasons why men's records in the American Congress are investigated with frequency and scrutiny. One of the usual causes of the search is the anxiety of political opponents to unearth scandal, which occasionally results in finding some flagrant violation of the peoples' trust by continuous absence or failure to vote on important measures. The investigator then proceeds to use the "absent treatment" in his public debates. This kind of search often stretches the facts beyond the truth, by reason of the anxiety that prompts it. Of the soberer, saner kind is the research of the biographer. While it is not the mission of the latter to tell everything, he has. necessarily, to relate the matters of greatest importance. He must satisfy the reader, however, that his sub- ject is worthy of treatment because of the ability revealed in his public acts. A United States Senator must be in his place regularly, unless absent with a good excuse. He is the peoples' servant and directly responsible to them. He is just as bound to be in his place as is a school boy. Now there are three reasons for a public servant missing the roll call at his place of service: sickness, committee work and business of the most urgent nature. For causes outside of these, I think the public are reluctant to ex- cuse him of the charge of negligence in looking after their interests. But a servant must not only be faithful in his attend 105 JAMES K. JOXES NEWBERRY ance and regular in his answers to roll calls on all im- portant measures: he ninsi be actively and aggressively useful. He must, to fill the requirements of almost any constituency, be instrumental, by speeches and in other ways, in securing wise and beneficial legislation, primarily for thai constituency to which he owes his position of trust, and secondarily for the general welfare. If he fails to do this — and the record always tells a true story on him, even though he does often stuff it with copies of his finely-wrought utterances — his position is subject to the likelihood, at least, of forfeiture. Our government, because of its numerical bigness, is conducted on the representative principle, and being thus managed it directly, in theory, if not in fact, reflects the wishes of the masses. If any individual in its representa- tion fails to do his share in actually reflecting this senti- ment, it is the province of his part of that public to recall him; for his title is in reality a misnomer. If a repre- sentative does continuously fulfill the trust reposed in him, the only powers which can recall him to private life are money, demagoguery and the too-long-term fear. To give a digest of all the work of Mr. Jones in Con- gress and the Senate would take up practically the space of a whole volume in itself. My attempt is simply to show his attitude and efforts in regard to the most im- portant questions which came up for consideration, dis- cussion and solution during his term of office in those bodies. A man could scarcely hold a place in the high tribunal of the United Stales Congress for twenty-two years — longer than anyone who ever represented the Com- 106 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY monwealth of Arkansas in that body, and longer than the terms of nine tenths of all the men who ever go from all the states — without accomplishing something of worth, even with a negative, unaggressive and passive ability and right conduct. But no ordinary character ever occu- pied thai place so long, and perhaps never will. The record clearly indicates that Mr. .Jones was not only aggressive and active and virile in his efforts al the high- est and most righteous legislation for his State and for his country, hut that few of the membership during his tenure there, or in the whole history of that body, were more potent, influential and productive of results. 1 1 is the common opinion of those who know that a man can in the lower House of Congress accomplish but little in the short period of four years. While the prece- dent that keeps the mouth of the United States Senator closed practically the whole first session of his term is not so strong with reference to House members, yet the House is not the place for new and inexperienced heads to come and on first attendance Haunt their colors or show their oratorical skill too blatantly. Of course, the longer a representative remains at his post, the more influence he obtains, and consequently the more legislation he can be instrumental in assuring, both for his own section and the country. Add to the fact of the brief period that Mr. Jones was allowed to keep his seat in that body before the people of the Slate called him up to "higher things,'' the fact that for a good portion of the time he was sick, and consequently unable to attend the sessions, and you will understand why upon the statute books there is no 107 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY number of constructive laws due to his efforts there. Sometime after the convening of the first session of the forty-seventh Congress ill I find that he was granted leave of absence on account of sickness. The leave was for an Indefinite period; and I do not find further record of his presence during that session. Notwithstanding that, he held membership on the two very important com- mit lees on the Militia aud ou the Revision of the Laws (2). And later he was given a place on the still more im- portant standing Committee on Indian Affairs (3). An- other chapter relates his work in this important field. He was hack at the second session of this Congress, but on January fourth (4) was again given indefinite leave — this time on account of urgent and pressing business. He had really been able to do but little beyond presenting some petitions, some of which were granted, and chief of which, perhaps, was one from citizens of Clark County, Arkansas, for a survey of the Arkansas River. At the next Congress — the forty-eighth, first session — he was again, on .May twenty-seventh (5), excused from attendance because of sickness, and was kept away practically all the session, as also from the second ses- sion, which convened in December of the same year. Bu1 the fact is especially noticeable that he invariably asked for leave of absence when he was to be away from his post of duty, that the Chair, the membership of that body, and the country, might know why. Unlike some of the coun- (1) p. 5667. (2) 47 Cong., 1 Sess., p. 238. (3) Ibid. ii. S16. (4) 1883. (5) 1884. 108 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY try's representatives, who spend their time in New York and the cities, or in the corriders and lobby-rooms of the hotels and elsewhere, he was scrupulous always to tell just why lie was away. II. IN THE SENATE. The opening of the forty-ninth Congress found Mr. Jones in the United Stales Senate. He had now reached the acme of his political ambition; and who shall say that he did not now come with a determination to accomplish much for his Commonwealth, and reveal the limit of his strength in his strong work for the constructive legislation by which he wished the country to be ruled? He was appointed on the select committee to investi- gate the work of the Executive Departments, and on sev- eral different bills he was appointed conferee (1). It is not in keeping with the dignity of the senatorial toga for a new wearer of that mantle to display his talents too early on the floor, nor is he given the opportunity to do so in the committee rooms until he has held his seat success- fully in quiet for some time. But oftentimes from the very first such men are appointed conferees on important bills, along with others of longer experience and service. Where a bill having passed one House has passed the other Mouse of Congress with amendments, the bill is sent back to the House of origin for action of that House upon amendments, and if these amendments be not agreed to, then a conference is requested between the two Houses for the purpose of coming to an agreement and (usually ( 1 ) 49 Cong.. 2 Sess., p. 2663, also Index p. 104. 109 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY three) members of each House are designated as managers • Hi the pari of thai House, the two sels of managers acting ns a conference committee 1<> agree upon the differences of the two Houses. Alter an agreement is peached (lie conference report is signed by all of the members and this report is then submitted to each House for the purpose of ratification. When the committee appointments were read out at the opening of the first session of the fiftieth Congress i 1 i. in addition to being appointed conferee on twelve dif- ferent hills, he was given a place on the standing com- mittees on Agriculture and Forestry, on Claims, on In- dian Affairs and on Patents; and was appointed, along wiih Senator Hoar, of Massachusetts, as a visitor to in- sped the government Military Acadamy at West Point. A i the second session he was given two additional com- mit teee positions, on the committees on Enrolled l>ills and on [mmigration. 1 find that the discussion of the tariff covers most of the pages which record the doings of this session. Mr. .Tones attended constantly, most actively participating in the discussions, and repeatedly holding the floor for several minutes, though at no time making any very lengthy speech. His tariff record is pre- sented in chapters devoted to thai subject. Mr. Jones was the author of two bills of much inter est and benefit to portions of his constituency and of real good to the section through which the streams coursed their way. One of them (2l authorized the construction of a free bridge across the Arkansas Kiver connecting the (1) 50 Con?.. 1 Sess.. p. 16, also Index p. 419. (2) S. B. 2926. 110 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERR? two cities. Little Rock and Argenta. For many years the problem of transportation between these towns, one the capital of the State and the other a city of ten thous- and people and an important industrial center, had been a most serious one. And The bridge which was finally built, as a result of the efforts of Senator Jones, Con- gressman Terry and others, was hailed with delight. It has been of untold benefit, and a source of constant grat- ilication to the people of the two cities. The men who procured the legislation which authorized its construc- tion deserve the thankful praise of the entire Common- wealth for the act. The oilier bill (I s ) was of similar na- ture, authorizing the building of ;i bridge across the Ark- ansas River at Pine Bluff, Arkansas. These bills passed both Houses of the Congress, were approved and signed, receiving the sanction of the President of the United States. In the second session of the same Congress, Mr. Jones introduced another bill (21 alike successful of passage, authorizing the building of a bridge across the same river at Van Buren, Arkansas. At the fifty-second Congress he was continued on the committees of which he had been a member in the previous session, and was. in addition, appointed to the commit- tees on Interstate Commerce and the Reclamation of Arid Lands. He was the author of a bill which decided that a United States Military Post be established near Little Rock. It was in the second session of the fifty-third Con- (1) s. B. 2960. (2) S. B. 5072. Ill JAMES K. JO^ EB NEWBERRY gress thai Senator Jones probably performed his most significant and importanl senatorial service to the great political party to which lie belonged, and to the people. It w;is this year (1893) that the famous Wilson Tariff bill was passed. This was the first low tariff measure since the Civil War. and the work of Senator Jones, who was by this time the unquestioned leader of the Democratic party — which had jnst elected Cleveland for the second time — in the upper branch of Congress, consisted pri- marily in making this revenue tariff bill "palatable"* to a near-Republican Senate after it had passed the House. This he did by preparing amendments to the bill as it came from the Mouse. The Jones-Gorman Bill amended the Wilson Bill in six hundred, thirty-eight instances. He entered into the heat of the debate, showing the most skillful tact and diplomacy, as well as a profound knowl- edge of the subject-matter with which the tariff has to do. The record of this famous bill I 1 i is as follows: It came to the Senate, as indicated, as a House measure. When the Senate passed it. in amended form, it was re- ferred back to the House Committee on Ways and Means, was reported to the House by that Committee and debated, the House refusing to concur in the amendments of the Senate. A conference was appointed, which also made an unsatisfactory report. A second conference was then ap- pointed, which was soon discharged, like its predecessor, and that body, receding from its disagreement, passed the bill in its new form, as it had come from the Senate. Tt was examined and signed, and became law without the (1) H. R. 4*64. 112 JAMES K. JONES DEWBERRY approval-signature of the President, it having been pre- sented to him on the fifteenth of the month (It, and no1 having been returned by him, as is required, to the branch in which the measure originated within the time prescribed by the Constitution, it perforce becoming a law anyway, on August 29, I8!)f. .James K. .Jones was verily the second Eenry (May in the United States Senate, and this is per- haps the greatest single piece of work he ever did. III. In addition to being appointed to the same commit- tees as before. ;it the opening of the first session of the fifty-fourth Congress, Mr. .Jones was assigned to work not only in the group of men who at each session audit and control the contingent expenses of that body, and the special commit lees on the establishment of the University of the United States and on Corporations Organized in the District of Colombia; but he was also made a member of the standing Committee on Finance. This was undoubt- edly the most important committee of the Senate, and Mr. Jones's appointment came in recognition of his great abilities in such matters, as revealed chiefly in connection with tariff labors. There were three sessions of the fifty-third Congress. The first of these was another tariff session ; and it result- ed in the passage of a measure known as the Dingley Bill. In the debates .Mr. Jones took a most interesting and active part, both in discussion and in management. He was not. as in the previous session, in charge of the bill, for it was a Republican or high tariff measure. He fought ( 1 ) August. 113 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY its passage with all his might, presenting many off-setting amendments; but be and his colleagues were unsuccessful in blocking it. A I the second session he was appointed to member- ship in the additional committee to attend the Omaha Ex- position, and was made Chairman of the Committee on Private Land Claims, but was excused from service on ibis and on the Committee on Corporations Organized in the District of Columbia. At this session he introduced a bill 1 1 ) authorizing the Campbell-Lynd Bridge Company to construct a bridge across the Arkansas River at or near Webber Falls. Indian Territory. The bill passed both Houses and became law. In this session, too, he pre- sented another brief measure (2), authorizing the Choc- taw and Memphis Railroad Company to construct bridges over the Arkansas River and other navigable streams in the Stale. This likewise became law. Another bill (3) to the same effect gave permission to the St. Louis. Siloam and Southern Railway Company, of Missouri and Arkan- sas, to bridge White River, it too becoming law. A bill (4) presented by the Senator, providing for the making of rolls of citizenship of the live tribes in the In- dian Territory, and a \x'i\ important measure, was re- ferred to the Committee on Indian Affairs, but got no further. To the Senator's already long list of committee mem- berships was added, at the firsl session of the fifty-sixth (1) S. R. 4452 (2) S. B. 4891. (3) S. B. 5126. (4) S. B. 3432. 114 JAMES E. JONES SEWBERRY Congress, another in that on Relations with Canada. However, so far as the record shows, there was little work required of this committee at this time, as there was mi serious problem involving the relations between the two countries. Mr. Jones introduced a most important measure I I I at this session, which because of lack of time, failed to be debated and disposed of. It was calculated to ''prevent and punish blacklisting by railroad companies, sleeping car companies, express companies, steam-boat companies, telegraph and telephone companies engaged in interstate commerce." and providing "a civil remedy in damages for blacklisting." The bill was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, but got no further. Another of his important bills was one (2) "author- izing and directing the Secretary of the Interior to exam- ine certain classes of persons who owned and occupied buildings on the Hot Springs Mountain Reservation, " at Hot Springs. Arkansas, which had been condemned by the Hot Springs Commission and afterwards burned. Several individuals had sustained losses by the seemingly wanton disregard of private rights. The bill provided that a reasonable valuation be made of the property de- stroyed, and that payment be made to those individual for it. It was referred to the Committee on Public Lands, reported back in an amended form and passed the Senate. It was then referred to the House Committee on Claims, reported back, and the Congress adjourned before it had gone further. (1) R. B. 4f-isf). (2) s. R. 982. 115 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY At the second session, Senator Jones was, in addition to being placed upon the special Committee on the Inaug- uration of the President-elect of the United States, ap- pointed conferee on nine important bills. It was at this time that he introduced two bills of local interest, both of which only got to certain committees to which they were referred. One of these (1) provided for the purchase of a site and the erection of a public building thereon at Batesville, Arkansas. This bill passed the Senate, but in the House got no further than the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds. The other measure (2) pro- vided for a United States jail at Little Bock. It was re- ferred to the same committee of the Senate, but was never reported back. The fifty-seventh was the last of the Congresses of which Senator Jones was a member. He was honored by being placed upon the special committee which was made up of the most influential and best known men in that body, to "consider and report by what token of re- spect and affection it may be proper for the Congress of the United States to express the deep sensibility of the nation of the tragic death of the late President McKin- ley." The other members were Senators Foraker, Fair- banks, Kean, Aldrich, Nelson, Perkins, Morgan, Cock- rell and McEnery. In this last Congress he introduced several bills of more or less importance. They were as follows: A bill (3) providing for the purchase of a site and (1) S. B. 5376. (2) S. B. 5391. (3) S. B. 309. 116 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY the building thereon of a public structure at Batesville, Arkansas. It got uo further thau the Committee on Pub- lic Buildings and Grounds. A bill ( 1 1 compelling the recording of deeds and in- struments of writing in the Indian Territory. It was passed by the Senate, but got no further than the House Committee on Indian Affairs. A bill (2) allowing the Memphis, Helena and Louis- iana Railway Company to construct and maintain bridges across the Arkansas and White Rivers in the State of Arkansas. Let it be remembered that during the closing years of his senatorial career, from the time Senator Gorman went (Hit of the Senate, Senator Jones held the chairman- ship of the so-called Minority Conference in that body. This carried with it the position of floor leader. This Minority Conference is classed as one of the standing committees of the Senate, hut in reality it is simply the organization of the minority party, this minority being furnished with a committee room and a clerk and the chairman ranking as the floor leader of the minority. This is a position which is much sought on account of the fact that it carries the leadership, and after Senator Gor- man went out of the Senate and up to the time Senator Jones retired from the Senate, he was chairman of this Minority Conference. When Senator Jones went out of the Senate, Senator Gorman came in again and was elected chairman of this committee as Senator Jones's suc- cessor. The position, until recently, was held by Senator (1) S. B. 5678. (2) S. B. 1838 and 1839. 117 JAMES K. JOXES XEW BERRY Martin, of Virginia. As stated above only a few of the committees, confer- ences and managements of bills with which Mr. Jones was connected are cited here. Kven from this meager ac- count something of the wide influence which the Senator possessed, and the deference and respect which were al all nines shown him in the highest parliamentary body in the world, may be understood. 118 CHAPTER VII. BIG BATTLES FOR TARIFF REFORM— PART ONE There is no problem in the calendar of legislative dis- putes that has excited more widespread discussion, more hitler dissension, and hatreds more intense, than the question of whether the country's policy of internal taxa- tion should be one of high protection, or one simply calcu- lated to provide a sufficient revenue for the support of the national government. This has, almost since the founda- tion of the government, heen known as the tariff question. It was the plea of Hamilton, concededly the most bril- liant mind of the Revolutionary era, that a duty should be levied upon foreign imported manufactured goods, pri- marily that the expense of the national treasury might be paid. The hist tariff tax was accordingly laid, approxi- mating an ad valorem of five per cent. This was gradu- ally increased, until the period when Henry Clay begau to dominate the legislative affairs of the country. The first really "protective'' tariff was laid in 1816. The duties were around 20 per cent. The protective feature was new, and found its first great advocate in the young Kentuckiau. His plea in its behalf was a patriotic one. The government's obligations were fairly met, and the great debt of the Revolution was being rapidly liquidated, when the Second War for Inde- pendence came on, and again the vaults were drained, and the country came to the very verge of bankruptcy. What more plausible thing could have been advocated 119 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY than thai the young and struggling industries here, which sprang up immediately alter the war had ended success- fully for the United Stales, be given the benefit of national protection against the great and powerful competitors of other lauds? What argument could have been better cal- culated to stir (he pride of country, especially just after two successful struggles had been waged with the might- iest known power upon earth, than civic federal protec- tion to the infant heralds of the unparalleled advance upon which the young Republic was about to enter? Help these young fellows until they are big enough to de- fend themselves against the tyranny of foreign competi- tors, in comparison with which they are as the merest pygmies. When they are large the protection may be re- moved, and open competition between the marts of the world for the trade of the American consumer, will ensue. And the cause of high protection could have had no stronger advocate than the silver-throated orator of the young West. Successively the rates were raised, depending upon the popularity of the arguments in its behalf, in 1824, and 1828. The culmination of the alleged outrage occurred in 1828, when so high were the duties levied, especially upon the most common articles of necessity and every day use. that a mighty wave of protest arose throughout the land that the new tariff was "abominable." In response lo this feeling, the advocates of protection in Congress, who had been influenced by the interests which were no longer "infants," but full-grown institutions flourishing upon the ability of foreigners to compete with them over 120 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY the great wall, realizing that they had gone further than public sentiment would allow, slightly reduced the rates in L832. I.nt this was not enough. A sovereign State proceeded to nullify the act, and danger of secession from the union was imminent, even at this early date. The. young master of the lower House, who had already shown his greatest trait in compromising the Missouri difficulty, heroically threw into the breach his admirable bill of L833, calculated to gradually reduce the duties for nine years until they were again approximately twenty per cent. By this time the protectionists had shifted their ar- gument from the plea in behalf of infant industries to an appeal to the patriotism of the people by urging that they rally to the standard of the "home industries." This gathered thousands of supporters so that again and again the friends of the protection measure had succeeded in passing their hills, until the tariff of abominations had been reached. They had, however, gone too far, making the duties unbearable and detestable. It had taken the highest effort of the most skilled and influential legisla- tor of the half-century to adjust and compromise the battling forces. The next great tariff measure was one for revenue purely. The free list was extended, articles of ordinary use and common consumption were averaged at some- thing like thirty per cent, and the rates on luxuries were increased from forty to one hundred per cent. The new democracy of the West, with aid from the South, had suc- cessfully checked the movement which they believed cal- 121 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY culated to enrich the few at the expense of the masses who labored in the tields and produced the vast raw materials which clothed and fed the world, and who were practi- cally unprotected by the old measures. The rates levied by the act of 1846 proved simply large enough to tempt the manufacturing interests of Eu- rope iuto our markets, and so much did the revenues in- crease that the government had far more funds than were necessary to pay the expenses. Accordingly, another act was passed in 1857 which again lowered the rates to a uniform basis — this time, of twenty per cent. This was opposed by no political party. It had not yet become a line of cleavage between the two great political factions. There were other issues brewing, of still greater moment. Elates were raised, as a part of the general financial legislation, to meet the unexpected and exorbitant ex- penses of the War, in 1861. This was proper, of course. In 1864 they were put up still higher, being raised from thirty-seven to forty-seven per cent of the value of all imported goods. But the unjustifiable part of the tariff legislation of this government came after the War had ended, after the country had settled again to peaceful pursuits, and had entered upon a period of undreamed-of progress along all lines. Except in one instance — and that I shall later on discuss at length — the tariff has not been touched in this country, since the great fratricidal strife, but that it might be raised instead of lowered. There is no doubt that the high tariff on foreign imported goods stimulated home manufacturers to a great degree, and the necessity of in- 122 JAMES K. JONES \ EWBERIif cioased revenue made it entirely within the bounds of jus tiee that this be done. But these new rates were gener- ally looked upon, even by the manufacturers themselves, as only temporary. When, after the War, urgent efforts were made to reduce the rates, these manufacturers and their friends, strongly protesting, won their legislation, until the crisis of 1S7:> gave excuse for the restoration of what tew exorbitant duties, like those on tea, coffee, and other things not produced in this country, had been re- moved. This came in 1875. It is the foundation upon which our tariff system has since rested. High protection then began to rock along with little effective opposition, the rates becoming higher instead of lower, upon one pretext or another. But after the crisis of 1ST:! had passed away, and the country had settled down again, investments became more frequent and specu- lation came again to be indulged in without hesitancy, trade assumed its old proportions and even increased, and the national treasury was tilled again to overflowing. With this progress there came again, "with its old insist- ence," the demand for revision downward. It was in the decade following 1873 that for the first time the tariff became the all-absorbing topic of discussion and contest between the two great political parties of the country. Upon this question the rank and file of these parties had not been clearly divided, though for campaign purposes, and theoretically at least, the Republicans had favored, and the Democrats had opposed it. Tn 1882 there was a general and wide-spread demand from members of both parties that the rates be lowered. These rates still stood, 123 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY mind you, practically upon the old war basis. There was ;i conviction "abroad in the land" that the protective system, hitherto tolerated by the people, should not be- come the tixed revenue policy of the country. Responding to this general discontent, Congress au- thorized the appointment of a non-partisan tariff commis- sion, composed of nine outsiders, to investigate the whole schedule of rates then being charged upon articles which, but for the tariff wall, would be subject to competition in the opeu markets of the world. An Arkansan, by the way, was conspicuous in securing the appointment of this commission — Augustus fl. Garland, then a United States Senator. The commission did its work with the highest efficiency, and at the end of its investigation urged Con- gress to reduce the duties by from twenty to twenty-five per cent. But that high law-making body, despite the protest of the true patriots from both the Democratic and Republican parties, influenced by the appeals and power of the protected interests, listening to the siren voice which always in the interest of predatory wealth traduces and repudiates the sovereign power and will of the people, passed a haphazard measure which really amounted to a revision upward again, instead of down- ward. This nefarious law went upon the statute books as a Republican measure, and for the first time, in 1884, the sole issue of any importance between the parties was the tariff. The result was an overwhelming victory for the Democrats. In the great debates which for weeks occupied the at- tention and efforts of the ablest advocates both for and 124 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY against protection, two eminent Arkansans took a very leading part. One of these men had just begun a most interesting career of service in the lower House, and the other was at this time admittedly the learned lawyer of the United Slates Senate. Arkansas had not been so ably represented in the national legislature since the palmy days of Ashley and Sevier. These two commissioners of the trust and favor of the Commonwealth of Arkansas were A. 11. Garland and the brilliant and versatile .lames K. Jones. With all his might, in the staid and dignified upper body. Garland, who only a year later was to be taken out and given a place of national distinction in the cabinet of Grover Cleveland, was urging the repeal of the treacherous protective duties. In the lower House no man stood more unyieldingly than Mr. Jones for the prin- ciple of revision downward, upon the basis of tariff for revenue only, with incidental protection. Since coming to the American Congress, in 1880, the giant of the Arkansas pines had risen rapidly to a place of prominence and unchallenged leadership in that lower body. The first Congress in which he served (1) was "Re- publican. This, added to the fact that he was a new man, made it a certainty that he would receive an unimportant and obscure assignment on the committees. But he fought the battles of the Democracy, undiscouraged and unafraid, through what of this, his first session, his health permitted him to attend, to the very best of his strength and knowledge. The election spoken of above came in 1884, when he (1) The forty-seventh. 125 JAMES K. JOKES DEWBERRY had served his first term, and a little more, and the forty- eighth Congress was predominantly Democratic. In the race for the nomination for Speaker of the House, in the very beginning of that Congress, Mr. .tones became promi- nent as a supporter of one of the contestants. The two candidates for this place were Randall and Carlisle. The former was an old Democratic leader, from Pennsylvania, and of protectionist feelings. He was elected from a pro- tection district, on the understood condition that he would stand for the principle. .John G. Carlisle was a strong adherent of the principle of tariff for revenue only. Jn the contest for Speaker a grave question was at stake. It was whether the Democrats should open the tariff question. The Republicans had broken faith upon it, and Carlisle argned that it was the duty of the Demo- crats of the country's legislature to place upon the stat- ute books the reforms for which the party had stood. Randall thought that the Democrats should adopt the policy of "hands off," and that the matter should be left to the Republicans for solution. He was willing to do al- most anything in order that the tariff question might not be brought to an issue. Tims we see it was more than a contest merely between men for leadership. "To an out- sider it seems now." says Ida M. Tarbell lit, "as if the natural thing would have been for Randall to go over to the Republicans nt this juncture; but he believed, hon- estly no doubt, that he could force the Democrats back from the position they had taken, that he could, in fact, protectionize the Democratic party.'' (1) "The Tariff in Our Time," p. 134. 126 JAMES K. JOM s XEWBERRY But he was fighting against odds bigger than he real- ized. Carlisle was one of the strongest men al thai time ia the lower House, where he had sat since 1S77. Of lesser service than his opponent, he was nevertheless of larger caliber, his ability resting chiefly in his clearness of statements, his gravity and candor in argument, and his freedom from the trickery and deceits of partisan poli- tics. We have seen how the tariff had been the great issue in the election. There was nothing else for the Demo- cratic Mouse to do except to elect Carlisle its Speaker; and this it did. -lames K. Jones was one of Carlisle's chief advisors and counsellors, and was instrumental in obtaining ;i good majority of the representatives for him. As a kind of reward, and recognizing the great ability of the leader from Arkansas, the new Speaker placed him upon the most important of all the House commit- tees, that on Ways and .Means. This is an honor very seldom given to a representative just entering upon his second term in that body. The functions and duties of membership in this committee require the profoundest knowledge of all the leading questions, and especially of issues like the tariff. Long experience, too, is generally a requisite. Jones had the knowledge, but not the exper- ience, of long service. However, Carlisle trusted him, and, as we shall see. with the best of judgment. The chairman of the great Ways ami Means Commit- tee was Wm. If. Morrison of Illinois, a man of great ex- perience. He had been the first, after the war, to place before Congress a Democratic tariff bill. That was in 127 JAMES K. JONEB NEWBERRY 1875. This bill had been "speedily dropped" because the opposition to it was too strong at that time. When Ran- dall had succeeded Kern as Speaker in 1X7(5. he proceeded hi drop Morrison from Ihe committee. Hut the latter had been restored in 1879. Morrison's second measure for reform was presented in 1883. It was entitled "'a bill to reduce import duties ami war taxes." It was defeated by a vote of 159 to loo. though the Democrats had at that time a majority of eighty in the House. This shows the influence upon some of the Democratic representatives who should have en- acted reform, of the minions of wool, sujjjar, iron and steel. Mi-. .Tones took a prominent part in drawing up the measure which was presented in 1SS4. and was strong in his advocacy of low duties. Tt was at this session that the first of his series of admirable speeches on the subject was made, and it carried him with remarkable rapidity to a place of leadership in the party he represented. "The people of the United States." he said (1), "have been taxed not in proportion to their respective abilities, but really in proportion to their respective necessities." In his concise review of the record of high protection during the War period and following, he showed a won- derful knowledge and ability in tariff matters. He went straight at the heart of the problem. "Tt is better to pre- sent first the simple question," lie argued, "without side issues: Shall the country, twenty years after the close of the War. have a moderate reduction of war taxes? (1) 48 Cong.. 1 Sess., pp. 3032 f. 128 TAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY This is the question presented by this bill we answer when we cast our votes upon it We are collecting annually from eighty-six to one hundred million dollars more than the government needs." It had been esti- mated that the amount collected was from seven hun- dred, fifty to eight hundred million dollars per year. This was taken from the American people, the consumers, and went to the manufacturers, the producers. One estimate gave the amount as high as six hundred million. At no time in all his speeches, as the battle became more and more heated, did Mr. Jones show more clearly the wrong of the protective system than when he spoke the following words (1) : "To men who understand what human nature is, it is perfectly apparent that the object of imposing a protective duty upon any article is to com- pel the American consumer of it to pay a higher price for it than he would have to pay if there were no protec- tion." And then, with all the vitriolic denunciation of his spirit, he hurled at the protection champions the fol- lowing denunciation : "Those who divided among them- selves the raiment of the Savior of mankind had just as legal and valid a right to their plunder as have the parties Lo this iniquitous scheme to a vested right to go on with this plundering!" Especially was he bitter, too, in battling down the argument of those who said that protection shielded the American laborer from the pauper labor of Europe. He said: "The real interest of those protected in labor (2) are two-fold. One is to employ it at the lowest market (1) pp. 3035f. (2) i. e., the manufacturers. 129 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY rates, due regard being had to efficiency. And the other is to secure votes by inducing the laborers to believe that in some way they are interested in those indirect gains. The latter is the reason for the promises always made by our protectionists to protect our labor against the pauper labor of Europe. It is absolutely false. 'Hateful to me as are the gates of hell Is he who, holding one thing in his heart. Utters another.' "Real, intelligent protection," he concluded, "con- sists in effecting the highest possible intelligence in all our people, in cultivating independence and individuality Jill over the country, and by every means possible facili- tating the acquisition of rapid, cheap and safe transporta- tion of all machinery, supplies and appliances ot every na- ture to the mills with the fewest possible delays and at a minimum cost, instead of, as now delaying and ren- dering more costly to all our people all these things." II was by this speech that Mr. Jones came at once to be recognized as an authority on the subject of the tariff, and hailed in the ranks of the anti-protectionists as one of their strongest representatives. Thousands of copies of his able exposition were printed and distributed all over the nation. The call for copies was almost unprecedented since 1 the days of the great triumvirate of American ora- tory. A Washington correspondent to one of the larger dailies, said: "Mr. Jones's effort today was not only a source of great gratification to his Arkansas friends, but it was highly complimented by all who heard it. Tt is one of the chief topics of conversation this evening among 130 JAMES ft. JONES NEWBERRY members grouped about the hotels. While the friends of the bill are lavish in their praise of his effort, his enemies and political adversaries are outspoken of the merits of his speech, and say that it is the ablest argu- ment that has been made so far on that side of the ques- tion." This correspondent then went on to say,. speaking from the point of view of a denizen of the capitol — one who watches representatives and studies their respective abilities: "Mr. Jones is not only an ornament to his State, but is a credit to the country, and we have fre- quently heard it said here that if the next legislature of Arkansas (1) sees proper to make any change as to the United States Senators, they would certainly do a sensi- ble thing in sending Mr. Jones here as the colleague of A. II. Garland." How closely that Arkansas legislature followed, the next year, this wise suggestion, we have ob- served in another chapter. One of the papers published in Mr. Jones's congres- sional district (2) had this to say of his speech upon t!i<" Morrison Bill : "The discussion of the Morrison Bill goes on apace, and some very able speeches have already been made that give an impetus to the discussion far beyond any other measure thai has received the attention of Congress this session. The speech made on the sixteenth by Hon. James K. Jones, from our second district, is pro- nounced by both the friends and foes of tariff reform as the ablest argument presented in defense of the measure." (1 i This was just the year before Mr. Jones was sent to the U. S. Senate for the first time. (2) The second' congressional district of Arkansas. 131 JAMES K. JOXES NEWBERRY The paper, too, went on in a complimentary tone: "The second congressional district, and the whole State, are to be congratulated that the services of such men are to be secured to represent them in the councils of the Na- tion. The State lias a right to feel a just pride in the ability with which she is now represented in Congress." Still another paper, (lie Camden Beacon, speaking of the man and his speech, said: " We want to say now thai the district doesn't contain an abler or more worthy man to succeed James K. Jones than James K. •bmes himself, tie lias proven himself to be among the ablest men in Congress, and is not only a monument to our State, but is a credit to our country. His recent ef- forts on the tariff bill proved him to be among the ablest debaters of the House, and it is not only a source of grati- fication to his Arkansas friends, but has elicited merited compliments from all who heard him. Even his political enemies and the adversaries of the bill were outspoken in talking of the merits of his speech, putting it as the ablest argument yet made on that side of the question. Again we say. let James K. Jones be his own successor!" This was Mr. Jones's first and last great speech upon the tariff question in the lower House. His first great battle for tariff reform ended in defeat for the cause, the bill being voted down by Randall Democrats and Republi- cans. It was a personal victory for him, nevertheless. It was distinctly a Jones, not a revenue tariff, triumph. 132 CHAPTER VIII. 151(1 BATTLES FOR TARIFF REFORM— PART TWO As the time for the National Democratic Convention approached, the country realized that the breach between the two tactions of the party was widening instead of healing, and that a great fight was about to take place over this problem of tariff reform. "This fight," says Tarbell, "was one of the most stubborn and prolonged in the history of conventions." The result was a compro- mise between the opposing elements, a plank pledging the party to "correct the irregularities of the tariff and to reduce the surplus so as to relieve the tax-payers without injuring the laborers or the great productive interests of the country." It was on this kind of a tariff plank that Grover Cleveland was first elected President of the United States over Jas. G. Blaine. The tariff issue thereby went into Cleveland's hands. He was not to be found advocating any radical measure at the beginning of a first term of office, for he knew that the Carlisle-Randall breach had not been healed in the House, that the party which had united to choose him was nevertheless divided in that legislative hall. Though his first message showed that his sympathies were with the former in that struggle, he was nevertheless cautious. "I think," he said, "the re- duction should be made in the revenue derived from a tax upon the imported necessities of life. The question of free trade is not involved, nor is there any occasion for 133 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY the discussion of the wisdom or experience of a protective .system." He assured the protected manufacturers that their interests would not be impaired. Mr. Morrison again introduced the bill for revision downward, this time with a less radical lowering of the rates; but it was again defeated at the hands of the Ke- publicans and Randall Democrats. The next year of his term, Cleveland sent a second message, this time more urgent than the first, and Morrison tried to get his bill considered, but again it was voted down. Congress ad- journed, March, 1887, having done nothing in the matter; and the country's interests were sacrificed to the fear of partisan advantage, while poor Cleveland was sacrificed upon the altar of derisive charges of inability to meet the crying need of the hour. The surplus in the treasury increased. The unneces- sary taxation of high protection was the obvious cause. The task, said Cleveland, was not one of devising ways to spend its surplus, but of decreasing it by striking out the cause. He devoted his whole third message to the sub- ject. He stated that the farmer got no benefits from pro- tection, that on the other hand the manufacturers alone Were benefitted, until they became trusts. This was in 1887. His great phrase, since quoted so often it has be- come famous, was used in this message: "It is a condi- tion which confronts us — not a theory." He urged that Congress enter upon its debates of this condition in a spirit above all partisan feeling, to '"consider it in the light of that regard for patriotic duty which should char- acterize the actions of those intrusted with the weal of a 134 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY coniiding people." The necessity of action was plainly put up to Congress — they must do something to relieve the situation. The President had done his full duty, and he awaited the result. This result was all that could be wished — for him. fie was praised throughout the country for his courage, fie was eveu compared to Abraham Lincoln. Sentiment on the tariff began to crystalize, even in Congress. Ran- dall's day was past. The Republicans determined that the "reforming" must be done by the friends and not the ene- mies of protection. Alas, that Morrison was defeated for re-election to Congress in fSSb! The Republican plau was temporarily thwarted. fJ. Q. Mills, of Texas, an avowed free-trader, was placed at the head of the Ways aud Means Committee in the House, and of course drew the bill that was presented. After a month's debate it was passed by a vote of f 02 to Iff. in the meantime James K. Jones had been sent to the Senate, succeeding the Hon. J. D. Walker. A full account of his election is given in a former chapter of this volume. He was by this time (fj, excepting possi- bly A. H. Garland, the most prominent man in the State he represented : certainly he was the most distinguished representative from Arkansas in Congress. Garland was at this time in the Cabinet. The tariff bill, when it reached the Senate, was placed in charge of a sub-committee, of which Allison, of iowa, who had stood for a reduction of the war duties as cir- cumstances might permit, w r as chairman. After em- (1) 1888. 135 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY ploying a tariff expert, Colonel Tichner, to draw up a meas- ure embodying his idea of protection, a bill which at al- most every vical point was in contrast to the Mills Bill, he submitted it to the Senate for debate. Even at this early time in his service, it is perhaps safe to say that, with the possible exceptions of Allison and Aidrich, no man in the upper chamber of Congress wielded a more potent influence than Mr. Jones. Like the rest of the Democrats at the time, his chief argument against the substitute or amended bill was that it pro- vided for a tarilf that was an unjust tax working injury to the people. "Any tax," he said (1), "if unfairly or improperly levied and collected, is an injury to the public, to the State, and of the very gravest character, amounting to a crime." The supreme injustice lay in the fact that high protection rates, while laid, though indirectly, upon the consumer, were collected by the manufacturers. •When the government, not needing the revenue," he said, "deliberately levies a tax upon an article so high as to prevent importation, so as to defeat the collection of any revenue, to increase the cost to the consumer, and to raise the prices received by the manufacturers, then, while the pretense is that the object is to raise revenue for the gov- ernment, the real purpose is to lay a tax upon all consum- ers to be collected by the manufacturers." In reply to the argument of Mr. Jones and other Democrats that the tariff simply meant that the citizen consumer was compelled to pay, say, five dollars a pair for shoes while without the tarilf he would only have to (1) 50 Cong., 1 Sess., pp. S720f. 136 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY pay three, the Republicans cried out that without the tariff the shoes could neither be bought for five nor three dollars, because then the citizen would have no money to buy anything, since he would have no work. This was nothing more nor less than the old argument that protec- tion protects American labor by assuring high wages. The Democratic members from the South were told (hat the new era which had followed the Civil War was one when all men, freedmen and formerly free, black and white, were now ottered a wider opportunity than before. Strongly disgusted with this slur upon the slave system of the Old South, Mr. Jones replied: "We have been told in glittering generalities about the brotherhood of man,' the 'dignity of labor,' and the great importance of the American workingman. Any amount of eloquence, pathos and gush has been expended upon him here and elsewhere, and in many instances with the fervor and spirit of him who thanks God that he is not as other men. Those of us who come here from the South have been tormented with the fact that slavery once existed in our section of the Union " "Mr. President, the wrongs of African slavery have been often and pathetically told; the marring effect of that great curse upon the prosperity of our great country has been argued with great force; the inhumanity of the system has stirred the deepest feelings at the North ; but the time never was when any slave-holder would have insulted a slave by considering him for one moment worth only the miserable, paltry sum of $675.66! This is the amount calculated that the manufacturers put upon free 137 JAMES K. JON EH NEWBERRY labor, whose grinding extortions render insignificant the barbarity of the Egyptians, who "made the children of Israel to serve with vigor, and made their lives bitter with hard bondage,' which called down upon that wicked and selfish people the vengeance of an offended God." A little further on he said, again referring to the cost of slaves: "I have often been told that slave labor could not compete with free labor, and have heard that the reason for it was that it cost too much. 1 had always supposed that this cost of slave labor came from the wastefulnesss and bad management and want of thrift which f have been told characterized slave-holders. But I never for an instant, until I made this calculation, sup- posed that it was because a slave had a greater cash value than au American freeman, i had always supposed that the same man was worth twice as much to society and to his employers as a free man, as he was to his master ;is a slave; and never till these figures removed the scales from my eyes did I know that a freeman, intelligent, in- dustrious, skilled and educated, was worth less in money than an unlettered, untutored slave. But thus it is writ- ten by the hard taskmasters of our American cotton mills." Perhaps more forceful with certain elements than the sarcastic words just quoted was his proof, by argu- ment and accurate citation, that "no higher wages are paid in protected than in unprotected countries," all tilings considered. But above all the arguments made on either side of the question, Mr. Jones believed the tariff problem a inat- 138 JAM MS K. JONES NEWBERRY ter which the country itself, and not the Congress, should determine and decide. No expression of the man, in all his public debates and private letters that I have read, more strongly emphasizes his confidence in his judgment of the people than the following: '"The plain, practical commou sense of the masses must at last determine this great problem, and we had best consider the lights in which ii may appear to them Our people are slow to make important changes in matters of public policy. This conservation is perhaps more strongly marked in our race than in any other on the face of the earth." lie believed, morover, that the protectionist sympa- thizers in the country at huge were vastly in the minority, that the real sentiment of the country was against any tariff which stood for higher rates than simply enough to furnish revenue to the government. He said: "Despots and tyrants in past ages were able to maintain their con- trol over their people only by divisions among them, fomented by the hireling minions of power. The hydra- headed monster which is now absorbing the entire wealth of the nation must, if it retains its grasp upon the coun- try, resort to these tactics. It is clearly in the minority; [(tree will not serve its purposes now; fraud and decep- tion, and the corrupting power of money, are the only means by which it can hope to control the majority." Senator Jones spoke for a little over an hour. I give here in simple outline a few of the other arguments than those quoted from above, which he made in this speech, following his own resolution that the President's mes- sage, which had come the previous December, be referred 139 ■JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY to the Committee on Finance. Our fabric, he argued, was protected by the bill against the foreign fabric, while there was no protection to our labor against foreign labor. The share of capital had been unduly great, and that of labor unduly small. Money had been regarded as of more value, rela- tively, than men. If the manufacturer, he stated, sold ten times as much of the article protected as was im- ported, the result was that he, in his increased prices, collected ten times the tax that the government collected. The proper purpose of taxation is to raise money for pub- lic uses, and excludes any idea of private benefit or gain. "No beneficent exemption," he said, "in favor of the family and the home find their place upon the national statute books, but on the contrary, as if the home and family were institutions to be taxed out of existence, the burdens of taxation are nicely arranged and adroitly adjusted to bear directly upon them, and with a weight increasing as the scale of poverty increases. .... It is a tax upon consumption, a tax upon liberty, a tax upon poverty, but not a tax upon property." This Mas the first great speech that Mr. Jones made in the United States Senate. It was practically his maiden effort; and it immediately placed him in the front rank of that body. He delivered it on the nineteenth of September (1), and a few days afterward it was discussed in all the leading Washington and New York papers, and by practically all the leading news-sheets in Arkansas. The Washington Herald, at the nation's capital, said (1) :, (1) 1SS8. (2) Sept. 30, 188S. 140 JAMES K. JONES \EWBERRT There has beeii so much talk upon the tariff question this session in both Houses of Congress that it has been deemed almost an impossibility that anything new or in- teresting could be said about it so late in the session. But the speech of Hon. Jas. K. Jones, of Arkansas, last week, has demonstrated that this impression was not cor- rect. What Senator Jones had to say was so strong and fresh a presentation of the Democrats' side of the tariff matter lhat it was not only considered as perhaps the ablest speech that has been made in the Senate from the Democratic point of view, but has received the compli- ments of even the Republicans for the logical man- nei in which he presented the case. There was only a fair, clear, common sense explanation of the prominent features of the question, and the reasons for the high reputation which this gentleman established while a mem- ber of the Ways and Means Committee of the House for accuracy, strong statements of party questions, in which the people want, not words, but reasons and information on what has come to be the leading issue in American politics. Senator Jones has thus honored in the highest the party as well as the constituency which has placed him where he is." Said the Arkansas Gazette, editorially (X) ■ "This speech places him, almost at a single bound, in the front rank of sensational debate. Tt was not a mere tariff speech, on a subject become hackneyed from universal discussion. Tt was an argument, rather, in favor of a return to constitutional taxation, a fair re-adjustment (1) Sunday. Sept. 30. 1888. 141 ./ 1 l//;.s K. JONES NEWBERRY of public burdens, and an equitable distribution of legis- lative conditions, that commends itself at once to the common sense and common honesty of the American pub- lic." It went on to add: "Senator Jones's speech met with an enthusiastic reception, and is being scattered in profusion throughout the United States as a valuable con- tribution to the Democratic national campaign." On another page of the same issue is to be found a full synop- sis of the speech. A Washington correspondent, in a letter to the Ark- ansas Democrat, cave a very trne-to-iife description of the effect the speech made upon the Senators. He wrote (1) : "Our senior senator-, James K. Jones, delivered the plainest and most effective speech ur»on the tariff that has yet been made. This is the verdict of our people here generally, and many kind words have been uttered for Arkansas upon the strength of his speech. As Sena- tor Jones concluded his remarks the Democrats in the chamber one and all gathered around his: desV nn^ fairly showered him with praises com r>li meriting him unon his diligence and ener Wilson Bill, and the number was afterwards increased to six hundred thirty-five. These amendments were in every material instance sub- mitted by Mr. Carlisle to the President, who in turn agreed that if nothing better could be done the bill should be thus amended in accordance with the agreements made with the recalcitrant Senators. The measure now per- force approached the McKinley Bill, already a law. And for this the Democrats who had it in charge and who were responsible for its final passage have been unjustly ac- cused of having played into the hands of the Republicans. This charge is untrue as it is grave. As Mr. Jones said, they had either to pass an amended and compromise measure, or else acknowledge to a failure to pass any sort of Democratic bill at all. It was, in short, the best the 159 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY Democrats could do, at this time and under the circum- stances which I have set forth. So the Wilson Rill passed the Senate in a mutilated form, under the wise management of James K. Jones. It was then returned to the House Committee, which re- fused to accept the amendments. A conference was held, but no good came of that. In the debate which followed in the House Mr. Wilson read a long letter from President Cleveland to Mr. (Patchings, of Mississippi which "voiced his (1) pain and disgust at the outcome of the long fight and counselled resistance to the miserable com- promises which filled the bill." It might be stated here that it was the genera! impression that in this denuncia- tion he intended to include "the plumed knight." As I have said, however, none of the material amendments pro- posed in the Senate to the Wilson Bill were agreed to by Senator Jones until submitted to the Secretary of the Treasury for the consideration of the President, and these amendments were agreed to as being the best that could be done under the circumstances, according to Mr. Cleve- land's advice and request. This letter elicited a storm of protest against the President by the Democrats in the Senate who had stood so loyally together for what they believed the only result at all consistent with Democratic principles, which could succeed. In this fight on Cleveland, Mr. Jones joined, though somewhat reluctantly. He feared dissensions and a breach in the ranks of the Democratic party, which might cause its failure at the polls. He knew, however, that (1) Cleveland's. 160 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY Mr. Cleveland bad urged thai a bill of some sort be passed, and that he had told the Democratic Senators to go ahead and do the best they could. The letter to Mr. Catchings made the Senators furious, and they stubbornly refused to recede one particle from the amendments they had made. Finally, the House gave in, and on May thirteenth passed the amended measure by a vote of 182 to 106. Mr. Wilson was of course greatly disappointed, but he himself believed that the bill was far superior to that of which McKinley had been the author. Tt became a law without his signature, August 27, 1894. After the reading of the Catchings letter Mr. Jones went to the White House while Mr. Cleveland was Presi- dent but one time, and then he went at the written request of the President. Several months after the Wilson Bill had become a law, Mr. Cleveland sent a note to Mr. Jones's residence requesting that he come to the White House that evening. At the time stated, the Senator presented himself and Mr. Cleveland in the privacy of his office said he was very much disturbed to know that Senator Jones thought he (the President) had intended to include him in the category of traitors as denounced in the Catchings letter. The Senator informed the President at that time that not only he but his friends and the public a1 large were of the same opinion and that, knowing his efforts had met the private approval of the President, he resented such double dealing. Mr. Cleveland assured Senator Jones that he bad no intention of reflecting upon him in the slightest degree, and stated that he wished him to know that fact; but Mr. Cleveland had never the moral 161 JAMES K. JOXEft NEWBERRY courage to publicly make the statement he called Mr. Jones to his office to make to him privately. Surely it is not too much to say that it was chiefly due to the untiring energy and conscientious efforts, added to the compromising and conciliating, Henry Clay manner of Senator .Jones, that the Wilson Bill ever passed the devious ways of senatorial dispute, and was placed upon the statute books as the first Democratic tariff law since 1857. Even David Hill, who consistently refused through- out the proceedings and debates upon the bill to have any- thing to do with it, said of Mr. Jones, even before the lat- ter's work was finished and the bill passed: "During all the tariff debates, during all the preparation of this bill, that Senator lias exhibited most wonderful patience and sagacity. He lias treated every citizen and every Senator with the greatest respect. No matter how this debate may terminate, no matter whether the bill passes or not, I say that the Senator from Arkansas — and in paying this compliment I do not discriminate against anyone else — has won the esteem and respect of his countrymen everywhere." And the Boston Herald, upon whose edi- torial page this tribute of Senator Hill's was printed, added the comment: "That is as handsome as it is de- served." A prominent Eastern newspaper correspondent met the Washington representative of the Arkansas Democrat in one of the hotels of the capital some months after the debate had ended. He accosted him about as follows (1) : "Arkansas must be a great state in every way. Last (1) Arkansas Democrat, December 17, 1895. 162 / I 1A/;n A -. JONES NEWBERRY year while the great tariff fight was on I came in contact daily with your Senator .Tones, and I'll tell you he's about the best informed man on the tariff in the United States, and I don't except McKinley or Morrison. Why, he knows tariff schedules like a school-boy knows his alphabet. And the way he handled the bill in committee stamped him as a big man. If it had not been for Jones's good work with Gorman. Bryce, Smith and Murphy, they never would have voted for such a bill as was finally passed. Jones got concessions from them that no other member of the Senate could have obtained, and but for him no tariff law would have been enacted at all." This was true, for Jones had gone to them separately, as has been seen above. Men like Senators Harris and Vorhees had absolutely despaired of bringing these men to support any tariff revision downward to anything like a revenue basis. "But," said the reporter, "Jones was persistent in securing their votes, without which no bill could be passed; and finally he succeeded." It was a vexatious duty, requiring diplomacy and patience, but Jones never gave up, and the greater part of the honor for the repeal of the McKinley law justly belongs to "the Plumed Knight of Arkansas." But for his vast fund of tact and patience the promise of the Democratic party to the people, which had been reiterated in every platform since 1870. would not have been redeemed. "Yes, sir," the correspondent concluded, bringing down his fist emphati- cally upon the table where he sat, "Jones is a big man. and Arkansas should be proud of him!" An incident occurred, in the heat of the debate, which 163 JAMES K. JOXES 'NEWBERRY at once authoritatively voices the confidence of the Senate in the man, and moistens the dry discussion with the shower of honest compliment. They were discussing the duty on marble, and it had been insinuated that Senator- Harris, of Tennessee, had been looking too closely after the interests of his State in his championing of the duty on this product. Harris was one of the right-hand men of Senator .Jones in charge of the bill on the Senate floor. Jones immediately cleared the mind of the Senate of any such suspicion against Harris by a remarkable argument which consisted chiefly in an astounding array of figures relative to that commodity, when Senator Hoar, the "grand old man" of Massachusetts, arose and said that it was a remarkable thing to him that Senator Jones should he able to remember, without written copies of them, the duties on the different commodities in such amazing detail. And concluding his expression, he said (1) : "In regard to my honorable friend from Arkansas, I have been frequently astonished, 'That one small head could hold in all he knew.' " But of all the tributes spoken or written of Senator Jones's ability ;is shown in this great conflict, I believe that none is al once so true, so authentic, and so to the point, as that of I). F. Murphy, Official Beporter of the T nited States Senate, who witnessed every scene and heard every word of the debate upon this and all the other ; ssues of the time. When in a later campaign a political opponent was charging that Mr. Jones was an incompe- tent chief, a failure in managing Democratic measures, with especial emphasis upon his work in handling the (l) p. 5932. 164 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY Wilson Bill, Mr. Murphy's letter to Senator Jones, writ- ten several years before, was published in refutation. It so clearly shows his idea of the statesmanship and wis- dom and tact of the subject of this biography, that 1 feel it wise to quote it here in full : OFFICIAL REPORTER'S OFFICE, UNITED STATES SENATE, WASHINGTON, D. C, August 9, 1894. Hon. Jas. K. Jones, U. S. Senate, Dear Senator: — For more than a month past I have felt like writing to you to express my sentiments as to your conduct on the revenue bill of the present session during its tedious progress through the Senate — senti- ments which I have expressed in conversation to several. But the condition of my health was such that until re- cently I was not able to do any writing except of a mere formal character. Now that I am improving I take ad- vantage of the removal of some restrictions by my physi- cians to address you a few words, which I hope will not offend that modest reserve which is so marked an attribute of your character.. . (1) I have been for nearly forty- seven years connected with the reporting of the Senate, and for more than a quarter of a century of that time have been at the head of the reporting service, so that I have had some opportunity of observation. I can truth- • fully say that, during all that period, / have never seen a finer display of those qualities which fit a leader for the successful guidance of a great measure through the shoals and quick-sands of legislation, than has been e.rliibited by you at the session of Congress soon to close. The man- (1) Italics are mine. 165 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY agement of any important bill in a body like the Senate, is a very arduous, complicated and difficult task, and this is especially so in the case of a revenue bill affecting the various industries of the country and practically every Mian, woman and child within its borders. In 1850 I saw Henry Clay, who had returned to the scene of his former greatness only to secure the settlement of the slavery question, report from his famous committee of thirteen an omnibus compromise bill, which was to heal the "five gaping wounds'' in the body politic, so eloquently depicted by him. I saw him for months pressing his pet measure and urging its passage by the Senate by argu- ment, appeal and entreaty, but all to no effect. His omnibus bill was dashed to pieces on the hard rocks of legislation. Then 1 saw Senator Pierce, of Maryland, with remarkable skill and tact, pick up the "dejecta membra," and secure the passage, as separate bills, with slight modifications, of that series of measures which Mr. Clay had vainly attempted to pass as one combined whole. Subsequently, I saw Senator Hunter, of Virginia, lead the majority of the Senate to many brilliant financial victories, notably in the coinage act of 1853, and the tar- iff act of 1857. During the Civil War, the era of restitution and the period immediately following, I saw Fessenden, Sherman and Edmunds lead triumphantly their followers to many a legislative victory. But then they always had a large, and sometimes overwhelming, majority to back them. I saw the tariff legislation of 1883 and 1890, con- 166 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY ducted to a successful issue uuder the wise and able lead- ership of Morril, Allison, Sherman and Aldrich. But none of these statesmen were environed by such difficulties as confronted you. You had a bare majority at your back, and it was a delicate task to keep it intact from all the open and covert attacks of the enemy. That you were able to preserve your column unbroken till the goal was reached by the passage of the bill, is creditable to your genius and skill. During the three months when the bill was under consideration by the Senate, you never once lost your temper, and never spoke an unnecessary word. You were ready to explain where explanation was really needed; but no talk or provocation could induce you to consume time uselessly. You have my unbounded admiration for the remarka- ble judgment and skill you displayed in the parliamen- tary management of this great measure. 1 do not feel like closing without a reference to some of the prominent men who have preceded you in the repre- sentation of Arkansas in the Senate. (Here he praises, briefly, Seveir, Sebastian, and Garland). To be the tit successor of such great men is of itself do small distinction; but you have achieved eminence in a path which was not open to any of them. While Ark- ansas has in the Senate such men as yourself and your present able, honest and efficient colleague (Senator Jas. H. Berry), she need fear no comparison with any of her sisters in the bright constellation of our indivisible and perpetual Union. Yours sincerely, D. F. MURPHY, 167 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY It was this bill which Senator Jones with such ad- mirable skill steered through the Senate of the United States, of which Colonel Mills said, while the measure was waiting for the President's signature: "It is the most remarkable measure that has ever found its way upon the statute books of any country. It is a phenome- non in political science." Discussing it further, he stated that perhaps it would not exactly suit as many as one thousand people in the whole United States. But, he said, it had been a choice between it and the McKinley Bill. "We all voted for it," he said. "We passed it We all found ourselves 'between the devil and the deep blue sea,' and we went to the sea rather than see the country go to the devil. We have no apologies to make for it. It was the best we could do under the circumstances. . " (1) And Colonel Mills voiced the feeling of Senator Jones when he said further: "We do not all accept this as a tinal settlement of the cpiestion of tariff reform. We have climbed to the outpost that defended the citadel of the enemy, and we intend to push the contest until we camp within the gates of the city and sweep the streets of tha< enemy and take everything from him." (1) The italics are mine. 168 CHAPTER X. BIG BATTLES FOR TARIFF REFORM— PART FOUR But the Wilson Bill when passed was far from being satisfactory to the people; and the election which took place two months after its passage returned a large ma- jority of Republicans to Congress. In fact, the dissatis- faction with the Wilson Bill was just as great, if the Re- publican majority returned is any criterion by which we may judge, as it had been in 1892 with the McKinley Bill. The new House contained 240 Republicans, 104 Democrats and 7 Populists, and 35 of the Republicans came from the South. One great cause of this change was, of course, the new tariff measure; but it cannot be said that there was nothing else. In fact, some doubt that the tariff was the chief issue in the campaign. I am rather inclined to believe that the defeat of the Democrats was due to the injecting of the free silver question so prominently into the campaign, and to other things as well, which I will aention presently. Many of the elections to Congress were not influenced by the tariff measure. \n 1804. when these elections took place, it was ex- tremely uncertain which party, as a national organization, would champion the new cause of free silver. Several Republican State Conventions declared for it, while the Cleveland, or dominant, faction of the Democratic party, was bitterly opposed to it. The Westerners, Democrats and Republicans alike, wanted it, to satisfy their silver- poor constituents. Perhaps the very strongest reason for the overthrow of the Democrats in the national legislature was the panic 189 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY of 1S93, and the mouths of hard times which had followed it. The Democrats could uot have been the cause of this panic, because it was upon the country before they came into power. It was more nearly the result of the Mc- Kinley Bill. That measure was the revenue "law of the land" from 1890 to 1894. Many products had fallen off in price during those years, and had revived again in 1894. This tendency was shown in most of the articles on which the McKinley Bill had placed prohibitory duties, such as woo!, pig iron and steel rails. Take the latter commodity, for instance. The McKinley Bill placed a prohibitory duty of $13.41 per ton upon it, and the first year it fell in price to |29.91, and later even lower than that. The Wilson Bill reduced the rates to $7.84 per ton, and the price rose again. It was the same with woolen goods, and other commodities of large consumption. But there is no question about the failure of the Wilson Bill to produce the revenue expected of it. It will be remembered that imported raw sugar was to be taxed under the new law. To prevent the immediate effect of this upon them, the sugar refiners had bought up large quantities, enough to do for months ahead, before the bill went into effect. The government was thus deprived of much revenue from the tax which would have been paid upon the raw sugar which they needed, had they not done this. This is but one instance of how the government was really robbed of revenue. Cleveland's first year (1) saw an increase of |70,000,00U in the national debt which he inherited from Harrison and the McKinley Bill. Then, too, the income tax, which was a part of the (1) Second term, of course. 170 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY new bill and upon which the Democrats counted for an enormous revenue, was declared unconstitutional by the supreme court. The Republicans in the House naturally took their recent election to mean that they should go ahead and enact another protective tariff. Dingley, an old and ex- perienced statistician who had held many important si ale offices, including that of Governor of his Common- wealth, reported the new measure as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, in December, 1895, a few days after Congress assembled, it passed the House without delay. But, to show how strongly free silver had become an issue by this time, the Senate Finance Committee, of which Mr. Jones was a member, refused to even report the tariff bill, and recommended that the necessary revenue be raised by the free coinage of silver, instead of by the higher duties of a new tariff. As the time came on for another presidential election, it became more and more evident that the tariff would be given a secondary place. Nevertheless, the Republicans were anxious to make it prominent and to place McKinley, the author of the former high protection bill, upon the ticket as their candidate. This they succeeded in doing, and their platform declared for protective revision, and against free silver. On the other hand, the silver issue was so prominently championed in the great Democratic Convention, which met shortly afterwards, that many of the Silver Republicans went over to them. Such leaders as McKinley and Lodge, half bimetallists as they were, were forced to take sides against it, because the Demo- 171 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY crats were for it. The extraordinarily prominent part which Mr. Jones took in this campaign is told in another chapter. lie that as it may, McKinley, upon his election, did not go to talking at once of sound money or the gold standard. He went back to his old hobby for which he had such a righteous zeal — the raising of revenue by high protection. (So the efforts of the new Dingley measure were toward replacing the Wilson ad valorem duties with specific rates, though Mr. Dingley stated that his effort was to keep those rates nearer to the duties of the Wilson .Bill than those of the McKinley measure. A few rates were even higher, however, than had been assigned even by the McKinley Bill. Wool, lumber, cotton bagging, salt and other commodities which the Wilson Bill had placed upon the free list, were now to be taxed. The bill (1) as passed by the House came to the Sen- ate proper from its Finance Committee for debate, with amendments. Of this committee at this time Nelson Aldrich was chairman. As stated above, Mr. Jones was perhaps the most prominent Democrat on this committee, and perhaps of the whole party, except Mr. Bryan. Cer- tainly no Senator was more widely known, not merely as a wise political manager, but as a statistician who knew tariff' schedules thoroughly, and as a statesman of right- eous views. There were many provisions in the Dingley Bill as it came to the Senate Finance Committee, to which he ob- jected, and throughout the debate he threw the weight of his mighty influence against them. Not that he thought (1) H. B. 379. 172 JAMES K. JONES \ II W BERRY himself able to block its passage, for he believed that its success was assured by the Republican majority in that body; aud it is iu the earnestness, diligence and effort with which he proceeded, after the taxing labors of the national campaign of 1896 aud in the most exhausted physical condition, to fight in a losing cause with even perhaps a more zealous effort than that with which he had fought in the winning cause of the Wilson measure, that I think we see the real greatness of the man. I know of no other instance which better shows his righteous attitude and statesmanlike view toward public measures, nor his faithfulness to his constituents and the people at large, than this masterful struggle when he knew there was so little hope for success. It sometimes takes little else than a knowledge of the subject to lead a host to victory : it takes a dauntless heart and a courage unspeakable to fight for the right against overwhelming odds, especially at the expense of health and at the risk of life. He re- minds me of Clay, though not as old as Clay at the time Clay came back, or Calhoun, though not so bitter as he, coming back to the Senate to fight the peoples' battles when the odds seemed to be against him. Calhoun lost, and Clay only won a temporary victory. Jones lost this time, but that reflects no weakness. The world is in the habit of judging exclusively by apparent success. A man who was in the Senate at the time of this debate, and heard every bit of it, and took part in it himself, told me that Jones's struggle against the enactment of the Ding- ley measure was not only a masterly stroke of ability, but one of the few mightiest evidences he ever saw, during 173 ./ I 1//;n A". J0NE8 NEWBERRY eighteen years of service in that body, of holy zeal for the interests of the common people of this country. In what striking contrast appears the laz} r attitude, the dwaudling away of time for which the people pay, the reckless indifference of some of our legislators of the pres- ent day, toward questions of the supremest moment to the teeming masses ! And now let us examine some phases of that titanic struggle in which Mr. Jones fought a losing cause, for the people of Arkansas and the Union. Among other things, the bill as it came to the Senate provided for a twenty per cent ad valorem upon raw cotton. It was a play to the Southern cotton growers, the farmers, that the higher rate might later be imposed upon the manufactured pro- duct of the staple. Mr. Jones, from the riches of exper- ience, hurled his words of bitterest opposition against the duties levied for such unholy purposes, and voiced his belief that the masses would reject it (1) : "Mr. Presi- dent, I am a cotton grower. 1 have lived all my life on a cotton farm, and if any man living has a deep sympathy with the struggling thousands engaged in this business, I have. But I have too high an opinion of these people to fear that they can be injured by this movement (to win their support of a high duty on the manufactured product) These people cannot be caught with that sort of stuff. The cotton growers of the South have ;is much sense as that class of people anywhere else in this country, or anywhere else in the world. They will see through this pretense.. .Then will see through all this (1) Mr. Jones's speeches against the different schedules of the Dingley measure may be found, 55 Cong., 1 Sess., pp. 1260f. 174 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY stuff about increasing the price of cotton as clearly as anybody else. They will not be deceived or mislead by an argument so palpably thin and fallacious as this It is this sort of fraud that I utterly abominate." To the duty upon salt also Mr. Jones was vigorously opposed. He believed he saw in that, too, an effort to impose upon the people, this time -upon those of his sec- tion especially, and this time without even the strong pre- tense of benefit which characterized the dealings of the bill with cotton. "The effect of the adoption of this paragraph," he said, "will be simply to increase the cost of salt consumed by the Southern people. It will not affect the North because the manufacturers of salt in that section of the country absolutely control the market now. It is simply compelling the people who are already having a hard enough time in the Southern States to pay .•in increased price for salt that this duty was placed upon it." Here we see him, in the very midst of a great and heated tariff debate, step forward prominently as a sec- tional ist. He has guided the destinies of a nation-wide and powerful political party through the storm of defeat; be has steered through to success a tariff measure calcu- lated to remedy many of the ills under which the people everywhere bad been so unjustly oppressed — but he is the Southerner still. He even goes further: "There s^ems to be a desire to levy a species of blackmail on those who eat their bread in the sweat of their faces all the davs of their lives in the Southern States " And against the injustice of such a desire we find "the Plumed Knight of Arkansas" hurling the strength of whatever op- position he could muster. 175 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY The debate on the wool schedule lasted for several days. Senator Jones constantly engaged in the discus- sions, though he never spoke for any great length of time, nor made any pretentious orations. He rather watched every opportunity for piecemeal argument upon the dif- ferent provisions of the bill, schedule by schedule. He was ever ready at repartee, and perhaps even more than in the Wilson Bill his arguments showed the intimate knowledge which, even to the minor and more unimport- ant schedules, characterized his dealing with the subject. His familiarity with the views of the world's greatest economists upon the subject is likewise shown. But though his utterances are filled with statistics and figures bearing always directly upon the point at is- sue and the schedule under fire of debate, and wandered little from fact presentation, yet he frequently would in- ject into these brief paragraphs of his such pertinent questions of justice and right as these : "Upon what ground?" "What semblance of right is there?" "What justice?" As a concession to the National Wool Growers Asso- ciation, whose representatives — from the West — were wool enthusiasts, as well as free silver! tes, the duties on wool were raised through fear that otherwise they would rally an opposition strong enough to defeat the whole measure when the final vote came. The duties were raised to exactly what they had been in the McKinley Bill, on clothing and combing wool, and even higher on cheaper wool. Mr. Jones showed that if this product were placed 176 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY upon the free list and the duty on woolens reduced, there would be an annual saving to the government of $170,000- 000. Another necessity upon which a tax was laid, and that a specific duty, too, was sugar. Mr. Jones believed in the righteousness of a low ad valorem upon these necessi- ties of life. He believed with the whole passion of his soul that it meant nothing less than the laying of a tax upon the home itself when the common commodities which make the home happy and successful were so exorbitantly high-priced, while the rich manufacturer or refiner reveled in all the splendor of finery and plenty. Especially was it improper, he thought, that in a government like ours, claiming to be a true democracy, the homes of the plain people should be thus taxed. "We exempt churches and schools from taxation," he exclaimed (1), "and I believe that where there is a sufficient accumulation of surplus and hoarded wealth to justify it, the homes of the people and all things that go to make up a home, should be ex- empted from the exactions of the tax-gatherer." As he made this utterance there seemed to fire up in his breast a patriotic ember, and a sentimental chord was touched. He launched into a paragraph of praise of the American home, from which I quote here, not so much to show this trait of character called love of home, as to illustrate his occasional departure from the dry farts with which he elucidated any subject under discus- sion : "The home is the nursery of manhood, virtue and patriotism It is the very foundation of the Republic, (1) pp. 1635f 177 JAMEfi K. JOKES DEWBERRY and ought not to be taxed, directly or indirectly 1 believe the time has come when the people of this country should insist that manhood and home, like churches and schools, should go untaxed." The Republicans, he said, not only practically pro- hibited many of the necessaries of daily existence, but adopted the fixed policy of •"putting the highest taxes upon the lowest class of goods, and placing the lowest duties on the highest class." The purpose of the whole system, he declared, was to levy blackmail on the poor (ll.Tt was to ••lighten the burdens of those who are most able to pay. and to increase the burdens of those who are least able to pay." It was in the very nature of the case, he thought, that "a protective tariff, to be of any benefit whatever, must necessarily and essentially be unfair. "It must be for certain people and against the interests of the masses." And above any other reason in the list of anti-protection arguments, he hated the protective tariff because he did not "believe that there is a power vested constitutionally in Congress or anywhere else to levy a tax upon the peo- ple of this country for protective purposes alone." •lames K. Jones was a party man, but he did not be- lieve in the tyranny of party rule. When the Senate conference had met to discuss the different portions of the bill, and to tell the House conferees the ideas of the Sen- ale. Mr. .Jones claimed that they did not really report the opinion of the majority of the Senators; for, while the Republicans had a majority at the time, their interests were divided between the tariff and free silver, some fa- ct) p. 1831. 178 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY voring the latter even though they stood unalterably for high tariff. But it was hope against hope. "We were charged by the Senate to stand there," he said, "and rep- resent its ideas. We asked for an opportunity to do so, and were refused. We were told that it would be of no use; that whatever argument we might make, it would change nobody's opinion. And I presented the question myself, 'But suppose we convince your judgment?' And I was answered by the gentleman who looks into my face now (1) that it would make no difference, the vote would be the same." And then comes another outburst of pas- sionate expression of deep feeling, to break the probable monotony of fact array: "I hope and pray the Almighty that the American People will see to it that Senators assembling hereafter will pay sufficient regard to the law of the land, that when they send a bill to confer- ence it will be considered by the whole conference." Again, and emphasizing that trait in Mr. Jones's make-up which sought in the impartial search for truth to place principle above all party connections and influ- ences, he shouts out, so that we can almost hear him as we read the printed page of the record (2) : "No man has a right to allow his party prejudice to lead him aside from the fearless pursuit of the truth. It is a sacred duty, binding upon the conscience of every man who loves his fellowmen, to omit no effort to understand the cause of this wide-spread distress, and to remove it if within his power." The secret of this removal, the "great and crying need of the hour, is to relieve the masses from the (1) Mr. Aldrich. I think. (2) p. 2827. 179 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY burdens under which they struggle." But lie was willing to go even further; and notwith- standing the lit tie hope which he held for victory in this special instance of the struggle, to say, boldly : "The ques- tion of our htness to govern ourselves is on trial at this time. I believe that human liberty is involved in the success or failure of this struggle." Hut despite the earnestness with which Mr. Jones fought against the robbery of high protection, he was not a fiee trader, as we may already have concluded. Nor did he think the evils of the system could be eradicated at a single stroke. ''While 1 am unalterably opposed to a protective traiff," lie said, "1 do not believe in revolu- tion. These old moss-grown injustices ought to be re- moved, but they must be removed one by one. You can- not take down a brick wall with safety by beginning at the bottom. You must take bricks off at the top." By this gradual elimination of the evil I think he meant the removal, in nearly all instances, of the duties on the raw materials first, and "then we must lower the duties en manufactured products step by step, degree by degree," until " the whole of the system" is "taken away." It was this conservatism that eased his conscience where it pricked the consciences of the more radical, in supporting the unsatisfactory Wilson Bill, and in securing its passage in an uncertain Senate. \U> was not even radical enough to advocate the pro- hibition of protective rates upon luxuries, the articles which only the rich may enjoy. "I believe in taxing ar- ticles of luxury, but not in imposing such a rate as 180 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY will absolutely defeat taxation altogether. I do not be- lieve even in putting a tax on luxuries so high that none of them would come into the country, and the revenue that ought to come from it be absolutely destroyed .... I look upon that sort of tax as robbery pure and simple (1)." The above paragraph was delivered in the debate on the duty proposed for Onyx. Amid the popular clamor for the destruction of the trusts Mr. Jones was brave enough not to lift his voice against the dealing out of perfect justice to them by the United States Government. "I have no disposition to strike down any interest," he said, in the debate upon the sugar schedule, "not even one with the name of sugar trust". And this is more than many Senators, both then and now, would say openly and in the face of opposition to these powerful organizations, even if they felt it. The bill passed as a measure of high protection, in spite of the strong opposition of Jones and other able chiefs. "There was a general feeling among those who had made it, and in the Administration itself, that du- ties were too high and would have to come down." What would have been the result had the public mind not been divided with the free silver question, which was by no means buried, as some seemed to think, by the Kepublican victory of 1890, no one can tell with accuracy. Probably the opposition occasioned by the results of the Dingley Bill would have been as effective in repealing it, as it bad been in repealing the Wilson measure. And silver, in its turn, was replaced in importance by a War with (1) p. 1376. 181 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY ^paiu, and amid the intense popular excitement the peo- ple forgot the greatest civil issue. And the Dingley tar- iff, temporarily unnoticed, stayed with us — until it was displaced by a measure still worse. The three months' conflict with Spain didn't check the rising prices of all commodities. The world seemed to be in a state of prosperity, and with or without a tariff the prosperity could not pass us by. Immigration increased with the advent of manufacturing. Wealth was evidenced everywhere; but the Dingley tariff did not cause it, and no economist will tell you it did. "A wave of prosperity was sweeping around the globe, just as a wave of depres- sion had done from 1891 to 1897 The Dingley Bill could neither retard nor accelerate this. The bill did, it is true, by bringing immigrants into this country by the wholesale, add from a quarter to a half million consumers annually to our markets; but they with low standards of living, transient and uncertain, brought their destruct- ive influences upon our civilization. But the hard times which Mr. Jones predicted from the measure came at last, for, with his industries pro- tected from all competition, the manufacturer, banishing from himself whatever "jot or tittle" of feeling he may have had for the laborer and consumer before, and follow- ing the narrow economic theory that prosperity means a small production with exorbitant prices upon the product, soon came upon the shoals toward which he had been directed by the bill at first. The poverty-stricken mil- lions, with empty dinner-pails, demanded recognition at his hands, the burden of the increased prices became 182 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY graver and heavier to bear, and the narrow policy of ex- clusion became narrower. When war was declared against Spain, as said above, the popular discontent became hushed, temporarily, in the common patriotism aroused. It was proposed that $300,- (100,000 above the running expenses of the government be raised and appropriated as a war tax. Mr. Jones vigor- ously opposed the levying of such an enormous and un- necessary amount, when "the War may not last anything like a year " and when the President could convene Congress whenever it should become necessary to raise more. Furthermore, he believed that whatever amount should be raised should come not from a consumptive tax upon common commodities, but from a levy upon wealth and property. "A tax on incomes would be the best method;' And then he added, '"I believe that every dollar of the tax levied for municipal, state or national purposes, ought to be paid by the profits of business (1)." "But how much do you think would be a fair appor- tionment ?" asked Senator Aldrich. "One hundred, fifty million would be amply suffi- cient," replied Mr. Jones. This was just half of the amount proposed. But a larger sum was apportioned, to be sure, and the Dingley tariff had to raise it. As it did so it became more and more unendurable to the masses. Not that it was the only cause of the burden, but it was a "real cause," mind you, and in the case of certain essential common articles, almost the only cause (2)." (1) 55 Cong., 2 Sess., p. 4962. (2) Tarbell, p. 262. .183 JAM E8 K. JONES NEWBERRY The practices of some of the protected industries were indeed exasperating. While they sent the prices of arti- cles sold at home up to the very top of the protection wall, they sold the same articles abroad at from ten to seventy per cent lower than they were sold at home, thus entering freely into competition with the manufacturers of foreign lands who had no protection to help them out, much to the delight, of course, of the foreign consumers; while the poor and benighted American consumers were utterly at the whim and caprice of the "interests." It was the realization of what the trusts would do under such an act that Mr. Jones had, in the procedure of the debate on the Dingley Act, called it a "monstrous bill." Would that other distinguished politicians had not been so reluctant to touch the tariff as they were in the years following the enactment of the bill! Would that some successful knight, like the brilliant and tactful Roosevelt, had thrown the force of his powers and energy with Jones against the evil of high protection. Nay, would that Jones had been restored, to power, that he might have lifted again his mighty voice in protest against the further betrayal of the people into the hands of the moneyed interests ! Anyway, the protest from the masses was so strong that the Republicans, in order to win the election of 1908, had to promise a downward revision from the rates of the Dingley measure — a promise which they consistently ig- nored after the election had resulted in their favor, by passing a still more odious act, the Payne-Aldrich Bill. 184 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY The time for reckoning is at hand; and I think the voice of James K. Jones can still be heard ringing down the corriders of the national capital : "Senators from Ark- ansas, Senators from every State in the Union, America expects every man of you to do his duty !" 185 CHAPTEE XI. THE FIGHT FOK SILVEK It will not be out of place, in treating Mr. Jones's great tight for the free and unlimited coinage of silver, to give the reader at the outset a brief history of the gov- ernment's relation to that metal, up to the time the con- test in which he played so conspicuous a part was waged. With this in mind, I believe one may the more ably esti- mate the efforts which he put forth in its behalf. From the beginning of our government until far into the third quarter of the nineteenth century, very little silver, comparatively, was coined into money in this coun- try. The reason for this is simply that the business of the country was not large enough to call for a greater supply of money than gold could furnish. True, the government did stand ready, before 1834, to take silver bullion (1) at its mints at the established ratio of 15 ounces of silver to one of gold, and after that date accepted it at the ratio of sixteen to one. But the metal was so scarce that those who owned the bullion could sell it at a higher price to silversmiths, jewelers and artisans than they could get i'roin the government for money coinage purposes. They naturally disposed of it where they could get the most for it. During the decade just after the close of the Civil War there was almost no silver at all coined into money ; and in 1873 Congress, recognizing the natural scarcity of the metal, quietly passed a measure stopping the coinage of silver dollars. Whether it might be called the irony of fate, or a (1) i. e., unrefined silver. 186 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY mighty stroke of the hammer of fortune, just at the mo- ment when this was done enormous new deposits of silver were discovered in some of our western states, the price of silver bullion immediately fell, and it seemed as plenti- ful as most anything else. The miners no longer had such a lucrative trade with the jewelers, and they began to clamor thai the government again pay the old rate for their metal. Joined by the Westerners everywhere, who were dependent upon eastern gold, an almost national cry went up that the old law in force before 1873 be again enacted. In 1ST8, responding to this demand, representative {'hind, of Missouri (1), and Senator Allison, of Iowa, placed a bill before Congress providing that the govern- ment purchase not less than two nor more than four mil- lion dollars worth of bullion every month. Although President Hayes vetoed the bill, it commanded the neces- sary two thirds vote and was passed over his signature. But the price of silver continued to fall anyway, be- cause of the enormous output from the mints; and the Westerners demanded still larger purchases by the govern- ment. In 1890, when the famous McKinley tariff bill was up for debate, about fifteen or twenty Senators made an unmistakable demand that silver, too, being an Ameican product, be protected. And so in order to obtain their votes and insure the passage of the McKinley Act, the Senate machine agreed to furnish this protection by passing the Sherman Silver Act, which directed that the (1) To whom Mr. Jones paid a remarkable tribute, quoted on another page. 187 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY government purchase tour and one half million dollars worm oi bullion annually, and issue certificates to the entire amount oi the purchased silver, it was a plain bribe of the silver {Senators, and the Cleveland adminis- tration reaped the lull results of the measure. As a result of such measures, chief of which was of course the high tariff, the voters of the country, in the elections of 18U2, overwhelmingly denounced the llepub- licans, returning only 88 of them to Congress, as com- pared with 235 Democrats. The demonetization of silver in 1873 was undoubtedly the consumation of a deliberately planned and persist- ently pursued wish to place the control of all paper money in this country in the hands of the national banks, while the government was to be restricted to the use of gold alone as a money metal. "The national banks," said Senator Jones (1), "have always been the greatest ene- mies of silver, and they and their allies have kept up a relentless war upon silver money." j\ t ow t the bill providing for the re-chartering of the national banks had come up in the forty-seventh Con- gress, which assembled in 1882. The Democrats, with the western miners, wishing to insure a market for their silver and desiring that the government purchase all the bullion that was brought and offered for sale, naturally opposed the recharter measure, because the banks, situ- ated in the East and controlled by eastern interests, de- sired gold as the only standard that they might fill out the needed currency amounts with their own notes. Con- (1) 52 Cong., 1 Sess., pp. 5174f. 188 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY sequently, this bill was pased without tlie aid of Demo- cratic votes. Now in proof of the statements just made, let us consider a part of the measure passed just four years be- fore. The Bland-Allison Act, as stated before, had contained a provision that upon the deposit of silver coin the government officials should issue silver certificates, dollar for dollar. This paper money had been very pope lar. Great quantities of it were put in circulation, and it came to be in such demand that the holders of gold coin were willing to pay vast sums of it to get their silver certificates, dollar for dollar, in return. But the Presi- dent, the Secretary of the Treasury, and other officials were constantly calling attention to the fact that silver was not worth as much as gold, that the silver dollar was only worth about eighty-eight cents on the dollar. Now bear in mind that in 1888, just two years before the re- charter of the banks, the Secretary of the Treasury had issued an order directly that upon the deposit of gold coin a silver certificate should be issued for it, dollar for dollar. Later, said Mr. Jones, the Treasurer and officials tried to get those who held gold coin to cling to it rather than to let it go for the silver certificates. He called for an ex- planation of this reversal which had suddenly decreased the great exchange. He received none. While the great Columbian Exposition was in pro- gress at Chicago, showing to the world the prosperous state which the country was supposed to be enjoying, suddenly, in 1893, a most severe panic fell like a terrible pall over the land. In the midst of the business prosper- 198 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY ity which followed as a consequence of the increase of money assured by the Sherman Act, there arose a doubt in the centers of commerce about the value of the new money. Many feared that the government, if called upon, would not be able to redeem all the silver certificates which it was issuing every time it coined silver, dollar for dollar, with gold. The value of silver immediately fell to sixty-nine cents on the dollar, and the people, scared, be- gan to exchange what certificates they held for gold. Banks failed and factories closed, throwing thousands out of employment. President Cleveland, unlike the congressional major- ity of the representatives of the party which had elected him, believed that the panic was the result of the Sherman Act. It was for the repeal of this act that he called the first session of the fifty-third Congress. It was a bitter battle between the gold of the East and the silver of the West. There had never been so much money in the whole history of the government, but money could not be borrowed on gold security in one section, nor on silver security in the other. The stampede was the result of a distrust. It was a war to the knife, and Con- gress was called to do something in the nature of relief. In the debates on this important measure. Senator Jones took a leading part. His explanation of the situ- ation is not surpassed by any in its clearness, soundness and common sense. He pointed out that the panic was temporary and would pass away quickly. Hut he stated at the same time that there was a stringency that would abide. This was the result of conditions that had been 190 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY in operation for years, and would be permanent until the -wisest statesmanship aud highest ability shall be di- rected to its solution." He argued that the "stringency" was the natural re- sult of our whole financial system. "The difficulty of our situation," he said, "has been augmented by our financial legislation— our tariff laws— which have oper- ated to produce an unjust distribution of wealth and intensities the evils that have resulted from a contraction of the currency." There is no doubt that the legislation upon these subjects, chief of which was of course the tariff, instead of encouraging business to remain in its natural and normal condition, had scared some and unbalanced others, had -made the few immensely rich, and condemned the millions to poverty." The rich wished more unholy legislation to further their unholy interests, and in order to compel this they had withheld their mil- lions from circulation, and thereby created a panic. A few men controlling the large proportion of the money in a country can do this, and often have done it. With their exorbitant wealth in 1893 they had "made a play- thing of the nation's interest," and it "remains to be seen," said Senator Jones, "whether the representatives of the sixty million people will submit to their insolent domination." A general decline of prices coming from an insufficient volume of money to do the business of a country, if al- lowed to continue for a number of years, necessarily re- sults at length in the stagnation of all business. When money is plentiful business is active and prices are high, 191 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY and when money is scarce business is stagnant and prices low. High prices simply mean cheap money, and low prices is "another form for saying that money is high." Constantly falling prices make men suspicious of all enterprises, make hitherto flourishing concerns unremun- erative. "A man will neither invest his money himself nor lend it to his friend to invest," said Senator Jones, "unless he feels morally certain that the thing will pay. Withdrawal of money means discouragement, and the shunning of all new enterprises." What is more, fall- ing prices tend to rob labor of its employment and destroy the sale of it, thus creating an unending warfare between labor and capital. The friends of silver took the view that the panic was due to the fact that gold was too scarce to be the sole standard of money, that the government's credit and standing were strong enough to make a silver dollar ev- ery bit as good as a gold one. Since there was such an unmistakable need of more money, they advocated the free and unlimited coinage of silver at the ratio of six teen to one. This was prompted by an undeniable de- sire to affect the best good for the country. The motives of the monometallists, on the other hand, thought Mr. Jones, "were and have always been bad. They cannot be otherwise, in fact. The only purpose of tbe attack upon the free coinage of silver is to drive the metal out of use as a coin, thus lessening the world's supply of specie and widening the demand for the other metal — gold — and this decreases the price of commodities." It was argued that the reason that money was con- 192 JAMES K. J0NE8 NEWBERRY tinually held back was that men feared that under the Sherman Law, then operating, the government could not meet its obligations and make good its promises in the payment of its notes. But Mr. Jones showed that this could not be the reason for the depression, because there had been no run on the government for the payment, and "there certainly would have been," he said, "had there been any fear of this kind." There was no fear of the silver coins of the country, because there had been 1500,000,000 of silver coin hoarded away, and it was just as hard to borrow this as to borrow gold. The bill under discussion in this Congress, known as Ihe Wilson Act, provided for the practical repeal of the Sherman measure, at least, as Mr. Jones said, of "the only redeemable feature of it,"viz., the provision for the govern- ment purchase of silver bullion. Now while the Sherman Act appeared to be merely an increase of the provisions of the Bland-Allison measure, since it provided for the forced purchase of four million instead of two million dollars worth of silver bullion, in reality it stopped the coinage of silver, because the government simply stored it away, issuing silver certificates for it, since its price was too low for coinage purposes. As the price of silver had con- tinued to fall the government saw its accumulated stock constantly sinking in value. The evil of the Sherman Law, as Mr. Jones viewed it, was not that it provided for the purchase of silver, but that it had stopped the coinage of it. The great reason, however, why he believed that silver ought to be coined to increase the money in the country, 193 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY was that such a policy would raise the pi-ice of all com- modities. Supply and demand regulate prices: this is a common economic law, admittted by everyone. And money, the medium in terms of which all things are ex- changed, is itself no more exempt from the law than is anything which is an article of traffic among men. "The contemplation of the misery, ruin, and desolation which must follow in the train of this perpetual fall of prices is appalling," he said. ''In all ages periods of long- continued falling prices have been periods of stagnation in business, want, and increasing poverty. They have been periods of depression of human ambition and effort, of degradation of political, financial and moral retrogression. They have been periods fruitful of unrest, social disturb- ances and revolution; for mankind, having ever exper- ienced the sense of freedom and independence, the eleva- tion of high ambition resulting from prosperous times, are not willing to be forced to a condition of practical serfdom."' And for one he would not take a hand in try- ing to bring humanity to such a state. "I will never be a party to taking the bread from the mouth of honest la- bor to swell the fortunes of parasites." The slogan used by those who wished to see silver crushed for all time as a coin metal, was the cry for what they were pleased to call an "honest dollar." Their great argument for the demonetization had been that the bullion value contained in a coined dollar was less than the coin value, and that therefore it was unfit for money. Tt was this that made them say it was dishonest, and it origi- nated their cry for an honest dollar. Mr. Jones wanted 194 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY an honest dollar, all right, but he differed with them about the "dishonesty" of the silver dollar. "I heartily join," he said, "in the demand for an honest dollar a dollar that is steady in value: a dollar which honestly keeps a record of its obligations over long periods of time, a dollar which does not rob the creditor, but returns to him at the end of the contract all he parted with at the beginning. . . .... Gold alone, without silver, does not furnish such a dollar. A dollar which even our creditors confess is enor- mously increasing the burdens of our debts and for which we are to receive no consideration whatever, is not an honest dollar, but is a cheat and a fraud !" Later, he asked: "Tried by the scientific tests (ex- actness, inflexibility, stability, accuracy) was there ever a money standard of value so bad as gold? And does it approach silver in point of goodness, in point of hon- esty, in point of integrity and steadfastness? It certainly does not. How far this single standard falls below the double standard of both gold and silver!" The bill easily passed the House, which was domi- nantly Eepublican and influenced by the East. It was re- ferred to the Senate Committee on Finance, of which Mr. Jones was a prominent member, was reported back, and debated. It only passed after a fierce opposition, by a vote of 43 to 32, was approved by the President, who op- posed the unlimited coinage of silver, and became law. Many amendments were offered to defeat its vicious purposes (as they saw it) by eminent Senators, and among them Senator Jones. The free coinage sentiment in the Senate was the chief 1*5 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY cause of its unfavorable attitude a1 this time. Senators •Jones and Vest were particularly disposed just then to obstruct currency legislation which did not provide for free coinage. On January 2:*> (1) Mr. Jones introduced a hill providing for the issue of $500,000,000 in gold bonds redeemable in twenty and payable in thirty years; allow- ing the national banks to issue bills to the par value of the United States bonds which they held, putting out of circulation greenbacks and Sherman notes of denomina- tions below twenty dollars, issuing silver certificates evelopments have shown that while the friends of this measure have a majority in this body, it is impossible to pass this bill at this late day without in- curring a grave danger to the appropriation bills, and an extra sesion. Under these considerations the friends of the silver measure have authorized me to say that they will not proceed further at this session." The division over silver in the Senate, and in the (1) 1895. 196 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY House, was not along party lines, as is clearly shown by the vote on the consideration of Mr. Jones's bill just re- ferred to. Ten Republicans and four Populists voted with sixteen Democrats in favor of it, while twelve Demo- crats voted with fifteen Republicans against it. And this division in the Senate was reflected pretty well in the parties themselves. "Both of the great politi- cal parties," said Mr. Jones, "have again and again de- clared themselves in favor of bimetallism. No national convention of any party has ever declared itself in favor of a single standard, either of gold or silver, and no conven- tion, in my opinion, ever will." At the opening of the year 1896 it was certain that one of the parties would declare for free silver, but nobody knew which one it would be, for both were full of its champions and friends. We shall look at this again presently, as we come to inquire more fully into The great contest of IS 1 . Ml. It would seem that the advocates of the single gold standard regarded the issues of bonds as a panacea for every ill, and a cure for all financial disturbances and diseases. "No matter what financial difficulty is to be met," said Mr. Jones (1), "an issue of bonds is at once promptly proposed. Those who think as 1 do, on the other hand, look upon this as an unauthorized evil An issue of bonds is doubtless a boon to that small class of persons who have large incomes which they have not the knowledge, courage or industry to use profitably, who long for investments upon which they may demand interest without any greater labor than clipping coupons; but to no other class is an issue of bonds desirable." (1) 54 Cong., 1 Sess., pp. 4557f. 197 JAMES K. JON £'8 NEWBERRY Those wlio had reaped the benefits of the steady in- crease m tlie volume of inoney from fSUU to 1810, because ol its failure to increase rapidly in volume as commerce liad demanded, had, notwithstanding tlie advantages which would come to them from this lessening supply of money in proportion to the trade, done all they could to reap the beneht as it was. "These usurers," said Mr. Jones (fj, "knew that God had given to mankind plenty of metal to defeat their purposes, if completely and rightly used. Their only chance was to create and maintain an artificial scarcity of money." This they had done in f87J. (Since then the value of money, decreasing not absolutely, not in itself, but in proportion to the increasing business in which money must take a part, had of course increased the value of money, and "by this hidden and covert means confiscation of the property of the masses for the benefit of those individuals has been accomplished." Mr. Jones thought that the issue of bonds would be unnecesary if silver should be coined freely at the ratio of "sixteen to one.'" "I believe," said he, 'that the un- limited coinage of silver would, by reviving commerce, increase our revenue and do away absolutely with any pretense of a necessity to issue bonds, and that under that bill such a revival in business would take place that no issue of bonds could be claimed to be necessary." In support of the contention that 1 am setting forth from his great speech, Mr. Jones quoted widely from the world's best authorities on the subject. His great famil- iarity with the leading economists, teachers and legisla- tors of this and other countries, as revealed by his mas- (1) 54 Cong., 1 Sess., pp. 557f. 198 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY terly presentation of the arguments in behalf of bimetall- ism, is but another proof of the breadth and scope of the culture and learning of the man. Concluding the speech, he expressed a willingness and an anxiety that the people at large should decide the mat- ter, and his deference to their decree, which it was becom- ing more and more clear would be the chief result of the approaching election. "To say that they (the people) are incapable of deciding any question they are interested in," he said, " is to declare their incapability of self- government. . . . The friends of bimetallism are ready and anxious that the people settle this question." 199 CHAPTEK XI E THE EIGHT EOK SiLVEE— THE DEMoCiiATiC NATIONAL OHALKMANSHIP I. (Senator uoness wish that the matter oi silver coinage be put directly beiore die people tor their decision was soon to be realized. As the time came on for the elections me iree silver sentiment grew apace, the cause hnding its tnousanus oi enthusiasts in the ranks oi the Democrats and riepubiicans alike. Hundreds oi local and state or- ganizations were proposed, and many ehected. ii was inought that a silver party would be iorined iroiu the adherents out oi Uie ranks oi the two old parties. In 1895 a ten days' Congress oi the advocates oi siiver met in Washington and issued an address to the American peo- ple, urging tnis. it was deciared that there had not been a Congress lor twenty years which, except tor the influ- ence oi executive patronage and the tear oi an executive veto, would not have voted to open the mints again to silver on the same terms as gold. The name suggested for the new organization was the American Bimetallic Party. This address, however, was not signed by Senator Jones, nor any other Democrat oi great national influence. The leaders of the party did not wish to sacrifice it, but rather to bring it to adopt the white metal. Two months later a convention was held by inono- metallists at Memphis, Tennessee, in the interests of what the delegates pleased to term "sound money." This meet- ing was nothing more nor less than a protest against the free silver movement. Mr. Carlisle, then Secretary of 200 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY State aiid former Speaker, made a notable address. The organization was attended by many prominent men the country over. Immediately after the "sound money convention," a national convention was called, this to meet at Memphis, also. A large number of delegates from many states met there, June twelfth and thirteenth (1). Many of the most prominent men- in the Union were present, and among them the two Arkansas Senators, Messrs. Jones and Berry. Men were there who wished to break away from the old party and to form a new one with the great silver issue as the platform, and nominate a standard- bearer then and there. The cooler heads, however, such as Jones, and Harris , of Tennessee, prevailed and the breach was not effected. Senator Jones was made the chairman of a committee which was to advance the cause of silver among the Democratic delegates who should as- semble the next year in the regular Democratic conven- tion. To him fell the important task of working up the silver sentiment into organized form, and it was the re- sult of his labor that the champions of the white metal found themselves in the majority when that wonderful convention did assemble. Let it be remembered that at this time the prospects for an international agreement were extremely gloomy ; that the proposal of the United States Senate for a great international meeting had met with little encouragement and favor among the nations abroad; that Germany and England were both very dubious; and that all the old countries, naturally slow and conservative, were espec- (1) 1895. 201 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY ially afraid of any change in the money standard. It be- came more and mure evident that if either of the great parties came out for silver it would mean the advocacy of independent action, provided — which would likely be the case — international agreement was impossible. The uncertainty as to which party would take this step was ended, however, so far as the Republicans were concerned, when their great convention assembled in 1896. At that time William McKinley was a strong, if not indeed the very strongest, man in that party. A Civil War veteran, he had served his country well in Congress for fourteen years, and had been twice Governor of his State (1) . But the power he had shown as a party leader had been in connection with the tariff, and not silver. The platform upon which he was nominated, therefore, declared for protection, reciprocity and the gold standard. In an attempt, however, to keep Kepublicans from deserting the ranks, the platform pledged the party to work for an in- ternational agreement in favor of bimetallism. But the effort was unavailing. Several silver delegates from Ne- vada, Washington, Utah, Idaho, South Dakota and Wy- oming, including four United States Senators and two Congressmen, bolted the convention under Senator Teller, of Colorado, a veteran of Republicanism, who had seen and taken part in the organization of the party, and had "voted for every one of its candidates from Fremont to Harrison (2)." As the Democratic state conventions were held in the different commonwealths, it was seen that there would (1) Ohio. (2) Muzzy 's American History, p. 570, n. 2. 202 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY likely be many "favorite sous'' placed in nomination for President at Chicago in July. .Bland, of Missouri, author of the {Silver Act of 1878, was perhaps most prominently mentioned; and other Southern States possessed cham- pions of ability and distinction. Strange to say, the boom for Senator Jones did not start in Arkansas. Eastern newspapers began to show their advocacy of "the plumed knight" on account of the leadership he had for years evinced in the Senate. All knew that while a silver enthusiast, he was by no means one of the most radical, and that if the choice of the Democracy for President he would have strong support in the East. They knew, fur- thermore, that on account of his personal popularity among the Republicans he would have thousands of ad- herents among the dissatisfied elements of that party. Then, too, many thought that the time had come when the President should hail once more from the South. From the Arkansas Democrat Bureau at Washington came an enthusiastic report of the Jones sentiment at the national capital: "It is not giving away any secret to state that a large element of the silver Demo- crats warmly favor the nomination of Senator James K. Jones at the hands of the convention. His selection is common gossip in the hotels and chambers of the capitol building, and only Senator Jones's wishes in the matter have prevented the flame from spreading to the outside world." Prominent eastern Democrats, it stated, ardent free silver advocates, and including no less commanding a personage than Arthur Sewall, national committeeman from Maine, and others from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and New Hamshire, favored him. 203 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY When McKinley was nominated by tlie Bepublicans, tlie number of J ones enthusiasts increased ; for it had been mainly through the inriuence and efforts of (Senator Jones that the McKinley protective tariii measure had been re- peated by the Wilson law, and the leaders believed that tne olO enemies should be pitted against each other in this great battle. Furthermore, they "pooh-poohed" the as- sertion that his being a .Southerner and an ex-Confederate soldier would, as he thought, injure his candidacy. "He would be especially strong in New England aud New lurk," they said, "and would sweep the (South and West." The Gazette quoted an editorial from the Hot (Springs News bearing a strong endorsement of Mr. Jones, and auued (1) : "Senator Jones is the equal of any of the emi- nent men whose names have been mentioned in connection with the Democratic nomination for President." And from this time on until the assembling of the Arkansas ►stale Convention {'2) the Gazette repeatedly urged the ad- visability of Arkansas' putting up her favorite son, as other (Southern (States were doing. Mr. Bland sent a special request by telegram that his own name not be presented 10 the convention against that of his good friend, Mr. Jones. But it was of course improbable that the National Convention would nominate him if the delegates from his own State did not propose his name at Chicago. When i lie State Convention met in Little Bock the launching of his name seemed to be the absorbing theme. And it was in litis convention, I think, that there came to Mr. Jones (1) Issue of June 13, 1S96. (2) June 18. 204 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY the supreme test of that unselfishness which was the car- dinal tenet of his character. From the first the enemies of the Senator tried to keep from their fellow statesman this signal honor. An effort was made almost at the very opening to storm the convention for Bland. A large portrait of the Missourian was brought into view. But the proposition overwhelmingly failed, amid the greatest confusion; and some of Mr. Jones's narrow-minded per- sonal enemies were thus repudiated. Standing there, however, amid the approving shouts of the friendly majority in that body, the tall chieftain who had for so long honored Arkansas, who deserved, if anybody ever did, this compliment at their hands, was broad, brave and liberal enough to urge them not to place his name in nomination. Tt is always interesting to study a man at his supreme hour, his test-moment. Many there be, of public prominence, who refuse to hear the siren voice of political preferment up to a certain stage, when the allurement becomes irresistable ; but 1 claim it takes a -lames K. Jones to stand up boldly and turn down an endorsement which would probably mean a nomination for the Presidency of the United States ! Kobert E. Lee was not more unselfish nor pa- triotic when he refused to "take up arms against his na- tive State." than Senator Jones when for the sake of what he deemed a better chance of party victory and the triumph of the cause in the advocacy of which he had rendered up his best gifts, he sacrificed his highest per- sonal ambition! Notwithstanding Mr. Jones's belief that the delegates 205 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY should go uninstructed as to who should carry the standard of the party, that they might stand united only on the great issue at stake, that the Chicago Convention might declare for the double standard by a good majori- ty ; yet, when he refused to be considered the choice of the Democracy of his State, the delegates in the conven- tion were influenced by a small majority to instruct for Mr. Bland. As the time for the great Chicago assembly approach- ed it was felt that a perfect organization of the silver forces had been effected. Mr. Jones would win on the morrow. The next morning the Gazette head-line read : SILVER'S GRAND VICTORY— THE SUPREME MAN- AGEMENT OF SENATOR JAMES K. JONES RE- SULTS IN A COMPLETE TRIUMPH OF THE BI- METALLIC FORCES. Tt was found that Mr. Jones and his Memphis committee had won their fight, and numbered a Hi Tie more than two thirds of the delegates assembled He demanded that a free silver advocate be made the temporary chairman of the convention, that the cause might have a fair chance. This was done, Senator Daniel, of Virginia, being given the place. Mr. Jones himself, being the recognized leader of the organization which had won the victory, was very properly given the Chairmanship of the Committee on Platforms and Reso'u- tions. He did not write the platform adopted at Chicago, but he revised its composition. I think that the most of it was penned by Hon. Charles H. Jones, then Editor of the Saint Louis Post Dispatch. T know that the money plank in the platform was in substance the same as that written by William Jennings Bryan, the Nebraska mem- 206 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY ber of the Platforms Committee. On account of the fact that the delegation from that State had been shut out of the Convention and had to contest their places before they were seated, Bryan did not get to participate in the com- mittee's deliberations until practically all of the platform had been adopted by it. And the committee did not then know— a fact that everybody afterwards learned— that it was the pen of the young Westerner which traced the money plank in Jones's platform. As soon as this work was completed in committee it became a problem as to who should lead in the advocacy of its adoption by the convention. It was the third day, little had been done, and the strain by this time was get- ting somewhat dangerous. No one except Tillman, of South Carolina, had asked for time to discus* the new plat- form. Shortly after the Committee had reached the Con- vention Hall, Senator Jones sent for Mr. Bryan and asked him to conduct the discussion. It was out of Mr. Jones's time that Bryan set the convention afire with the memorable "cross of gold" speech which heralded him to the world as the foremost orator of the continent, and which will stand for all time as his greatest effort. It was partially at least the result of this passionate out- burst of the "boy orator of the Platte," that the majority report of the Committee on Platforms, embodying the free silver plank, was adopted. The vote was taken immedi- ately after he had set the convention wild and the thun- der of applause had subsided. Six votes more than the necessary two thirds were cast in its favor, the register standing 528 to 301. As a consequence of this speech 207 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY Bryan was nominated on the fifth ballot to champion the cause of silver in the contest for the Presidency. That night Senator Jones was closeted with the nomi- nee for hours, discussing the running mate problem. Here again, I am sure that if Mr. Jones had insisted on, or even permitted it, he would have been the recipient of personal honor. His own consent was all that would have been necessary to insure his nomination for the vice- presidency, the team-mate of William Jennings Bryan. But again he buried himself in the "cause," and said : "Let it be some other." On the eleventh the National Committee met, Bryan and Bewail both being present, and Senator Jones was unanimously chosen Chairman of that team to conduct the campaign. Bryan would listen to nothing else than the appointment to this position of the friend who had given him the opportunity of his life. "While the main reason for this," said Mr. Bryan (1), "was that the Sena- tor had been the head of the organization which had won the convention, and was therefore the logical man to lead the fight during the campaign, I had a personal reason in addition, namely, that it gratified my own desire to show my appreciation of the favor he had done me in giving me an opportunity to defend the platform before the conven- tion." In other connections I have emphasized Mr. Jones's special ability, out of his many excellent gifts, to manage and control people at critical times. The best evidence of this, so far cited, was his tactful and splendid control (1) Appendix, Bryan on Senator Jones, p. 208 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY of the Democrats in the United States Senate when the Wilson Bill was up in 1893. It was a still bigger job, however, to manage six hundred rampant free silver dele- gates on the floor of the Chicago Convention, especially when nearly all of them seemed constantly clamoring for a chance to speak. / The chairman of that gathering and the whole retinue of silver delegates, from Altgeld, who himself loved so well to dictate, down to the timid and modest representative who was then attending his first national convention, alike were the servants of James K. Jones. He managed them with ease, because the silver men had been imbued with the idea that the "cause" was paramount to any individual ambition to be noticed or to shine. Jones was the embodiment of the "cause," and the silverites had the most' implicit faith in him| At times, nevertheless, dozens of delegates were on the floor, seeking recognition from the Chair, who would look from one to the other, hesitating as to which he should recog- nize. Thereupon the huge bulk of Senator Jones would rise in the aisle to the right of the stage, where he sat at the head of the Arkansas delegation beside the venerable SenatorBerry,shove back the hard bottom chair in which he had been sitting, make a speaking trumpet of his hands, and turn loose his great voice in two words : "Mr. Chair- man!" The clamor would subside at once. The Chair would then turn to the right as if moved by the touch of an electric button, and say: "Senator Jones, of Arkan- sas." The latter would then speak a few easy, simple words, and sit down. There was no need of harshness : 209 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY quid words would do just as well, or better. The great chieftain, ever sitting silently there, saying little, hearing everything, seemingly reticent, it' not embarrassed, was a study, "There Jones of Arkansas si is," said a corres- pondent, "during the floods of oratory and through the long, tedious roll calls, and seems to dream with head thrown hack against the standard pole of his State, and eves half closed, vest open and loose, soft shirt bosom catching every breeze that sweeps through the great hail. As the roll call ends, or as the convention pauses to take up a new detail of business, Jones rises in the aisle. He sees everybody in the hall. He is on guard until all dan- ger of any foolish procedure in the silver ranks, or crafty move by the gold-hugs, has passed. Then he sits down. The big lenders of the State delegations crowd around him. Governor Stone, of Missouri, Governor Altgeld, of Illinois, Senator Turpie, of Indiana. Senator White, of California, Governor McLaurin and Senator Money, of Mississippi, ail wish to know the next step in the program. Jones, of Arkansas, tells them.'' Once during the course of debate Senator Tillman, the South Carolina "pitchfork," took the stand and voiced his exultation that the silver problem was a sectional one. An uproar followed and Tillman's voice was drowned, immediately, Mr. Jones was on his feet, easily obtained the a! lent ion of the convention, and in a few well chosen words repudiated the idea that there was any sectional- ism in the issue, slating that the cause of the white metal was ";is broad as the land.'' It was not only not sec- tional, it was not even national; it was international. 210 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY The confusion was hushed, and quiet order again pre- vailed. On another occasion he adjourned the session merely by saying: "After the adjournment the Committee on Resolutions will meet at the Palmer House." The silver- it es heard Jones say "adjourn," and that ended every- thing. They put on their hats and left tlie hall. Again, after he had read the platform ami Bryan had electrified I lie convention by his oratory in its behalf, someone mov- ing to ballot before the air could cool, Mr. Jones moved to adjourn, and the adjournment was accomplished without even the formality of a vote. There is not the shadow of a doubt that James K. Jones was the leader in that great assemblage— so far. in- deed, as such a body of free and independent Americans < an be Jed. "He was the master spirit of the convention. His superb leadership was recognized by everybody the directing genius of the silver forces in everything— and not a mistake was made (1)." The best thing here revealed, however, in the make-up of Mr. Jones— and T wish to emphasize this— was not the masterful way in which he managed the convention, but rather the unselfish spirit which marked his every act. Above all things he desired the success of the cause in the interests of which he had zealously labored. Tt was his motto that the ambitions of no man should stand in the way of its triumph. "No crown could tempt him." went on the Gazette, "to swerve from what he considered to be the general good ; and therein James K. Jones showed his (1) Gazette editorial, July 14. 211 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY greatness. Arkansas has a right to feel proud of him. His faithfulness to his party and to his country will in time receive recognition in higher honors than have yet been bestowed upon him (1)." In the choice of Mr. Jones as Chairman of the Na- tional Committee, the party was given the benefit of all the Senator's splendid talents as a political diplomat. In selecting him, said one of the papers of the State (2), they "simply wanted the biggest, brainiest and best Democrat in the United States in this position; and that being the case, whom else could they have chosen?" The selection elicited comment from the leading papers of the country, and brought him more prominently than ever into the public eye. The four men most talked about in the United States at the time were Bryan and McKinley, Mark Hanna and James K. Jones. Their names were to be found in almost every newspaper column in the country; their pic- tures abounded in the magazines; they were heralded far and wide "in lithograph, cartoon and song," and by every other means of communication. The National Chairmanship of either of the great political parties in this country is a position the perform- ance of whose duties demands versatile talents. The man who fills this responsible place must be at once a judicious and provident political organizer, a master of tactics, a wise and statesmanlike manager of measures and of men. He must have a cool head : under no conditions must he allow himself to become rattled. Tt devolves upon him (1) No doubt of it: if Bryan had been elected in 1S96. Mr. Jones would in all probability have been given the leading place in the Cabinet. (2) Cross Country Citizen. 212 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY to raise the funds necessary to conduct the campaign, organize the machinery of election, speak for the party of current issues, and stand general sponsor to the party ana the candidates. Said Charles Daniel, critic and lit- erary sharp, contrasting Hanna and Jones: "1 have seen both the Chairmen at work in their headquarters here (1). Both are easily approached, pleasant and hospitable There is no formal ceremony at their doors." But, "the methods of the two men are as widely different as day and night. Mark Hanna represents the element of force : James K. Jones is the personification of peace. Hanna controls by sheer power : Jones directs his men by love. Hanna is tirni, blunt, rough-shod: Jones is courtly, gentle and pleasant. Hanna stands for iron rule, while Jones would rule by the consent of his associates Hanna wants votes for McKiniey, no matter how he gets them: Jones seeks to win the nation for Bryan by appeal to reason Hanna is working for the purpose of electing a President, that he and his friends may enjoy power and favor. Jones is laboring in what he considers the cause of the people." The tight of 1896 was an unequal one. Notwithstand- ing the whirlwind campaign of Bryan in behalf of silver and the consequent aggravation of the popular sentiment in its favor; notwithstanding the Democrats were mar- shalled by the best brain the party or country could pro- duce, yet Hanna and the Republican machine had behind them the unlimited wealth of the moneyed classes of the nation. They were backed by the government itself, be- (1) Chicago. They were just across the street from each other. 213 J A11US K. JONES NEWBERRY cause their party was in power. The men under their Chairman worked hard because they knew they would be well paid for their services. Mr. Jones, on the other hand, presided over an empty treasury. His party was poverty stricken. He represented the common people. What as- sistance he received came from those who labored for love. His forces were marshalled under the Hag of patriotism and nut patronage; of poverty and not power. "On one side the people are poor," said Mr. Jones himself, "dis- organized, and occupied with the struggle for a living; hence we cannot, if we would, 'tight the devil with fire,' but must rely upon the patriotism and manhood of the masses."' He hurried to register his faith in those masses, however: "The American people cannot be bullied, bought or hoodwinked." One of the difficult problems whose solution depended largely upon Mr. Jones, was the conciliating and winning- over of the Populists. The latter had met in convention at Chicago shortly after the Democratic assembly had adjourned, and while they had nominated Bryan as their candidate lor the Presidency, had placed their own leader, Thomas E. Watson, of Georgia, on the ticket with him. The serious proposition of obtainiug Populist electors had to be handled carefully. Concessions had to be made to their leaders. And Mr. Jones arranged with Marion Butler, of North Carolina, the Populist National Chair- man, tor the support of the Populists in the Tar Heel State, whose electors were divided between Democrats, Populists and Republicans. Unless he could get Mr. But- ler to agree to unite with the Democrats in North Caro- 214 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY I ina, the Republicans would likely gain the State. Butler consented only upou condition thai Mr. .Jones would take out two Democratic electors in Arkansas, aud put two Populists in their places. This was the only chance to win North Carolina, and Mr. Jones agreed to do it. This incident simply shows that the fearless knight possessed a patriotism which reached beyond the confines of his owu Slate; that he was willing to pawn his personal popularity to the extent that another State might be brought "within the pale." Notwithstanding all was being done that could be done, both by the committee and the candidates, to make the people realize the stupendous magnitude of the issue to be decided by them at the polls, "1 believe the magni- tude of the struggle is not appreciated by most of the people," wrote Senator .Jones to his old friend, Colonel Slenimons. "it involves the well-being of civilized men everywhere." He was nevertheless able to telegraph J. X. Smithee, editor of the Gazette, on the eve of the elec l ion, "The campaign is closed, and victory has been won if the Republicans are not able to defraud us in the election. I have an abiding faith in the intelligence and courage of the people of this country." At midnight of election day l I ) he was able to say : "Mr. Bryan is certainly elected" ; and it was only after several days that he conceded the success of Major McKinley. From his heart Mr. -Jones believed that the defeat of the Democrats was brought about "by every kind of co- ercion and intimidation on the part of the money power, (1) November 1. 215 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY including threats of lock-outs aud dismissals and impend- ing starvation; by tne employment of by far the largest campaign fund ever raised in this country, and by the subornation oi a large portion of the American Press.' 1 .Defeated out unsurrendering, he was able to conclude : •'The .Democratic party, aided by its present allies, will still uplift the bimetallic stanuard, and bear it on to vic- tory We shall not abandon our tight for silver, which is a just cause, and one tnat is bound to triumph." The strain of the great campaign over, and its ar- duous and taxing labors ended, Mr. Jones returned to Arkansas to take a short rest. At Hope, his then home, he was accorded a great reception by his neighbors. A mighty outpouring greeted the returning chief as h^ aiignted from his train, a crowd such as a decade before had received him as he returned to rest after the sensa- tional deadlock in the Arkansas legislature had resulted in his election to the United (States Senate. The same loyal people of Hempstead County, strong in their appre- ciation of his worth, greeted their hero with unbounded enthusiasm, alike in victory and defeat. In a beautiful carriage decorated with white chrysanthemums and drawn by white steeds, he was taken to the home of his daughter, after he had made a short speech of thanks. And his home paper thus fittingly summed up his conduct of the great battle: "He never made a mistake nor spoke an imprudent word during the exciting campaign!" II. It must be kept constantly before the reader that the point of difference between the Democrats and Republi- 216 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY cans in the contest which we have just studied, was not bimetallism itself, but rather the method of procuring it. "I regard the recent election," said Mr. Jones on the Sen- ate tiooi-, when Congress assembled in December (1), "as an almost unanimous declaration in favor of bimetall- ism." And later he said (2) : "1 believe the time was never in the history of this country when the convictions of the great body of the American people were so firmly iixed as they are now that we must have the free and un- limited coinage of silver so as to increase the volume of cir- culating money and to bring the value of the dollar to what it was justly and equitably worth in 1873." So strong was the silver sentiment among the people at large, he thought, that, "if every leading man in the United States were to turn his back upon it, I tell you the people would not stop and"— referring to the charge that some of the champions were retracting— "the men who are laying the flattering unction to their souls that they are abandoning the fight may as well make up their minds now that they are going to wake up and find them- selves mistaken, as they did when they predicted that we had gone to pieces in 1896." I said that the "bone of contention" between the parties had been the method of obtaining what the great majority in both of them doubtless desired. Let it be borne in mind that the republicans had declared for an "international agreement" on bimetallism, while the Democrats had urged independent action on the part of the United States. The contest of 1896 therefore settled (1)1896. 54 Cong., 2 Sess., pp. 1299f. (2) 55 Cong., 2 Sess., pp. 1132f. 217 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY nothing permanently; and it was a matter still open for discussion, debate, and, if possible, decision. In the metropolitan press, upon the hustings and on the floor of Congress there continued much agitation of the prob- lem. The position of Mr. Jones continued to be one of favoring first of all international agreement, and, if that failed, initiative action for silver on the part of the Am- erican government. "I was one of those who believed," he saidj L),"that it was impossible to get the great nations of the earth to agree upon bimetallism for the present, and believing that the best interests of the people of the United Stares would be subserved by independent action if we could not procure concurrent action, I have favored such independent action on the part of this government." Tinning to the future, however, he continued: "I believe the greatest question now challenging the attention of the civilized world will have been settled and settled suc- cessfully if we can bring about an international agree- ment, the arts of peace wili develop as they have never done before and mankind will enter upon a period of advance- ment and progress the like of which has never been be- fore." Mr. Jones had hopes of such an agreement. He did liol know that it would come within the decade; but of ils ultimate coming, or at least an international re-ad- justment of the world's financial system, he had little doubt. But he did not think such re-adjustment entirely dependent upon international assent or concurrence; for he felt that if America took the lead the other nations would follow. "If the other countries will not join us in (1) 54 Cong., 2 Sess., pp. 1299f. 218 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY this great movement in the interest of humanity, it is our duly to undertake it alone. When the right is clear, ob- stacles should not be allowed to deter us from doing our duty 1 am an American, proud of my country, and 1 believe that we are more capable of taking care of our- selves and controlling the rest of the world than any other nation on earth." Mr. Jones was ready and willing at all times to answer, and from his place in the Senate repeatedly in- vited, the criticisms of the Republicans and the public at large, of his management of the Bryan campaign of 1890. -I have no objection," he said (1), in answer to an insin- uation of a Republican who mentioned it in the course of debate, "to having an investigation of what was done in the progress of that campaign. I am ready anywhere, before any committee which can be constituted by this or any other body, to give a complete and exact account of every cent that came into the treasury of the Democratic p ar ty_the amount of it, and where it went, showing ex- actly what was done with it." III. So much for the prominent part which James K. ,lones performed for the American Democracy in the mem- orable struggle of 1896 ami for post-campaign discussions. During the presidential term which ended in 1900, the issues became more complex, so that the next campaign was to be necessarily different from the former one. A war had been fought with Spain, leaving the United States in control of the Eastern Archaepelago, with (1) 55 Cong., 2 Sess., p. 473 of Appendix. 219 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY millions of souls as our charge and millions of acres of land the trust property of the government; and anti- imperiaiism took its place alongside the other issues to be decided. The Kepublican policy of management was to be approved or rejected. The whole business of Phil- ippine control was disgusting, even to those who believed tnat it had to be done with all the unrelenting hrnmess displayed by the American soldiery on the Islands. And the anti-imperialists taunted the administration with having changed the original conflict, which was begun as a noble warfare for the liberation of the Cuban, into a "diabolical campaign for the enslavement of the Filipino." Meantime the silver issue had not changed in the slightest detail or part, and the stringency caused by a continuation of the single standard continued. The Dem- ocrats had not been solidly for silver, and the "gold-bugs" had put out a separate ticket. The great party was split into two irreconcilable camps. Nevertheless the country realized that the election of McKinley upon the "business platform" of Mark Hanna, fastened still more strongly upon our country a tyranny of trusts, the enormity of whose outrages the people are only today realizing, and today taking courage to attack. The campaign of 180C had attracted sufficient atten- tion to gold that the output of that metal had increased in amazing measure. The trouble had been that the small amount of standard money had resulted in low prices, laborers had been turned out of work by the thous- ands, and a consequent business depression and discour- agement had followed. But when the Democrats had 220 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY focused the searchlight of rigid investigation upon the system, the world responded with an unprecedented vol- ume of gold, and rising prices and a temporary prosperity came in the years just following 1896. Responding to the demand for currency reform, the Republican Senate in 1897 enacted a new currency law, the general effect of which was to place within the national banks the practi- cal control of the circulation, which created a great na- tional debt, delegating to private interests the authority to supplement all deficiencies in the circulating medium by the issuance of a paper currency whose volume they should regulate, and the people be taxed to support. Against this iniquitous scheme, Democracy lifted its protest again in 1900. Money was not made the "para- mount issue" this time as before, for the reason that "the burning issue of imperialism growing out of the Spanish War involves the very existence of the Republic and the destruction of our free institutions (1)." And yet the platform this time reiterated the demand of 1896 for an "American financial system made by the American peo- ple for themselves, which shall restore and maintain a bimetallic price level, and as a part of such system the im- mediate restoration of the free and unlimited coinage of silver and gold at the legal ratio of sixteen to one, without waiting for the aid or consent of any other nation." Mr. Bryan was the almost unanimous choice of the Kansas City Convention for the standard bearer of the party. And he could find no man who he thought would with greater ability and better hopes of success manage (1) Platform of the Democratic party, 1900. 221 JAMES K. JONEH NEWBERRY his campaign, than -lames K. Jones. Tt was to "the Plumed Knight of Arkansas" that he turned again for leadership. The man who went through the trials of the remarkable battle of 1896 was chosen, "with propriety and manifest wisdom,'' to lead the hosts of silver and the principle of anti-imperialism. Mr. Jones, worn out and on the very verge of physi- cal collapse, had gone abroad the previous year, and had spent some months wandering liesurely about the con- tinent, resting and building up. From this trip he had come back with renewed vigor and activity, ready for the arduous duties of the campaign. He brought to this noble work the ability and strength which comes only from experience. Now advanced in age, ripe in the knowl- edge of the science of political management, he was able to bring still greater powers to bear for the success of the party than before. But it was the same old story of a lack of funds, a sole dependence upon patriotism and the betrayal of the people by the trusts. Jones and Bryan lost again : no man or group of men could have possibly won at this time. The result was accepted as the verdict of the people upon the single issue of imperialism, namely, that the situa- tion in the Philippines should be accepted as the"manifest destiny" of the United States — a bitter fruit of war. The money question was placed in a back-ground from which it has not, to the present day, emerged. Summing up, let me say that there began, under the able leadership of Jones. Bryan. Altgeld, and others, a study of the great problem of finance in this country that 222 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY will not end until the problem is settled in the interest of fairness to all men. The common people today are discussing the question as never before in the history of our country. It is the most complex and vexing subject with which the statesmanship of America must deal. Upon it depend, about it revolve, all the other problems affecting the happiness and well-being of mankind. In every contest since 1896 the money question has been confused with or submerged by other issues, and has Hierefore never come squarely before the people for their determination at the polls. Rut the masses are thinking; and its ultimate solution is perhaps at no distant day. To use language of "Coin" Harvey ill. the campaigns of 1896 and 10110 (and especially the former), "when Senator Jones was at the head of the organized forces of the Democratic party, began a study of the money (pies- lion which will continue until the problem is solved, or until the world sinks into another dark age." T cannot conclude this chapter without quoting the brief but tender tribute paid to Mr. Jones by Mr. O. O. Stealey, Washington correspondent for the Louisville Courier- Journal, "Marse Henry's" famous sheet, partly be- cause it applies especially to his personal conduct as campaign manager, and partly because it evinces the party's confidence in the character of the man: "A bet- ter Democrat or man more devoted to his party and its principles never lived than James Kimbrough Jones. To the harsh criticism of his 'rainbow chasing.' and the many keen, unkind jibes and thrusts of the opposition press for his management of the two Bryan campaigns, he made ab- 223 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY solutely no reply. They may have hurt the old man, but in the knowledge that he had done his duty as a man, a patriot and a Democrat, he let them rail and snarl." 224 CHAPTER XIII. THE INDIANS, AND HOMESTEAD LANDS I. A man could scarcely have been a member of the Sen- ate of the United States from 1885 to 1903 and really have done his full duty without voicing at some length his views upon the problem of the Indian. Its importance comes not only from the fact that it comprised all the questions relative to the treatment and development of a race of people on this continent, but also because out of it and dependent upon the outcome was the matter of the increase of government lands, and thus, indirectly, the people who live upon these lands, the homesteaders. It is the opinion of many statesmen that the Indians have been grossly mistreated at the hands of the United States government, while others think that their management has been one of consideration, care and diligence. The fact that for many years Senator Jones was on the very important Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and for some time perhaps the most influential member, lends great significance to the views he expressed upon the Sen- ate floor and in committee conferences. According to my estimate of his work in this direction, he shows as clearly here as anywhere else that with him characteristically comprehensive, all-sided view which can come only from broad and unbiased statesmanship. I shall in this treat- ment, as in the preceding chapters, feel at liberty to quote freely from his public utterances from time to time, that an estimate may be clearly drawn by the reader. Since the days of Columbus, Father Marquette, Joliet 225 JAMES E. JONES NEWBERRY and others of that time, few men have bad Hie high mo- tive of Christianizing and educating the red men on this continent; and it is only the legislation of recent years in thai direction thai can be characterized by much more than an underlying greed to get the lands which belonged to them, and sell them out to whomsoever would pay the bighesl price. Mr. Jones objected very strenuously to the what he called exorbitant appropriations for the education of the Indians, notwithstanding the fact that he was one of the strongest friends the red men had in Congress. He showed that a great number of unnecessary teachers and working forces were employed, in proportion to the num- ber of pupils enrolled in many of the schools for Indians. Referring to the education of the Indians in a general way, he said (1) : "I do not believe that yon can ever make any civilazation that is not based primarily on the Christian religion. T do not believe that any teaching von can undertake to give the Indian child in school is going to do him any good unless yon teach him some re- spect for the religion that the Bible teaches and we ought not to allow any mere feeling of partisan bias or sectional prejudice to influence ns to legislate againsl anv one denomination simply because it has shown a disposition to and simple duty of the government, before it parts with another acre of this land, to ascertain how much water there is in each irrigation drainage district 235 JAMES K. J0XE8 NEWBERRY that can be applied for reclamation uses to the benefit oi the land." i believe that his concluding words spoken in this connection in the first session of the lii'ty-first Congress perhaps more strongly than any of his other speeches in this connection, express his high regard for the home- steader : "I am as much interested in the building up of that magnificent country as anybody living outside of it. 1 have no pecuniary interest in it and never expect to have; but the time will never come while my heart beats that 1 shall not be proud to see the happiness and pros- perity and success of the people of the West — my own na- tion, my own people, blood of my blood, who are making homes in a country that has been heretofore a desert; who are making gardens where there has been heretofore nothing on the face of the earth to sustain man or beast." In the light of such sentences as these, there could be no question about the intensity of his interest in this subject, nor of the broad humanitarianism and statesman- ship of the man. 236 CHAPTER XIV. MR. JONES AND STATE'S RIGHTS Although the subject matter of this chapter is some- what the same as that of the following one, it so clearly shows the views of Senator Jones on another very im- portant principle that I deem it best to treat it separ- ately. It is the opinion of statesmen and the sentiment of the people universally in this country, that the arbitra- ment of arms in sixty-one to sixty-five settled, once for all, the up-to-that-time much discussed and vexing problem of State's rights. This, plainly stated, was nothing more nor less than the claim, advanced usually by Southerners, that the States of the Union, in the last analysis, were more powerful— not physically, but legally under the constitution— than the national government which was a product, as they claimed, made by these States' taking out from their plumage, so to speak, of sovereignty, cer- tain "sovereign" feathers which went into the make-up of that "cushion of agreement" which was calculated to "deaden the pain" of the arrows of civil strife and foreign hostility. These sovereign States never dreamed but that they were keeping to themselves the residue of sover- eignty and power. And it took the new spirit of the great westward migrating movement, the reiterated decisions of the United States supreme court, and, withal, a growing national sentiment of feeling that the most powerful thing upon the continent was the central government with head- quarters at Washington ;— it took all these things, and more to convince these States of the error of their way. 237 JAMES K. JONEti NEWBERRY It took a fight more bitter than that waged upon the Sen- site floor by the clashing of logic of such men as Calhoun, Webster, Sumner. Davis, Toombs and Havne. State's rights is a dead claim since the war. And yet there is scarcely a Southern statesman nowadays, who is not jealous and tenacious of the rights of the Common- wealth from which he conies. In one form or another, (hough now, thanks to the the breadth and statesmanship of our present day Congressmen, usually only in a very modified form, about minor things, and with radicalism suppressed, the problem comes up, the discussions leading us to believe that while the States fear and respect their created product, they resist any encroachment upon the domain of their authority as they see that authority. One of the occasions upon which the subject of this biography asserted himself rather strongly as a "State's man." was in the matter of United States inspection of (he election returns in the States. It was during I lie second session of the fifty-first Congress that a bill (1) was introduced , to "amend and supplement the election laws of the United Stales." etc., by plac- ing the control of the elections in the hands of the federal authorities. The beliefs of Senator Jones are very plainly shown in (he strong phrases he used in debating the bill (2) : "The attempt to deprive the people of the control of their own elections and to place them under the control of officers of the federal government is a startling proposition, and one that men should carefully weigh and consider. Tt pro- (1) H. R. 11045. (2) 51 Cong., 2 Sess., pp. 407 f. 238 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY ceeds upon the idea that the people cannot be trusted Principles antagonistic to all the principles of freedom and utterly subversive of all ideas of local self-government, swarm through this bill from beginning to end T have read stories of the spies organized by the minions of des- potic [tower, how they watch the people and other spies watch them. Siberia is full today of human beings who are the victims of the malignity of those unscrupulous creatures. Such methods belong not to our people nor to our civilization. They should find no place among the free, manly, open, self-respecting population of this coun- try The people are declared by this bill to be un- worthy of trust; but, wonder of wonders! this immacu- late set of supervisors (contemplated herein) who are no more worthy of trust than the people, are. by the terms of the same bill, held to be worthy of it!" Mr. Jones declared the bill to be the materialization of a spirit which wished nothing less than the "highway robbery"of the people of the States of an inalienable right. Perhaps no sentence of the somewhat lengthy vitriolic denunciation which he made, of the attempt to get control of these elections, more fully shows the intensity of his loathing for it, and his hostility to such measures as this bill, than the following : "The people of the States of this Union are not ready to bow so humbly to this spirit of centralization as the bill assumes, but they will resent with an ardor worthy of their lineage, this last and ex- tremest effort to rob them of their liberties." Tt was perhaps the same spirit which caused Mr. Jones to attack the makers of a charge, which at the time 239 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY was being discussed, relating to the alleged suppression of the negro vote in the South by the whites. The discussion came up over an editorial which had appeared in the "Anglo-Saxon Churchman" (1), charging the Southern white politicians in general and those of Arkansas in particular, with seeking to rob the negro citizens of their votes and influence, and which deplored the fact that the best men would not stoop to besmirch themselves by trying to clean up the dirt and abolish the outrage. It was a rather warm editorial, and Senator Hoar, of Massachusetts, was discussing it at the time. As a rule Mr. Jones paid little or no attention to the attacks of Northern fanatics, a few of whom occasionally drifted into the United States Senate ; but when as broad- gauged a man as Senator Hoar, his close friend and ally ir many senatorial battles, became stirred up over the matter, it excited him to words of very caustic correction of such cheap agitation, and of candid explanation to such broader minds as Senator Hoar. Referring, in the first place, to the editor of the sheet Above mentioned, a Mr. Carnahan, he said : "He has spent so much time in his study, so much of his time in reading, in considering mere theories, and so little in actual contact with the people, that he is not an authority on these questions he is simoly mislead ; lie is de- ceived ; he is mistaken ; he has not been long enough upon the ground and sufficiently in contact with the people to understand the facts of the case." ("The same thing might fittinglv be said of the vast (1) Vol. 7. No. 7. Little Rock. Arkansas, Jan.. 1891. 240 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY majority of insinuations of like character which have in the last forty of fifty years been hurled at the Anglo- Saxon rulers of the Southland. It may be stated with truth, that the majority of Northern people, and states- men with them, have for several decades been utterly in- tolerant of the few rabidly radical and irrational cranks who have insisted that their negro brethern at the South have been wantonly and with amazing atrocity mislead and scared.) "I state here today,'" he went on (1), "and state de- liberately, that I believe the elections in the State of Arkansas are just as free from fraud and intimidation — aye. they are more so — as they are in the great Commonwealth represented by the Senator from Massachusetts (2)." Against the injustice of such fanatic criticism no ar- gument is ever quite so pertinent and telling as that drawn from practical experience. Tt was this that Sena- tor Jones was in so many cases aide to use against his op- ponents in debate; and it was this thai he brought to bear at this time: "I live in a negro community; T live in a township and in a town surrounded by great masses of negroes, and I assert what I positively know, that there is no attempt to deny to those people the right to exercise their rights as they choose. What we object to in that country, is the want of moral character amongst the ne- groes They are used for the purpose of accomplish ing the selfish ends of these scheming conspirators, both Republicans and Democrats, who use the negro vote in almost every election in some localities of the South, to (1) 51 Cone.. 2 Sess.. pp. 1400f. (2) Senator Hoar. 241 JAMES K. JOSES NEWBERRY the moral hurt of the black race and the lowering of Southern white manhood in the eyes of the world." Mr. Jones's attitude toward the negro and his idea of the real meaning of conditions in the South are more fully told in the next chapter. Suffice it to say here that he believed the negro problem of the South would never be solved by criticism from his Northern brothers on the Senate floor. It was a matter for the SouthernStates, aud not the National Congress, to supervise, regulate and solve. 242 CHAPTEE XV. THE PROBLEM OF THE SOUTHERN NEGRO AND NATIONAL AID TO EDUCATION In the preceding chapter I essayed to show Mr. Jones's feelings in the matter of the interference of gov- ernment officials in the elections held in the States, and his resentment of the misstatements of the misinformed about the Southern negro. I have reserved for separate, though brief, treatment, the Senator's views upon the South's negro problem, the work of regeneration which the States proposed to do and in fact were doing, and that most necessary development which would come, not, as lie thought, from government aid, but from the moral stimulus which the black man could get most easily at home and from the men wdio were his truest friends by reason of the fact that they best understood him and his needs. The expressions about to be discussed as voicing the the opinion of the Senator, came in the debate in the forty-eighth Congress, at the first session, over the bill (1) providing for federal aid to common schools, and in a later session, over another measure of a like na- ture. As to the constitutionality of such a measure, which other gentlemen denied, Mr. Jones had not the sii.n-htest doubt. He believed the things provided by the bill unonpstionably legitimate under th 'on, To show this he quoted the opinions of sueh men p.s Jel son. Marshall, Talhoun and others. Perhaps the view of Senator Jones upon this point may be best shown (1) S. B. 396. 243 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY in the very apt quotation from the first great apostle of democracy in this country ill: "We should in every ques- tion of construction carry ourselves hack to the time when the constitution \v;is adopted, recollect the spirit mani- fested and the debates, and instead of trying what mean- ing we may squeeze out of the text or invent against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed." Judging by this standard. Mr. Jones thought there could Ik- no question that the hill was proper under the consti- tution. The "fathers" would never have objected to the national "protector and defender" which they created aid- ing and fostering the education of the masses under its dominion and control. As to the matter of constitutionality, then, Mr. Jones had no objection to any bill for government aid to schools in this country. The government had before, in fact, made appropriations no more in violation of that instru- ment than the bill then under debate: "For many years the government has been appropriating lands for the aid of schools, and about one hundred million acres of public domain have, T believe, been so appropriated." Mr. Jones thought that the government has power to appropriate money to aid the State in the internal affairs affecting the general, though not the local, welfare. Let it be under- stood, however, that although he thought the government could legally give this aid and the States could legally re- ceive it. he did not think the government could claim any right or control whatever in the affairs so aided, but that this should, as before the aid came, remain in the control of the States. (1) 4S Cong.. 1 Sess., App. ]>. 3328. 244 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY Nor should it be concluded that the States should, just because they could do so, call upon the national gov- ernment, every time a petty need came up. This, he thought, would destroy to a certain extent the individu- ality, identity and independence of the State indulging in ii too frequently. A few years after, in the Senate, he expressed himself rather forcibly on this point (1) : "The people everywhere are manifesting a desire to have almost everything placed under the control of the federal officials. The rights and powers of the States are disregarded and the people seem to be utterly careless of this radical change. A calamity by Hood or fire or drought can scarcely overtake any locality but somebody is at once proposing some sort of action by the federal government for the relief of the sufferers." Mr. Jones pictured the need of his section for the educational advantages by which the North, after the war, had pushed forward by leaps and bounds, and because of the lack of which the South's progress had been relatively slow. He told the Senate of the efforts, his people were putting forth for the education of all classes and all colors : 'Our people are today taxing themselves higher for education than are the the citizens of any part of this great country. The percentage of total taxes in the United States going to the support of schools is stated at 22.(5. In the New England States it is 20.2; in the .Middle States 19.5; in the Western States 26.6, while in Arkansas it is 30.3, and in Tennessee it is 33.2. Yet," said he, "the amount of school resources per capita in (1) 51 Cong.. 1 Sess.. p. 2079. 245 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY New England is nearly twenty dollars, while in the South it is less than three dollars." And yet he thought that not in aiding common schools and the cause of education alone was to be effected the real solution of the South's problem (1) : "Here it has o the habit to consider the common schools, education, intelligence, as the real basis of the wonderful growth, ity and progress of the country, and to consider the common school system, especially of the Northern States, as their crowning glory. Whether in our enthusi- asm we have not been somewhat forgetful of a great truth to which Charles Sumner gave utterance in the following words : — 'The grandeur of man is in moral elevation, enlight- ened and decorated by the intellect of man,' I shall not now attempt to discuss further than to say that I fear the greater influence has been obscured by the lesser." By saying this he did not mean to disparage the cause of education and book learning in his section. He sim- ply said that the uplift of the Southern child, especially of the negro child, would not come by that alone; that there must needs be the moral stimulus which would come form the careful, sympathetic handling of the negro by those who knew and understood him. Nor did he mean to say that under no conditions the South should ask for government aid ; for, concluding his first speech in the forty-eighth Congress, he said: "I believe that slavery is but half abolished, emancipation is but half completed, while millions of persons with votes in their hands are (1) 51 Cong., 1 Sess., pp. 2078f. 246 c S^^***"' JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY left without education; aud au enlightened policy on the part of the government of the United States toward the States in this emergency will, 1 am sure, be productive of immeasurable beneht; that one day of such sowing will produce a thousand years of reaping.'' And 1 hnd noth- ing in any of his speeches in either House of Congress which convinces me that this "enlightened policy" was one of "hands oft," or that absolutely excluded national aid to education in a material way. There were times when it was expedient to give the aid, he thought. It was purely a matter of expediency and not of principle. it is impossible for any statesman today to ably dis- cuss the history of the problem of education in the South without speaking of that period immediately following the Civil War. Such discussions do not necessarily de- note radicalism nor sectional bitterness, but usually de- note a comprehensive view which all men must take of the situation as a whole. Practically all development at this section began after the Civil War; and the rapid strides made, even since Senator Jones's death, in 1908, are un- paralleled. Speaking of the gloom and despond into which the South was plunged in the period of reconstruc- tion, he said: "There was hope in education. The edu- cation of books and school houses might be a help to that broader aud higher education to think correctly, to value the rights and privileges of an American citizen, not for low, mean, sordid purposes, but for the honorab'e privilege of raising the respect of mankind and exercis- ing the rights, as well as cheerfully assuming the burdens, of American citizenship. The unaided efforts of the white 247 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY and colored people of the South have accomplished much in this direction Schools aud school houses will help to solve the race problem, but they are not, and can- not be, the most powerful agency. There must be a moral uplifting (li of the negro before he can be materially advanced from his present position, — and to do this he must have peace." If there was one thing more than all others, which Senator Jones emphasized, in this discussion and in all others, it was his utter contempt for anyone who tries to stir up sectional ill-feeling to the real hurt of the people of his State or section. I do not know that I have ever read stronger or more vitriolic words than his. As he went on with the discussion of the real needs of the South in the work of regeneration and negro development, his feelings seemed, as they so seldom did, to get the better of him (2 i : "A very serious drawback with which we of the South have had to deal in building up schools has been the great debt which was by the most unblushing frauds fostered upon the shcool districts all over the country by the so-called carpet-bag governments. This debt has stood like a lion in the path of progress." Again : "The brood of vipers which were nurtured in the South under reconstruction laws, who were locally known as carpet-baggers, in the hey-day of their power deceived the North and robbed the South in a way that challenges credulity." Thousands of these carpet-baggers had made their living by the precarious method of controlling the votes (1 > Italics arc mine. (2) 51 Cong., 2 Sess., p. 209, etc. 248 J AM EH K. JONES NEWBERRY of the negroes, through the offices they held by appoint- ment from the federal government. It seems unbelieve- jible that twenty years ago, and even to some extent today, the great body of the colored people, while living on the most quiet and submissive terms with their white friends and neighbors, alongside of whom they perform their daily toil, have almost uuexceptionally voted on the opposite side from their white friends, for the sole and simple reason that their grandfathers were taught to do so by these carpet-baggers. "Immediately after the war closed the newly acquired freedom came at the same time that the carpet-baggers did, and the average negro was easily made to believe that the one was responsible for the other." Senator Jones hurled sentences of the most powerful invective into the teeth of those men who sought to revive the buried prejudices of the war and reconstruction per- iod : "To stir up old animosities is always an easy thing to do. To respond heartily to unjust attacks is always a temptation; but I know full well that the purpose of this infiamatory style of speaking is to arouse sectional feeling — to exasperate the North and help those whose trade it is to live ou their country's misfortunes, who ride to place and power upon the bitter sectional animosities that the good men of both sections deplore The greatest huni- bng of the time is all this 'sound and fury' about the negro question. It took the intermeddling of officious people from the outside to excite their apprehensions and to open a field for their political quackery." And then, as he became calm again toward the close 249 JAA1EX A. JONES NEWBERRY oi ms speech, iiis woi'ds gave tiie impression of passionate appeal to ail sections to let me South alone; and here ii is that we see again ine statesman without preju- dice, the man who, because oi that same experience spoken oi 5 before, knew and understood his subject, pleading for his people. "Prejudice, " he said, "can be met in out oue way it may be lived down. A iong course oi good conduct, upright business methods — industry, manliness, soberness and self-respect, will in the course oi time wear it away. Schools and scnooi training alone will not reach the evil. There must be a broader education, it is not in the power of the government to give this Education, after ail, is not merely what is learned in schools and books. The education which makes charac- ter on the whole is taught by the mothers in the ceaseless administrations from infancy up to maturity. . . .Elevated morals, coupled with intelligence, are to be the sheet-an- chor of this government. Advancement cannot come except by cultivating both virtue and intelligence All the South wants, all it needs, is to be left alone with its struggle. If the white men of the South prosper, the colored men must, and vice versa. Let the South wrestle with the spirit of darkness until the break of day, and the solution will come in the blessing of posterity, and it will come in peace." And all this from an unprejudiced man, who knew whereof he spoke: "I am not speaking in temper nor in partisan zeal, but as an American citizen — as one who loves his country and earnestly hopes for its highest and greatest good. And I am trying to call the attention of 250 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY thinking men to a sober consideration of the truth as it exists I grew up to manhood on a plantation, have lived among the colored people all my life; and no man living feels more than I do a sincere desire for their pros- perity, success and happiness." The daily contact from earliest childhood with mem- bers of the black race on large plantations in Dallas and Hempstead Counties, Arkansas, had created for him, as ii always does, a bond of love and sympathy for this uneducated black folk whose better understandings were implanting a respect, amounting to an absolute trust, in hearts of happiest comradeship. 251 CHAPTER XVI. VARIOUS AND SUNDRY— PART ONE PENSIONS A pension is a money remuneration for service. This service is usually performed in times of war, although mere are pensions granted to some who have served their country well in the peaceful pursuits of teaching in eleemosynary institutions and corrective and charity schools, for preaching, and for other things. The grant- ing of a pension simply means that those who have been ihus served, fought for, taught or preached to, agree, out of a spirit of gratitude, that the tighter, teacher or preacher, or what-not, deserves at their hands some physi- cal and tangible evidence of their feeling of gratitude, To this end they give them, by public vote, or local, com- munity pledge or petition, money, medals, loving cups, crosses of honor, ribbons, and sometimes the LL. D. de- gree. it's a fine sentiment that prompts the giving of such rewards. In the granting of war pensions it comprises two things : a gratitude that wishes to bestow honor, and a sense of the fitness of things, that desires, in a business way, to keep physically alive these old veterans to the last possible day, by the purchase for them of sustaining food and clothing. A failure to do either, sometimes indulged in, may remind the reader of the legend of the greedy man, who, having enjoyed for a long number of years the faith- ful service of a horse which he possessed, turned him out to live upon the stubble in the cold of winter. But the 252 JAMES K. JOXES NEWBERRY voice of justice rang out in the tones of the old town "bell of justice," the rope of which had been mended with some strands of grass. Seeing the grass, the hungry animal nibbled at it, and thus unwittingly pulling it, rang out the tocsin of an unjust treatment. The crowds gathered and sanctioned the judgment pronounced by their king that the owner must feed and care for the horse for the balance of his days. To the spirit of that decree may be likened that which fills our modern legislator when he lifts his voice in behalf of the crippled and worn-out sol- diery of his country. There is in it a feeling of obliga- tion, and this, mingled with his sense of homage which he pays indirectly to the country through honoring the men who in the past have upheld the country's honor, pro- duces the legislation desired. Rut the righteousness of the sentiment has been taken advantage of, by those who have constituents whose votes depend upon their securing a pension for alleged past services which, in reality, as the statesman often knows full well, were never rendered. In this country, the pen- sion system has, in fact, come to be thought of as a "'grab," which means nothing more nor less than a graft, and is one of the three or four greatest national bug-bears. It is a vampire of the hugest and vilest sort. All that a representative, either state or national, has to do in order to conciliate the old soldiers in his district, is simply to vote in favor of an increase of pensions. In fact, an open candidate for the presidential nomination, who occupied a prominent place in our national House of Representatives, once voted for such a measure, thereby greatly enhancing 253 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY his chances for the influence of the old soldier class in his contest for the nomination. Notwithstanding the abuse of the pension system, with which Senator Jones was perfectly acquainted, and which he genuinely deplored, he was nevertheless a staunch advocate of the principle, and frequently aided in the passage of measures for raising the amounts paid to these gray-haired and grizzly patriots. While a mem- ber of the lower House (1), he strongly advocated the most liberal attitude on the part of the government to- ward these men, consistent with a wise and careful finan- cial policy. The debate was on the passage of a bill (2) •'granting pensions to the soldiers and sailors of the Mexi- can War." Though he believed in the humanitarian or sentiment argument for pensions, he did not favor the system chiefly for that reason, but rather because he deemed it the most expedient thing, and most in harmony with a wise and safe public policy. "I do not rest this — (his advocacy) — upon any mere sentimem of sympathy, humanity or grati- tude, though I believe these considerations are perhaps sufficient reasons for it I propose to place my ad- vocacy of liberal pension laws upon the higher ground of public policy. I insist that nothing will so foster and strengthen the military spirit of any people as entire con- fidence on their part in the liberal care by the govern- ment of the old soldiers, when their power of caring for themselves has in a measure ceased, and when old age and its attendant evils have come upon them." (1) 48 Cong., 1 Sess., p. 22. (2) H. R. 5667. 254 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY The armies which have fought the battles of the world have, as a rule, been composed of poor men. From the •lays of the Egyptian bondage, when men were driven as slaves to work and tight, and of Rome just before its fall, when the patricians hired others to do their fighting for them, the world's greatest struggles have been waged by the countless poor. No revolution effected by rich men ever occurred in the world's swing of time. Even in our own country, though today perhaps the army is the most nearly democratic in all the world, the common people have been the successful soldiery in our great wars. "Our armies." said Mi-. -Tones, "are not generally made up of those who live in ease and splendor, but usually of that class in which determination, nerve and energy have been developed by conflicts in the stern struggles of life." And this was one of his arguments in favor of the pay- ment of pensions to these men. Another reason was, that the granting of pensions to Mexican War veterans was in no sense a local or sec- tional matter, but one of national application and signifi- cance. "It embraces in its beneficent provisions worthy men from all sections of our grand country." How strik- ingly this marks the unselfishness of the man I am dealing with in this biography when I say here that Senator Jones fought all the way through the stern conflict of the Civil War as a loyal Confederate soldier, and that not one cent of government money has ever been given to a single "rebel" for his part iu that fight. The fact that Southern men, ex-Confederate soldiers, have stood in many instan- ces upon the floor of Congress and the Senate, and 255 JAMES K. JONFS NEWBBRRT strongly advocated the giving of pensions to others — even to those who fought against them in the same struggle — when they themselves, unrewarded, fought through the bitterest battles of modern times, is one of the most won- derful evidences of the magninimity and unselfishness of Southern manhood. Mr. Jones believed that granting these pensions was a sign and a security of the nation's prosperity. "I be- lieve this government will grow and prosper as long as this spirit is encouraged and kept alive, and whenever it is no longer a characteristic of our people, that then our government will be no more " Again : the government, he argued, was amply able to pay the soldiers. In fact, there was so much money in the national treasury as to give the lie to any excuse on the part of the government for not granting the pensions to those men in need. "A niggardly course in this mat- ter," he said, ''especially now when the national treasury is overflowing, will naturally excite the contempt of every man who ever bore a musket or ever felt a patriotic im- pulse." Mr. Jones then went on to show the good results of the Mexican War, and pointed the argument at those who opposed the keeping up of these old men who had won such glory and renown for their own country. He cited the annexation of the vast amount of territory which came as a result of the Mexican victory, and the master- ful exploitation of the material resources of the West, the building of railroads, the mining, industries, and other phases of progress which had followed. This, coupled 256 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY with the real obligation of the government to these fel- lows, and the fact that the treasury was overflowing with f'nnds, were his chief arguments for granting pensions liberally. He closed with a somewhat vigorous presenta- tion of the old soldiers' insistent right to it : "They have lived long enough to see splendid cities grow up all over the land their valor won for you. They have seen untold wealth accumulate as the result of its occupation, and they ask through us now, while the country is rich, pros- perous and happy, that they in their declining years may have their hearts and homes cheered by the generosity of the government. When this is done, they and all the country will rise up and call you blessed." TIMBER SEIZURES Twenty years ago there were vast stretches of prac- tically untrammelled lands in Arkansas belonging to the national government, and the inspection of this territory often caused much complaint on the part of the citizens against the federal officials. Nearly all of these lands were heavily timbered, and the special duty of the inspec- tors was to see that people living on strips of land adjoin- ing the national lands did not cut timber off the latter, haul it to the nearest mill, and sell it as their own. While the officials who watched the timbers in this State, as in all new country, had a difficult problem on their hands, and were often unjustly accused of being too severe in their dealings, yet they have sometimes been imprudent in their over-care in behalf of the government. A few have even been extremely dishonest. 257 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY It would appear from messages and personal letters which Senator Jones received during the second session of the fifty -tilth Congress that the territory near Bates- ville. Arkansas, was afflicted with an official of this severe. unjusl and dishonest type. His name was Schlierholz. Senator Jones had letters from the most responsible sources, one of whom was a former Congressman, that this inspector was arbitrarily seizing all lumber crafts coming down White River to Batesville, just as soon as they reached that town, compelling the owners to pay the expense of a trial and prove that their timber really belonged to them, causing much trouble among the mistreated timber traders who lived near the city. Schlier- holz was the agent of the General Land office, stationed at Batesville. He was, as said, watching for and seizing all timbers coming in, forcing whomever brought a raft-load to account for his possession. This often entailed many days of waiting and loss of time, the man having to locate his witnesses and pay their expenses of transportation, and board while in town, taking them from their work, and all that. Timber shipping and sale was a business and means <»f livlihood for many of those people. They simply cut small quantities from off their holdings and brought them down White River on rafts, selling them for whatever they could get at Newport and Batesville. For many of them this was. in a certain season of the year, almost the only source of income. But this man, Schlierholz, seemed to consider himself placed there to seize all the timber, re- gardless of who the holder might be, and sell it for the 258 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY government — or himself. He simply assumed that every farmer living on White River and shipping timber down it was a thief until he could prove himself innocent. This aroused the wrath of Senator -Tones. "Mr. President," he exclaimed, after explaining the situation io the Senators, "a man assuming to exercise powers un- der the General Land office, such as this man assumes, ought to be kicked out of the service (1) !" The Senator then read a letter telling how one poor fellow had gone down on his raft, carrying his provisions with him. (Some- times they came from considerable distances). When he arrived at Batesville, Schlierholz. without a particle of proof, seized his timber, tied it up, sent him back afoot, without money to pay his expenses, rejected his proof of ownership and good faith when presented to him, and sold his timber; and the poor man was compelled to wait indefinitely the action of the Federal Court in order to secure any of the money which his valuable cargo brought when sold by this "autocrat and satrap." He told of another man whom Schlierholz had "held up." His whole winter's work, practically, was embodied in the cargo of his craft, w r hich sold for two hundred, five dollars. The agent took forty-six out of this two hun- dred, five dollars for his own fees and charges, and after the poor fellow had paid the expenses of the witnesses who had come from forty to fifty miles to Batesville, to testify to his innocence of the charge of theft, he had com- ing to him the miserable pittance of fifty dollars! Mr. Jones introduced a resolution asking what in- (1) 55 Cong., 2Sess., pp. 5730f. 259 JAMES K. JONES KEWBERRY structions were given this man to wantonly seize this tim- ber in such a wholesale and unfair way; and it was unani- mously agreed to. A few days later he presented a more definite and specific resolution to the effect that the con- duct of Schlierholz he investigated. After some debate this, too. was agreed upon and resulted in Schlierholz's removal from the service. FREEDOM OF SFEECH Throughout the world's history governments of one kind and another have attempted to throttle free speech. From the time when the Catholic church ordered Luther's heretical writings burned and declared him excommuni- cated, and, backed by the Emperor, Charles the Fifth, outlawed him because he spoke a truth to agree with which Mould have been destructive to them; down to the Sedi- tion Act in the history of our own legislation, attempts have been made to hush the voices which have been raised iii detriment to the "powers that be." In fact, free speech, one of tin 1 safe-guards of democracy, or people's rule, and the efforts to suppress it, have been the chief cause of the overthrow, at last, of almost every corrupt dynasty that the world has seen. Today, it is well-nigh universally recognized and accepted as an inalienable right of every man, where civilization holds high dominion. But notwithstanding this fact, men have, in our own country, and in very recent years — in fact, they do today, little as we at first blush may be inclined to believe it — tried with all their might to choke hack utterances derog- atory to their power. Yes. even in the American Con- 260 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY gress, Kepublieans and Democrats have done this very thing, in order to promote by legislation the success of their party measures. Public attention, when called to such attempts in this country, strongly opposes them, and if they continue in the face of that, their public offices are in danger of being lost to them. it was to call the attention of the Senate and the country to what he deemed a flagrant and open attempt to abuse this right of free speech that, in the second ses- sion of the fifty-fifth Congress, Mr. Jones lifted his voice iu all its .strength of protest and appeal. The reader will pardon the derogatory reference to a political party still existant, for it is necessary to make it in order to bring clearly into view the attitude of marked defiance with which Mr. Jones opposed such efforts. His somewhat lengthy denunciation came in the debate on a bill "to promote the commerce and increase the the foreign trade of the United States,'' etc. He accused the Republican party of trying to put through the Senate bills with many different provisions or clauses, without giving the mem- bers time to debate them, thus throttling the right of free speech. He stated that he was willing to come at any reasonable hour, and and stay as late as was at all prac- ticable, or even till an unreasonoble time, for the purpose of taking up the different appropriation bills, and all other bills, picking them to pieces, debating them with leis- ure and deciding upon them with judgment. "We believe, on this side of the Senate chamber," he said, ••that it is our duty to stand up for our right of free speech, for our right to discuss important measures, for 261 J AM E IS K. JONES NEWBERRY our right to be beard as against bills tbat we believe to be iniquitous and outrageous. " To obtain this, "we are willing to meet here at any hour in the morning." Speaking for himself, be said, further: "I will not, so help me high heaven, ever be a party, directly or indi- rectly, to tins effort to throttle free speech. And (speak- ing to tbe Kepublican side of the chamber) we put you upon notice now that you must have a quorum present, and have it all the time, as we (the Democrats) uo not propose to contribute in any way to bringing about what we believe to be an outrageous and tyrannical effort to suppress free speech by brute force !" As tbe Senator took his seat, there was considerable evidence of approval and applause manifested in the gal- leries, which was, as is the custom in the Senate, promptly quieted. Speaking on another occasion of the tenacity of the American people for tbe principle of free speech, he voiced an even stronger commendation of it: "It is well for us, individually as well as a nation, and for the future wel- fare of mankind, that this spirit of toleration, of freedom of thought and speech have so strong a hold as it has upon tbe great body of the American people; for this mutual regard for the honest convictions which charac- terize those who differ will always advance the cause of truth and honest investigation in any field of human thought." The whole public record of Mr. Jones bears testimony to the belief thus so strongly expressed. In the search through the entire record of his achievements, in the fierce 263 JAMES K. JOXES NEWBERHT conflict of debates, in the tactful management of meas- ures and of inen, and everywhere, 1 find not the slight- est action on his part which would do aught but em- phasize the words just quoted, in this, as elsewhere, he •stood four-square," welcoming as well as giving criti- cism and correction. TRUSTS in a speech delivered in the fiftieth Congress, second session (1), Mr. Jones took occasion to attack those cor- porations in this country which by reason of the failure of government regulation have grown to the alarming pro- portions of the modern trusts. 1 have failed to see in cursory reading on the subject, and indeed in some in- tensive study of problems connected with monopolies, a better statement than that which from his speech at this time 1 quote here. He said: "The growth of these com- mercial monsters called trusts in the last few years, has become appalling. For a long while they were limited in numbers, and while even then they excited the detesta- tion of good men, they did not exist in such numbers and power as to cause apprehension for the public safety. Now, however, having been allowed to grow and fatten upon the public, theirs is an example of evil that has ex- cited the greed and conscienceless rapacity of commer- cial sharks, until they are to be found now in every branch of trade, preying upon every industry, and by their unholy combinations robbing their victims, the gen- eral public, in defiance of every principle of law and morals " (1) pp. 1457f. 262 JAMES K. JOS Eti NEWBERRY But criticism, however sharp and however just, of these evils, either by public utterance or published edi- i orial, is not sufficient to eradicate them. Bitter abuse may serve as an excitant, but mere denunciation, while tending toward destruction of evil, is at least not in itself constructive for good. Senator Jones did not merely denounce the trusts, but did all in his power to crush them by righteous legislation. He believed this to be the true solution. "'The iron hand of the law," said he, "must be laid heavily upon this system, or our boasted liberty of the citizen is a myth." Going on further, he stated: "If the proceeds of the labor of our men and women are uot to be their own, we have no liberty, and our govern- ment is a farce and a fraud." He closed by contrasting these robber barons with that great story-outlaw, Kobin Hood: "When Robin Hood undertook to rob his fellow-citizens, he took his life in his hands, and with at least some sort of courage bore !he consequences of his crime. But these modern foot- pads have not the grace of his courage, but commit their robberies by stealth." The great constructive work of the man who uttered words like these against the abuses of these molochs of high finance, against the tariff which mothers them, and in behalf of oppressed humanity, gives emphasis to my belief that his designation of these corporate heads as "foot-pads" was in no wise merely the vial of vituperation nor the slander of hasty intemperance. 264 CHAPTER XVII. VARIOUS AND SUNDRY— PART TWO THE FARMER 1 know of no more clear, concise, comprehensive and comet statement in all literature of the dignity, worth find character of that common class of people called the farmers, than I lind falling from the lips of Senator Jones; and J believe it wise to quote the statement here in its entirety, that ii may stand upon these pages as an ever- lasting tribute of respect to, and of pride in, the tillers of the soil, from whose ranks he himself sprang. "The farmers of this country," said he (1), "are an honorable class. They eat their bread in the sweat of their faces ail the days of their lives. They furnish us nine-tenths of all our great exports. They supply the food for the mil- lions of this great continent. They supply cotton to clothe the world. In times of danger by millions they are ready to present their bosoms like a stone wall in opposition to any one. They are the foundation, support, defense and hope of the country. From their ranks comes almost every man who towers above his fellows. The President of thirty or forty years from now is somewhere on a farm. Your future statesmen and generals are now in that nursery of great men The hope of the coun- try is in the honesty, sincerity and good sense of the masses. All of them will not be led astray, and honesty and good government will prevail." 1 think we might search in vain for a better ex- pression of the supreme respect in which he held the class (1) 50 Cong., 1 Sess., pp. 8726f 265 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY of men which has been designated by practically every leading statesman that the nation has produced as the very back-bone of the country's greatness. While it is a strong utterance, it cannot be said to be otherwise than safe, sane, and true to the very letter. As to his prophecy relative to the future presidents, he simply based his pre- diction upon the facts of the past; and this, coupled with an understanding of the environment and conditions ex- istant when he spoke, forms the only possible basis for all estimates of this kind. Mr. Jones was reared a farmer boy himself, and out of the rich experience and observa- tion which were peculiarly his, he recited his judgment of those 10 whom the starched cuff and high collar are not (he true badges of manhood or of merit. QUE JURY SYSTEM With all the ardor and passion of his soul Mr. Jones believed in the principle of the trial by jury. Men differ., radicaly over propositions which some think invaluable in the regenerating of the country and the bringing to pass, ultimately, of the highest possible good; but over the inalienable rights which from the English Magna Charta have come down to us with intact acceptation, they seldom wrangle. They accept them without cavil or dispute. And there is no principle laid dow r n in that great constitutional instrument of England which has been a greater safe-guard against tyranny and oppression throughout the centuries since its adoption, than the tight which every man has, when accused of crime, to a lair and impartial trial at the hands of a jury of his peers. 266 JAMES K, JONES NEWBERRY There were juries long before the Magna Charta; but the right hud become corrupted aud lost through the selfish- ness and jealous}' of kiugs; aud it took the force of armed hosts to wrest from the cruel John his signature to a written evidence of this right of men. Since that time it has been unquestioned, both iu England and America. It became engrafted in the great body of common law prin- ciples which we accepted, and that common law is only abrogated, in special instances, by the statute law, as uew condi lions may necessitate. On page four hundred, nine of the records of the sec- ond session of the fifty-first Congress, 1 find some sen- tences from Senator Jones which very strongly speak his opinion of the principle, and the loyalty of partisans of every creed in this country (1) : "I do not care how ultra a man may be in his feelings, our people are Ameri- cans above Republicanism or Democracy, as mere party terms. I have seen gentlemen go what semeed to me to be unreasonable lengths to accomplish party ends, but 1 believe that there is scarcely a member of this bod}- who would go to such an extent as to touch the absolute im- partiality of our juries to obtaiu any partisan advantage. That great right, the palladium and sheet-anchor of our system of government — aye, of our civilization — has been preserved pure aud unsullied for centuries, sometimes through revolution and blood, and often in the midst of party passion and religious fanaticism; it has come down to us unsullied from those who have gone before If (1) How strikingly similar to the words of Arkansas' great jurist. A. H. Garland, whose utterances upon this very subject may be found in the form of an appeal, in "A Life of A. H. Garland," pages 50-51. 267 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY we could be so base as to abandon this great principle, the very stones of this capitol would rise up in mutiny against our sacreligious act." LOVE FOE A FEIEND Shortly alter Augustus H. Garland had been ap- poinled to the Attorney-Generalship of the United States by President Cleveland, the powerful Bell Telephone Com- pany, jealous of and wishing to crush the smaller Pan Hellenic Company, in which Mr. Garland and certain other distinguished public men, including the late Sena- tor [sham G. Harris, of Tennessee, owned some shares of slock, brought charges against them. The Bell people ac- cused Mr. Garland of farming out the privileges of his office, and of ordering suits to be instituted for the pur- pose of clouding certain land titles to the advantage of the Company in which he owned stock; the said suits set- t ing aside certain patents by clouding the titles against innocent purchasers for many years, and being virtually, as they claimed, suits against the Bell Telephone people themselves. This incited their bitter hostility, and they brought their charge to defame the character of Mr. Gar- land. An investigation was held in Congress, in which the Attorney General and the others accused were com- pletely exonerated. In the Senate the charges against Mr. Garland were made chiefly by Senator Stewart of Nevada. When they were afterwards referred to by that gentleman, in the course of debate, during the early part of the first ses sion of the fiftieth Congress, Mr. Jones arose and, with 268 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY earnest wish to see his friend cleared of charge for all time, turning toward his accuser, said: "If this amend- ment had heen made in any other place than the United States Senate, and by any other person than a Senator representing a sovereign State, I would, for one, have passed it by as utterly beneath the dignity of con- tempt. I should not have thought it necessary to open my mouth in defense of a man whose public career has been such as to command the respect of all who knew him. There is not a Senator here, and not an intelli- gent man outside this chamber, who does not know that (he Attorney-General directed no suit against the Bell Telephone Company T care for the good name and reputation of a man whom I believe to be as spotless and as pure as any who ever lived on the face of the earth or ever served his country in this chamber." In my reading of the literature of praise and eulogy. ! have seldom found stronger words in commendation of the character of any man, than those of Senator Jones in speaking of the spotless record of Augustus Hill Garland, his friend. THE PHILIPPINES Outside the problems of the tariff and the trusts I suppose that no question has elicited more public discus- sion during the decade beginning in 1898, than that with reference to the disposal of the Philippine Islands, which at the close of the War with Spain we took under our su- pervision and control. Their retention was the policy of the party in power, and since their purchase the govern- ment has kept them for the stated purpose of educating 269 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY I lie natives up to the point where they will be able to take care of themselves. And this, in the face of a strong de- sire on their part for independence. Almost every Democrat in the United States Senate in 1898 favored granting these Filipinos their independ- ence. Although I have been able to find upon the record but few utterances from the lips of Senator Jones upon the question, yet T believe the following words, spoken against a resolution for their retention, will suffice to show how intense was his opposition to it (1) : "I be- lieve that the Philippine question is absolutely indefensi- ble from every point of view Tt is absolutely un- American and so completely violates every democratic idea of government which 1 have ever heard of, that T am willing to do anything reasonable to defeat this proposi- tion." CAPITAL PUNISHMENT The fact that throughout the world there is such a sentiment against capital punishment, makes it interest- ing to know Senator Jones's attitude in the matter. The feeling against it is simply a kind of humanitarian belief in the literal interpretation of the Scriptural statement of the Almighty, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay"; and it is prompted by a fear that governments or punitive insti- tutions are wrong in taking life, since they cannot give life. The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away, they say; and it is not within the province of any human power to take life. Senator Jones, while from the whole record of his (1) 56 Cong., 2 Sess., p. 3126. 270 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY life lie gives the lie to the charge of inhumanitarianism and of disrespect of God, was heartily in favor of capital punishment, in the second session of the fifty-second Congress he gives utterance to the following words, which 1 think reveal the attitude of the man upon this subject it): "J am glad that there are some courts in this coun- try which will execute men for murder. I am glad to see the lawless elements brought in for trial before a court somewhere where there is a liklihood that they will pay the penalty of their crime with their lives." Tilt: RAILROADS AND THE INTERSTATE COM- MERCE COMMISSION Undoubtedly one of the wisest pieces of legislation enacted in the last quarter century is that creating the interstate Commerce Commission. This Commission is for the correcting of the evils connected with the railroads in this country. Next to the trusts. T doubt if any single industry or institution has been fruitful of more wrong than have our interstate highways. Mr. .tones believed that the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission, whose duty it is to examine, with a view of correcting, the problems of rebating, discrimina- tion, exorbitant passenger and freight rates, and other evils connected with this important industry, was the very best thing that could have been done in the way of check- ing the flagrant abuses of which the companies had un- questionably been guilty. "Remember that for years," he said (2), "complaints came up from all quarters that (1) p. 99. (2) 50 Cppg., 1 Sess., p. S720. 271 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY the railroad managers were guilty of great injustice to the masses of the people in the management of their roads . . . they were making and unmaking fortunes by their favor- itism were charging unreasonable rates for ser- vice, yet the people hesitated long. The matter was discussed in the newspapers, upon the hustings and in Congress; but at last, in God's own time, action came, and all the money, influence, employees and power of the railroads could not prevent the enactment of the Inter- state Commerce Law. That law has come to stay/' LABOR UNIONS Despite the frequency with which our attention has in recent years been called to the striking evil in connec- tion with Labor Union movements throughout the world, the principle which prompts the organization of working men for the purpose of securing a fair share of the pro- duet which the industry of their effort creates, is to be praised because of its inherent righteousness. Many piti- able tales have been given currency by books of worth and leading magazines in their discussions of the threats with which the ignorant and helpless laborer is often whipped into doing injustice, and the very end which the labor movement is calculated to obtain thus brought into disrepute. Labor Unions are groups of men organized — some- times throughout a whole nation — for the purpose of ob- taining better conditions under which to work, such as higher wages, shorter hours, and the like. Refusal to comply with such demands result in the strike, or lock- out, or what-not, on the part of laborers or employers, or 272 FAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY both. These organizations go upon the simple principle, "in union there is strength/' and make the saying practi- cable by obtaining unitedly what they would be powerless to secure individually. While for the wrong connected with such unions Mr. Jones had not the slightest patience, he nevertheless be- lieved with all his soul in the justice and expediency of the principle. He said on one occasion : "Labor is or- ganized in this country and, as I firmly believe, not to do any wrong to any man or interest, but for the pur- pose of enforcing their rights, and to secure for them- selves a fair share of the profits of the industries that they may make prosperous. In this struggle from my heart T wish them God-speed Tn their success the future freedom, happiness, and progress of mankind are assured; in their failure — but I will not consider that; for they will not fail." From reading the above, we can have not the faint- est shadow of a doubt of Mr. Jones's belief in the justice of organized labor, and of his faith in its sure solution of at least the most human phase of the case of capital versus labor. HOT SPRINGS RESERVATION DIFFICULTIES No statesman from Arkansas has held his place in the American Congress for any length of time during the last forty years who did not express himself on some matter connected with the United States Government Reserva- tion at Hot Springs. The very mention of the subject im- mediately popularizes this phase of Senator Jones's ac- tivities, because of the fact that millions know of the 273 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY geographical spot about which the questions have arisen, and even though they know nothing more about the State than a few of the obsolete and out of place charges of the Arkansas Traveler variety, this reservation topic in itself furnishes food for interesting discussion. One of the most vexing of these problems — one which had especially puzzled Garland, for whom the county in in which Hot Springs is situated was named — arose in connection with the government's leasing of property on the reservation to individuals. These men were usually private citizens who ran institutions of a quasi-public na- ture, such as bath houses and hotels. Of course a situa- tion so favorable as this included the use of the water from the reservation. The government, in other words, hired individuals to do its work for it, until it had placed suitable houses of its own upon it, and when this had been done those individuals claimed a continuation of their rights under the provisions of what they deemed a perpetual lease of the property. So that the govern- ment in reality only held a partial control over the hot water, and certain individuals held the other part, reap- ing profits, accordingly. At this special time (1), it was proposed that while the individuals be compelled to stay off the reservation, They still be allowed to conduct hot water therefrom, thus continuing their business of profit and prosperity from government property. Mr. Jones was intensely opposed to this. "There is no reservation unless you keep the hot water on it," he exclaimed. "If the government intended (1) 50 Cong., 1 Sess.. pp. 1769, 1771. 274 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY to use the hot water in the interests of the general public, it ought to have done so at the public expense I can not understand the wrong in allowing the government to pay private people who have invested their money there. . " Referring to the measure authorizing that the water be carried off to favorite bath-houses in certain localities, he said: "That is opening a Pandora's box of evils that will only magnify the trouble which now exists, and will not be a relief." He believed that the government should assume entire and in no wise maintain partial, control over the hot water. The men who owned these bath houses on this public property which they had leased paid no taxes on them whatever. Neither did they pay tribute of any kind upon the water with which they were making their living, if not their fortune. Mr. Jones thought that no man should be thus allowed to reap the profits from the healing quali- ties of this wonderful water without paying taxes, either by leasing property on the reservation or by buying prop- erty close by and conducting water from it. He believed that ao individual should have such rights, but -hat the life-givingandinvigoratingstreams which continually gur- gle from that wonderful mountain should, under the con- trol of the government, flow forever for the nation's health. FOREIGN MISSIONS What many say is a part of the most advanced thought of recent years is to the effect that very much of the money spent on missionaries in foreign countries could be better and more effectively applied to conditions at 275 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY home. Our present needs are complex, and our govern- ment is trying to meet these varying demands. But the planting of the Kingdom of Christ in the dark countries is, as yet, done from private and church purses. If this money were applied to the solution of the problems closer by, claim some, and government money spent for reclaim- ing the lost of foreign lands, the effect would be more wholesome. Mr. Jones was a believer in foreign missions, but was a still stronger advocate of the cause of home missions. And he thought that many of the churches of the country, and especially of the South, were making a serious mis- take in spending vast sums on missionaries to foreign lands, while so many at home were suffering. "I wish to rail attention," he said on one occasion (1), "to what seems to me to have been up to this time a great omission on the part of the Christian churches in the South. WhPe they have been engaged in carrying the gospel to foreign lands, the finest field for missionary work has been lying at their very doors. Tt is a fine field because these people already have the foundation — a belief in Christ — and what they need now is help to attain a high moral plane." Belief in Christ is only the foundation, then, we may judge, upon which the superstructure of a righteous life may be built, and the flower of an upright and stainless character bloom and shed its fragrance for the general good. After our people are educated, mentally and mor- ally, up to a high degree of civilization and Christianity, then will the time have arrived to go forth and turn our efforts to the lost of other lands. (1) Cong.. 1 Sess., p. 2081. 276 CHAPTEK XVIII. AFTEK THE SENATE— THE LAWYEB AiS'D HIS LAST HAYS in my mind's eye I see an old man, grown gray in an arduous and unbroken public service of more than a quar- ter century, tail and erect but visibly broken in health ana worn out in boay, standing before a window of the capitoi buiiUing at U ashington, seemingly lost in thought. Another old man, a distinguished representative of an- other great political party, but a great admirer and close personal friend, comes up behind the gentleman, slaps mm generously on the back, and says : "Penny for your thoughts, Jones!" "Well, Senator,'' comes the slow reply, "I don't really suppose that they are worth a penny, i was just wonder- ing what 1 am to do, after my recent defeat in Arkansas. l nave been out of the law so long that it will be hard to get back into the practice. And I have saved nothing from the salary i have received. I am bewildered and humiliated over the problem of supporting my family." Thus spoke, in substance, James K. Jones, ex- United States Senator and widely known political chief, to George F. Hoar, of Massachusetts, his long-time friend. It was truly a thing to feel gloomy over; but Mr. Jones, while matters of this kind always weighed heavily upon him, was not by nature a gloomy man. He did not sit down to weep away the remaining years because he had not saved a fortune in the public service. When his term of office expired he decided to come again to Arkansas, 277 JAMES K. JO\titi NEWBERRY and lake up as best lie might the practice of his profes- sion iu his home county. He intended to open his office at Hope. He went to Washington, the old county seat, and looked over the court docket to ascertain the volume of business being done there. To his chagrin he found that there was too little of it at that time to justify an- other lawyer locating here. Furthermore, he had been away from Arkansas so long, and had been identified with the bar of the State so little during his life, that he did not feel that he could, at his advanced age, make a "go" of it. He had now passed his three score mark, and was in no physical condition to stand the labors which would in- evitably be necessitated by the building up of a practice in Arkansas under the conditions named. On the the other hand, he was known and loved by everybody at the Nation's capital. One could but have his respect for Senator Jones increased when he saw with what consideration and courtesy the latter was treated by the employees, high and low, in all the great departments. His most influential friends were there, and he knew that they would help him when they could. It was but nat- ural, under conditions like these, that he stay there in- stead of returning to Arkansas; and although permanent separation from his State was like the "wormwood and the gall," it was a decision to which he was nevertheless compelled to come. Before he had fully determined, however, just where he should open his office, and indeed while he was on a visit to the home people in Hope, just after completing his last service in the Senate, there came a telegram : 278 JAMES K. J0NE8 NEWBERRY ".senator Juues, go to Washington and represent us in a certain case. it was ironi a inan whose interests ue iiau mail,) times iaitniuny looked alter wiine a (Sena- tor, ana lor waom Ue nan uone inany a little personal tavor. ±ne message seeined iiKe a Godsend. Mr. J ones went immediately to tlie station anu wired: "i start to- nignt ior vv asUington. He did the piece of work well. iiic gentleman nimseil came on to die capital in a lew nays to wind up tne matter and settle with Mr. Jones ior me tatter's services. When asked the amount oi his fee, lie was met witli the reply: "Well, 1 never charged a cent ior such services while a (Senator, and now thatl am a private citizen and the work is of a legal nature, 1 don't know what would be the right amount. tSo just give me what you please." ".No, 1 will do nothing of the sort," said the man. " i'ou must name your fee." "TUen if you will not do that, 1 wiii simply charge you nothing at all, for 1 do not know what amount to ask." The man turned to the desk where he sat, wrote a cheque for one thousand dollars, and, handing it over to Mr. Jones, asked if that were satisfactory. "Why it is four times what the work is worth," re- plied Mr. Joues. "Take part of it back." The man not only refused to do this, but turned around and wrote another cheque for a thousand dollars, and handing it over said: "Now take this as a retainer's fee. I will want you to look after our interests here from time to time." 279 James a. jones newberu$ Here were two thousand dollars at tlie very jump. Air. Jones said afterwards: *Aiy career as a lawyer at tne .Nation s capital was begun men and there." This was iiie Hi si inoney lie iiad uiaue alter lie went out ol Lite .sen- ate. Aud noin tills iiis business expanded. Witn die nionev made in the law lie easily supported kis family, and investeu most of what was left in real es- tate. He bought up some property near Little Kock, wnose value has now more than doubled the price he paid for it. 1 think we may say that James K. Jones left his family in good financial condition. 1 do not know at what his estate was valued when he died : it makes litt'e or no difference, anyway, so far as our study of him is concerned. But it is important that we note that, unlike the average man who spends his prime of life in the public service — from which none who are strictly honest ever come out the financial gainers — he was able to start out again, in a different kind of business, at an advanced age; and during a half decade of practice not only support a family in the best of fashion ai the Nation's capital, where the cost of living is exceedingly high, but actually build a valuable estate! I regard it as one of the best in all the list of good things that we can say of our subject, that when he had passed his three score years, after which he had himself often said, when younger, that a man ought to retire and rest, he was able thus to start into what was practically a new work to him, and do so well. And I make bold to say that it is a thing that not one man in fifty, similarly circumstanced, accomplishes! 280 JAMEH K. JOXES SEW BERRY Mr. J ones was regularly at his office during office hours, Business did not often take him away from the capital, most of his work, 1 think, being in the nature of investigation of matters in the departments and else- where, in Washington. His practice was all civil : he did not seek nor wish for any criminal business. It was his oft-asserted motto that "if you take care of your office the office will take care of you." To the end that the office and the work would take care of him and his family, he was always to be found at his place of business and ac- tive in the discharge of each day's duties. He took his son as a partner in the practice. It was the chief ambition of his later years, so Mrs. Jones told me, to arrange it so that that son, himself a good lawyer, would have a competent business. He considered the training of that son, and being able to guarantee to him a profitable business after he himself should be compelled to retire, as vastly better than a heritage of lands and goods. James K., Jr., had successfully practised in Ok- lahoma City before Senator Jones went out of the public service, but preferred to join his father at Washington City, to staying there. He now has a large and lucrative business. Notwithstanding he was away from Arkansas nearly all the time during those last years, Mr. Jones never lost interest in the State's affairs. He was always concerned in the Commonwealth's industrial and political progress. He was, too, deeply interested in the preservation of its history. He was at one time President of the Arkansas Historical Association, an organization which since its 281 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY incipiency in 1904 lias done a wonderful work towards preserving for all time the state's remarkable past. In a letter to Prof. J. H. lieynoids, under date of July 10, 1904, he said : "Certainly the people of our State will not be behind in this work. 1 am ready to help, and others will be just as ready to help as you or 1 can be.'" And he "hastened" to "assure" him of his "hearty co-operation.'' What is more, Mr. Jones hoped some day to come back to Arkansas to live. While he kept until his death his citizenship in Hempstead County, he was not satisfied even to reside at Washington, and often expressed his de- sire to return to the State which had so signally honored him, to spend his last days. He often did come on visits, making one or two trips every year. On these occasions he would invariably go around to see his old friends, bap- tizing himself again in their esteem and !ove. It was on such a visit that he came in May, 1908. Spending a few days at Washington and Hope, he went again to the paternal homestead in Dallas County. Never, it seemed, had friends been so glad to see him and never had he enjoyed their friendship more. When he reached Dalark, in Dallas County, he told the members of the family who were with him that he "would just walk out to the place by himself, "since he wished to "go through the old woods again." So, while the rest rode in a carriage to fhe old place, he took a short cut and went alone to his father's grave in the family burying ground. What thoughts out of the mighty past must have come to that great mind, what emotions must have swept over that heart, as the now venerable statesman and patriot stood 282 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY there at the grave of his sire! At least one wish was gratified,even if he could not live here again where his youth was spent: he had paid the reverent tribute of a loving heart to the parent whom he had characterized as "the very best man I ever knew." Alas, that he was not to be preinitted, too, to stand at the grave of the mother he adored as a boy! When Mr. Jones came on to the house he complained of feeling sick and worn out. That night he came to Little Ruck to spend two or three days among his friends and relatives, before returning to Washington. Just here let me make mention of what seems to me a striking and significant fact. It is said that often the souls of the great are visited by prophetic dreams of death and eter- nity, that they realize ahead of time the events of the future. I am sure — because it is the universal testimony of friends who talked with him then — that Mr. Jones felt this visit to be his last. Several times he expressed him- self to those closest to him, that he didn't feel it would be long before he would be called to go. Just before he left Little Kock for home, he wrote to his wife : "This is my last day here — until how long no mortal knows. If it is my last, it is all right and I do not complain. I have lived out almost the allotted time of man, and have about rounded up my life's work. The sun is approach- ing the west in plain view of all men — the night cometh." He so strongly felt the effects of the heat of that last walk to the homestead, that he remained in his room at the hotel most of the time. He was unable to go around and greet many of the friends he intended to see. He 283 JAMES K. JOXEX NEWBERRY therefore took particular pains to see that they were told the reason why. "JS'ow be sure and tell Smith," he said just as he was leaving, "that 1 wanted so much to .see him, but was too sick to hunt him up." This was the kind of urgent request he left for many; and this fact alone is enough to convince us that he had forebodings that the end was near, and that he would never again look into those loved faces. lieaching home on Friday, May 29, much fatigued, the family physician, Dr. Z. T. Towers, was summoned. Though dressed and walking about the room, the Sena- tor's heart action was so weak that he was ordered not to walk up and down the stairway, and consequently took his meals upstairs. All day Saturday he wrote let- ters and met friends who came on business and to make social calls. On Sunday morning his wife noticed that he had great difficulty in articulating, and she hurriedly called the physician again, and their son. The physician stated that the patient suffered with a slight stroke of paralysis. The Senator rallied somewhat by noon, and toward night expressed himself as being so grateful at being at home. About five-thirty, however, the great heart ceased to beat, and the pure spirit, freed from the cares of a worn-out physique, fled to the further shore of the Vast Unknown. The immediate cause of death was paralysis of the heart. Hut it was nothing more nor less than the same old trouble — a worn out constitution — that had com- pelled him in 1899 to go abroad and rest. The machinery of that frame, which people had thought many years be- 284 TAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY fore could not run for any considerable length of time, had carried him to an honored and successful old age. It had been commanded constantly to do hard service; it had performed long and well its work; it could carry its burdens no longer. The funeral was held at the residence in Washington City, and the remains buried in Rock Creek Cemetery Thursday, June third. Rev. J. W. Duffey, of Harrison- burg, Virginia, officiated. The honorary pall-bearers were: Senator Robert L. Owen, of Oklahoma, Judge G. C. Howey, of the Court of Claims, J. H. McGowan, C. F. Norment, J. S. Swormstedt, Colonel R. J. Bright and James D. Richardson. Hundreds of telegrams of condolence, and scores of floral tributes expressing love and sympathy, were re- ceived from all parts of the Union. Senator Jones was, and is, survived by his widow, one son, James K. Jones, and two daughters by his first wife : Mrs. Lenora Jones Carrigan, of Hope, Arkansas, ami Miss Sue Jones, who lives with Mrs. Jones in Wash- ington. He was also the father of two other children, who preceded him to the grave; Mary Jones Plant, of Minneapolis, who died of heart failure while on a camp- ing trip with her husband ; and Nathaniel Jones, who was killed in Washington, Arkansas. His half sister, Mrs. Jennie Grow, lives in Little Rock. 285 CHAPTER XIX. THE MAN BEHIND THE GUN A man's record of actual accomplishment counts for much, and the public has in the past almost universally judged by this alone. It is the verdict of history that he who has achieved much has been, regardless of his char- acter and private life, acclaimed worthy of luster and the wreath. The world is agreed upon at least three of its five greatest men. They are Alexander, Caesar and Napoleon. Likely as not Charlemagne would be given fourth place, if a straw ballot could be taken of those who are conver- sant with the accomplishments of the heroes of the past. The first three, the unquestioned trio, were as unscrupu- lous as circumstances and occasion demanded, and the fourth, the questionable, had an admixture of evil pretty prominently flowing in his veins. The world is perhaps now coming more and more to consider character, in its estimate of greatness; as, wit- ness the sentiment for Washington, for Lee, for Lincoln, ns the fifth in the ranks of the great men. Nobody in an- cient times would have thought of Homer, Socrates, Pythagoras or Pinto, as even approaching, in the matter of greatness, leaders like Achilles, Xerxes, Cyrus the Great, Nicias and Themistocles. But we are coining to recognize worth and merit of character as determinative of greatness. America looks upon Lee, for instance, not as a military leader, primarily, because as such he was a loser, while Grant, his inferior at many points, was a win- ner. It rather goes beyond this, and observes the man- 286 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY lier traits of his make-up: the admirable fortitude thai bore him up in defeat, and turned disaster into glory; the far-sightedness that realized ahead of time the doom of the Confederacy; the masterly courage that beat so in- sistently upon the closed door of victory when lie knew there was and could be no admission; the love for truth; the fond clinging to the family tradition which while he was ye1 ;i boy his lather had sunined up as they walked to- gether along the winding banks of the Potomac, "Robert, the Lees never lie, 1 ' — these make the Conquered cheiftain loom large up on the horizon of modern public favor. True, it sees him through the maze of a mighty struggle a hero in the Virginia campaign, and admires his splendid skill, even in defeat; but lam sure it is a very hazy con- ception the public has of him as a military actor. They rather appreciate, North and South alike, the courage which it took to say, when ottered the supreme command of an army which would inevitably march to victory and place him in the presidential chair, that which he knew avou Id result in hurling him from the promising precipice of victory and a resplendent civil career, into the abyss of overwhelming defeat. Lincoln looms before us not as a chieftain, nor even ;is ;i practical business man who is able and resourceful in the face of problems which tax the highest ingenuity coupled with the finest courage; but rather as a sorrow- ing father of his people, like the Christ of Calvary, finds his supremest happiness in bearing upon his own shoul- ders the cares of men and women. There has been one man from Arkansas in the coun- 287 JAMES K. JONES XEWBERRY cils of the Nation who may have been both more versati'e and widely known than .lames K. Jones, and another who perhaps bears the distinction in the public eve of having been greater, using the word in the narrowed sense of deeper, more able to see and grasp the occult and the ob- tuse. But in the galaxy of the great of Arkansas, no man in public life, past or present, bears a prouder title to an untarnished character and stainless private life than the subject of this work. It is a great deal in this age of commercialism and greed, to say of a man simply that he possesses the nega- tive characteristics of honesty and truthfulness. It is far more to be able to say of him that he is positively righteous. James K. Jones was not simply a good man. one "in whom we see not the slightest mean trait," — and I do not mean this in the sense that he was never at fault — but he was aggressive in his goodness. He was a friend to his friends and a friend to his enemies, in the truest sense of that word friend. No man ever applied to a pub- lic official for a position commanding pay for the mainte- nance of a livelihood, having a good and righteous claim to it, with better chance of obtaining a square deal, than to Senator Jones. Unlike the grizzly Sage of Tennessee, who ruthlessly removed worthy office-holders from their posts to give place to his unscrupulous henchmen, upon the hypothesis that ''to the victor belong the spoils": he never committed a wrong to help a friend to a post, or to displace one not his friend from a position which was di- rectly or indirectly subject to his appointive power. On the other hand, one of his closest friends told me that he 288 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY never asked Senator Jones for a single favor that he did not receive. I simply mean to say this of him, that his distribution of favors was governed solely by the right- eousness of the claim of the candidate for favor. And yet this was only a minor characteristic of Mr. •Tones, and one which never demanded any real sacrifices on his part. These positions for distribution were sim- ply gifts to him, which he was permitted to pass on to his friends. I come now to a mark of character which a H'ords a better avenue of insight into the internal make- up of the man, one that furnishes proof incontestable that where necessity and want cried out, he was ready to re- spond to the wants of his fellows by sacrifices personal and financial. Tt is a true test of the character of anv man that he be willing to divide his purse with his fel- lows unfortunate. It is much to say of a public servant that he stands in the public forum day after day, night after night, on the ragged edge of health and life itself — upon the rack, as it were — against the tyranny which threatens to throttle the progress of humanity and coerce the people into paths of poverty and squalor. Tt is a great thing to hurl one's self, at the disadvantage of pri- vate fortune and health, more often with the minority than with the winning side, against oppression and wrong, bolstered with power until it is formidable. During the months while the Wilson tariff measure was before the Congress in which he managed the Democratic forces, not a night passed that Senator Jones did not, at his home, at the expense of rest and sleep, receive and interview, cal- culate and figure with, far into the sleep Jnours, represen- 289 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY fives of interests from all over the land who came to place their causes before him for legislative recommendation. His home hours were made to suffer, and his health ma terially impaired, that the great fight might be success- fully waged iu the interests of the public weal. Mrs. Jones said to him repeatedly, and believed in her heart, that had the contest raged for a month or so longer, his life would have had to be surrendered. Tt was more than patience and endurance could long withstand. After the controversy ended he was sick for months, and hope of his recovery from the strain almost abandoned. In the per- iod of convalescence he wandered over Europe in s^a^-ch of health and much improved his condition. "Tt seems to me," he wrote to a friend, "that T have not been so well in ten years. But," he added, "a machine that has been running for sixty years is necessarily wearing in some of the important parts, and cannot be as good as new." I say it is a tribute warranting the greatest pride, in this day, when public servants are so careless of their trusts, for one to have it said of him that he risked his very life in battle for the progress of mankind. But even this is not accorded the praise, in the Father's praising. which is given to him who divides the very salary he re- ceives for his services, and upon which he is veritably de- pendent, willingly giving part to those he finds in need. (And no people in the world are so frequently called upon for charity funds as United States Senators, i Tf any man in need who had done the best he could and had fal- len down, or any institution of charity, or any represen- tative of any interest which really needed financial help, 290 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY ever received from James K. Jones a flat refusal of finan- cial aid, I am yet to learn of such ; and I have searched to find one! The daughter of a lady who was at the time in des- perate financial straights lay sick with the fever. Little hope of her recovery was entertained. As Mr. Jones left the capital of his State, himself sick and in search of health and vigor, he dropped by the house of that mother and said to her: "I know that you are proud, as T am, and do not like to take money without hope of early re- payment; but I want to leave this hundred dollars with Fannie, that while she is sick she may use it to buy flow- ers and refreshments. Take it as a favor from me. The money was received. Tt was kept. The girl died, and it paid her funeral expenses. I know that this is true, because I heard it from the lips of that grateful mother. Senator Jones had no patience with a man who had squandered his means, had let slip his opportunities, and had idled his manhood away, and who would then come and ask for aid. But no man lives today, and no man has lived, who could say of him that he had no sym- pathy with the failing man who had done the best he could. His mighty heart went out to him who had tried hard and had lost out. There are hundreds of cases on record today where he stooped down and "smoothed the ruffled sleeve of care," where fellows of merit and man- hood had received misfortunes and reverses and only needed to be put on their feet again to cret another start. The same discreet distributor of political favors was the kind-hearted provider who arranged for the purchase, on 291 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY borrowed money, of a home for a family of unfortunates who had done the best they could, and who were under the cloud of adversity. In the front yard of that very home today the visitor to Little Rock may see a spread- ing Crimson Rambler rose bush, now grown to full ma- turity and flowering each year, which Senator Jones brought to these friends, then a tiny sprout, with the re- mark : "1 just thought yon might like it." It was then l lie simple remembrance of a thoughtful friend: today it is the loving memorial of the knight that was! This simple kindliness which was so marked an at- tribute in his make-up was not the effervescence of super- fluous cordiality, but was deep and genuine enough to make him reach down into his pocket-book to help where help was needed: it was of sufficient intensity to make him borrow money for the purpose. This generosity reached even the beggar on the street. T have it from the very best authority that the waifs, the maimed, the halt ;nid the newsboys on the streets of Washington City knew Senator .Jones and followed him about, imposing upon the liberality of his great heart. I know that many times he gave the last cent of change in his pocket to some poor wretch who importuned him, and walked the full distance to his home, foregoing the pleasure of a car. A friend walking along Pennsylvania Avenue with him one day noticed that an unusual number of beggars approached him on his way to the capitol ; and made the remark that some of those beggars might take advantage of his gen- erosity. "Doubtless they do," came the quiet response, ''but I'd rather give twenty-five cents to an unworthy fel- 292 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY low any time than to iniss giving when a man is really in need.' And this lroin a man who knew that his own liberality was so proverbial that liie beggars at the capi- lai ol Lhe Lnited States actually lay in wait for him, and imposed upon mm often! Ah-. Jones was polite without being etteminate, and courteous always without being supernuous in it. He was not in any sense ol the word a hail-fellow-well-met. When a man approached him, unless he knew him well he was friendly, but not easily drawn out. When he had listened to the man's presentation of his cause he would without fear or favor tell him his own conception of the merits of the cause, and act accordingly. 1 have mentioned that as a young man he gave the appearance of stuuious meditativeness, with a possible im- pression of coldness, fn the rub of politics this had been partially poiisneu away, but he never bubbled over with sentimental gush, in his wife he had a perfect counter- part through all the difficulties and sorrows and discour- agements that crowded about him in his public career and private life. Her jolly disposition acted always like a tonic of healthy inspiration, a pleasant tincture of stimulating medicine that brought wonderful cheer and radiance into his life, reacting upon the gloom and dark- ness of his studious and anxious and meditative disposi- tion. He was not a moody man, as Garland was, but he was not by nature as jolly as Depew, and not as polished and courtly in outward appearance as Blaine. His wife was the joy and polish of his life and character. I shall preseutly have more to say of this noble lady, and the 293 J AM EH K. J US Lb NEWBERRY family nie of "the piunied knight." lienecung tne suiiuj disposition ol mat wile, lie was always a man with a word 01 cneer where cheer was neeueu. i know a boy today — and tliere are inany otners besiues — who win ten you tuat a word of en- couragement iroin duwes ix. dones, spoKen to kini ill iu iuai youtmui periou ol wilu skepticism and scur- rilous douot, saveu aim to a saue view of life. "He toid me 1 could succeed if 1 tried/' is what he wiil tell you. Aud tais mau was big enough to turn and speak a kind word even to a servant in the home. A king in tne presence ol political opposition, lie could gra- ciously turn to the colored cook in tne noine of a friend and ten her in a niosi knignuy manner huw "i enjoyed tne cornoreau you made lor dinner. " lie was a kuignt just as truiy 10 the nonest negro woman who was do- ing her duty by ner children, earning their bread in the sweat of her brow, as to the nrst lady of the land, wiio enjoyed the palatial comforts of the stately White House. h'ew people, 1 mate bold to say, occupying his high station in life, ever care to make the heart of the poor unfortunate swell with hope, and many who wish to do so cannot, for oue reason or another. Mr. Jones both could and did. Without compromising in the least the diguily of his exalted post he could stoop down and cordially grasp the hand of the vagabond, the sufferer, the helpless, and start him on the road to ;< new accomplishment and success. And never did lie do this for personal prestige or popularity with any 294 JAMES K. JONES NMWUUiittX man or ou^ oi men. ^o wan uus ever }ei accused iuiu, anu no mail oare accuse turn, of deinagoguery. And this, too, when in a political contest which hnaliy proved his defeat anu retirement from political life, there were arrayed against him iu the most bitter an- tagonism the forces of cheap flattery and demagogic gush. i have said that he was a modest man; and mod- esty might have been mixed with homesty in his loath- ing of the tricks of the demagogue. I have no better illustration to furnish than the following story: Mrs. .Jones was recently in Texarkana, and the friend whose guest she was took her into the beautiful new Metho- dist church there, to have her see it. One of the sev- eral stained glass windows Mrs. Jones admired very much, and, intending to have a memorial window to her husband placed in the Representative M. E. Church, South, which it is hoped will soon be erected at Wash- ington, I). C, she asked her hostess if she knew what that particular window cost. The reply was, "No, I do not, and 1 do not know who gave it to the church. I tli ink it was some friend of the pastor, living in Ar- genta, but am not positive." On leaving the church they met the pastor, who took Mrs. Jones by the arm and led her back, saying: "I am going to tell you something that has never passed my lips before." Stop- ping with her at the very window she had so admired a few moments ago, he said : "Your husband put that window there, and made me promise to tell no one. Since his death, however, 1 feel that the seal of silence 295 JAMEH K. JONEti NEWBERRY should be removed, aud so I tell you, the first person Lu-xi to myself to know of it." The great Senator was so modest that he would not eveu speak of such a gift to his wife! Aud it re- maiued for her, years after the generous Senator had passed inio ike Great Beyond, to learn of his benev- cence from a stranger! Cordial and pleasant with people everywhere, Mr. Jones never hunted up men for the sake of meeting and making an impression upon them — a failing to which many of our public aspirants are heir. He was tine at remembering faces, but rather poor at recalling the names of people whom he had met casually. Often he was taken advantage of by former acquaintances wko would ask him upon sudden meeting if he remem- bered them. Perhaps recalling that he had seen a face before, he would answer the question in the affirm- ative. "Then, who am 1?" would sometimes be the query. Naturally he would take offense at such treat- men t. This failure to call names readily would often embarrass Senator Jones when he came back to Ark ausas on visits. He would invariably, on such visits, if his health permitted, make a personal canvass of his old friends, and chat awhile with each of them. But sometimes he would prefer sitting around the house all the afternoon to going up town, for the simple fear that he would not be able to call the names of some who knew him and who would expect that he would remem- ber them and all the circumstances of their meeting. One great paper spoke of him as being "a man of 296 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY modest means and modest habits of living a man of marked personal popularity, but not affecting the habits of the smart set. And Charles Daniel, writing for a noted daily, and contrasting him with the Republican National Campaign Manager, Mark Hanna, stated that, "affable, courtly and pleasant," Senator •Jones at the same time wished to rule by the consent of his associates, and not bluntly and by personal boss- ism. "He would take advantage of no one," said Mr. Daniel, "not even for the party's gain." It was this same element in his character that D. F. Murphy, whose letter is quoted on other pages of this volume, meant when he spoke of "that modest reserve which is so marked an attribute of your character." Mr. Jones was an optimist. Optimism is "the gen- ial current of the soul." D is the radiant light and warmth of a wholesome nature. Pessimism is the with- ering blight that freezes up this genial current. Happy is the statesman who is an optimist. So many of our governors and representatives preach constantly that the country is going to the bow-wows. Mr. Jones was not blind to the mismanagement and corruption patent in the trusts; he was keenly sensitive to the wrongs and oppression under which humanity labors and suf- fers; he hated the means by which the few have become rich at the expense of the masses; he inveighed with all his strength against the powers which have stripped the poor of their wealth and turned it into the coffers of the unjust ; — but he was an optimist, nevertheless. "I believe that men grow better," he said on one occa- 297 JAMES E. JONES NEWBERRY sion, "more benevolent, and more unselfish with the spread of intelligence and the advancement of civiliza- tion and enlightenment." On another occasion, speak- ing of our people and our country, he said: "We have a country marvelous in resources, blended with a salu- brious climate, and a people sprung from the progres- sive and adventursome elements in all nations, equalled in .self-reliance, energy and determination by no people on earth." He lived to see the opening of the new cen- tury of prosperity, and died looking down its corri- dors, with a hopeful and confident belief in the future of regenerated wrongs, of ills cured, of burdens lifted — an age, in short, where every honest act should be re- warded by another one, and no gem of purity and good- ness should lose its rays beneath the uncovered tombs of extravagant waste or legislative favoritism. James K. Jones was proud that he hailed from Arkansas. It is much to say that before the Nation he proclaimed the glories of his Commonwealth, and there lived out the loyalty he so nobly declared. But I can say more of him : To the day of his death he kept his citizenship in Hempstead County, the place where he received his first political "boost" when the citizens of 1h at section sent him to the State Senate back in the seventies. In Little Rock a very few days before his death, a Gazette correspondent, interviewing him upon important public questions, asked, incidentally, "whether he did not now reside in Washington, D. C. (1),'" to which he flashed back the immediate reply: (1) Pertinent question, because the charges of absenteeism had been partially responsible for his defeat in 1002. 298 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY "No, sir, ruy home is, and has long been, at Hope, Ark- ansas!" This was no more an outburst of sentiment than the fond expression of any patriotic being when the place of his home is asked for. Why he stayed at Washington at all, after he retired from public ser- vice, I have already told. But the frequent visiting returns to the scenes of his early young manhood, the renewal of the old friendships in the later years, the oft-asserted claim of Hempstead County as his home till death, convince me that he was altogether sincere in what he said on one occasion, long before (1) : "I am proud that I am a citizen of Arkansas. I am proud to be reckoned as one of her sons. I am proud of the fu- ture that spreads out before our Commonwealth. I am proud above all things of the distinguished men who adorn her history and whose names have become illus- trious." I wonder if he then dreamed of the fame- laurels which that State he loved so well was destined one day to place upon his brow. I wonder if he thought that he too might some time be numbered among those distinguished sons who "adorn her history." Listen further to the words of gratitude and pa- triotism, spoken to the citizens of his home town (2) : "There is no place on earth so dear to me as my home, and no plaudits so grateful as those which come from my home friends and my neighbors For whatever of distinction I may wan in life, I am indebted to you, citizens of Washington and Hempstead County (1) Gazette, Feb. 1, 1888. (.2) From a speech to the Washington. Arkansas, crowd that greeted him upon his return from Little Rock after the first election to the U. S. Senate. 299 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY Often have I wished in the past, as I know I shall wish in the future, to get away from the pomp and splendor of the Nation's capital to enjoy the grateful shade of that magnolia there (1), aud the genial companionship of the faithful friends who surround me." And he did. Often in the course of his senatorial career, he would write to some and remark to others of his closest friends, his anxiety to get back home it nd go over "the old scenes." No lines from human peu, nor sentences from human tongue, can fittingly portray the longing of a heart like that! And I cannot understand upon what other ground than for the pur- pose of appealing to the prejudices of the people, the charges were brought against "the Plumed Knight of Arkansas" in that last political fight, that he was un- patriotic, aloof from, and disinterested in, the progress aud welfare of the State which he had served so long and well. Happy fortune, that permitted him, only a few days before his death, to go over those old scenes, look again upon the homesteads in Dallas and in Hemp- stead Counties, and stand with bowed, uncovered head, at his good father's grave! (hie of the secrets of Mr. Jones's success — as indeed the reader will already have discerned — was his di- plomacy and tactfulness in his association and inter- course with men. 1 do not not mean that he ever re- sorted, for the accomplishment of any end, to the meth- ods of the cheap politician. I have said he did not. Rut Mr. Jones was able where other men were not, to (1) Of particular interest because it is said to be tbe largest magnolia tree in tbe world. It is still standing. 300 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY go to almost any man, even of those who opposed him, and make him his strong and steadfast personal friend. He showed a skill in dealing with political enemies which I think has been revealed by scarcely any of our states- men. He frequently employed this to win appropria- tions for the people of his State. He would go to the Republican leaders, tell them of the needs of his people, convince them of the genuineness and righteousness of those needs, and prevail upon them to grant the money necessary to meet them. This method was a thousand times more effective than the silver speeches of the other well-inclined and patriotic representatives, whose eloquence reverberated from Washington back home ! They got the glory that comes from being eloquent; Mr. •Tones got the money for Arkansas! From all the in- formation I can gather — and T speak deliberately — I believe Senator Jones was as well, if not better, liked by the Republicans generally, as any other Democrat in Congress while he was there. He was universally respected, and almost universally loved. Tt is a trib- ute to his tact simply to say of him that he could ob- tain concessions from leaders of the majority like Al- drieh, which other Democrats would not consider pos- sible. Senator Jones was a chivalrous man. He was a Southerner, first of all, with every bit of the cordial frankness to men and the knightly courtesy to women that marked the Southerner of the "olden days." A story was told of him in one of the earlier campaigns, which I give here because it illustrates this trait so 301 JAMES K. JONES DEWBERRY well. He owned a magnificent blooded horse of which he was exceedingly but justly proud. When a North- ern friend came down on one occasion to pay him a visit on his plantation, Mr. Jones bragged a good deal, so the story goes, about the qualities of this colt, and the next day took his friend for a cross country drive. They hadn't gone far when they overtook a slow-moving buggy occupied by two old women. Mr. Jones slack- ened his pace and pulled in behind them in a great cloud of dust. Here he remained, meekly following the buggy. The friend became impatient. "Jones,'' he said pres- ently, "why don't you let your plug out and pass those women?' 1 Mr. Jones, so the account goes, growled back almost savagely: "They are women, sir, and in the South we always take their dust." Evidently much put out, however, that he couldn't go ahead, he added: "But if they were not women I would show you there isn't a horse between here and Bolton Bange that can out-trot my colt." As I have intimated on other pages of this biogra- phy, Mr. Jones was not a verbose man. Throughout the course of his legislative career he was noted, like his distinguished compeer. Garland, as being a man of few words. And, like Garland, he always made what he did say count for something. Tt was known that when he arose to address the Senate, both solons and spectators were to hear something worthy of the closest attention. He was never accused of being a florid ora- tor: he did not strive to obtain the reputation of being such. He was bold enough, on several occasions, to 302 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY send copies of his speeches on important subjects to constituents and to county and state newspapers; but only when he deemed the matter upon which he talked of sufficient import to make it not only expedient but necessary that he do so. His modesty in this, as in all things, was of unquestioned genuineness. One editor said of him, speaking of his appearance on the Senate floor: "For a man honored as he is. he bears himself with extreme modesty." We have seen that his direct and pointed style of speech, was maintained through the trying, word-pro- voking ordeal of the national campaigns of which he was general manager for his party. T can find no words which will quite so well convey to the reader's mind this directness, positiveness and simplicity of speech of Mr. Jones, than the pen portrait set down by a certain ad- mirer. It is so accurate and direct itself that T quote it fully: Some men use words as riflemen use bullets. They say but little. The few words go right to the mark. They let you talk and guide with your hands and face. a?id on and on, till what you say can be answered in a word or two, and then they launch out a sentence, pierce the matter to the quick, and are done. Your conversation falls into their mind as a river into a deep eh asm and is lost to sijrbt from its depth and darkness. Thev will sometimes surprise you with a few words that sro to the mark like a ofun shot, and they are silent asrain as if thev were reloading. Such men are safe counsel- lors and true friends where they profess to be such. 303 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY To them truth is more valuable thau gold, while pre- tention is too gaudy to deceive them. Words without point to them are like titles without merit, only betray- ing the weakness of the blinded dupes who are ever used as promoters of other men's schemes. The same simplicity that marked his style of public speaking we find evidenced in all the actions of his career. In running through a scrap-book I found a piece of doggerel, written iu the attractive lingo of a campaign and pertaining to his activities in the first of those contests mentioned awhile ago. It empha- sizes the fact that our statesman, for all the dignity of of his lofty station, was just "plain Jones"; and is so good that I cannot forego the pleasure of placing it upon these pages: It was back in the days of '95, When silver and Popocrats didn't thrive, A bill came up in the Senate one day, And the Senators thought they'd have their way Spite of what Gorman and Wilson could say. But a man from Arkansas — name was Jones, Just Jones, Plain Jones, Spoilt the Senators' game, and made no bones. And later on, in '96, When the East and the West got into a mix. And they met at Chicago to straighten it out, Jones was there, and he knew what he was about, Yes, Jones, Plain Jones, 304 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY Not Boss, nor yet Dennis, but only just Jones. And the Populists they made a hullabaloo, Same as they gener'lly allers do; And they pulled the harness their separate ways. Tint somehow when daylight let in on the maze, Bryan was thar, and thai* he stays. And it looks to me like a case of Jones — Yes, Jones, Jim Jones, And you just keep your eye on this man Jones. Thus far I have given an estimate of Mr. Jones's character in both public and private life, my informa- tion being based upon contact with those who knew him best and watched him closest, and upon a, T hope, faith- ful search through many written testimonials and trib- utes. I have said little about his life at home. T can never completely judge the character of any man. how- ever, until I have made a study of his conduct within the sacred portals of that sanctuary; for many a beast and tyrant in the home stalks forth in the mantle of courtesy and smooth fraud, and his real life is never known. I have been able to say a multitude of good things about the subject of our study without going behind the curtain for a scrutiny of- his life with his family around the fireside. And T hesitate to draw that curtain, because T know T cannot tell you with suf- ficient descriptive power what you should have seen there revealed, if you should have gone behind it. Great in the halls of public legislation, magnificient in the clas^ of public debate, proud and unconquerable in the shock 305 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY of political war, the humble simplicity of the man in- side the door of his home stands in delightful contrast. T never had the pleasure of setting foot inside that por- tal ; but the fact that many friends who did revel in the joy of that simple home, and, better, that some mem- bers of the family, who knew him best of all, still live, make it possible that we form an estimate of this as- pect of the great Arkansan's character, that no phase of his noble life go unappreciated . Prom the time the young bride and groom moved to Washington, Arkansas, to take charge of the newly ac- quired plantation which the senior Jones gave them, their home was a most happy one. I have already stated Mrs. Jones's belief that those days on the farm, when they were both doing the roughest kind of physi- cal work to keep the wolf from the door, were the very happiest of her life. A man of strict business habits and performing daily (he most exacting tasks, James K. Jones made it a rule to forget all the cares and worries of the day, when at dusk he returned from the plow or office to an evening's rest. Only occasionally did he allow its peace to be broken by matters of business. 1 have mentioned that in times of special stress and strain connected with his management of measures in the Senate of the United States, he did permit his home hours to be infringed upon. These were, however, extreme cases; and his rule throughout his married life was to bury the crosses of the day and shut out all business matters when he entered the happy circle of his family. "His home," 306 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY says one who knew him many years and often enjoyed its hospitality, "was his haven of refuge and escape from the struggles of his profession and the turmoil and strife of politics." From the time he was married down to the day of his death, Mr. Jones remained the constant courtier iind ardent lover of his wife. She was his one great and constant delight; and he made it a habit to spend just as many hours of each day as was possible in her pres- ence. "It was a matter of common talk," says one who remembers the happy home at Washington, Arkansas, "how much Jones thought of his wife. It was their custom, after the day's work was over, to walk together in the gloaming." Their companionship was beautiful. When he was not at his office he was with his wife. Tt was either work or home with him, and he seldom did any loafing on the streets. When business hours were over he hastened to his family. This happy comradeship lasted throughout the al- most half-century period of their married life. At the Nation's capital, when public honors tilled his time more than it had ever been filled before, and public duties made more stern demands; when the management of bills, the holding of conferences, the reception of visit- ors who came to pay respects, the procuring of posi- tions and looking after the interests of friends kept him at his post, even there he managed to wedge in many hours for home, and his family remained his chief de- light. At this Washington home he enjoyed, for more than a quarter of a century, while attending faithfully 307 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY to his work, the loves and losses, the cares and crosses the hope and happiness, of wife, son, daughters, daugh- ter-in-law, and grandchildren. From it several mem- bers of the family were carried on their final journey to "God's acre," and from it, at last, he himself was taken to his last earthly home. It is fitting here that I tell what must have been the chief reason why that home was such a happy one. In his admirable wife James K. Jones possessed not only a most faithful companion but a helpmeet in the truest sense. To him she was sweetheart, wife, companion, friend, and. withal, his life's inspiration to ambition, to daring exploit, and to constant labor. Coming from the finest stock — she was the daughter of Judge Willis Somer- ville, of Dallas County, whose ancestry numbered nota- ble and worthy Revolutionary heroes, he himself being one of the distinguished men of his section of the State — she combined the rarest hereditary gifts with the best quali- fications for home making that can come from the schools of refinement, grace and culture. Much to her credit, she turned those excellent traits into the channels of a most useful service and most wholesome personal influence. She had the good fortune early in life to be educated by a true father, who believed in giving his children the best advantages within his power. "Latin and Greek." said one writer, speaking of her equipment, "gave her strength and mental vision which became of untold service in later life, as she was called to be the silent aid of her distin- guished husband." Mrs. Jones put these gifts to the best practical service 308 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY during the early lean years just after Mr. Jones had en- tered the practice oi law. liy teaching a large music class oi' young ladies at Washington, Arkansas, she helped nia- iciiaiiy in Keeping a iun cupboaru. j.\o iaitmul wile ever uveu wno was unwilling to uu wnatever sUe wight Lu heip bunu tne iawny tor tune. And i tiiink no lady ever more v\ mingiy uiU wnatever ner hanus lound to do to Uius heip net iiusoanu, man diu tne wile ol James iv. Jones. Asiue iroin being the helpmeet in the home, and the source oi ceaseless inspiration to him in ail his labors, she w as, ana is, a woman the cardinal tenet oi whose iiie is service, i think a tittle birthday poem, written by her good iriend, Mrs. tJettie H. Littiepage, in 188U, so well presents her true character, that I make excerpts from it here : The poor and needy always find In thee a faithful friend, and kind, Who bears no piteous tale unmoved, Nor unjust actions e'er approved, And whose kind heart and tender hand They always can, at will, command. If laid upon a weary bed, The sick soon learn to know thy tread, And with a grateful feeling turn To greet thee, — and if absent, yearn For thy soft touch to charm away The pain that claims them for its prey. A cultured and accomplished woman in every way, Mrs. Jones was especially entertaining at the piano, and this fact furnished endless pleasure in the home, both at 309 JAAIEU K. JU.SLi XEWBERRY Washington. Arkansas and Washington, D. C. The former piace was, back in the seventies, the Athens of Arkansas, as well as one of the State's chief agricultural . business centers. It was the mother of great men. more of tne - - nstinguished sons having hailed from that than from any other town of its size within her boi- V\ Lat is more, it was a great social center in those ling people otten coming there from all parts of '.uininon wealth to enjoy the hospitality of friends. Ana no home was more frequented by these than that of s. Jones, ft was the meeting place of many a gay and happy crowd of the Washington youth, who lounu delight in the cordial entertainment accorded them there. As the young lawyer climbed upward on the rounds of ihe political ladder, leaders from all parts of the >State wouid come there to get advice and counsel for onduct of their battles After they removed to Washington. D. C. the Sena- - home became a social center for the many Arkansas pie employed at the capital. And visitors to the city likewise made it their chief rendevouz. whether tbey came short time or for weeks. This continued the case, even after he went out of the public service and into the law and the recouping of his private fortune. It was a home never lacking in large hospitality. One gentle- man stated that if at any time any hint was conveyed by the wife that the walls of the •'mansion** were getting a bit narrow for hospitality, the Senator would playfully retort. ••Oh well, if we had twenty-one rooms they would never hold enough." 310 JAMB* K. JOMM : .__... - od f kia friends, Mi oes ] ed ._ _.. . yixjut nmi constantly. j_ - . _ luui. utes ys sc . a. the so greets j . b i - arty ii - it newer cues .a him into the sacred] £ of his with mm tiie latch-string nsal js n he outsid sas ] b made we - in the morning ,m unre^ - b hour of the night, knew it. and tod 3t the I think Mr. Jones belieTed _> st j possessed 9 - mj nied him uii his great campaigns, an I - ped him in iiienr of the goal he sought. I ha. :her pages, told 1 - d over Rej - r, of Benton County, Arka sas, 1 is _d in the States Sei sas legia II think the incident well iliusi: influence in swelling hi- ines 8 e did not think her duty d«>ne wheii she had made his home the .-lit with him to render him what ice she mighr. into the foruii. A mail who ioved to keep tl _ ,'hered about him. Mi Jones - beloved - to the point of being worshipped by every member of ; . by some of the kinsfolk outside of his own imui-. unify circle. Tie -tesr rime of rhe day ro them i - a he was at home late iu the afternoons and the evenings, when they would indulge in games - amusements a: conversation. And when business took him for a JAA1E1S K. JONES NEWBERRY days or weeks away from theni, the day never got too crowded with business matters that he did not write to iiis wife and children. When death invaded that circle, as it several times did, it seemed almost to break the old man's heart. But he would always choke back his feel- ings of sorrow at reversal, whether it were death or de- feat, with the expression that it was God's will, and that that must be acquiesced in without murmuring, whatever its decrees might be. Even the servants were markedly fond of Mr. Jones, and sought every opportunity to do him little "extra turns." On the other hand, he himself never let pass a chance to bestow iittie favors upon them. At Christmas time and on other occasions he would remember each one with some little gift. f could say much more of Senator Jones as a home man. Of deeply attectionate nature, and possessed of strong sentiment, he was eminently capable of making and of appreciating a happy home to the very fullest, f conclude with one sentence, given ine by Mrs. Jones her- self, now an old lady of three score years and more, whose hair is almost white, and who is willingly resigned to the fact that only a few more years at most separate her from the life-mate she loved so well. The sentence alone is better than pages of description in which I might strive to draw the picture of the great man in the home. It speaks volumes on the character of "the plumed knight" — nay, it alone would stand as an everlasting monument to the chivalry of this brilliant man, had I said not one word more of him than simply to quote it: ''During all 312 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY the forty-live years of our happy married life together, he never spoke a cross word to ine,-and was more courtly lo me just before he died thau he ever was iu our youth!" Lastly, Mr. Joues was a religious mau. Iu his youth, he was naturally inclined to be of a skeptical turn of mind, lie lacked faith. His was a temper that loved to reason everything, — earthly problems, issues heavenly, God. Of course he ran into complexities whose myths he could not solve, with all the efforts of his investigating nature. He was therefore inclined to questionings, mis- givings, and outright doubtings. With all this, how- ever, he did not denounce openly the faith which is es- sential to Christianity, but kept the even tenor of his search, striving ever to see the light. His was an open heart, always ready for and welcoming the truth. Finally, he found this truth for which he searched. On a trip to Texas when a young man of about twenty-three years, in quest of a health which few believed he could ever find, he found something far better than this physical development. On the trip he carried several books with him, and among them one treating of the evils of skepticism. It was while reading this book that for the first time he saw the light of faith which spans the otherwise unbridgable chasm between the earthly and divine, between morality and Christianity, between doubt and assurance. It was by reading this volume that he was convinced of the error of unbelief; and ever after- wards skepticism was unknown to him. From that time on, down to the end, he kept faith with his Master. That searching nature now took on a new aspect: it changed 313 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY to an insatiable longing to know more and more of the great eternity in which he now so thoroughly believed. Only eight days before he died/ he said to a friend, talking of the future life: "I'd give worlds to know what's in the great Beyond." Though reverent and religious, he nevertheless did not give himself to the exclusive support of any dogma, creed or denomination. He was not orthodox. While at Washington he was most of the time a regular attendant at the Mount Vernon Methodist church, and aided in the support of its pastor. His generosity was known, how- ever, by all churches, all over the land, irrespective of denomination. Often he and his wife would not attend the morning services at church, but instead would spend 1 he forenoon in a long tramp across the Potomac and into the Virginia hills. He loved, after the taxing labors of the week, to be aloue with his life-mate, in the silent aud reverent worship of God through nature. So, so of- ten he would remark to her, "The groves were God's tirsi temples." This love of nature itself, I think, amounted almost to a worship with him. His joy at getting out amid the solitude of held and forest to commune with his Maker; his love of birds and helpless animals cap- tured from nature's haunts; his fondness for pets; his almost Wordsworthian appreciation and enjoyment of na- ture's wonders, — these things convince me that he loved to sec God most of all in nature. If he preferred this to allying himself with any orthodox denomination, and con- scientiously refused to sanction any dogma, the reader will not blame him for it. 314 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY Mr. Jones was not a free thinker, however, using the lerin in its common acceptation : he was simply possessed of iiberai views. Though atteuding the Methodist church customarily, he was broad enough on one occasion, for in- stance, to go out of his way to commend the Catholics for their great work iu reaching down aud lifting up the underman. In advocating greater educational facilities for the negro of the South, he urged that Protestant de- nominations follow the example of their Catholic broth- ers, who, whenever they found the ignorant, the "un- washed," the lowest down in civilization, "lay the foun- dation there, do their hardest work there, and so found themselves in the very bed-rock of society." Senator Jones was well versed in Biblical history and literature. It is said by those who knew him closest that he possessed a remarkable knowledge of the contents of the great Book, and could quote, whenever occasion de- manded, most any passage which any one would start and could not finish. 1 am glad that I have found little of the tendency to use Bible quotations in his political and other speches; for so many political demagogues nowa- days, purposely versed in Biblical lore, use their knowl- edge in base and fraudulent fashion to win influence for themselves. And the fact that references to the Bible were not used conspicuously in the utterances of Mr. Jones but strengthens the conviction that he possessed none of the 1 ricks of the demagogue. There is perhaps no occasion when a man comes nearer to revealing his true self, his character, than when he stands at the grave of a friend. Here the tongue of 315 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY calumny or cavil which he inay have for other occasions i^ siienced; the unrighteous greed for gold is qualined; ihe scales fall from eyes gangreened by the unholy lust for gain, and here the heart beats clear from nia'i- ciotis purposes. And if this be true of men whose nat- ural tendencies are bad, it is far more true when applied to gentlemen of the highest reputation. 1 know of no bet- ter way of giving a real insight into the religious - charac- ter, as well as of showing the elegant style, the admirable dictiou, the mastery of the richest gems of poetry, the depth of thought on such occasions, the literary ability, of "the plumed knight," than to quote a few of his utter- ances in praise of his former fellow laborers in the na- tional legislature. On one occasion near the close of his public career, he said (1) : "The example of a good mau lives after him, and long after he ceases to take a part amongst his fellow-men, the good he did during his life will be effective and valuable to those who come after him." 1 make this quotation here simply to reveal the man in his own longing to do something himself which would benefit others after he had passed. The many hundreds now living, whom he touched as he went along life's pathway, speaking encouragement for today and for the hereafter, with common acclaim attest that his ambi- tion is fulfilled. Most of these speeches delivered over the dead were impromptu tributes, and were therefore rather the spon- taneous outbursts of a trusting heart than the finely turned eulogies of a brilliant mind. When others of dis- (1) This speech may be found, 57 Cong., 2 Sess., p. 2191. 316 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY tinction had spoken at length to a quiet and mournful Senate upon the character of the deceased Senator Aus- tin F. Pike, of New Hampshire, it remained for Mr. Jones to rise and say, briefly but beautifully (1) : "Mr. Presi- dent, upon occasions like this, when thoughts Of the last bitter hour come like a blight, and sad images Of the stern agony and shrouded pall, And breathless darkness and the narrow home Make us to shudder and grow sick at heart, — all human ambition sinks into insignificance, the rival- ries and resentments of active life are forgotten, and our thoughts turn to the question of the patriarch, '1!' a man • lie. shall he live again?'" And now, listen, as the great Senator goes on to say : "The one characteristic that distinguishes man from the rest of the animate creation is our belief in and hope of immortality The ages have given no higher ex- pression of the hope of that hereafter which is hidden from us now by life, and no expression of a firmer trust in him who watches the sparrow's fall, than the trium- phant words 'I know that my Redeemer liveth.' ' : Finally, he concludes; "If, in the Great Beyond, in that existence which I like to think of as the 'sweet bye and bye,' the Eternal I Am shall judge us by our actions here Mr. Pike will have naught to fear." Where shall we ever find a stronger evidence of a man's great faith in the eternity of the Christian, than in such expressions as "our belief in the hope of immortal- (1) 49 Cong., 2 Sess., p. 1814. 317 JAMES K. JOKES NEWBERRY ity"; " 'I know that my Redeemer liveth'"; and "the ex- istence which I like to think of as the 'sweet bye and bye'?" If we are to find it anywhere, I submit that per- haps it may be in the following excerpt from a letter which he wrote to his wife, just three days before he went into that "existence": "If this is my last day here it is all right and I do not complain. The sun is approaching the west in plain view the night cometh. I have tried to live for a clear sunset and a quiet night after I am gone — T can't do much more. God bless you and keep you in the hollow of his hand." Mr. .Jones on another occasion in the Senate gave a striking and beautiful interpretation of death itself. In speaking of the death of Daniel Ermatrant, of Pennsyl- vania ,he said (1) : "No matter how frequently the grim monster may invade the circle of our friends, each suc- ceeding visit causes us a shock as if no such experience had ever come to us Frequent repetition accustoms us to most things, but not so with death We are never called to stand by the grave of a departed friend but it brings back with vigor and force the great question of the patriarch to which it is said the ages have brought no answer: 'If a man die, shall he live again'? . . . . " And now hear his construction of the true answer to that query : "The development of science, the pro- gress of learning, the experience of mankind, have brought no answer to that great question. But it is well for liu- }))aniti/ that by faith and inspiration a triumphant answer came from the same lips that propounded it, which ans- wer has needed no additional strength from science, his- (1) 56 Cong., 1 Sess., p. 60S6. 318 JAMES K. JOXEtS NEWBERRY tory or experience to conduce those who believe in the truth of the revelation — 'For I know that my Kedeenier liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth In my flesh shall I see God!' Nowhere within the bounds of human knowledge is there a more sublime truth, a grander hope, or higher inspiration 1), than this triumphant declaration by the man of God. It has coin foiled the millions who have approached this great change, and it will shed light and happiness, comfort and consolation, to the hearts of millions yet to die." Some of the sweetest as well a smost convincing evi- dences of Senator Jones's trust and faith I find in pri- vate letters which he wrote to friends. A helper in every kind of personal need, a God-send in periods of financial embarrassment, a messenger of mercy on occasions de- manding physical assistance, he was most of all a friend in times of overwhelming sorrow. When the death angel entered the home. that great heart went out in a sympathy that was genuine. He well could sympathize, when so many sorrows had come into his own life. "My sympa- thy with you is deepened by my own sense of loss," he once said. "God knows how my heart has bled — has been broken under misfortunes from which, old as I am, I can never recover. Yet," he added, "it has always been a comfort to know that He 'doeth all things well'— He can- not be mistaken." It seemed that he always had the right word of encouragement and hope, at the right time. "I feel that I have lost a friend ,too," he wrote once to a friend who (1) These italics are all mine. 319 JAMES K. JOXES NEWBERRY had just lost his wife, ""a loss that must continue down to the end. But John," he continued, "soon or late this must come to every man on earth, and we all must accept our share of these sorrows. Those who remain are the sufferers, not those who go ; and God in His mercy can and will bring all these things around for our good." Many, many times, in letters to friends in distress, he would quote the words a preacher once spoke to him amid the sorrow of a great loss: "The God of all the earth is too wise to err and too good to do wrong.'' "This," he would say, "has comforted me through all the sorrows of the years. God will always do just what ought to be done." Mr. Jones's life was a God-planned and God-guided life. And no man more readily, once he saw the divine plan, gave himself up to the working of the Master through the instrument of his life, than did he. "I fully believe," he ouce said, "that there is a life work laid out for every man. . . . We do not ourselves know what is best for us or for others. It is our duty to face the front, to meet the obligations that devolve upon us .to discharge them earnestly and faithfully." He universally advised young men who would come to him for counsel, that they obey unquestioningly the will of God, whatever that will might be, with reference to their own lives. James K. Jones was as humble as a little child in the presence of the divine will, and ever reverently put aside his own de- sires at the voice of God's commands. THE END 320 APPENDIX THE PHRENOLOGICAL CHARACTER OF JAMES K. JONES I am going to publish here a thing that Mr. Jones never showed to any living human being, with the excep- tion of his wife, during all the years that spanned the long period between the day it was made and the day of his death. He was so modest that he did not even show it to his children, and it remained under lock and key, as it were, among his wife's valuables. It is herewith made public, with her consent. Surely the good Senator him- self will not now object to our giving forth to an appre- ciative public that which in life his modesty forbade him revealing to even the most intimate friends. Mr. Jones, it will be remembered, was engaged in the mercantile business at Arkadelphia when the War broke out. About a year before the struggle came on he had gone to New York to buy goods for the stock. It was these goods, by the way, whose purchase, on credit of course, afterwards caused him to go into bankruptcy, and for which he was not able to pay until after the contest had been ended and he had again gotten on his feet. While he was in the great metropolis he decided he would go to the celebrated L. N. Fowler, the greatest living phrenologist, and get a chart or characterization of himself, that he might bet- ter know how to improve upon the weaker traits in his make-up. This was July 14, 1860. I may say that I never saw this paper until I had completed the biogra- phy; and I could have known nothing of the contents of a thing whose very existence was unknown to me. The 323 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY reader will have noticed from reading the study we have made of him, however, the prominent traits of the great man's character, and will know how well the celebrated doctor detected them, even when "the plumed knight" was just coming into his majority. The report follows: You have a sharp, wide-awake, intense, active organi- zation. If you were a business man, you would do more on the same capital than most persons. You impress people with the idea that you have confidence in yourself and in your cause (.1), and thereby beget confidence in other people. If you were a lawyer, which you ought to be rather than to follow any of the professions beside, you would impress the jury with the idea that your cause was right and you felt it and knew it. It would be hard for you to undertake a cause that was not just, but if you were to make yourself believe that your cause was right you <<>uld impress others with the idea that it was, so far as manner and apparent sincerity are concerned, — in other words, you do heartily whatever you undertake. You have not that kind of slack, twisted modesty (2) that undermines your own cause lest you should offend any- body's pride by being bold and full of assurance; but you strike for the highest notch ,and, if you fall a peg or two, you hold on to what you get. You are spirited in resistence, bold in making at- tempts, and in accomplishing what you wish. You are (1) Yes. so strong was his confidence in the cause of silver that he had been looked upon as the very embodiment of that cause. (2) No one ever doubted the sincerity and genuineness of the Senator's modesty, or dared to call it "slack." The italics are mine. 324 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY prompt, ready, earnest, lull of zeal and efficiency. You belong to die express train — the one that nas a clear track — uno vvnen you blow your wliistie you wish all the way trams tu switch ua (i). iou will mate money, it you are properly trained in business (2). iour neighbors of the same employment would look upon you with jealousy, but tnose engaged in hardware, or grocers, etc., would UKe to see you prosperous, because you are a good neigh- bor and warm friend, If you were engaged in politics you wouid generally run ahead of your ticket. You have strong party feelings, hence you are a friend to those for whom you vote and to those with whom you work, and you expect friendship manifested toward yourself — hence, you wouid make a good party leader. You are known for your firmness, will power, pride mid enterprise. You might have more reverence, more faith, more prudence and circumspection, and be bene- fitted by the increase. You have but little imitation — you care to imitate nobody, only prefer not to be especially odd and eccentric, but want elbow room, want to feel free, and don't like die fashions to confine you — Y^ou love liberty, and will be very careful to secure it — liberty of speech, elbow room in business, and chance for personal gratification and in- dependent action. Intellectually, you have that sharp, intense spirit which characterized John C. Calhoun. You have some- thing of his temperament, giving you great individuality, (1) Not that all might look at him, but that he might bettor accomplish his purpose and task. (2) Which, it so happened, he was, at the time. 325 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY great positiveness, auda tendency to centralize everything that pertains to yourself in yourself. You do not lean on others, are no parasite, and dislike to owe anybody any favors, or money, for that matter. You like to feel that yon have won your own success and stand on your own pins without support from anybody. You would do well as a merchant, quite as well as a manufacturer, or would succeed well in engineering or natural science; but you will never be .satisfied till you hare become a lawyer, a public man (l),or else a merchant in large and influential positions. You cannot talk in so wordy a style as many, but you talk to the point, and that convincingly (2). You have a sharp, clear intellect; are a good judge of charac- ter, of property, and of the ways and means to increase your power ,your health and reputation; are well adapted to govern other men, to be at the head of affairs and a leader, hence, would succeed well as a teacher. You are capable of ardent love and great fondness for children, pets and whatever is helpless and pretty. You shouid encourage a religious disposition (3) and a patient, calm state of the mind. ( 1 ) This ambition to be a lawyer and public man, fired from his boyhood study under Judge Coleman, detected at this time when he was only twenty-one. lasted, as we have seen, throughout his whole life. Italics are mine. (2) Note the tribute to this characteristic quoted on page-- 303-4 (3) We have already seen when the change from skepti- cism to reverence came. 326 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY AN ESTIMATE FROM WILLIAM JENNINGS BKYAN (Written expressly for this book.) 1 became acquainted with Senator James K. Jones, of Arkansas, wane a member of Congress . My term be- gan on tne iourtn of March, lb91, and, as I was a young man, 1 was only casually acquainted with the members of the Senate until the tignt on the silver question began. Even then i uid not become intimately acquainted with many oi inein until alter my term of service expired on March 4, IbUJ. In June of that year a meeting was held at Memphis, where a bimetallic league was formed for the purpose of organizing the bimetallic forces in the Democratic party with a view to securing a platform and a candidate iavorabie to bimetallism in 1890. Sena- tor J ones was maue chairman of the committee of hve appointed at Memphis to lead the bimetallic tight in the Democratic party. 1 attended the Memphis meeting and from that time on was more or less intimately asso- ciated with Senator Jones. When we reached Chicago we found that we had won our tight and that we had a little more than two-thirds of the Convention. Senator Jones, as leader of the organization which had made and won the tight, was very properly selected as the Chair- man of the Committee on .Resolutions. I was the Ne- braska member of this committee, but my delegation hav- ing been shut out by the national committee, I could not participate in the deliberations of the resolution commit- tee until after the Convention, acting upon a favorable report from the credentials committee, had seated my 327 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY delegation. The piatforin was practically completed before i hau an opportunity to take part in the delibera- tions oi ilie committee — only two or three planks, as 1 remember, and they not oi great importance, were added alter wards. Aboui i wo weeks before the Convention i had called upon Hon. Charles H. Jones, then editor of the Post JJispatch of 8t. Louis, and found him preparing a plat- form for submission to the committee. He allowed me u write the money plank in the platform, and when I entered the resolutions committee i found the platform as agreed upon by a majority of the committee contained the ptank which i had written. 1 am not sure that the members of the committee knew who drafted that plank, but the phraseology adopted in Nebraska in 1894 had been taken up and endorsed by a great many of the States, so that all the members of the committee were familiar with the language. As soon as the platform was completed the commit- tee adjourned to the convention hall and a few minutes afterwards Senator Jones sent a page for me. When I reached the Arkansas delegation he asked me if I would take charge of the debate. Nothing had been said to me about this before and his request came as a complete surprise. I accepted the invitation and asked him who had asked for time, and he replied that no one excepting Senator Tillman had expressed a desire to take part in the discussion. I then went over to see Senator Hill, and we agreed upon the time on each side, and I after- wards arranged with Senator Tillman in regard to the 328 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY order oi' our speeches. Alter the adjournment of the Convention i asked (Senator Jones why he had given me the honor of controlling the time for our side. He re- plied that 1 had been active in the tight which led up to the control of the Convention, and that as i was out of the hall when a number of the prominent Democrats had spoken and had not had a chance to address the Conven- tion, he thought that it was only fair that I should have a chance to speak in the presentation of the platform. I am sure that [Senator Jones had no idea that the oppor- tunity he gave me would be of any personal advantage, and 1 may add that 1 had no thought of its bringing to me the advantage that it did. He was for Mr. Bland and w as doubtless as much surprised as any member of the Convention at the reception accorded my speech, and 1 was as much surprised as he was. I had thought be- fore the Convention that I might possibly be a compro- mise candidate, but it was the logic of the situation that led me to believe so, not the hope of influencing the Con- vention by any speech 1 might make. After 1 was nominated 1 went before the committee jind upon my own volition — I do not remember that the suggestion came from anybody — asked that Senator Jones be made the chairman of the committee. The main reason for this was that the Senator had been the head of the organization through whose efforts we had won the Con- vention, and was therefore the logical man to lead the light during the campaign. I had a personal reason in addition, namely, that it gratified my own desire to show my appreciation of the favor he did me in giving me an 329 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY opportunity to defend the platform before the Conven- tion. 1 have never regretted my part in his selection as chairman of the national committee. He was the soul of honor and i felt sure that he would do nothing to compromise me or to embarrass my administration if 1 were elected; and f knew, too, tnat his whole heart was iu the work and that f would have the benefits of his long experience ana 'urge acquaintance, f think lit would have been glad to retire in 19UU, but 1 did not see anyone in wnose wisdom and ability f had more conh- dence, and f urged him to remain at the head of the com- mittee during the second campaign, f do not believe tnat we could have secured any other person who could have done better than he did. Looking back over the two campaigns, f am satished that he made the best pos- sible use of the means at our command, and 1 have never regretted the position of leadership accorded to him in the party organization during the contests in which he was chairman, f hold him in grateful remembrance and it was a delight to meet him and his family from time to time when f visited Washington. 1 am glad to make this contribution to the pages of the book which will set forth his claims to the State's re- spect and consideration. He had a high conception of the official's duty to his constituents, and brought to the discharge of public duty ability, strict integrity, and a high order of moral courage. 330 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY THE ESTIMATE OF W. H. "COIN" HARVEY lii the form of a letter to nie, uiider date of April 15, 1912, Mr. Harvey pays the following tribute to Mr. Jones, and at the same time gives us some valuable informa- tion oil the money problem, with the attempted solution of which, by the adoption of the double standard, Mr. Jones bad much to do: Hear Sir: — Replying to your letter relating to Senator James K. Jones, I knew him well when he was United Si ales Senator and Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He was Chairman of the National Commit- tee at the time Bryan was nominated and made the mem- orable campaign of 1896. Senator Jones w T as loyal to Bryan and the platform adopted by the Democratic party on which Bryan ran. It was he, Altgelt and Stone, lead- ers of the National Convention of 1890, that saved the Democratic party from Hill and others who represented ihe money power. The problem of civilization will never be solved 'till the subject of money, the blood of civilization, is mastered by the people; and in the first campaign that ever brought the subject with engrossing attention to the people, Sen- ator Jones was Chairman of the Committee that directed our forces. We were defeated, politically, but the agitation and advertisement that gold got caused thousands to go 1 .ok ing for gold in the mountains and placers of the world, who would not hnve lone so if it had remained a dormant subject. The result has been wonderful in relieving, 331 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY temporarily, the financial situation. The world's annual production oi gold is now more than three times as great as it was in 18i)b, only some sixteen years since, and is nearly double what both the gold and silver production was at that time. The campaign of lSlib' was an epoch- making period, and the first step in what we will hope to be the solution of one of the most important questions that must be settled right to save the civilization of the world. The small amount of primary money at that time had brought about very low prices, debts were con- fiscating the property of the people, business depression was general and armies of the unemployed were march- ing across the country as living petitions to Washington, praying relief from the stagnation that existed. Out of the struggle in which Bryan, Jones, Altgelt and others led, the world responded with an output, un- precedented in its history, of gold, the adopted primary money, and rising prices brought returning prosperity and temporary relief. I say relief because another phase of threatened evil cut of an erroneous finaucial system will make useless the big output of gold and swamp the civilization of the world if not corrected. I refer to the usury system, prac- tically adopted by the people of the world in the last hun- dred years, and that has only become general in the last fifty years. It has created a monetary system that is drinking up the blood of civilization, concentrating it in the money centers, where it is financing combinations of interest and creating what is known as the industrial trusts. Money is intended as a medium of exchange 332 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY and any law or custom that diverts it from its civilizing function and holds it subject to a toll being paid thereon as a condition to its use as a medium of exchange, is erron- eous. It will grow like a snow ball, and if not over- thrown will destroy our civilization. Whether intended so or not, the campaign of 1896, when Senator Jones was at the head of the organized forces of the Democratic party, began the study of the money question, and it will continue until the problem is solved, or until the world sinks into another dark age. Hoping that you will find your task a pleasure in committing to history the deeds of Senator Jones, I am Yours very truly, (Signed) W. H. Harvey. A WORD FROM SENATOR OWEN, OF OKLAHOMA It was noi my purpose to publish letters which dealt with the general characteristics of Mr. Jones, of which I have received many, but only to give those estimating his efforts in connection with one of more of the great fights in which he engaged. But the brief letter from Senator Owen, of Oklahoma, is so to the point, and in a short space so well summarizes the character of the knight, that I think it well to quote it. Under date of June 24, 1912, he writes me: My dear Mr. Newberry : — T knew the Honorable James K. Jones, from Ark- ansas, intimately well. He was a great and good man ; a man of splendid intelligence; a fine jud^e of men, and a man of great industry ; a man of great moral and mental worth. 333 JAMES K. JONES XEWBERRY He was a man of splendid physical and moral cour- age, and one of the splendid things about him was that he was always ready to defend an absent friend, without waiting to be requested to render this service. T was intimately associated with him and spent many a pleasant hour in his company. He was one of the most kindly and likeable men I ever knew. I used to take long walks with him, and exchanged personal confidences with him, and I felt the same affectionate regard for him as if he had been an elder brother. He was a man of great nobility of soul, and on the other side in the spir- itual world he is a Prince of the first magnitude. •James K. Jones was true in every relation of life, as a father, husband, friend, party leader, citizen and soldier. I have great admiration for him, and will al- ways cherish his memory. Yours very truly. (Signed) Robert L. Owen. AN INTERESTING LETTER FROM DR. J. R. Mr- DANIEL, OF NASHVILLE, TENN. Dear Mr. Newberry : — I assure you I shall be glad to contribute any in- formation I can as to Senator Jones's war record, which I regret to say was so grossly misunderstood and mis- represented during his later campaigns. In the first place I will say that no truer or braver man lived in my opinion than James K. Jones On my return to Arkansas (1) in the fall of 1861 the excitement was great, and while I do not remember that (l) From Emory & Henry College, where Mr. McDaniel was educated. 334 JAMES K. JONES NEWBERRY I had discussed political matters with Mr. Jones, like him I was not in favor of secession without some overt act on the part of Mr. Lincoln, but I do remember that a day or two after we heard of the fall of Fort Sumpter and realized that the War was begun, I was sitting in front of my father's store, when Mr. Jones came to me and in a very earnest manner told me that he was making up a company of infantry to go to the front. I was already a member of a volunteer company that had been organ- ized, though not with reference to immediate war. and I told him that I was under obligations to that company. He. however, persevered in his efforts and soon had nearly enough men enlisted to make a company, which company was augmented by a part of a company already raised at Okolona, in that county. The company was temporarily organized by the election of James K. Jones as Captain. Captain C. S. Stark (of the Okolona contingent!, and Colonel J. C. Munroe were also among the temporary officers. They soon marched away from Arkadelphia to Little Rock, as fine a body of men as ever shouldered mus- kets. This was the first company to be organized in Clark County for the War. Jones was a firm believer in military discipline, and enforced it fully. This would have been more acceptable to most of his company later when the real war was on. but most of the boys were of his own class and could not brook military discipline from one of their former in- timates and equals. So that when the company reached Little Eock and was sworn into real service, the next worth. 335 JAMES E. JONES NEWBERRY thing was to select their permanent officers. The result was that Mr. Jones was not elected Captain, but instead J. C. Munroe, and C. S. Stark, of the Okolona contingent, was chosen as a lieutenant. Stark was one of the most popular young men in the county , a tanner and an edu- cated and accomplished gentleman. Immediately following the circumstances above re- lated as his first experience in the War, T do not know what became of Mr. Jones, but have understood that he joined a cavalry company from Dallas County composed largely of his old friends and schoolmates, and they be- came part of the Third Arkansas Cavalry (1). I had gone to the War in the meantime with my company, the Clark County Light Artillery of Captain Roberts. "But certain it is that T saw Mr. Jones near Pocahontas, Ark- ansas, in the early fall of 1861 with Captain Holmes's Third Arkansas Cavalry, with a rifle and other accoutre- ments of a soldier. He looked pale and thin and told me he was not well and afraid he eonld not stand the service. He was so thin and spare that the boys in his company gave him the nickname "Ramrod." T do not know how long Mr. Jones remained with this regiment, as T was on my way to Memphis with my company to join the Army of Tennessee and did not see him any more until after the War was over. Later, after the battle of Elkhorn, the Third Arkansas Cavalry was also transferred to the Armv of Tennessee. A little while after this Mr. Jones joined Captain Reuben Reed's Companv. made up in Clark County, sev- eral members of which still survive (1) This is true. Of. Chap. II. pp. 34-35. 336 JAMBS K. JONES \EWBERRY The fact that he went into the army again as soon as he felt able after each period of service is evidence sufficient that he was always ready and willing to go whenever he was able. I do not wish to reflect on anyone, now that it is past ; but I have felt all along that the Confederate Army missed the services of one who would have been one of its best and most distinguished officers when the origi- nal Clark County Company failed to elect Mr. Jones its permanent Captain. Promotion would have been sure for him and he was fitted for the duties of a high office, and would have been a valuable counsellor for his asso- ciates. I have no doubt that if he had been made an officer of rank he would have been able to remain in the service, the duties being less onerous, the fare better and the opportunity greater for taking care of one's health I do not think his rise would have stopped short of Major General I am myself sure of his personal bravery, loyalty and patriotism. James K. Jones took the first company from Clark County to the Civil War, and when the Brooks- Baxter trouble came to a climax in 1874, Mr. Jones im- mediately carried some armed soldiers to the assistance of Governor Baxter, and became one of the strong factors in the War, where his ability and counsel were appreci- ated. His knowledge of what war was by previous ex- perience had not made him a coward. His going to Little Rock at that time with an armed force to join an unor- ganized resistance to what had become tyranny was a braver thing, if possible, than joining an "army with ban- 337 JAMES K. JONES TiEWBBRRY ners," as was the case in 1861 This brings my remarks on Senator Jones to the point where his career is an open book to the people of Arkansas and the Nation. He was patriotic, zealous, honest and preeminent in every thing that goes to make the character of a great man and citizen. His knowl- edge and moral character made him a useful adviser and a safe guide for future generations. His equal is not often found, and his superior, never. Very sincerely and truly, (Signed) J. R. McDaniel. 338 M\G 8 1913