Sioux City register. [volume] (Sioux City, Iowa) 1858-1871, 1862-07-19
THE JONES LETTERS.

| Vue W d Err. JAWS anu tie otleT w iiOl
J. e. MORSE. These letters furnished the
! ground for Gen. JONES arrest and i'm
| prisonment in Fort Lafayette, and there
fore possess public interest. The most
! material part of the letter to JEFF. Davis
! is as follows:
81 had hoped tina, Mr. Lincoln would
/ have proclaimed soon after his election
his total dissent from the mad schemes of
his Abolition supporters, SO as to avert
the tornado which | saw before | left New
York, last November, was about to cause
dissolution of our heretofore glorious
Union. | believed from the course which
he had pursued with Douglas in his cam
paign for the Senate in ISIS that he was
} not imbued 80 thoroughly with Abolition
ism as his Republican supporters suppos-
ed and therefore | really preferred HIM
then and last Fall to Douglas, whom
knew to be an unprincipled demsgogue
and was making Speeches in The North to
please AhoItionists and would then go
South and make discusses of all opposite
character. To him more than to any
other man in our country protesting Dem,
ocratic principles or even Abolition doc.
tr!nes, Is our country indebted for the
agitation if not destruction Of our Union
But for him and his friends who broke up
the Charleston Convention Democrat
would have been elected last Fall to the
Presidency, and before another contest,
such an arrangement would have been
made as TO have prevented a dissolution
OF the MON and perhaps civil var Ny
latest dates are to the I'D Of February
aud trembIe at the thought Of receiving
other dispatches, &c, lest they shall an
nounce the existence of civil war. Nv
prayers are regularly offered up for the
reunion of the States and for the peace,
concord and happiness Of my country
But let what may come to pass, you NAV
rely upon it, as you say, that neither
nor mine will ever be found in the ranks
of our (your) enemies. May God AL
mighty eyert civil war, bus if unhappiy
1t shall come you may | think doubt
(doubtIess) count on me X mine t hosts
OF other friends standing shoulder to
shoulder in the ranks with you and our
other Southern friends & relatives whose
rights Ike my own have been disregarded
by the Aboltionists"
This was dated May Eth, 1861. In
August last he wrote to Mr.. Morse in a
similar strain:
expect my successor, Allen A. Bur.
ton, of Kentucky, every day and will
leave the next day after his arrival, being
exceedingly anxious to return home to
my tamily-'ny sons having left them to
come down South to fight for the main
tenance of the Constitution, the laws, and
the rights of the people Of the South, rs
| intend to do II required to fight a, all,
and it be possible for me to leave my fam.
lily and my private affairs now almost in
ruined state in consequence of the
crisis
Ii is inconceirabls to us low man in
Gen. JONES position-residing in Iowa
with all his interests here and indebted
for his success and high position to the
partially Of Iowa, could, under the cir.
cumstances, utter such sentiments. While
representing this Government at For
egn Court he declares to a rebel chieftain
that he will be found standing shoulder to
shoulder in the ranks with him against the
Government whose accredited Minister he
IS. 1t does not surprise us to know that
Gen. JONES realty preferred Mr.. LINCOLN
to DOUGLAs. There were many more in
the same category who doubtless feel as
JONES has written, and We are quite con
tent that such men shall now submit to
the lawful authority Of him whom they
have preferred. 1t does surprise US, how
ever, that any man outside Of an Inslne
Asylum, and claiming ordinary ntelii-
gence and candor could be found charging
DoCGLAs and the Douglas Democracy
with being the cause Of all our present
troubles Con JONES was good and
faithful representative for the Interest Of
Iowa, and as such we have been ever
ready to applaud and commend him
Bat we are sorry, truly sorry, that he
should have 80 far forgotten his duty to
his country as TO have penaed these let
ters. We will condemn such sentiments,
no matter from what SOURCE they come, for
we cannot feel that they are the offspring
of loyalty that is above suspicion or Of
patriotism that is unmoved by interest
and passion.