National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1881-02-12
AN OPEN LETTER
TO SENATOR JONES, OF FLORIDA,
Relative to Politics in the Southern States and
His Address to the Legislature Of His
Adopted State-A Few Per-
tinent Inquiries.

dress which feel is open to comment believe
you to be an able man, and you have, without
doubt, looked faithfully after the interests Of
Florida, and 1 desire to add my testimony to your
worth as a Senator. 1t is stated that you have
risen from an humble origin; if so, you are entitled
to additional praise. Let it be understood there
fore, that desire to accord TO you all that your
friends claim for you in the way Of ability and
worth.
But am one of those Northern men who
have come to the State of Florida for a
home, and, having been located here for
the past four years, / feel an interest in her
affairs, which 1 propose to continue during
the remainder ofmy life. Itbecomes, then, mat
ter of moment to me to consider what her leading
men are doing for her prosperity, and, having
read your address, which evidences thought and
preparation, and is not the impulsive utterances
of the moment, propose to call your attention to
one or two portions, and challenge your fairness,
even though concede your ability.
might perhaps overlook the matter upon the
grounds that being politician, you are excusable
for uttering your intensely partisan opinions But
cannot lose sight of the fact that you are also
Senator representing this State and addressing by
special invitation the members of the Legislature
as body; therefore, what might be under Ordi-
nary circumstances passed over stump speech,
assumes the Importance of line of policy which
gree-a policy which will affect or less every
citizen of the State; and hence desire to utter my
individual protest.
Being politician, you were shrewdin the style
of your remarks, addressed to Legislature COM
posed of such large majority of Democrats, ig-
nOring the presence of the few members of the OPP
posite party. This shrewdness is further Observa-
bic when we consider that most of the Democrats
were -confederates, and were thoroughly i'm
bued and identified with the views which governed
the lately attempted cOnfederacy
BUT WERE YOU sTATEsMANLIKE
in avaling yourself of this fact? In every utter
ance you have catered to those old opinions played
upon their prejudices, appealed to their passions,
presented their fancied wrongs, over which they
have been studying and broOding ever since the
"lost cause" was pronounced lost" You repeated
those old grievances, the recollection of which by
general consent among the surviving participants
of the rebellion are classed among the vital mo-
tives for existence And this you do in that semi
heroic style which impreSses your hearers with
martyr-ike cOnSciousneSS-a feeling that mysteri-
ous wrongs are crushing them down to the Garth
sad and intense yearning for redress, if not ven
geance. You open your addresslike martyr, and
keep up sort of funeral sermon all the way to the
end. You say:
I congratulate you and the people of this
Republic that we are still permitted TO employ
a free and fair expression of the public will. We
are still allowed to hold popular and legislative
elections, and at times go through the form of
electing our rulers, even though we are not per-
mitted to put them into office.
Did you intend little pleasantly or sarcasm in
these opening remarks? Did your mind revert to
those good old times when three ffths of a GER
tain class of the people furnished a voting
representation, and compare them with the pres
ent times, when the whole fiye-fifths of the same
class are included in the representation, but
clogged with the inconvenient privilege of ex-
pressing their preferences by the ballot? Did your
mind dwell upon these people while you were
writing or delivering your address? and did you
intend to include them in your congratulations to
the people of this Republic? IfyOu did you could
have greatly improved your language by using the
word now in place of still, for that would have
much better described the sentiments of that par
ticular portion of our community.
YOU APPEAR TO BE MOURNING
over lost privileges of exclusiveneSs; they would
prefer rejoicing over newly-acquired rights. And
will you please to specify the "agencies and
method" to accomplish 90 free and fair express
sion of the public will" which are at present de-
MED to you? Seriously Mr.. Senator, was it not
rather a reflection upon the intelligence of the
semblcd wisdom of the State to intimate to them
that the General Government was at the present
day Withholding any legitimate rights orprivileges
from the people of Florida or any other State of
the Union? Such vague and unmeaning charge
may be acceptable to those sympathetic minds
which are already warped by a continual leaning
in one unhealthy direction; but would it not be
more charitable to those minds to furnish them
with more stimulating diet in the shape Of facts,
showing them how, through the power of the Gen
eral Government, they have been saved from the
effects OF their own folly?
You are generally spoken of as a fair minded
man. Was it exactly fair for you to make the
accusation that the Republican party pays little
regard tothe limits of the Constitution, and seldom
hesitates to do anything which it considers neces
sary for party success
An absurd generality like this might serve as
clap-trap during political campaign, or it might
pass for argument in a youthful debating society.
Would you venture a statement as trashy if you
were arguing before the Supreme Court?
YOU COMMENT UPON THE LAW
authorizing deputy marShaIS at elections, and de-
nounce it in the recognized and approved style
adopted by many of your party. concede that 1t
is your privilege to express your objections to the
wisdom of such law and its continuance or re-
peal is fair matter for argument; but fear you
depart from argument when you assume the die
tatOrial Tone because the Democratic Congress was
not allowed to repeal the law.
The law has been pronounced constitutional by
who sustain the law disregard the Constitution.
Let us see what the Democrats in Congress tried to
force upon President Hayes upon several occasions:
They passed appropriation bills with a distinct
proviso that he should not do that which his oath
of office compelled him to do. And because he re-
fused to violate his oath they upbraided him. Would
it be fair question TO ask whether you would
have approved and signed those bills if you had
been the Federal Executiye-being you are such
a strong admirer of the Constitution and
its requirements, and withal, am
told good constitutional lawyer? All
good citizens may unite with you in de-
ploring Federal Intervention at the polls,
because they will naturally deplore the necessity
for it, But can you deny in all honesty that there
has been no necessity for such interference? Are
YOU prepared to assert that in all the Southern
States there have been no occasions when, under
all the moral and legal requirements of our system
of government, there was no justification for the
execution of the law, so long as twas flaw? Mis-
takes may occur in government, and it is possible
that there have been some cases where interior
ence was unnecessary, but those exceptions do not
invalidate the importance of the law. Yet You
harshly
ACCUSE THE REPUBLICAN PARTY,
as a sequence of sustaining this law, that they
&" look upon the State governments with contempt
and would abolish them altogether they could"
Why did you not go further and accuse them of
desiring to enslave every citizen of the Republic?
Did you fancy that the Legislature of Florida was
a body of communists, and that they would relish
such nonsense?
You are very severe in your arraignment of the
Republican party but you omit the usual Demo-
cratic attack upon the very essence of its existence
its use of and its association politically with the
despised race of negroes. Why did you not, as is
customary. accuse the party of misleading them
and operating in every manner against their in
terests? Why did you ignore their very existence?
Have you lost sight of the fact that a continuous
contest has been in progress in this section of the
country for a number of years, which must be
properly and fairly settled before your speech will
find that due appreciation from thoughtful minds