The Irish standard., 1895-11-16
.DO|ESNl' ] PAY FRBIGH9 R | { | I
But He nanages to Struggle Along
Through 4 Few den- 81
]. erations.
Ex-senator Jones, Of Iowa, Has
Had Vast Experience in
Legislative Affairs.
His Struggles With Senator Cali
houn in Getting New
States Enrolled.

George Wallace Jones, OF Iowa, the old
! est retired United States senator living
and the contemporary of James Monroe
John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jack
son, is about completing his long expect
| ed Biography and will have it ready for
| the press in a few weeks. The announce
ment will strike the country with lively
! interest, for the epOchs covered are SO
! far back as to be fresh and new to readers
of today and Jones is known to possess
greater fund of personal "reminiscences OF
public men and things Of national note
in that epoch than anybody else now snr-
| viving, says writer in the Chicago
Times-Herald.
Unlike Senator sherunan's new
| book, dealing with statesmen both
living and dead, ex-senator Jones
Forthcoming memoirs, which promises
| to be equally interesting, will
except himself, and he is still very much
alive. Though nearly 81 years old, he
is in health and strength and his mental
vigor is unimpaired. 1t is difficult in
these latter days Of the century to con-
ceive that there is a national character
still above ground who served as drum
mer boy in the war of 1872, who had the
honor of naming two states back In the
SOS. who enjoyed an intimatet acquaint-
ance with all the presidents since Mad
ison. who rode beside the Marquis de La
fayette when that hero toured through
America in 1924, who sat in the lower
branch Of congress with Polk and Bell
and Lincoln before they gained promi-
! nence. and in the upper house with Clay
and Webster and Benton and Houston
and CorWin and who bore part In most
Of the great political events OF the first
half century Of the republic. But Jones
| is lust such figure, he has done all these
| things, and in his book he will sketch
| them out in touch-and-gO manner that
\ cannot fail to charm the present genera
| tion.
| He lived and moved on equal footing
with all those worthless dead and gone,
| Familiar with all tine landmarks OF
politics since 1925, he is himself the most
unique living landmark. He witnessed
the death of the old republican" and fed
eralist parties, the birth OF the demo-
cratic party, of the free soil party and
! of the present republican party Before
his eyes the nation grew from a weakllng
| infant to a mature giant, administrations
passed in varying procession, parties
changed, men disappear from the stage
wars were waged and ended, territories
were erected and states admitted, and he
still lives on Not even one of his ia
nous senatorial colleagues OF 1848-59 re-
mains on earth. ALI have departed
hence John A. Dix, William II. Seward
and Hamilton Fish, of New York; Daniel
Webster, Edward Everett and Charles
Sumner, of Massachusetts,; Judah 2. Ben
jamin and John Slidell Of Louisiana;
Salmon p Chase and Benjamin F Wade,
| of Ohio; Stephen A. Douglas and James
Shields, of Illinois; Hannibal Hamlin and
William p Fessenden, Of Maine; i; Robert
| M. T. Hunter and James M. Mason, of
| Virginia; John G. Calhoun, of South Car
olina: Simon. Cameron, of Pennsylvania;
Reverdy Johnson, Of Maryland; Jefferson
Davis, Of Mississippi; John G. Crittenden
| of Kentucky, and Louis Cass, of Michi-
gan. He alone tarries as surviving as
In 1886 he came to Washington as the
J. last uGlGS5dt6 l1U1ll lAC 6IVaG 4SOA IAAWGoI
| Territory of Michigan, which then In
cluded all that vast domain comprising
| the present states Of Michigan. Wiscon-
sin, Iowa, Minnesota, North and South
Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming,
| washington and Oregon. At that time
| 50 much of the territory as is now con-
tanned in the state of Michigan had a
population of s174 SAT. But the portions
lying west of Lake Michigan and on the
two sides Of the Mississippi river were
receiving an even greater tide Of settle
ment owing to the superior reputation Of
| their lands and Jones had no sooner tak-
| en- his seat in congress than he drew up
and presented to the house a bill to or
ganize the territory Of Wisconsin, in or
der to promote the development Of that
western portion The new territory was
named BY him in tn 'dH and it.embrac-
ed all that. Michis. erritory had in
| cluded, except MhR G 1. constitutes the
present state .of Mica ,hrsn. Having thus
! legislated himself out mo sf1ice, Jones was
elected as the first delegate from Wiscon-
! sin. In 1883, through jones' instrument
| taldty, the Territory Of iowa was in turn
created and named, tpinprising all Of
Wisconsin Territory, except what is noHV
| the state Of Wisconsin. Nine years af-
forwards, in 1S47, when Iowa was ad-
! mitted as q state, Jones was chosen senior
senator, succeeding himself six years at
| ter for another term. NJ n
/ during that important formative pc.
riod from 1886 to 1853 Jpnesswas a con.
| spicuous and potent agent in the devel-
opnent OF the northwest, and lived ito
see it change from scattered series Of
trading posts into no less than fourteen