The Irish standard., 1903-12-05
Republicans Say That Williams is the Best
Equipped Man on the Floor for
Democratic Leader.
He Will Be Assisted by Judge De Almond,
Who is a Shrewd, Careful and
Able Parliamentarian.

the Fifty-seventh Congress he asked
to be dropped from the committee on
foreign affairs and assigned to that on
insular affairs. The request was cheer
fully granted by Speaker Henderson,
and probably the ablest speech deliv-
cred in the House by Mr.. Williams
during his whole ten years service was
on the Philippine question.
81 call the gentleman to order"
was the first formal utterance by John
Sharp Williams in the House debates.
1t was on October 18TH, 1893. The
Chinese exclusion bill was under con-
sideration, and it was proposed to
amend in several particulars the Geary
law.
Isidor Rayner, of Baltimore, in his
speech that day, complained hotly of
the bitter attacks that f1ad-been- made
upon President Cleveland by Demo
Gratis in the Senate during the session,
and remarked that no carping criti-
cisms of the executive had even been
heard on the Republican side of either
branch of Congress.
"Look at the Senate of the United
States. To-day it is in condition of
absolute anarchy" tl,undered the fiery
Rayner 'This is no longer"
That was when Williams called him
to order, and Rayner withdrew the re-
mark Williams tried to break in on
him several times later, but Rayner
declined any further interruption.
Mr. Williams kept very quiet dur
ing the remainder of that session. He
was rather more modest than the aver.
age new member of the modern era.
But just before the expiration of that
Congress he got to hopping into the
debates, and ON March ed, 1906, he
made a characteristic two-minute
speech
| 1t seems that under all old statute,
, deductions had been made from the
pay OF certain members on account Of
their absence without leave. George
D. Wise, of Virginia, offered a resolu-
ton to pay back the amounts deduct
ed, and it was adopted by a substan-
tial majority after heated debate.
On the subject Mr.. Williams had this
to say:
"Mr. Speaker, deny that major
ty Of the lawyers OF this House have
held or said that the law does not
authorize these deductions to be made.
The House has decided upon a yea
and-nay vote that such was the law.
We have nothing in the world to do
with the conscience of the Senate of
the United States; it does not hap
pen to be our conscience at present
thank God for that at any rate!
"Mr. Speaker, as I understand the
main argument made in behalf of the
proposition, it is that certain members
of Congress have certified that they
have lost no days from the public
service when they have in fact lost
days; in other words, as I understand,
we are virtually asked to repeal this
law because some members of Con-
gress have been both liars and thieves.
Because if man certifes that he has
lost no time when he did lose it, and
was not sick and therefore excused un-
der section 40 of the Revised Statutes,
he is liar; and if he so certified and
obtained thereby money from the pub
lie treasury to which he was not en-
titled under the law, then he is thief;
and do not see that there is any ar
gument that can set aside that fact.
Instead OF refunding the money to
those who have by honest returns in
the line of plain duty had their salaries
reduced, the right remedy would be to
investigate and hold up to opprobrium
those who have made false returns.
Why legislate to ease their con-
sciences?"
During the winter OF 1902 the Dem
ocratic Legislature of Mississippi
changed the Congressional districts of
the state so that Mr. Williams was
thrown into the same district with two
of his colleagues in the House-the
venerable Col. Charles E. Hooker, a
strong and popular man and a veteran