The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1904-07-15
SOME COMMENTS ON THE LIKE
NESS OF SPEAKER CANNON,
OF THE HOUSE OF REPRE-
SENTATlVES, AND THE
DEMOCRATIC FLOOR
LEADER, SHARP Will
LlAMS.

4 lie S AonCnlS.} .ss3s5 n 5
4 Joseph c. Cannon and John Sharp
! Williams-Uncle Joe and Brother
4 John-the Speaker of the House and
the leader OF the minority. make pos
4 sibie comment and comparison that
/ need not be odious.
Born in North Carolina OF Quaker
parentage, on the 18th of May. 1886,
and bereft of his father when only / i
| years OF age. Uncle Joe began brows.
ing around on his own account in his
youth and making overtlires to the
world for a meal ticket, which was
never denied him. Following The
course of empire and the lines Of least
resistance, he went early to Indiana,
and after few years in the Hoosier
| State trecked on To Illinois, where his
unique personality soon attracted the
attention (of his fellows and has slow
ly grown to the fun and rounded meas
ure of the Nation.
A Tar-hoef by birth, q Yankee by
| percentage. and a Westerner by .adop-
ton. familiar With farming. banking
and public life, he knows an asset
from liability In business or poll
tics. and is an all-around American
of the EentIest type-the uniquest
thing that has happened In his day
and generation.
He is a cosmopolitan American with
no provincial hatred of State, section
or nation. for, ike the Irishman, he.
holds that a man ought to love his
native land whether he was born
there or not. and he loves New Eng
| land while he also had a kindly feel.
| ing toward the Southern people, for
| many of his relatives, scattered
throughout Dixie, have ever been iden-
| tilted with the South. He came from
over the border and got vaccinated be-
fore the war, or he might have heer,
quarantined on the otter side. Like
Lincoln, he came from Southern
State to Indiana and then to Illinois
to enter the practice}of a country law.
yer. Like Lincoln, too, he knows not
only a vested right, but vested
wrong when he sees one. nor is it a
too far cry from Uncle Abe to Uncle
Joe: He believes in the people. He
| is safe.
John Sharp Williams, the Democrat
| ic leader of the House, was born at
Memphis, Tenn, July 30, 1854, of
Welsh-Scotch and English stock. He
bears a Welsh name, has Welsh.
| temperament. and possesses most of;
The characteristics of that people to
| whom the first Democratic leader
Thomas Jefferson, also belonged.
| His family. like that Of Uncle Joe
Cannon, settled in North Carolina st
an early day, and later pushed West
| ward to the banks of the Mississippi.
Here, until the Civil War broke out,
all went well with them. and the young
lad found himself in world fillef
with alluring prospects. But his faith.
er. who was Confederate colonel,
was killed at Shiloh in 1862, and his
mother having already died, he was
taken to his mothers family estate il
| YaZoo county, Miss After liberal
education at home and some years OF
study and travel abroad, including
1 two years at Heidelberg, he read law
and soon settled down to the life OF.
a lawyer and cotton planter at Yazoo
City, where he still resides.
John Williams is the link between
the old and the new. He is a man Ct
books, of travel, and of education, but
he wears no frills and is one IF iae
plainest members of the House, for
though man of numerous family he
has all the instincts and outward :ap-
| pearances of literary Bohemian. He
is as easy as an old shoe.
In personal appearance he is OF me- me-
dunn height and slight build, With.
hair that delights in standing out from
\ his head-but stands out more some
times than others-and of a length
| that suggests he may have studied
music or played football in his youth.
He generally has had a shave. day be
fore yesterday, and is not worried i
button is missing from his vest.
Now and then he makes a classical
allusion or quotation in debate art:
on one occasion gave the House few
lines of German for it's own delecta-
| ton and to make point and adorn
! a tale. From his travel, culture and
appearance you might expect him on
any holiday occasion to- declare for
zone flag, one country, and zwei beer.
with the accent on the last syllable
| Indeed he is as unique in his way as