The National tribune., 1906-05-17

| with the big brain under that mop of
nut-brown hair, worn rather long with
just little curl at the ends. He has
kindly blue eyes. which blaze with anger
or fill with tears, as the mood serves
him. He has the sensitiveness of wo-
man, the fearlessness of an honest, al
ways ready man, and the spirit of a
boy. He can sling the English language
like Noah Webster himself. Yet he can
turn his ridicule and roasts into gutteral
German, or mellifluous French, sing in
Homer's tongue, or spout in the stilted
sentences of Quintius Horatius Flaccus.
Mr.. Williams is gifted far beyond most
men in either House of Congress, in
that he can speak in many tongues 5nd
be eloquent in all, but he chooses to dis
play but little of this in his discussions
in the House. He considers United
States quite good enough for any
American citizen. and does not believe
that the flavor of a shady story is at ali
improved by clothing it in a dead Ian
guage. albeit Mr.. Williams reserves his
man stories for the cloak rooms. ...
Mr.. Williams has been selected as q
leader of the minority, but it is diff
cult to tell why, for he is not leader"
in the sense that it is used in Congress.
Men do not follow him readily. and they
often rebel against his methods and his
arguments. They sometimes say he is
not safe" yet that can scarcely be, for
while he accepts what is good in Repub-
lican rule, he insists that the Democrat
! ic Party could gild refined gold to ad-I
vantage if it had the chance. In debate
Mr. Williams is as quick as a flash at
repartee, and he always leaves scar if
the thrust was meant to leave its mark.
Yet his humor is generally of the genial,
jolly nature which points his morals and
adorns his tales with the delineation of
an artist. Mr.. Williams is often dog
matte, and he is stubborn and tenacious
of purpose as bulldog. He may start
for front attack and be headed Oft
| by the Speaker, and gracefully retiring.
} Jou forget that he was in the horizon,
but the first thing you know he is on
your flank or in the rear, and you have
got to hustle or get run over. He is
quick in expedients, and he has men,
ory for detail, for dates, but he is not
an organizer. There again he just fails
OF greatness-possibly that lazy bug"
may account. He fights splendidly in
single harness, but six abreast rattleSI
him. His forces do not rally to his sup
port as they did to that of Richardson,
of Tennessee. who retired from Congress
| after 20 years. "Slim JIM" they called
him, and slippery jim" but he was
| one of the most forcible and potent or
ganizers Congress has ever had. He was
willy, shifty. specious, always gentleman
ly and a parliamentarian of more than
ordinary ability, absolutely trusted by
| the party, but on the other hand. never
| trusted by his opponents.
Mr.. Williams is fair parliamenta-
| rian. just fair. He is always ready with
an objection. and he makes many lumi-
nous points, but he is not as safe a lead
er in this respect as Richardson. His,
high-pitched nasal tone in speaking isl
not pleasant, but you forget both in the
splendid pictures he paints for you asI
L. .e,,N -,
argument, there is no doubt of that and
his wide reading makes him ready
man in debate, and he thinks a good
deal faster than he speaks. He drawls
some of his words interminably, and
clips many of them short in true South-i
ern fashion: he has no "r's" in his al
phabet. and he does as most of his COM
patriots do-begins his sentences with
''U-e-r, Mistah Speakah-and when he
halts begins over again in the same way.
Children adore Mr.. Williams. and that
speaks volumes Men like him. for he
has no mean little traits; he is honest.
and an honest man is the nObleSt work
of God, after ALL He will go from a
heated scrap upon the floor out into the
plaza, and. meeting there a fearful
newsboy, stop to console him with a |
what is it, SOM" a pat of the head and
a dime in his fist sending the youngster
off happy. Then Mr. Williams will hurry
man or to gladden. the heart of some
mother" who is selling shoestringsI
which he does not want, by buying her
stock and giving it back to her again.
Just now Mr.. Williams is buIting up
against the Speaker, and his bulldos:
tenacity comes to the surface, causing
the opposition not little trorb.r aud
discomfort. He wants the Statehood bill
considered, and he thinks the course of
the Speaker is cowardly, and unworthy
as big man as the Speaker of the
American House i'm not permitting that
bill to be brought forward. He refuses
to give unanimous consent to anything
80 long as the Speaker will not permit
the bill to come out of conference AS
most of the business of both Houses of
Congress- is done by Unanimous con-
sent" it can readily be seen that Mr..
Williams is an obstructor. Maybe an all
right one, but that remains for history
to say. Not making any headway in
this, Mr.. Williams has also decided that
a quorum must be kept in the House to
do business. So he calls for a count of
noses at the most inopportune times, ,
and consumes a tremendous lot of the
precious minutes of the House. besidei
putting a lot of the members to great I