Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1907-08-01
VARDAMAN OR
 WILLIAMS?

the most enthusiastic campaign il
 Mississippis history, white De
 mocratic' primaries are being 1e)f
 today in the seventy-seyen counties
 or the state to decide the senatoria
 light between Governor Vardamar
 and Congressman John Sharp Will.
 Hams, and, incidentally, to choose
 a candidate for governor and other
 state offices. While a dozen candj- dates are in the field for the guber-
 material plum, only casual interest
 h3S beea manifested in the race. In
 today's primaries as all during the campaign, the senatorial aspirants- the hfe-eating picturesque Varda- ar, of whom it has been said that he
 rode into the governors chair on the back of 2 ni9ger' and the more scholarly and statesmanlike Will Iiams-occupy the center of the stage. Practically every Democrat in the state-and that means nearly every white voter--has taken sides in the contest and has waged an en- thuSlastic campaign for his favorite.
 Reports from all over the sstate Indicate that an unprecedented vote will be cast in the primaries. In preparing the poll books very few disqualified persons were found on the registration lists. nearly every white Democrat having paid poll tax on the first Of February. Inter- est in the campaign was awakened early by the prospects of a Titanic contest between Vardaman and Will Hams, and has constantly increased until the closing days of the cam paign the enthusiasism of the vot- CTS has passed all bounds. Under such circumstances it is unlikely that many men will lose the opportunity to give expression to their choice. Estimates based on early reports indicate total vote of nearly 120,- 900. .-.w .s
 For several years candidates for the United States senate in this state have been selected by direct vote of the people, and the indorse- ment of either Vardaman or Will Hams today means certain election by the next legislature when it assemblies here next January. There is no bolting the chc1ce of the pri- no Republican or indepen- dent candidates and no opposition to the Democratic nominees. For these reason today's primaries are prac- tically elections, expressing the choice of the great majority of vot-- CTS. The election in November really amounts to nothing, and few take the trouble to go to the polls.
 The senatorial seat for which Williams and Vardaman have been contesting so vigorously is now oc- cupied by H. D. Money who, be- cause of i'll health, will retire at the end of his present term. It is curious fact that both of the candi- dates for the toga are related by ties of blood or marriage to the pre- sent incumbent, Governor Vardaman being q cousin, and Congressman Williams related through his wife's family.
 Both Vardaman and Williams are stalwarts in their way. As minor ity leader in the house of represen- tatives Williams has attained na- tional fame as a brilliant, versatile and constructive statesman. Varda- man is type of the Southern Ben jamin Tillman of South Carolina and Jefferson Davis of Arkansas, ~and has joined these "pitchfork" states man in a new crusade for the re- peal of the fourteenth and part of the fifteenth amendments to the federal constitution. Williams has denounced such demands as impossi- ble of accomplishment and mere subterfuges to gain senatorial