The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1907-09-20
JOHN SHARP WILLIAMS
BY Savoyard
BY Savoyard.

| The senate ID this mans plsce. Thor
he will remind ~ NJ Davis and walkel
Of Lamar and George and wsithsIl. H
will occupy tho void mado BY Csrmsck'
absence. He will have M superior 4
the body. The United States senate |
the great deliberate political council O
tho American people. It~ history Ii th
cream Of American citizenship, and :
10 we must look for the aplendor o
American statesmanship. Though VI
have fallen on times when any jackie,
can make better constitution tina,
that our fathers builded. tho work o
tho fathers proved wonderfully success
ful, and the United States senate 4
their grandest production. II ID Oh,
conservative element that was formed
to shield the minority from the un
governed license Of the majority, ant
that Is oil the expression "free govern
ment' ever meant TO the Intelligent stu
dent Of politics. Ours Ia mixed gov.
ernment national and Federal, the lat.
ter check upon, and balance against
the former, az when the conservation
OF the senate saved Andrew johnson
from the radicalism Of the house; ~
when the senate threw out the Lodge
force bill OF 1890. The senate IL the
theatre upon whose stage the smallest
state may play as great . part a. the
largest; there Delaware and New York
are equal. Not only Is the senate Fed
eral In It's membership, but, under the
constitution, II Is Federal In its compo-
sition that is, the state legislatures,
made up OF the representatives from
equal communities, choose the senators,
II you doubt that II has worked adml.
rably, get the roll Of the senate for q
century and be convinced. Senators
are chosen by the legislatures, Govern.
ors by the people. Who will dare say
the governors Of the states are superior
to the senators from the states. He Ia a
reckless man who will say they are
equal to the senator's.
But that Is to be changed at the de-
mand of public clamor. The constitu-
tion Of the fathers Is already nulliaed In
this practice Of making senators by
blanket primary. II jefferson Davis had
lived and retained the splendid quail
ties of his prime, there would have been
no blanket primary in Mississippi to
bring into contempt Section Q, article
OF the constitution Of the United States,
True, the primary does not nullify the
letter, but 1t destoys the spirit, and In
as far as body instead ola Federal. II
Is now proposed to put the initiative
and the referendum to II, which abolish
es the senator, makes the government
entirely national, and turns all power
over to the unbridled license OF the
masses Of the big states. can sec how
that might be favored by New York,
Pennsylvania, Ohio. and Illinois, but
where would Mississippi come inp She
would surrender her equality In the
senate TO have her small popular-vote
swallowed up In the immense popular
vote OF Chicago or Philadelphia, whore
maiorities ara made to order, BETTER
turn back and bear while longer tho
Ills the fathers made for US than to Ay
to fads we know not Of,
II ! live ! shall look down from the
gallery on the senate Of tho sixty-nrst
Congress something less than twenty
months 10 the future. ! hope to see
Theodore Roosevelt sworn In a. q men,
Der on that occasion. ! would like to
zee William J. Bryan senator. Give
these gentlemen two years service and
then re-enforce the senate with John
Sharp Williams and Edward Ward Car.
mack, and the layout would be greatly
improved. In the senate . now men,
Der is taken apart to 500 what he ID
made Of. II there Is . flaw II will be
|ound. His skeleton 10 hung up to every
gaze, and 1t takes mighty considerable
fellow to stand tho thing. Billy Mason
name here some years ago, and they |
'aid he would laugh the senate out Of |
ts boots. He tried It and the senate
'roze him In his boots, and he never |
'hawed during the entire six years, |
though he had been bowling success
N the house. And yet the senate loves |
% laugh. Carmack made IL laugh, but
he senate will not stand for horseplay.
A debate on general politics partici.
'ated In by Roosevelt, Bryan, Carmack,
Lodge, Tillman, Bailey and
3everidge, and lasting . week, would
10 worth journey around Che world to
lee and hear. What power Of good It |
would do Roosevelt And Bryan, too,
would learn deal he does not know.
Mind would clash with mind, wit with
Wit, knowledge with knowledge. The list
v killed and crippled would be fright.
ul on this theatre, where none but hard
'nocks count. would like TO SEQ
Roosevelt give Bailey or Carmack les
on on constitution by construction. l
would like to hear Williams and Bever-
dge on opposing sides Of the scope and
orce Of the tenth amendment. l would |
Ike to be present when Tillman and |
clash on the constitutional \
light OF the South to vote the Demo
ratio ticket.