The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-09-03

There is something in the makeup
OF John Sharp Williams that compels
men 20 love him as well as admire.
Speaker Cannon seems to think even
moro of him than he did of Governor
Sayers. who was his chum for several
years. 1t is not that he IS a sound
reasoner and a strong debater that he
has been in his leadership,
but that men respect n confde IN
him. Perhaps John G. Breckenridge
and braha Lincoln did not think
less alike than Williams and Lincoln,
and yet Williams frequently reminds
people of Lincoln. and it occasions
common remark. 1t is related that
when his brother first read of this
he served notice like his. Look here,
job Sharp, if you are going to run
on the Abraham Lincoln ticket, / want
you to understand that you will not
get nv vote for to this day Mis-
sissippi has more love and reverence
for President Davis than for PreSi-
dent Lincoln, as is absolutely natural.
1t is impossible to listen to John Sharp
Williams ten minutes without con
Guiding that he is a strong man. He
does not employ a lot of words to say
nothing. He never engages in de-
bate to show off. He never speaks
merely to appear in the record of that
date. He appeals to the judgment of
the House, and he can, and frequently
! do0S. dpped ~ llS I1dIlHoOu OIL TIE
House. 1t is impossible to think Of
him other han as an one and hon
orable man. He may be wrong, but
he is always sincere, and when wrong,
if wrong, he be, he has a mighty
knack OF making the wrong o ex-
actly like the right ought TO look.
It is but just to say that Mr., Will
liams has distinguished himself as the
leader OF the minority. He is as
ready in debate as he is skillful and
the whole Republican side might go ia
sleep-something it has never yet
done-without the slightest a~pprehen-
sion that an unfair advantage would
be taken of it 81 long as John Sharp
Williams is in command.
If you would see the splendid de-
batter he is, read his discussion with
Mr.. Dalzell on reciprocity with Can
ada and the alance of trade, Robert
J.. Walker himself could not have
standpoint it is preached that when
an American sells to a foreigner he
always makes money. but when he
buys from a foreigner he Is absolutely
certain to lose money. one Of the Re-
publican statesmen ~eternally used the
terms, 'our trade with Canada" and
"Canada's trade with u.s." What a fine
piece of a~bsurdfty Williams made OF
that AS for the balance of trade. he
discussed it with a lucidity that was
simply admirable. Nor did he take
the simple ~elucidation of Bastiat
which the late Frank Hurd gave sc
aptly, something after this fashion
A merchant in Maine exports a cargo
of slaves worth in Maine $4,000. H
sends them to Cuba. exchanges then
for spgar. In cuba the slaves ar
worth more han the sugar; but il
Maine the sugar is worth more thar
the slaves. According to the 'otec.
ton idea of the balance of trade, botf
Maine and Cuba lost money by tina
transaction. According to John Sharl
Williams, both Cuba and Maine made
money. No man in public life know:
more of the philosophy of honest anc
constitutional taxation than Johr
Sharp Williams, and no man in publ
life can debate the question Will
more force of reasoning and c~learnes
of statement than he. A rough ant
tumble between him and FOrake
would lend a Zest to a tariff deDat
rarely enjoyed by Capitol galleries.