The Columbus commercial. (Columbus, Miss.) 1893-1922, 1907-07-09
vARDAMAN
Meets His Waterloo 1t
Meridian.
John Sharp Williams viii Be
Overwhelmingly Elected,

Meridian, July 4-John SHARP
Williams and Gov. James K
Vardaman met here in jolnt de-
bate this morning appearing be-
fore an audience Of ten thous-
and people. The much heralded
Yordaman parade which was
expected to have several lhous-
thousand men in line dwindled
into a few hundred, though weeks
had been spent in working it up.
With withering sarcasm Mr..
Williams took up Gov. Varda-
man ) hackneyed fallacies and
tore them to atoms. He asked
the vast audience if there was a
man in it who believed the f,-
teenth amendment could be
repealed to raise his hand. Not
a half dozen were raised. Viii
liams expressed surprise that his
opponent did not put up his.
Then Mr.. Williams said: ''What
we need in our executive bodies
is not men to advocate impossi-
bilities but men to dcithings. He
palled attention to the TACT that
if MIR Vardaman should enter the
Senate agitating the repeal OF
the fifteenth amendment he
would come out with drastic
enforcement Of the fourteenth
amendment. Williams said that
if such thing as the repeal of
the fifteenth amendment could
be brought about without rein
stating the negro question in
politics he would vote for it and
do all be could to get it but we
could not hope for impossible
things.
as TO government ownership
of railroads MIR. Williams said;
cit is not advisable to try to
get this at present. and in case it
was gotten it would be a curse
TO the south. It would put the
Southern people where they
would have TO put up with no
separate coaches, negro conduc-
tors and other enjoyable features
under a republican administra-
tlon.
Yardaman's address was
disappointment to his more in
telIigent followers. He demon
strated his incapacity as a de-
batter, which is so much needed
in the Senate by the Southern
people, and made practically the
same old sing-song of demagog-
uery and rot which he has had
printed in the papers from The
very beginning of the campaign.
He drew the same picture, word
for word, of the unmenlanable
srimes Of negroes in Mississippi,
but he failed to~show to the sat-
isfaction of any man with sense
sense enough to hit the ground
with his hat why depriying the
negro of his vote, when be is
already practically eliminated
from suffrage io Mississippi,
would in anyway prevent these
crimes. The governor through
ogt showed up as a very weak
proposition against concededly
the ahlest debater and leader IN
the National Congress.
But the feature OF the occasion
was the seathing rebuttal of Mr..
Williams, which must have been
very hu initiating TO those follow
ers of the forlorn hope of Varda-
man. He showed that the alleg-
ed 'Vardaman idea" is at least
new thing for Vardaman, start
ed by Yardaman to break into
the Senate. III Vardaman was
sincere why did he not in his
long service in the Legislature
have the legislature recommend
it?. Why didn't he get the legis-
lature to memorializs the nation
al congress during his three and
ono half years. term as govern
or2. Then Williams said If you
want the Yankees to take charge
Of Mississippi politics keep agi-
tating ssthe Vardaman idea" Do