Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1908-06-13

AT the time to which ! refer 1t
was customary at the national capt.
tai for the committee on printing to|
compile a Congressional Directory
for each session of congress. the Oh
ject Of which seemed to be to AFFORD
opportunities for the senators and
members OF the house to write their
auto-biographies. which served the
purpose of letters of Introduction to-
one another and to the curious pub
lie.
One style In vogue at that time
was for a congressman to commence
at the roots of his family tree and
to work upwards and outwards bio
graphically until he had given each
lineal branch and twig OF the an
cestral body a local habitation and
a name.
Another photographed style
was for the heroes OF the Mexican
and Civfl Wars in congress to meet
the peaceable public with gunpow.
der recitals of their own valorous
deeds in the time of war, in order to
call attention to their honorable
scars OF battle, which, however, did
not mar the personal appearance OF
those valiant warriors, to whom the
whole nation owed lasting debt
oe gratitude.
There was another class of con-
gressmcn who wrote their own his
tories for the congressional direc-
tory, who openly prided themselves
on being ''snlf-made men"-they
having reached the high pinnacle oc
cupied by congressman unaided by
God or man. These men stated that
they had served apprenticeship and
worked at their trades with "unre-
hitting diligence" or that they
had been raised on a farm" and
consequently had only attended the
schools during the winter terms" so
they were distinguished as having
had common school educations.
In short these honored gentlemen
put it squarely before the public
that they were remarkable for the
simplicity of their Quotations; and
while they acknowledged to having
good horse sense, they scorned the
imputation that they were literary
in any degree.
There was just this similarity In
the style of all these auto-biograph-
les: they referred to the living, as
We always speak of the dead.
"Sockless Jerry Simpson" was one
of the class of men who appeared to
have come up in the. world and to
congress by his own exertions. and
indeed he made a very good hgure
In congress, without his socks. 2 s'H'
Now, a man of quite the opposite
style was John Sharp Williams, the
present leader of the democracy In
congress. ,.sfa
MI. Williams was inclined to
deal fairly with the pablo. and his
Autobiography considered it's valu-
abe time, and so it was framed like
a lawyers brief.
1T Informed the public that he
was a cotton planter, a lawyer. and
a politician. having been honored by
"a Mississippi constituency sufiicient-l
" to be sent to congress.
He wasn't ashamed of his attain
ments either, for he, stated fearless
" that he had been educated at sew
eral different institutions Of learn
ling, the most noted Of which were
the universities of Virginia and
Heidelberg, and his oratorical and
intellectual manner Of speech prove
It. # 81
Mr.. Williams was a most genial,
kindly man, having the courteous
manners of a typical southerner OF
the old school: he was Of good birth
and he treated everybody as II he
believed each person he met had
good breeding. as he himself had
been we'll bred.
Mr.. Williams was one of the kind
80 ,s,or u,bo would troat hts StpnO