The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1911-08-03
THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 1911.
The Meaning of Vardaman's
Election to the Senate.

The election Of former Governor
James K. Vardaman of Mississippi over
two opponents to the senate Of the
United States has a particular signifi-
canoe at this time. Despite the i'm
preston to the contrary, Vardaman is
not a typical representative Of the
citizenship of Mississippi.
He Is a man CT magnetic personality
and has n very large personal follow
ing, but to say that a majority of the
people Of Mississippi are following him
bIindly through pure personal devo-
tion, or that a majority of them are in
sympathy with what is popularity
known as ''Vardamanisn1," would be
very far from the truth. Vardaman
was elected, and his opponents were
defeated, because of other reasons.
Since the disastrous Parker fiasco of
1904, when the reactionaries betrayed
the party into the hands of the Wall
street interests, change has come
over the spirit of the Democratic or
ganization. The progressive element
of the party is again in control. The
democracy of Jefferson and Bryan is
is the dominant force.
With the advent of La Toilette IN
the United States senate, there has
also been a growing sentiment in the
Republican party for both progressive
leaders and progressive legislation. All
of this indicates that a majority of the
people of the country at large are tired
of standpatism and torytsm in both
parties, and progressive, radical sent1-
ment is sweeping the progressive, radi-
cal leaders to the front in every state.
The state and congressional elections
of the past three years furnish album
dant evidence of this.
In Mississippi, Vardaman represents
the progressive sentiment. He also
represents other things of whose prac-
ticability and popularity there may be
a very reasonable doubt, but the peo-
pie elected him-not on the other is
sues-but because they believed the
interests of the whole nation would be
safer in his hands than in the hands Of
either of his more conservative, stand
pat opponents.
Vardaman, with all of his own par
ticular idiosyncracies, still rings true
when it comes to a question of popu-
lar rights on the one hand against
special privilege on the other.
No faint of corporation politics or
corporation service has ever attached
TO him, and in this day and decade,
when the people vote direct for their
public servants, the man who has never
been affiliated with special privilege
interests is, other things being equal,
bound to win out over the man whose
life has been spent in the service of
those interests.
Incidental also to his election, the
character of campaign waged against
him must have contributed largely to
his success. While the contest on
either side was none of this papers
fight, ii almost passes understanding
that any men skilled in the game of
politics should so far have forgotten
the element of human nature in the
equation as to suppose that an assault
upon any man because of an inability
to pay his debts would constitute an
aid toward his defeat, All that Var
daman had to do was to indicate that
If he got the votes of all the poor men,
or of all of the men who at one time
or another had been unable to pay
their debts, his opponents were well
come to the balance.
But over and above all this Is the
fact that Vardaman represents the
progressive sentiment in Mississippi
much as Bryan does in the nation, as
La Toilette does in Wisconsin. as Hoke
Smith does in Georgia, as Woodrow
Wilson does in New Jersey, as Ollie
James does in Kentucky, and as
Champ Clark and Senator Gore and
scores of others prominent in public
life all over this country do-and it is
because he does represent that senti-
ment that the people elected him last
Tuesday.