The Penn's Grove record., 1911-03-24

Lie ouCCSSSOf U oS1dtOI GAhiAo "a
West Virginia, Senator Watson, has
been rather unfortunate in a very
brief term of office. He was here only
the last two weeks of the session and
once through his absence from the
United States senate enabled the Re
publicans to put through the ship sub
sidy bill. and again by his presence
and vote helped to seat Lorimer. OBJ
viously Senator Watson's affiliations
are with the Statesmen" of the Lori
mel type.
The Lorimer forces are these: the
lumber trust, the Standard Oil trust
and all the subsidiary monopolistic
corporations controlled by these two:
Senator Watson as a heavy owner OF
coal lands in West Virginia has made
a bad entry upon national politics by
allying himself in the only two votes
taken in the senate since he became
a member of that distinguished body
with forces of this sort.
Williams We. Bailey.
In the closing days Of a ~hard-fought
short session, in which the honors
and the defeats were almost evenly
divided between the two great par
ties, there was general Democratic re
gret that John Sharp Williams of
Mississippi was not here and on the
firing line.
Zone blast upon his bugle-horn were
worth a thousand men,"
Washington knows John Sharp
The country as a whole does not, be
cause he never acquired the Chautau-
qua habit and does not travel the lee
ture circuit. Instead of that, when he
was elected to the United States SEN
ate, and therefore retired from the
house, he announced his purpose OF
returning to his plantation in Missis-
sippi and never looking upon Wash
ington again until the moment of his
Inauguration as senator. 1t was said
for him, l do not quote him In the
matter. that in this long period OF
self-imposed leisure he intended TO
write a life Of Thomas Jefferson.
Neither his W threat 70 remain
away from the capital, or the promise
of his friends that he would write a
book has been quite fulfilled.
Rent In Factions.
But to recur to Senator-elect Will
Jams. People are wondering just
where he will be in this so-called new
alignment of parties Of which you
read SO much, and we on the ground
see so little. Only a few days ago !
heard the Hon. ".Lafe" Young, SEN
ator from Iowa, in a somewhat per-
address declare that there were
now "57 varieties" of Republican,.
and proceed to administer to the In
surgent variety nearly ~ffty-seven
sorts Of roasts. 1t all added much to
the gayety of the galleries in the SEN
ate chamber, but / was unable to dis
Germ, though carefully following his
speech, that the most despicable of
those Republican varieties was not
more admirable to him than the best
of the Democratic factions.
For Of course the Democrats are
also rent into factions. There are rad
icals and conservatives. But the rad
icals are not SO radical az a few Years
ago, nor are the conservatives quite
as narrow as when they pushed the
Inflated Parker campaign to dismal
disaster.
In this situation lies the chance of
John Sharp Williams to force himself
to the front as a national leader. !
do not mean as a presidential candi-
date for / fear that neither he nor l
will see the time when a mar from a
really Southern state like Mississippi
ear hope to be elected President of
the United States. But his political
record is such that radicals and con-
servatives alike will look on his lead
ership in the senate-if he wins the
leadership-with confidence and fol-
low him with applause.
1t will be an interesting study when
congress reconvenes to observe the
tactics by which two senators will
struggle for pre-eminence on the Dem
ocratic side. / do not mean for the
titular honor of being dubbed "lead-
err" That has already been conferred
upon Senator Money OF Mississippi
and on his retirement goes to SEN
ator Shively of Indiana. But as the
old phrase goes, "the tools are for
those who use Them" and today the
most commanding force in the senate
on the Democratic side is Bailey Of
Texas. I refuse to say that he COM
mands votes, but he surely does COM
mand attention. When In the curious
way that political intelligence travels
over Washington, not by newspapers.
not by bulletins, but by the converse
ton of the most gossipy big town in
the country, 1t is known that Bailey
is to speak, the senate corridors and
galleries are packed. The cause mat
tiers not. He spoke in defense of Lor'
inner, as bitter a Republican partisan
as politics ever knew, and all Wash.
ington flocked to hear him. He spoke
in his own defense two years ago
with the same result. But l do not re
call any recent occasion when in de
tense of any great Democratic meas
ure or any piece of progressive legis'
lation the tom-toms have been sound
ed for Bailey or the galleries thronged
to listen to his oratory.
Williams Able Debater.
Williams is the very antithesis OF
Bailey. He is frail. understood, and a
bundle Of nerves and brains. Bailey
is tall, heavy set, dark and while no
body doubts his brain power nobody
would suspect him of nervousness
And yet in the house of representa-
tives l have seen the lean, wiry VIII
Jams go through an all-night flibusteI
and come out as fresh and ready FOL
another fray as could any man OF ever
Joe Bailey's physique.
AS for the rest Williams is a rough
and tumble debater, rather than
great orator-Bailey is the latter. II
the swift interchange of discourtesiei
~, tho Aoor of the house Williams