Watertown leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1909-1911, 1911-03-24

/ DiiS1 leTIH Oh ONCE. lie was mere 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,
sldy bill, and again by his presence
and vote helped to seat Lorime-. Oh
Vlously Senator Watson's affiliations
are with the statesmen" of the Lori,
mer type.
The Lorimer forces are these: the
lumber trust, the Standard Oil trust
and all the subsidiary monopoiistic
corporations controlled by these two
Senator Watson as a heavy owner of
coal lands in West Virginia has made
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 VS.. Bailey.
In the closing days Of a hard-fought
short session, in which the honors
and the defeats we're almost evenly
divided between the two great par
ties, there was general Democratic re-
greet that John Sharp Williams of
Mississippi was not here and on the
firing line
One 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-
ha
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
s1ppi and never looking upon Wash
lngton again until the moment of his
inauguration as senator It was said
for him, / do not quote him in the
matter, that in this long period of
self-imposed leisure he intended to
write life of Thomas Jefferson.
Neither his own threat to 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 few days ago l
heard the Hon. "Lafe" Young, SEN
ator from Iowa, in somewhat per
fervid address declare that there were
now "57 varieties of Republicans,
and proceed to administer to the in
surgent variety nearly fifty-seven
sorts Of Toasts. 1t all added much to
the gayety Of the galleries in the SEN
ate chamber, but | was unable 10 dis
Germ, though carefully following his
speech, that the most despicable of
those Republican varieties was not
more admirable to him than the best
CT 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 as 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 national leader. l
do not mean as a presidential candi-
date for | fear that neither he nor I
will see the time when a man from
really Southern state like Mississippi
can hope to be elected President of
the United States. Blu. 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 -eminence on the Dem
ocratic side I do not meau 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, it 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 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 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
ad for poiIo1y or the pa1IoriQc thronoo6