Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1916-11-24
Our John Sharp

"SGVoyarA" Wsshiaston Correspondent
TsIks Of WfrEGms' Crsutnsss
''Savoyard," the well. knowr
Washington correspondent, has
the following to say of Mississip.
pi's Senior Senator in q letter to
the metropolitan press he repre-.
SentS:
1t appears that the sovereign
state of Mississippi has voted
John Sharp Williams the most il
lustrious living citizen of that
great common wealth. So say we
all. John Sharp Williams is q re.
markable man, the first senator in
the American congress, the ablest
and most accomplished statesman
in the American legislature. He
travelled no royal road to this dis.
tincton. he worked his passage
to the front in both houses, in
each of which he showed himself
to possess the qualities that make
the great parliamentary debater.
The House and Senate of our
Congress are not perfect, but in
one respect each is infallible-
each knows the capacity of its
each aud every member, and
weighs him with perfect exacti-
tude. Neither house will tolerate
a Ounce or a sham. To gain first
place in our Congress q man must
have the goods and show them.
When a member rises in either
house, a new face, strange voice,
he is listened to with respect, and
ere he has spoken fifteen minutes
his measure is taken and it is al
ways and ever the absolutely cor
rect measure. 1t was never
known to be at fault. Physical
presence and voice, of course, 20 q
great ways and are material aids;
but Congress will not be bored.
and Adonis and Orpheus com
bined in one would speak to emp.
ty benches In Senate or House
unless he fetched some brains with
him.
Now, John Sharp Ii NO dude. |
He has not the appearance of an
Apollo, and his is not q tuneful
tongue. ! am always reminded of
an anecdote taken from French
history when John rises to make q |
speech. At the siege of Toulon,
Dugommier, the commander Of
the French forces, was holding a |
conference with his generals and |
Bonaparte, then a subordinate,
left the councils. A general spoke |
up and asked who "that little in |
significant officer" was. To which |
the commander replied, ''That lit. |
tie Insignificant officer is a greater |
man than any of u.s."
:. When John Sharp Williams
takes the floor in the United |
States Sedate the chamber and the |
galleries give ear. He never rises |
unless he has something to say |
and before he has finished SAYS |
something that will give the Sen
ate food for thought. That, is
why John Sharp Williams is the
biggest man in the United States
Senate. AS a debater the Senate
has not known his match since
Allen G. Thurman and Ben Hill.
and in q rough and tumble, /
don't know John Sharp Williams
match since Stephen A. Douglas.
Francis Jeffry, the famous es.
sayist of the Edinburg Review,
opined that had Benjamin Frank.
lin been q graduate OF Harvard
the world would never have heard
of him, and it is doubtless true
that many considerable men have
been spoiled by classical educa-
tion, but there are numerous cases
where college training has been
of great assistance. James A. |
Garfield is one example; SO is John
Sharp Williams. Cabot Lodge is
John Sharp Williams is
perhaps the best educated man in
Congress. Not only is he a grad.
uate of the Univ ersity of Virginia,
but he studied at famous schools
in Germany and France.
All q college is for is to fit a
man to be astudent. This country
is full of college graduates who
have no taste for books and are
hopeless ignoramuses. But Will
liams is q man of vast acquired
knowledge. There are many 9th.
ers of whom the same may be
said; but all Williams knowledge |
is accurate, and that can be said
of very few men. Hence in de-
bates he s'leaves no gaps down"
and that is what makes him so
formidable.