The daily commonwealth. (Greenwood, Leflore Co., Miss.) 1916-1919, 1916-11-16
JOHN SHARP WILLIAMS.

"SavOyard," the well-known Washington cor
respondent, has the following to say of Missis-
sippIs senior senator in a letter to the metropoli-
tan press he represents:
1t appears that the sovereign state of Missis-
sippi has voted John Sharp Williams the most
illUstrious living citizen of that great common
wealth. So say we all. John Sharp Williams is
a remarkable man, the first senator in the Amer
lean congress, the ablest and most accomplished
statesman in the American legislature. He
Travelled no royal road to this distinction. 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 de-
batter.
The house and senate of our congress are not
perfect, but in one respect es III ;s infallible-each
knows the capacity of it's each and every member,
and weighs him with perfect exactitude. Neither
house will tolerate a dune, or q sham. To gain
FIRST place IN our congress a man must have the
goods and show them. W'er a member rises in
either house, a new face, a strange voice, he is
listened to with respect, ;-lf ere he has spoken
fifteen minutes his measure is taken and it is al
ways and ever the absolute ly correct measure It
was never known to be al fault. Physical pres
cnce and voice, of course, go a great ways and
are material aids; but congress will not be bored,
and Adonis and Orpheus combined in one would
speak to empty benches in senate or house unless
lie fetched some brains with him.
Now, John Sharp is no dude. He has not the
appearance of an Apollo, and his is not a
tunetul tongue. ! am always reminded
of an anedote taken from French history when
John rises to make a speech. At the seige of
Toulon, Dugommier, the commander of the French
forces, was holding a conference with his generals
ard. Bcnaparte, then a subordinate, left the coun-
CTS. A general spoke up and asked who "that lit
tie insignificant officer" was. To which the COM
lmander replied, THAT little insignificant officer
is a greater man than any of US"
When John Sharp Williams takes the floor in
the United States Senate the chamber and the
galleries give ear. He never rises unless he has
something to say and before he has finished saws
something that will give the senate food for
thought. That is why John Sharp Williams is the
biggest man in the United States senate. AS a
cebater the senate has not known his match since
Allen G.. Thurman and Ben Hill, and in a rough
and tumble, | don't know John Sharp Williams
match since Stephen A. Douglass.
Francis Jeffry, the famous essayist of the
E.dlnburg Review, opined that ha d BENJAMIN
FRANKLIN been a graduate of Harvard the world
would never have heard of him, and it is donht.
loss true that many considerable men have been ,
spoiled by classical education, but there are num-
erous cases where college training has been of
great assistance. James A. Garfield is one exam
so is John Sharp Williams. Cabot LODGE il
another. John Sharp Williams is perhaps the
best educated man in congress. Not only is he a
graduate OF the University of Virginia, but he
studied at famous schools in Germany and France.
All a college is for is to fit a man to be a
student. This country is full of college graduates
VINO have no tastes for books and are hopeless
lgnofamuses; But Williams is a man of vast &C.:
suirea knowledge. There are many others of
5ne same may be said: but all Williams
is accurate, and that can he said ~
very lew men. Hence in debates he %eaves m
Ns "'' ~ Ao1'