Evening star., 1923-02-27

. " III SohS W LILO ShitCu hol1tSo ''~''
ate when his thirty years of public
service have been terminated Sunday
with the adjournment of Congress.
He is content to let the case rest
with the utterance of a year ago that
he had rather be a dog and bay at
the moon than to sit in the Senate
and his more recent statement before
the Mississippi Society. I'm the
words of John Allen" he said, Il am
going to spend the short remainder Of
my life re-establishing my peace with
God and my reputation as a gentle
man."
Senator Williams is not leaving
Congress by the lame duck" route.
He retires voluntarily after eighteen
years in the House and twelve years
in the Senate, although it was con-
ceded Mississippi would offer no OPP
position If he announced for re-elec-
tion. He chose. as he puts it, Ito
catch up on a lot of reading I've been
neglecting," and he will hie himself
Monday to his plantation home
Cedar Grove" twelve miles from
Yazoo City, Miss.
ScOrns Swan Song.
His aversion to farewell address
is based on his belief that "a man
must be actuated by Il degree of ego
mania to believe that his departure
from public life constitutes such an
historical event that it ought to be
marked by farewell speech or swan
song"
The passing Of Senator Williams
marks the retirement from the Senate
halls of the last representatives oi
what has been termed the "old south.
He has seldom arisen lately IN ms
place on the floor. and when he ana
it usually was. figuratively, to take
one of his younger colleagues across
his knee and administer. in fncisiVe
language, d verbal spanking.
Senator Williams latest CROSSINGS
of lances was with Senator hennetn n
McKellar Of Tennessee, when ina. ina.
settlement, took occasion 10 niahc
references to the British people,
which trampled upon the toes oil sen
ator Williams. who is proud OF ms
British and Welsh ancestry.
Americans One Diversion.
Addressing Senator Mckellar. Sen
ator Williams said: There is one
diversion of the American poiitlclai,
we'll known to the current history OF
the United States for the last forty
years, which used to be very popular
but which, thank God. is ceaSlns 10
be quite so popular now as IL iol 'iiu NJ
ly was. refer to the attempt TO cui :
tivate the voters who happen ~ IL. a, &c C
our British ancestors by twisting thc
lions tall That performance hlS
been enacted upon this stage, anu
upon the stage at the other emu ol ". :;
Capitol, many times more apiE lliaii ;,
was enacted a few minutes ago. anu
by men much ablcr than the sei'''o'
who just enacted 1T. ;ao
Shortly prior to that episouti,
when the league of nations ann
Woodrow Wilson had been mentiorcu
in debate, Senator Williams iet II! '
shaft at Senator Borah of Idaho by
ohserying that individually Borah
might be a wise man, but historical :
ly he was a fool. Borah asked the
Mississippian to clarity the dlstinc-
ton. u-;,,;,,oS
"I had a lot Of smart ancestors IN
England. but they fought for the
Stuarts against the Commons. They
were smart men. but historically theS
were asses. I stand here to confess
that for them"
Admires Woodrow Wilson.
The admiration of Senator Will
liams for Woodrow Wilson and the
reciprocal esteem in which the form
er President holds him often has been
remarked in the Capital. 1t takes
the form of silence-it is rare that
they see each other. though. during
his term in the White House. Presi-
dent Wilson smashed precedent
to call upon him during an illness
The mutual admiration is believed by
many to arise out OF the intellectual
qualities of the two men, as Senator
from great universities. including
Heidelberg, and is reputed to be one
of the countrys foremost authorities
on history.
His greatest reputation, however,
has been as debater, which he es-
tablished while serving six years as
floor leader for his party in the
lower house. His tenure there was
marked by an encounter on the floor
between him and Representative
D'Armand of Missouri.
When he went to the Senate in
1911 he occupied the desk which JEFF
ferson Davis used
Dislil<es Vardaman.
His first race for the Senate. when
Senator Williams told his Mississippi
constituency that he was driving
the nails in the coffin of the senator
ial aspirations of his opponent.
James X. Vardaman. engendered such
Nardaman came to the Senate two
years later, Mr.. Williams refused to
follow the Senate custom Of escortins
his colleague to the vice presidents
stand to be sworn in and Senator
Vardaman went down on the arm OF
Senator Clarke of Arkansas.
His friends in the Miss issippi soci-
ETY. presented Senator Williams, at a
farewell for him last Friday night
with silver knife and corkscrew at
tachment. 1t led him to observe that
being an Episcopalian of the high
church he should follow the injunc-
ton of the late Bishop Thompson
and carry his prayer book and cork
screw.
Senator Williams has refused an
offer Of 100000 to write one story a
week for a newspaper syndicate, so
that he may be able to do what he
pleases when he goes to Mississippi.
"And," he added whimsically, 81
don't remember to have bored myself
in sixty-eight years"
. Il am right happy" he told the
Mississippi society. Il have no axe
at Cedar Grove. I don't like marble
and bricks and stone.
Rooster His Alarm Clock.
There's a rooster Will keeps in the
myrtle tree back of the house. He is
better than any alarm clock and much
more certain. Each morning he will
call me from sleep.
II shall arise early, have my bath
and shave and cut my own flowers
while the dew is on them. A little
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