Evening star., 1932-10-06
John Sharp Williams Called
Scholar in Statesman Role

forceful speaker. devastating and often
bitter in the exchange of repartee. Some
of his speeches were classics" it AYERS.
He was thoroughly honest. thoroughly
intelligent, and one Of the most i'm
portant Senators Of his day" the Times
continues. The Baltimore Sun sees him
in retrospect as scholarly, fiery, TO-
mantle. old-fashioned. humorous man,
who could make Lodges, Dollivers, Pen
roses and AldricheS squirm in their
seats" while the Newark Evening News
says: When he rose to speak, the
chamber quickly filed. and even in his
age he was a great and noble fighter
for what he thought was right. He
was big in the best sense and had
titanic scorn for littlenesS in any form"
The Providence Bulletin declares:
There was in him the power and force
commonly associated with the old giants
of the Upper House" With the aSser-
ton that Senator Williams was an
antagonist in debate whom few Of his
compeers cared to meet. the Nashville
Banner comments He feared no man,
and avoided no antagonist, pos
sessed in rare degree the power of dis
covering and penetrating the weak point
Of an opponent and delivered the at
tack with telling force" The Whining
ton DelD Morning News says of him:
"A few years ago one OF the most no
table figures in the United States,
Democratic leader OF ample ability"
Comments on the death of Mr.. Will
liams include the drawing of COMPARE
sons between the Senate of his day and
as now constituted He was always
greater than the Office he held. and it
was on that account that when he
found the Senate reduced to mediocrity
and pettineSS, he could withdraw with
a sense of relief" explains the Birming-
ham Age Herald, expressing the belief
I'VE shall not see his like again" An
opinion echoed by the Charlotte OBJ
server in its comment: Men OF his
type are becoming scarce, and the pass
ing of men of his stamp cannot but be
regarded as loss of the irretrievable
kind in Southern craftsmanship" The
Minneapolis Journal thus describes his
type: 1.-The Southern political picture
was an entirely different one in the
days when John Sharp Williams first
entered politics. Some Of the planters,
educated-as Williams was-in the best
schools Of America and Europe, looked
upon Office holding as a career of gen.
uine service unselfishly given. rather
than as money making profession.
Men of great intellect, great erudition,
great honesty and great sympathies,
they customarily refused to sway with
the winds of the moment and actually
would sooner be right than reelected"
Williams was the type of Senator
our generation does not seem to be pro-
ducing," regrets the Altoona Mirror,
picturing him as "the antithesis of the
business man type of Senator and Rep
resentative who has come to the front
in recent years" The Charleston IS.
c. Evening Post believes that, though
popular election of United States Sena-
tors may have been "a logical step in
the development of democracy" it must
be said "that it has resulted in mate
rally lowering the quality OF the Sen
ate" The Yakima Daily Republic, COM
menting on the death of this once great
statesman, says: Thousands who fol-
lowed the course Of political events will
pause when they read of his death in
| the paper to regret his passing, as they
often have regretted the passing OF
many of the things in public life that
he stood for Of old"