Memphis. In 1877 he was admitted to the bar in Memphis and commenced active practice in that city; but in December, 1878, he removed to Yazoo county, Mississippi, where he divided his time between legal work and the care of several cotton plantations which he had inherited from his mother. He did not enter political life until he was thirty-eight years of age, when, in 1892, he was a delegate to the Democratic national convention and was also elected a member of the lower house of the fifty-third Congress. He has been reelected six times. His present term will expire in 1907. Mr. Williams ceased to be a lawyer and cotton planter, and entered upon public life because he believed that the great principles of his party and the welfare of the country were imperiled by the wave of Populism which was then sweeping over the West and South.
When he entered congress Mr. Williams was known to be a man of attainments; but his genuine modesty and unassuming manner prevented the quick recognition of his fine abilities, and his qualifications for leadership were not at first suspected. The fact that he was a successful cotton planter and represented a state in which the agricultural interest greatly surpassed all other lines of industry, led to his appointment on the committee on agriculture, a position in which he rendered valuable service. His first speech as a congressman attracted attention and proved to the house that the new member was a man of far more than ordinary ability. He worked quietly and faithfully, and his record was so satisfactory to his constituents that when one term in congress expired he was without opposition elected to another. His influence in the house steadily increased; and in November, 1903, he was chosen leader of the minority, a position in which he has achieved remarkable success. When he accepted the leadership, the Democratic forces were badly demoralized, and it seemed hardly possible that the discordant elements could be harmonized and their united action secured. But under the skilful direction of its new leader differences were adjusted, and the party has made its influence strongly felt in legislation and has commanded the respectful attention of the country at large.
Among the matters to which Mr. Williams has given special attention are the relation of the government to its foreign dependencies, the race problem, and the tariff. As a matter of principle he is strongly opposed to the policy of territorial expansion, and his speeches are among the ablest of the many which have been made
