The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-05-28
CLARK, MISSOURI
By Savoyard.

IT, wov~rnnen. Of the American
House Of Representatives. - 11
lutte dnspott<m. yet - car IL el"%NHS
ard ;haf gives the thing a sort 81
dr-n~~ntt. tiuxr. There Is plenty -
~p~~~h-makinK 81 the House. bat there
4. no aeitb~rattoa What the poak~
DEGREES the HOUSE asfirm& Tom keFa~
body lee usoidcrsng II the grave. bGA
MS rules 90 marching on. bcSafs "a
the HOUSE Is on issues already dTfefua~
ined. Ralley's speech in the senate
the ar>t session % me nfty-ninth Con
sre.s s~convtncea Hale. and that made
the way comparatively Troo;h Tor 'hc
rate bill Nothing uhe that has &C
Cured N tho House OF representa-
tive~ stace the days Of Henry CIGy ana
John Randolph. II tho matter under
discussion happened - be political.
unless II wes upon a contested "tse
ton case such as Patterson - tar
mack. but an issue like that anpehIS
TO the personal interest OF each p1efn-
Der. who may himself be a party y
an election contest in the succeeding
or other future Congress
1t is a high position among men 10
be among the leaders OF Congress,
whether on the side Of the majority
or the minority. Character i the
main thing: but other qualities are
Observation-Disclosures capacity, tact
elo0uence. loyalty. Industry. d love OF
Justice. a sincere regard for The pubic
veal Humphrey MaFslai S1uld
have been our greatest "Commoner1 n
he had not been deficient in character.
Tom Marshall served but "a single
term In mgr but he would have
been first man In a body that NUM-
bcred among its membership john
Quincy Adarls. Dixon II. Lewis, VII
liam PIT Fessenden. Caleb Cushing.
Robert c. Winthrop. Millard Fail
more. Joshua II. Giddings, and Henry
a. Wise. II his genius had not been 50
e-ratic. Notwithstanding the way
wardness OF his character ana the in
temperance OF his habits, he VAS the
first orator In the tsenty-seventh Con-
Sress and the match for the greatest
in forensic debate. Sometimes men
DO not take the rank they might take
In Congress because OF an Indifference
to the fame excellence in such a body
brings. Proctor Knott was such a
man AMI so is Proctor Glass. a mem
Der at the present time from Virginia
Sometimes a man in Congress gets a
bad start and never overccmes the ad-
verse impression he makes. "Cy-
clone" Jim Marshall. of Virginia, Was
one.
But it is a great senate. that House
Of Representatives. and mainly be-
cause there ia no royal road 10 pre-
ferment there. No skill Will turn n
sow's ear into a six purse. and no
preferment will make a statesman of
a nature designed for a tater-dtg
ger. A mans excellence may be OBJ
scrired In that House. but his defects
will stand out brazen in the beams or
the MONDAY sun. 1t was said Of Eu-
gene Hale that he owed his promi-
hence in Congress to James @ Blaine.
but Hale was a statesman Of high
order the first day he tool his seat in
the BODY presided over by Mr.. Blaine
Not even the Speaker. powerful as he
IS. can make a real parliamentary
1n16 der 10 nrInr IrnrVrnpt, TAafy,t1
Hepburn. Burton. John sharp Viii
liams, Champ Clark. Bourke Cochran.
and man Of that caliber carved out
the places they attained by their own
efforts. Congressional life Is z me
lee whore hard knocks and nothing
else avail. Every head that stands
fair gets a lick; and hard Hicks en-
dured by q Congressman work Won
ders to his advantage. The scars they
bore was testimony that Caesars
Tenth Legion was not made up Of
carpet knights. When Conhling and
Blaine SO cruelty punished each other,
that bright May day, 1866, they were
training FOR the splendid conflicts of
the future. when one was TO he idol OF
his party and the other the acknowl-
edged leader Of the United States sem
ate.
Champ Clark is a conspicuous ngure
in the national Mouse Of Representa-
tives and the club he Yields is an ef-
IeCllNe ana powerful support 10 INC
rapier of John Sharp Williams. IS
vas his KNOWLEDGE Of the history oe
American statesmapship that no loe |
midably and serviceably armed John !
Quincy Adams for the forensic ooIe /
tests he so frequently engaged Ia. 10 |
was his familiarity with the history a
American politics that made stephen
A.. Douglas the first man of the Unit |
ed States Senate for the decade of
1S50-60. Champ Clark has paid moro
attention to American history
and American biography than
n other man in Congress.
He has made 1t a speciality. a.
Bailey made a study Of Constitutional
philosophy and constitutional con
struction- Clark is not the accom-
plished man Williams ia, not the bril-
liant man Carmack is. not the orator
is, not the lawyer Foraker
Is, not the scholar Lodge Is; but Clark
can tel! Williams things about Minis
issippi and MissiseippianS Williams
never heard Of; he can tell Carmack
thing about Tennessee and Tennessee
ans Carmack never heard Of: he con
tell Cochran things about New York
and New Workers that Cochran never
heard of: he can tell Foraker things
about Ohio and Ohio public men that
Foraker never heard of. And one can
see Daniel Webster, the man, more
clearly by listening to Champ Clark's
lecture on him than he can get out
of Cabot Lodges life OF him.
Clark could not have made that
speech on the powers and duties OF the
house Of Representatives delivered BY
Bourke Cochran in the Fifty-aigth
Congress. Neither could williams,
neither could Carnfack, neither could
Foraker, neither could Bailey. neither
could Lodge, neither could any other
man in either House of the American
congress- AS an exposition OF the
philosophy Of parliamentary govern
nent rs II shOuld exist. and was de-
signed TO exist in his country. 1t ii
the greatest speech the American Con
gross has ever heard. Wide Cock
ran delighted and enthused the House.
az he always does. ne shot away over
heads Of nine-tcnths Of the men,
bers. to whom the thing was all
Greek, and that Is why the speech died
day 1t was made. Old Joe never
paused in his cZarism and mnde a
acquisition that very night on the
White House for additional raw mate
ial for Congressional legislation. If
Whit House was in further need
that sort Of stun. II the iInpeach-
fsent Of Andrew Johnson had pnf fail