The Mena weekly star., 1908-02-20
ROOSEVELT HIS SUBJECT.
Representative Champ Clark, of Mis- souri, Talks of Presidents
 Recent Message.
INTEREST OF THE HOUSE WAS AROUSED
Mir. Clark Said the President Waxed Stronger and Stronger From Ha Many Batties-.His Personal Friend But Political opponent-Though Him Better Than His Party.

Him Better Than His Party.
 Washington. Feb. .-Representa'
 tive Champ Clark of Missouri occu' 1 pied the attention of the house of rep.
 resentatives Thursday for over an
 hour. in an address upon the Presi.
 dents recent special message to con I gross, the financial disturbance Of last
 fall, and the tariff question. It was a characteristic talk and aroused the in I terest of the house to high degree.
 In opening, Mir. Clark asserted that
 a reasonable view should be taken on
 all matters touching the president. but
 that it had not been done as rule.
 He Is such a belligerent parsonage"
 he declared, that his lightest word is
 a challenge to combat" The presi-
 dent. he said, could not express his
 views upon any question under heaven,
 "even upon a subject 80 prosiac and | threadbare as the passing of the state
 of the weather" without precipitating | row, his extreme adherents swear | ing that there never had been such a 1 weather prophet on earth since Adam
 and Eve were driven from the garden of Eden with flaming swords from par adise and his extreme enemies vocif- erating that he knows no more about the weather than does ground hog :" The presidents whole public life, said MT. Clark, had been one long success sion of spectacular fights. No man had been more vicionsly assailed by men of his own party, and none was ever. while still in the flesh, so lavish ly lauded by some of the opposing party
 But" he said, the truth is that this extraordinary man has waxed stronger and stronger by waging his battles" Even defeat, he declared, had made him larger and more com manding figure "So," he said, "amid the swirl of things. the deluge of words the shouting of the captains, the beat ing of the tom-toms, the groans of crippled republicans, the yells of friend and foe" one who was personal friend Of Theodore Roosevelt, the man, but political opponent of Roose- welt. the politician or statesman, had but little chance perhaps of being heard in this babel of voice"
 Mir. Clark spoke of the claim that President Roosevelt was better than his party. which fact he estimated, "easily could be established without running any imminent danger of being translated after the manner of Elijah
 in chariot of fire by reason of his goodness"
 1 Coming to the subject of the recent
 financial disturbance, Mir. Clark laid
 it at the door of the republicans. The | self-constituted defenders of the pres.
 ident, he said, charged that Hartman
 and his crowd" did 1t, while on the other hand. Hartman and his crowd
 swear that the president and his crowd did it." It did not become an innocent bystander. he asserted, to de. eide which were the ideal republicans. | "One thing We do know" he said, land that is that Mir. Hartman was a dele gate to the last republican national convention which nominated Col
 Roosevelt by unanimous vote and
 that he was a liberal contributor to the republican campaign fund" It therefore. he said, did not lie in the mouths of republicans to disown him for he was once my dear MT. Harri- man." but now he was another sort of Hartman, beginning with big, big b" but he charged Hartman was and is "a republican of high degree. Mir. Clark criticized the recent bond
 issue and said that the issuance of bonds In a time of peace was the iden- tical thing for which the republicans "pilloried democratic president be- fore high Heaven"
 Much attention was paid by MT. Clark to the charge that MT. Hepburn had threatened Ito run over" the lead CTS of the house. That threat, he de- clared. already had brought into line
 Mir. Payne. of New York, the majority leader. who announced there would be tariff revision. "If,' he said, still re-
 ferring to Mir. Hepburn, The will be kind enough to let us know when he intends to start his roller over the gentleman from Pennsylvania. Mir. Dal- xell, and over Uncle Joe to disfigure them. he can safely count on full house and an audience breathless with expectation and delirious with joy.' Indeed, he said. further. there will be something doing on that occasion and no mistake" He referred to Mir. Hepburn as the defender of the white house faith" and spoke of his "valor- ious defense" of the president against the lofty panegyric of Mir. Bourke Cochran.
 After poking fun at Mir. Payne's re- cent speech in the house, Mir Clark turned his attention to Mir. Dalzell. One third of MT. Paynes speech, he declared, had been delivered in a whis- per apparently for the sole benent and spiritual instruction of Mir. Dal. zell'