Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-05

| father piously upheld the Bible against
| all scoffers, knew the book from cover
to cover, and could expound the doc
trines with the faith of one Of the
twelve disciples. He drew his homely
| but expressive arguments from his
daily life, and the people stood for
! hours to hear him. The farmer left
his pillow, the blacksmith his anvil the
wife her kitchen, the loungers the taV-
ern, to listen to this strange man, OFTEN
to dispute with and mock him. But in
| the end they We're reduced to silence.
So he passed through the backwoods
country, singing his psalms, organizing
children's classes, now o1d then prac-
ticing dentistry for man or beast; but
| principally in order to get the oppor-
tunity to tell Bible truths.
Champ Clark, the small boy, grew up
thus in an atmosphere of argumentatiVe
turbulence, and by example learned
rude readiness in debate, and with the
| open-eyed wonder of a bright child,
took 1t all in. There is no question that
such a father and such surroundings
shaped the mans life-history in the
| years to come. Like his father, he in
| turn was to sharpen his knife on a
brickbat and dispute for what he held
to be the true policies
DiscipIinng Natural Power
or course he lacked discipline. He
had an ungovernable temper. He was
a rough and tumble fighter for many
years-hasn't quite got over 1t yet-but
| he curbed his tempestuous spirit long
enough to become the best Greek
scholar of his day, in college, and has
since spent years on the best books Of
all sorts, but with leaning toward
history.
And Champ Clark uses his profound
historical knowledge almost every hour
of his life, quoting this or that with
point and pith and occasionally with
peculiar left-handed humor that he
really doesn't see. He has a peculiar
weakness for speculation. IF" this had
.pr had not happened the history Of the
world would have been changed. IF
| Napoleon hadn't got the itch at Piza
| he never would have won the battle of
Jena, because he would not have been
in that neighborhood." All the way
from Pike county, Missouri, to the cap
ital you can trace Champ Clark by u
long line of books.
Has Intense individuality
He likes to turn a phrase, and the
| impression he creates is that of down
right bluntness. He phrases his ideas
with the directness of Bible texts. He
speaks most excellent English, but
quickly drops into slang and back
woods jargon, discursive in the Pike
county style, but there is flavor to his
words as there Is to a new apple in the
early harvest.
| In short, he is as downright as a
| blacksmith, deliberate, self-centered.
direct, undramatic and positive; and
his words imply always that he has
| great certainty that he knows what he
is talking about. He puts into his ut
| terances something of his own, and
men listen because 1t is different.
Not "Wandering Jew"
Here sharp distinction arises. There
| Is something in the character of his
mind that prevents him from lending
himself to what he doesn't believe. 1t
! is extremely doubtful If Clark has in
him the elements Of the demagogue.
The explanation is extremely simple.
Men are as they are, and whatever
| Clark may or may not be- he is hon
est with himself, wants his party to
win because 1t is his party and because
he believes that it is in the right. The
| modern version of the Wandering
jew" is particularly true of national
politics, the man who sells out for per-
sonal reasons, placing greed above pa
triotism, now as always; but Clark,
whatever his faults, is not as one of
| these.
He cannot be false to himself. and
men believe him honest, whether they
| agree with him or not. They may fear
| his tongue and rebel against his views,
! but they respect his open -mindedness.
Heaven made him an intense partisan,
and he is as he is. you shut your
mouth; you got more mouth than
brains" is often his style, and then
| follows argument cut down to naked
! epigrams, center shots at the target,
! not with a shotgun and a handful of
| birdshot but with a single rifle ball,
carrying death. And men, though pro-
testing loudly, acknowledge his leader
ship.
Power Through Personality
1t is the old yet eyer new story of
power through personality. When he
rises he towers like a giant among his
| colleagues, has giants strength, and
there is no question that, at times, he
uses it like a tyrant. For that was
ever the strong mans way-not what
you think, but what 1 say, is his con-
! ceptlon of life, not necessarily because
my way is wiser than yours but be-
| cause it is my way, that is all.
But let us be clear on this point.
Clark's personality is so remarkable
that it might be admitted to be a spe-
cial gift, just as some men have the
gift of music or other special endow-
ment. Thus, personality becomes a
great power, to rule or ruin. Cicero,
| with all his persuasive elOquence, was
the vilest of hypocrites, dying miserable
| in the end because his weak brain, with
all its brilliancy, did not steer a
straight course, one way or the other.
| There are, at this very moment, Ciceros
of all degrees in American public life,
and in due season their time to be un-
masked will come.
Champ CIark's Grasp
Champ Clark seems to have set up
his political Ten Commandments in the
market place, where all can see and
some pay heed. There is no question
that Champ Clark has the sort of per-
sonality and the rugged honesty of
principles, as he lives them, that go to
make American history. We are not
talking partisan politics here, but plain
common sense, based on character and
its tremendous appeal.
Big, brawny, tempetuous, filled with
glaring faults and some better parts,
! Clarks open life and plain style appeal
to many men. He has in his time
drunk strong liquors, gone the pace,
| had his worldly education, like other
men-but he has been strong enough to
turn his back on the past, for the bet
! ter; and among men these things count
| in a large way in estimating character.
He has never lost his youthful au-
| dacity of opinion, and at heart is more
| of a conservative than a radical, but
such is human nature that few men can
as clear as your nose. In his enthusi-
asm for pushing his principles, and in
compelling men to see life from his an
| ola he hnlnnd IN q u In fCfs rxy