Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-08-11
CLARK'S EARLY LAW PRACTICE.
"reminiscences of David A. Ball, For
nner Law Partner of the Speaker.

For two hours and half he poured
into the ears of the jury and of the
packed audience an uninterrupted
stream of marvellous oratory. 1t was
one of the most powerful and convinc-
ing efforts ever heard in a Missouri
court room. And during all that feast
of wisdom, flow of soul or whatever
you want to call it, he never touched
the case side, edge or bottom!"
David A. Ball Of Louisiana, Mo-, was
speaking about his old friend and law
partner, Champ Clark, Speaker of the
house of representatives. When Ball
was q candidate for the Democratic
nomination for governor in 1908 Mr..
Clark said:
Thirty five years ago Dave Bal
took me in when l was penniless and
divided his crust with me; it was slim
picking, God knows, but such law bus
mess as he had he divided with me-
Now he asks my aid and he will get it
in Scriptural measure, heaped I'D.
pressed down and running over"
This legal partnership to which Mr.
Clark referred was the subject upon
which Mr.. Ball was speaking.
1T was on a noted murder case, in
volving several prominent families of
Hannibal" he said. CLARK and a num-
Der of well known attorneys were on
the side of the state. To Clark was
given the honor of making the close
for the prosecution and Of cross exam
lining the defendant. The case was
tried at Bowling Green.
I'm his examination in chief the de-
fendant had said that he was with the
famous Gen. Morgan's cavalry during
the civil war. At this a cold glitter
came into Clarks eyes. Not soul in
the court room remotely suspected
that Clark himself had ever ridden
with the noted partisan Of the south
and that all of Morgan's operations
were like a well studied book to him.
When Clark began quizzing the defen-
dant about Morgan you could see the
sparks fly.
He inquired about the age, size and
general appearance and the manners
of Morgan; how many men he had,
the sort of weapons they carried, the
tactics they followed, their way of
fighting, the passwords and counter
signs, the details of battles and trays,
the thousand and one things that a
man who had been with Morgan could
M hnt hiit al inh
the defendant, under Clarks incisive
cross examination, went down help
lessly. The defendant could not sus-
pect until confronted by the ordeal
that he would be handled by a man
who knew all these things by actual
experience AS boy of II or IL Clark
had been with Morgan in some of his
campaigns.
when Clark had finished speaking
that jury had a profound admiration
for Morgans men, and 1t did not be-
lieve the defendant had been one Of
them.
while it was not a controlling issue
in the case Clark played it up big and
made it appear like one. He was a
past master on such things. The small
technicalties of the law did not appeal
to him. He always hunted around un-
til he dug up something vivid and full
of human interest, and then used 1t
with irresistible effect.
THE case referred to was the only
one Of note so far as 1 recall now
where Clark and l were on opposing
sides. He was associate counsel for
the state while assisted in the de-
fence.
"All who know the speaker of the
house will have noted as a marked
characteristic his homely backwoods
philosophy, which strongly suggests
trations spring from the primitive, the
people of way back yonder. He studied
them with q great deal more enthusi-
asm than he did his law books, and 1t
was at close range.
"As fine an effort as / ever heard
Clark make was down in Lincoln coun-
ty before Il blacksmith who was JUS
tice of the peace. 1t was bitter cold
day; we had driven twenty miles, and
all the warmth we received at the end
of the journey was the fitful glow of
the charcoal on the blacksmith's forge.
The brawny justice sat on one side and
listened with becoming gravity to our
exposition of the law. 1t was pre-
liminary examination, the defendant
being charged with murder. When the
ed the smith said:
Turn the man loose; that's all, gen.
tlemen. Now l must get back to my
work"
Il don't suppose it ever occurred to
the smith that one of the pleaders be-
fore his forge that day was the future
speaker of the house, but it had to
Clark, who from my earliest acquain-
tance with him declared he was going
to congress one of these days. He
treated that as something absolutely
settled, even in the happy go lucky
times when he was wondering where
the money would come from to square
up with his landlady.
CLARK came to Pike county from the
clover fields of Kansas in 1876, when
he was 25 years old. He said out there
his most exciting diversion was
corn and pitching hay, with
now and then writing an 'eXtempora-
neous speech for some local spell
binder. He left Kansas, he said, to
get rid of the hot winds and grasshop-
perS.
The principalship of the Louisiana
high school was Mr.. Clark's first en-
ployment here. He was q good teach
er. I've read where he taught in dis
trict schools and licked knowledge
into ms pupils. But mere he adOpteu
an entirely different method. When
went wrong he'd call the re-
fractory students before him and ap-
peal to the best that was in them, new
er scolding or harsh, but kind and en-
couraging.
His students loved him, and it is
fact that every one of them, as far as
my observation goes, turned out well.
Clark's purpose seemed to be to inspire
those he taught with the same ideals
he entertained himself. He managed
to impress his personality on some OF
the boys SO strongly that they became
distinguished along certain lines OF
During thse days Clark taught
large Sunday school class, and while
he was an ardent student of the Bible
he would more than likely choose his
topic from some metropolitan newspa-
per discuss it's editorials or some big
event of political life, and work around
to the proper moral, inculcating prac-
tical religion from every day life you
might say. Anyhow, the members of
his class were always talking about
the interesting things they had heard
at Sunday school.
"In one of the lyceum debates we
had, Clark proved to everybody that