Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1912-05-18

WASHINGTON, May 1S.-If ChamI
Clark, of Bowling Green, Mo-, ever be-
comes president of the United States the
White House will not be at a loss for an
interesting occupant. Even Champ S
worst enemy has never accused him of
being lacking in edifying traits of per-
sonality.
Sometimes Champ is enormously al
luded to as Beauchamp. This is done by
folks who have never glanced at his W
biography as he gives 1t in the Congress
sional Directory. His name as given
| there is plain Champ Clark. That is all
| here Is to 1t, and under the circum-
| stances 1t must be considered the correct
| and official version. 1t was originally
Beauchamp, but the owner changed it
| because 1t was persistently mispro-
| nounced.
Speaker Clark has had a career that is
even more ''all around thar that of the
average American. He was born in 1850
in Anderson county, Ky; was educated
in the common schools, Kentucky Uni
~versity, Bethany College and Cincinnati
Law School. In 1873 and 1874 he was
| president of Marshall College, West Vir-
ginia, and for twenty-five years held the
record of being the youngest college pres
ident In the United States. He worked
as a hired man on a farm. clerked in a
| country store, edited a country hewspa-
| per and practiced law.
He removed to Missouri in 1875, was
city attorney in Louisiana and Bowling
Green, Mo-; deputy prosecuting attor-
ney and prosecuting attorney; presiden-
tial ~elector, member of the Missouri
| Legislature, permanent chairman of the
Democratic convention at st. Louis in
| 1904, and chairman of the committee that
notified Judge Alton B.. Parker Of his
nomination.
He has served in the House since the
Fifty-third Congress, with the exception
| of one term when he was defeated. That
was in the Fifty-fourth. In that time he
has risen from a fairly green specimen
of legislator from Missouri to speaker of
the House, to which honor he was chosen
by the unanimous Democratic vote April
4, 1911.
In addition to this Mr.. Clark has held
many honorary positions. He has found
time to deliver many lectures and politi-
cal speeches from one end of the land II
the other. He has been in every State
Of the Union in his speaking and lectur
Ing tours, and 1t can fairly be said OF
him that few Americans today in public
life are as well-known to his fellow citi
zens throughout the country as he.
To hear Speaker Clark address the
House In rather homely phrase and in
his picturesque English one might gair
the impression he was not a highly edu.
Gated man. As a matter of fact he is one
of the best educated men in Congress.
He delights now and then to toss a few
scraps of Latin at his House colleagues
but he knows more than the scraps OF
that language. He is an excellent Latit
student, and as a student and teacher
found pleasure In mastering 1t. As q
lawyer Mr.. Clark was successful, and he
has been in the House for so many years
and has been SO much a part of the rough
aud tumble of its affairs that he is thor
oughly versed In all the ins and outs OF
legislation.
Speaker Clark's native brilliancy of In
tellect n his eminentIy likeable per
sonality have served to draw men In tn,
House close to him. Moreover, though
the speaker is sometimes attacked be
cause he is not progressive, as a matte
of fact 1t is pretty well understood b,
the men who know him that down in hi
boots he has a fondness for the squar,
deal and for doing the thing he believes
will help the public and not the specia
interests. The speaker has never beef
accused of being that type of membei
| nf CnnpTagc that "a canf fn W0ehfno fOf