The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1912-07-11
Champ CIark's Friends Blame
Bryan For His Defeat.
SPEAKER HAD A MAJORITY,
Nebraskan's Dramatic Stand Was
What Won For Wilson, Who Made
an Uphill Fight That Was Bound to
Succeed In the End if the Warriors
Could Hold Out.
BY ARTHUR w. DUNN.

Washington, July 9.-lSpecial. lin
the Baltimore convention aftermath
men with Ifs" are now telling all
about 1t. OF course it has been gen.
orally conceded that If 1t had not been
for Mr.. Bryan's entry into the con
vention at Baltimore In such dra mat
ic manner Champ Clark would have
been nominated for president In place
of Woodrow Wilson. That is quite pos
sible. No one knows better than
Champ Clark and his friends that Mr..
Bryan was instrumental In bringing
about his defeat
1t Is said that If MIR. Clark's friends
In the convention had voted for Bry-
an for temporary chairman Clark
would have been nominated on an ear
ly ballot. That is doubtful II. be-
cause it Is quite likely that a hundred
eastern delegates or more would new
er have been for Clark If his friends
had permitted Bryan to be temporary
chairman. But the punishment of
Champ Clark for what his friends did
was rather hard.
A Story Of Tom Marshall.
Thomas Riley Marshall, the Demo,
cratic candidate for vice president. has
Travelled SO often up and down the
state to political meetings. lodge gath
erings, conferences. picnics and barbe-
cues that he Is familiar figure to
every station agent at every railroad
Junction In Indiana. and there are hun
dreds of them. Every place he stops
he picks up new story to tell at the
next station, and Tom Marshall's yarns
are repeated from Peru to Posey coun-
ty and from Terre Haute to Fort
Wayne. -
On one Of these periodical railroad
"jogs." as he terms them. the train
stopped at every station for 100 miles
across the northern part of the state
at the rate Of mile station.
A woman who had been much inter-
ested In the understanding which
seemed to exist between the conductor
and engineer turned In her seat at the
forty eighth station to find herself face
to face with Marshall. Something in
the northern Indiana droop to his lux
uriant mustachios or the humorous
twinkle in his eyes impelled her to
speak.
Excuse me, sir" she said. ''but
could you tell me what the conductor
means when he sticks his arms up like
that to somebody up ahead there?"
Mr.. Marshalrs reply was condition
ed somewhat by the fact that he was
getting ''all fired" tired Of the trip and
wasn't going to have chance to get
off until the seventy-flfth station.
That's the conductors way OF tell
ing the engineer what he thinks of
him. responded the lawyer. HE Is
saying in arm language. You long leg
ged. freckle faced. lop cared. homely
galoot, go aheadp"
THANK you." said the woman, turn
ing back to her original position.
When Lawyer Marshall reached his
station he felt thct he had been rude
to the woman, and as he got up to 60
out he stopped at her side and said:
"sorry spoke to you the way did.
You don't know me perhaps. but my
name is Tom Marshall, and ! have to
live up to my reputation as humor-
Lst."
Saying never word. the woman
reached ont her arm and gave the con-
ductor's signal to go ahead.
Bitter Reproachss.
II the delegates Of the defeated can
iidates could infuse into their friends
at home the bitter feeling they have
acquired as a result Of the Baltimore
1t would seem that the
nominee could not think Of being elect
ed. Bitter reproaches have been pass
ed back and forth. and personal en-
mites created between men who were
lifelong friends. There are men who
will never forgive each other for what
happened In the Baltimore convention,
and IL the ticket should be defeated 1t
will cause still more recrimination
after the election.
Champs Majority.
It was rather hard on Champ Clark
after having majority OF the dele
gates to lose that majority and see his
chief rival pass him. 1t was bitter
dose for his supporters to see the Will
son men creep up slowly. but surely.
picking Off delegates here and there.
first from Clark and then from Under
wood. making an uphill fight of the
kind that meant success II they could
hold out.
Stanch Underwood Men.
There are many men who attended
the convention who believe that there
was a time when the Underwood sup
porters could have made It possible to
nominate Champ Clark. but those I'm
derwood men were stanch and Arm In
their belief that their man was the one
to nominate and never would let go
Their persistence was more praise
worthy than good politics and good
Judgment would warrant unless they
felt that II their man could not get
The nomination 1t made little difference
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