Mexico weekly ledger., 1917-05-10
CLARKS THREAT AGAINST
PATRIOTS OF HIS DISTRICT
STARTS POLITICAL REVOLT
Prominent Pike County Democrat
Replying 70 Speaker, Asserts
here VIII Be No Exodus

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo-, May 8
- Ras Pearson, a prominent Pike
county lawyer, one Of thirty-five men
who signed a telegram to Champ
Clar, urging him to vote for eonserip-
ton and were in turn called Nold
skunkers" and warned that il school
did not keep too long that he would
take a shotgun and run them all out
Of the district has replied to Clark's
statement published in the Weekly
Press Journal Of Louisiana.
Pearson is a leading Democrat and
is said to be organizing a political re-
volt against Clark which may retire
him in 1918. Already a number Of
Democratic leaders Of the Nsnth Dis
frict have been mentioned as candi-
dates against Clark amonr them
Pearson. Parsons letter, in part,
follows:
Il have no doubt Speaker Clark
IS proud Of this telegram, and / hope
he always win be. We who joined in
that telegram may be a set Of hay
seeds 'ignoramuses,' from the coun-
~, ard or opinion may not be
worthy to be expressed in polite terms
eTen to our Representative in Con-
gress, but / can't help but think that
when Speaker Clark condeseended 10
inform his benighted constituents
that Jefferson Barracks was located
near St. Louis, and volunteers could
enlist there he was furnishing to Us
information so rare and unique and
Of such great moment that he should
h; We had it copyrighted ere he gave
it out.
As Patriotic as Clark
perhaps we deserve just such a re-
ply. Perhaps in the opinion of our
congressman it was an objectionable
sin for any of his constituency to have
the temerity to even express an opin-
ion; no doubt he thinks, judging from
his reply that no n in his district
has a right to have an opinion and
much less to express it, when that
opinion is contrary TO his ideas. We
do not suppose that it ever occurred
to our distinguished congressman that
we out here in his district are Just as
honorable, as patriotic and as anxious
70 the future welfare of our country
as the little band Of sixty-eight Con-
gressmen who voted against ~eonscrip-
ton. Our congressman seemingly
not satisfied with his reply to our tel
egram when he arose in Congress to
make q speech on the CONSUMPTION bill
speaking Of these who had sent him
said: I know them; / ! know
every mar in my district who has tel
egraphed me here, and ! know who is
at the bottom of it, and / can take a
iouble-barrel shotgun and u out Of
Lhs district every man who sent me
= telegram, and If school doesn't keep
TOO long, ] win run a few Of them out,
too
Would Leave Few Democrats
Il don't know every man who sent
him a telegram. l know the thirty
i've who Joined in the telegram from
Louisiana. Thirty-two Democrats
and three Republicans. Each and all
them for years back have been ar
lent supporters Of the political for
tunes Of Mr.. Clark, and it occurs to
ne that if the kilograms from other
are from the same class of
as the one from Louisiana, If
Mr.. Clark carries out his threat and
comes back home with a double-barrel
shotgun and runs them out of his dis
.rict, to say the least, there will not
1e enough Democrats left in the Ninth
Congressional District at the next
election to be worth counting.
"The paper says, when he gave ut
,erance to the above thought, in Con-
yress, that laughter and applause
greeted this statement. / am not sur
at this. / imagine it would
De greeted with laughter and ap-
Just think of the picture
Speaker Clark, 6 feet 2 inches tall,
candidate for president, the
ion of Missouri Democracy, returning
o his home county, walking up and
the streets of Louisiana with a
louble-barrel shotgun on his Shout
Ter, and we who have been supporting
lin all these years, hiking for shelter
and hunting new homes outside Of his
district. The only saving clause /
see for us, he says that he will run
IS out if school doesn't keep too
Let's hope that school will
Keep in too long, and that our homes
:ere in his district may thereby be
preserved and this catastrophe avert
I'd.
No Rush to Move
Notwithstanding the telegram of
distinguished speaker, and not
g~ithstanding his speech in which he
eff we don't behave he will get
mis- double-barrel shotgun and run US
put of the district we beg to assure
that there are some of US who
heartily endorse CONSUMPTION, there
are some of US who don't think the
system effective; and l ven
bold to make the assertion that
we will continue to reside in the