New-York tribune., 1918-07-09
An OLd-Fashioned
Statesman
By Ralph Block
By Ralph Block

- there ought to be Perfect Place to
which Great Figures could retire
when they reach the meridian of their
lustre 1t might be a kind of spiritual
Eden Musee, with all the Personalities of
the world embalmed in their fame, held
there pcrpetually in the attitudes of their
Choicest honors.
1t is part of the sentimental conspiracy
of the world TO pretend that great ones con-
tam their great qualities to the very end
How pleasalH to believe and how soft an
evasion, 1t takes into no account that the
public recognition of greatness is itself
part of greatness, and that the world often
stops talking long before the mandarns
and big-wigs have gone down the last
stretch of the trail. The acclaim and wide
eyed wonder of the world make so much
of the difference between glamour and dark
ness
There must be some among the Elected
who understand all this, and who, failing
the states own provision seek some such
security for the Future by themselves. In
all the hierarchy and professional of Wash
lngton nobody seems to have seen it SO
clearly as Champ Clark, Speaker of the
House OF Representatives. Disdainful of
Titles that cannot add color to a we'll colored
career from which he has emerged. calm.
serene and now inviolate, he sits in his
CHAIR and sees In the Legislation that moves
IN front OF him the passing Of world He
has lived vigorously on that very field.
From it he could almost reach to the hgh-
est place itself. That he failed was the
fault of the times, an epoch of subtle
changes in the social structure of the world
that had come upon him unawares. He was
an old-fashioned statesman, ready to test
all problems by Jetfersonan simplicity. He
was unready for anything more Now, wise
ly, he has receded into the quiet backwater
OF ola friendships and an honorable place.
tie is still direct-cuts through much
that is irrelevant. He is learned in the
unwritten ways of handling large bodies of
men, lie was once schoolmaster, later
head of small college. He has returned
to that habit. 1t is an ideal place for him.
He has grown in dignity, has departed from
the strenuous fashions Of q minority floor
leader who is sharpened in opposition. has
left the houn' dog of the 1912 campaign far
behind.
The bulk of the House chamber makes it.
appear loose and struggling. If it has
unity, 1t is achieved by the marble desks
that rise, one upon the other, to the Speak
ers place, like holy places in a chapel. The
marble IS covered by black leather. that
cannot hide the dents in the stone made
by the formidable gavel at the Speakers
right hand. He IS standing, a massive man
in white suit, with pink flower in but
tonhole. Craftsmanship has its exact;ons
In ttor
mans collar, the collar Of Gladstone and
all Great ones of the last century, A black
coW is about his neck attached to nose
glasses In his pocket. His head is large
Well formed given accent by badness.
Gray hair remains in the back and a faint
TUT above the forehead.
His eyes rest deeply in an mpassive face
His mouth is straight and thin. 1t is the
preliminary period to a House session, and
ne stands masterfully over the babble Of It.
crashing the mallet on the desk for order
booming out IN voice that gathers wind
as 1t goes, but loses clarity 1t would he
lazy if it were not so strong. It makea
many elisions.
"f'what purpose does the gentleman
arse" he demands. The power behind
might almost make it appear he resented
the gentemans arising if it were not for
an habitual roughness in his voice.
lie stands little weared through It al,
directing, cutting short, giving time where
1t IS needed, always fair showing rough
common sense in his decisions. The nou.r
once held by another Speaker, who now
Sits on the floor elderly man in thin
alpaca coat, is gone. The great power ~
committee appointments has left the Sneak.
er's hand and is lodged with the Wavs and
Means Committee
When the House has been started on i.
way he sits down and begins to write care-
fully and neatly AS he sits there in ou;a.
enjoyment of his place he reccdes ont os
."e BACKGROUND of this day and into the
foreground of an earlier one.