Evening star., 1924-10-26
Capital Sidelights

Champ Clark. the great "old war
horse" of the Democratic party will
for many years be remembered by
his colleagues in Congress, and es
pecially around election time. In
every congressional campaign we
find quoted a famous speech made in
the House by Champ Clark on The
Making Of Congressman"
William Tyler Page, clerk of the
House, who has spent 43 years work
ing about the Capitol. having started
in as a page, was making a speech
the other night urging the re-elec-
ton of Representative Fred n. Zihl-
man of Maryland, formerly a glass
blower, who is expected to be chair
man in the next Congress of the COM
mittee having jurisdiction over legis-
lation affecting the National Capital
Mr.. Page said:
II like to quote Champ Clark. He
was so refreshingly void of sham
His congressional experience covered
a wide range He was Speaker of
the House for eight years. His ad-
vice was sought and he liked to
give it. Partisan though he was, he
put fidelity to duty and the welfare
of the country above partisanship.
He. believed that when a member of
Congress served faithfully he ought
| to be kept there. On this subject
Champ Clark felt keenly and he did
not hesitate to express his views
publicly"
Then he quoted from Mr. Clark's
speech as follows:
Men should not be sent here to
crafty their own personal ambi-
tions, but because they can be of
service; and having proved that they
are of service, wisdom dictates that
they should be kept here so long as
they continue to be of service; and
| it may be confidently asserted that
the value of the services of a man of
capacity, character, industry and
good habits increases in exact pro-
portion to his length of service. New
England understands this thorough
| ly. So do the cities of Philadelphia
and Pittsburgh. When a Represent
ative from any Of these places dem
onstrates his fitness here, he is re-
tanned until he retires, dies or is pro-
| noted These facts should furnish
much food for thought to every con-
stituency in the land"
You'd naturally think that what
with campaign publicity and the con-
spicuous position occupied by our
Presidents the public would be well
| Informed about each one, but 'tisn't
so. For example. if I should ask,
What two Presidents have been
awarded the $4,000 Nobel peace
price" who could say positively and
| correctly, and yet the awards are of
recent years. 1t was given to Wood
| row Wilson in 1920 for his persiste ent
| efforts for world peace and Is years
| earlier it went to Theodore Roosevelt
| for his leadership in ending the Rus
| sian Japanese wor.
Today we have only one former
| President living-Chief Justice Will
| liam Howard Taft. When John
Quincy Adams was President all of
| his predecessors in that office with
! the single exception of George Wash
| ington We're yet alive.
| Even about George Washington,
| the Father of His Country" the
| school children of today have much
! to learn. He was the richest of all
/ the Presidents. He once refused a
| commission in the English navy. He
was the only President ever elected
| unanimously and twice he received
| every vote in the electoral college.
| He refused to be a candidate for a
| third term. In stature he was Just
| two inches under that of Lincoln,
who stood feet .in his stock
| ings."
| William B. Mckinley, the Spanish
war President, was a private in the
1 f1.
Hayes was major in the Civil War,
having answered Lincolns call for
volunteers.
| Senator Arthur Capper has just fig
| ured out to what an extent this Gov
eminent of the people is run by
| lawyers, and has been run by
| lawyers ever since Congress began
| business in 1888. In the present
| House there are 262 lawyers out of
the total of 435 and in the Senate
| So out of SO. so that in both branches
! 60 per cent of the members are
| lawyers. In the House only per
| cent are credited with being farm
| ers and in the Senate per cent.
! In the House there are 13 journalists
| Ga fancy name applied to newspaper
| men) and in the Senate 8, which is
| a percentage of 3 in both houses. E.
x x X
John Douglas, who defeated Repre-
sentative Peter Tague for the Demo
cratic nomination from East Boston
i (Mass) district, besides being a
lawyer is well known as a playwright,
being best remembered by his dra-
matization of My New Curate"
! Every once in a while we think we
| have uncovered the meanest man.
| and then some one meaner turns UP.
One day recently the gardeners on the
grounds of the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture worked overtime to
| get certain flower beds planted with
| tulip bulbs. The next morning when
they came to work they were amazed
| to find that during the night some
| one had dug up and carried away
many of the bulbs. Considering that
| they were planted some four inches
deep and that the Department OF
Agriculture grounds are the best
| lighted of any park in the National
| Capital, 1t was a pretty braZen thing
to do, even if the parties guilty had
no pride at all in the Identification
| of their city.
! x X x x
| Brig. Gen. Herbert NJ Lord. director
OF the Budget Bureau, has a genial ap-
preciationl of just how popular he is at
! certain seasons with certain persons,
because the Federal budget embodies in
| Its restricted estimates the disappoint-
| ments or representatives of many of
| the executive agencies-until the
mellowing hand of time has had an
| opportunity to soothe or soften them
He tells Booker Washington
story to illustrate how an obvious in
| iei iehSo 10 " pe Iounu annually In
| reports, critical comment and COM
| plants more or less bitter
A colored brother was charged
with the duty of procuring a turkey
for patron. When the bird was
| delivered the customer complained
that instead of tame turkey, as had
been ordered, a wild turkey was
| furnished, for the bird was full OF
shot. Said the colored man: Oats
a tame turkey, all right. Dem shots
| was meant for me-"