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Show JAMES P. CLARKE. United States Senator James F. Clarke of Arkansas, who has just died following a stroke of apoplexy, was a picturesque figure in the upper chamber of congress. While not advanced in years at the time he made his entry into public life at. Washington, he was popularly pop-ularly known as "Old Cotton-Top in his home stato and had a considerable following behind him. A fter a strenuous stren-uous fight he succeeded James K. Jones, chairman of the Democratic national committee in the first two Bryan campaigns, cam-paigns, and earned the enmity of the Bourbon leaders who had long held sway in Arkansas. So bitter was the feeling that when the new senator appeared ap-peared to take the oath of office his colleague, the crippled confederate veteran, vet-eran, Senator Berry, refused to march down the aisle with him when he was sworn in, Senator Wr. A. Clark of Montana Mon-tana doing the honors upon that memorable mem-orable occasion. But Senator Clarke was powerful in polities in Arkansas and ho had the satisfaction sat-isfaction of assisting in the elimination of Senator Berry from politics and his seat in the senate. Of late years his influence influ-ence at home had waned to a great degree de-gree and he retained his toga .by a very narrow margin at the time of his last election. Although chosen president pro tempore of the senate, he was never in complete accord with the Democratic leaders of the upper house and Pomerine of Ohio made an effort to wrest the honor from him at the time of his latest triumph, for he had been instrumental in defeating some of the pet measures of the administration and always re- ; fused to swerve a hair's breadth from what ho conceived to be his duty when once he took his stand. The defeat of the original shipping bill was due in a large measure to his opposition, although some of the other Democrats and nearly all of the Republicans Repub-licans were violently opposed to it. He was against tho Adamson bill and refused re-fused to sign it after it had been rushed through the seuate at the command of the president. These are but two instances in-stances of his complete independence of party control, but there were many other oth-er cases in which he refused to obey presidential dictation or abide by the decision of the Democratic caucus. His death will not have any .bearing upon the control of the senate after tho 4th of next March, for the reason that Arkansas Ar-kansas is hopelessly Democratic, but it will be hard to find a man to fill his place. |