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Show o AN UNSENATORIAL SENATOR. I According to tho dispatches, Sena- I tor William A. Clark is done forever I with political ambition and will glad- I ly doff his toga at tho end of his torm. Mr. Clark in tho toga has been an awkward rather than an imposing figure, and he will doubtless feel much more at home in tho apparel of a private pri-vate citizen. His presence In the senate sen-ate has shown that, although tho senate sen-ate is called the house of dollars, tho merely dollared member can tako but a sorry part In its proceedings. Rich men and representatives of the money power have loomed largo In the senate, but they have been men of ability. Senator Clark has no abil ity as a lawgiver, and his term of office has been fruitful of llttlo aside from "stories" In tho newspapers illustrative il-lustrative of tho fact that a billionaire may be a Brobdingnagian in tho field of Industrial activity in which ho elects to amass a stupendous fortune and a Lilliputian in a great deliberative deliber-ative body to which ho has been elected by tho fortune ho has amassed. Senator Clark was formerly a laborer la-borer In the Montana mines at $1.25 i day, and this fact, to his credit bo it said, is set down in tho biographical sketch in tho congressional directory. Few men in tho world have started rom such humble beginnings and become be-come as wealthy as tho Montana cop-tier cop-tier king, but many men in America have begun life in tho rudo log cabin of the back woods and ended their jareers as leaders of tho nation's zouncils nnd of her armies. Senator Clark's humble origin had no bearing ipon his failure to mako an impression impres-sion in national politics. Ho wore with dignity the bluo shirt and overalls over-alls of the man with tho pick, and later, with equal dignity, the "plug hat" and "Princo Albert" of prosperity. prosper-ity. But hero his growth halted. Ho lias tangled his feet in the folds of lis toga as an untrained soldier trips upon his sword, because ho has not Mie slightest qualification for tho du-les du-les that devo-.o upon a representative. representa-tive. The galh'iles have wondered at the strango vanity that led him to spend largo sums to get into tho senate, sen-ate, whoro ho has since been silent, apparently ns uninterested as tho least Informed spectator and obviously obvious-ly 111 at ease. Tho Millionaires' club mny becomo a Billionaires' club, but it will never bo a body In which a man whoso only equipment is his great wealth will bo at home. If Mr. Clark has not felt himself to bo an ass In a lion's skin, 'as a public man, tho spectators of his career, at least, have been unanimous In tho opinion that such has been his appeal ance. Courier-Journal. |