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Show Hon. Champ Clark on Flunkeyism Let us give the Lord of Freedom thanks that we have still left a few American congressmen of the patriotic calibre of the Hon. Champ Clark of Missouri, says the Chicago Citizen. A strong man physically and intellectuallyan intel-lectuallyan orator, a writer, and a wit. Mr. Clark must expect, as Dean Swift said, "to have the heels of all the jackasses" arrayed against him, but he mav be consoled by the fact that the hearts of the honest masses are with him, and they form his bulwark against knaves and calumniators. The following follow-ing letter, addressed by Mr. Clark to the St. Louis Star, makes very spicy reading for patriotic Americans: "House of Representatives, Washington. Wash-ington. D. C' Feb. 16. To the Editor of the Star: Shortly after your letter 1 ,box correspondent, 'B. C. M.,' wrote his letter to the Star, charging me with fighting the appropriation to pay Prince Henry's expenses, somebody sent it to me in an envelope of Milton C. Brown, pinned to a sheet of his letter paper. I at once wrote to Mr. Brown (not knowing know-ing who B. C. M. is) contradicting the tale, and stating that if 'B. C. MV had any sense of honor he would at once correct his statement by writing another an-other letter to the Star. As it has not been done. I naturally assume that his original letter to the Star was written out of malice. "I would not bother you about it if you had not, on Jan. 23, predicated an editorial on it. v While the editorial is not unfriendly, it assumes that B. C. M. was telling the truth when he made the charge that I' fought the appropriation to pay the expenses of Prince Henry which is absolutely untrue. On the contrary, con-trary, I endorsed it twice in the remarks re-marks which I made on that subject in connection with others. Once I said: " 'It is all right to pay the expenses of Prince Henry. I am glad he is coming, com-ing, because his visit and the welcome the American people and the government govern-ment will give him will have the tendency ten-dency to give the lie to the slander that certain anglo-maniacs in this country are trying to work up to the effect tnat the American people are friendly to England and an enemy to Germany, which is not true.' "I send you a copy of the speech and what I said in favor of welcoming Prince Henry is quoted above and printed in the speech just as the stenographer ste-nographer took it down, and can be proved by hundreds of witnesses who heard the debate between Mr. Cannon and General Grosvenor on one hand, and Judge DeArmond and myself on the otherfl ".What I did oppose in that speech, and what I will continue to oppose so long as I live, is taxing the people to pay the expenses of a lot of flunkeys to go to the coronation of Edward VII, or of any other king. Do you indorse that? What have we to do with crowning crown-ing kings? Our entire existence as a nation our reason for being is a protest pro-test ag-ainst kingcraft. "The reception to Prince Henry, who is our guest, and the sending of White-law White-law Reid & Co. to abase themselves and to vicariously abase the American people at the feet of the great-grandson of George III are very different propositions. To entertain Prince Henry is to observe the rules of American Amer-ican hosnitalitv. esneciallv Virginia. Kentucky and Missouri hospitality, to which you allude in your editorial, and which you truly say I would be the last to refuse: but to send a special embassy to help crown King Edward is to do for ourselves what Dogberry ordered his clerk to do for him that is, to write ourselves down as asses. "The anglo-maniae papers jumped on me for favoring the nationai reception of Prince Henry' at public expense, and opposing the embassy to the coronation corona-tion both of which I did. Now comes "B C..M., and roasts me for opposing the appropriation for Prince Henry's expenses, which I did not do. So it's a case of heing " 'Damned if you do. And damned if you don't.' "We should give Prince Henry a cordial cor-dial welcome, if for no other reason, as u rebuke to the idiotic jingoes who. for four years, have been hugging John Bull to their palpitating breasts while trying to get us in a row with Germany. Ger-many. "As you published 'B. C. M.'s' charge and based your editorial upon it. I hope you wil do me the justice to publish this. I am perfectly willing to answer for my own sins, but object to answering answer-ing for sins falsely charged to me. Yours, CHAMP CLARK." |