Champ Clark letter to Bennett Champ Clark - March 14, 1918
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March 14, 1918. Lieut. Col. Bennett C. Clark, Brigade and Field Officers School, Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas. My dear Bennett: It has been raining here for two days and is raining now. I think the rain is needed. Colonel Hirth and his friends have been here now for two or three days making it uncomfortable for your uncle Hoover. They are trying to get the price of beef, pork and mutton fixed by the Government – a minimum price—so they can make some money out of that industry. I don’t think they are in very good humor. They have had several interviews with Hoover and they haven’t got very much out of him. I was very much surprised to receive a call from James J. Corbett. He is a very pleasant and agreeable man. I have been reading his articles; especially those about Sullivan, which were very well written indeed. I complimented him on them.
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No. 2. B. C. C. He said he felt highly honored, etc. About a half hour before he was in here, Rev. Dr. Dinwiddie was in to get a memorandum as to my decisions, where they took two-thirds of those voting, a quorum being present or two-thirds of the entire membership of the House to submit a constitutional amendment. It seems they had raised the question in the New York legislature; so, you see the complexion of my visitors is somewhat mixed. I enclose you an article which may interest you from the Washington Post about the Saloniki situation. Saw Charley Lewis yesterday. He is getting along it seems, very well. Dr. Howells wrote to your mother they were about to commandeer his summer home in Kettering Point, Maine and use it for a hospital. I have been trying to find out about it. I hope that Genevieve got to visit you and that you both enjoyed the visit. There is an editorial which I intend to send you if I can find it, from the Washington Post—not an editorial, but an article by A. M. Fox
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No. 3. B. C.C. and editorial writer, in which he said they were going to send the conscripts to Europe before they sent the National Guard; which is very good as far as I am concerned. Then he went onto give the reason and that was that the conscripts were better drilled because they had been drilled by officers from the training camps, etc. and so on. I happened to see General McCain and interrogated him about it to know whether that article was Fox’s opinion only, or the opinion of the War Department—a kind of semi-official document—and he said the War Department didn’t have anything to do with it. Then I ran across General Crowder and interrogated him. He insisted that the conscripts are better drilled than the National Guard and intimated they would be better soldiers. I told him I didn’t believe a word of it; all history contradicted him. Then I asked him about that tale floating around that conscripts were larger than the volunteers physically. He insisted it was true; which was a remarkable tale; but Senator Reed was present when I was talking to Crowder and suggested that the reason the
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No. 4. B. C. C. conscripts were too large for the army measurement for clothes was because they still had the measurement for clothes they had from the Civil War. Some vast majority—four—fifths—he said, in the Civil War were 18 years old or a little over and hadn’t filled out, etc. There is no sort of question in my mind but what most of the war Department are prejudiced against the National Guard. If I can find the article tonight, I will send it to you in another letter. With love, Pater. The house is now re-fighting old proposition of raising clerks pay. JE
Details
Title | Champ Clark letter to Bennett Champ Clark - March 14, 1918 |
Creator | Clark, Champ |
Source | Clark, Champ. Letter to Bennett Champ Clark. 14 March 1918. Clark, Champ (1850-1921) and Bennett Champ (1890-1954), Papers, 1853-1973. C0666. The State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia, MO. |
Description | In this March 14, 1918 letter to his son Bennett, Champ Clark discussed War Department prejudices against the National Guard. Champ Clark, a long-time resident of Bowling Green, Missouri, was a politician in the Democratic Party. He served as a representative of Missouri from 1893 to 1895 and from 1897 to 1921. From 1911 to 1919 he served as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Bennett Clark served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the 140th Regiment, 35th Division and as Assistant Chief of Staff for the 88th Division during World War I, and was Missouri State Senator from 1933 to 1945. |
Subject LCSH | Clark, Champ, 1850-1921; Clark, Bennett Champ, 1890-1954; Fort Sam Houston (Tex.); Reed, James A. (James Alexander), 1861-1944; Crowder, E. H. (Enoch Herbert), 1859-1932; National guard; World War, 1914-1918; Military training |
Subject Local | WWI; World War I |
Site Accession Number | C0666 |
Contributing Institution | The State Historical Society of Missouri |
Copy Request | Transmission or reproduction of items on these pages beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the State Historical Society of Missouri: 1020 Lowry Street, Columbia, Missouri, 65201-7298. (573) 882-7083. |
Rights | The text and images contained in this collection are intended for research and educational use only. Duplication of any of these images for commercial use without express written consent is expressly prohibited. |
Date Original | March 14, 1918 |
Language | English |