Champ Clark letter to Bennett Champ Clark - September 19, 1917
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September 19, 1917. Bennett C. Clark, Lieutenant-Colonel, 6th [Missouri] Infantry, Missouri Headquarters, Camp Doniphan, Fort Sill, [Oklahoma] My dear Bennett: Scott Ferris showed me your letter and I told him I I would let him know when to help. I am going down to see about that thing again. I don’t want your regiment absorbed. The weather has got to be all right again. Your mother got to Shelbyville, Kentucky, all right. Charley Lewis had a telegram from his wife. Congressman Wilson of Texas gave me a one hundred pound watermelon. I was afraid it would spoil, so I had anouther luncheon today. Everybody inquired very affectionately about you, and are proud of the progress you are making. I came up awhile ago from the Navy Department, on a street car with Ben Humphrey. He said his wife wrote him that she was very much gratified at your progress; but not at all surprised at it.
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No. 2. L-C. B. C. C. I enclose you some clippings which will serve to interest you. First, there is one from the Globe-Democrat, dated Jefferson City, the 15th, in which it gives an outline of the proceedings at Fulton, also a second one from the Globe-Democrat dated the 15th in which are given the resolutions reported by Judge Harris in which he solemnly pledges his sons to the service of the country. As he is an old bachelor it may be of interest to know where his sons are and how he came by them; whether they are white or mulatto. I wish you would send me that one back as I may want it sometime or other. You observe that the sore-heads did not dare put Stone’s name, Reed’s name, or my name in the resolutions. Of course, the statement that Senator Stone persuaded me to fight the conscription bill is as big a lie as was ever printed. He and I never spoke on the subject in our lives. The little clipping -- the smallest of all the clippings, is from the Washington Post of yesterday about my going to Europe. Then there is one from yesterday’s Star, wherein I answered that I am not going to Europe. Then there’s one from the Republic, showing that they have found out at last that the Sixth
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No. 3. L-C B. C. C. Missouri Regiment is in existence. All these clippings will serve to while away a few minutes. I went over to see Senator Stone about a matter of business, and he gave me a history of how Senator Ely came to renege. Ely had called a meeting by townships to send delegates to the county meeting. Township meetings to be on the 8th. Senator Stone had a letter from one of the most prominent men in the County and he said not a single person attended the Township meetings. I talked to him a good, long time and while he doesn’t like such performances, he is not afraid of them, and neither am I. He said he couldn’t hardly keep from crying when you left. He certainly has deep affection for you. At the luncheon last week, I had him and Mabel. This time, I had Senator Reed. The truth is, I invited him and his wife both and he forgot to notify her until it was too late. The weather has become very fine here. Yesterday we adjourned over until Friday because we are about through with the work. I had your collars all washed up. Do you want any of them? You have some of the soft
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No. 4. L.C. B. C. C. and some of the standing collars both. We have been having trouble to find a apartment that is big enough to be comfortable in. At odd times I have read your Encyclopaedia Britannica to refresh my mind about certain big wigs. It turns out that Mark Hanna’s war cry of “let well enough alone” is simply a reproduction of Lord Melbourne’s life-long principle to let things alone when they were going fairly well. [ms illegible: 1 wd] Mark never heard of Melbourne. There is a funny sentence in the article of Melbourne’s: “I wish I was as cocksure of any one thing as Macaulay is of everything.” I wind up my chapter on Roosevelt and McKinley with that sentence. I never felt better in my life. I work what I can on my two books. The Europeans are very anxious for us to send a visiting delegation. I think it is utter nonsense and waste of money. At any rate, I am coming to see you. I would rather see you than see all the Capitals, Parliaments and Kings in Europe. Your father, Champ Clark.
Details
| Title | Champ Clark letter to Bennett Champ Clark - September 19, 1917 |
| Creator | Clark, Champ |
| Source | Clark, Champ. Letter to Bennett Champ Clark. 19 September 1917. Clark, Champ (1850-1921) and Bennett Champ (1890-1954), Papers, 1853-1973. C0666. The State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia, MO. |
| Description | In this September 19, 1917 letter to his son Bennett, Champ Clark discussed local politics, the progress he had made on his book, and the European's wishes for an American delegation to visit. 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; United States. Army. Camp Doniphan (Okla.); Clark, Bennett Champ, 1890-1954; Fort Sill (Okla.); Reed, James A. (James Alexander), 1861-1944; World War, 1914-1918; Ely, William H. J. (1891-1942) |
| 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 | September 19, 1917 |
| Language | English |