Background
James Paul Clarke was born on August 18, 1854 in Yazoo City, Mississippi, United States. He was the son of Walter and Ellen (White) Clarke.
James Paul Clarke was born on August 18, 1854 in Yazoo City, Mississippi, United States. He was the son of Walter and Ellen (White) Clarke.
Clarke was educated in the schools of Mississippi and in the law school of the University of Virginia, where he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1878. He was admitted to the bar in 1879.
In 1879 Clarke opened a law office in Helena, Arkansas. From 1887 to 1895 he served as representative, senator, attorney-general, and governor. His administration as governor was uneventful except for the passage of some populistic legislation, such as a law to tax nationalbank notes and United States treasury notes in circulation as currency. He declined a second term and in 1897 moved to Little Rock and resumed the practise of law.
In 1903 he was elected to the United States Senate as a Democrat to succeed J. K. Jones and was reelected in 1909. In 1914, under popular election, he narrowly missed defeat in the Democratic primary, but was triumphantly elected at the general election. In 1913 he was elected president pro tempore of the Senate and was reelected in 1915, although he had opposed some of the administration measures and did not always vote with his party.
During his first term in the Senate his “unqualified independence” caused him to break with his party in its opposition to Roosevelt’s policy on Panama Canal legislation. He served on several important committees, being chairman of the Committee on Commerce. He made few set speeches, but participated freely in debate and exercised considerable influence on legislation.
James Paul Clarke was remembered for his service in the state government and U. S. Congress. He was instrumental in securing the passage of Panama Canal legislation. He contributed largely to the defeat of the Ship Purchase Bill (1915), an administration measure, and secured several important modifications in the bill before it was finally passed.
Clarke was a member of the Democratic Party. He supported the Bristow amendment for popular election of United States senators with federal control, although his party was for state control. He bitterly opposed the Adamson eight-hour law (1916), another administration measure, in which he was supported by only one Democratic senator. He was an ardent advocate of Philippine independence and pushed through the Senate a bill promising independence in a short time, but it failed in the House. Although Clarke was somewhat conservative in certain things he was progressive in others. He favored full control of the railroads. When the Hepburn Bill (1906) was under consideration he advocated physical valuation as a basis for rate making, the giving of the Interstate Commission final power over rates without any right of appeal to the courts, and the prohibition of any preliminary injunction against the enforcement of new rates proclaimed by it. In 1908 he opposed the Aldrich Currency Bill as premature. He voted for the exclusion of Reed Smoot and William Lorimer. He supported employers’ liability and workmen’s compensation legislation, the exemption of farmers and laborers from the anti-trust law, the literacy test for immigrants, and the taxation of trading in cotton futures.
On November 10, 1883, Clarke was married to Mrs. Sallie (Moore) Wooten of Moon Lake, Missisippi.
