Editing Champ Clark (section)

====Canadian reciprocity treaty====
{{Main|1911 Canadian federal election|Reciprocity (Canadian politics)}}
In 1911, Clark gave a speech that helped to decide the [[1911 Canadian federal election|election in Canada]]. On the floor of the House, Clark argued for the recent [[Canadian–American Reciprocity Treaty#Aftermath|Canadian–American Reciprocity Treaty of 1911]] and declared: "I look forward to the time when the American flag will fly over every square foot of British North America up to the North Pole."<ref>Allan, Chantal ''Bomb Canada: And Other Unkind Remarks in the American Media'' Athabasca: Athabasca University Press, 2009 p. 17.</ref>

Clark went on to suggest in his speech that the treaty was the first step towards the end of Canada, a speech that was greeted with "prolonged applause" according to the ''[[Congressional Record]]''.<ref name="Allan, page 18">Allan, ''Bomb Canada: And Other Unkind Remarks in the American Media'' page 18.</ref> The ''Washington Post'' reported, "Evidently, then, the Democrats generally approved of Mr. Clark's annexation sentiments and voted for the reciprocity bill because, among other things, it improves the prospect of annexation."<ref name="Allan, page 18"/>

The ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' condemned Clark in an editorial, predicting that Clark's speech might have fatally damaged the treaty in Canada; "He lets his imagination run wild like a Missouri mule on a rampage. Remarks about the absorption of one country by another grate harshly on the ears of the smaller."<ref name="Allan, page 18"/> The [[Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942)|Conservative Party of Canada]], which opposed the treaty, won the Canadian election in large part because of Clark's speech.