i
: SECTION OF
THE ASHE VILLE I GAZETTE NEWS
ASIIEVILLE, X. C, SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 1912.
C&K . ; W. U N DER WOOD FOR PR ESI DENT
MATCHLESS LEADER OF A UNITED DEMOCRACY WORTHY OF A UNITED SUPPORT
OS
I
THE PROGRESS OF
A SANE YOUNG MAN
extraordinarily well qualified for the presidency because of his long experience
in oovernmentai matters, granting mat Mr. latt bad long experience in the
executive end of the Government, he was wofully deficient; in knowledge of
the legislative end; and this has been apparent all through his term. So with
Mr. Roosevelt The tragedy of the death of Major McKinley will hold his
name high among the names of our Presidents; but, considering him critically,
. ! . . 1 1 r i - . i . . v. . .
no nisionan at au lanuuar wira ine ibcis can aeny ne was an expert rresident,
a capable President, President who could secure results, .' a President who
knew how to deal with the Congress which makes the lawsthe must execute,
because 01 nis long experience ana service in tne Mouse. , ;
WW
By Samuel G. Blvtbc
(Saturday Evtninr Post. Dectmbtr 2D. 91l.V
" WV?' Washington on Wednesday, the second of August last so hot
you could fry an egg on the pavement at Ninth and F if .so be your taste ran
to fried egg to asphalt; and it was even hotter than on that torrid corner
in the glasa-ceilinged chamber of the Hn nf
Only a few wilted statesmen were present at noon, and the chaplain languidly
besought that they should be purified from all guile and let it go at that It
may have been there wis a feeling that some of those statesmen reposing coat
less and within the tones of influence of the electric fans in the various com
mittee rooms should have their guile removed too; for no sooner had the
chaplain concluded his thirty seconds of prayer than the absence of a quorum
was suggested. The heated statesmen came pouring in from all sorts of places,
shoving themselves sulkily into their coats, and answered to their names as
the roll was .called. Two hundred and thirty-three of them responded, each
asking his neighbor: "What's up?"
It wasn't long before they all found out. After Mr. Burke, of South Dakota,
had corrected the Record to show he voted in the negative on a certain propo
sition instead of answering "Present," Oscar W TTnWnn1 tk. rt,;
floor-leader, and by the same token the majority floor-leader, was up. Also,
Oscar W. Underwood was cool. Two hundred and thirty-two statesmen were
moist to the point of saturation and heated to th nnin nf tim,...n.. w
Underwood was cool. Not a bead of perspiration gemmed his brow; not a sag
wu m " vmwr auu nu snirx-oosom preserved us pristine gloss.
Underwood Center of a Dramatic Scene.
ne naa a newspaper in nis band; and as be rose the gasping patriots on I
both sides took notice and shoved up their temperatures a degree or so by I
Clapping vigorously.
"The gentleman from Alabama is recognized," said the Speaker, leaning for
ward eagerly as if he knew what was coming. -
"Mr. Speaker, began Underwood calmly, evenly, dispassionately and coolly
which is most important "Mr. Speaker, I rise to a question of personal privi
lege." The Democrats applauded some more. The Republicans grinned. It
was no affair of theirs, save as a show.
He asked that the clerk read from the newspaper he held in his hand, and
sent a page-boy scurrying up to the desk with it The clerk read in that sing
song manner in which all reading clerks read. It was a telegraphic dispatch
from Lincoln, Nebraska, and it began; "The recent activity of Representative
Underwood in defeating the attempt by Champ Clark and others to reduce the
steel and iron schedule has met with the disaooroval of W. T. Brvan."
The reading clerk paused here, as if to let the enormity of this sink into the
parboiled perceptions of the perspiring patriots, and began again : Today
Bryan authorizes the following statement : ' 'The action of Chairman Under
wood in opposing an immediate effort to deduce the iron and steel schedule
reveals the real Underwood. Speaker Clark and other tariff reformers tried
to secure the passage of a resolution instructing the Ways and Means Com
mittee to take up other schedules, including the iron and steel schedule; but
Underwood and Fitzgerald, of New York, succeeded in defeating the resolu
tion.'" .... ... . . . . .
There was more of the statement, but that is enough to show its general
tenor. It charged Underwood with being tainted with protection and having
an individual interest in the iron and steel business, and was a very pointed
and personal assault on one big Democrat by another. After the clerk had
finished reading the statement there was a moment of silence. Underwood
stood looking directly at the Speaker, who still half leaned across the big desk
up under the flag. Then Underwood began speaking slowly, dispassionately,
evenly and gravely.
Underwood's High Political Courage.
"The statements contained in that article are absolutely false!" he said. In
stantly the entire Democratic side broke into a roar ot applause.
"If the reflections that paper contains rested only on myself I should not
take the time of this House to answer them; but the statements contained in
that article are a reflection on the only body of Democracy that is in control
of this Government, and as the representative leader on the floor of this House,
of this majority, I should be untrue to my party it I did not rise here and
stamp those utteranas with Uie orand ot taisenood i . HON. O. W. UNDERWOOD.
underwood continued, ne asserceu ne nau aancu wc vuiinimicc iu m uy ,
the iron and steel schedule first because he comes from an iron, and steel dis- Underwood's Varied Public Service,
trict. and aooealed to his Democratic colleagues on the committee to support
his statement, which thev did. He said the committee had deemed it wiser Now. when you talk of a man as a receptive or an aggressive candidate for
to take up the woolen and the cotton schedules first because the iron and steel a presidential nomination you tot up his qualifications; and, no matter whether
schedules had been cut in the Wilson, the Dingley and the Payne Bills and Underwood's name ever gets before the convention or not no matter if it re
wool and cotton had not been revised for many years. Mr. Kitchin, of North ceives no votes save those of Alabama, the fact is he is highly qualified so far
Carolina, corroborated what Underwood claimed; and Underwood further as the mechanics of the Government is concerned. He has served in the House
proved his case, explaining his connection with the iron and steel business 0f Representatives for seventeen years. When he took his seat, in December,
he is a stockholder in a company that makes pig iron and having a telegram J89S, he was thirty-three years old. He was placed on the Committees on Public
read from Mr. Bryan, dated April twenty-third, to Ollie James, in which Mr. Lands and Expenditures on Public Buildings. In the Fifty-fifth Congress he
Bryan asked James to convey his congratulations to Underwood. ; wal promoted to the important Committee on Judiciary, and in the Fifty-sixth
"Mr. Speaker," said Underwood, "Mr. Bryan did not say I was protection- went to Ways and Means. He was on Rules and the Irrigation of Arid
izing the' Democratic party when I brought in the free-list bill Not until I Land, jn the Fifty-seventh Congress, on Appropriations and Irrigation of
j:r J .:.u u: ... th. wnnlrn arhrrlul Hid he have one word of criticism SO A,M t,nl, in h Fiftv-viodith and in the Fiftv-riinth went hack to WavS
UI1ICICU IfllU VI. I" V " - ----- , , . H . I u j ... ..... ...j .n..v, - J
fail as my conduct was concerned. I had to write a woolen schedule an(j Means, where he has since remained, arriving at the chairmanship in the
that would protect the revenues of this Government, and because I did so and present or Sixty-second Congress, when the Democrats gained control of the
did nn w h mmmand of the gentleman from Nebraska, Mr. Bryan, he trnil.
is endeavoring to make the country believe I am not an honest Democrat in jn tU thMe vtars he has been a quiet, systematic, steady worker not demon
favor of an honest revenue tariff." ... r strative, not flashy, but studious and industrious; and the mere reading of the
There was some more of the speech, but not much. It was delivered ear- nameJ o tJle committees on which he has served will show how wide his
nestly, but without heat and without an attempt at oratorical flourish There experience has been. He has touched all phases of the legislative side of the
was no frenzy of denial, no protesting of innocence, no beating about the Dusn. Government and mastered them. So far as the mechanics of this Government
a. . ..n denial and Droved his case, lnat was all :. ,nnn.ih innwirrim nf hnw to do the things that must be done there
tW 9 to iK-nrtot one thine. . , ' U no man in Conirresa who the superior of Underwood. And, without laying
" --- r- - - 1 .. w i t t. ; T T f ,
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PLAIN WORDS ON BIO
QUESTIONS
(Extracts from interview el Os
car W. Underwood, reported in
Staff Correspondence of the
New York World Editorial
Section, December 3, 1911.)
"There has been no attempt on
the part of the manufacturers to
give labor its share of the benefits
oe.ived from the tariff I They
have kept all the profits." .
"To protect profits is to protect
inefficiency and to strangulate
rather than to develop industry."
,
"I prefer to lower the tariff wall
by taking bricks off the top of the
wall rather than by dynamiting
the structure at the bottom."
"The people have lost faith in
the Republican party because it
has not kept faith with them."
"If it (the Sherman Act) is en
forced as a criminal statute it is
an efficient instrument for pre
venting and punishing monopoly
and restraint of trade.
. . ... -I - Tlni1.,fuul tVi msr bnmvlrffri nf the
, , .... i mvseii ODen 10 me nidi kc ui uvuiimhk wuw wwv 0 - -
Underwood a Presidential Possibility. mechanics of the Government that is brought to the White House by its four-
-' . . . . . j ... ..... ci,t.n th httr th nou will be for the country at large.
tm... i.-tLt... urh TTnitrrninnd finished tnat statement ana i j -
inn one inins is ims. . . . . i . .
down, .mid:,he .ppUu. of rtie Ho-
was it the fact that he had assailed Mr. Bryan that made him a candidate. Somebndy asked me once if I didn't think Underwood is a good deal like
Assaults on Mr. Bryan are as common as Mr. Brvan s assaults on other people McKinley n many ways. Laying aside whatever criticisms there may be of
-and about m eff?tive. What gave the State o( A McKny. the fact is a. I have said-he wm a jn effecttve
d date was this: Here was a man wim uic awim vv president because ne Knew now 10 uo mings. w...F-.... -j -r-
independence. Here was a man who did not attempt to palter with a nidation, M Kinley wai , Republican and a protectionist-and Underwood is a Demo-
and Tdelfctte we politically, but met it calmly and proved his contention belifvef ,tariff for revenue; but the two men had many traits in
Here , I L Tlhl, as floor-leader of the House majority, was "goring af an w Md Undrwood , .tudent of tariff economics,
f: , "l.. : . i i-L r. .i.. n.n.nrriiu nartv and the country, and not for S"w:i i.:. .u. t rr,Dnni. hv conciliation, by smoothing diffi-
SsWJTS in -inhcori" :ny individual and the country .ZMJ
applauded and began to ts: now . v t(J Q Ult Dy .uavene,, , u l the
wood, and equally ot course ine - . o-rjonai knew now to siraignien oui iww -v - --. . , .
stance to laud him had he praised Bryan in iff t0 . Suestion McKinley knew when to recede and when ,
nni When McKinley talked of
equation 01 it was negugime. . - . in th, thought stocic-si ii in a posu.u , --.v.- thn,aA doe,
of persona privilege and denounced , ma u the calm and con- the tariff, for example, ne Knew "5
of the people; but the Independence with which . b did .it, the ca in i and con derw00(J bnt McKinley waa, ,d Underwood is erant of "P"1
vincing manner in which he made his proof, the fact that the entire Jjy f ,h d u uHimately concerned in getting what seems best for his ; parry.
:i:5..T uPI Ji". .. U MA. after an arduous session of Congress, in ?,,"",'n" J,n of th. men other than a comparison of their
-IVU.ICU -"""".. ,"..aa:.a nnalities of eadership and general- ?" " ii.nj . i. Underwood. These are tne
;hr.ndMneth.rhTd caused i wakening of interest lu- .mong 'wh-'
Et5jX& vST beTngTvailatle for the Democratic Undcrwood Leadership Beset With Tremendous Difficulties.
nomination for President. ' 1
Henre. nnlrst conditions ' change
National convention' is held, Alabama,
to some other State farther down the list : wne. i . . Wnon. w - -riSTftW been second to Champ
In nomination, win ..r t r.... w l - . ... . ... c:,h,.fir(
fnr the consideration of the delegates tne name the Democratic minonwoi me mm.
4 Birmingham, chairman of the Ways an . ' the House h.
the Sixtv-second Congress and Moor-leaner oi ine "'-"- - ' - and tmro in
i.i.. n th Sixtv-nrst Congress, in which
IT Ul UIC W"n" . J . , , . ' ct 1 .
the House had a Republican majority and passed the rayne- .m "
House,
the Fifty-ninth Congress, when the House was also ReP""""
and wnen pe w r .. tk. Democrats
Underwood's Long Legislative Experience of Great Value. gaS.- Without protest,
f . . . .j .v. r.tU. whn TTadrrwnod racceeeC to tne cnarrmiF vi i ... ... r
n..Ki.. ffu-a nave aeia in " " . ., TI .i i. . v nm ana Means jom
. J7".ffljn .,J"vr:r k..iw;J en better tha- they did if they U.derwpod was m in'" r u. o the Wavs and
uuiu , ...I. ,v. i vtien tne umgirr tmrm w - . . - .
n wwk r- u.- .k. P.-.AMr-fc law was constructed, inougn m
1" U WU. fw the apeoiic W olp.
WMIVWiim ' - - . -
made the Constitution
h
denry
lrgi
d in udeTin that document a provision .1 : no mi 1, eUgiUie p.
lenry in this country unless he has served a "rta- k-gt h .f tune m
rgislative branch of the Government It wm arged for Mr. laft uat ne
Mas. Underwood.
reciprocity legislation, to which the
Democrats were favorable, the House
was Democratic mainly because of the
dissatisfaction of the people with the
Payne-Aldrich tariff law, the election
that made the House Democratic being
the first opportunity the people had to
express that dissatisfaction tangibly.
The Democrats had a majority of
nearly seventy. They had not had pos
session of the House for sixteen years.
They were politically hungry and polit
ically thirstv. They needed sustenance.
They thought they had a chance to elect
a president in 1912 and get full swing
at all the oerauisites and prerogatives
of the Government; and each man of
the two hundred and twenty-eight Dem-
ocraUwas.imL.of . schemes, for, malcipi
this chance a certainty. They were al
Anxious to revise the tariff in order to
keep faith with the people, but they had
many plans for revision and many
shades of opinion as to how it should
be revised. They felt their power and
importance. They were eager, avid, en
thusiastic and none too prudent.
Underwood and the
Democratic Party.
Underwood was made leader of these
men. His task was to hold them in line,
to keep them together, to get them at
work intelligently and cohesively to get
results. He knew that the Democratic
uarty. if it was to have any response
from the people in its demand for the election of a Democratic president in
1912. must show the rjeoole it is trustworthy and fit for confidence. He knew
of the varying opinions as to what should be done with the tariff ; knew of
the enthusiasm and lack of judgment, the partisanship, and even the fanaticism
of some of his followers; knew they had been so long outside tnat tne
attainment of the inside position might lead to excesses in legislation. He chose
his lieutenants well and went at the job.
His task is not yet completed. The President 'vetoed the tariff bills that were
formulated in the House under Underwood's direction and intrinsically his,
though changed in many particulars in the Senate and in conference. There
will be more tariff legislation in the House in this session. The President has
demanded it and the Democrats are willing to go at it again in tneir own
way. What Underwood must do again is to hold his party in line to meet
o. mmnW itnatinn a he had to meet in the extra session that ended last
summer and never forget for a minute that there is a presidential election
next year that undoubtedly will be largely decided upon the tariff question,
Judging the future by the past, he will do it. It is a situation charged with
dynamite. Many ot nis uemocrauc cuncagucs ic nni '"
in many ways. The Congress will not adjourn until just before the first national
convention is held. The record of the present House will figure largely, not
t.. h individual fortunes of Underwood but also as to the fortunes
of whomsoever shall be nominated Dy tne Democrats lor prcsiueiu mm m
candidate s success at the pons. .
Underwood Opposes Initiative, Referendum and Recall
tT ! n uArnfA fnnarvntvi in hi view hf other legislation. For example.
he does not favor the wide extension of the initiative, referendum and recall.
His contention is that these measures have worneo out sausiaciurny m
matters where the people clearly undei stood the issues; but that in larger
matters of national importance the Congress is better able to protect the
interests of the people.
"The people suffer far more from the failure to enforce existing
laws than they do from the lack of proper legislation," he says. The
people should drive from the places of power and responsibility the
unfaithful servants and elect those who will be faithful to the trust
imposed upon them. The masses of people are far better judges of
" men than they are of measures, and are far more likely to select an
honest man than an honest measure."
Underwood's Characteristics.
hnrn in Kntuckv in 1862. was educated at the Rugby
Chnnl in Tnui.vilt and th University of Virginia, and was admitted
to the bar in 1884. He went at once to Birmingham, Alabama, where he has
since practiced law. He was first elected to congress in 10 ana nas ocxn
returned regularly since. He early took a hand in politics and served on State
and district committees before he went to Washington. As I have shown,
his experience in the House has been varied and his advance has been steady.
He is not a showy man, but a studious. He is not an eloquent orator, but
a convincing speaker. His greatest speech was in opposition to the Paynt
Aldrich bill when that measure was reported to the House of Representatives
by the Republican Ways and Means Committee in 1909. He made several
important speeches in advocacy of his own measures during the extra session
of the House last summer, but none was so important or so exhaustive as
that speech against the Payne bill. He spoke for several hours, took up the
k:n tu, urtinn nt notvrd it fmm hit Information and convictions.
I'll! WJ .v.. V". - - " ... r
This was one of the great speeches of a season of remarkable presentments of
tariff doctrine on both sides of the House. ,
Underwood does not write his speeches. He says he cannot memorize easily,
and never attempts to make a set speech or a speech where he follows copy
exactly. His method is to collect all the available information bearing on his
subject and arrange it m skeleton form. He sets it out by divisions, suhdlvl-tons
and topics. He goes over these, rearranges, classifies, divides and subdivides.
tl . ; nnrttnnt nf tfie mwk. or he may not. At any rate.
-i h. mm, to talk he has nothing before kirn but a sheet f naner with his
topics e it, and he talk without reference te aotea c to authorities.
.
HIS WIFE A REAL, HELPflEET
Mr. Underwood has been helped and
assisted by his wife. She is proud of
him and has faith in his future. She
takes the utmost interest in his work
and his ambitions. She assumes full
control of the domestic establishment
and leaves him free from care and con
cern. It is rumored that she even
lays out bis clothes for him and ties
his cravat. She seeks to aid him in his
studies and work of research. She is
bright, well educated, vivacious and full
of life. Not beautiful, but attractive
wholesome and companionable. N
wonder is expressed that Mr. Under
wood s forehead and face are free from
wrinkles. All the turbulence and nerve
suicide connected with handling a flat
are removed from him. New lorn
World, August 6, 1911.
UTttE-UNDERWOOD, BOOfli
' Uncle Joe Cannon is quoted as saying
hat "Congressman Underwood of Ala
ama has grown more in public senti
icnt recently than any other man in the
Jnited States."
Other leaders in both big parties are
ow taking notice of this able South
erner, who distinguished himself dur
ng the extra session of Congress as
Democratic leader in the House.
Commenting upon the Underwood
boom, the Birmingham Age-Herald says :
"The rise of OscarJnderwood is the
marvel of American puuHcs, and we may
look for its culmination in the week of
June 25 in the good city of Baltimore."
That this distinguished Alabamian is
growing in favor in all sections of the
country is plainly evident on alt sides.
Watch Underwood. Columbus, lieorgia,
Ledger, reprinted in the Birmingham,
Ala., Age-Herald, January, 1912.
DUTY HIGHER
THAN ATIBITION
Underwood Not Self-Seeking
"My Friends Must Do The Wark,"
says Underwood.
Congressman Oscar W. Underwood, 1
when asked if he would be a candidate
for the Presidency, said:
"I think my friends are going to pay
me the compliment of indorsing me aod
that t'ley will present my name to the
convention. I will be very pre-ud t
have their indorsement. No man couM
feel otherwise about it.
"Rut I have told them that what they
do' they must do by themselves. I have
man s work cut out tor me own
yonder," waving his hand in the gen
eral direction of Washington, "and I
am going to try my best to do tt. I
am not going to neglect it to be a ea- '
didate for the Presidency ar for any
thing else.
"For what my tnenos do l snail oe
grateful. But what is done my friends
will have to do." New York American,
Oct. 15, 1911. .
UNDERWOOD'S
BOLD PROGRAM
Good Politics and P4icy
The Underwood program contemplates
sane reductions, not revolutionary, bat ;
framed so as ta lighten the burden
of the tariff without giving ta violent
a shock to important national interests.
This is a sensible program.
It is good political strategy and sound
economics. Moreover, it is practical
If such a program should be passed
and vetoed by the President, Mr. Taft
and the Republican party wiU have to
face an angry nation with a third be
trayal charged against them.
If Taft should approve it, his pre
vious attitude and previous vetaea wfll
leave all the credit for tariff rcfama
to the Democratic party, and will enable
him to recover none of the advaartega
he has lost.
The failure of the tariff eammissioa
has deprived the President f even a
legitimate excuse for further vetaet, and
gives the Democrats mp1e tea lor
going ahead without waiting yars for
more reports of the same bind. New
Orltant hem, reprinted k the Montnnm
ery' (Alabama) Advertiter, Jan. 5. 1Z
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