North Carolina Newspapers

J""-' J.ERAT : t APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF OUR PUBLIC ROADS tand Duty of Congress Unquestioned from the Founda-i UNDERWOOD HOUSE LEADER CLEAN COURAGE, HIGH HONESTY FAITHFUL IN HIS FRIENDSHIPS tion of the Government His name is Oscar W. Underwood I his vears are on the sunshine side of t . , 'fifty. As chief of the Ways and Means, xtracts from speech of Oscar v. Underwood in the U. S. House i.f ken-' t , r- :.. itatives April 1 1908 ) 1 cnairman oi uie cumnmicc on e House being in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the 1 mittces he 15 sPeakfr darks right arm n, and having under consideration the bill (H. R. 19158) making I in the House. bpriations for the Department of Agricult ure for the fiscal year ending Mr. Underwood's cry is "Tariff for JU, 1W Underwood said : r. Chairman: Objection is made to this aDDrooriation looking to the im- bment of our public-road system on the ground that it invades the re- a powers ot the States. I wish to say there is no man on the floor of House more jealous in his desire to protect reserved rights of the s than I am. I believe the sovereign Mates -e,, ",e Union have duties to perform and should perform them or hindrance nn art of the Federal Government. I do not oeiieve the Central Government Id enter into the legislative fields that belong solely to the States, but I ve that the Federal Government, within its well-defined powers has its v. j'..iorm unoer me powers given it Dy the Constitution; that it should tore and effect to the grants of power given it by the States, and one '.cw grants of power, to use the language of the Constitution, is "to estab-5ost-offices and post-roads." ere can be no question whatever that the Constitution carries flip nrmr liild post-roads in the United States. To establish post-offices means to post-offices, and to establish post-roads means to build post-roads. Gcn n may scoff at the proposition and say that the fathers did not contem- our present development and modern methods of transportation ; that contemplated building roads to carry the mail throueh the wilderness and lot dream of a time coming when the mail could be delivered at everv rs door. But I want to say, Mr. Chairman, that the need for post-roads e United States was no greater in the days of the fathers than today. . Douglas. 'Where does the gentleman find anything in the Constitution rizing the Federal Government to build post-roads? . Underwood. Why, it is very clear. The Constitution cives the oower e Federal Government "to establish post-offices and post-roads." . Douglas. The language of the Constitution is to "establish" post-roads, hat has been held to be a very different thing from building them. Williams. That question was discussed in the Third Congress and was bd in favor of the construction of the Cumberland road by some of the men who wrote the Constitution. . Underwood. The contention that is made today by the leaders of the lican party that the Government of the United States has no constitu power to aid the States in building good roads was certainly not main- 1 by the leading men of the nation during the first half century of our nee as a Oovernment. March 14, 1818, the House of Representatives passed the following res- n Resolved, That Congress has power under the Constitution to ap- ropriate money for the construction of post-roads, military and other )ads, and of canals, and for the improvement of waterways. pma,s Jtfferson.'aid, in a letter, to Mr. Licper, in 1808: "Give us peace till our revenues are liberated from debt, and then, if yar be necessary, it can be carried on without a new tax or loan, and uring peace we may checker our whole country with canals, roads, tc. 1 Ins is the object to which all our endeavors should be directed. hile Secretary of War in 1819 Mr. Calhoun made a report to the House ;presentatives on roads and canals, in which he said: "No object of the kind is more important and there is none to which tate or individual capacity is more inadequate. It must be perfected y the General Government or not perfected at all." addition to this, Congress has a stronger and more specific warrant for lg this appropriation, under the authority conferred by the Constitution stablish post-olficcs and post-roads. Cooley, in his book on Constitu Law, says : "Every mad within a State, including railroads, canals, turnpikes, nd navigable streams, existing or created within a State, becomes a bst-road, whenever, by the action of the Post-Office Department, pro- ision is made tor the transportation ot the mails upon or over it. revenue only!" When Mr. Bryan, eaten of a rule-or-ruin spirit, came to Wash ington at the beginning of the special session to trouble the waters of party hope with an attack upon the wool bill as proposed by the Democrats, Mr. Un derwood, in going after Mr. Bryan, stated his own tariff position. Said he : "The Democratic party stands for a tariff for revenue. The Democratic party does not stand for free trade, and I do not believe the people will be misled by the statement of Mr. Bryan." That Mr. Underwood is against pro tection, and fights it, evinces his cour age. He comes from the Birmingham district in Alabama a hreeding-eround of protection. In Mr. Underwood's dis trict there are nine railroads, one hun dred and fortv-eieht miles of street-car racks, $150,000,000 of invested indus tries, an annual pig-iron output of 2.000.000 tons, and a production of 15.000.000 tons of coal. The city of Birmingham has an annual pay-mil of $50,000,000. The Tennessee Coal & Iron Company, which is a part of the Steel Trust, controls one-third of all the prod ucts of the district. One-third of all the t Committee, Mr. Underwood has shown iron-ore holdings of the Steel Trust are J himself to t the right man in the right in and around I'-irmingham. Surely, at place. What advances are made hy the first glance, a bad outlook for a tariff party in 191.' will be due largely to him. T-t i Y, f " .. reformer! And ct Mr. Underwood succeeds and re-succeeds himself with ever climbing majorities. It is the Underwood honesty that does it that, anil his clean courage. The dominant quality in Mr. Underwood is honesty, and folk have found it out. Honesty is among the scarcest of earth ly commodities, and when a community has discovered it in the possession of an individual, it guards it and works it like a gold-mine for every final ounce. Mr. Underwood is honest: His elec tion was not the work of money. He was not chosen as either the pet of the railroads or the first-born of the trusts. His seat was given him by the people, and because they believed he would fill it to the best of public advantage. This emanation of the popular gives Mr. Underwood the House high ground, and he is so far military in his genius that he knows how to fortify and hold; it. From his place as a people's repre-' sentative, he can overstare and keep in check the Paynes and the Dalrlls and the Crumpackers, who are present mere ly by the grace of pirate money, and hvell, therefore, on House 'evcls much lower than hisown. Alfred Henry Lewis in the Cosmopolitan, N'ew York, January, 1912. As the head of the Ways and Means He knows tarilt m all its srhrdtil windings, as a man knows the hallways of his own house. He has wisdom. He ha temper and spirit, but is neither unreasonable nor vindictive. I have faith in the tariff thoroughness of Mr. Underwood. If I owned the revenues of the Government. I shonldn't hesitate to employ him as night-watchman. Alfred Henry I ewis, in the Cosmopol itan, January, 1912 Mr. Underwood is faithful in his INITIATIVE, REFERENDUM AND RECALL DOCTRINES CONTRARY TO THE FUN MENTAL PRINCIPLES OF OUR GOV 1 i (In address before Young Men'i Democratic League of St. Louis, Some Democrats want to put the initiative and referendum d national piattorm ot the Democratic party. I think that WOU I he initiative and referendum as a local issue is sometimes so when you attempt to apply it to the United States you destroy thd or tne constitution W e are not a true democracy. This is a government, from Kn.xulie Journal and Tribune, Oct. 24, 19 A FIGURE OF NATIONAL SIZE The emphasis here is placed upon Mr. I In a politician this woolq Underwood's wisdom, but along with j recklessness, because party this is mentioned Iils honesty. These two qualities greatly impress friendships. To those whom he casually ! fvPry one who comes into association meets, he is affable, albeit non-com mittal, keeping his own counsel. He is never rude nor hard; never violent, even with blood foes For the stranger within his gates his air is gentle and frank. He is easy to see, and, speaking generally, has been ever careful to keep himself within the reach of all. News paper folk, sent to Mr. Underwood by some stress of duty, never fail to like him. He has his dignity, but there is no reserve. He maintains no distances between himself and them. He answers a question with a round readiness, or says plainly that he can't njiswrr it and tells why He expedites the business in hard, and will even anticipate the pur pose of one's rominc and put questions to himself Alfred Henry l ewis, in the Cosmopolitan, N'ew York, January, 1912. translated in many minds same thing; but it is the dom in a statesman. E' have but partial success a party following, t must of immense good in shod with Mr. Underwood, or who closely follows his course in Congress and in public life. He is wise: he does not ! South has in Mr. Under disturb himself about little things; his I who ran be trusted bv t; own personality is not obtruded; his j man whose patriotism is n UNDERWOOD'S INTEGRITY, PURITY CIVIC COURAGE AND ABILITY Southern Presi- ential Possibility the mention of Oscar W. Under- of Alabama, for the Democratic lential nomination resides a good more than a suggestion that we got too far away from the Civil era to regard a statesman as nec ly "unavailable" because he comes a commonwealth that was a mem- lf the Southern Confederacy. the men now before the country issible or probable Democratic fates for the Presidency, Under- is certainly one of the strongest. ks had a tine training in Congress, in himself a man of natural force ree capacity for work and work- e what we want in executive posi- He has been a member of the of Representatives for some fif ears, and has risen by force of and nothing but merit, to a posi- vhich made it inevitable that he be Chairman of the Committee ays and Means when the Demo- came into control of the popular of the Government. He has the the environment, the enthusiasm, uraize. the political sagacity, and itesmanlv qualities fully to justify tisidcration in connection with the lential nomination. Underwood is a conservative man, is capable of entertaining pro- e ideals and at the same time ot ... , i . i. . jig tully the duty aim me nc- for conserving substantial infer tile community. The Democratic might go farther and do vastly than if it should nominate mm standard-bearer of 1912. Mun- ftfagaciiie, January, 1912. PERWOOD IN THE WEST m gratified to. see this State mov- ward in almost every line and I ie wonderful growth of Birming- I observe that 7 he Age-Herald Dt full step with the progressive and has led in the work. growing strength of Oscar Un d in the minds of the people hottt the United States has given na a kind of publicity that the could obtain in no other vay, l.irlv on the treat question of iff. for it was not thought that uild come out of Alabama witn ried interests who would he a to defy the trusts. Oscar Un d is recarded bv many men as st equipped, cleanest, fairest man mentioned for the presidency, .u nominated, he will undoubtedly If anv strong sentiment ot tne demands his election he will be ted. Out in Colorado, with its e T ill mrfc HlS Ot Visitor IIOlll an l'"ii- United States, he is the first man bv mo-.t of them. 1 he prom given to his candidacy by the ties aim tne pumic usa.- a strong tide to rise which 1 nn m'lieve win cany nun w m. House I took much pleasure icr in organizing the Underwood i Denver, and it is doing eood nntiestionablv." Harrv Hawkins, York, in the Birmingham, Ala., crald, January 8, 1912. The Conserva tive South Not many days ago, it was suggested in an editorial in this paper that the peo ple of that section of the Union that tried a half a century ago to break up the Union of the States, might possibly turn out to be the home of a conser vatism that would stand as a barrier against a change in our scheme of gov ernment that would destroy the fabric of the Constitution adopted by our wise forefathers, and ratified by the States that had fought for and achieved inde pendence and freedom. As evidence that such a thing may be among the possibilities a paragraph is here quoted from a speech made by lion, uscar vv . Underwood, of Ala bama, to the Young Men's Democratic League of St. Louis : "Some Democrats want to put the initiative and referendum plank into the national platform of the Democratic party. I think that would be unwise. The initiative and referendum as a local issue is sometimes successful. But when you at tempt to apply it to the United States you destroy the entire fabric of the Constitution. We are not a true democracy. This is a representative Govern ment." As the reader knows, Mr. Underwood is the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representa tives at Washington. But for the fact that he is a native and a life-long resi dent of the South he would stand a fine chance to be made the Democratic can didate for President next year. Candor compels the statement that he is as well qualified for the performance of the du ties of the great office as. any fne in his party who has been mentioned in that connection, and it is not doubted that if elected he would make a safe President. KnoxviUr. Journal and Trib une, October 24, 1911. In this morning's magazine section of The Times our readers will find the very interesting report of an inquiry by a staff correspondent into the record and repute, in his own home, of the Hon. Oscar W. Underwood of Ala bama, who has recently been discussed as a possible Democratic candidate for the presidency. It is needless to say fchat The Times ;s not concerned ,to, ad vance the interests of any gentleman in this direction in preference to any other: It is concerned only in laying before its readers such information, carefully gathered and impartially pre sented, as will aid in the formation of sound public opinion and a choice that will be to the greatest advantage of the Nation. We think our readers will agree that any party may be congratulated among whose prominent men, to whom the eyes of the party are directed on the eve of a presidential campaign, there is one with such standing among those who know him best as Mr. Underwood has. Plainly he is a man to be trusted, because he is trusted, for his integrity, purity, civic courage, and ability, by his own people. Whether, when the time comes for a choice, he will be consid ered the best man is a question which it is now too early to decide. But there is one element that will enter into the problem which may well receive atten tion even thus early. It is the fact that Mr. Underwood is a man of South ern birth, a Representative from a South ern State. There is a feeling, rather than a definite opinion, which finds ex pression more often in his own section than in the North, and perhaps more often in his own party than in the op posite party, that this fact would be a source of weakness if Mr. Underwood were named by the Democracy. Of course, this is a matter not easily to be decided with confidence in ad vance. There has .been no occasion for a distinct expression of public sentiment regarding it. It is a half century since a Southern candidate for the presidency came before the Nation, and a good deal longer than that since one was elected. Great events have intervened and left their impress on the minds and hearts of men, the depth and di rection of which no one can surely es timate. Our own judgment is that a candidate from the South other things being equal would not be weaker and might even be the stronger for that fact. In a broad way, it may safely be said that there is in our people now a sense of tried and proved and established nationality which might, and probably would, welcome an opportunity for manifesting itself. This sense of na tionality has grown progressively ever since the close of the war for the Union. It has been steadily strength ened by the conditions of our National life and especially by the intimate, ex tensive, and increasing intercommuni cation within our borders. ( ur people have for forty years literally lived to gether, and always more and more closely. They have gradually ceased to think in terms of sections, and the South is to-day no more distinct and apart from the Mast or the Middle West or the West in the minds of those who dwell elsewhere. In the nex,t . njacc, no one under sixty j nas any personal experience ui uic civil conflict, and that means not mere ly tht the majority but that the great body of voters are without this ex perience. It is more than a quarter of a century since the "Southern Ques tion" entered even nominally into a National contest. If it were raised political ambitions play no part in gov erning his words and actions. He has an eye single to the performance of duty and believes that duty well per formed is the most urgrnt considera tion. If doing his duty should mar his fortunes as he certainly believed it would when he voted against the pen sion bill he will take what comes with out complaining. Not every man ran be president, lie thinks, but every man can try to do the best that is in him for his country and for the times he lives in. Am! this is honesty. He plays no politics; he stands out against raiding 'he treasury no matter what be the ex-u--r offered and he opposes his own friends and associates quite as firmly as he opposes his opponents when, in his judgment, the thing proposed to be done is not for the common good mall thinzs, nor sufTeri burden f any prejudice. For our part, we belie wi;dom is of more practic would be the keenest pol inn; an that this verv ah seeking, this contempt foil the politician, is working f he himself has his mind q things he regards as of n The country rould do nd to put its entire trust in and there is good reason tn will do so. As Mr. Ltl should not "hesitate to en nii(ht wa'chman." This from the South, hot from a atti'ude is critical and who' is fif the North, is certai i oi to re despitea; its s verv great The XfobU AVvrrr-r. January 21, 1912. Southern Leaders and the Tariff No sensible man, certainly no one friendly to the South, wishes to see the tariff made a sectional question. The course of Mr. Clark and Mr. Under wood tends to prevent this. They stand not only with their own party through out the country, but with the strong public sentiment in support of tariff re duction that has divided the Republican party, and thrown the House into the hands of the Democrats. When we say that in this they are serving their own ection, we have in mind the important now by any party, and those who would I fa, t that t"py are bringing to bear on be influenced by it had to stand up and be counted, we believe they would be ludicrously few. On the other hand, we are confident that, were the issue made, a great many voters chiefly among those who were most earnest in their loyalty in the civil war would by a common impulse of generosity and of self-respect incline toward the Southern candidate. If forced really to think of the matter, and to act on their conclu sions, it would seem too absurd to act in the present on the issues long since settled, settled in their favor, and set tled forever. The New York Times, November 26, 1911. DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP The most salient fact connected with the story of the bill in the present Con gress is the remarkable strength of the Democratic tactics, and the high qual ity shown by Mr. Underwood, the leader of the party on the floor. The "farmer's free list" bill was a master stroke, and Mr. Underwood utilized it in the dcbaK with an effectiveness that left nothing to be desired. What gives real strength to the Democratic position is that the party i grappling with a big and - difficult question in a spirit that is at once courageous and practical. If there is to be an era of such leadership as that rep resented by Mr. Underwood, the term ''practical politics" may be rescued from the ignominy into which it has fallen and recover the meaning to which it is legitimately entitled, AVrc- York Eve ning Post, reproduced in The El Dorado Sun (Weekly), El Dorado Springs, Mo. A Voice From Virginia "All of the avowed aspirants are men of distinction and merit, but my individual opinion is that the party has an opportunity to make a magnificent selection by choosing for its standard bearer in 1912 the wise, well-balanced and thoroughly equipped Alabamian, Hon. Oscar Underwood. "Mr. Underwood's record in states manship is a good enough guarantee of his fitness for the White House. He measures up to all the requirements of the exalted position. He is fearless and broad-minded, and there is nothing of the demagogue in his composition. Some will cavil at his Southern origin and raise the oft-repeated cry that no Southerner can be elected to the presi dency. This bugaboo is raised in spite of the fact that all the leading papers of the North and South and all writers of any note have declared time and again that sectional feeling and preju dice, based on the war of '61-65, have died out completely. "If that be true is there any longer any valid reason against going to the South for a candidate? If Mr. Under wood's personality and public service render him peculiarly available should the matter of location bar him from the nomination? The idea is absurd." Hon. A. C. Broxton, of Richmond, Va., in The Baltimore Sun, January, 1912. UNDERWOOD LOOMS UP Whether the disclaimer of Represen tative Oscar W. Underwood of candi dacy for the Democratic nomination for president is to stand or not, there is no question that he is looming large and seriously, no less at the North than at the South, as a possibility, if not this time, then in the near future. Mr. Underwood is making a widespread and distinctive impression, not only as the honest, bold, sagacious leader of the House majority, and not only as a mas terful Southern Democrat, but as an American publicist and statesman a man of affairs and broad concept of his responsibility to the whole people. Richmond, Va., Times-Dispatch, re printed in the Birmineham, Ala., Age Herald, January 22, 1912. HEARS MUCH POLITICAL TALK "In traveling through the country I hear no end of political talk," said James A. Braun, sales manager of the Wveth Chemical Company of New Vo'rk. "During the past five or six weeks I have heard Underwood 'very much dis cussed as a presidential proposition. I found in the Carolinas a great deal of Underwood sentiment. I have been keeping up with Underwood's record in Congress, and I believe that his commanding position in the Democratic party will be appreciated by the rank and file of the Democracy." Age Herald, Birmingham, Ala., Jan. 7, 1912. Jackscrew or Axe That with the Democratic party al ready in power in the House, and hav ing a visible chance of coming into com plete power in the National Govern ment, it is of interest to learn from what viewpoint the actual pilot-in-charge of the Democracy's legislative ship looks at his task and by what stars he shapes his course. Are they fixed and steadfast lights of the political firmament or are they mere ly those will-o'-the wisps that flame up as paramount issues tor tins year, only to be forgotten next year? We get a comforting light n this question from another remark by Mr. Under wood : "I think the big question is the tariff It is-the question of the development of the industries and commerce ot the nation. From a Democrat that is a remark well-nigh startling. It exhibits such an unusual viewpoint. It is almost like hearing Andrew Carnegie confess that there might be such a thing as a right eous war. Heretofore, our Democratic statesmen have so uniformly declared that there was nothing to the tariff question but stopping "robbers" from robbing. They never seemed to think of a tariff as having anything to do with the de velopment of industries and commerce. Mr. Underwood does. He says we should reduce our tariff because with the settlement of the West we have left behind the days when our home market absorbed the products of our factories and left us no surplus for which we needed to look for a market abroad. He holds that our industrial develop ment has outstripped the increase in domestic demand, and that we are pro ducing, or at least have the existing ca pacity to produce, a great surplus of manufactures for which we must find markets in other countries. Therefore, and since "we cannot trade with other people unless we permit them to trade with us," reduce the tariff to a competi tive basis to the "lowest rates that will raise the revenues that the exigencies of the Government require." One may agree or disagree with that theory of tariff-making. One may disbe lieve that its effects will be "develop ment of the industries and commerce of the nation." But at least it is a theory consistent with itself and professing constructive aims and not merely clam oring for destruction. And its proponent is no doctrinaire fresh from academic halls with his nod dle crammed with "solutions" of every thing. Neither is be th freak product of passing popular delight with the latest novelty among politcal entertainers." Chicago Inter-Ocean, September So, 1911. , . ESTIMATE OF OPPONENTS Men like Payne and Mann declare him to he the most resourceful an tagonist they have found on the Demo cratic side. A skillful parliamentarian, a good speaker, holding himself always in perfect control, he is a mode! leader, and his following is daily increasing. Washington Correspondence in The Evening Bulletin, Philadelphia, Pa., June, 1911. A Voice From Florida "Oscar Underwood, however, has more friends than any man mentioned for the Democratic presidential nomi nation. He is more popular throughout the country with all the Democrats than the others. He is almost'';, unanimous second choice. If you as the Harmon men who they would be for in case Harmon could not be nominated they will say Underwood; when you ask the Wilson men the same question as to Wilson, they reply that if Wilson can not be the nominee, Underwood is their choice; and the same thing is true of the Champ Clark men." T. A. Jennings, National Committeeman from Florida, in the Pensacola Evening Nevus, Friday evening, January 12, 1912. national affairs the intelligence and strength of their section, and giving it the opportunity to take a leading part in the affairs of the Nation. They are undermining the unfortunate section alism that has, perhaps unavoidably, pervaded Southern politics for a long time. They are ranging the South on the side of progress and in the line of the most significant movement of national opinion that has manifested it self in years. Nothing is more certain than that our vast and intricate and oppressive tariff system is to be reformed, and its reform is bound to be the one task of statesmanship in the next few years. It can be determined, and under certain conditions it can be led by the men of the South. New York Times, January 31, 1911. Underwood a Res The Democrats of the reason to be proud of the er, Chairman Underwood, and Means Committee. Mr has given ample evidence session of the qtialities of tiaf to the position. He h onstratcd most conclusive! a man who cannot be cajl lied from the course he col In the debate over the C iprocity bill former Soea made the bluff that the st vors the enactment of t Mr. Underwood called th effectively by producing from his home district sa United States Steel Con stopped work on important giving as their reason that: stood in Congress advocat reductions on steel include Mr. Underwood added thd ago the steel trust opposed because of the tariff views ened to turn him out of he voted for reductions on "I voted for them just tl stated, and they failed in to turn me out of Congre Underwood is every inch the people have more resi such as he than for a wN of corporation-controlled st The Oeala Daily Banner, lyii. Underwood Among 1912 Possibilities Thi) MR. UNDERWOOD Meanwhile Mr. Underwood has a work to do in Washington for which he has revealed a remarkable aptitude. It is not too much to say that the existing harmony among the Democratic mem bers of the House, and the ability they showed at the last session to work to gether, are largely due to his skillful leadership. He proposes to resume the task of tariff revision at the point where it was interrupted by the President's vetoes. The Providence (R. I.) Jour nal, December 2, 1911. UNDERWOOD AND THE PAPERS The careful reader of the newspapers is surprised at one notable feature of the papers from practically every sec tion of the country. This feature is the general notice and attention paid to Con gressman Oscar Underwood as a candi date for the Democratic presidential nomination, and the uniform praise which invariably accompanies the men tion of him and his candidacy. This is all the more surprising because Mr. Un derwood maintains no press bureau. On the other hand, prominent candidates for the Democratic nomination like Gov ernor Harmon of Ohio, Governor Wil son of New Jersev and Speaker Clark of Missouri, maintain large and active bureaus, which are continually sending out campaign literature to the papers of the country. Notwithstanding ' this, at the present time Mr. Underwood is receiving more attention than any other, we might say any other two. presidential candidates combined. The attitude of the voters towards Mr. Underwood may be doubted until that attitude is made clear in an election, hut it can ne t be doubted that his record and h: strong personality are admired by the newspapers of the country. For now he is receiving more free and favorable advertising than any other public man of the country. Montgomery ( Alabama) Advertiser, January S, 1912. The threatened breakdown of Ma jority Leader Underwood, as a result of long hours of hard work on the tariff in the Ways and Means Committee, put many a Democrat in a nervous state of mind. There developed suddenly a full appreciation of the worth of the Ala bama Congressman as a leader. For Mr. Underwood to become disabled or to be removed from the scene of his usefulness at this critical time would be like pulling a corner post out from under a platform on which was heaped most of the political treasures of the party, Democrats quite generally are willing to admit. Credit for the achievements of the Democratic House bearing the stamp of constructive statesmanship is given readily to the majority leader. Due to his success as a legislative manager his ribility in most tests to keep the House Democracy united and the fact that Civil War wounds have been allowed to heal because of the scarcity of public men of the type of Senator Heyburn, of Idaho, a Southerner is being se riously considered North and South as presidential material. The Underwood-for-Presidcnt movement has been at tracting volunteer workers steadily since last spring, when the newly-installed Democratic House assumed its responsibilities. An Underwood boom for the Democratic nomination for President put on long trousers at the beginning of this, the national campaign year. Austin Cunningham, in the San Antonio Express, January 5, 1912. New LeeJ From Al A PRACTICAL DEMOCRAT St. Louis honors Oscar W. Under wood for his character, for his achieve ments and for his Democracy. The Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee is a practical Democrat. His leadership in the House of Representa t:ves shows that. He possesses the ability to enlist men of varying ideas, plans and moods in support of desirable and feasible objects. Men who agree on basic principles may be involved in ' liter hostility by antagonisms which in their essence amount to little. Mr. Underwood's example a- a leader rf Democrats in Congress i- w.-rthy of emulation elsewhere. It makes fr tol erance. Tolerance makes f r umry. Unity makes for prog-re.-;. There is n other way to render Democracy ef fect lve. THE MANNER OF MA After the Southern manne lerwood is unaffectedly dem. meets men as or.e who. resp. self, also respects them. H wear the manner of one who The young Demcr.its of St. Louis find his inferior. Still less But this new leader fro! with nothing meteoric o about him ; who has ford ahead during sixteen years sional service, and who has self equal to every emergenc test of debate on the floor cool, imperturbable, resoure himself at all times ; profoo on the great tariff issue he whose impressive personalit ing itself in stronger line.1 as the searchlight of the upon it he is the Man of the Democratic party in thi And as the campaign for thd progresses, Mr. Lnderwocx availability will come out w ing clearness, and the Demoi of the South will catch the! of the great fact that a Sd from the heart of Dixie is a for the presidency after all years of waiting. When t logical moment arrives in convention or before it i solid South, fused to white the enthusiasm of a genuin presidential candidacy, will Underwood on its shoulders, all the well laid plans of mar; and rush him right to the gtn bv sheer force of an overwhel of simple justice to the- leasts that's the way we wd Suivanee (Ma.) Democrat, 1911. CHAIRMAN UNDER Chairman Underwood has given proof of that levelne and clearness of purpose i characterized his leadership beginning. He has flatly countenance any coquetting I ollette idea on the wool bil viewed as a mere announ program or as a bill that i: and expected actually to get eJ . aw, the La f-ollette propo not meet the needs of the The Xew York Post, August who persuaded Mr. Underwood to be-; come their guest will fird in his policy a? well as his princip'es the best hope of party achievement and party life. The St. Louis Republic, October 17, 191 L . remind voti of one who fe meet his superior. Never do nor seek to transact his dig humbling xpse ef atb Henry Lewis, in the CtsmoP' Yorki January, 1912. J