triON OF PROFITS,
E INIQUITOUS POLICY OF THE
REPUBLICANS FOR HALF A CENTURY
iTiestion Eternally Present is the Most Effective, the
p Efficient and the Fairest Way of Equalizing
the Burdens of Taxation
E
wood Would Have the Question Solved with the
pJetermination to do the Right, Safe and
iicaouiiauio iiiuig
ore the New York Southern Society Dec. 16, 1911
? ED
r jf)scope of political issues must and will continually change with
conditions of our Republic, but there is one question that was
ie beginning and will be in the end, and that is the most effective,
fairest way of equalizing the burdens of taxation that are levied by
f g Government. Of all the great powers that were yielded to the
rnmcnt by the States when they adopted the Constitution of our
one indipt-nsable t the administration of public affairs is the
av and collect taxes. Without the exercise of that power we could
ntiian army and navy; we could not establish the courts of the land;
nt would fail to perform its function if the power to tax were
arfrom it. The power to tax carries with it the power to destroy,
in Tcforc. a most dangerous governmental power as well as a most
nen
ye. very clear and marked distinction between the position of the
. 01 iiitical parties ot America as to how power to tax should be
t the levying of revenue at the custom houses.
hvt
n ccpublicans Have Always Stood for Protection.
seiMican party has maintained the doctrine that taxes should not
SCj for the purpose of revenue, but also for the purpose of protect
,(rt : manufacturer from foreign competition. Of necessity protection
,n ,'tion carries with it a guarantee of profits. In the last Republican
' position of the party was distinctly recognized when they de
hey were not only in favor of the protection of the difference in
rQ and abroad but also a reasonable profit to American industries.
theDemocratic Party for Tariff for Revenue Only.
s0.',vratic party favors the policy of raising its taxes at the custom
raI tariff that is levied for revenue only, which clearly excludes the
aetecting the manufacturer's profits. In my opinion, the dividing
the posttions of the two great parties on this question is very
-ounjsily ascertained in , theory. , Where the tariff rates balance the
cost at home and abroad, including at allowance for the differ
anht rates, the tariff must be competitive, and from that point
,i the lowest tariff that can be levied it will continue to be com-
hi greater or less extent. Where competition is not interfered with
thehe tax above the highest competitive point, the profits of the
are not protected. On the other hand, when the duties levied
'hen house equalizes the difference in cost at home and abroad and
tcd hereto they are high enough to allow the American manufacturer
'Profit before his competitor can enter the field, we have invaded
r Pkf the protection of profits. Some men assert that the protection
bl'k profits to the home manufacturer should be commended instead
PcAdemned. but in my judgment, the protection of any profit must
ctioi nave a tendency to destroy competition and create monopoly,
"is profit protected is reasonable or unreasonable.
blec Unfairness of Protection.
UStK
Birmingham News
Supports Underwood
In many quarters there has arisen a
demand that Oscar W. Underwood be
named the standard bearer of the Demo
cratic party in the campaign that will
be waged for the presidency in 1912.
It is the earnest hope of The Birming
ham News that this may come about.
Should the banner be entrusted to the
keeping of Oscar W. Underwood, Tht
Birmingham News thoroughly believes
that by him it will be carried to glo
rious victory, and that it will never be
stained by compromise with wrong or
sullied by collusion with privilege. The
Birmingham News, Thursday, November
23, 1911.
The South and
the Presidency
"This constant reference to an alleged
"dead line" when it comes to the selec
tion of a candidate for the presidency, is
out of place. It is a peculiar fact that
we hear more ot it right here m uie j
South than anywhere else in the coun
try. We are getting to be painiuiiy
self-conscious about this supposed politi
cal bar sinister. Not only that, but we
act on the assumption that it would oe
politically inexpedient for us to support
any man who is Southern born and
bred. It is folly of the worst kind and
only serves to keep alive the dying em
bers of sectionalism. Shrei'eport Times,
December. 1911.
UNDERWOOD SOUND ON ALL PUBLIC QUESTIONS
VIEWS ON RECIPROCITY, ANTI-TRUST LEGISLATION
MERCHANT MARINE, PUBLIC SERVICE, THE TARI
A NATIONAL REPUTATION
WITHOUT SEEKING IT
Underwood is probably the greatest
authority on the tariff in the House of
Representatives, or, for that matter, in
Congress.
"What do you think of Underwood?"
I asked Senator Bailey.
"Underwood, said Bailey, is the only
man in either house of Congress who
could be locked in a hermetically sealed
room for a week and emerge from it
with a perfectly good tariff bill."
Underwood is the strongest example
in modern times of a thoroughly modest
man getting a reputation without going
after it. Politics is a noisy game; you
have to have a trumpet and a bugle in
order to make anybody hear your name.
It is a rule to which there is no excep
tion that I know of except Underwood.
He sat back there quietly in Congress
for sixteen years doing splendid work
and never getting his name into the pa
pers. Finally the crash came, the Demo
crats carried the House, and from sheer
merit and nothing else the quiet man
from Alabama was made floor leader
and out in charge of the party's tariff
bill. And he so acquitted himself that
within a month he became a national
figure, and now he is quite likely to be
nominated for President. Charles Wil
lis Thompson, in The Sunday Herald,
Boston, October 22, 1911.
WHY I AM FOR
OSCAR UNDERWOOD
RECIPROCITY
(In the U. S. House of Representatives,
April t
Our agricultural implements supply
tne farmers wants beyond the seas.
Our boots and shoes are worn by peo
ple wno speak many toreign languages
and who tread the highways of the
Occident and the Orient. The looms of
our factories clothe the people of dis
tant lands. The freight of our foreign
rivals is carried to market on American
rails, drawn by American engines, across
chasms spanned by American-built
bridges. IApplause.1 The harvests of
our tanners feed the toiling masses of
turope, we would be the unrivaled
masters of production and industry in
every land where free competition can
be obtained if we would but strike off
the shackles that bind us to the dead
and unnecessary economic system main
tained by the Republican Party, that
creates false standards and wasteful
conditions at home. (Applause on the
Democratic side. J
an
vore
d bear tn Hiind that to establish a business in a foreign country
ast outlay both in time and capital. Should the foreign manu-
t,mPt to establish himself in this country he must advertise his
jn ish selling agencies and points of distribution before he can suc
duct his business. After he has done so, if the home producer is
a law that not only equals the difference in cost at home and
Plso protects a reasonable or unreasonable profit, it is only ncces-
, n to drop his prices slightly below the point that the law has
nd, tect his profits and his competitor must retire from the country
te . a bankrupt because he would then have to sell his goods at a loss
tirr,,. jf j)e continued j0 compete. The foreign competitor having
Tevehome producer could raise his prices to any level that home com
. 1 Prld allow him and it is not probable that the foreigner who had
'H1 i driven out of the country would again return no matter how
5l.lsh field as long as the law remained on the Statute Books that would
ainjmpetitor to again put him out of business.
f th Iniquity of the Protection of Profits.
frtv years ago when we had numbers of small manufacturers,
was honest competition without an attempt being made to restrict
ie home market was more than able to consume the production
PCE and factories, the danger and the injury to the consumer of the
not so great or apparent as it is today wherLfie control of
r . '"dustries has been concentrated in the hands of ffew men or a
(xeitions, because domestic competition was prohibited. When we
" e,ve competition at home and the law prohibits competition from
,r;rotecting profits, there is no relief for the consumer except to cry
v' .'ernment regulation. To my mind, there is no more reason or
"he government attempting to protect the profits of the manufac
".yiroducers of this country than there would be to protect the profits
nt "bant or the lawyer, the banker or the farmer, or the wages of the
1.P,an- In almost every line of industry in the United States we have
tridusura resources to develop as that of any country in the world. It
s" by all that our machinery and methods of doing business are in
es the other nations. By reason of the efficient use of American
y American labor, in most of the manufactures of this country,
. st per unit of production is no greater here than ahmad.
nwitiitted, of course, that the actual wage of the American laborer
of European countries, hut as to most articles we manufacture
y sost in this country is not more than double the labor cost abroad.
our-onsider that the average ad valorem rate of duty levied at the
l a se on manufactures of cotton (roods is 53 of the value of the
xectlrted and the total labor cost of the production of cotton goods
rotecury is only 21 of the factory value of the product, that the dif-
ent tabor cost at home and abroad is onlv about as one is to two and
(1) Because he is the strongest all
round man in the field;
(2) Because he is old enough to have
learned a great deal, and young enough
to learn more;
(3) Because he is a constructive.
practical statesman;
(4) "Because He ''fathered"' the Farm
ers' Free List Bill, which was an im
mense stride toward free trade, and a
measure that would have been magically
beneficial to our over-taxed people;
(5) Because he proposed and put
through Congress a drastic reform of
the infamous woolen tariff; and also a
sweeping reduction in the cotton goods
schedule;
(6) Because he had the manhood to
defy the Birmingham Board of Trade,
when it tried to intimidate him as to
tariff reduction;
(7) Because he has introduced a bill
to cut the steel and iron schedule
from 30 to 50 per cent;
(8) Because he had the courage to
oppose the Sherwood pension grab,
which the shirkers and skulkers, and
deserters, and bounty-jumpers demand.
Champ Clark voted for the grab:
Bryan has not had the pluck to say a
word against it, r.or has Woodrow
Wilson.
(9) Because he has the sanity and
the spunk to tell the people that all this
talk about the initiative, referendum
and recall, in national politics, is
tommy-rot. Everybody should know
that the Constitution of the United
States would have to be radically
changed, before the present system of
representative government and legisla
tion could be changed for direct law
making.
When, do you suppose, we could elect
a Congress that would give the people
the opportunity to vote away the pre
rogatives of Congress f
When, do you -suppose, there would
be 34 States ready to adopt the new
system ?
When, do you suppose, would the
small States be willing to surrender
their equality, in the Federal Government?
When Wilson and Bryan prate of a
national initiative, referendum and re
call, they make themselves demagogues.
Can either of them tell us how Direct
legislation can be applied, nationally,
in such a manner as to preserve the
sovereign equality of the small States?
If either of them can, I should be
glad to publish their plan.
It will be time enough to talk about
national Direct legislation and the recall
after we shall have tried it, in the
States.
(10) Lastly, I am for Oscar Under
wood because his record, public and
private, is unstained; his character ele
vated and spotless; his leadership su
perb; his work and purposes patriotic
and practical ; his sympathies, for the
oppressed. He doesn't stoop to dema
gogy to win popular applause; and he
doesn't cater to wealth and power, as
the standpatters of both parties do.
Tom Watson, in The Jcffersenian,
Thomson. Ga., January 25, 1912.
UNDERWOOD AS A CANDIDATE
In Mr. Underwood's candidacy the
South for the first time in 60 years
comes forward with a man with a rea
son a man with a valid claim on
Democracy for signal recognition. If
unselfish devotion, high performance,
Nation-wide breadth of view, and rare
qualities for leadership entitle a man
to sympathy and support in his aspir
ations, the nomination of Mr. Under
wood would be a testimonial logically
bestowed.
The Southern Democracy never
wants, in or out of Congress, for
powerful champions of partv politics,
men who come in for honorable men
tion when tbe Presidential year rolls
round, but in Mr. Underwood's case
there is added a genius for organiza
tion and command not often bbservable
in party leaders of his section. For
candor compels a good word in
acknowledgment of what he did in the
way of harmonizing and knitting to
gether the warring elements of his
party in the House. Not in twenty
years has there been in Democratic
councils a leader who proved success
ful in uniting all shades of opinion and
presenting a solid front on practically
every issue that came to a vote. For
that reason, if for no other, Mr. Un
derwood's availability would seem to
merit careful consideration at the
hands of the Democratic party. Wash
ington Post, October 3, 1911.
ANTI-TRUST LEGISLATION
(In Speech Before Pennsylvania So
ciety of New York, Dec 9, 1911.)
"Is it not proper for all of us, irre
spective of party, to insist that the
time has come for us to join together
in putting an end to this profitless agi
tation and proposals for tinkering with
the (Sherman) law? As the necessity
arises, we can from time to time enforce
the act, without fear or favor, but with
out any disposition to get political cap-.
ital out of what we may be called upon
to do. Let our pilot be experience and
accurate knowledge and high resolve,
and not party expediency or misdi
rected energy, whether proceeding from
good or bad motives, and above all this
let us not proceed upon a crude guess."
in favor of American ships. It was the
policy of the fathers; it built up our
merchant marine from a point where
it was carrying 17 per cent of our com
merce to a point where it was carrying
vu per cent ot American commerce in
a period of seven years. It does not
place additional burdens on the people;
it is not a policy of doubtful constitu
tionality ; it is a policy that has been
tried and proven effective. It is a pol
icy by which we can restore the Amer
ican flag to the seas and the American
ships to our commercial trade. It is a
policy that will enable us to build up
the export trade of the American peo
ple. It is a policy that will enable us
to find foreign markets for our surplus
products in agriculture and manufac
ture. It is a policy that will restore the
balance of commerce as well as trade to
our Nation. It is a policy that will
ultimately overcome the necessity of our
paying a foreign balance in gold to
European nations and will bring pros
perity to all lines of industry.
AMERICAN MERCHANT
"""v. MARINE
(In the U. S. House of Representa
tives, Feb. 26, 1910.)
It is clear that there are no treaties
that stand in our way to prevent us from
enacting a discriminating tariff duty
CONVICTIONS riORE POWER
FUL THAN LOCAL PRESSURE
(In the U. S. House of Representatives,
April 21, 1911.)
Two years ago, when the proposition
came before the House to cut the tariff
on iron and steel products, in many
cases about half, I favored the proposi
tion because I thought it was just and
fair, but some of the protected interests
in my district met and passed resolu
tions, and resolved that they would re
buke tne if I voted to reduce the tax
on iron and steel. I voted to make the
reduction applause on the Democratic
side, but they did not turn me out of
Congress applause on the Democratic
side, and they will not turn you out
of Congress if you stand true to the
people you represent. Applause on the
Democratic side. The distinguished
gentleman from Illinois Mr. Cannon,
when he addressed the House several
days ago,' stated that United States
Steel Corporation was in favor of this
bill 'and asked if I did not know it,
or if that was not the reason why I
favored it. As I then stated to the
gentleman from Illinois, I was not in
formed as to the wishes of the United
A SOUTHERNER ON THE TICKET
eleven per cent of the value of the orodtict levied at the custom
Madd equal the difference in the labor ware, it i annarent that our
Jight ff laws exceed the point where they equalize the difference in cost
L :tkn id abroad, and we realize how far thev have entered into the
Tj li . ; - r. r . t e ' .
f iuuui protecting proms ior tne nome manutacturer. 1 his is not only
rect manufacture of cotton goods, but of almost every schedule in
f opiii.
ct profits of necessity means to protect inefficiency. Tt does no:
Jeidustry because a manufacturer standirig behind a tariff wall that
g his profits is not driven to develop his business along the lines
jqual efficiency and greatest economy.
Wool, Iron and Steel Industries.
ave t
whictlearly illustrated i:i a comparison of the wool and the iro: and
, actLries. Wool has had a specific duty that when worked out to an
basis amounts to a tax of about 90 of the average value of all
, ds imported into the United States, and the duties imposed have
,Declaractically unchanged for forty years. Dwing that time the wool
1 time.is made comparatively little progress in cheapening the cost of its
had rd improving its business methods. On the other hand, in the iron
hen aidustry the tariff rate has been cut every time a tariff bt-11 has been
s nov'orty years ago the tax on steel rails amounted to $17.50 a ton,
hed biounts to $3.92. Forty years ago the tax on pig iron was $13.60 a
inciphit is $2.50. The same is true of most of the other articles in the
:eel schedule, and yet the iron and steel industry has not languished;
been destroyed and it has not gone to the wall. It is the most
,crnrr'ri'e fi(?hting force of all the industries of America today. It has
rxpanded its productive capacity beyond the power of the American
jjoverrnsume its output and is today facing out towards the markets of
tj, battling for a part of the trade of foreign lands where it must
jment competition or as is often the case, pay adverse tariff rates to enter
onjg ,ial fields of its competitor.
ngfd. Our Government Genuine Tariff Reduction to a Revenue
PJ" Producing Basis Only.
basiczourse is the wiser for our government to take? The one that
legisldie protection of profits, the continued policy of hot-house growth
rays udustries? The stagnation of development that follows where com
;e. ases, or on the other hand, the gradual and insistent reduction of
ides olaws to a basis where the American manufacturer must meet honest
; of th, where he must develop his business along the best and most
legislalines, where when he fights at home to control his market he is
recere way in the economic development of his business to extend his
publicihe markets of the world. In my judgment, the future growth of
ild th industries lies beyond the seas. A just equalization of the burdens
d ult im and honest competition, in my judgment, are economic truths;
rican tft permitted todav bv the laws of our countrv. we must face toward
Igmenmot away from them.
(Coihave said does not mean that I am in favor of going to free trade
or of being so radical in our legislation as to injure legitimate
ut I do mean that the period of exclusion has passed and the era
competition is here.
inpreach the solution of the problem involved with the determination
it is right, what is safe and what is reasonable.
Oscar W. Underwood of Alabama is
unquestionably of presidential size. His
leadership of the Democratic majority
o:i the floor of the House has never been
excelled for skill, force and definite di
rection. It is a respectful hearing from
all over the country which Senator
Bankhead of the same State will have
in naming him for the Democratic nomination.
i Has the time come when it is expe-
ditnt for the Democracy to nominate a
Southerner living in the South for the
presidency? It has not Veen thought so
"nice trie civil war. It has not even
v thought expedient to give the South
second place on the ticket. The nearest
approach to this was the naming on the
Parker ticket in 1904 of Henry G. Davis
of West Virginia. But that is essen
tially a Northern State. Carlisle of
Kentucky had a few votes for President
in the conventions of 1884 and 1892;
Blackburn of Kentucky and Tillman of
South Carolina in 1896; Williams of
Mississippi in 1904. But they were
merely complimentary.
Yet the war is over. A Southern
Democrat and a former Confederate
soldier is Chief Justice of the United
States Supreme Court by appointment
of a Republican President. The day
may not he so far off when the last
traces of the sectional line will be oblit
erated in American politics. The New
York World. October 24, 1911.
WIDE APPEAL OF UNDERWOOD'S CANDIDACY
That Representative Oscar W. Un
derwood is rapidly crowding to the wall
all other aspirants for the Democratic
presidential nomination, is the informa
tion that comes from sources close to
the Alabama leader to-day. In fact, it
is now a subject of open gossip about
the House that New York State is veer
ing toward the Alabama member and
that Clark, Wilson and Harmon are los
ing ground in the chief pivotal State of
the Union.
A member of the New York delega
tion in the House, who is not person
ally an advocate of the candidacy of
Mr. Underwood, admitted in confidence
to-day that the trend of sentiment in
New York city and New York State
now favors the Alabama leader. From
Representative Henry D. Gayton, of
Alabama, also, comes confirmation of
the fact that the Underwood boomers
are receiving most encouraging reports
from New York. These reports go so
far as to say that if the South will keep
Representative Underwood s name be
fore the convention, New York State
may be counted on to fall into line after
the second or third ballot.
If the South can get over the ancient
obsession that a Southern man cannot
be nominated for President and if the
South will keep the name of Underwood
before the convention, for a few ballots,
there are many wise political observers
in Washington and New York who are
confident that the New York delegation
will swing into line for Underwood.
Washington correspondence of the
Nashville Tennesseean, December 31,
1911.
UNDERWOOD THE MAN
OF THE HOUR
But Mr. Underwood's rise in publje
favor has not been spectacular. His
is not the kind of popularity that will
decline. It dawned suddenly but its
dawning was rather the awakening of
recognition than the discovery of a new
star. Mr. Underwood and his ability
had been there all the time, but they
had not been called into action. Op
portunity revealed the man and the
leader.
His leadership and his qualities are
of the stuff that will last. He may never
be President of the United States. He
may never be given the nomination by
his party, but his usefulness to the party
and to the people will not be destroyed.
He is hanging no hopes on the reward
that may come to him from the party.
Mr. Underwood's public record is un
usual for its clean brilliancy. It stands
without & flaw. Critics may search it
through and through and Mr. Under
wood's smile would never waver. His
party record is just as clear. His pri
vate life is without a blemish.
He is peculiarly fitted by nature and
training for the leadership of men and
the administration of executive func
tions. He comes of good stock, if that
means anything in this people's repub
lic. His education was thoroughly
rounded. His character well poised.
His training has been broad and wise.
He is thoroughly practical. His aca
demic education has been broadened by
well directed experience and constant
application to useful research. Walter
Harper in the Birmingham Age-Herald,
January 7, 1912.
UNDERWOOD OVER AGAIN
The rapid rise of Oscar W. Under
wood in the discussion of Presidential
possibilities is full of significance, and
may well cause consternation in the
Wilson, Clark and Harmon camps. As
a distinctive Southerner, his boom espe
cially is a menace to Wilson, who ap
pealed strongly to the sentiment of that
section, in which he was born and spent
his early years. In the soundness of
his Democracy, the statesmanlike judg
ment and moderation he displays in
dealing with the issues of the hour,
Mr. Underwood has no superior among
his rivals. He avoids indorsing very
questionable issues to which Wilson
committed himself somewhat inconti
nently. The Troy Press, New York,
November 28, 1911.
O'SHAUNESSY BOOMS UNDERWOOD
Mr. O'Shaunessy's declaration fol
lowed the Underwood demonstration in
the House. Mr.' O'Shaunessy said:
"I believe Mr. Underwood is the right
man for the presidency. He has won
derful executive ability, as shovfh byVhis
management of the House, at this ses
sion, and except for his residence so far
South. I feel that he is in every way
suitable for the place. I believe the
Democrats could not nominate a more
acceptable candidate." Representative
O'Shaunes'sy, of Rhode Island, in The
Providence Journal, August, 1911.
THE HAN TO WIN
The Mobile Register declares that
the relief of ni-nety millions of people
from tax extortion is the issue, and the
issue is personified in Oscar W. Under
wood. What more fitting, therefore,
asks this paper, than that the man wh
is the personification of the issue shoul
stand before the President who vetoed
the bills drawn by Mr. Underwood seek
ing to give relief to the American peo
ple? What more fitting that the can
didate should be Mr. Underwood, stand
ing for tariff reduction as against Mr.
Taft standing in defense of present tariff
laws? What more fitting for the Demo
cratic party to nominate a man who can
win for this is the time Democracy can
win. Powerful political leaders of
thought and those journalistic exponents
of Democracy throughout the country
should take note of Mr. Underwood.
They should investigate ; and with party
loyalty firm with sectional prejudice
eliminated, learn to know the man and
the principles for which he stands. The
Southern press, especially, should rally
with unhesitating vigor to support and
use their influence for the man who has
done more than any living Democrat to
reunite Democracy, and who can, as a
Southern Democrat in the White House,
establish forever a reunited country.
Richmond Journal, reproduced in the
Advertiser, Montgomery, Ala, January
20, 1912.
UNDERWOOD'S RISE NO
SURPRISE TO THOSE
WHO KNOW Hill
Mates Meel Corporation. As a m
of fact, I am interested in the iron
steel business myself. Everythin
nave in me worm is in tne iron
steel business except mv home. hu
with the United States Steel CoH
tion. My people are indeoendent J
facturers. We meet the United SI
pieei corporation every day of ou
istence in a competitive battle ori
muusiriai nems ot America My p,
have not asked me to vote for a or
ia. in vu nun auia steel.
nI
PROTECTION'S INIQUITIE
(In the U. S. House of RepresentaJ
The protected interests of this
try know well that this bill ,iit
a break in the dike; that wheneve
proieciive larm is removed and
nonnern iarmer stands out alnn
out pretense of protection to h.
ucts that he can no longer be coJ
on to stand in the ranks of the morl
usiic interests ot this country. Thj
y my "c airaiu ot it It is i
much wliat is in the bill, hut K
that the death knell of the nrn.
system will have sounded that or
nuii niai means me protection of
mous profits and the creation f
! ... v
nopones in tnis country when
farmer understands and abandon'
Republjcan Partv to thos. a ton-
have fattened unon his hard-.,!
lars. They are using, my friends, j
cuuii in wie aisincts on that side o
House and in vour district m (J
Democrat and in mv district to rf
the column. I have protected intel
in my uisinci, Dut 1 do not repr
them. I represent the great mass cJ
constituency who want honest treat
ana iair play.
OSCAR UNDERWOOD
The appearance of Oscar TTnd.r
here last night,, in advocacy of the; I
ocrauc principles ne has done so i
to advance, was an event not onlv h
gratifying to his party associate!
Louisville, out ot exceptional intere
the community in general.
It is not often that a man returi
the scenes of his youth to speak i
such authority, from so commandi
position, won on his own merit. I
not been so long as the years ago
not yet 50 since Oscar Underwood
a schoolboy here; he comes back
the recognized and applauded lead
For years Oscar Underwood has been llis Party on ,he floor of the Nat
r ...... . I ita.. t r . i
recognized in his district as a man of
marked ability. His broad knowledge
of the tariff displayed time and again
on the floor of Congress and in public
utterances on the stump; his far-reaching
insight into large public questions
under consideration in the national law
making body; his skill in debate; his
complete mastery of himself in times
of political turbulence on the floor of
Congress; his judgment as well as his
tact, have all convinced his constituents
that he was a man of force and achieve
ment long before he became Chairman
of the Ways and Means Committee with
a tremendous task to perform. Bir
mingham Ledger, 1912.
House of Representatives, the hea
the great committee which shapes
.r a t .
nscai legislation ot tne country; a
chieftain of Democracy who has a
at a crisis when the old party se
all but leaderless.
Bravo, Oscar Underwood ! It 1
bright day for Democrats when the;
fortunate to find and nuick to ac-
such a leadet Louisville Courier-!
nat, reprinted in Age-Herald, Bin
ham, Ala., October IS, 1911. ;
ALABAMA AND
flR. UNDERWOOD
But the present leader of the House
is not impulsive. In truth, that fact
explains his leadership. He is a man
of calculation. Had he not been, he
could never have piloted his party
through the difficulties of the extra ses
sion. His task then called for a calm
vision and a single purpose. Had he
been a spellbinder and a scatterer he
would have wasted his opportunity.
Were Mr. Underwood to set his heart
on the White House and maneuver for
a stay under that famous roof he would
play hobs with all the reputation he has
just acquired. His vision would be
come confused, and everything would go
by the board. He could not serve two
masters, and his work in the House has
the first and highest claim on his at
tention. This does not mean that Mr. Under
wood's name will, as the result of his
reply to his House colleagues, disap
pear from the Presidential speculation.
Of course, it will not. It is there to
stay, with the other names now on
many pens and tongues. The matter of
the nominee is in the lap of fate, and
we shall all have to wait for the deci
sion. The Washington Sunday Star,
December, 1911.
UNDERWOOD
Every public speech that Oscar W.
Underwood, Democratic leader of the
House of Representatives, makes brings
him closer to the people as a presiden
tial possibility. What Congressman
Longworth, a Republican, said of him
at the dinner of the Pennsylvania So
ciety in New York on Saturday night
is coming to be generally felt by the
public.
"Not for many years," said Colonel
Roosevelt's son-in-law, "has so forceful
a personality come to the front of his
party as the present leader of the House.
Not in my time, certainly, and not, as I
believe, in modern times, has the Demo
cratic party developed a man possessing
in so full degree the qualifications for
real leadership as it has this year in the
person of Oscar Underwood. The Jer
sey Journal, Jersey City, N. J, Decem
ber 11, 1911.
SOUTH ELECTED CLEVELAND
"It was due to the South that Grover
Cleveland was nominated and elected,''
said Judge Parker. "It was due to the
South that William J. Bryan was twice
nominated, and in like manner the South
was responsible for the nomination of
a New Yorker, who speaks to you now.
I still believe that the South is the sec
tion of our country from which a presi
dential nominee could be chosen who
could quell Uhe voices of all the Demo
cratic factions and heal all breaches.
When the Democratic National .Conven
tion sees fit to nominate a Southerner,
I believe that the Northern Democrats
will support him with their ballots.
Judge Alton B. Parker, in The State,
Columbia,- S. C, January 25, 1912.
SOHETHINQ OF ALABAHA
CANDIDATE FOR THE
PRESIDE
Whoever was floor leader of th-'
mocracv was eood enouerh for Mr
ierwood during all the long year
party was in the minority, and day,
day, whether that leader was Joscp'
Bailey, of Texas, John Sharp Wil ;
of Mississippi, or Champ Clark, of ,
Souri, the gentleman from Alabam;
always at his leader's elbow, read;?
?ager to do anything he could to;
Other statesmen might try to black
party leader's eye, but Mr. Undet,
was never known to extend any
but the helping hand. George E. N
Staff Correspondent, in the D
News, October 24, 1911. ?
WHOn SHALL THE
DEflOCRATS NOTIN
Congressman Underwood, as
leader of the Democrats and as f
man of the Ways and Means Co v
tee, has measured up to the stand:
true statesmanship. He has render
calculable service to the cause of 1
tariff revision, the one great issv
the pending campaign, and by his
did poise and mastery of affairs 1
exalted his party's name in the mi:(
thinking Americans. Atlanta Jc'
January 7, 1912.
UNDERWOOD AS A CANDII
If Oscar Underwood, when h;
made Chairman of the Ways and ft
Committee, had been as well J
throughout the country as Champ
or Judson Harmon or Woodrow V
he would have gone into the Dem
convention far in the lead. He 7
that time, however, little know
this fact may give to the Speaker,
of the prestige that Mr. Undc
otherwise would have had. .
Mr. Underwood is well knowiV
however, and will be better knov
fore the convention meets or the
elect delegates. Taking it for ff
that he will conduct the tariff fi,
well during the regular session v
ing the extra session, Mr. Und(
will be much stronger at the end
regular session than he is now.
indov hv results we must conclu
no Democratic leader has ever 1. I
forces so well m hand as Mr. t
wood had during the last sessior
Florida Times-Union, Jacksonvill
October 24, 1911.
AN EHINENT HAN
"The destiny of the American ;'
which I think is the most wond5
the whole history of the world, ' v
fectly safe in the hands of sue
as your Underwood. It is a pi
we cannot have more of his 1 J
Washington. He is one of th
eminent men that the South h:
duced, and I look with . vast satir
upon the plans of his Alabama
to give him their unanimous i,
ment for that high office the',
dency. Prof. Willis L. Moore, (
U. S. Weather Bureau, in the Bj
ham, Ala;, AgHtrald, Qc,tol .
1911. i
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