Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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FEDERAL APPROPRIAT IMPROVEMENT 0 Rio-ht nnrl Dntv nf Hnnffress U ~~\J O tion of the i (Extracts from speech of Oscar W. resentatives, April 1, 19Ud.) The House being in Committee of Union, and having under considerai appropriations for the Department of June 30, 1909? Mr. Underwood said: Mr. Chairman: Objection is made i proveirent of our puolic-road system served powers of the btatcs. 1 wish l this House more jealous in his debirt States than 1 am. 1 believe the sove: their fluiies to nerform anil should ucr the part of the Federal Government. I should enter into the legislative iiclds believe that the Federal Government, duty to perform under the powers give .give force and effect to the grants of of these grants of power, to Use the la; lish post-offices and post-roads."' There can be no question whatever to build post-roads in the United Sta build post-oiiiccs, and to establish post tlemen may scoff at the proposition an plate our present development and m they contemplated building roads to car did not dream of a time coming who farmer's door. But I want to say, Mr. in the United States was no greater ****** Mr. Douglas. Where docs the gentl authorizing the P'ederal Government tc Mr. Underwood. Why, it is very cl to the Federal Government "to establh Mr. Douglas. 'Ihe language of the I and that has been held to be a very di MV VV'illi.-imc That nuestion was dil decided in favor of the construction ol very men who wrote the Constitution. Mr. Underwood. The contention tha Republican party that the Government tional power to aid the States in buildi tained by the leading men of the natic existence as a Government. ****** On March 14, 1813, the House of R alution: "Resolved, That Congress has po propriate money for the constructio roads, and of canals, and for the ii Thomas Jefferson said, in a letter to 1 "Give us peace till our revenues a war be necessary, it can be carried daring peace we may checker our etc. This is the object to which all While Secretary of War in 1819 Mr. I of Representatives on roads and canals, "No object of the kind is more in State or individual capacity is mor< by the General Government or not p In addition to this, Congress has a 5 making this appropriation, under the a "'to establish post-offices and post-road tional Law, says: "Every road within a State, inc and navigable 9treams, existing or post-road, whenever, by the action ( vision is made for the tran^portatior A Southern Presi dential Possibility In the mention of Oscar W. Under wood, of Alabama, for the Democratic Presidential nomination resides a good deal more than a suggestion that we nave got too far away from the Civil War era to regard a statesman as nec essarily "unavailable" because he comes trom a commonwealth that was a mem ber of the Southern Confederacy. Of the men now before the country as possible or probable Democratic candidates for the Presidency, Under wood is certainly one of the strongest. He has had a tine training in Congress, and is in himself a man of natural force and large capacity for work?and work ers are what we want in executive posi tions. He has been a member of the House of Representatives for some fif teen years, and has risen by force of merit, and nothing but merit, to a posi tion which made it inevitable that he should be Chairman of the Committee on Wavs and Means when the Demo crats came into control of the popular branch of the Government. He has the yotith, the environment, the enthusiasm, the courage, the political sagacity, and the statesmanly qualities fully to justify his consideration in connection with the Presidential nomination. Mr. Underwood is a conservative man, who is capable of entertaining pro gressive ideals and at the same time of realizing fully the duty and the ne cessity for conserving substantial inter ests of the community. The Democratic party might go farther and do vastly worse than if it should nominate him as its standard-bearer of 1912.?Mun scy's Magazine, January, 1912. UNDERWOOD IN THE WEST "I am grntified to see this State mov- i ing onward in almost every line and I note the wonderful growth of Birming ham. I observe that The Age-Herald. has kept full step with the progressive spirit and has led in the work. "The growing strength of Oscar Un derwood in the minds of the people ?t : Vine o*ivcn xnrougnouL me uimcu s Alabama a kind of publicity that the State could obtain in no other way, particularly on the great question of the tariff, for it was not thought that one would come out of Alabama with its varied interests who would be a David to defy the trusts. Oscar Un derwood is regarded by many men as the best equipped, cleanest, fairest man to-day mentioned for the presidency. If he is nominated, he will undoubtedly win. If any strong sentiment of the South demands his election he will be nominated. Out in Colorado, with its thousands of visitors from all parts of the United States, he is the first man n2med by most of them. Tlie prom inence given to his candidacy by the magazines and the public press has caused a strong tide to rise which I bopp and believe will carry him to the White House. I took much pleasure in nidincr in organizing the Underwood Club in Denver, and it is doing good work unquestionably."?Harrv Hawkins, of New York, in the Birmingham, Ala., Age-Herald, January 8, 1912. IONS FOR THE F OUR PUBLIC ROADS nquestioned from the Founda Government Underwood in the U. S. House of Rcp the Whole House on the state of the :ion the bill ^.H- R- making Agriculture for the liscal year ending to thitf appropriation looking to the im on the ground that it invades the re to say there is 110 man on the fioor of : to protect the reserved rights ot the reign States composing the Union have form them without aid or hindrance 011 do not believe the Central Government that belong solely to the States, but 1 within its well-defined powers, has its n it by the Constitution; that it should power given it by the States, and one tiguage of the Constitution, is "to estab that the Constitution carries the power tes. To establish post-oiiices means to roads means to build post-roads. Gen id say that the fathers did not contem ;odern methods of transportation; that ry the mail through the -vilderncss and ;i the mail could be delivered at every Chairman, that the need for post-roads in the days of the fathers than today. ****** eman find anything in the Constitution 1 build post-roads? car. The Constitution gives the power >h post-offices and post-roads." Constitution is to "establish" post-roads, tferent thing from building them. scussed in the Third Congress and was E the Cumberland road by some of the ?. +r\r\l-\T Hv tll^i nf flip ,L iO lliauu ViVJJ hiiv W w. of the United States has no constitu ng good roads was certainly not main >n during the first half century of our ****** epresentative3 passed the following res iwer under the Constitution to ap n of post-roads, military and other nprovement of waterways." tfr. Lieper, in 1808: .re liberated from debt, and then, if on without a new tax or loan, and whole country with canals, roads, our endeavors should be directed." Calhoun made a report to the House in which he said: lportant and there is none to which : inadequate. It must be perfected erfected at all." stronger and more specific warrant for uthority conferred by the Constitution s." Cooley, in his book on Constitu- | lading railroads, canals, turnpikes, created within a State, becomes a jf the Post-Office Department, pro i of the mails upon or oter it." ======== , 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 1 tried a half a century ago to break up i the Union of the States, might possibly ; turn out to be the home of a conser- i ne o KarnVr I ' V <1113111 I lid/ V>VU1U OIOUU ao ? 4*v? against a enange in our schcme of gov- ; crnment that would destroy the fabric J of the Constitution adopted by our wise forefathers, and ratified by the States ' that had fought for and achieved inde- j pendence and freedom. As evidence that such a thing may be ( among the/ possibilities a paragraph is ; here quoted from a speech made by ] Hon. Oscar W. Underwood, of Ala bama, to the Young Men's Democratic League of St. Louis: I "Some Democrats want to put 1 the initiative and referendum 1 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 ' ? f -1- - 1J -4 dent ot me 3011m ne wuuiu siauu a nut chance to be made the Der-nocratic can didate for President next year. Candor compcls the statement that he is as well j qualified for the performance of the du ties of the great office as any one in his party who has been mentioned in that connection, and it is not doubted that if elected he would make a safe President.?Knoxville Journal and Trib une, October 24, 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 1 utilized it in the debate with an effectiveness that left nothing to be desired. What gives real strength to the Democratic position is that the party is 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 | J legitimately entitled.?Nm> York Etc- | 1 nine; Post, reproduced in The El Dorado j Stoi (Weekly), El Dorado Springs, Mo. ! UNDERWOOD CLEAN C PA His name is Oscar W. Underwood his years are on the sunshine side o: fifty. As chief of the Ways and Means and chairman of the Committee on Com mittecs, he is Speaker Clark's right arn in the House. Mr. Underwood's cry is "Tariff foi revenue only!" When Mr. Bryan, eater of a rule-or-ruin spirit, came to Wash' ington at the beginning of the specia session to trouble the waters of part} hope with an attack upon the wool bil 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 tor 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. lie comes from the Birmingham district in Alabama?a breeding-ground of protection. In Mr. Underwood's dis trict there are nine railroads, one hun dred and forty-eight miles of street-car tracks, $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-roll of $50,000,000. The Tennessee Coal & Iron Company, which is a part of the Steel Trust, controls one-third of all the prod UNDERWOOD'* C] la 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 that The Times is 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 tiraq comes for a choice, he will be cansidv cred the best man is a question which it is now too early to decide. But fhwe is one element that wil! ?nter into the problem which may well r?ethre attea A Voice From Virginia "All of the avowed aspirant# are rcen of distinction and merit, but my ndividual opinion is that the party has in opportunity to make a magnificent selection by choosing for its standard jearer in 1912 the wise, well-balanced ind thoroughly equipped Alabamian, [ion. Oscar Underwood. "Mr. Underwood's record in states uaa^hip is a good enough guarantee jf his fitness for the White House, tie measures up to all the requirements of the exalted position. He is fearless and broad-minded, and there is nothing -.f dcmatrnfiie 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. ic maHncr a widesnread and distinctive impression, not only as the honest, bold, sagacious leader of the House majority, and no': 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 Birmingham, Ala., Age llcrald, 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 Wycth Chemical Company of New York. "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."?Agc Ilcrald, Birmingham, Ala., Jan. 7, 1912, -HOUSE LEADI JOURAGE, HIGH ITHFUL IN HIS ; nets of the district. One-third of all the f iron-ore holdings of the Steel Trust are in and around Birmingham. Surely, at ' first glance, a bad outlook for a tariff reformer! And yet Mr. Underwood 1 succeeds and re-succeeds himself with ever climbing majorities. It is the Underwood honesty that ' does it?that, and his clean courage. 1 The dominant quality in Mr. Underwood is honesty, and folk have found it out. 1 Honesty is among the scarcest of earth r l.v 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 i tion was not the work of money, lie : was not chosen as either the pet of the ( rnilroads 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, i 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 ovcrstare and keep in check the Paynes and the Dalzells and . the Crumpackers, who are present mere : ly by the grace of pirate money, and : dwell, therefore, on House levels much ' lower than his own.?Alfred Henry ' Lewis in the Cosmopolitan, New York, January, 1912. ******* . As the head of the Ways and Means 3 INTEGRITY, I [VIC COURAGE 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 -pinion, which finds ex pression more ten 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 tilings 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 t would, welcome an opportunity for , manifesting itself. This sense of na tionality has grown progressively ever war for the * Ml?? ku? vn/sv v? kMv ww. Union. It has beea steadHy strength ened by the conditions of our National Jaokscrew 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" for this year, only to be forgotten next year? We get a comforting light on 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 of the nation." From a Democrat that i6 a remark well-nigh startling. It exhibits 9uch an unusual viewpoint. It is almost like hearing Andrew Carnegie coafess 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 rcduce 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 ^/vmnctiV anrl thaf we are oro 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 "wc 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 he the freak product nf nassinp nooular delight with the latest novelty among politcal entertainers."? Chicago Inter-Ocean, September 26, 1911. ESTIMATE OF OPPONENTS Men like Payne and Mann declare him to be the mo6t 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 model leader, and his following is daily increasing.? Washington Correspondence in The Evening Bulletin, Philadelphia, Pa., June, 1911. !jR : HONESTY . FRIENDSHIPS I Committee, Mr. Underwood has shown himself to be the right man in the right place. What advances are made by the party in 1912 will be due largely to him. He knows tariff in all its schedule windings, as a man knows the hallways of his own house. He has wisdom. He has 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 shouldn't hesitate n r* tn < /vti V IU CliipiUjr 111111 A3 lU^llL-WaLVaiiliail. Alfred Henry Lewis, in the Cosmopol itan, January, 1912. ******* Mr. Underwood is faithful in his friendships. To those whom he casually 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 ther? 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 answer it and tells why. He expedites the business in hand, and win even anticipate tne pur pose of one's coming, and put questions to himself.?Alfred Henry Lewis, in the Cosmopolitan, New York, January, 1912. URITY AND ABILITY life and especially by tha intimate, ex tensive, and increasing intercommuni cation within our borders. Our 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 East or the Middle West or the West in the minds of those who dwell eisewnere. In the next place, no one under sixty has any personal experience of the civil conflict, and that means not mere ly that 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 now by any party, and those who would 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. 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 the unanimous second choice. If you ask 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 Gark men."?T. A. Jennings, National Committeeman from Florida, in the Pensacola Evening Nexus, Friday cvtning: January 12, 1912. 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 9howed 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 Proz'idence (R. I.) Jour nal, December 2, 1911. UNDERWOOD AND THE PAPERSj 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 oecausc xvir. 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 Jersey 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, but it cannot be doubted that his record and his 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 5, 1912. INITIATIVE, REFERENDUM / DOCTRINES CONTRA MENTAL PRINCIP (In address before Young Men's Democi "Some Democrats want to put the ii National platform of the Democratic ] The initiative and referendum as a lo< when you attempt to apply it to the Un: of the Constitution. We are not a tn government."?From Knoxville Journal A FIGURE OP * The emphasis here is placed upon Mr. Underwood's wisdom, but along with this is mentioned his honesty. These two qualities greatly impress every one who comes into association with Mr. Underwood, or who closely follows his course in Congress and in public life. He is wise: he does not disturb himself about little things; his own personality is not obtruded; his 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 urgent 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 c .nes with out complaining. Not every man can be ? 'Vi<44> iivarw min ron prCSlUCIil, I1C Uiliina, uui v.vvij aaauit try to do the best that is in him for his country and for the times he lives in. And this is honesty.. He plays no politics; he stands out against raiding the treasury?no matter what be the ex cuse 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. Southern Leaders and the Tariff No sensible man, certainly no one j friendly to the South, wishes to see the I 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 throughi out the country, but with the strong, nublic sentiment in suooort 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 thi6 they are serving their own section, we have ih mind the important fact that they are bringing to bear on 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 arc 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 Among E t?S I itEcie 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 raadily to the majority leader. Due to his success as a legislative manager?his ability 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 01 tne type or oenat-ur ncyuum, of Idaho, a Southerner is being se riously considered North and South as presidential material. The Underwood for-President movement has been at tracting volunteer workers steadily since last spring, when the newly-in stalled 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. A PRACTICAL DEMOCRAT St. Louis honors Oscar W. Under 1 wood for his character, for his achieve ments and for his Democracy. ' T1-- flm vVavc nnrl Means | 1HC V^lldli man va mv Committee is a practical Democrat. His leadership in the House of Representa tives 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 bitter hostility by antagonisms which in their essence amount to little. ******* Mr. Underwood's example as a leader of Democrats in Congress is worthy of emulation elsewhere. It makes for tol erance. Tolerance makes for unity. Unity makes for progress. There is no other way to render Democracy ef fective. The young Democrats of St. Louis who persuaded Mr. Underwood to be come their euest will find in his policy as well as his principles the best hope of party achievement and party life.? The St. Louis Republic, October 17, 1911. -7F75Q WD RECALL RY TO THE FUN DA LES OF OUR GOVERNMENT ratic League of St Louis, Oct 16, 1911.) litiative and referendum plank into the party. I think that would b? unwise. :al issue is sometimes successful. But ited States you destroy the entire fabric ie democracy. This is a representative and Tribune, Oct 24, 1911. NATIONAL SIZE In a politician this would be accounted recklessness, because party and spoils are translated in many minds to mean the same thing; but it is the highest wis dom in a statesman. Even should it have but partial success in controlling a party following, it must be productive of immense good in showing that the South has in Mr. Underwood a man who can be trusted by the Nation?a man whose patriotism is not limited by small things, nor suffering from the burden of any prejudice. For our part, we believe that such wisdom is of more practical value than would be the keenest political schem ing; and that this very absence of self seeking, this contempt for the arts of the politician, is working for him, while he himself has his mind centered upon things he regards as of more moment The country could do no better than to put its entire trust in such a man; and there is good reason to think that it will do so. As Mr. Lewis says, it should not "hesitate to employ him as night watchman." This coming, not from the South, but from a writer whose attitude is critical and whose atmosphere is of the North, is certainly a tribute not to be despised; its significance is very great.?The Mobile (Alabama) Register, January 21, 1912. Underwood a Real Man The Democrats of the House hare reason to be proud of their floor lead er, Chairman Underwood, of the Ways and Means Committee. Mr. Und?rwo?d has given ample evidence of the pos session of the qualities of mind e?wn tial to the position. He has alto dam- \ onstrated most conclusively that he is a man who cannot be cajaled or bul lied from the course he considers right In the debate over the Canadian rao iprocity bill former Speaker Cannon made the bluff that the steel trust fa vors the enactment of the measure. Mr. Underwood called the bluff very / effectively by producing a telegram from his home district saying that the united states iteei corporation aas stopped work on important mills there, giving as their reason that Uaderwood stood in Congress advocating the tariff reductions on steel included in this bill. Mr. Underwood added that tw* years ago the steel trust opposed his election because of the tariff views aad threat ened to turn him out of Coagress if he voted for reductions on steel duties. "I voted for them just the same," he stated, "and they failed in their efforts to turn me out of Congress." Underwood is every inch a maa, and the people have more respect for ?ne - such as he* than for a whole battalion of corporation-controlled standpatters.? The Ocala Daily Binner, Florida, April 29, 1911. This N?w Leader From Alabama But this new leader from Alabama, with nothing meteoric or iridesctat ahnut him: who has forred steadilv ahead during sixteen years of congres sional service, and who has proved him self equal to every emergency in the acid test of debate on the floor of the House;! cool, imperturbable, resourceful, sure of himself at all times; profoundly learned on the great tariff issue he stands-for; whose impressive personality is reveal ing itself in stronger lines every day as the searchlight of the press plays upon it?he is the Man of Destiny for the Democratic party in this year 1912. And as the campaign for the nomination progresses, Mr. Underwood's superior availability will come out with increas ing clearness, and the Democratic massts of the South will catch the inspiration of the great fact that a Southern man from the heart of Dixie is at last in line for the presidency after all these weary years of waiting. When that psycho logical moment arrives?in the national convention or before it?a very nearly solid South, fused to white heat nnder the enthusiasm of a genuine Southern presidential candidacy, will take Oscar Underwood on its shoulders, sweep away all the well laid plans of machine politics and rush him right to the goal, a winner by sheer force of an overwhelming sense of simple justice to the South. At least, that's the way we want it.?The Suwanee (Fla.) Democrat, December, 1911. CHAIRMAN UNDERWOOD Chairman Underwood has once more given proof of that levelness of head and clearness of purpose which have characterized his leadership from the beginning. He has flatly refused to countenance any coquetting with tha La Follette idea on the wool bill. Whether viewed as a mere announcement of program or as a bill that it is desired and expected actually to get enacted into law, the La Follette proposition dow not meet the needs of the situation? Hie Mew York fost, August s, iyu. THE MANNER OF MAN HE IS After the Southern manner, Mr. Un derwood is unaffectedly democratic. He meets men as one who, respecting him self, also respects them. He does aot wear the manner of one who expects to find his inferior. Still less would he remind you of o*e who fears he may meet nis superior, i^ever aoes nc p?:>e, nor seek to transact his dignity at tie humbling ?xpense ?f another.?Alfred Henry Lewis, in tH? C?smop?lit*n, New York, January, 1912.