Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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PROTECTION OF PROFITS, THE INIQUITOUS POLICY OF THE REPUBLICANS FOR HALF A CENTURY The One Question Eternally Present is the Most Effective, the Most Efficient and the Fairest Way of Equalizing the Burdens of Taxation Mr, Underwood Would Have the Question Solved with the Determination to do the Right, Safe and Reasonable Thing Speech Before the New York Southern Society Dec. 16, 1911 The kaleidoscope of political issues must and will continually change with the changing conditions of our Republic, but there is one question that was with us in the beginning and will be in the end, and that is the most effective, efficient and fairest way of equalizing the burdens of taxation that are levied by the National Government. Of all the great powers that were yielded to the Federal Government by the States when they adopted the Gonstitution of our country, the one indispensable to the administration of public affairs is the right to levy and collect taxes. Without the exercise of that power we could not maintain an army and navy; we could not establish the courts of the land; the government would fail to perform its function if the power to tax were taken away from it. The power to tax carries with it the power to destroy, and it is, therefore, a most dangerous governmental power as well as a most necessary one. There is a very clear and marked distinction between the position of the two great political parties of America as to how power to tax should be exercised in the levying of revenue at the custom houses. Republicans Have Always Stood for Protection. The Republican party has maintained the doctrine that taxes should not only be levied for the purpose of revenue, but also for the purpose of protect ing the home manufacturer from foreign competition. Of necessity protection from competition carries with it a guarantee of profits. In the last Republican platform this position of the party was distinctly recognized when they de clared that they were not only in favor of the protection of the difference in ond ahmail hnr alsn a rpasnnahlp nrntit to American industries. V.UOU Ob 14 VIA* V (Ml Democratic Party for Tariff for Revenue Only. The Democratic party favors the policy of raising its taxes at the custom house by a tariff that is levied for revenue only, which clearly excludes the idea of protecting the manufacturer's profits. In my opinion, the dividing line between the positions of the two great parties on this question is very clear and easily ascertained in theory. Where the tariff rates balance the difference in cost at home and abroad, including an allowance for the differ ence in freight rates, the tariff must be competitive, and from that point downward to the lowest tariff that can be levied it will continue to be com petitive to a greater or less extent. Where competition is not interfered with by levying the tax above the highest competitive point, the profits of the manufacturer are not protected. On the other hand, when the duties levied at the custom house equalizes the difference in cost at home and abroad and in addition thereto they are high enough to allow the American manufacturer to make a profit before his competitor can enter the field, we have invaded the domain of the protection of profits. Some men assert that the protection of reasonable profits to the home manufacturer should be commended instead I of being condemned, but in my judgment, the protection of any profit must of necessity have a tendency to destroy competition and create monopoly, whether the profit protected is reasonable or unreasonable. Unfairness of Protection. You should bear in mind that to establish a business in a foreign country requires a vast outiay both in time and capital. Should the foreign manu facturer attempt to establish himself in this country he must advertise his goods, establish selling agencies and points of distribution before he can suc cessfully conduct his business. After he has done so, if the home producer is protected by a law that not only equals the difference in cost at home and abroad, but also protects a reasonable or unreasonable profit, it is only neces sarv for him to droD his prices slightly below the point that the law has fixed to protect his profits and his competitor must retire from the country or become a bankrupt because he would then have to seil his goods at a loss and not a profit if he continued to compete. The foreign competitor having retired, the home producer could raise his prices to any level that home com petition would allow him and it is not probable that the foreigner who had already been driven out of the country would again return no matter how inviting the field as long as the law remained on the Statute Books that would enable his competitor to again put him out of business. Iniquity of the Protection of Profits. Thirty or forty years ago when we had numbers of small manufacturers, when there was honest competition without an attempt being made to restrict trade and the home market was more than able to consume the production of our mills and factories, the danger and the injury to the consumer of the country was not so great or apparent as it is today when the control of many great industries has been concentrated in the hands of a few men or a few corporations, because domestic competition was prohibited. When we cease to have competition at home and the law prohibits competition from abroad by protecting profits, there is no relief for the consumer except to cry out for government regulation. To my mind, there is no more reason or justice in the government attempting to protect the profits of the manufac turers and producers of this country than there would be to protect the profits of the merchant or the lawyer, the banker or the farmer, or the wages of the laboring man. In almost every line of industry in the United States we have as great natural resources to develop as that of any country in the world. It is admitted by all that our machinery and methods of doing business are in advance of the other nations. By reason of the efficient use of American machinery by American labor, in most of the manufactures of this country, i the labor cost per unit of production is no greater here than abroad. ; It is admitted, of course, that the actual wage of the American laborer ' is in excess of European countries, but as to most articles we manufacture the labor cost in this country is not more than double the labor cost abroad. When we consider that the average ad vai<?i?m rate of duty levied at the custom house TO manufactures of cotton goods is 53% of the value of the I article imported and the total labor cost of the production of cotton goods in this country is only 21% of the factory value of the product, that the dif ference in labor cost at home and abroad is only about as one is to two and that ten or eleven per cent of the value of the product levied at the custom house would equal the diffrrence in the labor wage, it is apparent that our present tariff laws exceed the point where they equalize the difference in cost at home and abroad, and w realize how far they have entered into the domain of protecting profits lor the home manufacturer. This is not only true of the manufacture of cotton goods, but of almost every schedule in the tariff bill. To protect profits of necessity means to protect inefficiency. It docs not stimulate industry because a manufacturer standing behind a tariff wall that is protecting his profits is not driven to develop his business along the lines of greatest efficiency and greatest economy. 1 Wool, Iron and Steel Industries. This is clearly illustrated in a comparison of the wool and the iron and steel industries. Wool has had a specific duty that when worked out to an ad valorem basis amounts to a tax of about 90% of the average value of all woolen goods imported into the United States, and the duties imposed have remained practically unchanged for forty years. During that time the wool industry has made comparatively little progress in cheapening the cost of its product and improving its business methods. On the other hand, in the iron and steel industry the tariff rate has been cut every time a tariff bill has been written. Forty years ago the tax on steel rails amounted to $17.50 a ton, today it amounts to $3.92. Forty years ago the tax on pig iron was $13.60 a ton, today it is $2.50. The same is true of most of the other articles in the iron and steel schedule, and yet the iron and steel industry has not languished; it has not been destroyed and it has not gone to the wall. It is the most compact, virile, fighting force of all the industries of America today. It has 1 r\tire ten PvnanHpfl its nrnductive caoacitv bevond the power of the American IWilfc, *- * people to consume its output and is today facing out towards the markets of the world, battling for a part of the trade of foreign lands where it must meet free competition or as is often the case, pay adverse tariff rates to enter the industrial fields of its competitor. Duty of Our Government?Genuine Tariff Reduction to a Revenue Producing Basis Only. Which course is the wiser for our government to take? The one that demands the protection of profits, the continued policy of hot-house growth for our industries? The stagnation of development that follows where com a1- - -*-1 L~r%^A IncJcfanf inn r?f petition ceases, or on me otncr uaim, mc yiauuai auu our tariff laws to a basis where the American manufacturer must meet honest competition, where he must develop his business along the best and most economic lines, where when he fights at home to control his market he is forging the way in the economic development of his business to extend hi> trade in the markets of the world. In my judgment, the future growth of our great industries lies beyond the seas. A just equalization of the burdens of taxation and honest competition, in my judgment, are economic truths; they are not permitted today by the laws of our country, we must face toward them and not away from them. What I have said does not mean that I am in favor of going to free trade conditions or of being so radical in our legislation as to injure legitimate business, but I do mean that the period of exclusion has passed and the era of honest competition is here. Let us approach the solution of the problem involved with the determination to do what is right, what is safe and what is reasonable. 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, The 1 Birmingham News thoroughly believes that by him it win De carricu 10 yiu- , 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. : IA NATIONAL REPU WIT 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. ] "TTmWwnnd." said Bailev. "is the only i man in either house of Congress who could be locked in a hermetically sealed room for a week and emerge from it I with a perfectly good tariff bill." I 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 WHY I AM FOR OSCJ (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 T Rill 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 Birminghaih Board of Trade, when it tried to intimidate him as to tariff reduction; (7) Because he has introduced a bill to cut the steel *ind 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, nor has Woodrow Wilson. (9) Because he has the sanity and the spunk to tell the people that all this talk about the initiative, reierenaum and recall, in national politics, is tommy-rot. Everybody should know that the Constitution of the United States would have to be radically UNDERWOOD A! 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 Koef Anrorl The Southern Democracy never wants, in or out of Congress, for powerful champions of party politics, men who comje in for honorable men tion when the Presidential year rolls round, but in Mr. Underwood's case A SOUTHERNER Oscar W. Underwood of Alabama is unquestionably of presidential size. His leadership of the Democratic majority on 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 nom ination. Has the time come when it is expe dient for the Democracy to nominate a Southerner living in the South for the presidency? It has not been thought so since the civil war. It has not even been thought expedient to give the South second place on the ticket. The nearest approach to this was the naming on the WIDE APPEAL OF UND 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 ir>cr eround 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 confidencc to-day that the trend of sentiment in New York city and New York State now favors the Alabama leader. From Representative Henry D. Clayton, of O'SHAUNESSY BOC 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 shown by his management of the House at this ses 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 of it right here in the South than anywhere else in the coun try. We are getting to be painfully sclf-conscious about this supposed politi cal bar sinister. Not only that, but we act on the assumption inai n wouiu uc 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.?Shreveport Titties, December, 1911. . TATION HOUT SEEKING IT order to make anybody hear your name. It is a rule to which there is no excep- [ tion that I know of except Underwood, j 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 put 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. IR UNDERWOOD 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? 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 Govern ment? 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. T?- *?m11 ho frima pnmicrh tf> talk about 11 n"" uv k**"v v-"~0" - ? ?-? ? 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 Jeffersonian, Thomson, Ga., January 25, 1912. > A CANDIDATE there is added a genius for organiza tion and command not often observable J 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 ? ??? gettter tne warring jcicincm? ui ?? 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. ON THE TICKET Tarker 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 be so far off when the last traces of the sectional line will be oblit erated in American politics.?The New York IVorld, October 24, 1911. ERWOOD'S CANDIDACY Alabama, also, comes confirmation of the fact that the Underwood Doomers 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 arc confident that the New York delegation will swine into line for Underwood.? Washington correspondence of the Fashville Tenncssccan, December 31, 1911. )MS UNDERWOOD sion, and except for his residence so far South,-1 feel that he is in every way suitable for the place. I believe the Democrats could not nominate a more acceptablc candidate."?Representative O'Shaunessy, of Rhode Island, in The Providencc Journal, August, 1911. UNDERWOOD SOU! VIEWS ON RECI] MERCHANT I RECIPROCITY (In the U. S. House of Representatives, April 21, 1911.) Our agricultural implements supply the farmers' wants beyond the seas. Our boots and shoes are worn by peo ple who speak many foreign 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. [Applause.] The harvests of our farmers feed the toiling masses of Europe. 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.] ANTI-TRUST LEGISLATION / Tmm "D A^AfA C vKrO fl S O v^11 OpCCLU Utiuic X viuij;i?u.i.u wv 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 us1 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." AMERICAN MERCHANT 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 [UNDERWOOD THE MAN OF THE HOUR But Mr. Underwood's rise in public favor has not been spectacular. His I - I.:?j _? 1?,i11 IS not U1C K1UU U1 |iU|/uiai ibjr kiiab niu decline. It dawned suddenly but its dawning was rather the awakening oi 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 I 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. Me 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 a 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 1 - - wie + Vir%rmirrVi1\j I1C. 1115 CUULanuu rvao n ivivu^ui^ 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 constanl 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, anc may well cause consternation in th< 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 thai section, in which he?was born and spenl his early years. In the soundness ol his Democracy, the statesmanlike judg ment and moderation he displays ir dealing with the issues of the hour Mr. Underwood has no superior among his rivals. He avoids indorsing verj questionable issues to which Wilsor committed himself somewhat inconti nently.?The Troy Press, New York November 28, 1911. THE HAN TO WIN The Mobile Register declares tha the relief of ninety millions of peopl< from tax extortion is the issue, and th< issue is personified in Oscar W. Under wood. What more fitting, therefore asks this paper, than that the man whc is the personification of the issue shoulc stand before the President who vetoec the bills drawn by Mr. Underwood seek ing to give relief to the American peo pie? 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 tarif laws? What more fitting for the Demo cratic party to nominate a man who cat [ win?for this is the time Democracy cai win. Powerful political leaders o thought and those journalistic exponent: of Democracy throughout the country should take note of Mr. Underwood They should investigate; and with part} 1 n.. cnrtinnil nrfMiuliri luytiiijr mm?nun f-j eliminated, learn to know the man arc the principles for which he stands. Th< Southern press, especially, should rail; with unhesitating vigor to support anc use their influence for the man who ha.' done more than any living Democrat t( reunite Democracy, and who can, as J Southern Democrat in the White House establish forever a reunited country.? Richvtovd Journal, renrodived in thi Advertiser, Montgomery, Ala., Januan 20, 1912. <D ON ALL PUBLIC Q PROCITY, ANTI-TRUS flARINE, PUBLIC SER in favor of American ships. It was the ? policy of the fathers; it built up our c merchant marine from a point where s it was carrying 17 per cent of our co:n- li merce to a point where it was carrying s 90 per cent of American commerce in \ a period of seven years. It does not t place additional burdens on the people; f ; it is not a policy of doubtful constitu- S tionality; it is a policy that has been i; tried and proven effective. It is a pol- ii icy by wnicti we can restore tne Amer- 11 ican flag to the seas and the American t: 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 v products in agriculture and manufac ture. It is a policy that will restore the balance of commerce as well as trade to t our Nation. It is a policy that will a ultimately overcome the necessity of our F paying a foreign balance in gold to 1 European nations and will bring pros- c perity to all lines of industry. t CONVICTIONS nORE POWER- i FUL THAN LOCAL PRESSURE [ (In the U. S. House of Representatives, s April 21, 1911.) t Two years ago, when the proposition r came before the House to cut the tariff \ on iron and steel products, in many : cases about half, I favored the proposi- f ; tion because I thought it was just and ; fnir but cntnp nf the nrntected' interests | in my district met and passed resolu- J , tions, and resolved that they would re- , buke me if I voted to reduce the tax J on iron and steel. I voted to make the : reduction [applause on the Democratic j | side], but they did not turn me out of Congress [applause on the Democratic c . 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 t days ago, stated that the United States ( Steel Corporation was in favor of this t ' bill and asked if I did not know it, ( or if that was not the reason why I ] I favored it. As I then stated to the t i gentleman from Illinois', I was not in ' formed as to the wishes of the United t UNDERWOOD'S RISE NO J SURPRISE TO THOSE * WHO KNOW Hin ; ? ^ ? 1 ? 1 f For years uscar unaerwooa nas oeen 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-reach ing 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. 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 n. His task then called for a calm ? ?j _ 1. ???? Uc vision ana a smgic ^tupus^. ?m\? ??v j , been a spellbinder and a scatterer he ) , would have wasted his opportunity. 1 Were Mr. Underwood to set his heart J - on the White House and maneuver for J ; 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 Houce has the first and highest claim on his at- 1 tention. i This does not mean that Mr. Under- t [ wood's name will, as the result of his t [ reply to his House colleagues, disap- < . pear from the Presidential speculation, j Of course, it will not. It is there to t . stay, with the other names now on < . many pens and tongues. The matter of < t the nominee is in the lap of fate, and i t we shall all have to wait for the deci- J \ sion.?The Washington Sunday Star, . December, 1911. UNDERWOOD 1 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 "T> mc tn the South that Grover j Cleveland was nominated and elected," said Judge Parker. "It was due to the . South that William J. Bryan was twice 1 r nominated, ar.d in like manner the South 1 2 was responsible for the nomination of ! 1 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 1 dential nominee could be choscn who < 5 could quell the voices of all the Demo- < 3 rratic factions and heal all breaches. \ i When the Democratic National Conven- l , tion sees fit to nominate a Southerner, i - I believe tl:at the Northern Democrats ( i vill supnort him with their ballots.? 1 / Judge Alton B. Parker, in The State, 1 Columbia, S. C., January 25, 1912. UESTIONS T LEGISLATION VICE, THE TARIFF States Steel Corporation. As a matter f fact, I am interested in the iron and teel business myself. Everything I iave in the world is in the iron and teel business except my home, but not vith the United States Steel Corpora ion. My people are independent manu acturers. We meet the United States Jteel Corporation every day of our ex stence in a competitive battle on the ndustrial fields of America. My people iave not asked me to vote for a protec ive tariff on iron and steeL PROTECTION'S INIQUITIES In the U. S. House of Representatives^ April 21, 1911.) The protected interests of this coun ry know well that this bill will make i break in the dike; that whenever the rotective tariff is removed and the Northern farmer stands out alone with >ut pretense of protection to his pred icts that he can no longer be counted >n to stand in the ranks of the monopo istic interests of this country. That i& vhy they are afraid of it ft is not so>' ; nuch what is in the bill, but they know hat the death knell of the protection: ystem will have sounded?that prptec ion that means the protection of enor nous profits and the creation of mo lopolies in this country?when the armer understands and abandons the Republican Party to those alone who iave fattened upon his hard-earned dol ars. They are using, my friends, every 'fFnrf in rlistrirtQ on thafr of thf louse and in your district, my fellow Dcmocrat and in my district to break he colum: I have protected interests* n my district, but I do not represent hem. I represent the great mass of my onstituency who want honest treatment md fair play. ! OSCAR UNDERWOOD The appearance of Oscar Underwood! iere last night, in advocacy of the Dem >cratic principles he has done so much o advance, was an event not only highly gratifying to his party associates in! -ouisville, but of exceptional interest to! he community in general. It is not often that a man returns to! he scenes of his youth to speak with ;uch authority, from so commanding st, >osition, won on his own merit. It has-: lot been so long, as the years ago?he is-' lot yet 50?since Oscar Underwood was' t schoolboy here; he comes back now; he recognized and applauded leader of, lis party on the floor of the National; loose of Representatives, the Head ot; he great committee which shapes the I iscal legislation of the country; a new' ihieftain of Democracy who has arisen it a crisis when the old party seemed ill but leaderless. Bravo, Oscar Underwood! It is a iright day for Democrats when they are ortunate to find and quick to acclaim iuch a leader.?Louisville Courier-Jour tal, reprinted in Age-Herald, Birming 1am, Ala., October 15, 1911. 50HETHINQ OF ALABAHA'S CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY" Whoever was floor leader of the De nocracy w&s good enough for Mr. Un lerwood during all the long years that >arty was in the minority, and day after lay, whether, that leader was Joseph W_ Bailey, of Texas, John Sharp Williams^ >f Mississippi, or Champ Clark, of Mis ;otiri, the gentleman from Alabama was ilways at his leader's elbow, ready and! ager to do anything he could to help. Dther statesmen might try to black their jarty leader's eye, but Mr. Underwood vas never known to extend anything )ut the helping hand.?George E. Miller, staff Correspondent, in the Detroit \rews, October 24, 1911. kVHOfl SHALL THE DEHOCRATS NOHINATB Congressman Underwood, as house eader of the Democrats and as chair nan of the Ways and Means Commit :ee, has measured up to the standard of rue statesmanship. He has rendered in ralculable service to the cause of honest ariff revision, the one great issue in he pending campaign, and by his splen iid poise and mastery of affairs he has :xalted his party's name in the minds of :hinking Americans.?Atlanta Journal, fanuary 7, 1912. UNDERWOOD AS A CANDIDATE If Oscar Underwood, when he was made Chairman of the Ways and Means ~ - 1-- -1 1 ?11 ^ommutee, nau ueeii as wci? Auunu :hroughout the country as Champ Clark or Judson Harmon or Woodrow Wilson be would have gone into the Democratic :onvention far in the lead. He was at :hat time, however, little known and :his fact may give to the Speaker a part d? the prestige that Mr. Underwood Dtherwise would have had. Mr. Underwood is well known now, however, and will be better known be fore the convention meets or the States ?Iect delegates. Taking it for granted that he will conduct the tariff fight as well during the regular session as dur ing the extra session, Mr. Underwood will be much stronger at the end of the regular session than he is now. If we judge by results we must conclude that no Democratic leader has ever had his forces so well in hand as Mr. Under wood had during the last session.?The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville, Fla., October 24, 1911. AN EHINENT HAN "The destiny of the American nation, which I think is the most wonderful in [lie whole history of the world, is per fectly safe in the hands of such men as your Underwood. It is a pity that ire cannot have more of his kind in Washington. He is one of the most eminent men that the South has pro duced, and I look with vast satisfaction upon the plans of his Alabama friends n rrivp him their unanimous indorse ment for that hrs?h office?the presi dency.?Prof. Willis L. Moore, Chief of [r. S. Weather Bureau, in the Birming ham, Ala., Age-llcraldx Oeto'"*'- 11, 1911.