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ITIVE, REFERENDUM RECALL NO FIELD NATIONAL POLITICS ITATIVE GOVERNMENT, AS CON |Y FRAMERS OF CONSTITUTION, E BULWARK OF CIVIL LIBERTY ?eparting from Path Established by the Fathers ELIVERED BY MR. UNDERWOOD BEFORE CATHOLIC ] :LUB OF NEW YORK CITY DECEMBER 19, 1911. >urposc of government is the protection of life, liberty and prop-! fe-guarding of property rights is essential to the advancement of n. >t always awake to the realization that the just enforcement of nore essential to good government than the enactment of new a century and a half ago the Federal Constitution was written; i pattern in its fundamental features for our State Constitutions, id experimented with almost every conceivable method of govern usands of years before the birth of our republic. The statesmen the form of the new government were essentially students of the ;ove'rnnicnt and lovers of the liberties of the people. Most of red their lives and their fortunes in the struggle for their country's No man can justly charge them with either lack of informa g the essential principles of government, or want of honesty i create a government that would secure to themselves and their lore perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic Tranquility, he common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Liberty to themselves and their Posterity." World's First Written Constitution. |med to the world its first written Constitution, created a gov in absolute contradistinction to a government of men. The e Federal Constitution v-crc familiar with the repeated fail ments hased on the princip'e of a direct democracy, where the direct law-making power and in some instances the ultimate f the country. igers of a Direct Democracy. ? li fry of the past that those governments had failed iberties of the people had been destroyed by the marked the administration of a government where *i forum by the assembled multitude, and were not the I? men especially trained for the work in hand, jr.lure of every direct Democracy was due not to !|rposc on the part of the aggregate citizenship as [i to the fact that they were often swayed by their yjudices, and lacked intimate knowledge of the re ! iis. individual entity will controvert the Golden Rule h others as they would be done by, but it is rarely I populace can divorce itself from its selfish desires ?>e to those who may be temporarily in the minority. k1 excesses of a direct Democracy, the framers of J, to establish a government that would protect the individual and at the same time reflect ultimately the enactment of the law of the land. [e?entative Form of Government. established a representative form of govcrn making power responsive to the will of the rote in the Constitution certain checks and I the mofB^brutal force of a majority from de rty rights of^lk? individual. mind that the nfc^iers of our Constitution were freedom of GovcrninWlt, for they created a Gov dclcgatcd powers cxpresw^given to the Nation by e States the right to make%most of the laws that c citizen. The underlying principle of the Consti le liberty of the citizen and the protection of his owcr Of the Government itself. ip0jV*fcnt Judiciary Established. icse rights, an independent . uliciary was established executive nor the Legislative branches of the Govern he guaranteed rights of the individual, lie framers of the Constitution were unwilling to trust iody, held in check by the veto power of the Executive; unbridled abuse of the power, they established Constitu ,>erty that a majority of the people could not trample t itself destroy. [majority of the people will not endanger the liberties Idual. I wish that this were true, but the history of [shown that at times the people, when unchecked by [s, have destroyed individual rights and individual 'M sc Changes Now Proposed. [me that we shall in part abandon the representative l; Revolutionary fathers, and adopt a system that in (direct democracy when the ultimate power to make Jly in the hands of all the people, and the independent :ct the Constitutional guarantees oi individual liberty to the will of the majority through political com iiison and Hamilton, soldiers in the war for Amcri , their great minds and mature judgments to the n of the United States, but there is one whose sincere ubtcd as to the value of a representative government ct one, even by those who doubt the sincerity of pur opinion of other men. Jefferson's Wise Views. t equal rights of man," Thomas Jefferson declared: bi have the signal advantage, too, of having discovered 5?v which these rights can be secured, to wit: Govern ing not in pel h< n, but by representatives chosen laration of Independence, knowing that all popular fe, resting on the direct decisions of the people, had arevertcd into uncontrolled despotism, rejoiced that Kt representative government could express the will I v. proposed to abandon the representative principle "by our fathers and revert to the direct action of pie of an Athenian democracy adapted to modern unent Only Check on Excesses and Passion. rirnment was established to guard against the cx the ancient direct popular government to destruction, it docs not at all times immediately respond to public who insist that the principle of government is at I. They do not reflect that at times they may mis t that at other times the instrument of the govern whom the people can change at recurring periods) ic principle of the government itself, slator leads me to believe that the Congress of the ultimately respond to the enlighteted and matured \L{ public sentimer,t, we have repeatedly experienced the taxing powers. . [ative hranch of the government in direct response cnt year* enact railroad rate legtAtion pure food if campaign funds, national qtlirantme, irrigate dhmian Canal. Can it he triihfully said ha 1V to place mi the itaUtte r>?U the laws that TIME TO ABANDON UNWORTHY SECTIONAL. ABASEMENT The most humiliating paradox in American politics to-day is the shrink ing attitude of some of our own people toward the presidential possibilities of Southern men. '1 he civil war, the memories of which furnished the nursery for this indefensi ble sectional abasement, is 50 years at our back. Ninety per cent of the Amer ican voters who elect a president re member this war and its dividing rancor only as history. With outstretched hands, having given every proof of view ing Mason and Dixon's line as no more a political barrier than the Mississippi or the Rockies, the dominant generation at the North invites the South, its pub lic men, by right of citizenship and by right of demonstrated ability, into full fellowship in the nation's counsels. South Wanting in Boldness What has been the answer of the South?at least, the answer that may be interpreted by the silence or the diffi dence of hundreds of thousands of rep resentative Southerners? Obsessed by the ghosts of half a cen tury ago, guilty of an embarrassment and a self-consciousness that is nothing short of arrant sectional cowardice, there is a feeling among many South erners that the wraiths of the sixties Still stand between the South and the White Mouse?the South and that par ticipation in the nation's voice, the na tion's destiny, to which the nation is eager to admit us. The consequences of this abnegation of common manhood could not be more forcefully portrayed than in the words of tiie Constitution's Washington corre spondent, in a dispatch discussing the presidential status resulting from the Ilarvey-Wilson-Watterson episode. "If he," writes our correspondent, canvass ing the possibilities of Oscar Under wood, the brilliant Alabamian, along with other Southerners, "pays the penal ty of being a Southern man, it will be the South and not the North to ex-1 act it." South's Politic; Stage Fright That is also an accurate delineation of the manner in which the North views the situation. We use Underwood only as an illustration, though his magnificent record as House leader during the spe cial session would, as our correspondent declares, have assured his nomination "with a sweep"?had he lived at the North! To the Nor h, it makes no dif ference where Underwood, or any other one of the galaxy being discussed, was born. The representative Northerner does not bridle at mention of Bull Run or Gettysburg. It remains for the South to develop political stage fright over these diminishing chapters in our his tory. The last smouldering embers of sectional acrimony were stamped out by the Spanish-American war. The last barriers between North and South were crumbled before the achievements of Joe Wheeler, of Pitzhugh Lee, and of many of the younger generation on both sides. The most convincing evidence of this fact is the manner in which the nation received the announcement of the broad and patriotic, action of President Taft in elevating Justice White, a Confed erate veteran, to the Chief Justiceship of the United States Supreme Court. A protesting snarl -ose here and there ] from the irrcconcilablcs. And the voices | most bitter in denunciation of that i jaundice came from?the Northern press! It is only essential for the occa sional freak firebrand to rise and at tempt to wave the "bloody shirt," to be buried with ridicule, not only by his confreres, but as well by the news papers of all sections of our common country. Not a Question of Expediency or Discretion In the face of these cumulative facts, there arc some in the South who still question if, "on account of past of fenses," it is "discreet" or "expedient" for a Southern man to offer himself for presidential honors! We insult our 1selves, wc debase our manhood, we sur render the rights the North is so willing to concede us, when wc permit our course, as a people, to be so interpreted. It is not in human nature to accord respect, where self-respect is absent, llow, then, can we expect the remainder of the nation to continue to respect us, when we grovel in the dust of a by gone era, and let go by default tue rights inherent in American manhood? For virtually half a century the South has furnished the hewers of wood and drawers of water for the Democratic party. It has, faithfully with each re current four years, furnished the Democ racy's army and its line officers?cheer fully yielding command to other sections. With a smile, it has steadily forsworn the political loaves and fishes, content, for the sake of the party, that they go to doubtful States?time and again to States most of us knew at the time were stecl-rivctcd Republican. Let Us Claim Our Birthright For SO years wc have eaten in the political kitchen. Consistently, we have waxed cheerful when denied even the dubious privilege of the second table. And to-day, when the clock of destiny strikes, when the door of opportunity is wide ajar, when the North actually lives j up to that prophetic utterance in the Senate of Ben Hill, "We arc back in the house of our fathers, and we are here to stay, thank God!"?a few of us are still blushing and stammering, still wearing political sackcloth and ashes, still up to the old 'easy mark" game of doing all the drudgery, with none of the cakes and ale! Let's end this disgraceful farce! We furnish, have long furnished, the electoral votes, the powder and shot, the munitions, of the Democratic party. Let's assert those equal rights and privi leges as American citizens, as the re mainder of the nation fraternally bids us to do. Let's cease the stultification of informing *he nation, by our actions, that we cannot bring forth a man capa ble for the presidency. For the sec tional cowardice, here and there mani fested, is equivalent to that shameful and ungrounded admission.?The Con stitution, Atlanta, Ga., January 21, 1912. A New Leader From the South "The President's veto, ot course, de stroyed the Pree List Bill, as well as all the other features of the Democratic platform. The special session, however, was not without far-reaching results. Its chief accomplishments were a reor ganized Congress and a resurrected Democratic majority under a new lead ership. It also emphasized the new part which the Southern States are now playing in national affairs. With a Southerne as Chief Justice, a Southerner as majority leader in Congress, and Southerners as prominent candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination ?Clark, Undcrwcjd and Wilson?the nation is certainly more united than at any time since the Civil War. No man rejoices more over this changed situa tion than Underwood. He is even more interested in the solidarity of the forty eight States than in the union of the Democratic party."?Burton J. Hen drick in McCiurc's Magazine, February, 1912. Alabama s Candidate Mr. Underwood's service to the coun try during nine terms in the National House of Representatives has been most distinguished, anu has made his name a household word in the homes of the people. For more than 20 years he has been in the very front of his party's battle line, a leader from his youth, and ever faithful to his party's principles and candidates. No Democrat can find a tlaw in his political record; no charge of desertion in any campaign; no accu sation of serving special interests can lie against him. His congressional co'.'oagucs respect him for his sincerity, his high sense of honor, his sagacity and his acknowl edged ability, .?nd this in itself is an infallible proof of his merit, for none know so well the capabilities of a statesman as those who have r^rvrd many years with him and noted his conduct in days of peace and those of political storm.?Cincinnati Enquirer, October 23, 1911. Underwood for President: The argument that he lives too far South to be available is without weight. The country has reached that state of union?has been so closely drawn to gether by railroad and telegraph?that Alabama is brought to the door of New York. Massachusetts and Texas arc near neighbors and even the two Portlands, of -Maine and Oregon, stand within easy hailing distance of each other. So far as any feeling of sectionalism is con cerned, or any prejudice against the se lection of a Southern man for the presi dency, Underwood is, like Lincoln, a native of Kentucky, and therefore as much Northern as Southern, was born during the Civil War, and grew to man hood after the old bitterness between North and South had died out. He is a big, brainy, courageous man.?Balti more Sun, July 26, 1911. Underwood Presi dential Timber Mr. Underwood would make an ideal President. He is a broad-gauged, level headed citizen; he doesn't slip his cere bral cogs and.. 1 off at a tangent as a rabid exponent of revolutionary dogmas in an effort to popularize himself; he is uniformly courteous to all men; he be lieves in reducing the high cost of liv ing in this country, not talking about it; he does not believe in destroying the industries of the United States while at the same time he is a thorough believer in the principles of tariff for revenue only. ******* There is no fluh-dub about Mr. Un derwood. He doesn't believe in shams, lie is a big, brawny, brainy statesman, without his lightning rod out to attract the Democratic nomination for the pres idency, and largely on that very account he is liable to be the very man that will get in the way of the bolt that may elevate him to the White House.?J. W. Plenner, in the Times-Democrat, Mus kegee, Okla., October 28, 1911. (Continued from First Column.) The response may : ^t be as rapid, but it is probably more permanent and there is certainly no* much danger of enacting hasty, ill-considered or bad legislation. Cannot a committee of the Congress, composed of representative men, initiate legislation, within the limitations of the Constitution, guard against ex-1 cesses and abuses, protect the rights of the minority, voice the wishes of the majority, as well or hetter than t' ? partisan friends of a measure who, in order that they may accomplish one result, arc tempted to reach so far that they leave a wake of destruction as to collateral matters the measure touches? Untrustworthiness of Petitions. It is true, that under the system proposed, a petition by a percentage of voters would first have to be obtained. Hut let every man ask himself how often he has signed petitions to please or get rid of the person who presented the paper, to determine what thought and deliberation will be exercised by the average man who signs a petition. People Suffer More From Failure of Law Enforcement Than From Lack of Proper Legislation. Should I stop to criticise our government, I would say that the people suffer far more from the failure to enforce tlie laws on the statute books than they do from the lack of proper legislation. How many remedial laws ate to be found on the statute books, that if fairly enforced would remedy the evils we complain against; but it is so much easier to cry out for new legislation than to insist that our neighbor shall go to jail for violating the law wc al ready have. If there arc evils in our government as it exists today, it is not in its organic form. It is due to the failure of those in office to honestly, fairly and justly perform the duties imposed upon them. The remedy is plain and the way is clear. The people should drive from the places of power and responsibility the unfaithful servant and elect those who will be faithful and true to the trust imposed upon them. The People and the Representatives. You tell me the people cannot elect honest and faithful servants. I tell you that the masses of the people are far better judges of men than they are of measures, and are far more likely to select an honest man than an honest measure. When you say that the voter cannot select a public official who will reflect the will of the people in his office, and be faithful to the Constitution of his country, I say you reflect on the very first principle of free government and misjudge the honesty and the intelligence of the American people. Our Constitution was born in the hour when the love of liberty and freedom was ripe in the hearts of men. For a century it has withstood the storms of war, greed, and Intolerance; through the tempests of discontent, danger and disaster, It has protected the lives, liberty and property of om people. Southern Leaders "Naturally the men who have led the Democrats in the House of Representa tives so successfully under trying con ditions arc freely mentioned at the pres ent time as possible candidates for the presidential nomination by the Demo cratic Convention. These leaders arc Champ Clark, Speaker of the House, and Oscar W. Underwood, a new and coming man. "Both arc Southerners, by the way, but in my mind there is no reason in these days c f broadening views and lessening prejudices why a Southerner should not be nominated and elected to the presi dential chair of the United States. In fact, there are many reasons why it should be so."?London cable of William Randolph Hearst in the New York American, Monday, September 25, 1911. Takes Up Underwood The years since the Civil War have rolled too fast and far to permit it to be conceivable any longer that the cir cumstances of Southern birth should constitute in Northern judgment a dis qualification in any degree whatever. Iloth as to nomination and as to elec tion the Southerner will be rated in 1912 on his individual merits. As far as this particular Southerner, Mr. Oscar W. Underwood, is concerned, it is agreeable to note the absence of geography in the regard in which he is held in all parts of the Union.?New York Sun, 1911. A FALSE POSITION Rumors generally believed to have emanated from the camps of men who cither are or have been considered as Democratic presidential possibilities, that Mr. Underwood, of Alabama, could not command the support of the North be cause of the fact that he is a South erner, arc not only poppycock, pure and simple, but they piacc the men of the North in a false position in the eyes of the people of the South and tend to revive sectional feeling which has been buried for many years. The effects of such rumors are nil in the North be cause the people of the North know they have not one iota of truth, but people in the South arc apt to take them more seriously, and there is where they may prove harmful, not only because of their tendency to cause dissatisfaction on the part of Southern Democrats, hut be cause of the effect they may have in giving rise to sectional prejudice through false representations of conditions which do not exist. No Northerner would hesitate to support Mr. Underwood be cause he comes from the South.?The Argus, Albany, New York, November 23, 1911. UNDERWOOD THE /TAN We have been humbugged and scared off long enough by the bogy of North ern prejudice against a Southern candi date. Underwood stands for just those things which recent Northern majori ties have declared they want?a revi sion of thfc tariff downward and the destruction of special privilege. His qualities of leadership have been tested and approved. In his personality he is solid, clean and sane, with the cour age of a fighter and the clairvoyance of a true reformer, and if the South pre sents him as her candidate and the party ratifies her choice this fine, strong char acter of a new day in our annals will ratch both the sentiment and the sober iudgment of the North, sweep away the last remaining debris of the dead old war and its dead is>... % carry enough States m tlia\jectic*LJ& FREE LIST BILL VETOED BY PRESIDENT TAFT DRAWN BY CHAIRMAN UNDERWOOD OF THE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE - l{ A Bill of Direct Benefit to the Farmer, Whose Hopes Were Dissipated by a Repub lican President MR. UNDERWOOD THE FRIEND OF ALL CLASSES MR. UNDERWOOD, FROM THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS, SUBMITTED THE FOLLOWING REPORT (EXTRACTS). [To accompany H. R. 4413.] The Committee on Ways and Means, to whom was referred the hill (H. R. 4413) to place on the free list agricultural implements, cotton bagging, cotton ties, leather, boots and shoes, saddlery and harness, fence wire, meats, cereals, Hour, bread, timber, lumber, sewing machines, salt, and other articles, having had same under consideration report it back to the House without amend ment and recommend that the bill do pass. It was expressly stated in the Democratic platform of 1908 that the belated promises of tariff reform made at that time by the Republican Party were a tardy recognition of the righteousness of the Democratic position on this ques tion, but that the people could not safely intrust the execution of this im portant work to a party which is so deeply obligated to the highly protected interests as is the Republican Party *********** * Agricultural Implements. By this measure agricultural tools and implements of every kind are placed on the free list, in order to remove or to prevent any possible discrimination against our farmers in the prices of these necessary articles, and to place them on an equal footing with their competitors elsewhere in the world. Our do mestic manufacturers of agricultural tools, implements, vehicles, and machin ery have grown to great proportions and arc largely organized into great trusts and combinations. These organizations arc selling their products all over the world, meeting and overcoming all competition. They need no protection, and, as a rule, ask for none. For a number of years they sold many of their products in foreign countries at lower prices than at homo, and so recently as 1907 agricultural associations in public resolutions protested against this practice. The imports of these agricultural implements arc in significant; the value of all such imports, free and dutiable, in 1910, amounted to $122,302. The exports of these implements have become a matter of more importance than the domestic trade, the figures indicating an increase from ^,S59,184 in 1890 to $28,124,033 in 1910. This foreign business will he greatly aided by the removal of duties from lumber, as provided for in this bill. Bagging and Baling Materials. It is of the greatest importance to our producers of cotton and other agri cultural commodities that the materials necessary for bagging, sacking, baling, or otherwise packing these commodities he made free from duty, so that they may be available to the producers at the most favorable prices possible, with out shelter for the exaction of unreasonable prices by trusts and combinations of manufacturing interests. The bill, therefore, places all such materials and articles on the free list, including cotton bagging and cotton tics, jute ami jute butts, hemp, llax, scg, tow, burlaps, and other materials or fibers suitable for coverings, and bags or sacks made therefrom, together with all hoop or band iron or hoop or band steel for baling any commodity and wire for baling agricultural products. All these coverings and materials for making coverings arc essentials in the transportation of agricultural products to their markets. The products can not receive the benefit of any protection in these markets, and for this and other reasons it is unfair and unjust to continue duties on coverings for agricultural produce. These duties have annoyed ml burdened farmers and have served principally to increase the profits of exacting trusts and combinations. 62d Congress, 1st Session. IL R. 4413. An Act to place on the free list agricultural implements, cotton bagging, cotton ties, leather, boots and shoes, fence wire, meats, cereals, flour, bread, timber, lumber, sewing machines, salt, and other articles. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That on and after the day following the passage of this Act the following articles shall he exempt from duty when imported into the United States: Plows, tooth and disk harrows, headers, harvesters, reapers, agricultural drills and planters, mowers, horscrakes, cultivators, threshing machines and cotton gins, farm wagons and farm carts and all other agricultural implements of any kind and description, whether specifically mentioned herein or not, whether in whole or in parts, including repair parts. Bagging for cotton, gunny cloth, and all similar fabrics, materials, or cover ings, suitable for covering and baling cotton, composed in whole or in part of jute, jute butts, hemp, flax, seg, Russian seg, New Zealand tow, Norwegian tow, aloe, mill waste, cotton tares, or any other materials or fibers suitable for covering cotton; and burlaps and bags or sacks composed wholly or in part of jute or burlaps or other material suitable for bagging or sacking agricultural products. Hoop or band iron, or hoop or hand steel, cut to lengths, punched or not punched, or wholly or partly manufactured into hoops or ties, coated or not coated with paint or any other preparation, with or without buckles or fasten ings, for baling cotton or any other commodity; and wire for baling hay, straw, and other agricultural products. Grain, buff, split, rough and sole leather, band, bend, or belting leather, boots and shoes made wholly or in chief value of leather made from cattle hides and cattle skins of whatever weight, of cattle of the bovine species, including calfskins; and harness, saddles, and saddlery, in sets or in parts, finished or unfinished, composed wholly or in chief value of leather; and leather cut into shoe uppers or vamps or other forms suitable for conversion into manufac tured articles. Harbed fence wire, wire rods, wide strands or wire rope, wire woven or manufactured for wire fencing, and other kinds of wire suitable for fencing, including wire staples. Ilccf, veal, mutton, lamb, pork, and meats of all kinds, fresh, salted, pickled, dried, smoked, dressed or undressed, prepared or preserved in any manner; bacon, hams, shoulders, lard, lard compounds and laid substitutes; and sausage and sausage meats. Buckwheat Hour, corn meal, wheat flour and semolina, rye flour, bran, middlings, and other offals of grain, oatmeal and rolled oats, and all prepared cereal foods; and biscuits, bread, wafers, and similar articles not sweetened. Timber, hewn, sided, or squared, round timber used for spars or in build ing wharves, shingles, laths, fencing posts, sawed hoards, planks, deals, and other lumber, rough or dressed, except boards, planks, deals, and other lum ber, of lignum-vitae, lanccwood, ebony, box, granadilla, mahogany, rosewood, satinwood, and all other cabinet woods. Sewing machines, and all parts thereof. Salt, whether in bulk or in bags, sacks, barrels, or other packages. Passed the House of Representatives May 8, 1911. Attest: South Trimble, Clerk. I UNDERWOOD A UNIFYING FORCE The Republicans- cannot agree with his tariff views; the country, we are sure, will never put him into the presi dency, but assuredly he must be con ceded to be the ablest, the strongest, tho most influential Democrat in Congress to-day, and he has shown a marvelous capacity for leadership. His party asso [ ciates stand solidly behind him, and that could not have been said of any other man in recent years who led the Demo crats in the House of Representatives. * * * * * * * The shrewd Republican politicians who predicted that the Democrats in the House would be split into a dozen bitterly fighting factions in less than a month, arc now amazed at Underwood's success as a harmonizcr and a uni fying force. He has succeeded where everybody else failed; It seems likely that with the prestige of success he will grow larger and more powerful as time passes. We detest Ida political princi FORAKER ON UNDERWOOD Mr. John Temple Graves will be In ^-1 town soon to make us a speech. He was in Birmingham the other night and The /igc-Hcrahl printed an interview with the former Georgian, in which that gentleman discussed Mr. Underwood as a presidential candidate. Mr. Graves said: "Mr. b'orakcr used to be very bit terly opposed to the South, but softened a great deal after his elevation to the Senate. 1 asked Mr. Foraker if in case Mr. Underwood is nominated for Pres ident, will it make any difference to you that he is a Southern man?" "'Absolutely none,' said Mr. b'orakcr. 'Of course, I cannot vote for him, as I am a Republican, but if any Republican should get up and denounce him because he is from the South, I would take the stump in Underwood's defense.'" That reads well, coming as it does from a man whose antagonistic attitude towards the South in other days gave him the appellation of t"V\rt Alarm"