The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-03-13
Congressman Confident of Re-
 taining His Place
HERE FOR BUT TWO WEEKS
Discussing Anti-shppins Bill Now Be- fore Congress and Says Its Pass age Depends Entirely on
 Speaker Cannon.

yesterday morning at o'clock, and reg istered at the Hotel Florence
 He will remain in the district about two weeks, in which time he will make preliminary canvass in his campaign for reelection Business of importance, he states, requires his presence in Wash ington after two weeks.
 Congressman Underwood spent the day with his friends in the city. He lunched at the Florence with Lieutenant Governor Gray, and was entertained in the evening, He is in fine health and expresses pleas ure on being again with the people of Alabama. After all 'stated he, there | art no people like those of Alabama. It 1 is good to be here again..
 l The congressman is looking over the 1 field. He will have opposition in his race | for reelection, Judge Samuel L. Weaver 1 having already announced and former Mayor Drennen is seriously thinking of entering the contest. The congressman stated he expected opposition, and that l he is prepared for 1t. In conversation he stated that he had already made l letter canvass of the district. He ex- l presses the greatest confidence, but does l rot underestimate his opposition. Two Congressman Have Opposition. l There are two of the present congress- 1 men from Alabama who will have oppo- 1 sition Both of them are at present in the state. In addition to Congressman | Underwood, Congressman A. A. Wiley of the Second, has opposition, Thomas 1 J. Hall having already started man to man canvass.
 Congressman Hefiin, too, Is in the state I at present. He is candidate for dele
 gate at large to the national convention, and Is making a campaign for that honor. :, Congressman Henry D. Clayton of the l Third, who is also candidate for dele 1 gate at large, is expected to put in an l appearance within the next two weeks. | 1nasmueh as the other seven congress- l men are unopposed, they will hardly be l ir Alabama before the middle of May, l the primary being set for May 18 "I will be unable to remain in the dis 1 trict but two weeks,' stated Congress 1 man Underwood. However in case the | campaign gets warm I will soon return, l and take up the fight for reelection At | any rate l will return to Alabama in 1 Apfll ana Will De nere, Ol cOufSts On lHe I date of the primary.
 l Currency Problem Foremost Question. Everything in Washington" he con- l tinued, lis quiet, though busy. There i is a great deal of interest shown in the 1 bill for the reformation of the banking system and the currency problem. It hap l pens, however, that every man seemingly l,ao l,ic md l am certain that for any of the bills now l pending there Is not a majority in the | House. It seems that more members l favor the proposition to insure the de- l poslts of banks than any of fthe other 1 theories that have been advanced towards ] the reform of the evil However, there l is no majority for that theory. It is exceedingly hard to figure on the out l come of the situation, and it may be l exceedingly late in the season before
 any bill Is passed"
 1 Congressman Underwood did not hold out much hope for the passage of the 1 bill preventing the shipping of whisky
 into prohibition territory. He stated that
 Speaker Cannon stood in the way of
 the passage of any such measure, and 1 declared. his belief that this session, at
 any rate, would not witness the enact-
 ment of such 8 prohibitory law.
 Such legislation, however" stated the | congressman, ..is good democratic doc 1 urine, and I don't believe that there are l half dozen democrats in the House who
 oppose the proposed measure It mat 1 ters not the individual opinions Of the
 members on the question of prohibition, l but it is unfair and improper to do by
 indlrection the direct operation that which | one section has tabooed. For instance, if Hale county, in the black belt, has declared itself dry under the local op- 1 tion bill, it is not right that Birming-
 ham, for example, should be allowed to
 ship whisky into that county. That is
 democratic doctrine, the great majority
 of the democrats in congress-stands by
 it, and l. personally, have always been
 a champion of that idea
 Bright Outlook for Democracy.
 MT. Underwood stated his opinion that the outlook was most propitious for a
 democratic national victory or, at any
 rate, the democratic control of Congress
 next year.
 ..The democrats in Washington, lle
 said, .are most hopeful. They believe | that the chances for democratic victory
 are exceedingly bright. The democratic
 party is more firmly welded together than ever before, and the republicans 1 are divided between the reformers and | the standpatters. Then, there is the
 empty dinner pail slogan that has in
 former years proved so advantageous for l the upsetting of administrations The re-
 publicans can no longer boast that hard
 times do not come during republican ad-
 ministrations."
 In case the democrats do control Con
 gress next year, MT. Underwood will be
 chairman of the ways and means com
 mittee the most important. Champ Clark
 of Missouri in case he fails in his cam
 raign for the Senate, will become speaker,
 in all probability. If he is elected to the
 Senate, Mir Underwood has chance
 to become speaker, though when this
 subject was preached yesterday he plainly
 intimated that he did not relish its discus
 sion.
 |
 Another Social Club.
 i Application for a charter was filed In