The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-19

1OlIanO, III the RnlldQelpHld lJeuStI
 It is a fact that the democratic leaders at Washington, and, we learn, many of those of the south, and some in this city, are now considering whether the most available candidate for the democ- racy Is not Oscar w. Underwood. All ready the first tentative preparations for an organization which will have the nom- nation of MT. Underwood in view have been made. The reasons given for the presumed availability of MT. Underwood are a kind which should especially in- terest republicans.
 First of all, it is said that one of the reasons why it has been presumed that the democracy of the south would be dis- posed strongly to support the nomina- tion of Gov. Woodrow Wilson is the fact that Wilson is of southern birth. If he were nominated he would be the first southern man since the outbreak of the civil war to be named for the presidency by either party. That sentimental appeal however, will, it is believed, be made with greater effect if it were utilized in support of the nomination of MT. Under wood. He is a southern man, in the sense that he Is native of Louisville, Ky He however, differs from Governor Wilson in the fact that, except for brief time at Atlanta, when he was practic- ing law, Wilson's entire life has been spent in the north, and until recently, as a teacher. MT. Underwood has been all his life a citizen of the south, having been for nearly 30 years a lawyer at Bir- mingham, Ala.
 The sentimental appeal, however, does not carry as great a weight with the democratic leaders as do certain intel lectual and temperamental qualities. It is now said of MT. Underwood that, in these respects, he more nearly approaches the now historic ideal established by Me- Kinley than any other man now in pub lie life. MT. Underwood has distinguished himself, possibly above all of his col leagues in the House by his great gift of tact. No man not possessing this gift could have acquired the leadership of the majority party in the lower house of Congress, or. if he had been able to secure that leadership, would have been able to make it avail greatly. The abler democratic puDlC men noW lIdihly say that the masterly manner in which the democratic majority In the lower house of Congress has been guided the unex- pectedly good record which it has made, the wisdom which 1t has shown and the real statesmanship, from the democratic viewpoint, which has characterized this special session are, in great measure, 1 to bn Iaad in pf Mir JTD6prunOd
 In the second place, Underwood, like Mckinley, has gained profound knowl- edge of both the methods of the House and of the individual qualities which dis tinguish each member and which were recognized by Mckinley in such manner that he, more than any President since civil war days, was able to appeal sue cessfully to democrats. It was this gift which enabled Mckinley to secure what no other executive in all the history of democracy was ever able to gain, and, in fact, no ruler under a limited mon archy-namely, an appropriation of $O,- 00O,000 to be expended in the discretion of the President and for purposes of which he was to be the sole judge. That grant was made to Mckinley in the win ter of 1898, and it could not have been made had not the democracy support ed 1t.