The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-09-14
He Declares Democrats Can Win 1912 Fight on the
 Tariff Issue
TAFT IS SCORED FOR
 VETOING MEASURES
Underwood Says Taft Swapped Tariff Revision for Canadian Reci- procity, the Last Straw
 of His Life
By BERRymAN 6. BETTY

By BERRYMAN 6. BETTY 1 Montgomery, September 13.-tSpe-
 ciaLl-Insinuating that President Taft.
 in order to effect passage of the Csn-
 adian reciprocity bill, entered into an
 agreement with the regular republicans
 whereby he secured their cooperation at the expense of their convictions. Congressman Oscar Underwood, leader of the House of Representatives, at
 a gathering of good roads men in the | city tonight startled his audience with the statement that the consideration | for this defeat was that the President should veto all tariff measures that might be advocated by the democratic party. The congressman stated that President Taft looked upon his reel 1 procity measure as one of the saving graces of his administration and that he grasped at the straw 10 save his | life.
 Mr. Underwood further stated that | the republican party in every instance | had gone back on it's word to the peo- | ple in so far as the tariff Is con l cerned and that as such they have now come to the end of their ropes as long | as the democrats pursue their advan- | tage by recognizing the tariff as the
 leading issue in the United states to- day. He called attention to the tariff
 measures which were defeated by Pres- ident Taft, all of which, he asserted. were vetoed on technical reasons that will not hold water.
 Predicts Democratic Victory Victory for the democrats was frec- | ly predicted by the speaker. who was cheered to the echo throughout his speech. The occasion of his address
 was a gathering of good roads advo- | cates at the auditorium of the city hall
 which was attended by such good road | authorities as Senator John H. Bank head, Capt. John Craft, State Senat | V B. Atkins, Asa Rountree, Congres
 men Clayton Dent Heflin and othei- Perorations on the good roads achiey
 ments were cheered to the echo, l the remarks of MT. Underwood on ( polieical situation sent tie attendar at the meeting into eXutant emotfoi The session called to order by 'Cs l tain Reuben F. Kolb, commissioner of | agriculture. who introduced J. A. Roun- tree of Birmingham. secretary of the Ala l bama Good Roads association. Mir. Roun- tree in few well chosen words explain ed his mission in Montgomery as being that of one of thes interested factors m
 the building of Birmingham to Mont
 gonery highway. MT. Rountree came to
 Montgomery tonight in one of eight nu-
 tomobiles that left Birmingham on yes-
 terday morning and was enthusiastic in his remarks.
 Following upon MT. Rountree's tai.s, Congressman Hugh Dent of Montgomery
 was called upon, who in turn introduced
 Senator John H. BanlIhead, senior United States senator in congress.
 Senator Bankhead Talks
 Senator Bapkhead began his address by, paying tribute to Congressman Oscar w Underwood, complimentary to whom
 the reception of the night was held. He referred to the distinguished Alabaml representatives as both able and wise' and spoke in most glowing terms of Mir. Underwood as democratic leader at Wash ington.
 Tt has been my pleasure to watch him closely during the past 15 years, the sen-
 ator said, and during all this time have seen him grow from the bottom ef the ladder to the topmost round. He IS
 now spoken of for presidency of the United States and all that I have to say in this connection is that if the rest of the United States knows him as we of
 Alabama do, he will not only be nominate ed by the convention but unanimously acclaimed by the party
 Senator Bankhead thereupon branched off into a discussion of the good roads movement which is now sweeping the
 United States He said that it Is a mat
 ter of the immediate future for the fed- eral governm ent to pay out large appro- priatons for the construction of model highways. "We have spent huge sums of money in improving roads in the isl- ands which the United States possess, the senator said, but so far we have
 never made any appropriations for the roads at home. The time is coming when such appropriations will be made and tnc country will welcome it." The senator closely analysed the present condition of
 the United States treasury. He showed that the revenue is constantly increasi'i.s and that it's natural outlet is the estab-
 lshment of good roads. "I wish to stats in this connection" he shouted, and call upon my colleagues to witness that two years from now the congress ot.the United States will be appropriating money | for model roads and highways.
 Greeted With Great Applause Congressman Underwood was then in- troduced to the audience by Congress- | man Dent who referred to the democratic leader as 'the most peerless party leader | the United States has ever produced | Tumultous encores greeted the congress- mans remarks and grew deafening as | the Jefferson county representative bowed l his acknowledgement of the tribute paid
 
 utes before he was permitted to proceed with his address.
 "I thank the gentlemen sincerely for what they have had to say in regard to me-" Congressman Underwood stated.
 Out am not here tonight for the pur- pose of discussing myself. I am here In
 the interest of good roads the move
 ment which is the greatest single moo ment in the world today"
 Congressman Underwood stated that in
 justice to Itself thes United States should
 not allow itself to be longer humiliated bv having other nations of the world ahead of it in the construction of roads. Here in Alabama the congressman said, .the question should be of most vital interest, for unfortunately we are behind our sister states in the building of model roads,"
 The speaker then referred to the claipi of superiority which the United States has over all other nations of the world in so far as industrial activity and inven- tive genius are concerned He called upon his Montgomery hearers to launch tho campaign that would start Alabama on the greatest road building era in the his-