The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-20
Both Parties Come to Sud- den and Forceful RecOg-
 milton of Ability
CONSTANT WORK HIS
 SECRET OF SUCCESS
Friends and Enemies Now Declare With Accord That He Is the One Man His Party
 Needs
By WALTER HARPER

By WALTER HARPER
 Washington, June 19.-(Special)-So
 much has been said and there is much to say about our own oscar W Under wood that I hardly know where to tackle the subject
 He is just now the biggest proposition
 In Washington-in the country. He is the
 feature of the Congress. oscar Under
 wood and his surprising development
 make as popular a subject of conversa- l ton as baseball.
 | You hear it on the cars, in the cafes,
 in the hotels, in the departments. in the corridors, on the streets, everywhere,
 and yet you see and hear but little from
 the man himself
 | He is on the floor Of the House when
 that body assemblies every day to move
 a dispensing with the reading of the
 journal" and that the House resolve it.
 self into a committee of the whole to con- sider the state of the union and that de-
 bate now be resumed on House bill No. l 11,oi9 known as schedule K" This may not be the exact quotation but MT. Underwood has repeated the
 same routine so many times in the last
 ten days that 1t rolls out of his lips like
 a kid out of bed on Christmas morn ing. Then he is there to move ad- journment as well as to guide the political
 destinies of the eastside of the House through the intricacies of parliamentary vicissitudes
 He does all this so calmly and so easi- ly that you are nos conscious of his
 power until you can appreciate the ab f solute control he has over the party and the legislative machine that he is driving.
 He is never spectacular, he is never
 excited, never gets in hurry, never
 raises his voice above profound modula- l tion, never loses his temper and never quarrels. When he downs an adversary
 in debate he never stoops to put his nose
 to the ground. He retires from the fray 1 with that gentlemanly courtesy that
 roakes hin oven more victorious.
 sharpshooting from the republican side
 of the House never ruffles his temper. [
 watched him few days ago while Mon
 dell of Montana was directing some hot 1 shot at his ''moon-shapeda head. Mir. Underwood was chatting with senator who had come over from the other end of the corridor. He did not seem to hear
 the criticism of the western member.
 Yes, he heard it, but what did that mat ter?
 Next day MT. Underwood was tempor- arily absent from the hall when another hot-headed republican paid his respects in republican antagonistic style. One of Mir. Underwoods colleagues asked an- other if he knew where Mir Underwood was, that he ought to be present to make reply. "Oh, it makes no difference to Mir Underwood. He would not reply if he were here, and if he were here no one could tell that he was listening.' Very often a member comes into MT. Underwood's office In the House office building very much excited about some
 thing Something has gone wrong with .he member or some of his schemes and he wants MT. Underwood. the leader. to
 straighten it out for him. He walks the floor of Mir Underwood's office, his arms waving in the air like harvester blades, and his fists clenched while he relates l his story of injustice or other grievance. | Mir Underwood smiles through 1t all, | positively refusing to become excited. 1 After a while he says, ''Now. just wait
 minute. Let's look at the matter calm | lv" And he compels his brott IT legisla- | tor to reason. The inevitable result is 1 that the member leaves the office with a | smile and as calm as a Kansas wheat l field after wind storm That Is one of the secrets of MT. Un- derwoods success. Even the present speaker of the House, who at one time and by some is still thought to be the real leader of the party, on more than one occasion has shown temper and has displayed some impatience It has re- suited to his disadvantage as 1t always will.
 Only once has Mir. Underwood given any reason for any of his admirers to even suspect that he had been shaken from the evenness of temper that has char acterized his actions in Congress. That was recently when William Jennings Bryan attacked his work in the framing of the wool schedule
 But no person who was close to MT. Underwood at the time can say that he was in the least disturbed. He thought deeply for some time alone at his desk. He did not pace up and down the floor or move restlessly in his seat. He thought Worked out the problem for
 himself and then calling his stenographer
 he quietly dictated the reply that went
 to the camps of the Bryan loyalists like
 an exploding bomb. Then 1t was all over And the leader of the dem
 ocratic party continued his even course disregardful of results.
 Mir. Underwood has thoroughly dem- onstrated that he is not a politician of the common scrub stock who has his ear glued to the ground. If he Is following political siren he is doing 1t with .
 wise calculation that will put other pol iticians to shame.
 l His life Is absolutely devoid of any thing that may be classed as spectacular.
 He never participates in demonstrations of applause on the floor of the House. A few days ago while Mir, Berger, the so- cialist member from Wisconsin. was mak- ing his maiden speech, MT. Underwoods colleagues were gathered about the speak CT applauding and cheering, not so much for approval of his sentiments, but be- cause he was making clever debut. Mir. | Underwood sat unmoved and thoughtful.
 He was following the speaker closely. studously.