The Detroit times., 1911-03-27
UNDERWOOD IN
IMPORTANT ROLE
Gentleman From Alabams Is To Be
Chairman of Ways and Means
Committee of House.

WASHINGTON, d. c., March 27.-
Oscar w. Underwood will be the man
of the hour in the coming congress.
No one, not even Champ Clark HIM
self, who takes Uncle Joe's diminished
mantle, will loom any larger In the
assembly of the house than will Os-
car w. Underwood, the gentleman
from Alabama.
But perhaps you never heard of Os-
car w. Underwood? Not surprising
IL you have not, for Underwood Is
essentially man Of quietudega man
OF few words and. OF perennial calm
that broods over his person and serves
to hide him from the vulgar gaze OF
the multitude. But the time has
come when folk simply must hear
about Underwood. II you've never
heard of him you might as well listen
right now, for you've got to hear about
him sooner or later.
Underwood Is to be chairman of
the ways and means committee, the
most powerful of the house commit
tees, and thus, ex-offlcio he will be
chairman of the committee on COM
mittees. Also he will be floor leader
for the Democratic majority. In short,
Underwood will be escapement wheel
OF the legislative clockworks. He will
exercise much Of the authority that
was so recently wrested from Uncle
Joe's reluctant fingers. Champ Clark
will be the speaker, but his authority
will be limited. Underwood will be
the real car IL this congress Is to
have one
And who is Underwood? Under
unnd IN unnfa Gapatnr pailau sio fha
only man In either house of congress
who could be locked up in hermeti-
cally sealed room for week and
emerge from 1t with perfectly good
tariff bill"
From which 1t may be inferred that
Underwood knows something about
the tariff. He does. He has been
studying the tariff ever since he came
to congress from Birmingham, and
that was 10 years or more ago. Now
he knows whole lot about the tariff.
and knows just what kind OF a tariff
he wants.
Which is interesting, for the kind
OF tariff that Underwood wants Is
likely to be the kind that all of us
will have in the near future. For
In his capacity as chairman of the
committee that will report on the
new revised tariff bill, Underwood will
have much to do with shaping that
instrument.
And this Is the kind OF tariff I'm
derwood favors: A tariff for revenue,
or as he calls 1t competitive tariff"
high enough to prevent the flooding
OF this country with articles manufac-
tured abroad In competition with home
manufactures, but low enough to per-
NIT foreign goods to compete with
domestic goods on equal terms. In
other words he would trim his tariff
with a view Of depriving monopoly OF
the defense OF the wall created by a
prohibitive tariff.
Personally Oscar w. Underwood is
calm. Nobody ever saw him ruffled.
Statesmen about him may shout and
stutter and stammer and stamp and
squeak, beat their breasts. ring the
welkin, fizz, foozle and fuss, but not
Underwood" Thus saith Sam Blythe,
the Who's Who and Why" man of the
Saturday Evening Post. And he goes
on to say: He remains pacific, peace
ful and placid. and when the time
comlss, rises and injects into the sit.
uation a few well chosen remarks. un.
emotional and impassioned. and ordi.
narily brings home the hacon