The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-10
HON. OSCAR W. UNDERWOOD

From the National Monthly
 There is an unwritten rule in the House
 of Representatives that at the close of each legislative day it shall be the right,
 the privilege and the duty of the chair
 who, by virtue of that position is the recognized floor leader, to move that the House do adjourn. For more than ten years that important function has been regularly and religiously performed by the Hon. Sereno E. Payne of New York. Only on rare occasions has he ever. dele gated the distinction of delivering that classic speech, MT. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn,' to any other member, and still more infrequently has his motion failed to prevail. Whenever 1t has been temporarily defeated, MT. Payne has sent his whips" his messen- gers and his couriers hurrying to bring In absentees to vote, and in the end his motion has always carried.
 When the late Nelson Dingley was chairman of the committee on ways and means, his sleek silk hat which 'Sockless Jerry Simpson discovered much to the embarrassment of the member from Maine, was Made in England" was al- ways the index to the length of the days session. If MT. Dingley brought it in and placed it upon his desk that was a sign which never failed, that the session was to be brief; on the other hand, if he left it in his committee room that was an indication that some hours were to be devoted to oratory
 So long as Chairman Payne confined his activities to making the perfunctory, yet highly essential, motion to adjourn he was enabled to retain his position at the head of the most important committee ment which, by the way, MT. Payne had long been waiting for, he brought into the House tariff bill, and thereupon, fol lowing its enactment the most distin- guished citizen of Auburn N Y, lost his job. Certain events which occurred on November s last carried an adjournment of the republican control of the House of Representatives sine die, by an over whelming majority.
 In the next House MT Payne's preroga- tive as the official adjorner of the body Wiii pC oosuiiiC0 Dy liIt 11OH. OScdT W. Underwood of Alabama and it will be- come his duty along about o'clock in the afternoon to turn off the switch and stop the current of eloquence which flashes through the legislative wires from the time the chaplain concludes his pray CT until the. capitol janitor hauls down the flag al night.
 A republican House unseated MT. Un- derwood, and seated his opponent, but term. William F. Aldrich ran three times for Congress in another Alabama district, was thrice defeated, but each time was accorded a seat by the repub- lican house. Truman gave up the contest after one campaign. and ever since Mr Underwood has been coming back to Congress without opposition within his own party and with very little from the republicans. With the beginning of the next Congress he will enter upon his ninth term. along with five other demo- crats. Bartlett of Georgia, Sparkman of Florida. Sulzer of New York, Talbott of Maryland, and Clark of Missouri.
 In appearance MT. Underwood very much bellies his years If he were a can didate for President one might. judging from his looks, inquire whether or not he had reached the constitutional age for that office He affects not the southern style of dress which is more common in the story books and on the stage than in the land of cotton. He does not be- long to the wool hat and string tie bri- gade While his attire is always correct, it is neither gaudy nor fiashy, and although one of the best dressed men in the House, he is neither dude nor a poser.
 Coming to Congress when little more than boy, he has by dint of earnest ness ability and devotion to duty, devel- oped into one of it's leaders, and come to occupy a position in the next House sec ond only to that of the speaker himself Perhaps one of his most prominent char acteristics is his calmness and delibera- tion. He never becomes ruffled or dis turbed, is never angered, and is always in full possession of his faculties. Par tisanship may run riot in the House and drive other men into a frenzy of excite ment, political storms may rage and tumult prevail, but Underwood never loses his head.