The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-10-15
PRESS AGENTS ARE FLOODING MAILS Leading Candidates Have
 Regular Bureaus ALL HAVE FRIENDS Plenty of Disagreement on Matter of First Choice But Congressman
 Underwood Is Second
 With All
BY WALTER HARPER

F members of Congress busy with gather E ing their crops at home there is but little N political dope obtainable in the national B capital.
 . Occasionally q near politician drops E through town and the hungry newspaper n men and home guard politicians pounee s upon him for something new and en- couraging from the hustings.
 K If he is democrat and from Ohio Gov ~a ernor Harmon is looking up and sure of ,S the nomination. If he is from out in 'N Missouri Champ Clark seems to be get iS ting the lead on things If he is iron, N New Jersey or the far west maybe the IE only available man is Woodrow Wilson. |k If you pin him down to particulars H he will confess that oscar Underwood Is IE the safest, strongest and most popdlar E man in the party. But he has no pub UH lieity machine and does not come in for |a SD much boosting. All the democrats |s from everywhere praise him and give him credit for brains and ability and would not object to his nomination. --.
 IT the republican visitor is an admi1is> tration man the surest thing in the world is nomination of President Taft for sec ond term. If the visitor Is an ottlce holder he is eloquent in his confidence
 
 successfully lead the republican party to success This is especially true If the visitor is from the south
 If the visiting republican from the south is member of the outs or triena of the politicians who are classed w\h the outs he is insurgent and predicts tie nomination of LaFolletto or some other progressive
 But there seems to be no doubt of the nomination of MT. Taft. The progressiVes If will make a strong and determined fight for the nomination of MT LaF ollette II .s yield and forget. The mass of the pro v Sgressives who are particular about party regularity will support MT. Taft. A great army of independent voters will support the democratic nominee for the sake of tariff and other reform ideas The progressives do not hope to win this time but they are hopeful of catch ing the broken strands of the republican | party and with the broken fragments create the new and reconstructed repub- llcan party that must come if the party hopes ever to regain its old time power MT. Underwood has said that the demo- crats have already won the presidential fight next year if they will hold the tariff in the fore as the main issue and nomi- ,nate safe man in whom the people have confidence.
 And Mr. Underwood's judgment is as good as that of any man in the country. Thousands of people believe it is bettes than that of any other living democrat.
 In the meantime the presidential pub lcity machines are very busy. The Wilson publicity office is on Broadway street in New York city and one of the best newspaper men in the country is in charge. He knows how to edit the stuff that is to go out to the people.
 An active. publicity bureau located in
 fa iS totag skfc cttr boo tfKarr Governor Harmon. It is also in charge of publicity experts.
 ( The LaFoette publicity bureau is right here in Washington and it is perhaps the most active of them all unless it is the political machine that is being operated in the interest of President Taft.
 The LaFollette office was opened a few days after the close of the extra session of Congress and it has grown from two room establishment to almost an entire floor in the Evans building
 This bureau is in charge of an eX-state official of Wisconsin, a close personal and political friend of Senator LaFollette and seasoned newspaper man. This bureau is not only sending out tons of insurgent literature but it is pulling political strings all over the country. A list of insurgent and independent republicans is being carefully compiled and this list extends to almost all the 3eoo cities of the United
 States.
 Senator LaFollette himself is very &C., tive. In one of the leading magazines he is publishing his biography which is considered as very effective campaign dope. The series will run up to near the time or holding the national convention and will give full history of the de- velopment of insurgency and at the same time not neslectng the personal part in the movement by Mr. IaFolle1se nira- self
 Senator Bristow. Clifford Ioipch6r and other leading insurgents are also getting into the newspapers and magazines on skevery possible occasion
 So Champ Clark is without a publi- city bureau but his friends are not neg 1ectng his interests. Some active steps for systematized publicity may be 'n- ausurated about the time of the as- sembling of the next session of Con gress. At this time it is expected that publicity bureaus for all of the avow- cd candidates for President will be opened in Washington and the cam paign will open for fair
 The President and the republican leaders in Congress will do all in their power to eliminate the tariff as an is- sue during the next session of Con- sress They realize that this is dan ygerous ground and will center their attention on the problem.
 If it is possible they will rob the democrats of all the advantage they now have of securing substantial re- suits with this issue. The democrats have all the advantage now and will probably hold it. MT. Underwood will go right ahead with tariff revision with all his honesty of purpose. He will use the tariff experts in the of- flee of the ways and means comimttee of the House. He will seek all the s,information he can get from all other available sources, including the Presj
 dents tariff board, and frame his schedules with the best data before him.
 He will receive the suport of the other democrats nSthe House and the rSenate and it Is expected that he will have additional support from repentant republicans. At the close of tho last special session there was a growing tendency on the part of wavering re- publicans to join the tariff revision ists
 The President may sign wooden and cotton bills that are put through the House and Senate by MT. Underwood and his friends in the Senate. but this would give tho President no advantage over,the democrats. It would gain him many friends ia some quarters but ho would lose as many supporters among the standpat protectionists. They would t,ot dasert him at the polls but their