davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-04-03
A PRACTICAL DEMOCRAT

St. Louis honors Oscar w. Under
wood for his character, for his achieve
ments and for his Democracy.
The Chairman of the Ways and Means
Committee is a practical Democrat. His
leadership in the House of Representa-
tives shows that. He possesses the
ability to enlist men of varying ideas,
plans and moods in support of desirable
and feasible objects. Men who agree
on basic principles may be involved in
bitter hostility by ~antagonisms which in
their essence amount to little.
X Il X
Mr.. U~nderwood's example as a leader
of Democrats in Congress is worthy OF
emulation elsewhere. 1t makes for toll
a Tolerance makes for unity
Unity makes for progress. There is no
other way to render Democracy ef-
fective. :.
The young Democrats of St. Louis
who persuaded Mr.. Underwood to be-
come their guest will find in his policy
as we'll as his principles the best hope
of party achievement and party life
The ST. Louis Republic, October IL
1911.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-04-03
UNDERWOOD
AND THE PAPERS

The careful reader of the newspapers
is SURPRISED at one notable feature OF
the papers from practically every sec
ton of the country. This feature is the
general notice and attention paid to Con-
pressman Oscar Underwood as a candl-
date for the Democratic presidential
nomination, and the uniform praise
which invariably accompanies the men-
ton of him and his candidacy. This is
all the more surprising because Mr.. IN
dcrwood maintains no press bureau. On
the other hand, prominent candidates
for the Democratic nomination like Gov
ernor Harmon of Ohio, Governor Will
son of New Jersey and Speaker Clark
of Missouri, maintain large and active
bureaus, which are continually sending
out campaign literature to the papers
of the country. .
Notwithstanding this, at the present
time Mr.. Underwood is receiving more
attention than any other, we might say
anv other two, presidential candidates
combined. The attitude of the voters
towards Mr.. Underwood may be doubted
until that attitude is made clear in an
election, but it cannot be doubted that
his record and his strong personality
are admired by the newspapers of the
country. For now he is receiving more
free and favorable advertising than any
other public man of the country
Montgomery (Alabama) Advertiser,
January 5, 1912.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-04-03
UNDERWOOD IN THE WEST

81 am gratifed to see this State NOV
ing onward in almost every line and
note the wonderful growth of Birming-
ham. | observe that The Ags-Herald
has kept full step with the progressive
spirit and has led in the work.
THE growing strength of Oscar On-
derwood in the minds of the people
throughout the United States has glvei,
Alabama a kind of publicity that the
State could obtain in no other way,
particularly on the great question OF
the tariff, for it was not thought tina
one would come out of Alabama with
its varied interests who would be a
David to defy the trusts. Oscar On-
derwood is regarded by many men as
the best equipped, cleanest, fairest man
TO-DAY mentioned for the presidency. II
he is nominated, he will undoubtedly
win. If any strong sentiment OF the
South demands his election he will be
nominated. Out in Colorado, with It's
thousands of visitors from all parts
of the United States, he is the first man
named by most of them. The prom
inence given to his candidacy by the
magazines and the public press ha:
caused a strong tide to rise which !
hope and believe will carry him to the
White House. I took much pleasure
in aiding in organizing the Underwood
Club in Denver. and it is doing gooc
work Observation-Disclosures Hawkins
Of New York, in the Birmingham, Ala.
Lqs-Herald, January s, 1912.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-04-03
TJNDERWOODS INTEGRITY, PURITY
CIVIC COURAGE AND ABILITY

life and especially by the intimate, ex-
~tensive, and increasing intercommuni-
cation within our borders. Our people
have for forty years literally lived to-
gether, and always more and more
closely. They have gradually ceased
to think in terms of sections, and the
South is to-day no more distinct and
apart from the East or the Middle
West or the West in the minds of those
who dwell elsewhere.
In the next place, no one under sixty
has any personal experience OF the
civil conflict, and that means not mere
ly that the majority but that the great
body of voters are without this ex.
perience. 1t is more than a quarter OF
a century since the Southern Ques-
ton" entered even nominally into a
National contest. If it were raised
now by any party, and those who would
be Influenced by it had to stand up
and be counted, we believe they would
be l~udicrously few. On the other hand,
we are confident that, were the issue
made, a great many voters-chiety
among those who were most earnest IN
their loyalty in the civil war-would by
a common impulse of generosity and OF
self-respect incline toward the Southern
candidate. If forced really to think Of
the matter, and to act On their conclu-
sions, it would seem too absurd to act
in the present on the issues long since
settled, settled in their favor, and set
tied forever.-The NeW York Times,
November H, 1911.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-04-03
"A Voice
From Virginia

"All of the avowed aspirants are
men of distinction and merit but my
individual opinion is that the party has
an opportunity to make a magnificent
selection by choosing for its standard
bearer in 1912 the wise, well-balanced
and thoroughly equipped Alabamiar'
Hon. Oscar Underwood.
"Mr. Underwood's record in states
manship is a good enough guarantee
of his fitness for the White House.
He measures up to all the requirements
of the exalted position. He is fearless
and broad-minded, and there is nothing
of the %denlagogue in his composition.
Some will cavil at his Southern origin
and raise the oft-repeated cry that no
Southerner can be elected to the presl-
dency. This bugaboo is raised IN spite
of the fact that all the leading papers
of the North and South and all writers
of any note have declared time and
again that sectional feeling and pre]u-
dice, based on the war of '6l-oo, have
died out completely.
"If that be true is there any longer
any valid reason against going to the
South for a candidate? If Mr.. Under
woods personality and public service
render him peculiarly available should
the matter of location bar him from the
nomination? The idea is absurd."-
Hon. A. C. Broxton, of Richmond, Va,
in The Baltimore San, January, 1917.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-04-03
observation-disclosures LEADER
CLEAN COURAGE, G HONESTY
FAITHFUL IN HIS FRIENDSHIPS

Committee, Mr.. Underwood has shown
himself to be the right man in the right
place. What advances are made BY the
party in 1912 will be due largely to him.
He knows tariff in all its schedule
windings, as a man knows the Railways
of his own house. He has wisdom. He
has temper and spirit, but is neither
unreasonable nor vindictive. I have
faith in the tariff thoroughness of Mr..
Underwood. If I owned the revenues
of the Government, I shouldn't hesitate
to employ him as night-watchman.-
Alfred Henry Lewis, in the Cosmopol-
ita", January, 1912. .
Mr.. Underwood is faithful in his
friendships. To those whom he casually
meets, he is affable, albeit non-com-
initial, keeping his own counsel. He is
never rude nor hard; never violent,
even with blood foes. For the stranger
within his gates his air is gentle and
frank. He is easy to see, and, speaking
generally, has been ever careful to keep
himself within the reach of all. News
paper folk, sent to Mr.. Underwood by
some stress of duty, never fail to like
him. He has his dignity, but there is
no reserve. He maintains no distances
between himself and them. He answers
a question with a round readiness, or
says plainly that he can't answer it and
tells why. He expedites the business in
hand, and will even anticipate the pur-
pose of ones coming, and put questions
to himself.-Alfred Henry Lewis, in the
Cosmopolitan, New York, January, 1912.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-04-03

In this mornings magazine section
of The Times our readers will find the
very interesting report of an inquiry
by a staff correspondent into the record
and repute, in his own home, of the
Hon. Oscar w. Underwood OF Ala
bama, who has recently been discussed
as a possible Democratic candidate for
the presidency. 1t is needless to say
that The Times is not concerned to ad-
vance the interests of any gentleman
in this direction in preference to any
other: 1t is concerned only in laying
before its readers such information,
carefully gathered and impartially pre-.
sentcd, as will aid in the formation OF
sound public opinion and a choice that
will be to the greatest advantage OF the
Nation.
We think our readers will agree that
any party may be congratulated among
whose prominent men, to whom the
eyes of the party are directed on the
v of a presidential campaign, there
is one with such standing among those
who know him best as MI. Underwood
has. Plainly he is a mar to be trusted,
because he is trusted, for his integrity,
purity, civic courage, and ability, by his
own people. Whether, when the time
comes for a choice, he will be consid'
cred the best man is a question vhsch
it is now too early to decide. But there
is one element that will enter into the
problem which may we'll receive atten-
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-04-03
This New Leader
From

But this new leader from Alabama,
with nothing meteoric or iridescent
about him; who has forged steadily
ahead during sixteen years of congress
sional service, and who has proved him
self equal to every emergency in the acid
test of debate on the floor of the House;
cool, imperturbable, resourceful, sure of
himself at all times; profoundly learned
on the great tariff issue he stands for;
whose impressive personality is reveal
ing itself in stronger lines every day
as the searchlight of the press plays
upon it-he is the Mar of Destiny for
the Democratic party in this year 1912.
And as the campaign for the nomination
progresses, Mr.. U%nderwood's superior
availability will come out with increas-
ing clearness, and the Democratic masses
of the South will catch the inspiration
of the great fact that a Southern man
from the heart of Dixie is at last in line
for the presidency after all these weary
years of waiting. When that psyche
logical moment arrives-in the national
convention or before ia very nearly
solid South, fused to white heat under
the enthusiasm of a genuine Southern
presidential candidacy, will take Oscar
Underwood on its shoulders, sweep away
all the we'll laid plans of machine politics
and rush him right to the goal, a winner
by sheer force of an overwhelming sense
of simple justice to the South. At
least, that's the way we want 1.-THE
Sgovanee (Fla.) Democrat, December,
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-04-03
Underwood :
a Real Mar

The Democrats of the House have
reason to be proud of their floor lead
er, Chairman Underwood, Of the Ways
and Means Committee. Mr.. Underwood
has given ample evidence of the pos
session of the qualities of mind essen
tial to the position. He has also dem
onstrated most c~onclusively that he is
a maj who cannot be cajeled or bull
lied from the course he considers right.
In the debate wei the Canadian rec
%iprocity bill former Speaker Cannon
made the bluff that the steel trust IA
vors the enactment of the measure.
Mr.. Underwood called the bluf very
effectively by producing a telegram
from his home district saying that the
United States Steel Corporation has
stopped work on important mills there,
giving as their reason that Underwood
stood in Congress advocating the tariff
reductions on steel included in this bill.
Mr.. Underwood added that tive years
ago the steel trust opposed his election
because of the tariff views and threat,
ened to turn him out of Congress if
he voted for reductions on steel duties.
II voted for them just the same" he
stated, "aRd they failed in their efforts
to turn me out of Congress"
Underwood is every inch a man, and
the people have more respect for one
such as he. than for a whole battalion
of corporation-controlled s~tandpattera-
The Oeala Daily Banner, Florida, April
%, 1911.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-04-03

ton even thus early. 1t is the fact
that MI. Underwood is a mar of South
ern birth, a Representative from a South
ern State. There is a feeling, rather
than a definite rpinion, which finds ex-
preston more ten in his own section
than in the North, and perhaps more
often in his own party than in the op-
posite party, that this fact would be a
source of weakness if MI. Underwood
were named by the Democracy.
Of course, this is a matter not easily
to be decided with confidence in ad-
vance. There has been no occasion for
a distinct expression of public sentiment
regarding it. 1t is a half century since
a Southern candidate for the presidency
came before the Nation, and a good
deal longer than that since one was
elected. Great events have interviewed
and left their impress on the minds
and hearts of men, the depth and dl-
rection of which no n can surely es-
innate. Our own judgment is that a
candidate from the South-other things
being equal-would not be weaker and
might ever be the stronger for that fact:
In a broad way, it may safely be said
that there is in Our people now a sense
of tried and proved and established
nationality which might, and probably
would, welcome an opportunity for
manifesting itself. This sense Of ma
tionality has grown progressively ever
sfass the close Of the war for the
Union. It has been steadily strength
ened by the conditions of our National
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-04-03
"A Voice
From Florida

Oscar Underwood, however, has
more friends than any mar mentioned
for the Democratic presidential nomi-
nation. He is more popular throughout
the country with all the Democrats than
the others. He is almost the unanimous
second choice. If you ask the Harmon
men who they would be for in case
Harmon could not be nominated they
will say Underwood; when you ask the
Wilson men the same question as to
Wilson, they reply that if Wilson can
not be the nominee, Underwood is their
choice; and the same thing is true OF
the Champ Clark men."-T. A. Jennings,
National Committeeman from Florida,
in the Pensacola Evening News, Friday
evening. January II, 1912.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-04-03
q Southern PreSi-
Dental Possibility

In the mention of Oscar w. Under
wood, of Alabama, for the Democratic
Presidential nomination resides a good
deal more than a suggestion that we
nave got too far away from the Civil
War era 10 regard a statesman as nee
,~essarily unavailable" because he comes
from a commonwealth that was a men,
Der of the Southern ~Confederacy.
Of the men now before the country
as possible or probable Democratic
candidates for the Presidency, Under
wood is certainly one of the strongest.
He has had a fine training in Congress,
and is in himself a man Of natural force
and large capacity for work-and work
ers are what we want in executive posi-
tons. He has been a member OF the
House of Representatives for some nj
teen wears, and has risen by force OF
merit, and nothing but merit, to a posi-
ton which made it inevitable that ne
should be Chairman Of the Committee
on WAYS and Means when the Demo
Gratis came into control Of the popular
branch of the Government. He has the
youth, the environment, the enthusiasm,
the courage, the political sagacity, and
the statesmanly qualities fully to Justify
his consideration in connection with the
Presidential nomination.
Mr.. Underwood is a conservative man,
who is capable of entertaining pro.
pressive ideals and at the same time OF
realizing fully the duty and the ne
cessity for conserving substantial inter
ests of the community. The Democratic
party might go farther and do vastly
worse than if it should nominate him
as its standard-bearer of l9l2.-Mnn-
seys Magasine, January, 1912.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-04-03

ucts of the district. One-third of all the
iron-ore holdings of the Steel Trust are
in and around Birmingham. Surely, at
first glance, a bad outlook for a tariff
rcformer! And yet Mr.. Underwood
succeeds and re-succeeds himself with
ever climbing majorities.
1t is the Underwood honesty that
does it-that, and his clean courage.
The dominant quality in Mr.. Underwood
is honesty, and folk have found it out.
Honesty is among the scarcest of earth
" commodities, and when a community
has discovered it in the possession of
all individual, it guards it and works it
like a gold-mine for every final ounce
Mr.. Underwood is honest: His cleo
ton was not the work of money. He
was not chosen as either the pet of the
railroads or the hrst-born of the trusts.
His seat was given him by the people,
and because they believed he would fill
it to the best of public advantage.
This emanation of the popular gives
Mr.. Underwood the House high ground,
and he is so far military in his genius
that he knows how to fortify and hold
it. From his place as a peoples repre-
sentative, he can overstare and keep IN
check the Paynes and the Dalzells and
the Crumpackers, who are present mere
ly by the grace of pirate money, and
dwell, therefore, on House levels much
lower than his own.-Alfred Henry
Lewis in the Cosmopolitan, New York,
January. 1912.
X X y \ =
As the head of the Ways and Means
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-04-03
LOOMS UP

Whether the disclaimer of Represen-
tative Oscar w. Underwood of candi-
dacy for the Democratic nomination for
president is to stand or not, there is no
question that he is looming large and
seriously, no less at the North than at
the South, as a possibility, if not this
time, then in the near future. Mr.:
Underwood is making a widespread and
distinctive impression, not only as the
honest, bold, sagacious leader of the
House majority, and no. only as a mas
terful Southern Democrat, but as an
American publicist and statesman-a
man of affairs and broad concept OF
his responsibility to the whole people,
Richmond, Va, Times-DSPatch, re-
printed in the Birmingham, Ala, Age
Herald, January p, 1912.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-04-03
Among
1912 Possibilities

The threatened breakdown of Ma
iority Leader Underwood, as a result OF
long hours of hard work on the tariff
in the Ways and Means Committee, put
many a Democrat in a nervous state of
mind. There developed suddenly a full
appreciation of the worth of the Ala
bama Congressman as a leader. For
Mr.. Underwood to become disabled or
to be removed from the scene OF his
usefulness at this critical time would be
like pulling a corner post out from
under a platform on which was heaped
most of the political treasures OF the
party, Democrats quite generally are
willing to admit.
Credit for the achievements OF the
Democratic House bearing the stamp OF
constructive craftsmanship is given
rsadily to the majority leader. Due to
his success as a legislative manager--hls
ability in most tests to keep the House
Democracy united-and the fact that
Civil War wounds have been allowed to
heal because of the scarcity of public
men of the type of Senator Hepburn,
of Idaho, a Southerner is being Sc
riously considered North and South as
presidential material. The Underwood
for-President movement has been at
tracing volunteer workers steadily
since last spring, when the newly-ln-
stalled Democratic House assumed its
responsibilities. An Underwood boom
for the Democratic nomination for
President put on long trousers at the
beginning of this, the national campaign
year.-Austin Cunningham, in the San
Antonio Express, January 5, 1912.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-04-03

His name is Oscar w. Underwood;
his years are on the sunshine side of
fifty. As chief of the Ways and Means,
and chairman of the Committee on Com
mittees, he is Speaker Clark's right arm
in the House.
Mr.. U~nderwood's cry is Tariff for
revenue only~ When Mr.. Bryan, eaten
of a rule-or-ruin spirit, came to Wash
ington at the beginning of the special
session to trouble the waters OF party
hope with an attack upon the wool bill
as proposed by the Democrats, Mr.. Un-
derwood, in going after Mr.. Bryan,
stated his own tariff position. Said he:
The Democratic party stands for a
tariff for evenue. The Democratic
partv does not stand for free trade,
and l do not believe the people will
be misled by the statement of Mr..
Bryan"
That Mr.. Underwood is against pro-
lection, and fights it, evinces his cour-
acc. lie comes from the Birmingham
district ! n Alabama-a breeding-ground
of protection. In MI. Underwood's dis
trict there are nine railroads, one hun
bred and fortv-eight miles of street.car
tracks, $~15O,O0O,OOO of invested indus.
tries, an annual pig-iron output OF
100000 tons, and a production OF
100000 tons of coal. The city. OF
Birmingham has an annual payroll OF
s5O.OOO.OOO. The Tennessee Coal & Iron
COMPANY, which is a part of the Steel
Trust. controls one-third of all the prod
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-04-03
MR.. UNDERWOOD

Meanwhile Mr.. Underwood has a
work to do in Washington for which he
has revealed a remarkable aptitude. 1t
is not too much to say that the existing
harmony among the Democratic mem
bers of the House, and the ability they
showed at the last session to work to-
gether, are largely due to his skilltul
leadership. He proposes to resume the
task of tariff revision at the point where
it was interrupted by the Presidents
vetoes.-The Providence *. - Jour-
nal, December 2, 1911.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-04-03
CHAIRMAN

Chairman Underwood has once more
given proof of that levelness of head
and clearness of purpose which have
characterized his leadership from the
beginning. He has fatty refused 10
c%ountenance any coquetting with the la
Toilette idea on the wool bill. Whether
viewed as a mere announcement of
program or as a bill that it is desired
and expected actually to get enacted into
law, the La Toilette proposition does
not meet the needs of the situation
The New York Post, August z, 1911.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-04-03
THE MANNER OF MAN HE IS

After the Southern manner, Mr.. I'm
derwood is unaffcctcdly democratic. He
meets men as one who, respecting him
self, also respects them. He does not
wear the manner of one who expects to
find his inferior. Still less would he
remind you of one who fears he may
meet his superior. Never does he pose,
nor seek TO transact his dignity at the
humbling expense Of another.-Alfred
Henry Lewis, in the Cosmopolitan, New
York, January, 1912.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-04-03
HEARS MUCH POLITICAL TALK

"In travelling through the country
hear no end of political talk" said
James A. Braun, sales manager of the
Wyeth Chemical Company of New
York.
During the past five or six weeks
have heard Underwood very much dis
cussed as a presidential proposition. !
found in the Carolinas a great deal OF
Underwood sentiment. | have been
keeping up with Underwood's record
in Congress, and I believe that his
commanding position in the DEMOCRATIC
party will be appreciated by the rank
and file of the Democracy."-Age,
Herald, Birmingham, Ala, Jan. I, l9lZ
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-04-03
ESTIMATE OF OPPONENTS

Men like Payne and Mann declare
him to be the most resourccful an
tagonist they have found on the Demo-
cratic side. A skillful parliamentarlan,
a good speaker, holding himself always
in perfect control, he is a model leader,
and his following is daily increasing
Washington Correspondence in The
Erening Bulletin, Philadelphia, Pa,
Tune, 1911.