The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-01-01

public buildings. In the F'ifty-fifth Con-
 gress he was promoted to the important committee on judiciary, and in the Fiftv-
 sixth went to ways and means He was on rules and the irrigation Of arid lands
 in the Fifty-seventh Congress. on appro- priations and irrigation of arid lands in
 the Fifty-eighth. and in the Fifty-ninth went back to ways and means, where he
 has since remained, arriving at the chair
 manship in the present or Sixty-second Congress, when the democrats gained con trol of the House.
 In all these years he has been a quiet systematic, steady worker-not demonstra-
 tive, not fiashy, but studious and in-
 dustrous; and the mere reading of the
 names of the committees on which he has served will show how wide his experience
 has been He has touched all phases of the legislative side Of the government ana mastered them. So far as the mechanics of this government is concerned-the
 knowledge of how to do the things that must be done-there is no man in Congress
 who is the superior of Underwood Ann,
 without laying myself open to the charge of booming Underwood, the more knowl- edge of the mechanics of the government that is brought to the White House by its four year resident the better things win
 be for the country at large.
 Somebody asked me once if I didn't think Underwood is a good deal like Mckinley in many ways. Laying aside whatever criticisms there may be of Me
 Kinley, the fact is as I have said-he was most expert and effective President
 because he knew how to do things think the comparison fairly apt Mckinley was republican and a protectionst, and
 Underwood is a democrat and a believer
 in tariff for revenue: but the two men had many traits in common. Mckinley was. and Underwood is, student of tariff economies. Mckinley got his results by compromise, by conciliation, by smooth
 ing difficulties away. by a polite consid- eration of the claims of others, by be-
 ing willing to give and take, by suavenass and civlity that masked real determina-
 tion-and so does Underwood. Mckinley recognized the complexities of the legisla- tive machine and knew how to har,nenize difficulties that were pressing; he knew
 how to straighten out tangles and avoid pitfalls-and does Underwood McKn- ley knew when to recede and when to ad-
 vance, and when to stand stock still in position-and so does Underwood. When Mckinley talked of the tariff, for example he knew what he was talking about-and Sd does Underworld but Mckinley was and Underwood is, tolerant of the opinions | of others, and is ultimately concerned in l getting what seems best for his party. l Ho Cpilip lltit oi Ot!l- | CT than a comparison of their methods. l Mckinley was effective-and so is Under- wood. These are. the reasons why.
 l Underwood's position when the Sixty second Congress was called into special session by President Taft last April for | the purpose of passing reciprocity legis- | lation, was a position of tremendous diff | faculties. He was made chairman of the | ways and means committee. He had been | h la Ort tba ra q 1 minority of the committee in the Sixty l first Congress in which the House had d republican majority and passed the Payne l Aldrich tariff law: and third in the Fifty ninth Congress when the House was also republican and when he was ranked or | the minority side of this committee by Champ Clark and Bourke Cochran. Cock ran was out of Congress when the dem ocrats came into control of the House ana I Clark was made speaker. Without pro l test, Underwood succeeded to the chair manshiD of the committee.
 | Underwood was in the House, thougl not on the ways and means committee l when the Dingley tariff was made, an, he was on the ways and means commit | tee when the Payne-Aldrich law was con structed Though the Congress had beei called into session for the specific pur pose of passing reciprocity legislation
 to which the democrats were favorable the House was democratic mainly becaus' Of the dissatisfaction of the people witt the Payne-Aldrich tariff law. the election that made the House democratic being tn first opportunity the people had to ex l press that dissatisfaction tangibly.
 | The democrats had a majority of nearl, 70. They had not had possession of thu I House for l6 years. They were politicall' I hungry and politically thirsty. They need ed sustenance. They thought they had 2 chance to elect President in 1912 and ge full swing at all the perquisitfs and pre-
 negatives of the g0vernmentj and eaci