The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-28
A HOWL WITH A COME BACK


 HOWL WITH A COME BACK
 From the Atlanta Constitution.
 Ordinarily political sagacity would
 dictate to the whirling dervish parti-
 an abrupt period to the childish little Chinese pastime by which they have been pounding tom toms, burning pa- per dragons and punk sticks in the IT, irresponsible effort to prove that Oscar Underwood has the support of Wall
 street.
 | Under present conditions 1t Is a de- lsberate insult to the intelligence of the people, since 1t proceeds upon the assumption that they can be diverted from the genuine issues by cheap and lpalpable theatrics.
 No sooner had Senator Bankhead of thorized to declare the candidacy of os-
 car Underwood than, in screaming yer blaze, the headquarters of Governor | Wilson Issued the statement that the senator's action was taken when he was fresh from visit to the vir- ginia farm of Thomas Fortune Ryan of
 New York and that the latter had contributed a large sum to the Under wood campaign"
 Like a 13 inch she,i the rejoinder of Senator Bankhead ripped Into this canard and turned it -auarely upon its authors. The senator showed, In the | first place. that MT. Ryan had not been on or near his farm at the time
 mentioned; that he had not seen or talked to or communicated with MT. Ryan; that MT. Ryan had not contrib uted dollar tG Underwood's cam lpaign. The senator continued that the last occasion upon whsen he had heard of MT. Ryan's contributing to any po- litical campaign fund was when he lsubscribed $10,000 toward the election of Woodrow Wilson as governor of
 New Jersey The effect upon the Will son headquarters was humorously
 magical. They dropped the Ryan fake like a hot brick. No, sugar or sooth- | ing syrup or the pulling power of the "Mauretania" could get them up to it again.
 The nearest approach they got to an
 explanation was when they answered
 that MT. Ryan had contributed for the
 regular election and not for the pri-
 mary. This ingenious technicality Is
 of a part with that by which their political compatriots in Georgia excuse the plot to lynch the country county vote with the excuse that 1t is not be- ing attempted in a state, but in a presidential primary-neglecting to
 point out the distinction in this assault
 upon the liberties of the people, as
 the national Wilson headquarters neg
 lected to point out how Ryan money
 could be legitimately used in a regu- lar election but became tainted in pri-
 mary.
 | The Ryan petard did not, however.
 wholly discourage the tom tom Wall Istreet" gag. It was revived solemnly
 and with much gusto when many coun- l try newspapers in Georgia showed suf- | fcent sympathy with Underwood to print the announcement of his candi-
 dacy sent out by Senator Bankhead.
 Wall street money is financing the Un- derwood advertisements and propagan- da," went up like gale from the Wilson headquarters. As if the circu- larizing of newspapers and the sim ultaneous publication of announcements were not entirely legitimate and so recognized by every man with a whis- pering acquaintance with politics! IT the Constitution were disposed to be sufficiently small to hurl the mud pot upon this sort of provocation, it would have ample justification in the follow ing free offer" being broadcasted to
 the country newspapers through one of the big newspaper syndicates; WOODROW WILSON CARTOON SER VICE.
 We are authorized to furnish Wilson cartoons free of all charges, in plate or matrix form, service to consiss or two double or triple column cartoons. according to subject, for use each week. If you desire this service, fill in and return attachec order csrd. in dicating plate or matrix."
 Having too high regard for the in- telligence of the people of this state. we desist from asking: Where did they get the money to finance this cartoon service? or run around in circles and shriel that the wherewithal is coming from Wall street--but the day is past when the people can De side tracked from the real issues of a campaign by any sucn buncombe.
 And they haven't forgotten the Ryan lboomerang-even if tine Wilson mana gers want them to-