The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-31
DEMOCRATS ARE WATCHING BRYAN Majority of Congressman
 Are Lawyers .LINCOLN'S MEMORIAL
Under Leadership of Mary F. Tender son the sfatuary Idea Has Been Given Up and Great Boule-
 yard Is Contemplated
By RALPH NJ. WHITEHEAD

Washington March 3o.-(Special.) )-What is Col. Bryan going to do? That Is a question which interests democratic keen ly these pre-convention days. It Is con- ceded that the voice of the Nebraskan will be potent at Baltimore more potent perhaps than that of any man there, not excepting Charley Murphy and his 90 votes from New York.
 Mir Bryan has up to this time stud iousy refrained from taking sides in the fight for the presidential nomination.. though it had been generally understood that he would oppose the naming or either Gov. Harmon of Ohio or Repre- sentative underwood of Alabama as be- ing too conservative. Now that he has broken bread with the Ohio statesmen even this much is not known.
 Here in Washington a glittering struo- ture of surmise can be built up on @ mighty foundation of fact As soon therefore as it became known that Bryan and Harmon had dipped In the same salt cellar the builders began.
 The two statesmen, according to the architects had formed an alliance defen- sive and offensive. and would fight to- gether at Baltimore. As tliis same sort of an alliance had been formed according to the same sources of information be- tween Bryan and pretty much every body else in the race. except Underwood 1t may be taken for what 1t is worth
 Somebody with a statestical turn of mind has figured out that 49 of the 9l men in the United States Senate are law yers and 220 of the 39l members of the House also are of the legal profession. clear majority in both houses. It may be promised therefore that the interests of the lawyers will be we'll looked after. There are two manufacturers in the Sen ate 10 in the House, farmers planters and stock raisers In the Senate and 25 in the House. merchants and bankers in the Senate and 19 in the House.
 It would seem the charge that Amer can politics as in the hands of the law yers has a strong foundation in fact. In the British House of Lords there are only 2S lawyers out of 6l9 members and in the commons 151 lawyers out of membership of 663.
 Almost unnoticed the House has passed 8 bill which may mark the beginning of the end of a struggle which organized labor has been making for over hun dred years against convict made good. This bill which was introduced by Repre- sentative Booher of Missouri provides, in effect, that "all goods manu- factured wholly or in part by convict labor or In any prison or reformatory. transported into any state shall, upon arrival and delivery in such state. be subject to the operation and effect of the laws of such state and shall not be exempt therefrom by req son of being introduced in original pack ages or otherwise
 The bill has had a long and. to labor discouraging history. It was originally framed by the Industrial commission ot 1900 It has been pushed by the labor people ever since. but with little pro gress until the present congress. Re- gently. however it has had the support not only of the labor people, but also of employers of free labor in several states who as the report of the House com mittee on labor affirms. unite in af- f1rming that when any convict-made product is placed in competition with the product of free labor the market becomes demoralized, even a small sale affecting prices far out of proportion to the amount of the sale. Every state objects to be- ing made the market for convct-made goods produced in other states
 It appears that half the states In the Union have abolished the contract sys- tenn in their prisons, while the other