The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-06-09

That we should be able to give a reason for our faith is as applicable in politics as in religion. To know a man is very different from knowing of him. There are few. if any. in public life as easily known as MT. Underwood. To know the course Mr. Underwood will take in any
 matter can be foretold easily by aseer-
 taining what is just and right in relation to the matter, for he will always be found on the side of right and justice.
 The social side of MT. Underwoods life is as clean and inviting as was the social life of President Mckinley. His honesty in the business world-in his purposes, has never been questioned by those that know him-his integrity, his honor and sincerity are not doubted.
 That Mir. Underwood is untiring in his advocacy of a cause he believes to be right is known of all men. Intellectually he is the peer of any man in public life; his scholastic training is as thorough as Governor Wilson's, while his practical training in statecraft is greater than that of any other candidate for the presidency in either party.
 He is not nasty in drawing conclusions. but examines the evidence carefully, and
 without prejudice or bias. and he does not change a we'll grounded conclusion I because of popular clamor.
 1 MT. Underwood does not owe his prom thence. his proud position as an Amer | ican statesman" to any man or set of of l men, nor to a publicity bureau. Heredi- 1 tary influences his early training by a l good mother, coupled with his own efforts l and constancy of purpose, have enabled | him to hew out of his own environments l the perfectly poised man we know as the 1 Hon. o. W. Underwood
 Concededlv Webster and Calhoun were 1 representative great men-the ideals ot | their states-and yet l assert That a | greater than either is here" Let facts prove or disprove the assertion. Let a comparison of the policies and course pur-
 sued by Webster and Calhoun with the policies and course pursued by MT. Un- derwood determine the question:
 More than two decades ago I was de- | tailed to read and make synopsis of the great speeches made on the tariff as re- ported in the Record and Globe One oi | the strange facts ascertained at tbat time | was that MT. Webster was originally a free trader-his constituents were ther building and sailing freight vessels the seas over. At that time MT Calhoun was
 a protectionist Cotton became king ir the southland. It was sold like our to. | bacco. in the unrestricted marts of the world It was then that Mir. Calhoun | changed and became what is now knowr
 as a free trader"
 | MT. Websters constituents began man | ufacturing cotton and other commodi- ties. The per cent of profit was greater l and the risk less in manufacturing than l in Sbfpnjno and prnnloVmppf a a greater number of people. Under these changed conditions MT. Webster changed his political announcements, and he be- | came the mouthpiece of the protection | ists. The views of Mr Webster and MT Calhoun changed because their people s
 business changed.
 1 Note the difference in the course pur-
 sued by MT. Webster and MT. Calhoun
 and in this campaign by the Professor Governor Wilson, and the course of the
 Hon. o. w Underwood. Recall the well | known fact that our Oscars home is in | the only section of the known world
 where nature has assembled every min
 eral used or needed in iron or steel mak- ing.
 It is also known that MT. Underwood Is | interested financially in iron making; his family connections are largely interested in this industry, and his constituents are dependent to large degree upon the iror industry. These well known conditions naturally led MT. Bryan to suppose thai Mr Underwood would be influenced as l Mir Webster, MT. Calhoun and Professor l Wilson had been, and that his matured and honest convictions would change ano that because the great industries of his I district demanded it, MT. Underwood l would change also. Never were mer more mistaken.
 | Our leader not only teaches that hon.
 esty is right, but he practices what he teaches, and believing that the masses were excessively taxed he presented bill to lessen their taxation and incidentally
 cut some profits from the investments ir which he Is interested. He believes that
 1t is the duty of governments to do fol the individual, when necessary such things as the individual is prohibited from doing for himself. That it is not the duty of governments to recognize classes but that before the law every man is as Jefferson taught, equal. That the bur
 dens of taxation now rests too heavily l