The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-01
Three Addresses Made by
Bowie, Jones and Bran
don Friday Night
VARIOUS CHARGES
ANSWERED BY BOWIE
Declines to Sidestep Any Issue Intro
duced in Campaign and Met Captain
Squarely on Prohibition Question.
Dwells on the Currency Bill
0y LEON nRAnIEX

Tuscaloosa, January 31.-(Special )-The
specious charges which Hobson has seen
mt to make against Underwood in the
race for the Senate were stripped of the
last vestige of verify In three masterly
addresses made before the Holt Under
wood club Friday night. and at the con-
eiusion OF the meeting every man in the
audience stood up and voiced his approval
of the stand taken by the speakers. Sid
ney j. Bowie of Birmingham, a prominent
lawyer and former member of Congress.
Judge w. w. Brandon and Henry A.
Jones of Tuscaloosa were the speakers,
launching the fight for Underwood in Tus-
caloosa county in one of the most en-
thusiastic political gatherings ever held
in Tuscaloosa county.
The Holt beat has always been con-
sidered a Hobson stronghold. but in the
present race the Sixth district congress-
man seems to have lost his grip upon the
voters. 1t was reported by the secretary
of the club that &c out of the total of So
voters In the beat had already Joined
the club and were actively at work for
Underwood, and that all of the others
except 10 were strong for Underwood Six
of the Hobson men had not paid their poll
tax, it wa sreported, and the hope was ex-
pressed that before the election every
voter in the beat would come over to the
Underwood side.
Bowie Answers Charges
In his address MIR. Bowie took up every
argument which Hobson has advanced
against Underwood and answered to the
perfect satisfaction of his audience the
various charges. The speaker scored
heavily when he read a quotation from a
speech in which Hobson had again
charged that Underwood had placed a
duty on cotton bagging and ties, and then
read a telegram from the assistant sec
retary of the treasury showing that cot
ton bagging and ties were now being ad-
mitted absolutely free under the pro-
visions of the tariff bill as written by
Underwood
He called attention to the fact that Cap
tain Hobson had had his attention called
to the error he was making more than
80 days ago, but in spite of this fact
he had continued to assert that Under
wood had placed duty on these articles
The speaker took up various measures
for which Hobson had criticised Under
wood and asked why it was that Hob
son had never noticed the pernicious pro-
visions of these laws until Underwood
was candidate for the Senate in oppo-
sition to Hobson. In almost every one
he showed from the record that when
the alleged pernicious measure was passed
Hobson was absent from Congress-. why
was he not there to protect the interests
of the people. If these bills were so
bad?" asked Mr.. Bowie, amid the cheers
of his audience.
He called attention to the charge of
Hobson that the currency bill was framed
against the interests of the farmer. Mr..
Bowie pointed out that the measure was
indorsed by President Wilson, Secretary
Bryan Secretary McAdoo and all the
democratic leaders, and he stated that If
Hobson's charges We're true. the demo-
cratic party had betrayed it's trust. lie
read a number of provisions from the
bill to show that instead of discrimi.
mating against the farmer the bill had
given preference to farmers over business
and professional men, and had really dis
eliminated i'm favor of the farmers As
to Hobson's charges that Underwood had
been. unfrendly to the labor interests,
Mr.. Bowie referred his auditors to the
statements made by Samuel Gompers and
Secretary Morrison of the American Fed
Grafton of Labor, in which they had stated
that Underwood had on every occasion
shown his friendship for the labor in
terests and that the record OF Hobson
was not entirely satisfactory to labor. The
speaker urged anyone still not satisfied
on this question to write to any of the
labor leaders in Washington familiar with
the records of the two men.
The Prohibition Issue
Mr.. Bowie declined to sidestep any
issue introduced in the campaign and
met the captain squarely on the pro-
hibition question. He read from the
Congressional Record to show that I'm
derwood had been working in the in
terest of temperance and prohibition
Legislation before Hobson ever ran for
Congress and that Underwood had an
established record in favor OF these
measures long before anyone had ever
heard the captain raise his voice in
their behalf. He pointed out the fact
that Hobson had Been most active in
behalf of prohibition after the question
had become very popular, while I'm
derwood took a stand for the cause
han nst his nnliIinal in