The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-08-06
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

I believe that George Huddleston is of Woodrow Wilson, for those of us who have kept track of his past per formances know that he is aggressive and unafraid to fight for bis views.
 I am persuaded that if George Hud- dIeston was whole -heartedly in this war 1 he would back up the administra. tion with unreserved vigor. I think that | his peace proclivities and pronounce leanings have caused him to be not only lukewarm but a hinderer.
 | I am convinced that George Huddles- ton has the courage to stand by his con victions, and this, while from one stand 1 point, may be personal virtue, yet i'll a public servant, who is sent to repre- sent great district, it may be peril. for he will vote his own rather than ais constituents views.
 1 I am, therefore, positively sure that George Huddleston at this crisis is not the leader that Jefferson county needs to pilot it in the right paths along polit- ical, social and economic lines; rrespec- tive of his being poor and indifferent guide when it comes to forging ahead the war by supporting the administra- tion.
 IJa ha, I<., l.: on four separate occasions to put stumb- ling blocks in the way of the nations pilot; he has not hesitated to impede the war programme of the leaders in Con. gress; he has gloried in not only diff fering with but in voting against his democratic confreres, and is not ashamed that he lined up with a socialist. He has given ample proof that he is an in- dependent.
 | He was perfervid pacifist, some Of his uttcrances are colored with soclal- ism He may not be a syndicalist, but 1 he nevertheless in his speeches has not 1 hesitated to arraign class against class and when it comes to being the friend l of labor he outbellows the professional 1 laborite leaders and poses as the true apostle of the workingman. If I believed his professions and felt that he could lead them to better things I would SUD- port him.
 led into the valley and the shadow of defeat as he has been in Russia by fol- l lowing the foolish vagaries of doctrin- aires, where the Czar was rightly de- posed but the government set up was | without power, and the army which shoulders the weight of discipline, was l gradually drawn into the broad stream of anarchic democracy
 Now, I do not fear any such debacle in America, for there is a vast differ ence in the intelligence, training and
 responsibility of the laborers in this country from those in darkest Russia Russia may best be described at pres ent as democracy devoid of citizens And then here in the United States is a great body known as the middle class who believe in order and in government. and host of laborers who are patriotic.
 Sure, our present business is to win
 the war, and We should strain every nerve to do it; but we were caught i1l a state of military unpreparedness which ought to teach us that after we have
 won victory on the battlefield the conflict will be shifted to the economic
 battlefield; and we ought to make pro- vision against that day not only abroad but at home. We will need all our strength to hold our own in the markets
 of the world without having to weaken
 ourselves at home through misunder-
 standings between labor and capital.
 NOW, no one is prouder of the record
 being made by the American working.
 man in war times than I am. The pa-
 triotic and self-sacrificing spirit shown
 by all classes of laborers throughout the
 whole country justifies the belief that
 it will be displayed equally in peace
 times in the reorganization of our indus
 tries. We have. found that trust the
 people" is the surest rounoation for suo-
 cess in a righteous war, where democ-
 racy is pitted against autocracy We
 will lind it equally as trustworthy as
 the foundation on which to build and
 to insure industrial peace at home if
 we can get the right thinking employers
 to act with the fair minded employ es
 without the presence of those who live
 and thrive by creating class prejudice.
 Now, this is the greatest industrial
 district in the south, and in it are to ) be worked out labor and industrial prob- lems of the greatest significance tor
 all of us, and the proper settlement will
 not only fix our social and business
 status, but will have it's bearings
 throughout the entire country; and that
 IS why l am so anxious that Jefferson
 county will have Representative in
 Congress whc is safe and sane, and a
 man who, when he is off the job al
 Washington, will come back home and . help in the proper governance in sucn
 a way as to keep down unnecessary fric- tion.
 The great employing industries should ) pave the way to a better understanding, for only in this manner can they with perfect confidence, and in absolute sin ; cerity, determine that labor shall bens- fit by the profits which will inevitably be enhanced when the workingman in vests whole heartedly his mental anc moral qualities, as well as manual skill , in furtnering the industrial undertakings which capital has established because ht , is conscious that he is getting a fail