The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-29
PERSONAL SPLEEN BASE OF ATTACK
Underwood Thirty-third Degree Mason In Good Standing,
 Officials State

V Attacks on Senator Oscar W. Under wood in the Fellowship Forum, so- called Masonic publication, were occa- stoned by personal spleen, and it is not true that Underwood has ever repudiated Masonry, or that Masonry has ever repudiated Underwood, it was declared Thursday by. Major Matt H. Murphy, chairman of the. Jefferson county Underwood committee, who made public correspondence to prove the injustice and unfairness of the charges.
 Among the letters given out was one addressed by Julian. F. Spearman, grand master of the Grand Lodge of the state of Alabama up to last Decem- Der, who wrote to w. M. Nunnally, worshipful master of local at Jack sonville, Fla, as follows: Mover Repudiated ''In regard to Senator Underwood he is a 33rd. degree Mason and in good standing. He has never repudiated Ma sorry, neither has Masonry repudiat ted him. He is held in high esteem by the Masonic fraternity in Alabama" In explaining the reasons leading up to the attack on Senator Underwood, Major Murphy said :.1 >. \ Recently thousands upon thousands of copies of the Fellowship Forum, pub lished at Washington, have been mailed out to, voters of Alabama by certain clements opposing Senator Underwood Major Murphy said. "Fac similies ;, of the front page of this publication were printed by the opposition to Senator Underwood in many of the weekly papers of the states There was a ing that Senator. Underwood had de- tenor of the article was to the same effect. f sfi
 '"The trouble arose over Senator Un. derwood declining to allow his name to continue on the Forum books as a technical stockholder. When George Fleming Moore, some years since, then high in Masonry in Washington, sought financial backing to aid him in start ing fraternal publication, Senator Un. dcrwood, a close friend of Moore, sub- scribed $100 and paid it for one share of stock. The senator said he did it more as a donation to help Mir. Moore than anything else and did not pay any further attention to it :. never having received dividends, and did not really consider himself a stockholder, but that it was gift to his friend, to help him in his project.
 Changed Policy
 "The Fellowship, Eorpm. was for. a long time mainly devoted to Masonic subjects, but unofficially. Then it be. gan to show, a. marked. and violent trend toward, another line of thought and to attack certain clements of the population, with great. saSagery.
 s'Aletter to Senator Underwood. from a friend fin the north complained that it was strange that as candidate for president, desiring the votes of all ,dual. flied electors, he should be stockholder in a pubiicA tion making such bitter as saults upon portion of the population
 "Sena tor Underwood replied that he had forgnften his gift to Mir. Moore he did not consider himself stock. holder in MT. Moore's publication, and he would see that his name was taken off the list. His request to Mir. Moore to this end provoked the violent attack and unbslievable assertie;5S
 .'I took the matter sHis and have ob tained the correspandsnces which I am giving to. the public, and which is be ing mailed to the voters:ef the county which effectually disposes of the charges made by the Washington publi. cation.' -.I -set. Z