Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-25
OSCAR UNDERWOOD
F.. IS TAKEN BY DEATH
Cerebral Hemorrhage, Para.
Iytic Stroke and Relapse
Prove Fatal.
Continued From First Page

! public service had been as a Represent
alive and Senator from Alabama.
| Unlike those of some of his contempo-
| raries. his career was marked by little
! of SensationaliSm, but his long public
| life nevertheless was not wholly without
| its dramatic moments He was the first
of the young Democrats to break lances
with William Jennings Bryan when the
! Commoner still was commanding force
| in the councils of the party. Their diff.
| ferenceS arose over the Underwood
! tariff and the stand taken by Mr.. I'm
derwood required a courage which again
was demonstrated few years later
when in the then prohibition South he
met and vanquished for the Senate
Richmond Pearson Hobson, a leader of
the dry cause and national hero of
| Merrimac fame.
The Senator's friends declared it was
; this same courage that led him publicly
to denounce the Klu Klux Khan In 1924
when he was seeking the presidential
nomination.
| A desire to serve his country wherever
| possible led Senator Underwood to &C
| cept membership on the American COM
! mission to the Washington Arms Con-
! ference. This service. taken from the
| hands of Republican President while
| all of the bitterness of the inter-party
| fight over the League of Nations still
ranked, undoubtedly cost him the
! Democratic leadership In the Senate. a
| leadership he was not loath to surrender.
! since his party had lost control of Con-
| greSs. ..- -"
First elected to the House of Repre-
sentatives from the Birmingham district
of Alabama In 1894, Mr.. Underwood as
sumed leadership of the Democrats
there when they took control Of the
House In 1911 and on the record he
! made within a year. his friends ad-
vanced him for the presidential nomi-
| nation at Baltimore Mastering nearly
! 100 votes, he remained In the fight until
the forty-sixth ballot when his name
was withdrawn without either his
knowledge or consent and his strength
thrown to Woodrow Wilson.
Refusing to be considered for the
vice presidential nomination with Will
soH. he continued his service in the
House and through his parliamentary
skill he contributed materially toward
making Wilson'S first four years of ad-
ministration a period of far-reaching
legislation At the same time he brought
country wide recognition to himself as
the author of tariff bill which sup
planted the famous Payne-Aldrich act
After 20 years in the House, he moved
over to the Senate. His fame had pre-
coded him and with the death of Sem
ator Thomas Martin of Virginia, he was
chosen Democratic leader, q place he
held until 1921.
Reelected to the Senate in 1920. he
announced just before the expiration of
his second six years term that he
would not be a candidate to succeed
himself In 1925 Meantime, he had pur-
chased Woodlawn on the Potomac
River. a part of the original Washing
ton estate at Mount Vernon, and there
he made his home part of each year.
Helped Break Cannon Power.
Entering Congress in the days of iron
rule of Republican speakers, Under
wood had part in breaking the power
of Uncle Joe" Cannon and later in
liberalizing the rules of the House. BY
his energy. he gained a place on the
judiciary committee and later served on
the ways and means and appropriations
committees, two OF the most powerful
OF the House.
Leadership in the House as it is
known today began with the selection
OF Underwood by the Democrats for
the place in 1911. Prior to his recogni-
ton as floor chief. leadership had been
dictatorship under Reed Henderson and
Cannon.
Commanding an almost unwieldly
majority. Underwood found himself
faced with difficult task. His first
concern was the writing of a new tariff
act, subject to which he had devoted
years Of study. He wrote q measure
which he declared was true to. the
principles Of Democracy"
President Taft vetoed that bill in the
late Summer Of 1911 and when the
Democrats we're returned to full control
of all functions of the Government In
1918. the bill was rewritten and signed
by President Wilson.
Under the Underwood leadership were
enacted also the Federal reserve act.
the farm loan act, the Clayton anti
trust act and all the others in the long
list OF legislation that went to the
statute books during the first four, or
peace years." Of the Wilson admins
tration.
Despite the tremendous drive that was
made against the Federal reserve act,
Underwood kept his forces solidly in line
on that issue, feat which up to that
time had been almost without precedent
His service in the Senate was little
ment to the appropriations committee
and, owing to the illness of Senator
Martin, had charge Of many Of the
enormous war appropriation bills. Tax
legislation also felt the influence Of his
guiding hand in the days when the
Nation was bearing an unheard OF bur-
den In order to defray much OF the war
cost in single generation.
In the period Immediately following
the war. the Democrats lost control Of
Congress and Senator Underwood's op-
portunity for the directing constructive
work came to an end. Always fair even
ponents, his friends declared that he
had q natural distaste for holding con-
tinuously critical attitude toward all
the works and ways of the opposing
party. which is an essential part OF
minority leadership.
Harding Spoke for Him.
This was one of the reasons why he
did not offer for reelection as minority
leader In 1922. 1t. perhaps. also was
due to this recognized trait that PreSi-
dent Harding turned to him in seeking
Democratic member Of the Washing
ton Arms Conference. The President
and Mr.. Underwood had been close
personal friends in the Senate and in
1921 MIR. Harding made a trip to Ala
bama to speak In praise of the Senator
before the "home folks"
Mr.. Harding and the Senator had
differed directly, however, on the League
of Nations. The Senator consistently
opposed reservations to the Treaty OF
Versailles and just before the final vote
by which the treaty was rejected. he
proposed the issue be left to the voters
in 1920. Senator Harding accepted that
challenge and the League became one