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HE SPOKE FOR
i ANTI OPTION BILL
UNDERWOOD SUPPORTED MEAS
URE ADVOCATED BY FARM
ERS’ UNION. ,
I
Always Friendly to Agricultural
Intereata,
Certain opponents of Hon. Oscar W.
•Underwood for tho presidency have
sought, though unsuccessfully to
trump up some sentiment against him
by alleging that he "appointed" Hon.
John as chairman of the wtrl
cultural committee, over tho protest
of the Farmers’ Union. As Mr. Un
derwood never appointed Mr. Lamb,
the charge Is false. Mr. Lamb was
elected by the Democratic members
of the house In caucus, the vote for
him being unanimous. He became
chairman by reason of the fact that
he was the ranking Democrat on the
committee, on which he had served
ifor 1? years. The objection to Mr.
Lamb was based on the fact that be
had not favored the Scott and anti
option cotton bill. Ab to Mr. Under
wood's attitude toward this measure,
no better evidence can be presented
'than the following splendid speech
which ho made In behalf of the bill:
His Speech.
“In my Judgment the bill should be
considered before congresa adjourns.
It Is one of the most Important bills
to a large number of people of the
United .States that has come before
this session of congress for consider
ation. It Is not only a measure that
seeks to work out a reformation along
economic lines, but there Is Involved
In the consideration of the question a
great moral Issue.
A number of years ago the Federal
government prohibited the use of the
mails for the transmission of lottery
tickets, and the efTcct of that legisla
tion was to dostroy one of the great
eat gambling enterprises that the
world has ever known, the lg>ulslana
Lottery company. That legislation
proved effective and met with the
hearty approval of the moral senti
ment of the country.
The bill brought up for considera
tion by this resolution does not pro
hibit the legitimate sale of cotton in
the exchanges of the country where
there Is an actual purchase or an ac
tual delivery of the cotton sold; It
merely attempts to prohibit the spec
ulation In 'cotton futures where no
actual delivery is Intended and where
the result of the transaction Is solely
gambling In cotton futures.
Cotton Crop.
Prior to the year 1907 the New
York Cotton exchange published sta
tlstlcs relating to the buying and sell
ing of cotton futures on that ex-1
change, and there was sold at that
'time on this exchange 100.000,000
bales of cotton a year. The greatest
cotton crop that this country has ever
made amounted to a little over 13,-
000,000 bales, and the average cotton
crop In tho country will not exceed
12,000,000 bales of cotton. The sta
'tlstlcs show that for tho year 1006-7
37 per cent. o< the cotton raised In
this country was used In the home
market and 63 per cent, was shipped
abroad. In an average crop the home
consumption does not amount to more
than 4,800,000 baleß. It Is therefore
conclusively shown that on this one
exchange twenty times as much cot
ton was bought and sold ns wns used
In thlß country.
About Hedging.
It Is contended by those who favor
the continuation of the sale of cotton
futures on the cotton exchanges of
the country that It la necessary for
the mill owners to buy for future de
livery In order to hedge against the
uncertainties of the future market
price in order that they can muke
their contracts, but it is seen it would
not be necessary for them to hedge
for more than the entire utnount of
the cotton consumed by the nianu'ac
turers of the country, which under no
circumstances exceeds 5.000,000 bales;
but the bill does uot prohibit the pur
chase of cotton for future delivery,
so that it the mill owners desires to
make his purchase of cotton on the
exchanges before the cotton crop Is
actually gathered. If It Is a bona tide
transaction for legitimate purposes,
there Is nothing in the bill that will
prevent hint from doing so.
The statistics show that the amount
of cotton received in New York t'lty
for the year 1902 3 amounted to 57,-
577 bales; for the year 1903-4 to 45,-
123 bales; for the year 1904 5 to S 3.
798 bales; for the year 1905-6 to
675 bales; for the year 1906-7 to 23,-
118 bales. The average for these five
years amounts to about 34.000 bales
that were handled in New York City,
but the transactions on the New York
Cotton Exchange amount to 100,000,-
000 bales.
Gambling.
It seems to me conclusively shown
from these figures that the transae
tlons on the New Y’ork Cotton Ex
change were practically all gambling
transactions and not In the interest
of legitimate business. There was a
time after the New York Cotton Ex
ctsange was organised, in 1870, when
there was a legitimate cotton market
In New York, and the transactions
on the New York Cotton Exchange
were in the main actual sales of cot
ton. but the through bill of lading de
stroyed the New York cotton market.
it costs f 1.50 a bale to store cotton
In New York City, and when the mill
man in the East could buy his cot
ton In the South and ship It directly
,to hts mill on the through bill of
lading he was unwilling to pay the
cost of storage and additional hand
ling charges that would be auessed
against the cotton if be purchased it
In New York City. The result was
that the legitimate sale of cotton In
New York has practtcaly ceased, and
the New York Cotton Exchange has
been forced by these conditions to
deal In future sales for gambling pur
poses or go out of business. It often
occurs that spot cotton In the South
at the railroad station sells for us
much as 1 cent a pound higher than
the price of cotton on the exchange
In New York, which la conclusive
that the prices on the York ex
change are not governed by the law
of supply and demand, but the Illegit
imate operations of the bulls and
bears on the exchanges.
King Cotton.
The cotton crop Is one of the great
est agricultural products of our coun
try. It brings more gold back Into
the country than any other commodity
we export. The South Is largely de
pendent on It for Its prosperity. To
me It appears absolutely Immoral and
unjust to allow an organization to
continue the business of gambling In
cotton futures and through their man
ipulations to seriously affect the price
of this great agricultural product by
manipulations that are not dependent
upon the law of supply and demand,
but largely upon the amount of money
that the bear side of the market may
control one day or the bull side con
trol the next.
There is no exchange for the sale
of pig Iron in the United States, and
yet every morning you can take up a
dally paper and know what Ib the
price of pig Iron la the different mar
kets of the United States. There is
no exchange for the sale of wool In
the country, and yet the daily papers
give you the price of wool all over
the world every morning. Cotton
quotations could be obtained the same
way were the exchanges entirely abol
ished, but, as 1 said before, this bill
does not seek to destroy the cotton
exchange that Is doing a legitimate
business and where cotton is actually
bought and sold, hut only seeks to
prevent the gambling In future cotton
The price of any commodity should
be fixed by tho buyer and seller. It
Is not fair to have it fixed by men
on an exchange that are not Interest
ed In the product Itself In any way.
; I therefore believe that it Is entire
ly proper for the government of the
United States to prohibit the Inter
state use of the mall, telegraph -.vires
and the telephone wires to persons
gambling In this great agricultural
product to the material detriment of
the people who produce and tha peo
ple who use it. 1 am therefore earn
estly In favor of the passage of the
hill.
UNDERWOOD AND
GOOD ROODS
WANTS CONGRESS TO IMPROVE
HIGHWAYS.
Every one who Is In favor of im
proving the roads In the country has
a good friend In Hon. Oscar W. Un
derwood. He believes in making Un
do Sam Improve the roads of the
country. On March 5, last, he intro
duced a bill in congress, looking to
this end, the text of the bill being as
follows:
"Resolved by the Senate and House
of Representatives of the United
States of America In Congress as
Bombled, That a Joint committee of
both houses of congress ts hereby
created, to be composed of three mem
bers of the senate, to be appointed by
the president thereof, and three mem
bers of the house of representatives,
to be appointed by the speaker there
of. Any vacancy occurring on the
committee shall bo filled in the same
manner as the original appointment.
The said committee Is hereby em
powered and directed to collect In
formation and to make a thorough
and complete investigation of the con
dition of the public highways In the
several states of the Union, including
the cost of transportation thereon ;
the Improvement .construction and
maintenance of such public highways
and the cost thereof; the cost of car
rying the mall over such highways
and the Improvement of the mall ser
vice that may be obtained by the Im
provement of the post roads In the
United States The committee ts here
by authortied and directed to report
to the congress all Information ob
tained from such Investigation, to
gether with recommendations se to
the advisability of the congress grant
ing national aid to the roalntenaace
and building of post roads and na
tional highways In the United States
and to make recommendations as to
the proper legislation to be enacted
by the congress.
"The satd Joint committee shall
conclude Its Investigations and report
to this congress all the evidence tak
en and their findings and conclusions
’ thereon The sum of twenty-five thou
sand dollars, or so much thereof as
1 may be necessary, ts hereby appropri-
J ated. out of any money In the treas
ury not otherwise appropriated, to pay
the necessary expenses of said Joint
committee, the sum to be disbursed
by the clerk of the house upon vouch
ers to be approved by the chairman
of the committee."
WALKER COUNTY MESSENGER, APRIL 19, 1912.
MAKE UNCLE SAM
BUILD THE ROADS
Good Country Road* Far More lm
portant Now Than Railroad*,
Think* Leader Oecar
Underwood.
That Hon. Oecar W. Underwood ta
an ardent advocate of good roads,
appears from the following extracts
from a speech reprinted from the Con
gressional Record, the extracts being
but a small portion of the speech:
Tor many years 1 have been in fa
vor of the government of the United
States either establishing post roads
or lending its aid to the building of
post road* throughout the country. It
la the only way you can build them.
"It la far more Important to the
great majority of the people of the
United States to have a road that car
ries their produce from the farm
door to the railroad station and from
the store In the town back to the
farm door than It is to further de
velop a great railroad that will carry
them to New York or San Francisco.
"We can begin by giving national
aid to assist the states, or we can
commence by building several great
national highways, like the Cumber
land pike, that was completed a cen
tury ago, and yet remains as a monu
ment to the wisdom of our fathers.
"I have just this one suggestion to
make to you, and It is not my own
thought, that instead of advocating
one system today by this association
and another system tomorrow by an
other association, go to the congress
of the United States and say to them:
“Appoint a joint committee to con
sider the building of post roads in
the United States; give them author
ity to bear everybody that wants to
come before the committee; give them
authority to find a verdict as to which
Is the best way to start this great
national movement by proper legisla
tion, and then you have concentrated
the power In the hands of the men
who In the end must exercise it.”
DID NDUPPOINT
CONGRESSMAN
JOHN LAI
Mr. Underwood Supported Scott Anti-
Gambling Bill,
An effort has been made to cast a
snear on Mr. Underwood's record by
charging that he appointed Congress
man Igunb as chairman of the agri
cultural committee of congress. Every
well-informed man knows that Mr.
Lamb was not appointed by Mr. Un
derwood. but was chosen by the Dem
ocrats of congress In caucus, because
he was the ranking Democrat, he hav
ing served seventeen years as a mem
ber of that committee. Mr. Uunb it
was who got the great agricultural
appropriation measure acted on fa
vorably in the house. Even if Mr.
li«mb did not favor the Scott antl
gambllng bill, Mr. Underwood did.
Moreover, he succeeded in getting
the house to consider It and made a
splendid speech In favor of it. In
fact, Mr. Underwood has never done
or said anything during his whole ca
reer in congress that was against the
wishes of the great agricultural class.
On the other hand, he has been their
ablest champion. There is not anoth
er man In the United States in pub
lic life today who has done more.
For weeks the opposition has had
a corps of experts engaged In Wash
ington searching the records of con
gress In the hope of finding some ae
tlon or utterance fit Mr. Underwood's
that might Injure his candidacy. They
have searched back for seventeen
years. They have burned the woods
and sifted the ashes, but they have
found nothing against him.
UNDERWOOD WILL
GET NEW YORK
Neither Party Ha* Ever Won Without
It* Vote.
Neither party ha* ever elected a
president without the electoral vofc
of the state of New York. While New
York will have an uninstnicted dele
gation. the New York state commit
tee has endorsed the record of Leader
Underwood In the bouse, which Indl
! cates very strongly that they favor
hit nomination and election.
With four Democratic candidates In
the field, no one of them will go Into
the national convention with anything
like a majority of the vote. Under
the Democratic rule It takes two
! thirds to nominate. It will be seen
; therefore, that the nomination will be
secured in the convention and any
candidate has an oportunlty of getting
the nomination.
This is the first time In fifty years
I a Southern Democrat has had such a
bright chance of getting the nomina
tion. Georgia should, therefore, in
sist upon her preference and do all
In her power to give the nomination
to the son of her daughter »t*t^^j|
l““ 2jM
: Two Kinds of Candidates I
* ++++ 4. + 4. + 4. ++++ + + + +*** + , f*+ ++ + ~,+ + + *** +* + + *tJ
. . . ~
"\ 7 TON to RUN abound)
speaking'.
— . - -y- ■■■ 1 —
% UNDERWOOD WILL NOT 1/
* DESERT POST OF DUTY f
iiw .*A*
Has Declined AH Invitations to Come to Georgia. JK
m Invited By Albany Chautauqua.
f * H. . W
/AV The action of Hon. Oscar W. Underwood, candidate for President of the United States, In stoutly IxU
declining to accept any invitations that will take him away from hie post of duty at Washington,
commends itself strongly to the thinking people of Georgia and all others states in the Union, iiil
While Mr. Underwood Is sticking to his post of duty and earning his salary as a congressman,
/|y at least one of his opponents is traveling about the country making campaign speeches. The peo- klif
jh pie of Georgia cannot but hold Mr. Underwood in the most profound respect for thus adhering to
his duty to the people, even at the risk of losing the Presidency of the United States. It is al- W
W most like taking advantage of him to campaign over his territory under the circumstances.
/|\ Mr. Underwood received numerous urgent invitations to come to Georgia. He was Invited to Mi
speak at the Albany Chautauqua, where Governor Wilson of New Jersey speaks this week, but he
n\ declined. So anxious was the Chatauqua management to have him that they asked the assistance m/,
of Hon. G. R. Hutchens, Campaign Manager in Georgia for Mr. Underwood. Mr. Hutchens wrote TJT
fm\ Mr. Underwood, and this is the answer he received:
Committee on Ways and Meant,
r|t House of Representatives, w
/as Washington, D. C., March 11, 1912.
|fn Hon. G. R. Hutchens,
V Aragon Hotel, *
Atlanta, Georgia.
jiti My Dear Mr. Hutchens: f
I am in receipt this morning of your favor of the eighth instant, and regret exceedingly that
ica I was compelled to decline the invitation of the Georgia Chautauqua, to deliver an address at Al
bany, Georgia, in April, for I find that It is impossible for me to accept any Invitations to leave Vtf
A here until the end of the session. If | accept one, I will be compelled to accept others, and to
jfJ* do 10 would seriously interfere with my work here, and would probably impair the effectiveness of wl/
JUI the legislation coming from my committee. I therefore feel it is my duty to remain In Washington
and attend strictly to the work ahead of me.
J|V I am glad to hear that you are confident that the Georgia delegation will be favorable to myself.
ff* I also have heard much good news, and feel confident that under your leadership eur fight win mV
yiW be a successful one. •
With kindest regards, I am, tHfr
Yours very truly, O. W. UNDERWOOD,
Jp
Simon Pure Southerner in Presidential Race
Hon. Oscar W. Underwood of Alabama, leader of the Democratic party, after seventeen year* service in
the house of representatives, is now a candidate for president of the United States. Under a ruling of the na
tional Democratic committee, each state is allowed to hold a primary to express ita preference and, under this
ruling, Georgia will hold a primary on May 1, at which the voters of the state will say what Democratic candi
date they wish to endorse.
Mr. Underwood has been a powerful friend to the agricultural interests of the country.
He is the author of the farmers' free list bill. He put It through congress, and It would be a law now but
for President Taft'* veto.
He lowered the tariff on steel and other material* used in making fanning Implements.
He has just recently introduced a measure to take the tariff off of sugar. This will reduce the cost of su
gar at least two cents a pound. The government will lose *50.000,000 a year, as it will lose the revenue from
the tariff., but Mr. Underwood provided for this loss by putting a tax on the incomes of the rich In
words, he took the tax off of the poor man's stomach and put it on the rich man's pocketbook.
He Is the author of the great tariff bill, by the terms of which the tariff on all of the necessities of life Is
lowered, including clothing, shoes and food. Preeldeat Taft vetoed this bill, but with Mr UhderwonA la t>>»
k, Mhlte house, the bill will become a law. 1