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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