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Show SPEAKING OF MINORITIES Senator Oscar Underwood of Alabama Ala-bama Is about to don his toga. Already Al-ready ho Is bursting with great Ideas rcgnrdlng tho Sennto. lie Is strong for cloture a polite French torm which, by Interpretation, means "gag rulo." Mr. Underwood Is-nc-customed to applying tho gag rule, having learned to do so when ho was foreman of tho Congressional crow that did W'oodrow Wilson's bidding nt tho Copltol. Ills argument for transferring this Instrument of political po-litical oppression to tho Senate where from the beginning frco speech has ruled nnd has greatly benefited tho country Is that tho Senate is distinctly n minority body. It does not roproscnt n majority of tho country. Senators nro olected by states. If Mr. Underwood was thinking of him solt and of his own stnto, ho is ah-soluto'y ah-soluto'y correct. For ho does not roprosent anything llko a majority of tho peoplo of Alabama. Mr. Underwood was elected to tho Soimto in 1014. Ily tho consus of 1910, Alabama had 2,1.18,093 inhabitants, inhabit-ants, who certainly had not diminish ed In number four years lntor. ct Mr. Underwood when o'octed senator recotved only C3.3S9 votes. Ills Republican Re-publican opponent had 12,320; a Progressive Pro-gressive rnudldato had 4.2C3; a Socialist So-cialist got 1.159; thero wero 2 scattering. scat-tering. This makes a total voto of 81,133 out of a population of 2,138,-093. 2,138,-093. Of tho othor states which elected senators In 1911, tho nearest to Ala-bamn Ala-bamn In point of population Is Iowa, which had 2,224.771 inhabitants by tho census of 1910. Iowa In 19H voted thus on tho Senatorshlp: Cummins, Republican, 20D.832; Connolly, Democrat, 107,251; Spurgeon, Independent, 21,4909; Schoncck, Progressive. 1GG0,8; Chris tlon, Prohibition, 0,009; MoGrlllls, SonlallPt, 8,402. ThU makos n total of 427,102 votos out of n popu'atlon of 2,221,771. In other vorlH, while tlicrp vcp imlv m. Ik2 mnrr. i,ulif inn In li ' It linn r, U i,ii.u ih.ro -rc "ll'v ', n re '..t.8 '' If Alabama had vot ' cd as freely as Iowa did, there would havo been 410,401 ballots cast in- ! stead of tho beggarly 81,133. I Thero Is no mystery in theso figures. fig-ures. In Iowa every citizen of voting vot-ing ago may go to tho polls and voto ns ho pleases In tho full nssuranco that his voto will bo counted as cast. In Alabama a largo majority of tho citizens of voting ago nro not permitted per-mitted to approach tho polling placo by reason of peculiar statutes which constltuto a political gag rulo even moro vicious than tho ono which Mr. Underwood now proposes for tho Sen ato. If tho Senato Is distinctly a minority minor-ity body, it Is because Mr. Underwood Under-wood and other Democratic Scnatorp from tho Southern States form so largo a percentage of Its membership. |
