The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1874-08-07
LOBBYING As 4 FINE ART.
The Dark Side OF Congressional and
State LeEisIafi0n.

i u
| claim for it considerable antiquity, and
! they are always endeavoring to impress
! upon the public mind that the business
of politics never was carried on without
the aid of lobbyists, and never can be.
There are lobbyists who are never
guilty of double dealing or cheating.
But we. have never heard of these men
making fortunes. One does not see
them with town or country residences,
or hear of their driving fast trotters.
The "square" sort of lobbyist has little
political influence, and certainly is not
able to "pIant" all his relations and
dependents comfortably in public Of
fees. The truly fourishing lobbyist
plays his cards in different way. His
plan Of operations is generally some.
thing like this He manages to obtain
control-by fair means or foul-usually
by foul-of a newspaper. This is his
step. Country members of the legisla-
ture are apt to attach much importance
to seeing their names in q newspaper
it does not much matter what sort of a
newspaper it is. Upon this weakness
the rising lobbyist takes care to play,
with what Judgment and skill he may
possess. He praises his patrons, and
abuses all who refuse to intrust to him
their Sc business" He FORCES letters, in
vents ISLANDERS, and is particularly ex-
pert in accusing his enemy of being in
volved in some disreputable intrigue
with a woman. The lobbyist who owns
a newspaper knows that this Is a sort
of charge which scares nine men out OF
ten out of their wits i; for there is gen
orally no way of disprOviDg it, and the
world is always ready to believe the
worst of a man. That is a character
istic of human nature which the lobby
ist turns to excellent account, so far as
his own interests are concerned.
It is clear, then, that a newspaper be-
comes an important aid to the lobbyist
at the outset of his career, and the
longer he can retain control of 1t the
more advantageous it viii be to him.
The majority of men do not like to have
lies published about them, or to see
their families made the subject OF vile
and cowardIy ISLANDERS. The lobbyist
knows this, and seldom fails to drive
his antagonist out of the field. We
have no libel law worth mentioning, and
the lobbyist makes the most of this
convenient circumstance. He accuses
one man of starving his children, and
then of carrying on IntrlgUes with
somebody else's wife-in short, there is
no crime which he is not ready to charge
against anybody who presumes to IN
terfere with his operations. Two per-
sons who are slandered might enter
suits for libel, but they canRot bring
their cases to final hearing In less than
five or six years at the earliest. In the
meanwhile, the lobbyist can go on re-
peating filthy calUmnies as fast as he
can invent them. The result, in the
majority of instances, IS that the vic
tins ''knuckle down" It begins to be
said by the persons who are attacked,
&c So-and-so is a dangerous man; he
does not care what he says about you. |
It is best to let him alone" And so he |
is let alone, and goes on rolling up a |
fortune which honest and Woodworking |
professional men seldom have a chance |
of acquiring. One of the Albany lob |
byists is said to be worth S400, 900 an |
other has made at least $500, 900 in the |
course OF few years, and there is moth |
ing to prevent him doubling it-unless
we undertake to expose him throughout |
each session of the legislature. And /
this we certainly intend to do. he viii /
''take It out of us" in his newspaper,
but we are used to that.
The lobbyists regular source of in
come is, of course, derived from his
supposed knowledge of the art of put
ting out money "where it Will do the
most good" He knows who viii take
a bribe, and how much the amount
must be. IF a company wishes to get a
bill passed, or to prevent some Objec-
tiOnable bill from passing, it summons
the Lobbyist to its assistance. But, out
side of this kind of work, there are nu-
devices for reaping a large in
come. When trade is slack, the lobby |
lists get together and concoct bill aim
ing at the rights or privileges enjoyed |
by some company already in existence.
They pay a member of the Legislature
to introduce this bill, and then go to |
the threatened company and tell it the /
is sure to pass If money is not |
sent to Albany to defeat it. They name |
their own sum it is generally paid /; |
and the dreaded bill is no more heard /
of. Then the lobbyist has another plan
of making hay while the sun shines. |
A company, let us say, applies to him to |
get bill passed. He tells the agents |
he shall want at least $4,000. The |
money is paid, and he goes to Albany |
with it and pays out say s., 900 among |
the bribable members. The remaining
S15, 600 he quietly put into his own
pocket. IL the bill passes, the COM
pany are satisfied and never ask a ques-
ton about the affair. If it does not
pass, they may ask questions, but they
Will get no information out of the lob
byist. "Where did you pay out the
money ?" he may be asked. His reply,
expressed in warm terms of indigRa-
ton, is usually in this vein DoU
yeu think I will tell you the names of
the members whom have bribed? ? No;
[ am bound to protect them. What do
you take me for? I would have you
know that am an honorable man, and
I trust you will never insult me in this
way again" The head of the company
begins to feel that he really has acted
very shabbily, and the lobbyist goes
forth with his Is per cent plunder
slowed away IN his pock-
cts. 1t Is a game IN which there IS
the least probability of his
being found out-certaiDly not one
chance IN a thousand.
By these means almost any man who
follows mp the trade flor a few years
may amass from $500, 600 to 100000.
Il may involve a certain loss Of charac-
ter, but not very much. People may
look askance at the lobbyist, but gen
erally thev will be too much afraid OF
him and his newspaper to say what they
think of him. And then he has money,
and viii buy almost anything. The
LOBBYIST gets all the society he wants
and even boast--as one did the other
day-of being asked to dinner by the
president and by Mr. George ".
Childs, of Philadelphia. Surely that
is enough to satisfy any mans social
ambition. And even If these privileges
were denied to the lobbyist, he would
probably not take the loss much TO
heart. From a barefoOted and ragged
braached bOY he has been transformad |