The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-07-23

number of Frank Lesle's Popular Monthly.
The article takes Missouri an example
| OF both the good lobby and the bad. 1t Is
In part as follows:
View it as kindly as you WILL the lobby
| must be regarded as the worst breeder Of
temptation in public life to-day. 1t IS the
twin brother of the ring. This was not al
ways so. Twenty-Five years ago 1t was one
| of the clean things OF American politics.
! Citizens went before their legislative bodies
simply as citizens. TO protest against bad
and TO indorse good laws
We take Missouri rs an example both of
the good lobby and the bad. She is now In
the throes OF a volcanic explosion, which
has laid bare stratum under stratum OF the
lobby. long covered by successive layers OF
| dirt For quarter Of a century back her
story is now plain to read.
SUBLIME EFF'RONTERY.
IN the last session Of the Legislature at
Jefferson City the effrontery OF the lobby
became sublime. plausible estimate
places the Doodle then squandered by the
Baking Powder Trust at $4,000. Tt was
the highest-priced Legislature l ever ran
up against remarked Kelley, and it proba-
bly, was. Market prices for legislators,
sanctioned by time-honored custom. were
wholly upset. Every man was trying to
reap a golden harvest more quickly than
his neighbor. Not only was all sense of
shame gone, but apparently all fear of de-
NSSAIS!i- oHe SSildloI NcIosAtVo pSNSh SA,VeS
bills in his hank the day after the Legls-
lature adjourned.
With the material at hand the lobby re-
lied on mothod to bring about its wishes
Let US suppose, for instance. that bill.
drawn up by the best lawyers IN some COM
munity, promising great benefits TO the
public, but danger to some patron of the
lobby, Is introduced in the General Assem-
bly,, The first act Of the lobby is to ascer-
tain where the bill came from. 1t Is posi-
bic that 1t may have been introduced by
request In this instance, friendly Sen
ator approaches the gentleman who intro
duced the bill and asks that It be with
drawn.
During these prelim,naries the lobby does
not appear. but Its agent does his best 'in
friendly way to stop the bill then and
there. If he fails the lobby gets to work.
As soon as the bill goes TO committee the
pressure begins. As a general thinE-th lob
by has one or more friends on each of the
standing committees. These are asked to
smother the bill. II practicable, and II there
is too much strength behind the measure,
to defer action as long as possible.
Presenting that this. too. fails, the next
step is TO have the bill returned to the com
mittee so that persons whose interests It
affects may be heard from.
The fourth period in the life OF a meas
ure to be garroted by the lobby is when it
Is made a special order OF business and
then laid over Informally. Should this prove
futile the lobby makes 1t a point to prevent
quorum. Beaten once more, the lobby
plays trumps The bill IL so smothered with
amendments that even its father would not
recognize 1t.
LoBBY'S CHEF WEAPON.
But these gentle tricks OF the lobby are
overshadowed by It's chief weapon This
consists in holding up the general appro-
priation bill. In this there Is more trickery
than in anything else that the lobby of the
Missouri Legislature is responsible for and
1t brings more results than any other lobby
method. Besides 1t doesn't waste dollar
The State pays out for the maintenance
of the public institutions and for salaries
connected with them something like s.. 0O0-
900 annually. This money must come by ap-
preparation from the General Assembly
Every one of these institutions must have
an appropriation to exist and its officers
must look to their State representative for
their pay and for the means of conducting
the particular asylum they may be con-
nected with. The institutions are scat
tered all over the State and each Senator
has one or more in his district It is but
natural that he should strive to get all
he can for his constituents.
He knows that for each dollar short Of
the requisite amount he will be called to
en- accounting. and his chief concern when
he leaves for the capital is this appropria-
ton. Failure, he realizes. cannot be ex-
planned. and If he comes back without the
vote OF the Senate appropriating the neces-
sary funds. he Will meet a political doom
worse than exile. The lobby knows this
and makes capital out of it.
MONEY TALKS.
But the gentle persuasion Of 'sandbag-
ging and influence yield in effectiv eness to
the paramount power of the stuff Money
talks. The confessions made to Circuit At
torney Folk by former Senators Charles
Schweickardt and Fred C. Busche Of ST
Louis portray the full extent Of the lobby 8
methods.
ut was not I'll! confronted before the
Grand Jury with Senator Schweickardt that
Busche confessed. Even then he was afraid
to refute his first denials and asked Folk
the Circuit Attorney, for time.
Go home and pray sternly babe the
Circuit Attorney. pray to your God for
divine guidance and return here in three
days
"Busche did pray and he returned to the
Circuit Attorney in tears. He was trem-
bling like frightened child and he could
not wait in an outer Office
have done as you told me- he cried
and God has shown me the error of my
ways. Take me before the Grand Jury at
once
Senator Schweickardt. unable to with
stand the mercilsss questioning Of Folk
broke down and made a full confession.
He admitted being tool of the lobby and
asserted that he controlled the votes of four
other Senators on the Republican side.
JOHN A LEES CASE.
Lieutenant Governor Lee was ambitious
to become the chief executive of Missouri
His campaign was started a year ago and
his posters Uttered the State from end to
end. So confident We're his hopes that this
ex-drummer abandoned his regular business
and gave himself over to carnival of DO
litical schemtng. Previously he had been
the friend and active supporter Of Senator
Farris. who. through the use of money
controlled absolutely ten or twelve of his
colleagues. M. Lee dickered with Farris
on the baking powder deal and the two
jointly handled the 'slush fund.- which Grip
pied the legislation desired by the indie
pendent manufacturers
But with the approach of the 1905 session
the Lieutenant Governor saw that the lobby
was dangerous. To achieve his ambition he
felt he must break with his friends but
In so doing he went too far. and attacked
Senator Farris. who was n candidate for
Speaker pro tenn. of the Senate, supporting
instead Thomas l., Rubey. banker OF La
Plata. This act OF the Lieutenant Gov
ernor kindled the fame which subsequently
consumed his own hopes and the hopes of
Senator Farris. and paved the way for
the exposure OF Missouri's legislative rot
tenness.
In an open letter addressed to tho
President Of the State Senate Farris
threw down the glove.
/ Since when. he asked the Lieutenant
Governor. did you decide to reform? Your
position smacks of the alum taste
The late Assembly had just convened
when Daniel ]. Kelley. bent on second
errand of bribery, came to St. Louis I'm