The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-11-01
EVILS OF THE CAMPAIGN CONTRI-
BUTTON.

BUTTON.
In the current number of Leslie's
Popular Monthly. there is an article
entitled 1.-THE National Lobby at
| Washington" in which an effort is
made to show that Congress is Its
own lobby" Those who read the arti-
Gle will get the impression that the
effort is attended with much success.
1t is pointed out that one of the evils
of our politics is what is known as
the campaign contribution. Those
who make contributions expect some-
thing in return-at least, most of them
do. Individuals expect offices or con-
cession Of some sort and corporations
expect franchises or the enactment of
laws that will advance their interests
| in some way.
And it must be kept in mind that
these contributions are not made alone
in presidential elections. Railroads and
other corporations make them to assist
in the election of senators and repre-
sentatives in Congress and also in the
! election of members of state
| legislatures. AS a consequence
these corporations have friends
in all of the legislative bodies
of the country. And these rep
| resenatives of the corporations are
carefully selected for their ability. They
are capable men and understand what
is expected of them.
There seems therefore to be good
reason for saying that the lobby at
Washington is in the halls Of Con-
gress not in the corridors and waiting
rooms. There may be agents in the
corridors to see that the lobby does
what is wanted done and to furnish it
information that is sometimes needed,
but the lobby is not composed of them.
If what the writer's of the article In
Leslie's Monthly say is correct. 1t Is
an easy matter to point out among the
senators and representative those who
look after the interests of the sugar
trust, the Standard Oil Companys af-
fairs, the shipping trust. the brewing
interests, the railroad interests and
dozens of other interests that, from
time to time come to the front in the
newspaper press.
And it seems to be understood that
the party that is especially favored
with campaign contributions by great
moneyed interests agrees either tacitly
or in terms that admit of no misunder-
standing to enact certain legislation, or
to refuse to permit the passage of bills
hostile to them. In national campaigns
the political leaders are willing to
promise almost anything for money for
campaign purposes.
The foregoing view of the lobby is a
new one. and yet it is one that ap-
pears to have much to sustain it. 1t
win be recalled that at the last session
of Congress it was asserted frequently
that the bill introduced by Senator
Aldrich to assist in getting the cur
rency in the treasury into circulation
was in the interest of Mr.. Rockefeller
and some other financiers. There may
have been no truth in this assertion
but the fact that it was made showed
that there was in the public mind an
impression that an effort was being
made by the party to favor very rich
men, who doubtless had been large
contributors to it's campaign funds.
This statement that Congress is its
own lobby is a decidedly interesting
one. Is it a fact that the campaign
contribution has filled Congress with
representatives of great corporations
that seek special favors that are inim-
ica1 to the public welfare?