Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-12-23
L6bby Committees RepOrt

The report OF the House committed that investl.
gated a charge that an insidious lobby, the worst in
history" was working at the capital to prevent the
enactment Of tariff legislation is mild and cautious.
The main charge is ignored. as might have been ex-
pected, says the st. Louis G~lobe.Democrat. The proof
showed little activity except on the part Of the beet
sugar interests, which were threatened with extine.
tion by the Underwood bill. Their activity was bag
anced by that Of the sugar importers, WHO Worked
for the bills The report deals almost entirely with
the lurid charges made in a $4,000 confession to a
New YorkEpaper by a former employe Of the National
Association of Manufacturers, which did not concern
the recent tariff revision at all. but dealt with public
men and measures OF the past. The. committee ex-
onerates all individuals implicated in the Mulhall
Exposure" with the exception Of Representative John
A. McDermott, q Democratic congressman from ILL
nois. And he is accused only Of acts of grave i'm
propriety, u%nbecoming the dignity OF the distinguish
ed position he occupies" The report adds: THAT
which a pirate citizen may do with impunity must
frequently be Stunned by one in an official position"
But the committee was not ready to throw this
mantle of charity over ex-eepresentative James Z.
Watson. He was censured for representing, following
his retirement from Congress, the National Manufac.
turers' Association at the capital. 1t charges him
with conduct of doubtful propriety when he capital
lied his influence with members of Congress-" The
committee showed grosssearelessness in dealing with
facts, when it says that Mr.. Watson, was thus EN-
ployed during the passage ofstIe' PaynesAldrich tariff
bill. Mr.. Watson was a member of Congress at the
time and4according to all the evidence was not in the
pay of any association. Mulhall went back on the
stand to correct the statement that Mr.. Watson had
been employed while a member of Congress, following
q threatso of criminal prosecution for libel. Further
testimony supported Mr.. Watson's contentious.
Whether former members Of Congress shall appear
before committee or members of Congress as paid
agents of individuals or associations is a matter of
taste. Their effectiveness depends on the attitude
members of Congress take toward them. The prac-
tice is growing in disfayor.
The committee tries to distinguish between good
lobbyists and bad ones, Or legitimate lobbying and
illegitimate. Etymology is spurned in this classified.
ton. The National Association of Manufacturers is
severely censured for the methods with which it
opposed measures aggressively urged by the Amcri.
can Federation of Labor. The representatives of the
latter body are given a clean bill of health, tieir
methods being irreprehensible. But those who fol-
lowed the published testimony will recall that each
side sought to aid the election OF its friends and
each side threatened the political destruction of, its
enemies. Tie number of voters a lobbyist represents
apparently has much to do with whether. he is a
good or a bad lobbyist, in the judgment Of the House
committee,