Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1914-01-07
ITEMS OF INTEREST
AT NATIONS CAPITAL

grcSSiOnal election in the district or
the late Mr.. Pepper Tile Congress
sioral committees of the old parties
find it extremely delightful to have
an opportunity for activity in sin gle
districts in of years, largely for the
reason that their campaign revensi
ues measure up to about that size.
When it comes to general natiOnal1
campaigns these committees find
their consolation in the wonderful
memory of other wonderful days,
when corporations and interests
knocked the heads out of the barrel
and split their money into the laps
of the bosses.
The Protection of Niagara.
The brake of legislation is about
to be applied again to the attempts
to milk" the Niagara Falls through
the use of such an amount of water
for power as to materially affect its
scenic beauty. Both the New York
| legislature and the National Congress
|
| have measures under way to prevent
the extension Ct reckless water pow
er enterprises.
Lobbyists Who Succeed.
While the talk of lobbying" is
hear heard mostly in connection with
big bills, such as tariff and currency,
that attract the attention of the
whole country, the fact is, as nobody
knows better tnan the lobbyists
themselves, that their best chances
for getting through bills are in con-
nection with subjects that are not be-
ing generally discussed. In the in
tervals between important measures,
when Senate and House ar emaking
time and few members are in their
} seats, is when the clever lobbyist gets
in his work. In this manner was the
Senate committed in the dull days
of October, after the adoption OF the
tariff bill and before the currency
measure came out of the committee
On a day when only a very few Sen
ators were in their seats a request
was made for unanimous consent
{, to fix a date for voting on Senate
bill 1876. The consent was given
and the bill went through. Proba.
bly, very few members of the Senate
could tell even the subject of thai
bill. AS a matter of fact it was the
measure known as the Seaman
Bill. AS far back as most Washing
ton newspaper men can remembe
there has been lobby here repre-
senting the Seamen's Union. trying t
get through a bill that would practi
cally compel all steamships sailing Il
or from American ports to employ
/ certain number of members OF thei
union. OF course that is not wha
the bill says, but it is rather clearl!
shown, as the result of the hearings
of the House Committee that this II
the way it would work out. and i
. would mean, according to the state
ments of shipping experts who have
examined 1t, that every big line
would have to carry from one hun
dred to three hundred men on thei
! decks, whose purpose would not D'
to help in the affairs of the ship, blu
; who, strange 1t may seem, woult
have practically no duties but to 81
, around waiting for an accident Il
\ happen. Some attention has beel
drawn to these facts since the bill
:. got into the House, but as the unioI
which is backing it is affiliated will
the powerful Federation of Labor
: and as there is nothing that will
: make a Congressman jump so quicl
!. as the threat that the labor vote
: will be used against him, 1t looks a
# though this particular piece of lobby
ing might be crowned with success
in spite of the astonishingly glarin
defects that have been pointed GU
in the House hearings, wherein 1T !
y indicated that the passage of the bill
S in it's present form will drive man
e American ships from the seas.
Trusts and Trust Laws.
Vice President Marshall used lit
= tie of the language of the streets Il
" describing the trust situation, whel
. he declared that 1.-The trusts are eat
ing out of the Attorney General
hands," The futility of persisten
evasions of the Sherman anti-trus
g law seems to have sunk in" upo
|. the telephone and telegraph monopo
. lies, and the United Shoe Company
g which operates trust" in its line
is negotiating settlement wit
u Washington. The Attorney Genera
5 says he has enough law" and
! part of the Administration are OF
e posed to further legislation. The
will, however, bow to the will of tn
President, who has made ii know
that he wishes TO conduct under gov
: eminent supervision one of the mos
> exhaustive Investigations Of this sub