The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1916-03-25
Abuse of the Franking Privilege.

Int use anu ABUSE OF the government frank
has again been brought to the attention of the
House by the Committee on Printing The report
merits consideration and justifes action to cut
out the abuse The ranking privilege for mem
bers OF Congress is as necessary as the penalty
envelope for the government departments Mem
bers Of Congress are called upon for all kind:
OF service now, and their offices are Informal
ton bureaus and general agencies for their dis.
tricts, answering all kinds of inquiries touching
the government business with letters and docu'
ments. This service which has grown with the
development OF mail and telegraph facilities, will
never be less than it is now, and the Senator OF
Representative who comes to Washington only
to egislate will soon discover that his constitu-
ents expect much larger service, including that
OF general business agent for them in their rela-
tons to the government. The letter and docu-
ment franks will never be abandoned because they
are necessary in the Congressional service.
The abuse OF the frank is just as clearly an
imposition the people as the use is neces-
sity for the accommodation of the people. This
abuse of the frank costs the government hun
dreds OF thousands OF dollars every year and il
is not for the personal benefit Of Senators and
Representatives. 1t is for the benefit Of the lob
byists who trying to bring pressure upon Con
gresS to enact legislation which Congress would
not consider, but for the manufactured pressure
brought through the abuse Of the frankng prvi-
lege. member is persuaded to put into the
Congressional Record some material which has
been prepared by lobbyist. That material is
then frankablc and the lobbyist bcgs frankcd
envelopes by the thousand to scatter this docu-
mcnt broadcast over the country with no expense
except to the government.
Capt. Hobson, about year ago, admitted on
the floor OF the House that he had furnished a
that a lobbyist had supplied him for insertion
in the Congressional Record Capt. Hobson had
become more interested in the propaganda rep
resented by that lobbyist than in his service as
a Representative and he had lost his sense OF
proportion to consciously unload on the postal
service work which cost many thousand dollars
just to relieve the lobbyist from meeting that
cost. 1t was fragrant abuse OF the government
frank, imposing upon all the people the cost OF
a propaganda managed by a few lobbyists 1t
was handing to the lobbyist the free use
OF the mail for the purpose OF lobbying 1t mat
tiers not what the avowcd purpose. whether
good or bad it was fragrant abuse of the
Thanking privilege.
criminal abuse OF the frank was brought to
light a few years ago by the Postoffice Depart
ment A man who frankly signs himself lob
byist, with adjective to imply that his lobby
work is moral, secured the insertion in the
Record and in committee hearings of number
Of documents which he had prepared for a specific
purpose. He then gathered these documents into
All Of this was permissible under the rules OF
Congress. He then appealed to Senators and
Representatives for franks and it was testified
that he secured more than fifty thousand He
used these franks to send his book to people
throughout the country with the request that
they remit the price use an enclosed frank to
return the same to the author. He profcssed
ignorance of the law which imposes a heavy pen
atty private citizen who uses frank to
carry a private publication, or who sends ont a
government publication for sale in this manner
That lobbyist cheated the government out of
many thousand dollars, but since he assumed to
do this in a good he was not prosecuted.
as would have been done in the case of another
lobbyist using frank in a private business trans
action.
These two incidents of recent years illustrate
how insdiouS and how common has become the
abuse OF government franks by lobbyists If men
who assume to represent moral reforms can un-
blushingIy rob the government, it will not be long
before lobbyists who frankly selfish will fol-
low the precedent. The abuse of the frank as an
instrument of the Lobbyist should be abolished be-
fore it becomes necessary to send somebody to
the pcntcntary