The Washington herald., 1918-01-19


Establishment of a real legislative
reference bureau which will aid in
the drafting of bills and in gather
ing information for Congress on any
and all subjects pending before It, Is
provided in the SmoOt bill just in
troduced.
The suggestion brings home the
workings of the State legislative ref
erence bureaus which have been in
operation for several years in some
sections of the country.
These bureaus have been a won
derful help to the State lawmakers.
They have enabled the members to
get their bills in better shape than
they ordinarily were previous TO in
PRODUCTION, and they have offered the
solons for their immediate inspection,
whenever any subject came up, re-
positories of information on that sub
iect.
In most of the States. however,
there have been accusations, from
time to time. that the legislative ref
erence bureau really became a lobby
bureau-that in their operation they
were in an advantageous position to
influence legislation. In some in
stances this has been true, ac-
cording to statements of lawmakers
of some of the States. But in the
greater proportion Of cases in which
the bureaus aided the lawgivers there
has been no effort made to lead their
minds in other directions.
A legislative reference bureau for
Congress would be of vast assistance.
In competent hands, II would be a
gold mine for such fact diggeTs as
Senators Smoot and Borah and Ken
yon and others who like to collect
enormous stacks Of data on subjects
which they wish to present TO the
Senate.
In the House end, though. the bu-
reau would be of greater assistance
The members there have been ham
pered for years because no such in
stitution was available for them. The
legislative bureau acts as a secretary
in this capacity, and would thus re-
Iieve the strain which is many times
put upon the hard-working secretaries
in the Lower House. Moreover, the
members would be able to get their in
formation in the least possible time,
and in such shape that 1t could be
utilized to THE best advantage.
If establishment of new departments
Is not to be frowned upon by the
Democratic administration II is possi-
BILE that the Smoot idea will find
general favor. There are many mem
bers now who want to see the de-
partment installed and the number
bids fair to increase as the argu-
ments creep out for such action.
Senator Borah's notion that all
treaties with other nations should
be subjected to the light of pub
licity, strange to say. follows a
similar suggestion from the wild
est of wild republics. Russia. It
is strange that an unframed and
unlearned statesman from a re-
mote. turbulent spot of the earth
should precede our own skilled,
learned statesmen into the arena
with this suggestion, but it is true.
OF course, similar proposals have
been made at other times in the
nation but no great thought has
been given to the proposal. The
world was too safe to consider the
matter seriously. But now that the
world is burning up with an all-con-
suming fire. the proposal will like
ly have the most careful considera-
tion.
The fact that the suggestion
comes to the Senate from a Repub-
lican member, of course, makes no
great difference. The Democrats
will ponder 1t, in quite as deep a
manner, as If it originated on their
side of the chamber.
The Peoples Congress of America,
seeking to make stronger its case.
now claims great credit for the ma
jor portion of the Wilson peace pro-
gram recently submitted to Congress.
Louis Lochner, former Senatorial
secretary, who was responsible for
the meeting held in the Senate build
ing last summer in condemnation of
the war. sends each of the members
of the Upper House copy of his ar
ticle and an article by Prof Scott
Nearing, formerly of the University
OF Pennsylvania, in which these claims
are set forth:
The Presidents message of Jan S
marks the most decisive American ad-
vance in the direction of peace since
our country entered the conflict. First
OF all, we know now atNlast. specifi-
cally and in detail. what the allied
governments are fighting for. The
Presidents message. like most state