The Washington times., 1920-01-31
Represented Public" Got Laugh,

| h0pIcS0uIoO xuU
In the early spring OF 1905, when
the great Plancus was consul. i, be-
ing new to Washington and freshly
| charged with the mission OF purvey'
Ing and diffusing among the people
correct Information about all public
servants and their activities In Wssh-
ingtor, penetrated the lower recesses
| OF the Capitol to those gloomy cham.
bers situate on what / afterwsrd came
to know as the terrace. The ordor
CT tobacco smoke and the sound OF
voices engaged In what appeared TO
be negotiations or some slightly for
mai controversy led me to one OF the
chambsTed recesses, where 1 found a
committee hearing going on.
l had never attended one OF these
| ceremonial observances at which
nambers of congTes receive enlisht-
enment on problems that come before
| them Jor disc cussion and decision. So
| stopped awhile, as my duty and
education required, to see what It
was all about. remember clearly
| only one incident OF all that took
place In the room but that has al
i ways stayed In my mind. i recall
vaguely that the hearing had to do
with some bill that affected the can
ming industry; but even of that / am
not sure. A dozen or more persons
had been summoned or had voluntar-
! lily eppcared. They were about evenly
divided for and against the bill.
| The fvst question the chairman OF
| the committee always asked of each
persons who spoke was; Whom do
you represent"
As the hearing drew to an end the
chairman asked: "Is there anybody
else to be heard?"
| A serious old party sitting near me
in the back OF the room stood up and
said; II should like to be heard"
| ION whose behalf? Whom do you
represente the chairman asked.
II represent the public" said this
astonishing old party.
| This declaration was greeted with
a perfectly spontaneous outburst of
laughter. 1t changed the whole at
mosphere OF the room. The tedious
dullness that had marked the pro-
| Iceedings was swept away.
TwlnkIisE with Laughter.
| The members of the committee and
those who had testified were put in
chuckling good humor. The chairman
was gravely polite, though twinkling
T am afraid he said, .that we
can't hear you this afternoon. The
time Of the committee has been yappor-
| toned, and all the time at our dis
posSl has been taken up"
Now there was nothing sinister in
this incident. 1t only betrayed q
state OF mind that existed In WASH
ington in those days. The unorgan-
ixed public was not represented.
Quite unconsciously and as a matter
Of course IT was n day of special In
terests: not always OF special inter-
ests in a corrupt sense, but still OF
special organized interests whose
lpocketbooks or methods of doing
business were directly anected oy
proposals of legislation. The really
special interests. the big fellows, the
old he-ones. who made tarins and
lfnance bills and slipped 5okers into
Legislative proposals that would give
them an advantage over the common
run of people did business in another
way. They did not appear publicly.
| OId-Fashioaed Way Dead.
That old-fashioned way of doing
business is pretty well dead. The
muclSrakers helped to put 1t out OF
business. The direct election Of Sena-
tors helped Men began to come 10
Congress who sought to make rep
utation by beating the special inter
ssts with fails. All the activities OF
Congress came under a more a!ert
and intelligent public scrutiny. IN
deed Congress itself was reorganizeo.
The little controlling groups in the
House and Senate that dominated
Legislative processes and had the
power to say explicitly which biiis
should be enacted and which pilis
should not, and even which bills or
pyoposals should be discussed on the
floor, were broken UP and swept
away. The body OF the membership
of the two branches took charge or
their own affairs.
But so lang as there is Congress
and so long as ii has tho powers Uut
reside in II there will be attempts
| to influence It's actions and decisions
] A new crop of special interests mas
! come to town to take tho place Oh
| the old, furtive. sly, pussy-tooteo spe-
| cial interests. They are not gum
shoers: anything but. They Try TO
make as much noise as possible Far
from avoiding publicity. the chiet
weapon in their armory is their pub
licity agent They seek publicity.
They crave publicity. They manu-
| facture publicity. They swat the
| tomtom, sound the hewgag, ana make
continuously loud outcry, saying
"This is the panacea- This Is inc
cure. This is the remedy. This Is the
stuff to give EN-"
business. Labor. Fsrsers.
II Is meet and becoming that the
three largest representatives In WASH
ington designed to influence Congress
and create public opinion through the
medium OF the press should champion
the three largest special interests In
the country. They are. OF course.
capital. or business, labor ana the
farmers. Organized labor came first
The American Federation OF Labor
has been constantly represented In
Washington and has had its head
quarters here for n good many years.
The Chamber OF Commerce OF the