Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-02-25
is GOVERNMENT BY LoBBlES
SUPREME IN THIS COUNTRY?
Senator Thomas, Senator Myers and the
Unseen Powers That Aim to
Rule over Congress

TT Is an almost invariablo habit ci
statesmen to put their confessions in
print and shrcwdly die before they car
be read. So it may be assumed that con.
vusionS Of an altogether unusual sort
must be going on in the souls of Senator
Thomas and Senator Myers, who. in the
full glow Of health. have just been telling
the world Of tic forced surrender Of Con.
rrC&s TO agents Of invisible government
\ fiery indictment or tho Washington
ioUhic, roppcd cut Of Mr.. Thomas uncx-
pcCtCdlr. like q shout Of irtolerablc pain.
'Wc. Your servants" said hc to some
banQuetcrs in New York. "arc threatened,
persuaded raioled and warned of the fate.
political and othcrniSc. that awaits us if
We dare To exercise our own judgment in.
dnpcndcntly You cannot imagine the
mental anguish ot man who wishes TO
hc rc.occt"d. \ dray horse in tho in.
r"rual regions has happy time romrarcd
"h ,nmr rub ir servants. We have c\-
rmptrd labor aud agricultural socir,ir,
from the operation of the anti trust laws
and VIC rHuuot appropriate u dollar uu-
less they acquicscc.
"Mr. Gompers." said Mr.. Myers in the
Senate. lis more powerful than the Prcsi.
dent of the Uuitcd States. Mr.. Wilson
can only veto bills Mr.. Gompcrs can
keep Congress from passing them,
Mr.. Gompcrs couldn't stop the Cum
mins-Esch railway bill in Congress. Mat
ters may not be quito as bad as Mr..
Myers believes. But the fact remains
that highly organized class interest in
Washington makes clear thinking and
impartial action in Congress more diff
cult than it ever was at any other time
in history.
Still it il not easy to weep for the hon
orable members. 1t is not too much to
suppose that many man, forced, as
Senator Thomas seems to have been. to
choose between his job and the betrayal
of a great trust and an utter abandon
mcnt of his own intellectual integrity.
would not surrender and appeal for pub
lie sympathy. He might look his oppres-
sors fatty in the eye, tell them to 60 to
thunder and walk out joblcss, but with
the knowledge that he had done himself
and the country a great service.
Mere complaint is never inspiring
llC = tlC IlO pAS lCS DIONll vi IlOllNllltilIS
erected to thc worm that turns at the
last ditch The worm, in its last attitude.
may bc a symbol Of cosmic law. But it
is still a worm.
Senator Thomas spoke simple truth.
For that tic country owes him respect
and attention. We arc, indeed. drifting
toward state OF government by Iobbcs
Tie statute books alone arc evidence Of
that.
The farmcr. lobby and the labor lobby
have become the most powerful agencies
Of super-govcrnmert in the United
States. They have matched the laurel
from the brows of the trusts.
Big business. even in its maddest
days-and it had some pretty mad and
reckless dayS-never sat in the Senate
galleries to hold stop-watch on un-
friendly members and write their politi-
cal death warrants in public. The rail
unions did that during the debate on the
Adamson law.
Big business never advertised its inten-
ton to annihilate any congressman who
didn't 20 along meckly under the whips
OF H. dESliNS' Nv 10 hlNlH 'OpbN hSSS
that method with cheerful nonchalance.
4 multitude of ruthless and powerful
Iobbics have come perilously close to a
seizure of the government. They recog-
nzc Congress, to be sure. But they ac-
rcpt it only as cutting edge for their
own purposes.
And in fairness to Senator Thomas
and the others it is necessary to remem-
ber that ours is supposed to be repre-
sentative government Of representative
.','I'' co,.ta ,,.o.n 1919 , 80 s,,nor-
",u '"t ,,,;.h nouo @ of .lo ~ roo.S P and ;nbibi-
,:'' w. ~ aoao,,,,- - - tho ranI.
WI l.ol'I ,,a '''' ''''N>' 10 N0''''''0'' " 'N
anu ''''
rf Attorney General Palmer were les
10 c,c,, for rho exclusive applausc Of the
ton ,,aIIor;es he might keen his rsiding
scnsLs rrt.rt and hnsv and find plcrtv of