The Winslow mail., 1923-04-13
Many Legislative Agents.

Many Legislative Agents.
During the winter just ending there
was an unusual number Of legislative
agents in evidence in the corridors of
the capitol. The fact that congress was
divided into blocs representing differ
ent phases of legislative endeavor ac-
counts for the large number of lobby
lists who were attempting to do work
at the old stand. In other sessions the
lobbyists have been here and have been
as eloquent and as seductive as they
could be in their statements of the
beauties of looking at the thing this
way or that way.
In the olden days the charge Of lob
bying almost always was laid against
what are called the great interests.
Now the charge of lobbying is laid
largely against those elements of the
communities who are fighting what
they call the great interests. The great
interests, Of course, are the big busi-
ness interests Of the country, as differ
entiated from the various groups
which are supposed to represent wholly
the desires of those whose interests are
said to be jeopardized by the manipu-
lations of big concerns.
So far as lobbying is concerned, there
Is little to choose between the activities
of the big interests, the little interests,
labor, agriculture, or any other ele-
ment of worker, producer, manufac-
turer, importer or banker.
The Dangerous Lobbyist.
The word lobbyist has come to be a
term Of reproach. Of course, it's origin
is made plain on the face of the word.
Lobbyists are men who work in the
lobby. Now, there is no reason why
the word should be reprOachful in its
nature Congress invites men and
women to come to Washington to say
their say in the committee rooms, in
order that the committee members may
get the country's views pro and con on
contemplated legislation. All who
come to Washington thus to give their
testimony are called lobbyists.
There are lobbyists, however, who
do not appear before committees, but
who depend for results on personal
persuasion with the members, on old
friendships, and at times on the fact
that they have been themselves men,
bers of either house of congress. This
kind of lobbying is the most dangerous
kind, because the lobbyist frequently
asks the members of congress to vote
this way or that way on the ground of
friendship and not on the ground of
the good Of the country.
When one of the great tariff bills
was being framed in the ways and
means committee in the house of rep
resentatives some years ago, there was
q lobbyist on hand who was the pro-
prietor Of a great manufacturing con-
Germ He had been a member of con-
gress and, personally, popular one.
Former members of congress are
granted the right by courtesy to ;.p-
pear on the floor of congresses Of
which they are not members This
particular lobbyist stood at the door
of the ways and means committee for
days buttonholing members as they
came in and as they went out, urging
on them his own views of a certain
tariff schedule.
At another time In that somewhat
elder day, a former member of cou-
gress appeared on Capitol hill to care
for the interests of certain organiza-
ton which was interested in legisla-
tion. He personally was popular and
he had the run of the place. 1t be-
came known that he was receiving a
large fee for his work, a fee which
probably never would have been paid
him if 1t were not known that he once
had been a member Of congress, and
that, therefore, he had hold on friend
ships which other men did not have.
Pure Food Act Eighteen Years Old.
The recent passage by congress of
a bill touching a dairy product has re-