The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-19
THE MUSCLE SHOALS LOBBY


 THE MUSCLE SHOALS LOBBY The prospect of an inquiry into an alleged | Muscle Shoals lobby in congress excites the | inquiry: What is a lobby? There also at once arises the opinion that congress should investigate, not the Muscle Shoals lobby, but the whole field of lobbying at Washington. The singling out of Muscle Shoals and the Ford offer for the object of an inquiry strikes the average citizen as proceeding from enmity to Mir Ford rather than from enmity to lobbying. There also arises the thought that there is a legitimate manner | in which advocates or opponents of any leg l islation may exercise themselves for or against it, and there is an illegitimate man. ner in which legislation may be influenced one way or the other. It is apparent at once that if there has been any improper influence brought to bear upon congress with respect to the Ford offer it has been brought by the opposition, for the opposition hopes to benefit privately by defeat of the Ford offer; whereas the supporters of the Ford offer have the public welfare as their avowed object. It is notable fact that, while the self-seeking interests have been in every way trying to defeat the Ford offer, Mir. Ford himself, who stands the foremost chance of making n per sonal profit out of operating Muscle Shoals, has maintained no lobby nor sought in any way to bring pressure to bear upon con gress. The advocates before congress of the Ford offer have been the representatives of public and not of corporate groups. If they had not been there, it is almost an assured fact that the Ford would have been buried forever and the public investment in Muscle Shoals would have been total loss.
 On March g, in an able article in the New York Times Senator McKellar of Tennessee, in discussing the subject of invisible gov ernment' at the national capital, defined lobbyist as follows:
 A lobbyist is defined by the diction-
 ary as one who seeks personally to in-
 fluence members of a legislative body.
 More accurately a lobbyist may be de-
 fined as one whose occupation is for
 hire to influence legislation. Of course,
 not every one who appears and seeks to
 influence legislation personally is a lobby
 ist. Any one whose business or whose
 individual interest is affected by pro-
 posed legislation has the legal and moral
 right to come here to Washington to
 tell his sto.y and state his contentious
 to congress or any committee thereof,
 and to consult with his representatives.
 It is only where a persons occupation
 or avocation for pay is to influence
 legislation that such person is properly
 called lobbyist.
 As to the activities with especial regard to Muscle Shoals, Senator McKellar said:
 Invisible government has perhaps not
 been more active in any direction. ex-
 cept in tariff and revenue matters, than
 it has been in the Muscle Shoals dis
 position question. Those who have fla
 vored the leasing of the Muscle Shoals
 plant to Henry Ford have had a lobby
 here for several years. It has been a
 very vigorous, active and persistent
 lobby. On the other hand. the water
 power interests, the fertilizer interests
 the manufacturers and other allied in-
 terests have had their representatives
 of invisible government very busy, so far
 fighting Ford to the last ditch.
 It is noted that Senator McKellar does not condemn the efforts made in behalf of the Ford offer, fer he observes that manufac- turers and agents of special interests were the original lobbyists, so that representatives of the public welfare have been forced in self-defense to adopt similar tactics. There is this distinction to be drawn, however Whereas the agents of private interests pre-. fer to work covertly and in secret; those who represent the people or any portion of the people, by. organization or otherwise, prefer to give their efforts and their argu- ments the utmost publicity. And so, when visible government" Senator McKellar ad- vises that all lobbyists be forced to register as such and to subject their arguments, their personnel, their affiliations, and their purposes to the utmost publicity. Publicity is the best remedy" says the senator.
 The friends of the Ford offer are very willing that there be this publicity. They themselves have nothing to conceal, and they have reason to believe that the motives, al- dances and methods united in opposition to the Ford offer could not withstand pub licity and retain their vigor or effectiveness. Therefore, they do not fear an inquiry that has the truth for it's basis, and not enmity to the Ford offer.