Evening star., 1924-10-12
LOBBYING NOW EVOLVED
TO RESPECTABLE PLANE
Men Keeping Watch on Legislation Usu-
ally Are First-Class Lawyers Giving
Congressman Competent Criticism.
. HE National Capital Is just
awakening to the fact that

" HE National Capital Is just
awakening to the fact that
lobbying" Gf you please to
call 1t such) is developing in
our midst on a higher, profess
sional plane.
came into disfavor and became a
term Of reproach. That was the ap-
pel!ation Of the old boodler type. who
sought by collusion, trickery. bribery
and booze to get something out of
the Government through corrupt
methods. He has been run out of
town.
He has been replaced by lawyers,
whose first and principal duty is to
protect business by cooperation and
counsel with the Government The
groups OF individuals who have in
vested capita IN business and who
are paying the taxes to support the
Government have come to realize
that 1t is to their best interests to be
represented here by trained men who
can properly present their case to
the Government and get just con-
sideration in matters of legislation
and administrative Interpretation and
regulation
Open Omoes In Capital.
misconception regarding all this. but
it really is Intelligent evolution. Re-
Gently a great number of the promi-
nent law firms from all over the
country have esta ablished Offices in
the National Capital-not merely
desk room with a clerk, but suites
Of Offices with high-class lawyers al
ways on the job.
This has been chiefly an outgrowth
- a. IL ,;-ge
tration of the income tax centralized
everything. almost, In Washington.
All corporate returns and partner
ships. fiduciary, trusts. etc, had to
come to Washington for audit. All
individual tax returns over $1,000 had
to come to Washington for audit
That brought all the returns pro
ducing more than IS per cent of the
revenues TO Washington.
AS no one can handle a tax return
as well as the one who has been
clear through with it from the be-
ginning, the best law offices through
out the country came to realize that
for efficient transaction Of the busi-
ness of their clients they must open
branch Offices here. That represents
the relation OF the individual tax
payer to the Government and the re-
lation OF the client and attorney.
Keep Watch ON Legislation.
But an evolution has come about as
a result of many public questions in
which the business man Is interested
generally and which the activities OF
the Government affect.
The first big question is legislation.
Now, there is no belief on the part
of the business man that Congress
intends to write bad laws. But he
knows that Congress is made up of
some 531 men of various attainments.
accomplishments, information and
weaknesses, just as any body of men
anywhere in the world is constituted.
The weakness is principally lack of
exact information both in the science
of government and the m Mechanics of
business. In other words, Congress
is not corrupt
American business has grown so
complex and vast that even the most
expert know only one corner OF it
Hence, for consideration, discussion
and action upon common problems,
business men have been forming as
sociations. The primary association
is the trade association-shoes, leath-
er, paper. automobiles, drugs. etc.
and organisations in the distributing
fields, like the National Retail Dry
Goods Association. This is true be-
cause the first reason for any one
being in business is to make a living.
Perform Dual Functions.
So those things that are nearest to
his particular business are the ones
in which he is most interested. Each
particular trade has its problems Pc
culiar to that trade, and there are
governmental problems peculiar to
that trade. So they have formed as
| sociations for consideration of the
problems in which these groups of
business men are naturally interested
Such associations gravitate toward
an Office or representative in Wash
ington just as naturally as water
flows down hill
The representative of those asso-
Citations in Washington perform a
dual function. They are, first, sources
of information for the Government
departmentS and for committees
of Congress who want to know any
thing about that particular line of
business. If the Washington repre-
sentative of a trade association does
not know the answer himself he does
know some one in the industry who
can give the correct answer. So, on
questions of public policy of many
and varied kinds he is the ambassa-
dor of his particular line of business
located in the Nations Capital.
The second function of the trade
representative is to act as a clearing
| house. to clear Government policies,