Evening star., 1925-07-08

! was appointed first director of the
! budget, and once more Kilkenny
/ functioned as his right-hand man. a
year later the Vice Presidents brother
was named controller of the cJg-
rency, and Kilkenny went with him
| TO Washington TO show him the
routes.
7 Iyisconsin has a lobby law" the
| might. be worth the attention of Con
! gress with regard to conditions a
/ Washington. IT has been in force
/ for seven or eight years and is her
! aided as "a piece of progressive legis-
lapon that has proved its worth
! Madison, like all other. State capitals
I+and like Washington, long has been
infested with lobbyists. Viewed as a
necessary because ineradicable evil.
! Wisconsin decided to legalize their
status. Under the existing law lob
/ bytsts are required to register with
! the secretary of state at the begin
ming of each legislative session. They
/ must NIL. out forms recording exactly
What interests, corporations, firms or
individuals they REPRESENT They
must also tabulate the precise Iegisla
| tive measures they are employed to
support. or oppose, and must disclose
the amount of pay they get for those
services AT the end ofea session. foh-
| bylstS HE IN itemized statement Of
| their expenditures at Madison. in or
| der that the authorities may have
some idea how money has been dis
| trlbuted. The system is not a perfec1
one and does. not do away with The
eVlls OF lobbying. But Wisconsin, is
i7convinced,- ! the law minilnizes the
evils. During the recent Legislature
/ 1000 lobbyists We're at work in Madi-
! son., or and on. Some so are Derma
nentIy stationed there. They comprfse
what is known as the. third house"
Now that La Folletteeis gone, The
most picturesque personality left In
! wisconsin politics is Solomon Levi
| tan, State treasurer, who is comDIet
ing second term as watchdog OF
Badger State finances. When beu,as
| reelected in 1924 he received a bigger
majority approximately 300 0OO) than
| either La Toilette for President or
Blaine for governor. With his lone.
snoW-whlte curly hair and chin beard
Levltan looks more the patriarch than
| ms 90 years and. youthful activity jls-
| I1Iy. He is one of America S tvpica1Tv
| self made men, having arrived as
pennliess Prussian-Polish immigran nj
! ooy and become, through life of
nard work and winning personality
both a rich and respected citizen. The
other day, when Senator Ladd OF
| North Dakota passed away, a country
newspaper in Wisconsin ran 7 T,evitaT7fs
picture by mistake for that of the de-
parted statesman. Levitan saws it's
/ an omen that he's going to live a long
| time, and he looks 1t. Wisconsin has
no more beloved public man. He is a
leader in national Jewish activities in
the United States and the first of his
faith TO achieve high office in Wis
| consin.
I
| One cannot be in the Midwest sec
tor many hours before discovering
| that Coolidge stock stands high in
| that region. 1t is the Presidents
! economy program, and all the sundrv
| therewlths connected. especially tax
reduction. that is the root cause ofzi1is
| strangle hold on Western confidence
BUSINESS is particularly well satisfied
with Mr.. Coolidge. 1t feels il has sci
tIed down TO long season of calm
under his administration II eXpec4s
no surprises or radical departures Of
any kind-radical in either a politica
! or an economic sense Safe" and
sane" are the adjectives which the
average Midwesterner applies TO Cal
vim Coolidge. They are the keynete
| of the undoubtedly deep and wide.
spread esteem in which the President
/ IS held. The West, too, has a we'll de
fined impression of Mr. Cooiidge's
| homely simplicity and likes it. His
thrift in n'words is acclaimed as not the
least Of his private and public virtues
/ X 4
|. Nearly everybody out here wants 10
know what the chances are for modi-
| flying or repeating prohibition The
/ inquiries come from both vets and
| drys, and are couched, respectively
| in accents of hopes and fears. Hi
| nois and Wisconsin are wet. and
around Chicago and Milwaukee SOP
| ping wet, Minnesota, with large Ger
man and Irish populations, has its
/ moist areas. too. In such districts
! there is an inSistent sclamor for light
wines and beer and deep-seated be-
| lief that sooner or later. they are bound
| to come. The belief is based on the
| expectation that the Federal Govern.
ment is going to, find it increasingly
| difficult to enforce the Volstead act
and that public opinion eventuallyIwiII
| demand notifications designed tre-
mendously to reduce, even If not en-.
ttrely abolish. prohibition violation
Western vets, arguing thus, insist
i prohibition is by no means a dead is
tsue. In more than one State cam
paign In 1925 it is going to be a live
issue. The drys sing a different tune
They are positive the Volstead act is
| here to stay, and that, the West is one
of the regions ready to Battle to keep
! it intact The farmers and the women
/ still stand solidly behind the eight
eenth amendment, "Indefiled. I
Copyright. I925)