Evening star., 1929-11-17

an overwhelming conviction as to the
truth or falsity of particular matter
OF political, social or economical i'm
portance he does not Immediately look
to the party as the vehicle to give sup
port and expression to his doctrine:
He finds about him numerous organized
groups built around certain definite in
terests 1t Is to them that he turns for
support and cooperation. and 1t is
rare point of view, indeed, that does not
find among them some society or ma
tional association that Is not already
sponsoring whatever the most fertile
mind of man can conceive.
There have always been organized
groups, fraternal religious. social and
economic. There have appeared from
time to time in the history OF the
country various minority political par
ties, such as the Populists. the Green
hackers and the Know -Nothings, which
have arisen in advocacy of sCme specific
principle or some narrow program.
The organized groups to which the
voters turn today partake of the char
acter of both the typical society and
the minority party. They resemble the
former in that they have a listed men,
berShip, duly elected officers, dues to
pay, meetings to attend and a continu-
Gus existence. They resemble the latter
certain phases of politics, a policy to-
wards the Government. and often a
definite program to be obtained at the
hands of the legislators. In their sup
port of a particular policy and point of
view they act in the capacity of a rep
resentative agency towards the Govern
ment. Their whole raison detre is
predicated upon principle, either al
truistic or selfish, and success means
lie 10 0f
interest. Examples of such organiza-
tionS are known to every one: The
Anti-Saloo1 League, the Chamber of
Commerce of the United States, the w.
c. T. u, the National Grange and the
League of Nations Non-Partisan Asso-
citation are among the more familiar.
Groups Wen Organized.
within very recent years these
grotips have increased and multiplied.
More important still, they have become
highly organized and are today con-
Quoted by shrew and capable leaders.
Now. because Of improved means OF
communication, these groups, no longer
hindered by geographical limitations,
are organizing on national and even
worldwide scale. They are assuming
place of first Importance in the ex.
preston Of public sentiment. They rep
resent compact ana ueIeTnHleu BIOupS,
who know what they want and how
they want it. In their methods, In
their numbers and in their influence
they are becoming a problem in repre-
sentative government.
They constitute development
which should be considered in the light
of the accepted theory of representa-
ton. These organized groups approach
the individual from an angle that is
at variance with the viewpoint accepted
by current theory. The attitude of the
party toward the voter is in harmony
with orthodox ideas of representation;
the political party treats him as citi-
zen with a national point of view."
The new lobby is called "the third
House of Congress" by DR.. Herring in
his report. THE Washington Offices of
the associations, societies, leagues, in
stitutes, boards and federations organ
ized on a Nation wide scale today form
the great Hobbies in the Capital" he
says. BY comparison the representa-
tives Of corporations, the patronage
brokers. the wire pullers,' the crowd
of old-style lobbyists pale into insig-
nificance The men with the power are
these spokesmen of organized groups.
Congressmen lend an attentive ear to
their words Often they lend helping