New Britain herald., 1929-10-18
HAMILTON STARTED LOBBYING IN ]. s.
Custom Not New, But Is Actu- ally Growing MiIder With Time
By RODNEY DUTCHER NE.A Service Writer

~ Washington, Oct. 17-Ncarly ey- < eryone who writes about lobhtes in < Washington gives voice 10 the as sumption that We all believe the in .s stitution of the lobby is something as new and then attempts 10 astonsh +us by proving otherwise.
 Your correspondent is not going .. to suggest that the customers of this s4neWspaper are as ignorant as that, but after diligont search he hopes @to he able to set down more con- .Cernng che antiquity and history of .lohhios than has eyer been gathered utogether before. The unanimity with which writers have neglected this .subjcct is nothing short of astonish- ving a.-d no more than a general out ~lne can be given because Iobbies out after the peoples money have nearly always been accepted with the pgreatest equanimity.
 From the Beginning
 a There never has been d time since athe establishment of this govern sment when the lobbyists were not on ssthe job in the national capital.
 
 show many billions of dollars from sthe American people through their rgrabs Of land, natural resources -and profitable favors. Any com ~plete history of Hobbies, including ~those which have worked on state 1legislaturc. would take ten times -the space of the largest encyclo- paedia.
 It is often pointed out that the smodern day lobby is far smoother rand more respecta ble than the slobhy of the last century That's ..fact and it's just as well. If the old @lobbys tactics hadn't finally been ~modifed the White House would 4now be occupied by a member of sthe power trust, the capitol 3' sthe Lincoln Memorial would .been moved 10 some millir .-back yard and the customs
 ~would all be in the hands of 'enterprsing corporation.
 :, The time came when thorr 4wasn't much left to steal and scompetition became so keen that lobbyists began to checkmate each tother. But until congress and .the legislatures had given away smost Of the country and its natural sresources there were lobbyists on shand of the very type to grease the Legislators and speed the process. tToday there isn't much left except Lpower sites and those are being ~handod out as rapidly as possible. aS 1~,t 1,rl S,, T faction. At the outset they did their +own lobbying when it was necessary sinstead of hiring someone. AleXan- ader Hamilton used the first congress ssional lobby in the fight for the funding of the national debt and the assumption by the federal govern sment of the state debts. The people with money had bought up this pa 4per from the people who needed Money for as low as 10 cents on the idollar Members of congress were among the speculators and the others tcame rushing to the scene to exert pressure.
 "I do not know that pecuniary innuenCe has actually been used" :" mrote Senator William Maclay of fPennsylvania in his journal, but Il am certain that every kind of 4management has been practiced and Aevery tool at work that could be Thought of
 Put Through Deal
 ; The assumption" measure was first defeated. But meanwhile an- tother lobby had been urging the building of a national capital along the Potomac river and after the 1Hamiltonian lobby had conceded the batter project Jefferson and other