Evening star., 1929-10-06
AVOWED LOBBYISTS
DEMAND FULL QUIZ
Open Organizations Tell Sen
ate They Don't Want to
Be Singled Out.
BY FREDERICK WILLIAM VILE.

FROM various ORGANIZATIONS duInllVSu-
" engaged in promoting private busi-
ness interests comes the pronounced de- |
mand that the Senate lobby investiga-.
tion 60 thoroughly into what they call |
"Secret lobbying"
National associations and other |
groups having their headquarters on |
the Potomac have indicated they are
not concerned over bare inquiry. But |
they insist they have no intention OF
being singled out by the Senate jLdi- |
ciary committee, while the So-callcd |
"big guns" of the secret" and social !
lobbies are allowed to 60 scot-free OF |
an annoying investigation because ot
their former connections with Congress
or the administrative branches OF the
Government.
Many Remain Here. |
Within the past 10 years washington
has filled up with men, who, having
terminated their official life either
voluntarily or owing to political circum-
stances over which they had no control,
decided to remain here in private buSi-
ness They include one-time cabinet
officers, presidential private secretaries,
Senators, Representatives, Interstate
Commerce and Federal Trade commits
sioners. departmental officials-espc-
cially Treasury experts in various rev.
cialists whose Federal service turned out
to be valuable in private life.
Periodically there have been sugecs-
tions or attempts to place some kind
of a curb on the activities of former
Government officials. But nothing ever
was done. For the most part their post
Federal occupations are entirely legiti-
mate. The vast majority of them open
Law Offices in Washington.
Some Exploitation.
While they are able, now and then.
TO exploit their old-time contacts" on
Capitol Hill or in the different Govern
ment departments for the benefit Of
their clients, not all of their practice is
of a sort to necessitate their renewing
oficial ties. This condition applies to
some, but not all, of the erstWhile Fed
eral Office holders.
To those to whom it does not apply
and their names would make an emf
nent list-"contacts" are conceded to
be their principal. if not their only,
stock in trade. They use them freely
and openly. The national associations
who pillory them as the secret lobby"
do them, to that extent, an injustice.
Some of the "exes" operate, on the
contrary, with a franknesS and nom
chalance that is sometimes astonishing.
A former chairman OF Senate COM
mittee, whose name at this moment is
attached to one of the foremost ma
tional statutes, lobbies regularly on be-
half of industrial interests chronically
hungry for higher tariffs.
Few Court Appearances.
He practices law" in Washington,
but his appearances in the courts are
exceedingly rare. He Is, on the con-
trary. familiar witness" when tariff
hearings are in progress, and he has,
of course, as an "eX,' the privileges
of the floors of both the House and
Senate.
Two other once distinguished mem
bers of the Senate have functioned
publicly before committees of Congress
as lawyers" for the public utility
group, which was under so heavy fire
last Winter and Spring, and still is.
Two nationally known former members
of the House of Representatives, who
departed from official life about the
same time three or four years ago, are
highly successful attorneys in Wash
ington, specializing on work which
keeps them visiting the Capitol and
the Government departments pretty
regularly.
One-ti.ne Federal Trade and Inter-
state Commerce commissioners are in
heavy demand for private legal work.
Half dozen or more of them today are
earning in Washington incomes four
or five times their Federal pay checks.
"Rich Pickings" Seen.
Former assistant attorneys general
of the United States can rely on rich
pickings in private practice. Within
the past six months two renowned De-
partment of Justice officials-a man
and woman-have hung out shingles
in the National Capital. In practically
none of these cases is Government
work" the exclusive sphere of the
"exeS'" labors But it is not uncom-
mon-or unnatural-for clients able to
pay rich retainers to seek out the
their way about in Washington.
When Senator Norris judiciary COM
mittee plunges into the lobby investiga-
ton ordered by the Caraway resolution, |
1t will have before it an exhaustive sur
Vey of the Washington high pressure"
system, completed only few months
ago. 1t is entitled Lobbying" and Is
American Academy of Political and
Social Science by Edward B. Logan,
Phi. D.. assistant professor of political
science at the University of Pennsyl-
vania. 1t covers every phase of the
Washington system of influencing gov
ernmental action and gives chapter
and-verse evidence for most of the
SCdIcIuentS dtlu alleBdIlOIS mace.
Names Organizations.
DR.. Logan purports to explain in de-
tail how the following organizations
(Which he names) carry on: The
American Medical Association, the
National Association of Manufacturers,
the Chemical Foundation, the American
Dyers Institute, the Chamber of Com
merce of the United States, the Cen
eral Federation of Women'S Clubs, the
Wholesale Coal Dealers Association,
the National Coal Dealers Association,
the American Meat Packers, the Ameri-
can Taxpayers League, the American
Bankers League, the National Trans
portation Institute, the Anti-Saloon
League of America. the wholesale
Liquor Dealers Association, the Joint
Committee on Public Utilities, the 10
womer's organizations calling them
selves the Conference on the Cause and
Cure of War, the American Farm
Bureau Federation, the American Fed
Grafton of Labor, the National Council
for Prevention of War, the Federal
Council of Churches, 33 national
women's patriotic organizations which
worked for the 15-cruiser bill, and the
Monday Lunch Club.
Recalls Social Lobby"
DR.. Logan quotes a memorable obser-