Evening star., 1932-05-15

seeking selfsh privilege tor special
groups" He describes tDtdt he found
In the tolloiDfno article. iDrttten for
The Star and the North American
Newspaper Alliance.
BY ELMER DAVIS.
tcoDyrishs ,ss, BY y.ssei sss North American
TIME locust swarm of lobbyists, "
denounced by President Hoover
La more Of q nuisance than q
l. menace, In the opinion OF MEM
bers OF Congress who have been
exposed to the locusts this session
with bills for the reduction OF appro-
priations and the increase OF taxes be-
| fore Congress lobbyists Of all KINDS
have been extraordinarily active.
They have been an obstruction and
an annoyance. Trying to get any
work done with these fellows on your
trail" said Senator Reed OF Pennsyl-
vania, "is like trying TO play the violin
while somebody is pulling your hair.
But 1t seems doubtful II they have had
any decisive effect on either taxation or
economy.
On some details Of those measures
their pressure has apparently been very
effective, but In every instance O con-
siderable number Of voters were directly
interested, and Congress was afraid to
offend them.
Every One Afraid, Says Crisp.
"The worst thing the matter with
this country" said Representative Crisp
OF Georgia, who took the tax bill
through the House and came out with
nothing much left Of 1t but the chassis,
"is fear-econonic fear in the country
at large and political fear In Congress.
I don't believe there Is man in either
House who could be corrupted, but
there are an awful lot who are afraid. u
"The ISSUE" said President Hoover,
sis between the people and the locust
swarm of lobbyists who haunt the
halls of Congress, seeking selfish privi-
lege for special groups and sections OF
the country, misleading members as te
the real views Of the people by showers
of propaganda"
That is what they do, of course, but
the average member Of Congress Is al
ways ready to take the articulate dis
content of any large number of voters
as the real view of the people; and the
special groups and sections that hire
the lobbyists ought to take some. of
the blame.
Lobbying" said Senator Hull Of
Tennessee, "is only q symptom. The
real disease is the prevalence of group
interests and the tie-up of the Gov
ernment with special privileges"
Almost every item in the economy
bill met the opposition OF lobby Of
more or less strength.
Every member from rural district, y
said veteran observer, was thinking
about the mail carriers. They see all
Ia Ra Aay Nd M
gresham wants them against him"
American Legion has the ablest lobby
and this, as well as the lobby of the
Veterans Of Foreign Wars, was sue
cessfully engaged against the pro-
posed reduction in certain types of dis
ability allowances in the economy bill
But the soldier vote Is something Con-
| gressmen are traditionally afraid Of
| and the lobby only reminded them Of Q
thing they would hardly have forgotten
anyway.
Soap Company Fooled.
One Senator told this correspondent
he thought large soap company die
more than anybody else to beat the
sales tax. And" he added, they got
what they deserved when the House
N
of the 2A per cent the company would
have had to pay under the general
sales tax"
But men who went through the fight
in the House say the sales tax was
beaten before the lobby ever got into
action. This tax was opposed by three
groups-manufacturers, retailers and
friends Of the people: and the friends
OF the people seem TO have had 1t
beaten on the ground that it would
be passed on to the public before the
manufacturers and retailers swung into
line against 1t on the ground that 1t
could not be passed on to the public.
Representative Loring M. Black OF
by Mr.. Crisp himself. When Crisp
every bridge behind him and was goinp
to try to get taxes enough TO balance
the budget, no matter what the per-
sonal political consequences he killed
the sales tax" said Mr. Black. "A lot
Of those fellows were not smart enough
to realize SO early that there might
be personal political consequences, but
as soon as Crisp said that they started
thinking"
From what can be gathered on Capt.
tol Hill, 1t seems that the Lobbyists
pretty largely Cancelled each other out
It must be remembered that tht
lobbyists are like the sower In the
parable-some Of their seed falls or
stony ground, but some of the res
multiplies q hundredfold. Tariffs OF
coal and oil were jammed into tn.
House bill, and when the measure go
to the Senate Finance Committee thes.
were retained after q hard fight, anc
tariffs on copper, lumber and rubber
added.
Tactics Disgust Members.
The tactics by which these items
especially the oil tariff-won and hels
their place in the bill disguised low
tariff members Of the Senate commit
tee.
Outrageous" said Senator Hull
Ridiculous" said Senator Harrison o
Mississippi. 'Disgraceful," said Sena
tor La Toilette Of Wisconsin.
There was an active lobby in behal
OF each of these items, but you can
blame the lobby for the result.
And If stones are being thrown q
lobbyists, there are members Of Con
gress who will remind you that whel
Mr.. Hoover was Secretary Of Commerc
he was trying TO get action on certain
measures which would incidentally hav
benefited some business interests. II
believed, OF course, that they would ais
benefit the country at large; but whel
a Senator or Representative sees
chance TO get something for the leading
industry Of his State, he usually find
it easy to believe that this will promot
the national welfare, too.
There are countless national organi
zationS in Washington, representing
about every other group of the popula
ton whose interests might be affecte,
by legislation. Some Of them are pow
erful and respectable; some are neither
Besides these there are good man!
lawyers, promoters, former newspape
men and former Congressmen LOOKING
'ITOTHCTANA NAV