Evening star., 1935-04-14
BY THEODORE C. WALLEN.

TRESIDENT ROOSEVELT at the
- height of his popularity ap-
peared to have broken the hold
L Of the lobbies on the Federal
Government. Now that the
President has begun to lose his hold on
Congress, the lobbies have returned
in greater force than ever before. BY
shattering party lines to checkmate
each other through congressional blocs
they are a formidable factor in stale
mating the Presidents legislative pro-
gram.
Congress seldom Is swayed by the
merit or ardor of debate on the floors
of the Senate and House. On most
important issues that come to vote
the majority Of members have made
up their minds well in advance. Their
decisions to vote one way or another
have been reached on the basis Of
what has been impressed upon them
outside-in the cloak rooms, in the
lobbies, in their offices and through
the mails and telegraph.
This is the field of the lobbies-the
third house" of Congress. 1t was
well-nigh deserted in the early days
of the New Deal because Congress was
acutely aware Of an emergency. The
members, many of them freshmen. who
felt their responsibility, but acknowl-
edged their own need of leadership.
turned readily to the outstanding
prophet of a new order and hope.
Under the stimulus of this spirit,
rooted in patriotism, the emergency
banking act went through in less than
a day.
Few Dared to Oppose.
Even the "impregnable" fortresses
that had been erected by World War
veterans and Government employees
fell before the onslaught of the strik-
ing economic bill. Not a member
of Congress dared speak out in oppo-
sition to the new leader of the Ma
tion. The lobbies were deserted by
the special interests. It was unsafe
in those days for lobbyist to ap-
proach the average member of Con-
gress to plead a special cause. The
membership of Congress was look
ing to the White House for leader
ship. Indeed, it was only recently
that the political opposition dared
direct its criticisms at the President
himself.
The lobbies began to reappear as
doubts about the efficacy of the new
order developed. The greater the di-
vision the faster the emergence of the
special interests. And when the ad-
ministration promulgated moves that
were widely questioned In various
economic circles the lobbies came
out with rush. In less than six
months after the New Deal victory
at the polls last Fall, they have
demonstrated their ability to ham,
string the biggest Democratic majori-
ties ever to sit at either end of the
Capitol. Little wonder the President
publicly and sharply took cognizance
of them in his message backing the
Wheeler -Rayburn public utility hold
ing company bill.
This legislation, written by Thomas
Corcoran and Benjamin Corcoran.
the young recent graduates who
turned out the original air-tight Sc
curities act and the stock exchange
control bill, started alarmed business
men to washington with q rush.
They protested that the very effort
to pass such legislation and the ad-
ministration's apparent hostility to
holding companies was in itself hurt
ing investments. Standing on the
constitutional right Of citizens to Pc
tition Congress, they defied the Presi-
dent when he drew public attention
to their activities.
Since lobbies usually spring into
action to defeat legislative proposals
and since ths princiQal legislative