The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1938-05-12
SEEN and HEARD -
around the la@N
NATIONAL CAPITALA Z K
BY Carter Field ~
FAMOUS WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
FAMOUS WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
Knows Who Knows


For example, when Congressman I
Blank of Kansas wants to know now +
much money has been paid out IN
wheat benefits to the counties IN
his congressional district, he doesn I
ask the secretary of agriculture Tor
the information. 1t would take too
long. His secretary calls up the
particular office down at what used
to be Triple A which would have the
exact figures on tap, gets the IN
formation, and fires it back at his
inquiring constituent, writes 1t IN
the proposed radio talk, or does
whatever the inquirer had IN mind.
How does Blanks secretary know
which office to call? His secretary,
if he or she is half as good as the
average congressional secretary,
knows a lot more than that: the
name of the clerks who do the work,
the ones who know their stuff and
those who are just dumb, and lot
of other pieces of data which would
be enormously valuable if there
really were a merit system in the
government
But the point is that this builds up
friendly feeling between the units
of the government, many of them
so insignificant that they are almost
unknown, and the men who do the
voting of appropriations to MAIN
tain them. When a representative,
no matter whether he is Demo-
crat in good standing at the White
House or a Republican the Presi-
dent loathes, wants something from
a government bureau he is pretty
apt to get it. And quickly. And
when a senator asks for any little
favor there is just no length to
which the downtown folk will not go.
So it naturally follows that when
these bureaucrats are terribly wor-
ried about something-like a shift
of their functions to some other de-
partment-they get sympathetic
hearing on Capitol Hill,
Beaten by Butter!
Argentine butter beat President
Roosevelt on the reorganization bill,
according to the latest story going
around the Capitol corridors. OF
course the majority by which the
bill was defeated was only eight, SO
a change of five members would
have reversed the result. Virginia
could have done it. Tammany could
have done it. Any one of lot OF
little groups could have done it.
And so could the five Progress
sives from Wisconsin who surprised
Sen. Robert M. La Toilette and ev.
eryhody else when they voted
against the President on this cru
cial test.
The story goes that group Of
five Wisconsin dairymen were II
Washington with their families t.
see the cherry blossoms. At tht
hotel where they were stopping, one
i OF the party spoke up at breafas
about the butter.
where do you suppose they &c
| it," he demanded. Its not like
, any butter | know"
, II don't know" said a second
! .but I do know that don't think ]
is as good as our butter at home.
II think it's terrible" said ont
| of the wives, land I'm going to tel
/ the waiter about it. They ought t
buy our good Wisconsin butter. w
are spending plenty down here"
That's reciprocity for you,
: laughed her husband. Which wor,
S was recalled by all of them later il
I the day.
: So they sent for the head waiter
g He sent for the manager. FINAL.
/ it came out. 1t was Argentine but
/, ter.
e The party had intended to leav
e for home that afternoon, but thi
: news about butter changed thei
e minds. With one accord they agree
# to turn their little vacation into
v lobbying expedition.
u Big Butter Men Busy
: A couple of hours later all fv
q al, the men were in the house offic
A. building, seeking out the congress
|. men from Wisconsin.
i, Why is il, they demanded, "thi
81 the best hotels in this town use A
IN pentine butter? We. thought thel
in was tariff on butter high enouf
lie to keep foreign competition out. v
m had trouble with Danish butt,
years ago, but we thought we he
al fixed that with a tariff SO high
tie couldn't climb over. Now what?"
IN One after another the congress
i'd men patiently explained that Il
nv tariff had been high, but that Sc
RS rotary Of State Cordell Hull, in n
w gotiating his reciprocal trade ire
G. ties, had marked down the. rates
butter, and, under the most favor
g. nation clause, if he marked it dov
au in one treaty, this reduction a
tn piled to every other nation unless
4hat cor