The daily monitor leader., 1945-11-02
. BEHIND THE SCENES
IN WASHINGTON .
sands of lawyers who work for
the government.

the government.
The publicity and public re-
lations business Il in q healthy
state, too. Whereas q few years
ago the book carried few such
listing, there are now SO firms
or individuals which practise the
art known in show business a
"flackery."
The most fascinating pages.
however. are those devoted to
associations. The association bus
insss, next to the government it.
self. Is probably Washington's
biggest. Associations range In
size from huge outfits with
buildings almost matching the
governments In magnificence,
and with hundreds of employees.
down to one-man affairs with
facilities consisting Of q tele-
phone and . rented desk. The
one-man outfits frequently make
up for their lack in other re-
spects by having the longest
names.
INSTITUTES" IN HIGH
FAVOR
Names are apparently impor-
tant in the business and impress
sive ones are the rule. There
are plenty Of just plain associa-
tions and there are many
leagues, unions, societies and
committees. Recently the names
federation" &C nfere n e."
&C o u n c i l." and foundation"
have been popular, but the most
favored term currently Is "in-
stitute."
Among the more than 800 list
ings you can find the Academy
of Model Aeronautics, and right
under 1t, the Advisory Commit
tee on Government Question
naires. A little further on Is, for
example, the Association Of Bulk
Prepared Flour Mix Manufac-
turers, Inc, the Glider Institute
of the Americas, the Institute Of
Scrap Iron and Steel. the Inter-
national Heraldic Institute, Ltd,
the Venetian Blind Association
Of America, and the Waxed Pa
per Institute, Inc.
Many Of these associations are
In Washington because the gov
ernment has such q great influ-
ence on business. Some are there
because the government IL itself
source Of large orders. Others
are in the nations capital purely
for reasons Of prestige. But near
y all of them are engaged In In
fluencing somebody or other
most often Congress, or the de-
partments, or frequently even
each other.
Out of their offices 60 hum
dreds of news letters, magazines
and other publications, all pur-
porting to give the inside stuff
to the members back home who
foot the bills. Collectively the
bill must be tremendous. Many
of the executives of these groups
receive $4,000 or $4,000 or
more a year.
WASHINGTON BUSINESS
GOOD FOR LAWYERS
The influence business among
the lawyers Is also good. BY no
means all Of them engage In ac-
tivities other than the practise Of
law. But the number who make
money on the basis Of their
friendships and influence Is
large. There Is one lawyer listed
who has never been known to
practise. His speciality is know
ing important people. For a fec
he can arrange q luncheon with
nearly any important figure in
town.
Individual businesses, too,
have many Washington represen-
tatives. No one knows how many.
The representatives call on con-
gressmen, contact the depart
ments, supply information TO
the home office, and squire big
officials when they come to town.
All told, the number Of influ-
ence boys must run into the
thousands. But the Washington
telephone directory does not
have q single listing under the
title, lobbyist"