The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1947-12-05
Tricky Legislation

That the sockmen and woogrowers associations have no
their drive to get possession of the public domain
evident in recent reports of tremendous sums set asd sup
posedly to influence public opinion.
After the hearings held by the congressional committee tai
the livestock dscaimed intent of grabbing
the public lands This in spite OF the fact that the chairman
of the committee holding the hearings in the west had himself
introduced bill accomplish what actually amounts steal
These hearings emphasized the fact that the public gen
orally going take kindly the proposals of the
livestock associations get ownership of the public lands
Denver, the hearings held called Stockman Barres
Show by the Post In that place. the of
directed particularly against the Forest Service
strategy create public opinion that the agencies
not effective the control and of the public
obviously in the hope that the association could thereby
prove they could administer work effectively
AS matter of fact, the reactionary 80th had
already rendered the Forest Service and other federal agencies
ineffective in their fields by reducing appropriations to the
point where they could operate effectively For instance
appropriations the had reduced
the extent that forester had look after and admin
two million Thus the had carefully laid
groundwork for the the charging with
neficiency Despite all of this preparatory work by the
congress- public protest exceedingly vocal loud
in fact, that the public hearings hastily terminated
However this be considered only the first round
of the fight won by public stage perfect
set for renewal of the fight by all private through
their to get legislation passed whch adverse
public interest solely intended to favor the special
interests.
the coming regular session of to avoid
the of legislation damaging to the public interest
poses real problem to the comparatively members of
congress with the welfare of the people,
And it lot of arduous work for them
European relief legislation and the proposals for price
control will the on the
The public easily drift into the belief
this is all with which the presently concerned
legislative introduced will only casual men
ton if it gets any.
Meanwhile of the best brains in the country will be
by the special interests drafting what be
harmless legislation but which will be packed with lockers
We have all this happen state legislatures and this
pattern is in the national assemblies.
The public realize eternal vigilance the price
of liberty And it is also the price of maintaining democracy
problem by the general public how to get
and detailed information what the
actually doing The of information which most of
the people depend the supposedly unpreuded daily
and these with few exceptions owned
troed by the which bent exploiting the
their private benefit and profit The
editorial policies of these tailored to fit
the purposes of these powerful groups.
The facilities available the general public for unprejudic
information indeed limited. There such
the National Farmers Union and the labor unions which
offices Washington and keep close watch the actv
tiles of They render real public service within
the limits of their facilities The only weakness with them is
everything they keep memberships
the organizations nformd and the of
lied peoples remain uniformed and subject the daily in
doctrinaton of the suborned press.
Finally it would that citizen great country
should be Interested effort
way authentic information of the activities of the
of congress- to keep score the work of his
representative. d
If all people could be impressed with the
that to their selfish interests to watch their
to let these representatives know what
expected of them the actions of would far
often be in the public's interests. b
would be far less danger of ck legislation h