Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

E rL~I E: TARIFf a Lobbyist Not a lobbls Sopposed to Be Lobby By TOM I ':'lobbyist, who has plied his trade ashin ton since the early days J r bh tdriff bill that recently 0ecame aw. ofthe land, lately had hie to r to ?ne of my friends: " Two o ths ago my mind w:s mge up..to ~e., Washington immediately uponi .tariff bill becoming a law; 'but ; he .ieal provision in the act diving tle r sdent authority to r!.ise or lower rate in the bill not to exceed 50 ; 'cent of the rate carried in the bill, to apply-the American valuation nopens up such a rich' fiqld that I ye decided to renain indefinitely." He advised my friend to get busy make a few connections with in terested concerns in the United States nd go into the lobbying business, 'L= during him that the years during . Whic hthe tariff act will. be in effect will be the richest and most fruitful n the history of tariff lobbying at he national capital. But it probably will not be so easy as that, for tariff lobbying has chang e from the coarse methods of a de e de ago ,when whiskey and wine, din ners and dollars, and wdmen and twitchery brought home the bacon for the lobbyists. Those old, raw and disreputable days are pest. Tariff lobbying is now one of the fline arts, except that none of the oth er fine arts is quite so lucrative. s The "flexible" tariff arrangement places decisions as to increases or de creases. in rates in the hands of the Federal Tariff Commission and the President of the United States, and tMfey will be subjected to the wiles, asmiles, importunities and arguments of, the lobbyists, and this situation will require a smoother and more ex pert individual to deal with them than with Senators and Representatives "on the hill." We'll See Permanent Lobby It will not be a very wholesome spectacle-this thing of a flock of lobbyists soliciting the President pend the Federal Tariff Commission, for it may be expected that additional swarms of specialists and experts in various chemical, industrial and other lines will be found permanently cam ped in Washington after the Fordney fMcCumber tariff act shall have gotten into full operation, as the "flexible" rovision in that act opens up possi llities hitherto undreamed of. It may be of interest to attempt to learn just what a lobbyist is and what lobbying is,. and in the pursuit of this information let us go back to 191., when the Underwood Tariff Bill vas bei g considered, and 'when ex haustivo'hearings were had before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the "Maintenance of a lobby to infiuence legislation," Sixty-third Congress, First Session. Every member of the United States Senate at that time appeared before the committee, and each was subject ed to a set of questions in the form of a printed questionnaire. One of the questions was as follows: "What do you mean by the words 'lobby" and 'lobbying'?" These Senators were men of exper ience, and it will be interesting to know how some of them, who are, ! with two exceptions, in the present Senate, defined the subject. Let us take them in alphabetical order. Senator Ashurst, Democrat, of Ari zona; said: "A lobbyist, I consider, is a man who attempts to influence the action of a mnember of Congress by means other than a printed or writ ~ten argument or appearing before ai committee of Congress. If a man wishes to urge a measure, he should go .before a committee. The occas I onal lobbyist may come to Washing ton to do a definite job. The lobbyist who makes it lais business to live in or stay about Washington for the pur pose- of influencing legislation, mak ing his living in wvhole or in part, is IT IS UNI AGR that the FEDERAL RES into effect in 1914, was th] cial legislature in our his Not only is the Federa the sound condition-of th: trying times through wx passed, but it promises a sound conditions in the f You can make no mist; bank that is backed by m Reserve of the United St FIRST NATIO W. C. DAVIS, P A. C. BRADHA] J. T. STUKES.- C ? Aro'Not Members and Senators Ists For The People? WERRIT T the most -odious. "A lawyer or expert who comes here to represent a special interest upon a legitimate employment, where he uses ho improper methods, uses only legitimate .argument either be fore a committee or before indivi viduals, is not a lobbyist." Senator- Borah's Oeflnition He divided them into three distinct groups, the "occasional," the "pro fessional" and the "legitimate." Senator Borah, Progressive Repub lican, of Idaho, is much in the public eye at this time, and his definition should be of special interest. He said: "I suppose, in popular parlance we. mean by 'lobbyist,' a man who is employed, paid professionally to in fluence legislation concerning a mat ter, not because he is interested in the matter, not necessarily because he thinks it right, but because he de sires to earn his salary, and is paid like a lawyer sometimes to argue a bid case, to do the best he can in the situation. That is my idea of a lob byist." Borah generally goes to the point clearly qnd succinctly, and he seems not to have deviated from that habit here. Senator Brandegee, Old Guard Re publican, has been in the Senate nearly 20 years, and probably has had considerable experience in various ways, so that his viewpoint ought to be worth something. It was this: "I think the word 'lobby' is a word that is rather loosely used. If :,o qualifying phrase or phrases are use ed, it would mean a retained, hired set of men who were soldiers of for tune and whose profession it was to try to influence legislation. "But I think the word is frequently used to mean a man who is favoring a measure, or a man opposing a mea sure, who gets his friends to come down and interview legislators. I should call that a lobby, too, although not a paid one. I do not think there is any exact definition of it," Brandegee seemed to Joan to the idea that the old-fashioned legislative adventurer, whom he terms a "sol dier of fortune," is still doing bus' ness around Washington. There are few of his sort left. le is almost de funct. He has been replaced by tne more skilled manipulator-the special ist or expert. One only has to scrutinize the di rectory of tenants of the office build ings in Washington to become con vinced of the great change that has taken place in the buisness of lobby ing. We find listed the "American Society" of this and of that; the "American Institute" of this and of that; the "National Association" of thi saud of that industry, besides a veritable army of individual !obby ists. Thus has the old "soldier of for tune" given way to the highly organ ized group of specially traifed men and women fitted to handle the !eg islative affairs of the particular in dustry in whatever way may seen best for the good of the cause. Senator Cummins, erstwhile, Pro gressive Republican, of Iowa, had 1his to say: "I observe that there is the widest difference of opinion about what a lobbyist is. I think that, no matter what the word formerly meant no matter what is derivation might have been, a lobbyist, according to the public understanding now, is a dis reputable creatur-e, wvho is pursuing either an avocation or a method that the ethics of the People condemn. I think a lobbyist is one who attemp~ts to influence legislation by other con sidleration than an appeal to reason, right or justice. There are thousands of ways in wvhich these things can be dlone." Let us leave the Senate for a mo ment and go over to the Department VERSA LL Y EED ERVE ACT, which went o greatest piece of finan tory. 1 Reserve responsible for is country, in spite of the 'hich we ' have recently continuance of safe and Luture. ake by depositing with a embership in the Federal ates. NAL BANK resident. VI:, Vice-President. lashier. of Iinterlqi'd Honorable Albert n :Fall ,Republican, of New Mexkeo, the present Secretary of that dopartment, was in' the 'Senate 'in 1913, and he said: "I have no information as to the use of money to maaintain a co called lobby. It is well known that certai nindustrics have agents here in Washington and have had when tariff legislation was pending. I suppose, of course, those agents are paid a salary and have their expenses paid." "Of the Past"-Penrose By reason of the authdrity vested in the Presideift to change and alter any rate in the Fordney-McCumber tariff law, and to apply the American valuation plan, it is perfectly clear that no duty upon any article or class mentioned in the act can be said to be permanently fixed; therefore, it may well be said that the Fordney McCumber tariff law will remain "pending" during its life. Thus, it would seeir quite natural that the "agents" spoken of by Mr. Fall will have quite a lot of business in Wash ington for many months to come. Senator Penrose, reactionai;y Repu blican, now dead, did not say a great deal about lobbying. It was not his habit to talk very much about any thing. Ie could be most optimistic under very, unfavorable circumstan ces. So, when Washington had out the "standing room only" sign for lobbyists, he said: "As far as the uncertain term 'lobbyist' is concerned, my own opinion is that the lobbyist is very largely an incident of the past." Which is terse and to the point and requires no explanation, - especially whdn one knew the Penrosian mental slant. Returning to the Senate, let us hear the opinion of. Senator Lodge, standpat Republican, of Massachu setts, who was at that time minority leader in the Senate. It was as fol lows: "As to the meaning of the words 'lobby' and 'lobbying" of course the words are very loosely us ed. I think that the word 'lobbyisnt" implies a person who frequents leg islative bodies for the purpose of in fluencing legislation. "It usually, I think, in the public mind, is associated with the :dea of something improper. It may be im proper or it may not," which would seem to be a fair proposition. No one can dispute that lobbying may be visitor to Washington can deny that lobbyists frequent our legislative bodies. If they would do nothing more than merely to "frequent" them, there vould be no basis for this story. Likened to Lawyers - The venerable Senator Nelson, plain Republican, of .M inesota, who told me, some monhts back, that no -man of his age-74 years-ought to be a member of the United States Senate, as the work . required of a Senator these (lays calls for younger :and more vigorous men, appears to put the Senl ate in the class of a court room, for he- said: "Inl reference to the aca demic question, what is a lobby, or a lobbyist, in a broad sense anybody who comes here to advocate or oppose legislation is a lobbyist; but in the more pertinent and legitimate sense, I think a lobbyist occupies the same relation to legislation, tariff or any other legislation, that an attorney does to a lawsuit; that is, that he is hired in some way to come and appear and present that case. "As a matter of fact, there is lob bying going on in matters connected with al legislation." It was left to Senator LaFollettc, Progressive Republication, of Wiscon sin, to point out, an actual case of improper lobbying, in which he recit ed that: "Four years ago, I was in terviewed on the subject of hides and leather, and the interviewer inform ed me that he had already engaged a page or two of advertising rIcce in the weekly magazine which I publish. I told him he should get to the tele graph oflice as quickly as possible and1( cancel that contract, and-I'would probably be in advance of him.'' He then continued, giving his inter pretantion of lobbying, which was as follows : "The people who are here in very constant attendlance uplonl the session are either exp~ending a very large amount of money themselves or are being maintained here at the ex piendliture of goodly sums of money. ."'To my mind, lobbying consists in mnfluencing legi slat ion bty argum aent oir otherwise. I think it is as much lob b~ying when those engaged in its are the owner~s of a business, as it is when ade a business or prfoession. "At the same time, 1 do believe that many times the very strongest in fluences that can be brought to he:. upon1 legislation, and in some instain ces, the most pernicious influence that has been brought t~o bear upon legis lation, either in state legislation or congressional legislation, has been exerted (directly by owners of the bu siness. "Lobbyists andI Lobbyists" Senator LaIollette, makes clear tihe relationship of the owner of the kusi ness or enterprise to the game of lob bying. 'rhe professionals are employ edl by, and receive pay from, some body, and standing in the background of the picture is the manufacturer, prodlucer or other business man, wvho (loes the hiring and who does the paying. Senator Owen, Progressive Demo crat, of Oklahoma, wvho possesses one of the, keenest minds In tihe Senate, had this to say: "Some men mean by 'lobby' those who are engaged in a smnister effort to influence legislation by improper personal means, either by appeals to personal fr-iendshlp against the general welfare, or to personal interest, dIirect or i ndlirect, aind in that sense, of course, tile term 'lobbyist' is an offensev term and would mean a person who did not have a nice sense of honor. "'There are others who use the ternm 'lobbyists' to mean simly any persons who are engagedi in discuss ing quiestions before Congress ..... I &ose stopped up? MENTHOL ATUM quickly clears it. Child-birtil Valuable Illustrated Book Sent Fre Hiow thousands of wpzmen by the aimpI anethod of an eminent pysiefan, havo avoide unnecessary miseries through many month and up to the moment Baby has arrived. is fully explained in the rcmarkablo book, "Motherhood and the / liab ." Tells also what to do efore and after baby comes, pedbal,!e date of birth, baby rules, etc., and about "Mother's Friend," used by three generations of mothers, and sold in all drug stores everywhere. "Mother's Friend" Is ap plied externally, is safe, free from narcotics, per mite easier natural read. justment of muscles and nerves during ex peetancy and child-birth. Start using it to day. Mrs. E. E. Kerger, Slayton, Minn., says "It -pulled me through." Send for book to day, to Bradield Regulator Co BA-35. At iants, Ga. "Mother's Friend" Is sold at a drug stores. elieve the gr'eat interest, of the corn try, in some cases, have men employ ad on a wholesale plan, systematicall to persuade public opinion agains the actual facts, by a false statenen )ersua<I e public opinion nagainst the nterest of the public in favor of thei )wn private interests." Senator Owen had in mind, n( loubt, when he spoke of men beinj imployed on a wholesale plan to per sunde public - opinion against th( ;ruth, the tremendous volume of pro Jaganda of various kinds issued fron Washington, for nearly all the asso iations and organizations of differ nmt industrial and other groups hav ;heir Washington publicity bureaus. I have given .. iat may be consid red an assortment of thought select d from eminent senatorial minds 11d( with this symposium of views o these men of b(Ah political parties vho evidertly have had many kinds )f actual experience, it is asy to forn he composite idea that there is con ;iderable importance to be attache( .o this thing of the "lobby". "Oin to Washington," the Cry So, during the coming days, in the administering of the Fordney-M4 iumber tariff law, we well may ex >ect such a steady growth of the ar >f "lobbying" by paid "lobbyists,' hat it will assume such proportion: nd so firmly intrench itself in offi 'ial circles that it will become an ac !epted part of the machinery of gov r'nment at Washington. Frequent, it is heard in Washingtoi lat this Fordncy-McCumber tarif easure, declared by many thoughtfu .i. to be an economic crime, with th< ;pecial provision for raisitg or lower ng tariff duties, may be used as a nstrument for extracting Republico sampaign funds from the purses o .hose interested in obtaining highe >r lower tariffs; but it is not believe( ;he chief executive of our nation wil end himself to anything of the kind. But, if only a small part of the dir, 'esults prophesied take place, thei here will be an open ield for those vho, as Senator Borah puts it, ar employed, paid professionally to in luence legislation," and it is certain y now believed by those who are fa iiliar with the methods of the "in i(lers" in Washington, that a vent ible horde of professional, unprofes ;ional, special and other uneataloge( obbyists are horsing themselves ii mattle array in h country-wide "on t( Washington" movement, where th esults (f their sordid activities wil )e kept under such a cover of svcreec hat the public will never know hom >r when it is being trimmed by thes non, the mos' ,f whom are cunning y plotting ( stantly and everlast ngly against the welfare of the peo )le in behalf of their own persona ains.-The Dearborn Independent. 'Production of potatoes this year' il 16 countries is estimatedl to be (175, )00,000 bushels more than last yea md~ 40,000,000 more than the -averag production for the five years 1009 I1913, according to ilgures compiled b, the United States Department of Ag iculture. The total acreage of p)0 Latoes in 1922 for the 24 countries fo wvhich estimnates arec available wva 20,26l100 acres. Professional Cards' JNO. G. DINKINS Attorney-at-Law MANNING, S. C. DuRANT & ELLERBE Attorneys-at-Lawv MANNING, S. C. R. 0. Purdy S. Oliver O'Bryal PURDY & O'BRYAN Attorneys and Counselors at Law MANNING, S. C. FRED LESESNE Attorney-at-Law MANNING, S. C. J. W. WIDEMAN Attorney-at-Law MANNING, S. C. HI. C. CURTIS Attorney-at-Law MANNING, S. C. r. A. Weinberg Taylor HI. Stuke: WEINBERG & STUKES Attorneys-at-Law MANrNIN(L S. C. Page Seven MONEY I At a Low Rate of Interest ! I 'U U * I have got in touch with one of * the Joint Stock Land Banks, or ganized under the Federal Farm N Loan Act, and can now receive . applications for loans on farm -property on long terms and at a - low rate of interest. t* FRED LESESNE , 'MANNING, S. C. g FOR SALE Pedigreed Pecans, Fruit Trees and Ornamental Stock. Sourthern Grown. Special Prices on Commercial Orders. Write or Wire S. A. McKEE, Batesburg, S. C. Let Us Protect You With Rain Insurance! We Also Insure Dogs! The F. N. Wilson Insurance Agency, Manuing, S. C. EAGLE"MIKADO" Pencil No. 174 For Sale at your Dealer Made in five grades ASK FOR THE YELLOW PENCIL. WITH THE RED BAND EAGLE MIKADO EAGLE PENCIL COMPANY, NEW YORI e How the Bank Serves the Farmer You, the Farmer, are America's greatest pro ducer of wealth. But before YOU receive the money for your crops many months usually elapse. The crops must be sown, must be fertilized, tilled, reaped and SOLD! The Bank is your Friend because it helps to carry you over the weeks and months between planting and profiting seasons. It permits you to purchase seed, fertilizer, machinery, on credit. In times of stress it stands behind you and helps you weather the storm. Are YOU getting all the benefits which the bank offers farmers? Learn how we can help YOU. Ask for full information from our officials. They will be pleased to tell you more about our service. H ome Bank & T rust Co. CHARLTON DuRANT, President T. M. WELLS, Cashier