Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 2.djvu/121

 CONGRESSIONAL PAPERS. NO. Ill— THE " THIRD HOUSE." Ill

��president, secretary, or executive com- mittee. You don't know where to look for it, or where to rind it : but somehow or somewhere there is a mysterious, unac- countable, and powerful influence eman- ating that facilitates or retards the pro- gress of legislation involving great rnon- ied interests of a public or private na- ture. There are always before Congress numerous and cunningly devised schemes to plunder the Treasury. Many of them are of vast magnitude, and some of them are made to appear to be a national ne- cessity. They are introduced to public notice and pushed forward by able, per- sistent, and unscrupulous men. They easily find their way into Congress through the manipulation of somefriendly or interested member. Once introduced they are subjected to the ordinary chanc- es of legislation, and must pass through the customary routine of Congressional pulling and hauling. To push all such schemes through both houses of Con- gress, and to favorably '"influence" the President, is the principal object of the lobby. It must not be presumed that all schemes in which the lobby is interested are dishonest. Far from it. All is fish that comes to its net. If it is an honest claim there is less need of secrecy, and the work can be done openly and above- board. It is only necessary for th i claim- ant to change his figures. He must add a sum sufficient to cover the expenses of the lobby. Then if he gets his bill through, and escapes the clutches of the rapacious sharks that lay in wait for him, he is fortunate indeed. The great rail- way and subsidy rings " lobby " upon a grand scale. Champagne suppers, rail- way and steamboat excursions, junketing parties of all descriptions, fashionable dissipation, superb dinners at " swell " restaurants, board at the best hotels, costly wines, cigars, and stylish turnouts, are among the many numerous appli- ances that a powerful lobby always has at its command. The condition and cir- cumstances of every member of Con- gress is inquired into and known. If a

��member is poor and in need of money, advantage will be taken of that fact to capture him if possible. If he takes the bait, all right. If he refuses he is quite likely to be held up to public scorn in some form or other. To its shame be it said the press has frequently been an ac- tive and unscrupulous ally of the lobby. Cheap newspapers and cheaper writers have sometimes prepared the way for the favorable consideration of disreputa- ble schemes for public plunder, and abused those who resisted them. Indeed the great metropolitan journals of the country have not been found entirely guiltless, as has been proven by past in- vestigations. The lobby will leave no stone unturned to secure the aid of every newspaper of influence, no matter what its name or politics. As an illustration of this there is a scheme involving mil- lions which failed at the late session of Congress. The fight was a hot one and the lobby was beaten. One of the inter- ested parties is chief owner in a great newspaper. To increase the chances of success, howver, efor his favorite meas- ure, he furnished a large sum of money to maintain another brilliant newspaper of exactly opposite political faith. Whether final success awaits this enter- prising gentleman remains to be seen ; but it is reasonably safe to predict that at least one newspaper funeral would speedily follow the passage of a certain bill.

The lobby will always maintain an ex- istence at Washington so long as the pri- vate claims upon the government aggre- gate hundreds of millions of dollars. There always has been, is now and al- ways will be hundreds and thousands of such claims of varying amounts and infinite variety. Selfish interests will always prompt interested parties to take every advantage and use every appliance to hasten legislation upon such of these ciaims as may directly concern them. The lobby is a pliant tool to be used for all such purposes, and will be found con- veniently near whenever needed.

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