Few Legislators Authors
Of Bills They Introduce
' j By BAUKHAGE
Newt Analyst and Commentator.
WNT Service. 1<1? Eye Street, N.W.,
Washington, D. C.
A bright young railroad executive
who has his cum laude in law from
- i a
? lamcu uiuvcion;
was sitting with ma
in Burt's the other
day.
Burt's is a sort of
greenroom for ra
dio folk and others
who move and
speak and have
their being in what
is euphemistically
referred to as
Washington's Ra
dio center. Inspired
(or infuriated) by
the presence of so
?M at-. i.?. ...1
many ox uie icw whu oaj ????
to so many, my friend launched
forth into a tirade on the respon
sibility of the publicist.
"You can't play baseball accord
ing to football rules," ha said, shak
ing a menacing fist at me, "and
that is what Washington officials are
doing. You studied political science
30 years ago. I studied it only 20
years ago. And you know perfectly
well that the present generation is
not following the rules laid down by
our founding fathers. You ought to
tell the public about it.
"Now maybe the principles of our
government are wrong. I am not de
fending them. But I am saying that
we are deserting them. Rule of the
majority, a republican form of gov
ernment operated by the represent
ative* of the people, la a travesty,
when legislation is jammed
through by minorities. And I mean
bureaucrats as well as lobbyists."
This happened when the senate
was neck-deep in the final debate
over the OPA and my friend
claimed congress was revolt
big against what he called the high
pressure methods of the adminis
tration. Since the congress was tear
ing the administration measure to
shreds at that moment I pointed out
that while it was true that congress
was sore at Stabilizer Bowles for
what they called propagandizing,
the example was not a very good
one. So he proceeded to develop his
theme with specific references all
too familiar to me and my col
leagues of the microphone and type
writer.
Town Soothes
With Lobbyists
You too, are familiar with the
power of the "preuure boys" as my
friend Kenneth Crawford called
them in his revealing book by that
name. Crawford estimated there
were 8,000 active lobbyists In Wash
ington when World War II started.
There are many more now. Speak
er Rayburn said the town was
"seething" with them.
We all remember the seven-digit
sum of money contributed to a cam
paign fund which came out of the
members' dues of one greet labor
union. True, the head of the union
later quarrelled with the president
whom he had helped elect because
the president refused to take his
orders. Nevertheless, this example
illustrates what "big money" at
tempts, and sometimes succeeds in
doing.
We know, too, that when the en
tire economy of the country was
locked to a dead center by strikes
in two essential industries, coal and
transportation, and that when the
government itself gave orders,
those orders were disobeyed. Mi
nority rule was operating then. Mi
nority groups nullified the wishes of
the duly-elected representatives of
the people.
My friend, with all his ve
hemence, with his allegiance to
management, made no claim that
the demands of the railroad men,
the coal miners, were unjust. He
merely said that in order to obtain
what they considered Justice, the
powerful leaders of the organiza
tions to which they belong were able
to play baseball according to foot
hall rules?temporarily at least.
The theory that the creation of the
laws of the land has been taken
from the hands of the elected repre
sentatives of the people was put
forth by Crawford in "The Pressure
Boys" seven years ago when he
said: "It is improbable that a sin.
gle important law enacted in the
last 10 years has been written bj
its congressional sponsor or in
nominal author. Administratior
hills are prepared by New Deal ex
perts in executive departments
Legislation independently lnaugu
rated Is almost Invariably pre
pared in the office of a lobbyist
Congress maintains a legislativi
#
drafting service which write* bill*
for committees, but it seldom is
called upon by Individual legislators
for assistance in writing any minor
pivate bills."
LaFolUtf Bill
Would Revamp
Thomas Mechlin, writing on this
subject in the current Virginia
Quarterly Review, touches on the
subject of readymade legislation.
He tells how a lobby "gets its own
staff together and knocks out a bill
which the front office would like to
see made a law eventually. It then
runs the draft over to a large law
firm which has one of its members
in congress. Although the con
gressman cannot personally repre
sent the client, the method used in
submitting the proposed legislation
through the 'body' of the firm takes
care of that. ... If the lobby is
well-organized, it will exploit high
powered publicity from then on
out."
I am constrained to admit that
much in all of these assertions is
true. But I would like to mention
three hopeful signs on the horizon,
minuscule though they may be. Two
were measures introduced but not
acted upon in this session of con
gress. They will be presented again
and have a good chance of passing.
One is the LaFollette measure for
revamping congress, one provision
of which increases the technical as
sistance available to members. The
second is a bill introduced by
Representative Sabath of Illinois,
which provides for an all-inclusive
Investigation of lobbies. Most con
gressmen don't like lobbyists and
Sabath's bill, as Mechlin admits,
was a crystallization of this feeling.
The third Indication was a resolu
tion introduced during the OPA
fight by Senator Taylor (D. of
Idaho) authorizing the publica
tion of a document on how each sen
ator voted on every measure. He
said that the people are becoming
more aware of their political re
sponsibilities, that politics is no
longer solely in the hands of politi
cians, ward-heelers and lobbyists.
Congress is sensitive to the need
of a restoration of majority rule,
but the only real hope lies within
the majority itself. Unfortunately,
the giant sleeps.
? ? ?
South Dakotan*
Set Swaring-ln
Two recent vUitor* to Washing
ton, Mrs. Evelyn Baker and Mrs.
James Magee of Custer and Belle
Fourche, S. D., can tell their friends
back home In the Black Hills region
that while they were here they took
in three events which might set the
tone for all such future events.
The ladles, winners of a radio con
test to honor women who did their
bit during the war years, visited
Washington during the week when
three top-drawer government offi
cials, all close friends of Harry Tru
man, were sworn into new Jobs.
The swearing-in of a cabinet offi
cer used to-be a rather modest af
fair. The swearinee, his family, a
few friends, and his office staff, a
few of the press, usually gathered
in his new office, and the whole af
fair was over in about the time it
takes for bride and groom to say
"I do."
True, Fred Vinson and Lewis
Schwellenbach did travel to Capitol
Hill for their inaugurations as treas
ury and labor secretaries respec
tively. But those events occasioned
no such hoopla as did the cere
monies which made Monday?Tues
day ? Wednesday Washington news
one late week in June.
Mrs. Msgee and Mrs. Baker and
five thousand other spectators, plus
the navy band, gathered on the
White House lawn to watch Mr. Vin
son take over his new office as chief
justice of the United States; they
saw John Snyder's big moment
made bigger when President Tru
man strolled from the White House
to the treasury portico to watch his
St. Louis crony take the oath as
head of the treasury department;
i and they observed tall, young-look
ing John Steelman's swearing-in as
t reconversion director, a ceremony
i which took place in the rose gar
t dens of the White House.
Having observed these lmpres
i sive occasions, the Black Hills visl
r tors could appreciate the widely
i whispered remark of Undersec
1 retary of Navy John Sullivan. (Sul
- livan got his swearing-in done quiet
. ly and traditionally on June 18.) As
- Sullivan congratulated John Steel
? man after the rose garden cere
- mony, he asked, "Well, are you the
l last of the June bridesT"
J BARBS ... by Baukhaf I
There are 830 acres of forest land
in the United States. Plenty of tall
timber to take to when the prices
start to rise.
? ? ?
Earl Browder plans to open a
publishing bouse for Russian books
? do New Task City. Why don't we
'^?odn pro-American Russian to
The publicity men for the stx
stunning Goldwyn girl* touring the
country to boost the movie "The
Kid from Brooklyn expected the
President's daughter to have them
to tea. Miaa Truman was out of
town. I made the patriotic sug
gestion they go to Annapolis In
stead. If there had been time to ar
range it, I would probably have a
navy cross by now. *
AIRLANES TO RAILWAYS . . . TWA mainliner, carrying IS fiiieiferi and a crew of S, shown after
emergency crash landing on a railroad right of way shortly after taking off from Chicago airport for New
York. None of the passengers was injured, although pilot and stewardess were slightly hnrt. The pilot stated
that both engines quit shortly after the takeoff, and that he did not hare sufficient altitude to glide back to
the Held.
ELEPHANT WINS LIGHTFOOT CONTEST . . . Offhand one would Imagine that the thin, elongated gi
raffe would be lighter on her feet than the lumbering 10,500-pound elephant. Such is not the ease, however.
A G. E. vibration meter made the rounds of the circus at Schenectady, N. Y., and came back with some
Interesting observations. Toby, the elephant, with the exception of the python, was the lightest stepper of all,
registering J mils of vibration per second. The giraffe, left, is shown registering 6 mils of vibration per sec
ond.
TRIBUTE TO F. D. B. . . . John O. Win ant, former U. S. embas
sador to Great Britain, deliver* in an emotion-shaken voice the prin
cipal tribute during the congressional memorial services held in the
House of Representatives. President Truman and members of the
Roosevelt family attended. Photo shows Mr. Winant as he delivered
the sddress. Seated la back. Sen. Richard Russell (Ga.), Rep. Alfred
Balwtakle (N. C.), Rev. James Montfomery, chaplain of the bonse,
and Rev. Frederick B. Harris, chaplain of the senate.
DREAM TRIP ON M CENTS A MONTH . . . How M cents a month
from the depros* Ion-bom bod[?(i of six Canton, Ohio, families crew
into a kitty of ttJCTi for a nationwide "dream trie" was disclosed
with the antral of the 12 members of the Kitty Kat elah in las
Anceles. Eleren years aye the t flu were heme ?elf the late which
chained them to their hemee. They hefaa Hfht then to tare Me a
month tm Mr "dream trt*." Greoy M briaMssttf in Lea r~CT?
CHAMP . . . Robert Fitch, riant
itar of the Peteeialtj of Minae
sota, who topped the performers
in the National AAU senior track
and field championships, better
ing the world's disens throw with
a toss of 179 feet M inch.
DROPPED "A" BO Mb... Major
Wood row P. Swaaeott of Wiseoa
sia Rapids. Wis., pilot of the B-M
"Dare's Dream" that dropped the
atom hooah ea the ghost Beet hi
Rthtal atoll. Ho ta ^m^ia the
NEVS/Jjk
By Paul
RtlnMd by WxUrn Ntwapapbl Unlaw.
SENATOR TAFT ASSUMING
REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP
WASHINGTON.?Ohio's Sen. Rob
ert Taft assumed runaway Repub
lican congressional leadership the
later days of the session. It was
his OPA bill which passed the sen
ate; his fight held up President
Truman's draft-strikers plan and
somewhat modified the Case bill.
The appointment of Carroll Reece
as party chairman left him smiling
and happy. Action on the firing line
has given him the domestic leader
ship, no matter how the positions
are distributed nominally. But too
many positions remain to be taken
to mark him more than a leading
candidate for '48 now. ,
Behind htm the primaries
have brought op Republican
Governor Warren, who assured
his election by winning both
tickets easily in California. War
ren seems likely to get the
largest proportion of the Paeifle
states to the next convention.
He has taken no stand on inter
national questions known wide
ly; has espoused social security
bills in the legislature; and is as
free as Taft is committed. But
mark him no more than a likely
compromise yet.
The Nebraska primary hurt Min
nesota's ex-Governor Stassen, who
will have another chance in his
backing of a nominee (ex-Gov
ernor Thye, a strong vote-getter)
against Senator Shipstead, in July.
To say Nebraska represented an
isolationist victory would be to as
sume too much. The largest paper
in that state has been attempting
to prove isolationism had little to
do with it. However that may be,
both internationalism and isolation
ism seem dead in the East and Cen
tral states. Greater events are con
trolling our actions and destiny.
Russia is the only truly isolationist
nation still left.
? ? ?
BRICKER ALSO POSSIBILITY
Ohio's ex-Governor Bricker is ex
pected to be elected to the senate,
which will place him in line for the
Republican nomination on what will
be charged to be a conservative
ticket. However, I suspect he and
Taft have a friendly working agree
ment, or could get one, so neither
would step on the other's toes. Con
sequently Ohio will present either
Taft or Bricker, whose record as
senator will largely determine his
future.
({meter tnan an tne rest nas
been New York's Governor
Dewey. He says he Is not likely
to be chosen, and too many Re
publicans believe him at this
writing. He has not functioned
as leader of his party since his
defeat for the presidency. Sena
tor Vandenberg leads Republi
cans internationally, as strong
ly as Taft domestically (he was
renominated in Michigan).
. It is idle to talk of '48 then. What
is at hand is a congressional elec
tion in November, and in this, it
appears a refreshened Republican
leadership is rising to the top, both
out of the primaries and congres
sional steps.
The primaries are in for near
ly all the big states (Pennsyl
vania, Michigan, Ohio, Califor
nia) and I recall only Indiana's
Republican Senator Willis being
defeated for renomination, and
exceptionally few house mem
bers. Willis got himself into a
fight with his state organisation,
and, as the convention out there
was not controlled by him, he
bad to go back to news editing,
which may be a relief. Rut the
significant thing is this:, prac
tically an of congress was re
. nominated.
Of course you must say organi
zations largely control primaries
and conventions, and the "ins" are
usually the organization, whatever
it is. Yet in few previous years of
my time have primaries meant so
little.
? ? ?
I SAME OLD REVOLUTIONISTS
i There are some of our people,
not many, who believed the old line
that the Russians are somehow dif
ferent than their government. They
are not. They have no chance to
be different. They live under one
man rule, under censorship, dicta
torship, self-concealment and pub
lic attack. Whatever beliefs their
government feeds them, they take.
' There are no others. Only one
British official has suggested the
possibility of revolution. Others all
agree that the Stalin dictatorship is
firmly established.
What right had we to expect any
thing different than we are getting?
The Russian system had preached
world revolution for 27 years. In
that time it has practiced commu
Inism, socialism and capitalism in
a variety of adaptations and phases
for its farms and factories. It has
no affirmative principles excepting
only revolution. It will tear down
anything existing, and then try to
i adapt a program (as in France
where five communist deputies
i are installed in the Bidault cabinet,
yet there is no communism). Vi
knew all these things.
v * ;Ui
ANOTHtK I ;
] A General Quiz 1 \
The Questions
1. When wai the Gregorian cal
endar introduced?
2. Does the flying fish actually
fly?
3. The United States has award
ed how many Congressional Med
als of Honor for heroic action dur
ing the war?
4. Will a bullet fired horizontally
reach the ground as quickly as one
dropped from the same height?
5. William Wordsworth was
poet-laureate of England 7 years.
Did he write any poetry during
that period?
The Answers
1. In 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII.
2. No; the hatchet fish is the
only fish that flies.
3. It has awarded 406 medals.
4. Yes, because of the equal pull
of gravity.
5. Not a line.
CLASSIFIED
DEPARTMENT
BP8PJESS t INVEST. OPPOB.
FOR SALE, Astonishing Bible History of
Negro race. Just published, 200 pages, cloth
bound. C.O.D. 92.60. Distributors wanted.
Cnpp Companr. B*i 1??. Alexandria. La.
FARM MACHINERY ft EQUIP.
STAR LINE barn equipment stalls, stan
chions, water bowls, litter carriers, ven
tilators, etc. Send want list for quota
tions. Stoneacres, Bex 590, Princeton, N. J.
FOR SALE ? ISO-ACRE DAIRY AND
GRAIN FARM. Frederick County. 130
acres tillable, balance bluegrass pas
tures, wood. Ample buildings, well
watered, electricity, Baltimore milk
market. $12,000.00, early possession.
AJvia L. Dndley, owner. Mt. Airy, M4.
HELP WANTED?MEN, WOMEN
NURSES. PRACTICAL.
Female and male.
$00.00 month registered.
$85.00 month unregistered.
Uniforms and full maintenance.
Modern Chronic Disease Hospital.
Fare refunded after 80 days.
ROME FOR INCURABLES
183rd Street and Third Avenae
Bronx - New York.
HELP WANTED?MEN
AUTO MECHANICS?Expd. Have tools.
Steady work. Vacation, guarantee good
pay. Chance to advance. OLD8MOBILE
DEALER. S So. J7th St. Phils. 4, Pa.
HELP WANTED?WOMEN
NUR8E8 registered, wanted for staff duty
in approved, small hospital. Pleasant work
ing condi. Mod. nurses' home. 13 ml. from
Phlla. Znrbrngg Hospital, Riverside, N. J.
LIVESTOCK
FOR SALE: All kinds of cows: purebreds
and grades Guernseys, Ayrshires, Jerseys,
I Holsteins. 2 herds Guernseys, 1 herd 25.
10 springers, 10 cows in full milk, 1 herd
11 shipping 40 gal. dally, 1 springer. All
vaccinated. Horses, mules, riding horses.
D. H. WOOD A SON, White Hall. Md.
, Ph. Parkten 25FS1 or Jarrettsvllle 8199.
REGISTERED HAMPSHIRE. Duroc, Po
land China hogs. Dorset sheep.
Edgeweed Farm, Kearneysville, W. Ya.
MISCELLANEOUS
MOVIES?SONJA HENIE, ISO FT. 1IMM
$3.50: 8mm., 50 ft. $1.75. 'Free with every
purchase Rudolph Valentino photo 48-page
synopsis "Son of the Sheik "fireside booklet.)
FIRESIDE FILMS
14$ W. 45th St. New Yerk City.
WANTED TO BUY
WANTED?U. 8. GOLD COINS for my col
lection. Will pay the following prices for
: coins in fine condition. $32 for $20. $16 for
$10, $8 for $5. $7 for 3. $4 for $2%. $2'A for
$1. P. O. Bex tO40 Arlington 8U.. Balti
more 15, Marylaad.
========?
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One of the best borne nays fa
BUI 10 UP
$80 MOOD
If ywiUcfc BLOOD-IRON
You girls end women who suffer so
from simple anemia that you're pale,
weak, -dragged out"?this may be due
? 80 ** *?
Plnkham'a TABLETS?one of the beet
home ways to build up red blood?in
eucb cases. Pjnkham's Tablets are one
of the greatest blood-iron tonka you
eaa buy! At all drugstores.
P
I v , 4 "?"Mw nrrfir,
I 1 k 1 w-nsnuu <
MlBBR LAX ATI VI A
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CCT A 25/ 40X
' '
WNU?4 29?46
And Your Strength and
Energy la Below Par
ft nay he ceaond by disorder of kid
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vwTu. kidM,, hil to r?. ooomt
Midtorn* Urn wmm MM bom Ik*
. T? -?* <?*?? uafaw
fheomatie p-*"* headaches, dlxsinaos,
tloa with smarting aad homing Is aa
ether Mga that something M wiea? with
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There sheold be bo deaht that prompt
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nm. Dees's have bean tried aad toat
, -,-52.7^ ? - ?