OCR Text |
Show THE THIRD HOUSE By GILSON GARDNER. WASHI NOTON, D. C. Feb. 1 1 . Srn - tor Konyon nf Inwa Is petttns: rny ft Mil fo compel members of th lnthy In Washington register anil dec-lur their connections. Nevr In the- hlatory of Waahlncton i naa there been ao great a lobby a j there la now. The fact la that congressmen are fretting to be ft little peevish at thn comparative prosperity of the 'third house' as compared with the house of representative. They hear, for Instance, about the, "distinguished constitutional lawyer who drew down a fee of $34,000 for a Tittle lobby JiBtftat 'lull imtllinijt ta do with constitutional law. The congressman wh Is worth only $7500 does not like the Idea nf tha man cooling his heela outside his office of-fice getting ao much more a year. The budget of one big induatry for Ita lobby in Washington last year la known to have been one million dollars. dol-lars. There are nearly a score now of ex-members ex-members of congress who are "practicing "prac-ticing law," aa the phraae goes, and making more money aa lobbyists than they ever made when they were la congresa. The war brought many people t Washington aa lobbyists and they are staying over. The lumber Industry has a large and expensive lobby here. The oil Interests hare probably the t largest lobby here, and it was these Interests which had Mitchell Palmer In mind aa the man to take charge of all their activitiea Just before he was apiminted attorney general. incidentally, Mitchell Palmer was a poor man while he w-as in the house of representatives at least, comparatively compara-tively poor. Nothing like the wealth and splendor which he now enjoys be- gan until he ceased being a member of the house and became a member of . the socalled "third house." Tariff legislation has added to thn regular lobby here a large number of transient lobbyists. They are here to see about the cottnn industry, the button but-ton Industry, and un immense number of other industries. In the good old days, there were certain cer-tain members of congress who were credited with the Job of looking after certain industries, and It was quite unnecessary un-necessary to hire a whole floor In an office building and maintain expensive experts, clerks, lawyers and head lobbyists lob-byists to attend to the legislation desired de-sired by these Industries. I |