Norman Democrat--Topic. (Norman, Okla.), Vol. 17, No. 36, Ed. 1 Friday, March 26, 1909 Page: 3 of 8
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by Edward 5.df,AM'rf
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A8HINQTON.—Whenever ttae atatement is
made that during the sessions of congress
Washington is lull of ohhyists, it seems
that the general impression created is that
horde of men bent on preventing the pas-
sage of good legislation has descended up-
on the capitol. The word lobbyists seeming-
ly has come to mean only one thing. In
truth lobbyists are of two kinds, the kind
that wants to prevent the passage of legis-
lation that is inimical to private interest,
and the kind that wants to secure the pas-
sage of legislation that will redound or that
It is supposed will redound to the public good.
In the hotels of this city it is an easy matter to pick out the in-
dividuals of one species of lobbyist. They bear the ear-marks of
their business and it may be said that one of these ear marks or-
dinarily is in appearance of sleek prosperity. It is impossible to
pick out the individuals of the other species of lobbyist unless
you happen to be the keenest kind of a judge of human nature.
In some instances the second class of lobbyists has the unmistak
able air of the philanthropist while in other cases their compan
ion lobbyists look simply like ordinary everyday American citi
r.ens, men of business and men of the professions and in many
cases women.
No lobbyist, however wrongful may be his purpose in coming to
Washington, fulfills the somewhat widespread idea of a man whose
pockets are bulging with bank notes with the corners showing in
order to tempt some member ofcongress to forget his duty to his
constituents and to his country. It is a much harder matter to co
rrupt a congressman than unfortunately some people believe. The
lobbyist who would make a direct ofTer of money except in rare
cases would get a blow harder than any cash that he might hap
pen to possess.
The lobbyist who thinks that sorne corporate interest is to be
injured by prospective legislation and who has been hired to rep-
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was not a trace of real fruit in its composition The dye
that was in the mixture colored Indelibly a great piece
of cotton cloth which was steeped in a small quantity of
the jelly mixture with water.
In the committee room there was "honey" which no
bee ever had gathered. There were "pepper corns" made
wholly of tapioca and lampblack, and there were many
other things of curious mixture masquerading under the
names of legitimate food products. The manufacturers
and the packets ot perfectly pure goods admitted that
the proved fact that some of their brethren were not
honest was the stumbling block of their hopes that the
pure food bill should not be passed In too drastic a form.
In other words, a lobby that was mule and could no* I
write letters or send telegrams did the major share of
the work in securing the passage of the national pure
food law.
In the department of agriculture there is a sub-depart-
ment railed the biological survey. It is the duty of the
officials of the survey, who are all scientists, to do what :
they can to enlighten the country concerning the habits !
of birds, mammals and insects, to let It be known just
what creatures an a benefit and just what are a menace
to the farmer, the market gardener, and to those engaged j
in soil pursuits generally.
The work of the survey has been recognized for its j
excellence for years. At one time the house committee
on agriculture decided, in framing the agricultural op-
propria!ion bill, that it would onili all mention of the
biologic ul survey and thus by a failure to appropriate j
money, would wipe the survey out of existence. It is I
said that there were personal reasons for the attempt to
; of this bureau of the government, but
whether this is true or not is a thing
apart. As soon as it was known that i
the committee had decided to kill the j
activity of the scientists by a failure
to report to the house a measure for
their support, some of the Washing-
ton correspondents telegraphed the
news of the matter to their papers.
Instantly the bird protection societies,
the sportsmen, the farmers' institutes
and the farmers individually all over
the country became busy.
" Letters and telegrams of protest
poured in on the committee. Nor was
/ ' the committee alone the object of pro-
test Every senator and every repre-
sentative in congress began to re-
ceive letters and telegrams which
piled up until they were almost be-
yond the power of reading unless the
man gave all the time at his disposal
to the task. Members who hardly
knew what the biological survey was began to
ask questions. They wanted to know why the
farmers were so interested, and why the bird
protectors had taken the matter s<> much to
heart. It did not take them long to find out.
The committee was unmoved by the appeals
from the country, but congress was moved, and
when the agricultural bill was reported tfcore were scores
of members ready to insert a paragraph in the measure
restoring the appropriation for the survey. The appro-
priation was restored despite the action of the commit-
tee, and the next time that an agricultural bill went
through, the money given to support the scientists was in*
creased largely. The farmers and the nature lovers gen-
erally had no lebby in Washington at that time, but
A Formula.
Right ideas, backed by persistence
nnd promulgated at psychological mo-
ments. will gain a foothold and become
a great force for good, no matter how
determined may be the opposition.—
Detroit News.
Superstitious as Ever.
Superstitions are as numerous and
as absurd to-day as during the middle
ages. Hut instead of burning our
sorcerers, fortune-hunters, palmists
and crystal-gazers, we pay them. Re-
markable profit —Vienna Zeitung.
The Ideal Meal.
The Ideal meal consists of bread,
butter an 1 cheese, according to Dr.
J. K. Sfjiiire, who delivered a lecture
to the British National Health Society.
"These foods," he said, "contain af
the elements necessary for the proper
working of the body, and thus form a
complete meal."
Cattle Raised for Their Hides.
C. illowav cattle aie being raised in
ing considered
their hii
o bearski
for beauty and
seme
&
Full Beards for Farmers.
The protection of farmers and others
who are exposed to the heat a great
deal Is a serious and difficult matter.
Cancer is on the increase, and farmers
furnish a large portion of the cases,
many of them being due to the direct
effects of sunlight on the face and
hands. A full beard for the farmer
Is most desirable for his protection.—
North American Journal of Homeo-
pathy,
Other Folk't, Joy.
We should be churlish creatures if
we could have no joy in our fellow-
mortal's Joy, unless it were in agree-
ment with our theory of righteous dis-
tribution of our highest ideal of hu-
man good; what sour corners our
mouth would get -our eyes, what
frozen glances! and all the while our
possessions and desires would not ex-
actly adjust themselves to our Ideal.—
George Eliot.
Real Pathos-
There is nothing so pathetic as the
efforts of a dull mind to produce
bright speech.
7/
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.>1
Stramoline
A Specific for Asthma. A certain rem-
edy for Rheumatism, Bright's Disease,
Consumption atid all Coughs, La Grippe
and Croup. Cures all Lung and Bron-
chial Diseases. The greatest restora-
tive agent known. Makes pale, weak,
thin people healthy, fat and strong.
Ask us about it. Write or call. Kills
the Cough, that is certain.
The Stramoline Co.
3 N. Harvey St. Oklahoma City. Okla.
OKLAHOMA DIRECTORY
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THE SLEEK
vAND Prosperous
APP&tmC lOBBY/5r
- The flcEs/r or
dPEC/flL ///EEPESrS
vfflj
resent that interest at the capitol uses argument and
not money, and he depends for the strength of his argument
largely upon the fact that laws passed to regulate the
business which he represents may possibly have a bad
effect upon the commercial life of the specific district
which the member approached represents. It is true
that dinners are given at times to members of congress
by the lobbyists on behalf of special interests. It is
doubted if these dinners or the pleading words which
pass between the courses and after the coffee have any
particular weight. The ordinary congressman who wants
to stay in congress realizes that he has a duty to his
constituents and that if he doesn't do it he probably will
have to stay at home instead of buying a ticket every
winter for the patlonal capitol.
Some time ago there was established in Washington
what was called "The People's lx>bby." There were
several active men who, on behalf of this organization,
watched legislation and kept the country informed as to
what, in their opinion, was good or bad in laws that had
been proposed for passage. This people's lobby virtu-
ally has passed out of existence, but there Is a greater
people's lobby which has been in existence ever since
the country was founded, and which is in existence to-
day, and which probably will last as long as democracy
lasts. This lobby is public sentiment, and a dozen times
within the last few years It has overridden all the arts,
the pleadings, the arguments, and the threats of the In-
dividual lobbyists who have sought to thwart It. An
experience of some years in Washington goes to show
that the representatives of the people in the great mass
are honest men and that the will of the country out-
weighs with them any influence or any money that can
be brought to bear or used by the lobbyist who ib work-
ing for selfish ends.
It Is not the intention
to attempt to discuss the
rights or wrongs of any
specific pieces of legis
lat ion which have passed
congress, but the lobby-
ing attempts pro ahd
con that have been made
to prevent or to secure
the enactment of nation-
al laws may be recount-
ed without prejudice.
It has been said that
there are women lobbyists. The particular kind of wom-
en lobbyists which has been pictured many times has no
existence, or if she exists she keeps herself so well in
hiding that she remains unknown to the persons whose
duty it is to write the news and the news comment of
the day. There are other women lobbyists, however,
women who are moved to lobby by what they think is
right, though admittedly thousands of their countrymen
and their country women disagree with them in specific
cases In which they have exercised their activities.
The woman lobbyist as a rule Is moved by high moral
considerations, as she views them, to influence legisla-
tion. Take the case of the canteen In the army posts
of the country, for example. It was the woman lobbyist
who abolished the canteen. Tho women who worked to
this end did not do one-tenth part of their lobbying in
Washington. It was done largely at home. The women
thought that the canteen was an ever present tempta-
tion to the soldier to drunkenness, and while it is true
that most of the congressmen at heart disagreed with
the contention the women carried the day and the can-
teen was abolished.
The persons who were instrumental in securing the
passage of the law which forbade the sale of light wines
and beer at army posts, moved as they were by a high
moral even If a possibly mistaken impulse, were lobby-
ists just as much as are the men who strive to check leg.
islation that is going to hurt their pocket books while It
Is going to do good to the country at large. The inten-
tion is only to show that "lobbyist" is not necessarily a
word of contempt.
The pure food law when it was in process of considera-
tion was productive of the greatest lobbying activities
possibly ever known in congress. The lobbyists were
present and at a distance, but present or absent, they
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CHOCTAW FLOUR
A GOOD HOME PRODUCT
FOR GOOD HOME PEOPLE
all good grocers sell it
malthoid
and
"C. 8 G."
E//E EW///I/V77//?&/>/C EyPEl
ROOFING
BEST EVER
Curtis & Gartside Co., Oklahoma City
Wholesale Manufacturers of Sash and
Doors, Hardwood Finish Office and Bank
Fixtures. Ask your Lumber Dealer.
$28.50 TEAM HARNESS
im
Without Bre«chinf $16.SO. I 1-2
inch liii, I incb liiw , 18 fe«l long.
blinder bridle*. Goartnte«<l to|i * ti f«w r«-
finJed Oo« third cash. Uki C. 0. D. Detlm ta
cv<* ythuif for the hor e.
W. F.. NATION SADDLERY COMPANY
124 Grand A enoe Oklahoma City. Okla
hand for Sampo
KOOI
ROOFING
free;
THE OKLAHOMA SASH * DOOR COMPANY
N s dmBw. froHwt- OhUhw City. U.S.A.
FOR BEST RESULTS USE
01/ cccncThcy are the
I l\i OLLUO best that grow.
ASK YOUR DEALER FOR THEM
BARTELDES SEED CO.
Oklahoma Seed I luuse OKLAHOMA C1I Y
TINWARE, WOODENWARE
KEYSTONE TAILORS:
* EAR SUITS *•<
UA1THUB '
TANKS
KKYSTONt TAlLU
h H A I SBKKT
king sheei metal works
500 Mam Street
worked day nnd night with voice or by letter and tele-
gram to bring about the ends that they desired. The
manufacturers, or many of them at. least, maintained that
the law as proposed was altogether too drastic, while
those who took the view opposed to that of the manu-
facturers declared that the law could not be made too
severe.
During the time of the consideration of the pure food
law in the room of the committee on interstate and for
eign commerce the most powerful lobbyist that appeared
on behalf of the measure was on the center table. It was
a collection of prepared foods gathered from various
parts of the country and which did not live np to the
labels that were on the outside of the packages. There
are, and were, plenty of proper foods on the market,
but the foods which the committee had assembled, if
foods they might be railed, were of the kind that nobody
would want to eat. Representative Mann of Illinois was
in charge of the pure food bill, and he presided over
the display that made the committee room look like a
grocery shop. Mr. Mann had some fruit jelly or jam on
exhibition that was marked as being the pure product.
In reality the stuff was composed of some sticky sub-
stance sweetened and then colored with a dye. There
and the lobbyists |
they had a great lobby at a distaii
succeeded in doing their good work.
Recently there tame to Washington on a matter I
connected with the rights of certain Indians formerly on |
the Rosebud reservation, an Indian whose name originally
was Quick Bear, but who now is known as Reuben Quick
Hear. Some time ago it was proposed by a syndicate that
it buy a large tract of land from the Indians at $."> an acre.
Afterward the land doubled in value. Reuben Quick Bear !
feared that when the reservation was closed Uncle
Sam would not allow a right and proper price fur the
holdings which the Indians were to give up. Reuben
began a lobby on behalf of his brethren. He wrote this
letter, thereby showing that he knew something of the
ways of a certain class of white men:
• A shyster lawyer named is in Washington stat-
ing that, our land is not worth more than $2.50 an acre.
H lives in and has been sent by the people there to
help beat us in this land deal."
It is conceded in Washington that the most effective
kind of lobbying is that which is done by the people by
means of letters and telegrams. Of course, the com
munlcations must come in such numbers as to convince
the congressmen that the whole country Is aroused.
AWNINGS, TENTS,
wmt'wK.', ' -■<• < «"•' M
AUTOMOBILES
Not ir\ <11 ( orporatlon Seal#, ti t«
«ourv Public K. oord Book, 1 ft"
wj stork i rrtiflcaiw * !*' "!
orpuiHtiOlt Record Book, fa WJ
(ier Silver Hat or Oont Bmlgo. $1
Write for Robber Sump t.'aUlo*
0 K. STAMP & PT6 Co Okla- City.
New York Star Clean
ing & Dye Works ^
UCH FEATH
alty, Mail and
rth
of
NEED CAUSE LITTLE ALARM
Eruption of Miniature Volcanoes Eas-
ily Accounted For.
Recently reports were printed in va-
rious California newspapers to the ef-
fect that a volcano had burst forth in
one of the canyons of the Santa Mon-
ica mountains near Los Angeles. The
point at which the pseudo-volcano
broke out is about 200 yards from the
Pacific ocean and 12 miles from the
city of Los Angeles. Here sulphurous
smoke rises from a little mound of ml-
ocene shale and a few Inches below
the surface the ground Is red hot, char-
ring or even setting lire to stick thrust
Into it. The Scientific American says
of the phenomenon "Throughout
this region oil-bearing shales are
found near the surface and the soil
is soaked with petroleum. The shale
may have ignited spontaneously;
lightning or a fire set by campers may
have started the combustion. In any
case the phenomenon is accounted for
easily, without recourse to the theo-
ry of a volcanic eruption. Reports of
similar Incidents in this region have
been traced to fires in oil-bearing
strata. No serious harm has resulted
from the fires, as the nearest oil-pro-
ducing wells are at least ten miles
away.
"Recently there were accounts in
some French papers of an eruption In
an abandoned mine shaft and some
: years ago It was stated that there was
! an active crater on the top of an Al-
i pine peak. The burning shaft pro-
duced a highly creditable imitation of
an active volcano, great, heavy clouds
! of black smoke rising from it, and a
| line, warm dust falling on the sur-
rounding houses and fields, followed
by flames, and stones rained on the
dwellings.
"The inhabitants in terror took
flight; but an Investigation proved that
the pseudo-volcanic eruption had been
caused by an explosion of firedamp in
the shaft. The basis for the story of
an active volcano on the Alpine peak
was a forest lire on a lower moun-
tain."
How to Keep Sober.
We shall pick up many Interesting
bits of information from our returned
globe-circlers, the officers and crews
of the battle fleet. One of the former
now of high rank, whom I knew five
years ago as a lieutenant, told wonder-
fill tales about the ability of the En-
glish navy men at Hong Kong to driak
everybody under the table, and their
Immunity to drunkenness was attrib-
uted to copious draughts of olive oil
before sitting down to a banquet. Rear
Admiral — says: It was mostly a
fake. We learned something on the
cruise. A high-toned Chinese official
told me just before we sat down to a
banquet: Take two grains of opium;
it will enable you to withstand a much
greater quantity of liquor. Here, just
an hour before joining a festival, we
take a grain or two. and we are never
drunk. New York Press.
JOSLYN ENO. CO, SU
218 W..I Ciona Okl.hom. OUi
DURHAM MUSIC CO.—r
1'Ia.nom iai.kini. machinw. Writs (or citatof
310 n. broadway oklahoma city, okla.
SCHOOL AND CHURCH FURNITURE
g«JS!;« DEERE IMPLEMENTS
gndvelie vehicles"1* >""" j"ler
or john deere plow co., oklahoma city
U ATO ^'ne ,0^' 'Ia'5 mai'e or<'er-
H A I 0 Cleaned and blocktd like new.
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Norman Democrat--Topic. (Norman, Okla.), Vol. 17, No. 36, Ed. 1 Friday, March 26, 1909, newspaper, March 26, 1909; Norman, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc153049/m1/3/: accessed May 8, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.