A POLITICAL POWER IN AMERICA.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 11871, 19 April 1904, Page 8

A POLITICAL POWER IN AMERICA.

HOW A CONGRESS LOBBYIST WORKS.

(By H. D. Bedtobo, M.H.R.) WASHINGTON (U.S.A.), Feb. 20. "' We hear a great deal of the influence exerted by lobbyists at the United State* capital. Wβ boor much of tiieir machinations, intrigues, and bribery. The com* mon impression in New Zealand is that their power is mercenary, and therefore baneful and corrupt. Congress is now in cession, and when I arrived in Washington I was keenly alert to discover soma of these lobbyists and to study their tactics. It was not long before my attention was magnetised by a. most remarkable man, Dr. Wilbur P. Crafts, well known to fame throughout America, as the most prominent of Con- - jjressional lobbyists. Armed with a kt. tex of introduction I requested an inter* view with him. There followed a conversation of such interest, that I hasten to write my impressions of this man, with a brief account of the method* he pursue* ' in influencing legislation. Dr. Crafts will be well knowa by repute to Sunday school teachers in New Zealand as a regular contributor to the " International Sunday School ' Lessoa Monthly." He is a lean, tall, keen-eyed man, a minister of the Gospel, an author, editor, lecturer, and reformer, and fifty* four years of age. He glories in the name of " Christian, lobbyist," and aa sach haa doubled the volume of the Congressional mail. This is a fact certified to by the United States Post Office reports". As the founder of what is known as the " International Reform Bureau, 1, he ■ lias actually, by his assiduity, two-fold the amount of correspondcnoe'WfS Senators and representative!*. V^ Let mc indicate how he does it, and for what he does it. He believes Christ , * mission on earth was not only the salya* tion of the individual, but the reformation of society in accordance with the prhv ciplce of brotherhood which our Savkwi so distinctly laid down. The greatest obstacles to the reign of Christian law, he declares, axe impurity, intemperance, gambling, and political corruption. He hat great faith in the efficacy of Congress in removing these obstacles. Such sway bat '•; he gained over this body, that within' " eight years it has passed into law eight : Bills which he has framed.; The nature _ of his work is shown by the character of . these Bills, which he. submitted to Con- - rreas through the instrumentality of a friendly member. Two of them aimed , at restricting the calamitous facility, to- - obtain divorces, and at strengthening the marriage tie. In » period of thirty-fbux years 700,000 divorces have been granted in Mβ United States. Another BUI doubled the "protection of girls up to 21 years;- another abolished Government liquor selling • at military posts; another suppressed the same in the United States immigrant stations; another forbade American traders t« ; sell intoxicants, opium, and • firearms in Pacific Islands having no civilised inent; another (a Senate resolution) asked all civilised nations to unite m a treaty . .to forbid the sale of all intoxicants and' J' opium to uncivilised races; Mill another has made it illegal to open the gates of the St. Louis Exposition on Sundays. All these measures were drafted by Dr. Crafts",' ['}. forced upon the attention of Congress by! ' him, and pressed througE Congress to lbs -'■ Statute Book by him. Led mc illustrate bis method by the movement which be successfully set on foot to abolish the canteen in the army. By' careful investigation he collected fscte, which discovered terrible abase* attribut- '■* able to the wanteen. These facts he related in all their nakedness to 60,000 people by personal letter. Not only ewry State in the Union, but every village and borough was reached 4y these personal letters addressed to representative .mta, •. who were then called upon Co organise petitions to Congress praying for the abolition of the canteen, in addition, they each and all were requested by Dr. Crafta to send en urgent personal appeal, by letter or telegram, to their respective representatives in Parliament. Tens of thousands of letters, tens of thousands of tjetitioa*, ' poured in upon Congress; s> Bill was framed by the Doctor, and placed in the J bands of a trusted Senator; the Bill be* came law. Of Dr. Crafts received the hearty co-operation of Temperance aad Christian -i societies; Hβ was also backed by & see—'tion of the Press. Nevertheless the triumph .' was a triumph of his method—l> methods designed to draw out the power of tfe* *■ moral sentiment latent in the people, aad £ direct it to the wheels of current leeitU-y! tion; The moral sentiment of America h*i'£ been running to waste for yean. He co!-j§ lecte it as a lens collects rays. He teonSl it to a focus right upon some ,ev2. " Ons-f Senator, in speaking upon the AnU-Caa*f| teen Bifl; eaid "I do not.approve of ftJ-bafcl the will of the people is and I shall tot« for ft. ' ' - ™" J -M Dr. Crafts is frequently tote seen in &k1 lobbies of Congress sounding members "o*1« some.reform he'has in VM; Whe&'isKl mdertook to close 4he gate* of i£?sEji Lows Exposition on Sundays, he fouttd 4 substantial minority in fanmr.e? iis ofcs3 Jert. He set to work &. chanM tiZtM mmonty_into a majoritgr. From the favourable Congressmen' be some 50,000 franked mribpm Congressional stamp, ialso eneets of paper with the facsimile Ui&fM member'e signature. The sheete were fflJe^ *PP* l '« o petition and' othenne* aeamet the'tjiit'l posed desecration ot the Sabbath's* fa*^ tnoutea broadcast oter the" Coming from member* of Ctagz*** aUfcPi throogh the instnur 3 ntaUtr of Dr. tbe t; **&** * «*»pon«e ao ■wauabo6uh 7 mm powerful, that Oongress war cotercttL management of the SC Lmi* Fair was feated «< ita purposs. - • . ■>, *Km JL* a maiflar w«y, Bellamy's liceme ou| been cenoelkd, so that them is no hM toxicating liqttor now soid in , the CapJfcptesi 'Dr.: Crafts is oow'tmgaged in the sateon from the Old Soldiers , ' BoasMl When he has succeeded, all* QoverameatfS buirdingi will be free fwm'tfie tale 4g» alcohoL r ?j£ The enerfty of the Reform Bureau a directed sokly towards Congres*. Crafts is battiing with States and njnnfcigl palitaea for the discouragement of air of vice. L»st year he undertook, topw&l vent Mrs Langtry from fulfilling- an. gagement to jpity "The Degenerates , ' Pittsborg. The moral tone of the vby'M is distinctly unhealthy. Dr. Craft* fiartfl Approached tbe aninisters of the city and *&M the preacher* on one Sunday fervent appeals to their coagrega&ioni assist in suppressing the The minietew approached the Mayor, utiM the Befarm Bureau organised petitions -taftgf him. They wa« signed by the most btrM fluential mm of the city. The motemcQl|H ascumed such threatening; proportions thaiffl the dramatic oompaay promised te alimm.™ ate all objectionable parts. This wobMjß not suffice. The Mayor threatened UM cancel the license of the theaire if U*M play was ttaged, tod the oompsny rendered unoonditicnally. Tbe Mayor oOjj Newark; refused to allow the play, and Toledo fallowed the example, asd tfc*sl Chief of Police at Washington has ake'Jj warned it to keep off. - M