18. Summarize the main points of your speech at a meeting, showing the reasons for your proposal.

19. In a discussion on politics the argument is advanced that it is better for the business man to attend to his business and allow politics to be managed by politicians. You desire to show in answer, that the politicians promote the general welfare best when they are carefully guided by business and civic associations, and to this end business men must take an active part in such bodies. Outline your argument with illustrations.

20.

In a large city there is some demand for the teaching of cooking and sewing in the girls' schools but the authorities claim that neither of these subjects can be taught by class work. How would you put the plan through?

21. In a modern industrial community a millionaire has let it be known that he will devote a certain sum of money to some public-spirited enterprise. A number of persons are about to call upon him asking for funds to endow a soup society. You are chosen to present to him the claims of the civic club which wishes to establish an experimental plan of technical education which, if it succeeds, will be turned over to the city. You arrive after the soup society advocates have made their plea. Present your case.

22. The civic club of your city is run by a few public-spirited citizens of intelligence and patriotism. Its membership is 100. It has a complete and well-planned program of city improvements which it desires to urge upon the city government. At the annual meeting it is proposed that all the members visit the city officials and insist upon the adoption of this program. This is the only provision made for its execution. Summarize your speech on further

measures.

23. What are your impressions as to the possibilities and advantages of greater publicity in government through business and civic associations?

24.

Write to your congressman or representatives in the State legislature and ascertain from them their impressions as to attempts to manufacture public opinion by mechanical methods. Prepare a short essay showing a successful and intelligent system of molding opinion as used by some association and contrast it with some plan of manufacturing sentiment which does not exist. 25. You are engaged in a business which is subject to national legislation. It is proposed to change the laws governing your industry in a way which would injure your interests, and you wish to offset this by securing the passage of a different law. Prepare a full, complete statement of the various steps to be taken in order to realize your purpose, with the reasons for each.

which confronted the Monetary Commission was therefore to overcome these obstacles and to win over the influential public opinion of the nation by the gradual but thorough process of convincing the business interests of the country both large and small. The commission employed men of persuasive ability. Its own members journeyed forth on missionary tours over the continent. They visited the American Bankers Association, the State associations of bankers, clearing houses, boards of trade, commercial clubs, manufacturers' associations, farmers' institutes, and systematically presented the main features of their plan and the reasons which justified it. At the outset the country was united in opposition but before many months had passed the bankers and other bodies of business men began to realize the important advantages offered by the proposed system, and the methodical work commenced to show results.

At the suggestion of members of the Commission the president of the National Board of Trade called a meeting of financial representatives from all parts of the country. The chairman of the meeting was authorized to appoint an Organization Committee which should (a) carry on a campaign of education; (b) influence the action of senators and congressmen. The Committee met in Chicago and appointed a special campaign or executive committee with representatives in every State. These representatives were not selected from the bankers but chiefly from among the other business men of the country, manufacturers, merchants, railway executives, etc. They also formed the National Citizens League which had as its purpose the holding of meetings and the dissemination of literature, circulars, etc., all describing the plan for a central banking association. The League sent free to its many members a monthly bulletin, "Currency Reform," containing a series of popular arguments for a central bank reserve. It also set forth the progress of the movement and encouraged its members to missionary zeal. The fund contributed by banks, trust companies and other sources to this body was a large one and enabled a systematic and general agitation of the subject. That the work so undertaken bore fruit may be inferred from the fact that when the League's labors were completed a majority of the bankers and very many business executives favored the proposed plan, and although the new Bank Act of 1914 differs widely in matters of organization, its main feature and greatest advantage is conceded to be the concentration of credit resources under the control of the National Government.

Methods of Securing Legislation.-The most favorable time for an association to secure national legislation is in the long session which, as we have seen, is the first session, or that commencing on the first Monday of December in the odd years. At the short session there is little or no time for general legislation, since the House of Representatives goes out of office on the following 4th of March. Since Congress does little in December because of the Christmas holidays, there remain only two months for actual work

in the short session. This time is fully taken up by the large appropriation bills for the executive departments, and in the completion of left-over, unfinished business. Those who are seeking the passage of new measures therefore have their bills introduced and pressed at the long session. In the State legislature there is only one session.

The attitude of the Senators and Representatives from the association's sections of the country deserves mention. Any Congressman or legislator will introduce almost any bill on request of one of his constituents, but if he does not care to push it actively, he readily avoids responsibility for the measure by saying that it is presented "by request.' Thousands of measures are annually introduced with this fatal tag attached, fatal because no one takes any further interest in a bill so labelled. As we have seen in a previous chapter the chances are all against the passage or even the consideration of any measure which is not pressed by some strong influences in the electorate. The association's next step is to secure the services of a "legislative agent." Public sentiment against the lobbyist has always been strongly hostile because of the secret and often nefarious methods employed by him. Some States have even prohibited "lobbying," as it is called, in their legislative halls, but more recently the tendency is to regulate the practice and surround it with certain safeguards of public registration. The legislative agent is usually a lawyer and often a former member of Congress or of the legislature who is therefore familiar with its procedure, and with many of the leading personalities on the floor. The rules permit former members to enter the hall and confer with the members. The bill, having been introduced by some friendly legislator, under the direction of the agent, is then referred to committee. This committee would ordinarily allow the bill to die without further consideration, because the members are all interested in measures of their own or in some important political bill which affects the success of their party. They have little time nor disposition to consider other matters. At this point, the services of the legislative agent become invaluable. He sees influential leaders, the principal members of the committee, and tries to secure a hearing for the friends of the bill. If he can persuade the committeemen to do so, a date is set and the persons interested in the measure then appear. There are grave dangers for the bill at this hearing, the most important of which is that its own friends will kill its chances by talking too much, by answering questions indiscreetly and by giving conflicting views at the hearing. The legislative agent must select with great care the witnesses who are to appear, and he must see to it that each witness gives his testimony in condensed form. Simple as this may seem, it is one of the hardest tasks confronting the lobbyist. The average business man appearing before a law-making committee is "flustered." He makes a bad impression, his nervousness and inex

perience leading him to talk volubly when he should be cautious and to withhold what he considers private information at the wrong time. He is easily upset by questions, and unless he is carefully primed beforehand and guided with some skill, he is apt to do the cause more harm than good. The agent must therefore condense and give point to the testimony of each man and also must "marshal" the evidence or arrange it in logical order so that each speaker will tell with cumulative effect upon the minds of the committeemen. Questions by the members must be tactfully answered and outspoken opposition must be met with diplomacy, a feat which is not always possible.

If the bill passes the committee hearing and receives a favorable report, it must next run the gauntlet of the whole House and here the parliamentary ability of the agent as a strategist is brought into full play. He must see the leading opponents of the bill as well as its friends. He must explain away objections, must accept amendments, and ward off attacks and postponements until at last the measure has been guided over the rough and slippery path of the second and third readings and is passed on to the upper House where the same general plan of campaign is then followed. From this short description of his work, it is clear that the legislative agent, if successful, amply earns his fee. His services are as essential as are those of the attorney in court. It is small wonder that many large corporate interests, unwilling to trust their legislative projects to the whirlpools and rapids of parliamentary uncertainty, prefer to make terms with the party leader, which they can easily do in the State governments, and have him issue the necessary orders for the passage of the desired measures.

Special Need of Organization.-From what has gone before it is clear that public opinion counts only when organized. There may be a strong undercurrent of feeling among the people, there may be addresses, mass-meetings and parades,-but no public movement can win permanent recognition until it is placed on a sound basis by some practical organization. Here is one of the chief services of the business association or civic society. It gathers, forms and brings into coherent, definite shape the tiny particles of public sentiment, and by organization renders them lasting and permanent. The many ideas, suggestions and proposals which arise from year to year in the politics of the nation are like the millions of eggs in a fish roe. Ninety-nine per cent of them have a fleeting existence of a few weeks or months at best and then are heard of no more. The work of the "club" or "league" in selecting the good material from among the useless, in drafting feasible plans, in enlisting and holding public interest in these plans and ultimately forcing them upon the attention of the government, is an invaluable force in our public life. Nor does its service end here. When the law is once passed the association must watch over its practical enforcement by the executive. The statute book is already crowded

with measures which are so difficult if not impossible of execution that the executive must select the laws to be administered. In this general competition among laws, those receive the most attention which are backed by the force of an expressed public opinion. The business or civic association makes this opinion felt. If the laws on health, schools or roads are administered with laxity the county medical society, the public education association or the motor club learns of it and brings pressure to bear upon the State executive. And the law is enforced.

How Civic Associations Set the Pace for Government.—This brief description of the work of business and civic bodies shows what service they render in making government worth something to the people at large. But within recent years they have entered a newer field of activity which has now made them an indispensable part of our system. Until a short time ago the civic and good government clubs were mainly critical, they pointed out weaknesses and defects, inefficiency and dishonesty in government. To-day they are positive and constructive, proposing and suggesting plans of public action. A criticism or protest is negative, it stirs up popular indignation and often leads to an explosion of popular wrath in an election, sweeping out of office the majority party and all connected with it. But an explosion is destructive, and no successful system of government can be built on indignation. Following the outburst of popular wrath there must come the slow, painstaking reconstruction of the political or social system, otherwise the old abuses quickly reassert themselves. The permanent reform movements of political history have all had this positive character. The English Revolution of 1689 destroyed the doctrine of the Divine right of kings but put in its place the positive idea of government by the Parliament. The American Revolution abolished British sovereignty over the Colonies but it was incomplete until it was followed up by the formation of a strong national government in 1787. The British Reform Bill of 1832 not only ended the control of the "rotten boroughs" over Parliament, but it set up a political control by the middle classes. The destruction of Negro slavery in America was successful only in so far as it was followed up by the industrial training and education of the Negro. Always there must be this positive element of constructive progress, otherwise a reform becomes a mere paroxysm of blind anger. The constructive efforts of our business and civic associations, in developing new solutions of public problems and proving their practical value, have now assumed prime importance in government. Instead of denunciation, the club or league now devotes its time to the planning of new measures. By this changed attitude the society has gained stronger and more permanent support for its plans and a more practical result than it could have reached by an appeal to indignation. The strength of the new system lies in its practical appeal and in publicity. When a public