United States Senate Lobby Investigation Committee
Encyclopedia
The Senate Lobby Investigation Committee is a now defunct special committee that once operated within the United States Senate
during the 1930s and 1940s with the purpose of investigating lobbyist activities. The committee was chaired by Hugo Black
, and upon his appointment to the United States Supreme Court, it was chaired by Sherman Minton
.
According to professor of political science
Linda C. Gugin
, a Minton biographer, in practice the committee's investigations were politically motivated and directed against groups that were challenging New Deal legislation.
, a utility regulation bill pending before Congress. The committee alleged that the nation's major utility companies were conspiring to defeat the bill, and ordered Western Union
to turn over all telegrams sent on behalf of the company for the committee to investigate. After weeks of wrangling, which included the issuance of subpoenas and court injunctions, the committee obtained the telegrams and discovered that the utilities had spent over one million dollars to lobby for the bill's defeat. They also found money had been spent to send over five million fake letters and telegrams to senators, supposedly from concerned citizens, opposing the bill. The Wheeler-Rayburn bill passed shortly after the debacle, which quickly led to the collapse and breakup of the nation's three largest utility companies.
In 1936, the committee went a step further to prove that the same companies had improperly influenced Republicans in Congress. The committee subpoenaed telegrams sent by political opponents and their operatives, including the major Chicago
law firm Winston, Straw, & Shaw. The firm launched legal action against the committee, claiming their Fourth Amendment
Rights had been violated. They won their case in court and ended the committee's ability to issue mass subpoenas. William Randolph Hearst
, a prominent and wealthy media magnate, began attacking the committee though his newspapers because of what he called their "reckless attacks on freedom". Minton led the effort to silence Hearst and delivered a speech attacking him for his support of the Republican Party.
The committee also uncovered previously unrevealed links between the Farmers Independence Council of America
, a group believed to be a nonpartisan opponent of President Roosevelt's efforts to reform agriculture, and the American Liberty League, which strongly opposed the New Deal.
With no chance that his bill would pass, Minton returned to his goal of exposing what he believed to be Republican control of the media. He led the committee to target a newspaper with national circulation, Rural Progress. The paper published anti-New Deal articles and had been operating at a financial loss for several years. Minton accused the publishers of improperly accepting large sums of money from corporations to influence its editors. The owner of the paper, Maurive V. Renolds, was summoned before the committee for a hearing, where Minton demanded to know why he was accepting money from corporations. Renolds had little day-to-day interaction with the paper and was unable to answer the committee's questions. When Renolds asked his manager, Dr. Glen Frank, who was also president of the University of Wisconsin, to help him answer the questions, Minton and his fellow Democratic Senators began to shout him down. As Frank began to explain that the money from the corporations was for advertising in the magazine, Minton beat his gavel and yelled, "This committee doesn't intend to permit you to use this as a forum to air your Republican views."
Minton did not realize that Frank was president of the University of Wisconsin, and soon suffered retaliation as a result of his mistreatment of Frank. Frank went on NBC
radio stations around the country and granted interviews to papers, in which he lambasted Minton for his rudeness. He made lengthy arguments accusing Minton of attempting to violate the Bill of Rights
. Minton was outraged by the attacks, which were beginning to have an effect among voters in Indiana. In 1938, he sought funding to launch a massive nationwide investigation of media conglomerates for proof of Republican interference in the press. Democratic Senator Edward R. Burke
led an effort to defeat the measure and privately attacked Minton, accusing him of damaging the Democrats' cause, which led Minton to leave the Lobby Investigation Committee.
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
during the 1930s and 1940s with the purpose of investigating lobbyist activities. The committee was chaired by Hugo Black
Hugo Black
Hugo Lafayette Black was an American politician and jurist. A member of the Democratic Party, Black represented Alabama in the United States Senate from 1927 to 1937, and served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1937 to 1971. Black was nominated to the Supreme...
, and upon his appointment to the United States Supreme Court, it was chaired by Sherman Minton
Sherman Minton
Sherman "Shay" Minton was a Democratic United States Senator from Indiana and an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was the most educated justice during his time on the Supreme Court, having attended Indiana University, Yale and the Sorbonne...
.
According to professor of political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
Linda C. Gugin
Linda C. Gugin
Linda C. Gugin is a Professor of Political Science at Indiana University, active member of the Indiana Historical Society, and author and coauthor of many books related to legal history. She is a principal biographer of Sherman Minton.-References:...
, a Minton biographer, in practice the committee's investigations were politically motivated and directed against groups that were challenging New Deal legislation.
Black charimanship
The committee's investigations made national news headlines several times, the first in mid-1935, as the committee launched a major probe into utility companies. These corporations were funding opposition to the Wheeler-Rayburn ActPublic Utility Holding Company Act of 1935
The Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 , , also known as the Wheeler-Rayburn Act, was a law that was passed by the United States Congress to facilitate regulation of electric utilities, by either limiting their operations to a single state, and thus subjecting them to effective state...
, a utility regulation bill pending before Congress. The committee alleged that the nation's major utility companies were conspiring to defeat the bill, and ordered Western Union
Western Union
The Western Union Company is a financial services and communications company based in the United States. Its North American headquarters is in Englewood, Colorado. Up until 2006, Western Union was the best-known U.S...
to turn over all telegrams sent on behalf of the company for the committee to investigate. After weeks of wrangling, which included the issuance of subpoenas and court injunctions, the committee obtained the telegrams and discovered that the utilities had spent over one million dollars to lobby for the bill's defeat. They also found money had been spent to send over five million fake letters and telegrams to senators, supposedly from concerned citizens, opposing the bill. The Wheeler-Rayburn bill passed shortly after the debacle, which quickly led to the collapse and breakup of the nation's three largest utility companies.
In 1936, the committee went a step further to prove that the same companies had improperly influenced Republicans in Congress. The committee subpoenaed telegrams sent by political opponents and their operatives, including the major Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
law firm Winston, Straw, & Shaw. The firm launched legal action against the committee, claiming their Fourth Amendment
Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the Bill of Rights which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures, along with requiring any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause...
Rights had been violated. They won their case in court and ended the committee's ability to issue mass subpoenas. William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
, a prominent and wealthy media magnate, began attacking the committee though his newspapers because of what he called their "reckless attacks on freedom". Minton led the effort to silence Hearst and delivered a speech attacking him for his support of the Republican Party.
The committee also uncovered previously unrevealed links between the Farmers Independence Council of America
Farmers Independence Council of America
The Farmers Independence Council of America was an American political organization formed in the 1930s to oppose President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's effort to reform American agriculture through the Agricultural Adjustment Act during the Great Depression...
, a group believed to be a nonpartisan opponent of President Roosevelt's efforts to reform agriculture, and the American Liberty League, which strongly opposed the New Deal.
Minton charimanship
In 1937, Senator Black was appointed to the Supreme Court and left the Senate, and Minton secured his post as chair of the committee. He immediately began a full scale investigation of the media conglomerate controlled by Frank E. Gannett. Minton accused Gannett of publishing Republican Party propaganda. For several weeks, Minton delivered speeches attacking Gannett in the Senate, and Gannett would respond in his newspapers. When Gannett accused Minton of creating a dictatorship and attempting to control the press, Minton responded by introducing legislation that would make it "illegal to publish information known to be false." Gannett, and a large number of allies, immediately began to attack Minton and the Democratic Party in newspapers and on radio, claiming he was attacking the freedom of the press. Minton's allies in Congress asked him to withdraw the bill because of its political implications, leading him to drop the matter.With no chance that his bill would pass, Minton returned to his goal of exposing what he believed to be Republican control of the media. He led the committee to target a newspaper with national circulation, Rural Progress. The paper published anti-New Deal articles and had been operating at a financial loss for several years. Minton accused the publishers of improperly accepting large sums of money from corporations to influence its editors. The owner of the paper, Maurive V. Renolds, was summoned before the committee for a hearing, where Minton demanded to know why he was accepting money from corporations. Renolds had little day-to-day interaction with the paper and was unable to answer the committee's questions. When Renolds asked his manager, Dr. Glen Frank, who was also president of the University of Wisconsin, to help him answer the questions, Minton and his fellow Democratic Senators began to shout him down. As Frank began to explain that the money from the corporations was for advertising in the magazine, Minton beat his gavel and yelled, "This committee doesn't intend to permit you to use this as a forum to air your Republican views."
Minton did not realize that Frank was president of the University of Wisconsin, and soon suffered retaliation as a result of his mistreatment of Frank. Frank went on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
radio stations around the country and granted interviews to papers, in which he lambasted Minton for his rudeness. He made lengthy arguments accusing Minton of attempting to violate the Bill of Rights
Bill of rights
A bill of rights is a list of the most important rights of the citizens of a country. The purpose of these bills is to protect those rights against infringement. The term "bill of rights" originates from England, where it referred to the Bill of Rights 1689. Bills of rights may be entrenched or...
. Minton was outraged by the attacks, which were beginning to have an effect among voters in Indiana. In 1938, he sought funding to launch a massive nationwide investigation of media conglomerates for proof of Republican interference in the press. Democratic Senator Edward R. Burke
Edward R. Burke
Edward Raymond Burke was a Nebraska Democratic Party politician.Burke moved to Sparta, Wisconsin with his parents and then Beloit, Wisconsin where he went to Beloit College. Burke graduated in 1906, moved to Chadron, Nebraska where he taught school until 1908. He graduated from Harvard Law...
led an effort to defeat the measure and privately attacked Minton, accusing him of damaging the Democrats' cause, which led Minton to leave the Lobby Investigation Committee.