The teaching of the Constitution in nearly 600 colleges and universities has been examined by the citizenship committee. In analyzing the replies received, it was not "impressed with the textbooks used," and doubted "whether there are competent teachers." But the committee did not stop here. In addition, it "made recommendations where necessary," recommendations questioning the suitability of text books and qualifications of teachers.44

These activities only suggest the methods employed by the bar association and its State and local affiliates to impress its views upon the country. In the course of a year many addresses containing these views are made by bar members. Speeches are delivered over broadcasting chains. Many handouts are given to newspapers. The Journal of the American Bar Association assures the membership of monthly information from the officers and committees. Members of the bar occupy positions of leadership and influence in their communities, so that their views are sought and listened to with respect. When all these activities are summed up, they make easily understandable the popular loyalty to Constitution and court. It is hardly open to doubt that the activities are part of an organized program to cover the country with the association's views, to keep track of public opinion, and to pull it up short when it shows signs of wandering. The bar association has "a public aspect," to use the words of a former president, and, therefore, in his opinion, it becomes the association's "duty to watch carefully the tendency of public opinion, and, where the trend is inimical to the welfare of the Nation or to the detriment of society, to direct the attention of our people to it." 45 The successful opposition to the President's Supreme Court reorganization plan in 1937 indicates the association's idea of the extent of this duty, and how it can be performed.

Composition of the Bar Association.

46

Only about 6 out of every 10 lawyers in the country are represented, even indirectly, in the American Bar Association. Less than 2 out of 10 belong to the association and take part in its operations. When it comes to those who take an active and influential part in the determination of association attitudes and policies, the percentage drops very low. These facts can profitably be borne in mind in connection with the association's educational activity, or in references to the bar as "the trustees and guardians of American institutions." There is an inverse ratio, in the Bar Association, between the number of citizens who really count in its business and the amount of influence on public affairs which they wield. This is often true of citizen groups operating in the governmental field.

"Report of American Bar Association, 1934, pp. 423-438. 45 Report of the American Bar Association, 1933, p. 224.

46 Of the 175,000 lawyers in the United States, about 16 percent, or 27,000, are members of the American Bar Association. Forty-three percent, or 75,000, are members of State bar associations, and about 115,000, or upward of 60 percent, of some bar association, state or local. There are 3.500 members of the American Bar Association who are not members of any State or local bar association. The national organization has been in existence since 1878. Control and administration of the association's affairs and determination of its policies are ledged in the house of delegates, a body whose membership is composed of State delegates, State bar association delegates, delegates from approved affiliated organizations. officials of other organizations of bench and bar, and the association's own officers, as provided by its constitution. Hence the membership of the house of delegates amounts to but a small minority of the total membership. The president and other officers are elected by this minority; the officers constitute the board of governors, which appoints the members of the sections, the standing committees, and the special committees. They deal with various types of law and with continuing and special legal problems, and is by and through them that the membership's professional interests are drawn out. Fifty members of the house of delegates constitute a quorum.

CHAPTER IV

PUBLIC POLICY AND GROUP AIMS

In an enlightening article published in 1931, Prof. Howard L. McBain, of Columbia University, divided the laws of the nation into three groups.1 In the first group he put those which an overwhelming majority approve, such as our criminal laws. The second includes those in respect of which the public is either ignorant or indifferent, while in the third are those which a considerable number of the people oppose. In the second and third classifications, and especially in the second, he placed the great bulk of our social and economic legislation. He said:

in the complicated economic society in which we are now living, our conduct is regulated directly or indirectly by a host of laws that the majority have never heard of. Not in the remotest sense do such laws express the will of the majority, for the very simple reason that there is no such will to be expressed. These laws are made by the few. Regrettably enough they are sometimes made in whole or in too large part for the few. But even when they are made in the interest of the many, as perhaps most of them are or are ostensibly intended to be, the many are seldom consulted directly or indirectly and could not be of much help if they were consulted.

Here we have implied, if not explicitly stated, the thing which it is the purpose of this chapter to discuss, the nature of public problems and of public opinion and the place of pressure groups in American political life.

PUBLIC PROBLEMS

For better, for worse, Americans have on the whole accepted the idea that their economic welfare and spiritual happiness should be actively promoted by the Federal Government. Never totally absent from the Nation's political philosophy, it is only within the past half century that it has really captured the minds and imaginations of the people, however.

At least three stages in the idea's development may be noted. After the Civil War the railroads abused their publicly-approved rights and privileges by demanding excessive rates, by discriminating between shippers, and by granting secret rebates. As a consequence there emerged the doctrine that the public interest should be guarded by regulating those enterprises which provide essential public services. Later, under the exigencies of war in 1917 and 1918, the scope of the doctrine was enormously widened to include not only public services but also many of the conditions of the production and distribution of the necessities of life. In the post-war period there was some contraction, followed by a great expansion after 1930. The depression years saw a tremendous broadening of the field of Federal supervision,

1 H. L. McBain, "Does a Minority Rule America?" New York Times Magazine, June 7, 1931.

regulation, and control, and the conscious use of Federal power to stimulate economic recovery and to effect economic and social reform. The extraordinary number of fields which the administration has entered to achieve recovery and reform are an evidence of the extent to which Americans have come to feel that their government has a large and legitimate role to play in furthering their welfare.

Of course, these three periods of the expansion of Federal power are not the only significant stages in its growth. But they are particularly important the first because it marks the beginning of a trend, the second and third because they indicate how and to what extent the idea has been implemented.

For half a century the multiplying functions of both Federal and State Government have reflected the growing popular approval of government as a factor in the conduct of human affairs. But since World War I, and especially since 1929, the Federal Government has assumed new functions more rapidly than have the States. This is in large part because the problems arising since that time have been national in scope, and the States have been incapable of dealing adequately with them.

As the area of public activity has expanded, it has come into contact with the economic order at more and more points. The result has been a notable increase in the number of citizen groups affected. the strength of their interest, and the pressure which they are willing and able to apply. As formulators and advocates of measures they surpass the political parties in significance. They are the originators of many of the proposals which later become the law of the land. Their aims and interests pervade the whole sphere of Federal legislation, both domestic and foreign.

Domestic problems.

Many domestic problems, especially economic problems, have assumed a public aspect because organized groups strive to realize their objectives through legislation.

The outstanding issues in the sphere of industrial relations are those raised by the groups into which labor and management are organized. Both the A. F. of L. and the C. I. O. seek the "American standard of living" for their members. In seeking Government help to achieve it, they project into the area of public concern such matters as the worker's rights to organize, to bargain collectively, and to strike. These matters have, therefore, become public problems of the first order. Resort to the "sit-down" strike by the C. I. O. quickly made that variation of labor's traditional weapon a public problem. The A. F. of L. has long fought for the recognition of the worker as "a partner in production" and, hence, as "entitled to an equal voice with management in shaping industrial destinies." The political strength of the millions of federation members removes such an objective from the position of a minority aim, and makes it a matter of public interest and concern.

The efforts of organized management to achieve certain aims likewise lift them to the plane of public importance. Maintenance of the "American system," especially as regards freedom of enterprise

“Of equal or greater significance (than the parties as formulator and advocate of measures) is a long series of professional and trade associations, which are from time to timeinterested in the programs of political parties and the course of legislation." C. E. Merriam and II. F. Gosnell, The American Party System, Macmillan, New York, 1929, p. 218.

and the private ownership and control of production, is an objective of the National Association of Manufacturers. The United States Chamber of Commerce seeks control of industrial production in private enterprise by trade associations under Government supervision. The National Catholic Welfare Conference sponsors a plan for an economic system of occupational groups under Government supervision. A major purpose of the Institute of American Meat Packers is to secure cooperation in lawfully furthering and protecting the interests and general welfare of the industry-a simple statement of purpose which inevitably involves problems of monopoly. Allied problems with a public aspect inhere in the American Petroleum Institute's stand on marketing pacts. Such agreements should be permitted, says this interest group, when made voluntarily by any industry in order to eliminate unfair competition. Other examples can be cited. The National Lumber Manufacturers Association advocates production control. The National Coal Association approves of retail price fixing. The National Association of Wool Manufacturers opposes tariff bargaining by the President. Because of the first amendment to the Constitution, the American Newspaper Publishers Association regards newspaper publishing as a "privileged" business. The public importance of these private aims and objectives can be traced largely to their advocacy by such groups.

Additional examples pile up the evidence. Unemployment relief, social security, and housing are vexing problems, which, if not originally injected into the area of public concern by citizen groups, are nevertheless undergoing constant hammering at their hands. Many questions connected with the railroads are traceable to the Association of American Railroads' desire that all forms of transportation should be treated alike as regards regulation, taxation, and subsidies. In the same way, the conflict between government and the electric and gas utilities has to a considerable extent grown out of the desire of utility operators to maintain the private ownership and control of these utilities, free from effective public regulation. In the controversial issue of public control of short- and long-term credit centers the dispute between government and commercial banking. The Investment Bankers Association continues to advocate "self regulation," and the American Bankers Association desires "non-political" control of credit.

Other groups besides business and labor accept the policy of active Government intervention in economic and social spheres. Back of the National Education Association's program of specific goals is its fundamental belief that Government should act as the agent of society in providing for its members physical, economic, and mental security, equality of opportunity, and freedom. The National League of Women Voters holds that there is a large area of proper activity for the Federal Government in the field of economic welfare. Equality for agriculture is the long-time objective of the American Farm Bureau Federation and of the National Grange, involving many detailed legislative proposals. Popular respect for the Supreme Court and its interpretation of the Constitution is due in large measure to the American Bar Association.

Prohibition, the World War veterans' bonus, and prohibition repeal are among the best known examples of citizen group aims which became public problems. The first was the objective of the Anti-Saloon League, the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and allied groups;

the second, one of the main objectives of the American Legion and other veterans' groups; while the third was the object of the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment.

Problems of Foreign Affairs.

In the fields of foreign policy and of national defense, interest groups of various kinds help sharpen the issues before the country. Their importance in this connection is not constant. It fluctuates. In time of peace, patriotic groups are relatively more important than economic interest groups, although the latter are by no means negligible. In the merchant marine and air transport industries, business groups are important shapers of policy even in peacetime, because of the potential value of ships and aircraft in war.

In time of war or threat of war, patriotic groups become relatively less important, and are supplanted by business and industry, upon which the Nation depends for its means of defense. The Nation's experience in the spring and summer of 1940 illustrates the point. The Nazi conquest of a large part of Europe confronted the Nation with an emergency. In meeting it the National Association of Manufacturers was more influential than the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, although the latter was by no means a passive onlooker.

However, the overpowering influence of Nazi military successes in 1940 on our defense and foreign policies should not be allowed to obscure the role played by interest groups in these fields in the past decade. Then, as now, the outstanding public problems concerned neutrality, joint action with other nations against treaty-breaking aggressors, the size of the Army and Navy, and the possible uses to which they might be put. These problems were obviously public in nature, but what factors, singly and in combination, thrust them into the area of immediate public concern?

Washington's alleged admonition against entangling alliances, the Monroe Doctrine, Wilson's dream of a League of Nations, trade and investments in Europe and in Asia, overseas possessions, all come to mind, but in themselves they are probably not sufficient to explain the form in which the issues were debated. Many Americans recall Wilson's fight for the League, but even for them such historic events. are not of primary importance. Nor do trade and financial statistics fix the attitude of the farmer, the garage mechanic, or the shipping clerk on the puzzling problems of foreign policy. Similarly, the objective geographic facts of Alaska, of Hawaii, and the Panama Canal do not bulk very large in the average citizen's mind in connection with foreign affairs. Factors other than these operated to raise these facts. of history, of economics, of strategy and diplomacy to the level of public discussion, and thus to confront the voters and their elected representatives in Congress with questions of policy requiring at least tentative answers.

Among these factors are the ideas, the methods, and the membership of such organized citizen groups as the D. A. R., the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Navy League. Also important are those of the National Council for the Prevention of War, the American Peace Society, and the National League of Women Voters. There are many others, of course. All of them interpret facts and events in the light of the principles and assumptions em