The Lobbyists
by. Atlantic—Little, Brown, $3.50.
The Lobbyists compels a reviewer to resort to the battered cliché: Every American should read this book. In the hands of a writer of less integrity, the story could easily have been played for sensationalism. Mr. Schriftgiesser has preferred to stick to a scrupulously documented history of lobbying “through its development from the simple days of persuasion down to the present time,”and he has tried to show “ how lobbying, which is both good and evil, Has become an integral part of the democratic legislative process.”Judging from the record, lobbying today is more often evil than good. The most active lobbyists are fighting the Cause of extreme reaction, and in many cases disobeying the Regulation of Lobbying Act passed by Congress in 1946.