MONEY TALKS

Even the most cursory readers of the daily press must be now familiar with the fact that the Senate is investigating the activities of a man whose chief claim to fame is that of most famous thrower of monkey wrenches in the machinery of progress. On his own representation, he blocked the famous Geneva conference for a trifling monetary consideration. That he bent every effort toward doing so, there is no doubt. That he was paid to do just that thing, the corporations which gave him the money are endeavoring to disprove. The situation is disagreeable to every one except, perhaps, Mr. Shearer, who appears to derive the pleasures of life in what must be termed at best, unusual ways.

Editorial comment is universal in decrying any interested attempt to block a parley which seemed to promise a long step on the road to universal peace. It is hard to see how any intelligent opinion can fail to repudiate such small minded paltering with matters so vital to humanity as a whole, but it is still too early to make specific charges. In a social system which depends so entirely upon the integrity of big corporations, even the most radical can derive but a sad sort of pleasure in a gleeful "I told you so" when big business is cast under a black shadow. As yet the shadow has not settled definitely over more than a single individual; the Senate's findings are still far from complete and fairness as well as a decent confidence in American institutions demands a complete suspension of judgement until all the evidence is in. One thing, however, seems moderately clear, the institution of lobbying in general is in need of as thorough investigation as that given to any specific case however noxious.