Ethical Standards in American Legislative Chambers

• Author: Hubert H. Humphrey
• DOI: 10.1177/000271625228000108
• Published date: 01 March 1952
• Date: 01 March 1952
• Subject Matter: Articles

51

Ethical

Standards

in

American

Legislative

Chambers

By

HUBERT

H.

HUMPHREY

AMEDIEVAL

English

quatrain,

brought

to

the

attention

of

our

Subcommittee

on

Ethics

by

Senator

Douglas,

has

real

meaning

for

our

times.

Commenting

on

the

way

in

which

the

common

lands

were

enclosed

and

taken

over

by

the

nobility

of

England,

the

poet

wrote:

The

law

locks

up

both

man

and

woman

Who

steals

the

goose

from

off

the

common

But

lets

the

greater

felon

loose

Who

steals

the

common

from

the

goose.

Politics

is

not

practiced

in

a

vacuum;

and

the

activities

of

politicians

reflect,

albeit

with

some

distortion,

the

prevail-

ing

standards

of

American

society,

par-

ticularly

of

American

business.

Never-

theless,

transgressions

or

practices

that

might

be

overlooked

in

business

life

as-

sume

far

greater

importance

in

public

life

because

of

the

greater

magnitude

of

the

consequences.

For

instance,

the

businessman

who

uses

pull

to

&dquo;get

it

wholesale&dquo;

for

a

friend

is

regarded

as

doing

a

favor;

but

a

Congressman

who

uses

pull

to

get

a

contract

for

a

con-

stituent

is

often

regarded

as

having

committed

a

crime.

If

the

businessman

is

rewarded,

few

eyebrows

are

raised;

the

Congressman

who

accepts

gifts

is

re-

garded

as

having

compromised

himself.

AMERICAN

ATTITUDE

TOWARD

POLITICS

It

has

become

almost

a

truism

today

to

equate

politics

with

corruption.

Nor

is

this

a

new

phenomenon

in

our

so-

ciety.

A

member

of

the

Continental

Congress

joined

in

an

attempt

to

corner

the

market

on

flour,

despite

the

rigors

being

suffered

at

Valley

Forge.

Arte-

mus

Ward

amused

Lincoln

by

saying:

&dquo;I

am

no

politician,

and

my

other

habits

are . good.&dquo;

More

recently,

the

National

Opinion

Research

Center

dis-

covered

that

five

out

of

every

seven

Americans

believed

it

impossible

for

a

professional

politician

to

be

honest,

and

only

18

per

cent

of

America’s

parents

were

willing

to

let

their

sons

enter

po-

litical

careers.

This

is

a

revealing

if

startling

commentary

on

the

public

attitude

toward

politics.

American

public

office

has

little

tradi-

tion

of

honor

behind

it.

In

part,

this

can

be

traced

back

to

the

axiom:

&dquo;That

government

is

best

which

governs

least.&dquo;

Americans

have

habitually

ignored

the

government

as

much

as

possible

and

too

frequently

left

office-seeking

to

those

who

stood

to

gain

personally

from

it.

Too

many

people

still

cherish

this

early,

idyllic

concept

of

the

government-or

act

as

if

it

were

still

attainable.

At

bot-

tom,

the

solution

to

the

problem

of

cor-

ruption

in

legislative

bodies

lies

in

an

alert,

participating

and

interested

citi-

zenry.

Public

opinion

must

not

wait

for

the

disclosure

of

glaring

transgressions

before

rousing

itself

to

action:

it

must

constantly

support

men

of

integrity,

ability,

and

candor.

Only

the

active

participation

of

a

.large

proportion

of

the

electorate

in

political

activity-

through

the

medium

of

political

parties

-can

supplant

the

power

of

organized

pressure

groups

on

the

one

hand

and

backroom

politics

and

personal

favorit-

ism

on

the

other.

When

the

people

leave

politics

to

be

the

plaything

or

spe-

cial

interest

of

a

few,

the

public

can

ex-

pect

that

it

will

be

played

with

and

serve

the

special

economic

and

political

interests

of

the

participants.

Demo-

cratic

or

representative

government

is