entente with France, which Prince Lobanov helped to convert into a formal alliance between the two powers. In the Far East he was not less active, and became the protector of China in the same sense as he had shown himself the protector of Turkey. Japan was compelled to give up her conquests on the Chinese mainland, so as not to interfere with the future action of Russia in Manchuria, and the financial and other schemes for increasing Russian influence in that part of the world were vigorously supported. All this activity, though combined with a haughty tone towards foreign governments and diplomatists, did not produce much general apprehension, probably because there was a widespread conviction that he desired to maintain peace, and that his great ability and strength of character would enable him to control the dangerous forces which he boldly set in motion. However this may be, before he had time to mature his schemes, and when he had been the director of Russian policy for only eighteen months, he died suddenly of heart disease when travelling with the emperor on the 30th of August 1896. Personally Prince Lobanov was a grand seigneur of the Russian type, proud of being descended from the independent princes of Rostov, and at the same time an amiable man of wide culture, deeply versed in Russian history and genealogy, and perhaps the first authority of his time in all that related to the reign of the emperor Paul. (D. M. W.)
LÖBAU, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Saxony, on
the Löbau water, 12 m. S.E. of the town of Bautzen, on the
Dresden-Görlitz railway. Pop. (1905) 10,683. There is a spa,
König Albert-Bad, largely frequented during the summer season.
The town has agricultural implement, pianoforte, sugar, machine-building
and button works, and trade in grain, yarn, linen and
stockings. Other industries are spinning, weaving, dyeing,
bleaching and brewing.
Löbau is first mentioned as a town in 1221; it received civic rights early in the 14th century and, in 1346, became one of the six allied towns of Lusatia. It suffered severely during the Hussite war and was deprived of its rights in 1547.
See Bergmann, Geschichte der Oberlausitzer Sechsstadt Löbau (Bischofswerda, 1896); and Kretschmer, Die Stadl Löbau (Chemnitz, 1904).
LOBBY, a corridor or passage, also any apartment serving as an ante-room, waiting room or entrance hall in a building. The Med. Lat. lobia, laubia or lobium, from which the word was directly adapted, was used in the sense of a cloister, gallery or covered place for walking attached to a house, as defined by Du Cange (Gloss. Med. et Inf. Lat., s.v. Lobia), porticus operta ad spatiandum idonea, aedibus adjuncta. The French form of lobia was loge, cf. Ital. loggia, and this gave the Eng. “lodge,” which is thus a doublet of “lobby.” The ultimate derivation is given under Lodge. Other familiar uses of the term “lobby” are its application (1) to the entrance hall of a parliament house, and (2) to the two corridors known as “division-lobbies,” into which the members of the House of Commons and other legislative bodies pass on a division, their votes being recorded according to which “lobby,” “aye” or “no,” they enter. The entrance lobby to a legislative building is open to the public, and thus is a convenient place for interviews between members and their constituents or with representatives of public bodies, associations and interests, and the press. The influence and pressure thus brought to bear upon members of legislative bodies has given rise to the use of “to lobby,” “lobbying,” “lobbyist,” &c., with this special significance. The practice, though not unknown in the British parliament, is most prevalent in the United States of America, where the use of the term first arose (see below).
LOBBYING, in America, a general term used to designate the
efforts of persons who are not members of a legislative body to
influence the course of legislation. In addition to the large
number of American private bills which are constantly being
introduced in Congress and the various state legislatures, there
are many general measures, such as proposed changes in the tariff
or in the railway or banking laws, which seriously affect special
interests. The people who are most intimately concerned naturally
have a right to appear before the legislature or its representative,
the committee in charge of the bill, and present their
side of the case. Lobbying in this sense is legitimate, and may
almost be regarded as a necessity. Unfortunately, however,
all lobbying is not of this innocent character. The great industrial
corporations, insurance companies, and railway and
traction monopolies which have developed in comparatively
recent years are constantly in need of legislative favours; they
are also compelled to protect themselves against legislation which
is unreasonably severe, and against what are known in the slang
of politics as strikes or hold-ups.[1] In order that these objects
may be accomplished there are kept at Washington and at the
various state capitals paid agents whose influence is so well
recognized that they are popularly called “the third house.”
Methods of the most reprehensible kind have often been employed
by them.
Attempts have been made to remedy the evil by constitutional prohibition, by statute law and by the action of the governor of the state supported by public opinion. Improper lobbying has been declared a felony in California, Georgia, Utah, Tennessee, Oregon, Montana and Arizona, and the constitutions of practically all of the states impose restrictions upon the enactment of special and private legislation. The Massachusetts anti-lobbying act of 1890, which has served as a model for the legislation of Maryland (1900), Wisconsin (1905) and a few of the other states, is based upon the publicity principle. Counsel and other legislative agents must register with the sergeant-at-arms giving the names and addresses of their employers and the date, term and character of their employment. In 1907 alone laws regulating lobbying were passed in nine states—Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas.
See James Bryce, American Commonwealth (New York, ed. 1889), i. 673-678; Paul S. Reinsch, American Legislatures and Legislative Methods (New York, 1907), chaps. viii., ix.; Margaret A. Schaffner, “Lobbying,” in Wisconsin Comparative Legislation Bulletins, No. 2; and G. M. Gregory, The Corrupt Use of Money in Politics and Laws for its Prevention (Madison, Wis., 1893).
LOBE, any round projecting part, specifically the lower part of the external ear, one of the parts into which the liver is divided, also one of several parts of the brain, divided by marked fissures (see Liver and Brain). The Greek λοβός, from which “lobe” is derived, was applied to the lobe of the ear and of the liver, and to the pod of a leguminous plant.
LOBECK, CHRISTIAN AUGUST (1781–1860), German classical
scholar, was born at Naumburg on the 5th of June 1781. After
having studied at Jena and Leipzig, he settled at Wittenberg in
1802 as privat-docent, and in 1810 was appointed to a professorship
in the university. Four years later, he accepted the chair
of rhetoric and ancient literature at Königsberg, which he
occupied till within two years of his death (25th of August
1860). His literary activities were devoted to the history of
Greek religion and to the Greek language and literature. His
greatest work, Aglaophamus (1829), is still valuable to students.
In this he maintains, against the views put forward by G. F.
Creuzer in his Symbolik (1810–1823), that the religion of the
Greek mysteries (especially those of Eleusis) did not essentially
differ from the national religion; that it was not esoteric;
that the priests as such neither taught nor possessed any higher
knowledge of God; that the Oriental elements were a later
importation. His edition of the Ajax of Sophocles (1809) had
gained him the reputation of a sound scholar and critic; his
Phrynichus (1820) and Paralipomena grammaticae graecae
(1837) exhibit the widest acquaintance with Greek literature.
He had little sympathy with comparative philology, holding that
it needed a lifetime to acquire a thorough knowledge of a single
language.
See the article by L. Friedländer in Allgemeine deutsche Biographie; C. Bursian’s Geschichte der klassischen Philologie in Deutschland (1883); Lehrs, Populäre Aufsätze aus dem Altertum (2nd ed., Leipzig, 1875); Ludwich, Ausgewählte Briefe von und an Chr. Aug. Lobeck und K. Lehrs (1894); also J. E. Sandys, History of Classical Scholarship, i. (1908), 103.
- ↑ Bills introduced for purposes of blackmail.
