12:30
Langdon turned to him and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling despairingly . `` I 'm blamed if I know ! '' he exclaimed . -LSB- Illustration : `` TO-MORROW AT 12:30 . '' -RSB- Washington has known many lobbyists in its time , and it keeps on knowing them . The striking increase in legislation that aims to restrict unlawful or improper practices in business , the awakening of the public conscience , has caused a greater demand than ever for influence at the national capital , for these restrictive measures must be either killed or emasculated to a point of uselessness by that process which is the salvation of many a corrupt manipulator , the process of amendment . Predatory corporations , predatory business associations of different sorts and predatory individuals have their representatives on the field at Washington to ward off attack by any means that brains can devise or money procure and to obtain desired favors at a cost that will leave a profitable balance for the purchaser .