Lobbying In Washington; Food, fund-raisers, fovors are lobyists stock in trade

ALEXANDER HAY Alexander Hay was the chief Washington representative of Samuel Colt, the firearms manufacturer, in the years just preceding the Civil War. Handsome and florid, Hay plied legislators with free food, drink, revolvers, and female companionship.

EDWARD PENDLETON

Another prominent lobbyist of the 1850's, Edward Pendleton ran a popular gambling house on Pennsylvania Avenue that was known as the ''Palace of Fortune.'' His power on Capitol Hill stemmed from the fact that he often lent money to legislators who went broke at his tables.

SAMUEL WARD

Brother of Julia Ward Howe, author of ''The Battle Hymn of the Republic,'' Samuel Ward was the uncrowned king of lobbyists from 1865-80. Railroads were among his main clients. Ward was short, stout, and wore a spade-shaped white beard, and said constantly ''the way to a man's 'Aye' is through his stomach.'' He was famous for serving breakfasts of ham boiled in champagne, with whisps of new-mown hay added for flavor.

THOMAS CORCORAN

The root of ''Tommy the Cork's'' influence lay in the years he spent as a trusted aide to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. After he left the government in 1940, his New Deal contacts made Corcoran a much-sought corporate lobbyist. At one point he boasted of turning away clients ''by the hundreds.'' He was a man of large ambitions; among his pet projects was an attempt to turn Taiwan into a banana-growing power.

CHARLS WALKER

Charls Walker (his mother left the ''e'' out of his name in a vain attempt to head off the nickname ''Charlie'') was a deputy treasury secretary during the first Nixon administration. The genial economist is now president of his own economic consulting and lobbying firm. He is widely credited with being a principal author of President Reagan's 1981 tax bill.

THOMAS BOGGS

Tommy Boggs was to politics born - the son of the late Rep. Hale Boggs (D) of Louisiana, former Speaker of the House, and Rep. Lindy Boggs (D) of Louisiana. He is one of today's premier lawyer-lobbyists in Washington, with his power based on the fact that he is a skilled political fund-raiser. For the most part, Boggs remains true to his roots and raises money for Democrats.