The Washington herald., 1908-03-03
luyestica,lng the penartments.

The House has galvanized into life ten
inert and hitherto rather useless commit
tees-the committees on expenditures in
the executive Geparments-by the simple
process OF granting to each committee
clerk at s. a day for the remainder Of the
session. The process is so easy thar Il
is strange il was not thought Of before.
Just what has led the House to start ten
committees at work investigating depart
mental expenditures does not appear In
the Record. but the report Of the Com
mitteo on Accounts favorable 20 the al
lowance Of clerk hire 10 the defunct COM
mittees informs US that the present time
has been selected for the resuscitation
OF the expenditures committees when no
charges are pending 10 invite public at
tenton. or excite the public mind and TO
arouse partisanship. There Is no par
ticular head which an investigation or IN
quiry is aimed to hit" The eve OF a
Presidential election would be poor time.
indeed, to pry out any possible depart
mental iregularity. and we do not an
ticipate any startling discoveries at this
session. 1t is contemplated. however. that
the magic Of ten Sc a day clerkships. shall
be made permanent. and that the ten ex-
penditures committees shall become. in
the language OF the Hughes report. ten
''watchful eyes on expenditures, exacting
careful stewardship on the part Of de-
partments and restoring to Congress. and
particularly TO the House, some preroga-
tive long ago cherished, but long since
lost"
This last strikes us as a good idea. The
part assigned TO Congress In the task
Of governmental administration is a very
large one. and there are some phases Of
it that a legislative body is liable to
shirk. The Hughes report does not blink
at the derelicton Of Congress in this re-
spect. 1t says that if Congress and its
committees We're doing their full duty
the creation by Executive order of such
bodies as the Keep Commission and the
Waterways Commission would be IN
necessary II not impossible. as would be
also the PRONUNCIATION Of many depart
mental regulations having all the force
OF law. These Executive acts. it is adj
mlttcd. were necessary in the public in
terest. but the important thing is that
they were made possible by the inertia
Of Congress In other words. to enlarge
the application Of these observations. the
inaction and negligence OF Congress tend
10 widen the sphere Of Executive disere
ton: the less Congress does, the more the
Executive feels compelled 20 do IN order to
carry on the public business efficiently.
II inertia on the part of Congress leads
to ''usurpation" on the part OF the Execu-
tive. the legislative branch has only it
self to blame. The remedy for "usurpa-
ton" If anything Of the sort exists. lies
with Congress, for the executive depart
ments can do little without express au-
thority OF law.
The Tevivification OF the ten "watchful
eyes, then, may be regarded as a symp-
tom of an awakening in the House 10 the
real measure OF its prerogative. and so
deserves commentator. Some useful work
has been done in the past by certain OF
the expenditures committees. and It is
evident that the field OF inquiry has not
grown smaller with the growth OF the
government departments. II il be possible
TO set IN motion. by the expenditure OF
only $50 a day, committees which may
save millions Of dollars in appropriations.
besides stimulating the quality OF public
service, we judge that the money out
lay is well warranted. Let the ten IN
quiries proceed