The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1918-08-31


Tribune.
COORDINATION AT THE TOP
AGAIN
The need of unifying control and d.
rection Of aircraft production, of which
we have already spoken, would bid fai'
to be met as promptly and satisfactorily
as possible b ythe bill which Senator New
has prepared, were there any assurance
that the administration will permit that
measure to become law. Seeing, how
ever, that it has been introduced by a
Senator who does not belong to the Adj
ministration party, there is danger-poli
tics being adjourned that Secretary
Brake or someone else will presently do
clare that it will not do at all, and tnat
the present situation lis entirely salts
factory" and so delay the whole business
and retain the existing muddle of cross
purposes for few months, until some
body identified with the Administration
can garble and plagarize the rejected bill
and introduce it and drive it through
with great flourish of trumpets as an
Administration measure.
!, But whatever comes of it>the incident
gives renewed emphasis to our urgings
OF some time ago, that there should be
more perfect coordination, of forces high
up in the departments of government,
hs well as in minor affairs and in those
business enterprises over which the gov
eminent has extended temporary con-
troll. We are quite agreed that if, it. is
necessary for the winning of the war, the
government shall take charge of the
transportation lines and communication
lines and what not else. But we should
certainly be as much agreed and as
strongly insistent that in its own legitim-
ate departments of administration the
government should follow the same rule.
! Aircraft production does not afford
the only example of the need of such CO.
ordination. Last week saw another ship
building controversy, between General
Goethals and Mr.. Hurley, scarcely : less
sharp than that of unblessed memeory
between General Goethals and Mr.. Den
man. There may be room for two opin-
ions over the merits and the desirability
OF building concrete ships. But it is GER
tainly neither edifying nor profitable to
have two or three separate organizations
or officers undertaking to build ships for
the government, and to have one of them
interior with another and to say that it
shall not build any more or shall not have
any more material for building. That is
certainly not the way to win the war. We
are not going to indulge between the War
department and the Shipping Board. But
we do unhesitatingly say that thew
should be in harmony with each other
Some time ago, if we remember cor
rectly, there was driven through Con-
gress under whip and spru bill giving
the President quite unprecedented and
altogether extraordinary powers for re-
organizing the executive departments of
the government according to his own will
and Judgment. We have not heard of
his having thus far done anything par
tlcularly revolutionary under the author
lzatlon. He has not merged the State
and Labor departments, nor made the
attorney General clerk of the Postof-
flee department. But it strikes us that if
the law is worth the paper it is printed
on, 1t ought to enable him to coordinate
these supremely essential activities of |
government. If not, then let us have a
law that will.
what we want are ships and airplanes
and not wrangling over the question who |
rs to build them;-North American Re-
views War Weekly