The Alaska daily empire., 1919-08-25
A WESTERN CAPITAL
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Congressman Mays, of Utah, has intro duced bill for appropriating $1,O000OO for a branch headquarters for the Interior Department to be located "in some West State
 The suggestion of the Chronicle, made some years ago, is beginning to bear fruit. We have more than once pointed out the absurdity of referring much routine Gov ernment business and nearly all involving the exercise of any discretion by a public official to Washington. Some whipper snappers who happen to be bureau chiefs at Washington have gone so far as to re- quire simple routine letters asking local
 information to be written here and sent on to Washington to be signed by them selves and remailed, although they did not themselves know a thing about the mat ter A
 What is required is branch offices in this and several other large cities for each of the departments in charge of assistant secretaries with the same powers as those of assistant secretaries at Washington. The Department of the Interior, at least, should in addition have such branch of flee in some mountain state, which is pre- sumably what the Utah Congressman has in mind. His bill should be broadened in committee to cover the entire situation.
 In this city we have in the opera-house lot in the civic center a most appropriate site for building of that character. Un- occasionally the supervisors would grant the use of the lot for such a purpose, and it would be an advantage not only to the people of the West but to the Government itself.
 Residence in Washington adds nothing to the wisdom of officials, but does operate fearfully to afflict them with bighead This or any other large city could fill every Federal office in Washington--bar not even single one-with citizens quite capable as those who fill them now or have filled them. And in passing upon the multi tude of local questions which continually arise, officials on the spot would have the advantage of some personal Knowledge of them
 What this country most needs is a large measure of decentralization of Government. The Mays bill should be properly broadened and enacted into law. (San Francisco Chronicle)
 Branch offices for Cabinet Departments like arious branches of the Federal Reserve Bank ystem, as suggested by the San Francisco Chroni ould be a great boon to the country, and, fl easure, mitigate the annoyances that abound le Washington bureaus to such extent that aucratic government has become almost if lite a nuisance rather than helpful to the pee 
 better suggestion than that of the Chi le, and one not inconsistent with or destruc it, would be a Western capital. If the cap the Nation cannot be removed to Chicago is safe to assume that it cannot, Western e l where the President and his Cabinet would mpelled to spend part of the year, and wi alf the sessions of Congress would be held we ork wonders in making government in this co y thoroughly representative.
 But above both suggestions is the need for ederal Government to get out of the State b sss The area of the United States and the DO tion are too great to have the country mana one central government. Self-government nds upon the governments being kept close e people. and that is out of the question in untry if to have all authority cente Washington bureaus.
 The Constitution provides the means of keep yernment close to the people through the ser e States with their compact areas The tende recent years has been to disregard the States lch. and to allow the Federal Government to , much governing.
 Much of the fault for this condition rests W e States themselves. The people in too great gree have ceased to look to the State gove ,nts for remedies. and in too many instances ates have almost ceased to function. If the Sta uld assume the jurisdictions and powers the c tuition allows them they would crowd the nal Government out of their way, out of