The Washington times., 1920-10-17

Times by Jsdss S. T. A~seu ON u
The standardization OF the Get. upon
which 90 much depends. II comwistsd
Of the Bscsstarisu OF War. Interior and
what may be popularity believed to be.
a "commission" entitled The FEDERAL
Water Power CemmIssion. composed.
OF thesecretariss Of War, Interior and
Agriculture. The commission i1ea
was heartily hailed on ali hands as
little less than . stroke Of genius
With evidence OF relief from Z
dilemma. and with the appearances OF
great conhdencs in this new creation.
Congress conferred much power upon
II and nearly everybody seems to ex-
pect great good 10 come out Of IT,
Having had considerable sxperisnce
In Federal departmental administra-
ton, II 10 not for me 10 be 80 san
suine. Commissions doubtless have
their place, which, A. ! see u. ID TO
be found In the intsrstices between
the great departments OF government
not covered by any one OF them We
too frequently ma them created.
however. not because they are the ap-
propriate agency but because Of per
sonal considerations. ~ temporary
expedisnts freauentiy to avoid or
compose disagreement. commits
sion. IL II is what II ought to be.
should not belong to any one depart
ment, nor should IL be an aggregate
OF several departments. II should be
independent and free OF all depart
mental strin6s. This is a fundamsn ntsi
OF administration. While believe
that a commission properly organixsd
would be an appropriate and effective
agency Tor the naturalization OF the
water power act, the Federal water
Power Commissioh 10 not such a com
mission. The bill apparently adopts
jprisdictional difficulty by comforting
the Jurisdiction upon all who claimed
IL. leaving them to get along as best
they can.
TOO MANY sCO0ks.-
This so-caiied commission IL a
hydra-headed body consisting not OF
three independent officials devoted TO
the duties OF the commission. bat OF
three secretaries. and not only OF three
secretaries but OF the three depart
ments Of the three secretaries. The Irt
expressly provides that the work OF
the commission shall be done through
the three departments and, their en-
gineerihg. technical, clerical and
other personnel. Now. the experts
enced know the difficulty Of getting
action In a single department Of gov
eminent and know also OF the fire..
auent interdepartmental differences
and jealousies. II must be remem-
bered that the department heads can
not give close personal attention to
such matters, and each is required,
necessarily as well as by the terms
Of the act to depend upon his own
technical personnel. The difficulties
will be increased by the number and
variety of such advices. Speaking
mathematically, I should say that the
difficulty OF securing departmental
action may be expected to increase
normally as the cube OF the number
Of departments involved. Upon this
subject particularly. which has pro
duced nothing for years but disag gree
ment, we should not expect the ready
unanirnity of the three secretaries and
their host OF official advisers.
But these three department heads
are not the only authorities with
which the applicant for license has
to deal. The act expressly provides
that no license affecting the navigabie
capacity Of any navigable waters Of
tho United States shall be issued until
the pianS or the project snail nave
been approved by the chief = en-
ginesrs. There will be very few de-
vlopments of which II can be said
with assurance that they have no
effect on naviEable capacity. Besides
all these Federal authorities the ap-
plicant must also deal with State au-
thority.
WELD VAST POWER.
The commission have q vast re-
sponsibiiity. 1t 10 they who deter
mine, in the frst instance at least.
not only the extent of their powers
but the scope of operation Of the act;
II 10 they who. In effect. select the
lice(see and determine in large meas
ute Npon the terms Of the license, for
after all they may impose any condi-
tion they please not Inconsistent with
the act; II 10 they who sit in judE-
ment upon the merits OF the project
and the conduct OF the licensee is
subject to their inquiry and super
vision in matters OF vital concern.
Much depends upon the manner in
which their powers are exercised. 1t
10 rt8rettable, As see II. that these
Important functions are imposed ex
oKicio upon three secretaries whose