Evening star., 1920-11-28
10 PUT GOVERNMENT
ON A BUSINESS BASIS
Efforts Will. Be Made to Adopt a Plan
Eliminating the Duplication of
Federal Activities.

organizations have pursued their
that they were duplicating work done
by other government bureaus.
Preparing to '.'rake Stock
And now Uncle Sam. through Con-
gress. is preparing to take stock
There are going to be many wrenches
when it comes to digging up a long
rooted bureau or commission and put
ting 1t in a new place, and to looping
of some Of them entirely. or merging
them with other bureaus And many
wires will be pulled. 1t is likely that
some of these Independent govern
ment organizations will be strong
enough to retain their independence
and the efforts OF the reformers will
not be as successful as they might,
For instance. the Interstate Commerce
commission. the Federal Reserve Board
and the Federal Trade Commission
PROBABLY will not be disturbed. and
'he Tarih Commission may survive as
an entity. though it appears there is
no good reason why it should not
come under the Department of Com
inerce. There are ten major execu-
| i've departments represented in the
CABINET, but there are some forty in
dependent miscellaneous government
bureaus, boards and commissions. And
1t seems that all Of these. or as near
all as possible. should be consolidated
with the departments.
IL may be that the number OF
| major departments will be increased
The Mccormick bill abolishes the
department of the Interior. but pro-
| Vioes Tor two new departments, one
department Of public works and
the other a department of public
welfare. Senator Kenyon of Iowa
has bill ready for introduction pro-
! posing new department of public
| welfare. Senator Harding, President
elect. has expressed great sympathy
with the plan to establish such a
department Senator Harry New of
| Indiana. has long striven for the es-
| tablishment of a separate department
! OF aeronautics. And other senators
| have urged a separate department of
| public health and a separate depart
! ment Of education.
To End Duplication.
But the main object to be accom-
! plished. whether the number of de-
partments with cabinet officers at
! their heads be increased or not, is to
put an end to duplication of work
| and useless work. which is costing
the government millions of dollars
today. The danger is that this or
that head of a bureau or department
may have influence enough with
members Of Congress to cling to GER
tain activities which should, as a
matter of fact, be merged with the
| activities of another bureau or de-
partment-
| Some Of the states of the Union
have set the federal government a
good example in the way of clearing
house and reorganization of their
| executive branch. In Illinois. under
Gov. Lowden's administration. there
was not only adopted a budget sys-
tenn, but the entire system was re-
arranged and the governments
activities were correlated and placed
| under one or the other bureau. In
| New York Gov. Smith appointed a
state reconstruction commi ssion.
which has reported a plan that calls
for a more simple, economical and
responsible government organization.
1t has been the hope Of some MEM
bers Of Congress that similar plan
might be adopted for the federal
government On the other hand. it is
realized that if the attempted re-
make enough enemies to prevent any
plan from going through
Proposed Commission.
A commission to make a special
study Of the reorganization of the
| executive departments of the govern
ment, it has been suggested, might
| well be appointed. in view of the i'm
/ portance of the task to the country
Such a commission could be composed
of members of Congress, or of men
| of recognized business ability outside
of official life, or of both. 1t may
| be mentioned in this connection that
Senator Smoot of Utah succeeded in
| having the Senate adopt. at the last
session. a joint resolution creating a
| joint committee of Congress on the
reorganization of the administrative
| branch Of the government. It was
not acted upon in the House, but re-
mains before the House judiciary
committee. Three senators and three
representatives were to compose this
committee, whose duty it would be
to make a survey of all the admins
trative services of the government
and report to Congress it's recon-