New-York tribune., 1920-03-02
The Governments Ailment

cans have feel1ng CnaC paTCial
paralysis exists. There is ability
enough; there is high standard of
honesty, of good intent. But there is
also cramping restraint upon
ability; there is a universal unwill-
ingness to assume responsibility;
there are documents by the acre and
accomplishment reduced to the low
est terms. AS Mr.. Lane says:
every one seems to be afraid of
every one. The self-protective sense
is developed abnormally, the crea-
tive sense atropl les.
The war saw outside business men
wade in and get results-in some de-
partments. All such results were
obtained by more or less complete
ignoring of official leadership. Now,
with the war need over, Washington
relapses into it's familiar bureau
cratic sloth. The country beholds
such matters as the after-care of our
soldiers botched-obstructe and
confused by interminable delays.
1t must be confessed that Mr..
Lane offers few practical suggestions
for betterment. His analysis Of
evils is eloquent, but his remedies
seem inadequate Doubling the
salaries of high administrative Of
ficers, for example. What is the use
of paying more for ability that is
tied hand and foot by law and GUS
tom? The American who has recent
~ thought the most and done the
most along these lines Of govern
mental reforms is undoubtedly
Governor Lowden of Illinois, and his
ideas are we'll worth Widespread at
tention as supplementing the state
mcnt by Mr.. Lane. Government in
America has become "sod- bound"
according TO former phrase which
Governor Lowden is fond of using,
and that he used to good advantage
in securing reform legislation in his
state. 1t has been too long a pasture
for safe jobs, and nothing short
of blowing the field under, break
ing up the soil and freeing the
ability therein, can help matters.
That is only metaphor, but Gov
ernor Lowden knows what he
means by it, and has expressed its
meaning in law in Illinois.
His reform of governmental ma
chinery there has been usually de-
scribed as ending the hundred odd
independent commissions and reor-
ganizing the business of the state
under few powerful department
heads, similar to the Cabinet at
Washington. Thus stated, the re-
form has no applicability to the ma
tional government, which suffers
only in minor degree from the COM
mission evil. But this change was
only part Of the work accomplished
by Governor Lowden. His study of
governmental machinery led him to
see that while this formal reorgani-
zation was necessary it did not go
to the root of the evil. He saw that
nothing would be gained by creating
centralized heads of departments,
unless those heads had free hand
to do the states business as seemed
best to them.
Under the old laws of the state
the powers of every officer, high and
low, were sharply limited; the form
and organization of every office was
fixed by statute. If these same reg
ulations were transferred from the
old commissions to the new depart
ments, the governmental service of
the state would remain as "sod-
bound" as ever and little good would
be accomplished. Governor Lowden
succeeding in winning his legislators
to this point of view, and the new or
ganization of the state seeks to give
to each department. head the maxi
mum of freedom in his Office. Instead
Of tying the hands of each employee
and making safety the one sure
price of success, the effort is to give
as full play as possible for ability
and energy.
Here is, we submit, a real hope
for improvement at Washington. The
essential evil there is the same as
the essential evil in Illinois. What
Governor Lowden did for his state
could be done for the nation at
Washington. The reform involves
readjustment Of our American at
titude' toward government. We must
cease to regard it as q dreaded
rnonst4sr, to be bound hand and foot
and permitted 70 exist only as
necessary evil. We must realize