The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-03-12
Red Tape in Washington.

out OF the mouths Of cabinet Off
GERS, safely resigned and therefore no
longer subject to discipline, cometh
truth" such is the comment of the
washington Herald tInd.) on the
searching diagnosis Of governmental ills
made by Franklin X. Lane as he re-
linquished the interior portfolio.
To much red tape" is the sub
stance of eX-Secretary Lanes answer to
the question, what ails Washington?
Our capital, he says, rs a combination
Of political caucus, drawing room and
civil service bureau" and he continues
1T Is rich in brains and character.
1t Is honest beyond any commercial
standard. II wishes to do everything
that will promote the public good. But
1t is poorly organized for the task that
belongs to it, Fewer men of larger
capacity would do the task better. Abil-
ity is not lacking, but it is pressed to
the point of paralysis because of in
finitude of details and an unwililngness
on the part of the great body of public
servants to take responsibility. Every
one seems to be afraid of everyone. The
self-protectiVe sense is developed alb
normally, the creative sense atrophies,
While Mr.. Lane does not say in so
many words that the government has
become bureaucratic" the New York
World (Dem.) thinks that is the name
Of the thing which he describes and
symptoms of stagnation and dry rot rot
that indicate the presence of bureauc-
| racy as unfailingly In America as in
Russia" The Idaho Statesman (Rep)
asserts that instead of overstating the
| case he rather UNDERSTANDS it, but he
certainly hit the nail on the head ,wher,
| he declares that fewer men of larger
capacity would do better than the
poorly organized army of officials who
now have in hand the conduct of the
| government business. One
man who has the courage of his convic-
| lions and will take chance at making
a mistake is better than ten men who
adopt the policy of inaction and let
matters drift because they dread the
responsibility of making a decision"
A great cause of the trouble is, ac-
cordlng to the Philadelphia Inquirer
| (Rep.) that lin order to prevent pos
sibe fraud or error we have constantly
thrown safeguards around action until
red tape is choking all men save those
with courage enough to disregard it, and
apparently there are few such in Wash
ington," and, following up the same
idea, the Greensboro Daily News Qnd.,
declares that what America needs t
learn in governmental policy is to picl
good man and tell him to go to it,
The fact that office does not carry wit.
it responsibility and opportunity, add:
the Detroit Journal Qnd. Rep.), lis one
reason why strong, vigorous men like
Franklin X. Lane chuck $12, 000-a-ye
cabinet jobs to enter positions in thu
business world where there is some out
let for their energies"
The remedies suggested by Mr.. LAM
have the Endorsement of the Boston
Post Qnd. Dem.), which summaries
them thus:
THAT greater power of discretion b.
given to public servants, quicker pro
motion or discharge, a sure insurance oil
disability, and salaries for higher Off
GERS twice as large as those now given
Above all, the man at the top SHOULD
be free from details and able to devot
himself to questions of planning poll
cies to be followed
1t seems to the Dallas, News lind
Dem) that this means cabinet officer
should have larger grant of conf
: dence from the president who appoint
them" But this is "a matter whicl
could hardly be touched by law, sine
congress could confer no Independent
authority on cabinet officers withou
subtracting from that which the con
stitution gives the president. The New
suggests, however, that
perhaps that end could be accom-
plished in some measure by making
members of the cabinet also member
of congress for debating purposes.
that were done, a president in choosing