Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1921-06-24
EDITORIAL OF THE DAY
THE BATTLE OF THE BUREAuoRATs.
(From the Chicago Tribune


To carry out his plan for a reorganization Of
government bureaus and reallocation of services
tsenon 81 tbe overappng of various agencies
President Harding, with the Endorsement OF the
cabinet has declared war upon the influence Oh
the bureaucrats in opposing government reorgan-
izaton. .,
to serve notice upon each bureau chief and IN
dividual employe that propaganda against the
effort to reform the government machinery VIII
meet with instant dismissal from the service. 10
any one acquainted in any degree with the waste
and inefficiency of some of the government Du-
reaus this stand will seem to be well taken. For
instance there are twenty-seven separate agencies
engaged in construction of public buildings SIX
teen distinct departments building roads, and nine
teen engaged in hydraulics river and harbor work
None of these agencies are co-ordinated Each
is doing trying to do more or less the same
thing. Each is trespassing on the others pre-
negatives each doing the thing differently,
some better than others, some as best they can,
but all together duplicating, wasting ana delaying
It is obvious that little coordination brought
| about through bureau reform you'd add greatly
to the efficiency of these bureaus and at the
time would greatly reduce expenses by dsmissing
those employees who are merely dupneatinlg ana
ural that employees of these various agencies, fear
| ing to lose their jobs, should oppose the contem-
plated reform. But no such attachment to job
ought to be allowed to prevent the reform which
means a saving of millions of dollars year to
! the taxpayers and attendant improvement in
| the speed and quality Of work accomplished
President Harding has merely declared himself to
But now comes the Institute for Public serv.
ice" through its director, William H. Allen, with
/ a mimeographed question evidently distributed
throughout the country: viii not readers Of
your local newspapers welcome discussion OF
the relative benefits and injuries from the frees
possible expression of information and judgment
| by federal employees, from federal reorganization
| without discussion and from federal reorganiza-
ton after MISUNDERSTANDING have been removed?
l The question is subty put. 1t leaves the i'm
| pcation that the president is planning to gag al
employees. That is not the truth He has made
| 1t clear that the order to bureau chiefs does no
mean that they would not be given an oppor
tuny to express their views reorganization t
the commission which has undertaken the work
Any constructive suggestion which they may hav
to offer will be given full consideration. eth
freest possible expression Of information and judg
ment by federal employees" to which the circula
refers will be allowed. But free expression doe
not whispered word argument to
lobbyist. That is what the president seeks t.
stop. In that he is right. Bureaucrats who in
terpret freedom to mean license to lobby for thei
jobs will be and ought to be summarily dismissed
as menace to good government.
The reorganization committee under Waite
Brown of Ohio has a great and important tas
before. it. 1t ought to have the support of tn
cabinet and the country Selfish opposition shoult
be dealt with summarilys - .n@-.