Evening star., 1921-05-27
BY WILL u. Kennedy.

Changes proposed in the Departm ent
of Justice, fitting it in with the uni
functional scheme of reorganization
of the administrative departments as
recommended to the. joint .coDgres-
s:onal committee by the Institute for
Government Research. are:
]. Transfer of the bureau of natu-
raiization from the Department of
Labor to the Department of Justice.
?. Other changes raised ;or con-
eideration: (a) Status Of solicitors for
the departments: tb) status Of serv-
ices for the detection of infract!ons
Of law: tc} possible transfer of ONCE
of superintendent of prisons to pro-
posed department of public health.
The institute finds so little to change
in the Department of Justice because.
as now organized. it is eSse entIaily a
unffunctional department, which is
the fundamental rule for the proposed
reorganization.
One Definite Change Urged.
Regarding the one definite change
recommended, the report says:
The transfer of the bureau of nat
nralization from the Department of
Labor to Justice is recommended.
sirce the work Gf passing upon appli-
cations of aliens for naturalization is
Performed. almost wholly. II st nos
handling of these cases, moreover.
often give rise to lesa! questions re-
earring the construct O.; OF the natu-
raiZat;on lavN by 'he Legal branch OF
the government or tn. courts. In
View of this. it is believed that it is
desirable that the judicial departme nj
should have the direct responsibility
u. for the administration of the services.
That department is the ore thar main
tains working relations with the
courts. and instructions - and con-
1rot over district attorneys or other
officers of the courts come better
from it than any other department.
Other Findings.
Though this constitutes the on'y
positive recommendation. the inst
tute finds that the Department OF
Justice presents other questions
Iab At the present time the So
t~h their offices are integra
p":ts of the administrative ma
c,Iiuery of the departments to which
they are attached. are for the most
part technically officers of the De-
partment of Justice. Provision for
their salaries is thus carried in the
appropriations for that department.
IT is suggested that this is not a
. desirable arrangement. These officers
are the legal advisers of the depart
menus IN " NlC1 tHey
perform their duties under the i'm
mediate direction and control Of the
heads of such departments. 1t would
= seem to be more logical, therefore
that they should be officers of such
departments
fb) Within recent years there has
been a great development in services
having for their purpose the investi-
cation of infractions of federal law
and the taking of steps leading up
to detection and apprehension of per-
sons guilty of such infraetions. These
services bear various names. such as
secret service. inspection service. etc
The most important are: The bureau
of investigation in the Departme mt
Of Justio/ the secret service in the
Treasury Department. the office OF
chief inspector in the Post once De
partment and the Office of prohibition
commissioner in the bureau OF in
ternal revenue. Treasury Department
Need of Concentration.
The existence of these services
scattered among the several depart.
nents raises the question whether j,
is not desirable to abolish them al
separate departmental services ant
concentrate all of their duties in tho
bureau of investigation of the De
Partment of Justice. Until mos
careful investigation is made il j.