The New York herald., 1921-06-15
The Cabinet.

and economy IN the administration Oh
the nations business.
1t is essential to restrict or lower
the number of members of the Cabi-
net to prevent it from becoming a
town meeting.
II is desirable to equalize bureaus
that have become of major impor.
tance with others that long have been
of major Importance.
And 1t is sensible to wipe out or re-
duce In rank any departments or
bureaus that have ceased to be Of
large Importance.
But it is a grave mistake for the
executive and legislative reorganizers
to contemplate programme which
would take separate and distinct Cab
met rank away from the Army and
separate and distinct Cabinet rank
away from the Navy, sinking the two
great, vital and honored departments
into bureaus, creating still another
third bureau for aviation and group
ing all three into one department OF
national defence.
The American people cherish dearly
as national institutions their Army
and their Navy alike. They know
that for many years to come, what
ever the disarmament talk and peace
dreams, nothing can be more irnpor-
tant to this far flung domain with its
millions of square miles of territory,
its thousands of leagues of seaboard,
its long stretching land borders, its
Panama Canal and its foreign posses
sions and dependencies than a Navy
Department and an Army Depart
ment, each of first rank among the
Cabinet departments at home and
each the peer in position and dignity
of the great Powers of the world, all
Of which have and will continue to
have separate and distinct Army De-
partments and Navy Departments.
Under any circumstances whatever
the American people would resist the
degradation of their beloved Army
and Navy Departments, glorious in
deed and renowned in history. But
IL this work of subordinating them
were done to make room in the Cabi-
net for such a thing as a'welfare
department to satisfy uplift yearn-
ings and groupings the square shout
dered, redblooded, hardheaded Ameri-
can public would boil with indigna-
tion and wrath.
To avoid increasing the depart
ments of Cabinet rank there is no
shadow of necessity, as there is no
color of excuse, for merging the Army
and Navy. There are other depart
ments that can be turned into
bureaus or consolidated into one or
ganization of Cabinet rank without
any national humiliation and to the
large advantage of the public service
and the Federal taxpayer.
The Department of the Interior
long ago lost all its old usefulness and
it has taken on little new usefulness
to replace the old. Under its present
name or any other 1t could contain
many useful agencies as we'll as well
fare bureaus, uplift commissions or
anything OF the sort.
Commerce and Labor never should
have been separated. There can be
no commerce without labor; there
can be no labor without commerce.
They are economic twins. For the
matter of that, agriculture, commerce,
labor and transportation all are eco
nomically of one and the same root
and trunk. The producers wheat in
bulk. or cotton or steel or lumber or
whatever 1t may be, can be OF no
value unless II can be transported
and sold to consumers.
The most natural, the most logical
and the most effective coordination
OF Federal functions that could be
worked out would be to throw into
cne great department under a single
Cabinet head bureau Of agriculture,
a bureau of commerce, a bureau OF
transportation and bureau OF labor,
each with large calibre chief and
under each such bureau chief as
many division heads and assistant
heads as might be needed.
Natural and necessary distinctions
of principles and practices there must
always be to require the following
separate and single Cabinet rank de-
partments, sharply defined in posi-.
tion and power:
State
Justice
Treasury
War
Navy
Economic
Domestic
Post Office
Were It not for the fact that the
Postal Department is or should be
business proposition pure and
simple, capable of actually making
money for the public instead OF
spending it, 1t might well go into the
industrial and productive group be-
fore mentioned along with agricul.
ture. commerce. transportation and
ioh hor for thav are all full brothere