New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-04-17
Hoover Assails
Bureau Tangle
At w ashingto1n
President Burdened Beyond
Endurance by Mass of
Unrelated Work, He Saws.
i'll Reorganization Plea
Opposed to Paternalism
Consolidation of Agencies
Fostering Trade Urged
in Address to Engineers

PHILADELPHIA, April 16.-Illus-
trat!ng the need for reorganization of
the Federal government, Secretary
Hoover declared in an address here to-
night before the National Engineer
Council that so many Independent
agencies reporting directly to the Pres
ident had grown up in recent year.
that the Executives Office was cover
burdened almost beyond the point of
endurance" Mr.. Hoover was speaking
at dinner which closed meeting Of
the American Engineering Council of
the Federated American Engineering
Societies, which net here to-day.
While all these outside organizations
could not be placed under existing de-
partments, Mr.. Hoover said much could
be done to mitigate the situation and
remedy the duplication of conflicting
forces in the Executive branch of the
government.
Has Daily Evidence
~ have daily evidence in the Depart
ment of Commerce of all these forces
Mr.. Hoover said. "The question of
government aids to navigation is not
by any ameans one of the principal
functions of our government, but it
must be sore trial to the hearty
mariner. He must obtain his domestic
charts from the Department of Com
merce, his foreign charts from the
Navy Department, and his nautical al
manac from the Naval Observatory
and he will, in some circumstances
get sailing directions from the army.
In fog he may get radio signals from
both the navy and commerce and lis
ten to fog horns and look for lights
and buoys provided by commerce. If
he sinks his life is saved by the Treas
ury. He will anchor at the direction
of the army, who rely upon the Treas
ury to enforce their will. His boilers
and lifeboats are inspected by the De-
partment of Commerce.; his crew is
certified by one bureau in commerce,
signed off in the presence of another,
and inspected at sailing by the Treas
ury and on arrival by the Department
of Labor"
One Head for Economy
A similar story, Mr.. Hoover said,
could be told of the governments re-
lations to industry and to domestic and
foreign commerce. Economy could be
made. he asserted, by placing most of
these functions under one head.
THE economic changes in the world"
he continued, growing out of the war
and their reflex upon our trade and in
dustry make it vital if we are to main
tain our standards against increasing
ferocity of competition that we shall
concentrate and enlarge our national
effort in the aid, protection, slim ula-
ton and perfection of our industrial
and commercial life. There can be no
real Departrh ent of Commerce or COM
mercial policies to these broad pur-
poses so long as the instrumentaI;ty of
the government bearing on these ques-
tions lies in half dozen departing
We want no paternalism in govern
ment. We do need in government aids
to business in a collective sense"
Public Works Department
The council. at a business session
during the day, voted to start ma
tional campaign for the esta blshment
of national department of public
works. Engineers will cooperate with
the Smoot-Reavis committee of Con-
gress in movement to reorganize the
Department of the Interior by placing
the public works functions under cen
trail control.
The report Of the councils commit
tee on the elimination of waste in in
dustry was considered at to-dav's meet
ing and will be made public in detail
in June. "Shop managers will find in
the report a method of measuring the
relative standing of their organizations
and will find positive suggestions as to
improved methods the report said.
An intensive survey of more than 100
industrial plants has been completed