Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1922-05-11
by EDWARD G.
Copyright. Western Newspaper Union
XXI.
OUR COSTLY NEGLIGENCE


"CO-ordinatiOn" is a tired, haggard,
nervous wreck of word that was
nearly worked to death at Washington
during the early days of the war. Ii
was the first of the dOllar-a-year words
TO come forward 10 do war work, and
il was worn to a fragile. l hate 10
drag the poor wan thing out from the
quiet retreat in my dictionary where
it has been resting and recuperating,
but l must say that this lack of co
ordination, lack of organization, du-
plication ineiliciency, waste, and hap
hazard hodge-podge structure of the
national governmental machine is no
secret To those at Washington. who
run and manage it for us, and who are
even more directly responsible than
we are for the condition into which
1t has fallen.
/ submit pleas of avoidance and
confession from both Democrats and
Republicans. 1t is not a matter of
politics. 1t is matter of proved and
confessed negligence on the part of
the men we have hired to run the ma
chine, and have kept year after year
in places of trust and power and re-
sponsibiity. They haven't kept up
the plant. The form Of organization
is grotesquely inadequate. The NOR
ale Of the working force is badly i'm
paired. as l have set forth at length
in previous articles. We have paid
The price for this, grossly and hugely,
in money and in poor service. This
has been costly negligence on our part.
l said l had confessions. Here they
are, Reed Smoot, Republican and
senator from Utah, speaking:
The administrative branches of the
government have undergone no funda-
mental change since the organization was
devised by Alexander Hamilton.
No other government in the world
could have gone on as ours has done. and
paid the bills involved in our wasteful
methods of administration. We have been
able to do II because this country has
had resources and wealth unparalleled.
But the war has brought US at last to
realize that these will not last always.
We need a complete survey Of the whole
situation de novo by committee of men
willing 10 recognize that II is u task OF
day and night for year, and very likely,
two years.
There is endless duplication Of work
among different departments, and even
In the same department. II Is
the same through all the government
functions, and now. when the burden OF
carrying our enormous debt Is weighing
on the people. we can no longer neglect
to give 1t consideration.
When he said these things, Mr..
C.1
to bring about the reformation 50 bad
ly needed.
And now Franklin u. Roosevelt, for
seven years assistant secretary of the
navy and recently the Democratic can
didate for vice president:
The entire system Of relationship which
exists between congress and the eXecu-
tive departments is fundamentally wrong.
Let me illustrate: I made an offer one
spring to the appropriations committees
OF both house and senate. telling them
that | would tomorrow DISCHARGE 10 per
cent of the employees Of the Navy de-
partment If they, the committees, would
give me complete authority TO take one
half OF the salaries OF the employees so
discharged and add 1t to the salaries Of
the other s. per cent OF the employees
still left in the department OF
course, however, under the present sys-
tenn congress would not think Of giving
executive discretion OF this kind.
Congress. for various reasons. has so
tied the hands OF the executive officers
of the government that they have no dis
erection in the fundamental questions OF
employment. My own wonder is
that. considering the existing circum-
stances, the employees of the govern
ment are as efficient as they actually are
Congress legislates for every minute Item
OF employment There is n lot
of work being done in other departments
which ought properly to be under the
Navy department, and In the same way
there is a lot OF work done by the Navy
department which could perfectly prop
erly be transferred 10 other departments
After seven years down here in an ex-
ecutive position cannot help the
conclusion that our governmental meth
DDS are cumbersome and wasteful. The
first Improvement must come in what Is.
after all. the source OF governmental ac-
tivities-that is. the legislative branch.
This must come from congress. We need
also a Reconsideration and redistribution
OF the work of the executive depart
ments. This can only come II congress.
working in accord with itself and with
the executives. will discuss the whole
question stimuli taneously and not merely
Well, there you are! A Republican
who has been in the legislative branch
of the government for seventeen years,
and n Democrat who has been in the
executive branch for seven years, both
telling the same story of how badly
the national business is managed.
The odd thing about il is that our
agents and representatives at Wash
ington who let this waste and inef-
ficiency run on, year after year, pay
no penalty. We pay the piper to the
tune OF millions and Enthusiastically
that much. And the condition will en-.
dure until we make real roar about
Ii. Congress increasingly shakes its
head over the situation and brings in
various proposals of reform, and says
how wrong it all is; but lacking
lively, inflamed public pressure. moth
ing gets done.