Evening star., 1932-04-24
Capital Sidelights
BY WILL r. KENNEDY.

With the House members lining up
for o. bitter fight over the omnibus
economy bill, containing the proposal
to ruthlessly slash Government salaries,
which Is to be reported Monday and
be taken up for consideration as a
rider on the legislative appropriation
bill on Wednesday, there is unusual
interest in this question:
Who are the shock troops?"
The shock troops" have been in
action for more than eight weeks
day and night, literally sleeping on
their arms. They are the specialists
on legislative form in the Office of the
legislative counsel. Middleton Bea-
man, the legislative counsel, himself
has not been personally on the job sit
ting in with the Economy Committee,
because ne has had other troubles with
the tax bill, but the entire force of
his ONCE has been pressed into service
with Charles F. Boots, the Senate
legislative counsel, present as an Of
1cial observer. The work under Mr.
Beanan's general supervision has been
In direct charge of John O'Brien, as
sistant counsel, who has CALAMITY LED
and advised with his fellow workers
Allan H. Perley, Eugene J. Ackerson
Kari Reitner. 6. Breck Parkman and
Louis M. Cormier. Those are the
shock troops" who have been in the
first-line trenches.
One particularly knotty problem
which shows the scope OF the work
these shock troops" had to perform
was in determining how to dodge the
Constitution In granting wholesale au-
th0rity for the President to reorsanize
the administrative branch of the Gov
ernment. In all there have been
probably some 1000 to 1900 different
propositions or phases thereof, or quail
iflcati0ns that these legal clerks had TO
study out. 1t was intricate and in
VOWED legal work. 1t demanded dealing
with experts in various fields and dig
ging out Of them the information that
was necessary. just as q lawyer has 10
do In private practice. and then writing
the ideas of various members OF the
committee into proper legal language.
Practically eli OF the proposals that
will be put into the omnibus economy
bill were drafted several different ways
some of the items of contemplated en-
penditure were drafted and redrafted
o number of times. some of the pro-
posak offered were old stuff on which
the legislative eounsels office had
worked previously, but the most of them
we're entirely new material to come
before these law clerks, and the legal
background and entangling alliances
had to be ferreted out. Some Of the
proposals that may find their way into
the omnibus bill we're sent up by the
Bureau OF the Budget as a result OF
conferences between the President and
the Economy Committee.
It is impossible to say just how many
different legal questions the legislative
COtlnsel's offiee had TO work up, but 1t
is safe TO say that they multiplied the
number that will appear in the bill
and were enough to keep the law clerks
busy all day In the executive confer
enCes OF the committee and then q big
part OF the night In getting the ideas
of the committee members put into
proper language for reconsideration the
next day-afd this has been kept up
for eight weeks. It Is also safe to say
that nine-tenths Of the work the legis-
lative counsel'S Office was directed by
members Of the Economy Committee to
perform was ruthlessly thrown into the
waste basket.
This Is TO let the public know that
these Shock troops" have been on day
and night duty and earning (several
times over) all the salary they have
been receiving and knowing ell the time
that even that insufficient salary is to
be reduced By the votes of the men,
bers OF Congress whom they have been
serving so faithfully, expertly and
tirelessly. ,-.
II the Special Economy Committee
needs any general information regard
ing Government activities and the cost
thereof 1t really does not need to call
in high administrative of1cers with as
sistaflts at their elbows TO prompt them
for proper reply TO whatever questions
may be asked about the work of each
Office, because it has right in its own
office suite a corps of most efficient
clerks who have the records immedi-
ately at hand.
ANY of the largest business organiza-
tions In the country would be glad to
take over, at a big increase In salary
the clerical force Of the House Appro-
priations Committee, which is now
threatened with an IL per cent cut in
salary. This force has for years been
handling all the Federal budget figures
and the annual appropriations for sup
port Of all activities Of the Govern
ment-"check and double check"-to-
taling the biggest aggregate of expendi-
lures in the worlds history, and their
tabulations have always been accurate
to the last cent.
They are the real Shock troops" OF
any economy program. As clerks to the
Appropriations Committee, they have
figured over and compiled and segre-
gated and had promptly available at ali
times most accurate and detailed in
formation on Federal expenditures, re-
quests for appropriations and Compare
tive savings It should be borne In
mind that the House Appropriations
Committee has. year after year, been
the real economy unit of the Govern
ment, with each activity Of the Govern
ment asking for all the appropriation
it thought it could get away With,
Although the Budget Bureau has sought
to make q fair adjustment as between
the varied and numerous branches of
the Federal service, to make the afltici-
pated revenues spread out to the best
advantage over the entire workshop OF
Uncle Sam. it has been the House Ap-
preparations Committee that made the
cuts under the budget figures-actina
on behalf OF the taxpayers--to hold
expenditures down.
The force of clerks to the Appro.
priations Committee has thus beer
the shock troops" of ecgnomy-nol
just during the past eight or ten weeks
when the orderly conduct of aupro.
priating for the agencies of Govern.
ment as the biggest business orpaniza.
tion in the world has been thrown
into hodse-Podge tumble of unco.
ordinated proposals for unscientiflcallt
and uneeonomicaly making mere
pretense OF saving, which will ulti.
mately. pyramid costs-but steadily
year after year on systematic Job.
MarcelluS SHIELD. the clerk in charge
has been ON the job in the House Ap-
preparations Committee for "a years
under successive Republican and Dem
ocratic chairmen, and his work has
been repeatedly praised on the fioo1
of the House, by name. and the record
of his efficient service has been writ
ten into the permanent Record of Con-