Evening star., 1932-12-13
Hoover Plan Attacked.

President Hoover's comprehensive
plan for reorganization Of the Govern
ment departments and bureaus, In
tended to bring about greater efficiency
and a measure of economy, has run INTO
Democratic snags. 1t was bound to
do so under all the circumstances.
Senator King of Utah has taken the
lead in the Senate to prevent the plan
finally becoming operative, while in the
House a number of Democrats already
have lifted their voices in opposition
and three committees have undertaken
to deal with the plan, plainly to throw
1t into the discard.
It was obvious that the Presidents
proposals for reorganization would meet
with opposition in Congress. First, Mr..
Hoover is about to go out OF Office ana
there has been an inclination on the
part of the Democrats in Congress, ever
since the election, to postpone all action
on important matters until after the
Democratic administration takes ccm-
mand in March. Second, members OF
Congress, and this is not confined to
Democratic members, have many
friends in the departments and bureaus,
and many of these friends do not wish
to be disturbed. The uprooting OF pu-
reaus and their transfer to other de-
partments is upsetting to the mind, II
nothing else.
In his annual message to the Con-
gress, the President, foreseelng the op-
position which would develop from
persons within the Government service
and their friends, said:
Tha Congress must be warned that
a host of persons inside and outside
the Government, whose vision is con-
centrated on some particular function,
will ct once protest against these pro-
posals. These same sorts OF actlvltles
have prevented reorganization OF the
Government for over a quarter OF a
century. They must be disregarded II
the task is to be accomplished.
How correct the President was in this
estimate of the situation is readily dis
cernible Within week after his mes
sage was read to the Congress, ana
within an even shorter period after his
transmission of the eleven executive or
ders to the Congress dealing with the
reorganization of the Government bu-
reaus, the machinery to halt the con-
summation of these proposals has been
set running. 1t requires action by only
one Of the houses of Congress to pre-
vent the Presidents plan from becom-
ing effective. Under the law, as writ
ten by Congress, the Presidents ex-
ecutive orders become effective if ap-
proved by Congress, or, failing action
OF any kind by Congress, they become
effective at the end OF sixty days. How
ever, if either the Senate or the House
or both take action against these ex-
ecutive orders, they fall by the way
side In this present short session Of
Congress it might be impossible to put
through joint resolution attacking the
Presidents present orders transferring
bureaus, etc, owing to the lack of time.
With action by only one house required
to stop the transfers, however, the pic
ture is very different. The House can,
if it wishes, act very quickly on reso-
luton to discard the Presidents plan.
The Senate may or may not come to a
vote on similar resolution.
The proposal to transfer from the
War Department to the Interior De-
partment the river and harbor and flood
control work now done by the Army
Engineers is one line Of attack now di-
rected against the reorganization plan.
Apparently this has particularly
aroused Speaker Garner. The Presi-
dents plan may be discarded as whole
or parts of it may be accepted and
others turned down. The probability,
however, is that 1t will survive or sink
as a whole.