The Nespelem tribune. [volume] (Nespelem, Wash.) 1934-1936, 1934-11-14
GOVERNMENT BUREAUS MAKE
GREAT MASS OF NEW LAWS

GOVERNMENT BUREAUS MAKE
GREAT MASS OF NEW LAWS
WASHINGTON, D. G. Nov. 13-
"Who makes the laws in the United
States?"
Laws are made by congress"
answer students in the civics class
es in thousands of schools.
But that isn't the answer of the
Bookings Institution, of Washing
ton. About 900 authorities in the
Federal Government alone are now
making regulations that operate as
part of the law of the land, says a
new study, Administrative Legisla-
ton and Adjudication" just pub
lished by economists connected with
the Institution.
These laW-making authorities,
apart from congress, are the Presi-
dent and the heads OF government
departments; also bureaus and di-
visions within departments, special
independent administrative bodies,
government corporations, and near
ly 500 code authorities. Their reg
ulations are known as administra-
tive law, as opposed to statutory law,
which is made by congress.
So prodigious is the volume of
new regulations issued under the
New Deal by these various author
tiles that they probably exceed the
total of all federal statutes since
1889. That was the estimate which
a committee of the American Bar
Association made after study of
this problem earlier this year.
There are two serious aspects of
this tropical growth of legislation
both the Brookings Institution and
the American Bar Association en-
phasize.
One is that these laws form mo-
sale OF such mass and pattern that
not even lawyers can be sure what
the law is on many subjects.
The second danger pointed out is
that, in many instances, the very
body which makes the regulations
is the one that enforces them, act
ing as law-maker, prosecutor, Jury
and judge.
There are some go bodies in the
government that have the power
thus to adjudicate in the enforce-
ment of their regulations.
Moreover, there is no system by
which every fault or injustice re-
sulting from administrative action
can be remedied. In other words
there IS frequently no way in which
an appeal can be made from de-
cision by the administrative body
when the person adjudged guilty
believes that he has suffered an in
justice.
The way this works out may be
illustrated somewhat as follows:
Suppose an automobile manufac-
turer, like Henry Ford, is deprived
of his Blue Eagle for not subscrib-
ing to the automobile code. This
penalty may cause him large finan-
clal loss, just as if he were heavily
fined. Yet there is no appeal open
to him either to another admins
trative body or to the courts.
Growing Rapidly
1t should not be supposed, how
ever, that this situation has arisen
entirely since the New Deal began.
1t has been slowly growing for
many years, as the American Bar
Associations committee pointed out.
But since the advent of the New
Deal, it's growth has been greatly
accelerated.
Both organizations studying the
mounting volume of administrative
law recognize that it has come into
existence as a result of the complex
functioning of modern society. For
remedying the abuses that have
grown up with it, number of pro-
posals have been put forward.
AS means of making known the
exact status of the LAW on each
subject, the American Bar Associa-
ton recommended that all rulings
be registered at central bureau.
The Bookings Institutions study
would cut down the volume by hav-
ing congress fix the main outlines
OF organization authorized under
each statute and fix also the meth
DDS for carrying out the purposes
OF the statute. The president would
be given wide rule making powers.
In this way 1t is expected that &C
tual legislative power entrusted to
agencies of the administration
would be reduced to minimum.
Both bodies studying the subject