Evening star., 1936-10-28

regular departments? They had
their pay reduced and many were
discharged in the name Of econ
omy. And this is not good govern.
ment.
The net result has been that the
prcprtion of executive employees
under the civil service has dropped
from above 80 per cent in 1898 to
approximately so per cent last
June. The progress Of q quarter of
q century under five Presidents has
been lost-lost in three and one
half years under one President-a
President who said only q year ago:
THE merit system has been and
will continue to be extended during
my administration"
This administration insisted that
the depression had all the aspects
of a great war. It maintained that
ordinary traditional methods must
be set aside-that great power must
be centralized temporarily in the
executive. It pleaded that all par
tisanship be forgotten-that petty
advantage be sunk In this time Of
common need.
Along with the great majority OF
my fellow-citizens I co-operated
with the Chief Executive In our
common fight for national recon-
struction. We all had the right to
assume that the administration
would set aside partisanship and
work as a genuine National Gov =
ernment. This it has not done.
The great authority asked, and
given, in the name OF emergency
has been used for personal and
party advantage.
Letter and Spirit Of Merit
System Held Disregarded.
For three and one-half years
both the letter and the spirit Of the
merit system have been synically
disregarded. Government en-
ployes have been forced into the
ranks Of q national political ma
chine, headed by the President and
his Postmaster General machine
organized by the Presidents Cam
paign Committee, supported OF the
public pay rolls, and controlled by
the Presidents power of appoint-
ment and removal. And this is not
good government.
This administration has gone
hog-wild in adding new agencies
and accumulating new powers. It
has created IS new alphabetical
what-nots. Many Of these are
little more than Implications Of
agencies already in existence. The
conflict and confusion among all
these agencies Is so great that
finally the President has appointed
grand co-ordinator-a grand CO.
ordinator whose functions over
lap the functions of three over
tapping agencies studying the prob
lem Of overlapping functions Of
overlapping agencies.
Some Of these agencies have inn
mense powers, yet are responsible
to no cabinet officer. They report
only to the President or to some
independent agency.
In addition, under this admin
istration a corporations have
been created by Congress or incor-
porated under State laws.
Many Of these are absolutely in
dependent Of Congress. Many have
the power to pledge the Govern
ment's credit without control by
Congress, and can even compete
with private business. And this
is not good government.
Small wonder that the President
told Congress In his report on the
state Of the Union last January
that his administration had set up
new instruments of public power
instruments capable of shackling
our liberties and erslaving the
people unless they were in the
hands of a peoples government.
G. o. p. Opposed to Powers
That Would ShackIe Liberty.
The Republican party is opposed
to powers and policies that could
be used by any one to shackle the
liberties Of the people or enslave
the public. 1t is doubly opposed to
such powers and policies when the
peoples Government is itself
threatened by q disciplined ma.
tional political machine. We are
seeing today. for the first time. the
machine politics of our large cities
applied on q national scale. We
are getting the first taste Of the
bitter fruits of personal govern.
ment. We are feeling the yoke of .