Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1936-01-02
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far and wide throughout the country.
Commitments were made that continue
even to this day. Credit in the form
of government loans was extended to
the rail lines and several hundred mil
lion dollars of that amount remains
uncollected to this day. And with all.
after is years we still have railroad
administration operating in Washing
ton at government expense.
Another wartime agency about which
little is heard but which still is in ex-
istence is the War Finance corpora
ton. 1t fioated bonds and made loans
to private interests and those commit
ments have forced retention of skel-
eton organization that probably must
be continued for several years yet be-
fore the job Of liquidation is complete.
One could 60 on and on in illustrat-
Ing how government agency becomes
parasite on the government structure
to remain, long after its usefulness
has ceased, a burden on the taxpayers.
It is hardly any wonder then with the
knowledge of what has happened In
the case of other governmental agen-
cies that. there is a question of how
long it will be before the present emer-
gency alphabet can be eliminated. It
is likewise a matter of concern what
the total cost is going to be before the
mess is finally eradicated.
We have had evidence lately Of how
efforts are initiated to maintain these
agencies even when
Thumbs DoUn they are legally dead.
ON MIRA Recently in Wash
ington there was
held a much ballyhooed meeting to
which some three thousand representa-
tives of business interests were invited.
1t was called by George L. Berry, the
top man in what is left of the NRA
structure. The purpose was to find out
what business wanted in the way of
revived NRA. Business did not want
NRA revived and the meeting turned
out to be q genuine flop. There was
nothing like three thousand representa-
tives in attendance and the meeting it.
self gave good many persons the i'm
preston of being staged for the benefit
of the American Federation of Labor,
to which the old NRA catered.
Mr.. Berry, until lately the head Of
one of the large union labor organiza-
tons. did not convince business that it
needed more governmental interference,
Indeed, If business went away con-
WINGED of anything beyond the fact
that Mr.. Berry's meeting was a flop, it
left Washington with a deep feeling
that 1t did not want NRA in any form
nor did it4want anysother governmental
agency messing around with Its efforts
to get back on its feet.
The circumstance illustrates better
than anything know how parasitic
agencies in the government seek to per-
petuate themselves. One must realize
In considering such a condition that
all of those employees obviously want
to keep their jobs.
In the case of the attempted revival
OF NRA, the political factor is impor-
tant. Mr.. Roosevelt said, 1t will be
remembered, that when MIRA was or
ganized 1t must be regarded as some
thing of an experiment and that If the
experiment failed to work, he would
be the first to say so. He has not made
that announcement yet for, it is con-
sidered, If he admitted that the NRA
experiment failed to work he would be
admitting defeat for one of his earlier
pet projects right in the face of
Presidential campaign. Politicians do
not like to make admissions of this
Kind.
1t will be recalled as well that after
the Supreme court held the business
codes of NRA to be
business unconstitutional and
Fights Back the business codes
were the vitals of
the NRA structure, there was much
pressure exerted on congress from the
White House for reconstruction of
some sort of a program to succeed
NRA. Business did not. want it any
more then than it does now and It
fought back while the legislation was
pending. The result was that congress
passed a law permitting lines of COM
merce and industry to organize and
frame their own voluntary codes.
Jurisdiction of these codes was
placed in the Federal Trade commits
sion. That agency was supposed TO
work In cooperation with business and
to exercise a judicial function In de-
termining when the codes were prop.
erly within existing laws against mo-
nopoly.
The Trade commission in the last
year has blossomed forth as a rather
sound agency In its consultations with
business and, l believe, merits the re-
spect which business generally has for
It. But with all of that respect and
the knowledge that the Trade commits.
sion tries to be fair, only five lines of
Industry have presented codes of fair
practice for commission approval
The details of the futile attempt IN
breathe life back into the Blue Eagle
have been related at this length m
show what the future holds In the wav
Of barnacles on our structure of gov.
eminent. II we have many more rho
result is liable to be a cancer and a