Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1936-01-02

Spending ems of New Deal
Must SfoD emergency agencies.
1t Is a discussion
that Is timely because, first, Mr.. Roose-
welt In his plans for the forthcoming
government budget contemplates a
shrinkage In the vast outlays repre-
scented in the emergency agencies, and
second, 1t is matter Of political i'm
port. Whether Mr.. Roosevelt is re-
elected or whether there should be
Republican succeed him In the White
House in January, 1887, somebody
must clean up the wreckage Of the
alphabetical soup-which Is what all of
these various agencies eventually must
become. They cannot go on; an end
must be had to the expenditures and
that will conclude the operations of
these agencies and, further, something
In the way of permanency for agencies
that may be kept must be worked out.
1t is one Of the real problems of gov
eminent Those who have been In
Washington any length of time recog-
nize that 1t is much easier to establish
government bureau and populate 1t
with bureaucrats Of a political hue
than 1t Is to put an end to the agency
and send the political patronage boys
back home. 1t is really an old story to
observers here and, believe, all of
them recognize how difficult IL not
dangerous it is going to be to dynamite
tho alma hnfiaol
lstence.
Some of them undoubtedly have
served and are serving a useful pur-
pose. Undoubtedly, some Of them were
needed long before Mr.. Roosevelt
brought his New Deal to Washington.
Instead Of that fact making the wreck
ing job easier, 1t makes the job more
difficult. 1t is very hard to convince
plum pickers that their job is a tenn
porary one, even though they were so
Informed when they were appointed.
1t is more difficult to convince that
type Of individual that their agency is
not all-important or that it is of less
consequence than a neighboring agency
bearing another set of alphabetical
letters.
In addition, the plum pickers have
their patronage hackers at the capital
The representatives and senator's In
terested in building up their own po-
litical machines back home naturally
put people in the political jobs who
will be most helpful in assisting that
particular representative or senator to
be reelected. Thus, 1t becomes rather
obvious that even II Mr.. Roosevelt seri-
ously tries to liQuidate the various
alphabetical bureaus. boards, commits
sions and administrations, he has a.
man-sized task on his hands. If BY
chance Republican should be elected
and Mr. Roosevelt retired to private
life, he, too, will find himself criticized,
caJoled and threatened when he seeks
to squeeze the water out OF this struc-
ture known as government which was
expanded so much In Mr.. Rooseyelt's
plans to meet the emergency.
Frankly. believe 1t will take the
full four years of the next Presidents
term to unseat all of
AOHSs the excess job hold
Hard Task ers and eliminate
from the government
all OF the surplus alphabetical agencies.
In the very nature of things It cannot
be done more quickly. The answer lies
In the fact that these agencies embark
upon ambitious programs that cannot
be halted. The government becomes
committed to certain propositions and.
except In war time, most of them must
be executed. So, however you examine
the situation, Uncle Sam is well
hooked.
To illustrate how difficult Is the lob
OF getting rid Of government agency
after 1t is once established, one need
not go further than the late MIRA. Six
or seven months have elapsed since the
Supreme court unanimously clipped the
wings Of the famed Blue Eagle. That
decision did the work of wrecking MIRA
as completely as a bombshell can
wreck a boat when a direct hit is
scored. But, whether you realize Il or
not, we stlll have in Washington an
NRA organization of almost $500 en-
ployees. 1t is true that number is
probably only about one-fourth of the
total number on the MIRA nav roll
when General Crack. Down" johnson
was at the helm and guiding the flight
OF the Blue Eagle but 1t was assumed
at least that the Supreme court deci.
sion made payments for the MIRA nav
roll Illegal at the same time. However
1t has happened that the admInistra.
ton has found money some place with
which to pay this regiment of en-.
ployees who. as far as most observers
In Washington can ascertain, have very
little constructive work to do.
The organization has no official
status except such as is given Il by
Mr.. RoOsevelt's various executive or.
ders. 1t has no authority. Anything II
does or says has no more force than a
zephyr. Yet thousands OF dollars are
being paid its workers on the first and
fifteenth Of every month-and there Is
no sign that these payments will be
ended soon.
For another example let us 60 back
to the war days. In order to success.
fully prosecute Americas part in the
World war, the government took over