Montana labor news., 1937-02-18
The Washington Scene

ling of government administration
into a modern s~kyscraper with the
President at the pinnacle to replace
the broad, rambling structure it now
is has been recommended by Presl-
dent Roosevelt to Congress.
The pertinent question is why?
Why this sudden passion for eff
cheney in governmental affairs, adj
mittedly desirable? Why this sud
den appreciation Of the management
methods of business? Why this CEN
tralization and concentration of re-
sponsibility and power?
The answer of the President and
his committee is that now that we
+ out of the trough of depression
the time has come to set our house
in ORDER
I'm these troubled years of world
history the Presidents message of
transmittal to Congress reads, "a
self-government cannot long survive
unless government is an effective
and efficient agency to serve man
kind and carry out the will of the
nation. A government without good
management is a house builded on
sand"
Throughout his message and the
report of his committee there is con
slant reference to the efficiency of
business. Presumably it means the
efficiency as displayed by the Car
negie-Illinois Steel Co. in distribut-
ing to correspondents all over this
city transcripts of the current hear
ings before the National Labor Re-
lations Board Con the CT company
union plan) within an hour and a
half after the words have been
| spoken in the hearing room.
Certainly it is not intended to place
government administration on the
same basis as that practiced by the
American Telephone and Telegraph
Co. and displayed in the Federal
Communications Commissions in
vestigation of "the worlds greatest
private business enterprise" That
investigation has shown this great
five billion dollar corporation mon
%strously inefficient when it is con-
cerned with the expenditure of the
telephone subscribers money.
There is, it seems, a great myth
about the efficiency of business. II
is based, supposedly, upon the speed
and alacrity with which the gas
company turns off the gas when you
don't pay your bill or the speed with
which the electric company deprives
you of light when you fall behind
Such catastrophe events far out
weigh in peoples minds the weeks
and months spent waiting for the
rare refund due from such com
panies. So many people promptly
have their light or gas cut off, OF
their furniture taken away, for non
payment of bills and SO few people
have the rare fortune to force the
great corporation to recognize tha'
it owes them something that corpor.
ations, and business generally, nave
been clothed with an aura of eff
cheney. (This is aside from the effl
ciencv that aliuws thousands to wan
III the midst Of abundance.)
Anyhow, the President wants t.
make the government function like
that. He wants it because "in thest
troubled years a self-governmen
cannot survive unless government il
an effective and efficient agent"
To put it bluntly, the Presiden
wants to throw government machin
cry into high gear so that when wa
comes to the world, the Unitet
States will not have to go through
that same fumbling period Of organ
ization that took place in 1917 ant
1918. When the time comes for kill
ing, by thunder, old Uncle Sam viii
be right up there in the front rank
with as smooth and streamlined
killing machine, from the Army ant
Navy right down the line, as any o
them.
There has been evidence lately 0
the unwillingness on the part of gov
eminent officials to face facts. Fo
example, statements from the Socia
Security Board, of which there ar
a great number each day, no longe
say unemployment insurance" In
stead they talk about protection
against the hazards of involuntar.
idleness.'
At recent press conferences, tn
President has been at great pains t.
point out that to say that such al
action was thus and SO would be en-
tirely inaccurage and that for thu
life of him he couldn't write a stor,
about it. 1t was the same during thu
NRA days. The President would tel
correspondents to be careful not t.
call it "price-fixing' but to call i
"stop-loss action
In a recent article in the Sunda,
New York Times Secretary of Agri
culture Henry Wallace CONSTANT,
objects to the use of the term 'regi
mentation.'' 81 have always pre-
, ferred to use the phrase rules of tn
game" he says.
Ii fha frnnd knnnc I'M we ma.