The Washington times., 1937-02-20
BRAIN TRUST
BOARD FATE
ISMYSTERY
BY EARL GOODWIN

mysteries of the present day is
wrapped up in the loss of one Of
the administrations periscopeS
which was charting the Presidents
way through the maze of billions
none other than the Central Sta
tistical Board. That was the ad-
ministrative gadget similar to a
sign on a one-way street or to a
compass on a ship, designed to
give the President the real inside
dope on all factual matters con-
nected with the unending figures
of the New Deal; and yet it has
been utterly lost.
One has only to look through the
Independent Offices bill, just
passed by Congress, to realize that
this two-year-old waif OF the once
radiant brain trust has been sunk
literally without trace.
Not even one five-cent piece ap-
propriated for it-and the Central
Statistical Board still holding
down an office in the Commerce
Building. And the bill is up at
the White House awaiting the
Presidents signature.
Fate in Balance
Will he sign it? Who knows?
The Senate Committee on Appro-
priations, which took the thing out
and threw it so far that not even
Stuart A. Rice, chairman of the
Central Statistical Board knows in
what direction to look, will not tell
any tnquiring reporter anything
about it at all. Nor does anyone
at the White House accessible to
even the most astute news collec-
tor act as if he had ever heard OF
the Central Statistical Board.
This board, with the dry sound
ing name, is a creature of the
Seventy-fourth Congress and isn't
even two years old, but it was doing
an interesting job at least. 1t was
doing all the statistical work which
had hitherto been dona by the sta
tistical sharks of 2 dundred diff
ferent bureaus, titus saving the
taxpayers not only FROM excess
cost but from the headaches aris-
ing over an inability to make a
hundred different statistical re-
ports harmonic. It was getting
the dope; and when a department
wanted to send out QUESTIONABLE,
it first logged this Central Stats
tical Board and generally found
that half the QUESTIONABLE could
be answered right there, thus saw
ing time and effort.
Cheap at Price
AS Government offices go, it was
inexpensive. It asked for around
$175,00O for the next fiscal year
and the Budget Bureau OK'd it for
that sum-presumably with the
Presidents approval, for he looked
over Daniel Bells shoulder as that
Director of Budget put down the
orthodox figures.
When the House subcommittee
in charge of the independent of.
fices bill took up the subject in
hearings the Central Statistical
Board presumably made a good
showing for the item went into the
House bill and was passed by the
lower body. The board showed it
had aided the Social Security
Board in its endless figures and
its statistical collections: it aided
the Civil Service Commission.
One of the enormous figures con.
nected with the work of the board
was in connection with it's study of
the requests for WPA money. It
had to look into statistics concern.
ing the spending of more than $50
million dollars-and disapproved
220 million dollars worth; it ap.
proved 1,195 local WPA projects;
turned down 2,502, which would
have cost 220 million dollars
There is a suspicion that the board
has been sunk by someone con
nected with some of those millions
which the Government would not
spend.
Knife in the Back
The WPA, as it is recalled, was
pulled hither and yon by every
local political influence for the
spending of huge sums. The Cen
tral Statistical Board was asked to
look into them {. . Hence the over
whelming disapproval and possibly
the consequent demise of the board
at the hands Of the Senate.
No member of the Senate Appro
priations Committee will answer
questions as to why this was done
Officials of the board have tele
phoned their Senators" and re
port complete bafflement. News
paper reporters asking the com
mittee members why this board
which had apparently done a gooc
job, had been knitted, have me
with that senatorial baby star,
which means:
"Ask no questions and I'll tell
you no lies"
Meantime the suspicion grow
that someone who wanted some o
that 100000 900 put the knife int
the Senate's hands.
BWA MSEoa Cu,s&