The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-11-13

a thousand or more govern ment career men-bureau chiefs division heads and so on -- in a process which would lay their jobs open to patronage raids. And the price may be raised before Con. gress gives the president some oi the powers he wants for the pur. pose of "stream-lining" the ex. ecutive set-up.
 Sixty Days for Veto
 The administration with reser. vations, backs the omnibus reor- ganizations bill which will be push. cd by Senator James F. Byrnes oi South Carolina. The bill provide; presidential authority to transfer re-group or abolish bureaus, agen. cies, services and functions, except in the case of independent agencies such as the Interstate Commerce Securities Exchange and Fedora Trade Commissions.
 Congress would have 60 days to
 veto any change 1t didn't like. A
 15-year term civil service admin.
 istrator would replace the present
 civil service commission and
 would be charged with develop
 ing federal career service.
 The President would be author ized to bring about 300,000 now. exempt federal employees into the civil service and to establish Q new Department of Welfare un. der a cabinet secretary, who pre- sumably would be Harry Hopkins of WPA.
 The comptroller generals of-
 flee would be abolished and
 general auditing department
 under executive direction - be
 placed with the Budget Bureau,
 with pre-audlt functions plus Q
 poSt-audit agency accountable to
 Congress and reporting tO 1t on
 government expenditures.
 The President would be given six administrative assistants. The name of the Interior Department would be changed to Department of Conservation and @ National Resources Planning Board would be set up to study development and utilization" of the nations f1a- tural and human resources.
 Price Is Patronage
 The House has passed bills with more or less similar provisions as to presidential reorganization pow CTS and authorizing the six assist ants. It has before 1t bills with more more or less similar provisions as to civil service and the comptrol- Ter generals office.
 The price" referred to is Q Byrnes bill provision permitting the President to find that any of- flee of the head of @ bureau, agency. division or service is "pol- icy determining in character" ," whereafter he could name new appointees. They would require Senate confirmation. The net ef- feet would be to make hundreds, If not thousands, of jobs now held by experienced career men an item of senatorial patronage.
 Chief fight In the House. and probably the Senate, Is expected to center on the provision which would put nearly all federal em. ployes under civil service. En- actment of this proposal would be . remarkable renunciation of power { patronage power) by President and Congress.
 There is also sure to be Q bat. tie against abolition of the comp. troller generals office, formerly held by Republican John R. Nc. Carl, who blocked expenditures as to whose legality he and New Dealers disagreed.
 LObbies May Block It
 Despite assurances from admin- istration sources that the ways are greased for passage, a long history of refusals by Congress to act on presidential recommendations in. vites skepticism as to the likelihood of an important reorganization act now. A combination of Hobbies may block nearly everything proposed.
 But there are few who won't agree that Roosevelt never said a truer thing than his description of the federal administrative Set"uI, aS--
 ". a hlggedy- -pigedy patch work of duplicating respOnsibiIi. ties and overlapping powers" Copyright 1887, NEA Service, IncJ