The Washington times., 1938-03-21
SLAsHEs PREDICTED

uOuo OA CAO OVNJ POAAOAS'
SLASHES PREDICTED
In the process the dope" says a
limited number of bureau and di.
vision heads and a larger number
Of underlings are likely to get the
ak or be fitted into the new pic
ture in less important jobs.
But for every Government EN-.
ploye who gets it in the neck, a
hundred others who now dip
greedily into the gravy bowl, won
dering how long their luck will
last, will have a chance to aban-
don their status as political ap
pointees owing allegiance to some
Senator or Representative, and
become regular Civil Service EN-.
ployeS with all the privileges.
perquisites and protection apper.
tanning thereto, which means
with more security in their jobs
than they have known since they
came to Washington.
For Government workers the big
thing about the reorganization
bill. which everyone except the
smart politicians who draw it
seems to have overlooked, is that
it gives the President power to
blanket nine out of 10 employees,
If not a higher percentage, into
the classified service. All they
have to do to step from a tempo.
rary political job into a perma.
nent job where they are not even
required to vote-to say nothing
Of voting rights get a favor.
able rating from the boss and pass
a noncompetitive examination.
TESTS MEAN LITTLE
AS examinations OF this sort
mean about as much as the ques.
'tion, do you think you can con.
tinue to do what you are doing
now?" it Is not likely that there
will be many answers which are
either negative or doubtful. II
there are, the jobholders will be
supported by the Government
'anyway-at st. Elizabeth's.
At any rate, the reorganization
bill is as good as passed right
now. The certainty Of its early
enactment, for better or worse, as
far as individuals and the Gov.
eminent establishment are con.
cerned (and perhaps the taxpay.
ers as weld, was settled when the
Senate defeated the Wheeler
amendment to clip the Presidents
wings. The failure Of the amend
ment by four votes last Friday
meant two things to those who
have followed the progress Of the
legislation:
First, the bill itself will become
a law, probably within a month,
in substantially its present form.
Second, the President will have
power under it to do about as he
will with the 10 existing depart
ments and some 1875 independent
agencies Of Government.
TWO LIMITATIONS
There are two important limita-
tions: He may not touch the
quasi-judicial commission. and
agencies such as the ICC. the
Federal Trade Commission, Fed
eral Communications Commits
sion, Federal Power Commission,
Coal Commission, Maritime Com
mission, Coal Commission. Board
of Tax Appeals, SEC and NLRB;
and he may not altogether strip
the executive departments of their
present functions or create any
new functions not now author
lied by law.
But that still leaves him with
the ten departments and most of
the independent agencies to shift
about, group, regroup, consolidate,
abolish, reorganize, coordinate or
segregate-the words are all in
the language Of the bill!-in the
interest Of a Saner administra-
tive setup.
And Congress, by its vote on the
Wheeler amendment which would
have required the consent Of Con-
gress to make the changes effec-
tive, will not be able to do a thing
in the world about it unless it
wants to pass a bill undoing what
the President does. And If it does
that, and he should veto it, a two
thirds vote of Congress would be
required to halt any presidential
order affecting any Government
department, bureau or minor ad
illustrative division or subdivi
sion.
That's the way the Senate has
fixed it, and the House is ex
pected to go along. It's what
President Roosevelt wants.