Evening star., 1938-04-02
Just a Symbol.

President Roosevelts Government re-
organization bill has become a symbol.
It is not a measure that is vital in any
way to the welfare of the country. 1t
will not save the Government money.
It will not reduce by dollar the taxes
which the American people must pay.
1t is something the country could do
without this year, or even next.
Notwithstanding all this, the reorgan-
ization bill has become for the time
being major measure of the Roosevelt
administration. The President and his
leaders have expended all their power
and persuasiveness to bring 1t to sue
cessful issue. And at the same time
the opponents of the bill in Congress
have been extravagant in their asser-
tions regarding the bill and to what
1t may lead.
The bill has become a symbol of the
conflict that is going on today between
President Roosevelt and his New Deal
ers and the rest of the country. If the
President wins his fight for the passage
of the bill he and his followers will
claim that once again he has demon
strated that the country is with him
and that he holds Congress in the hollow
Of his hand. On the outcome of the
fight for the bill may hinge, victory or
defeat for some Of the administration
candidates in the party primaries for
nomination to the House and Senate.
The reorganization bill itself is scarce
ly worthy of being the issue in such
struggle. Yet such it has become. The
opponents of the President might have
found q more important measure over
which to lock horns with him. There
Is, for example, wages and hours bill
in the offing. That is measure which
will vitally affect the life of the Nation.
It is a measure on which the President
suffered defeat in the House at the last
session of Congress 1t is measure
which the administration forces are
seeking to bring forward again, in per-
haps modified form. Doubtless vic
tory of the President in this magnified
struggle over the Government reorgani-
zation bill will give the administration
new hope of successfully carrying
through its wages and hours bill.
Proponents of the reorganization bill
insist that it does not give the President
new and vast powers over the Govern
-rl,
the people themselves. Certainly as it
has been amended the bill does not give
the President as great powers as were
originally demanded by the White House.
But it would be idle to say that the
bill does not further centralize power
in the hands of the President. 1t still
contains number of dangerous pro-
posals, including the abolition of the
Civil Service Commission and the sub
stitution therefor of a single adminis-
traitor, under the President.
The opponents of the bill have made
their issue over the delegation of power
by Congress to the Chief Executive.
They say there has already been too
great delegation of such power, and
they are right. But the additional
power now proposed to be delegated to
the President is very little compared to
the other vast powers which Congress has
conferred upon him by legislation during
the past five years.
The President may win this fight,
although the outcome has been clouded
by reason of the refusal of the
House to adopt debate limita-
ton. But the victory will not be
won without leaving deep sears. Not
the least of them is due to the unwise
assertion of the President regarding the
possibility of purchase or non purchase
Of the votes of the Senate. Should the
reorganization bill be side-tracked or de-
feated, the blow to the administrations
prestige will be great. But it is what
happens in Congress after the reorgani-
zation bill shall have been disposed of
that is really important.