Evening star., 1938-03-29
Up to the House.

Senate leaders acted wisely in the last
minute decision to let the reaching
Government reorganization bill 60 to
the House as separate measure, thereby
giving that branch of Congress full op-
portunity to consider every phase of it.
When the Senate voted to pass it, by
the close vote of 49 to AZ, the original
plan of the leadership was to make the
entire measure an amendment to
House bill, which might have sent the
whole subject directly to conference
without thorough consideration in the
House.
Fortunately, this course was aban-
doned and now the Senate bill will be
referred to committee in the House, and
60 through the normal legislative chan
nels that so important measure should
take.
When legislative body in which the
majority party has II members out of a
total of 96 divides 40 to 42 on an admin
istration measure, it reflects difference
Of opinion that warrants careful delib-
Grafton rather than short cuts.
1t should be remembered that the Sen
ate bill contains two major changes in
governmental machinery that have never
been acted on by the House-abolition
of the Civil Service Commission and the
General Accounting Office.
The House bill which leaders first
considered using as vehicle to send
the subject to the House, and thence to
conference, dealt only with the general
power of the President to regroup bu-
reaus and to create a new department
OF welfare. If this course had been fol-
lowed, the House, at best, would have
been limited to an effort to instruct its
conferees on those broad features of the
Senate program which up to now the
House has not considered.
In the closing days of the Senate's
long battle over the bill appeals were
received for further hearings on the bill,
and no harm would be done now if the
House Reorganization Committee took
little time out to comply with these
requests.
No one quarrels with the general OBJ
5ective of promoting efficiency and elimi-
mating overlapping in governmental
agencies, but the Senate bill does much
more than that 1t discards the BIZ
partisan Civil Service Commission for
a single administrator, and it estab-
fishes an entirely new system for the
supervision of Government accounting.
In abolishing the Controller Generals
Office, established in 1921, to give Con-
gress an independent check on expendi-
lures. it places current accounting under
the Budget Bureau and creates a new
auditor general to make post audits.
The Senate vote is evidence of a sharp
division Of opinion on the entire bill and
1t will be far better for the Government,
for Congress itself and for the country
az whole if the membership of the
House goes as thoroughly into the argu-
ments pro and con as did the Senate.
Much of the opposition to the bill in
the Senate was based on a belief that
Congress should retain as a legislative
function the right to approve or dis
approve reorganization orders of the
President before they take effect. AS
the bill stands no affirmative action
would be necessary and the orders would
take effect after sixty days. in the alb
sence OF legislation of disapproval.
Since such legislation could be vetoed
one-third Of Congress could prevent the
overriding of the veto. Furthermore. It
would not always be easy to put reso-
luton Of disapproval through both
branches of Congress within the re-
quired sixty days. The House might we'll
give further study to the amendment
which the Senate rejected, requiring
Congress to take affirmative action
promptly on reorganization orders be-
fore they go into effect.