Evening star., 1940-01-20

Has OeeIl lOp- OAVlo AAWrence
ping off appropriations here and
there without regard to their merit
or usefulness.
Take, for instance, the $4,000 a
year which was wanted by the
newly established Council of Per-
sonnel Administration. It is one of
the WorthieSt of the new agencies
and is not to be classed at all with
the bureaucratic institutions which
merely attract job hunters and eat
up public funds. It happens to be
q bureau which has long been needed
in the Government to help CO.
ordinate personnel and prevent con-
f1icts between departments in the
selection or promotion of employees
The head of the council is a for
mer member of the House, Fred
Davenport of New York, Repub-
lican, who has been devoting his re-
cent years without compensation to
the cause of better government and
who agreed to serve as the head of
the newly established council at the
urging of Mr.. Roosevelt.
A Paying Enterprise.
Every big corporation has per-
sonnel director and it is a we'll
known fact that systems of
personnel administration in private
business have been the means of
improving efficiency and saving
money. The Federal Government
has never tackled the coordination
of personnel in the interesting and
constructive way which was pro-
posed under the Council of Person.
mel Administration. A few minutes
of study of the purpose of this
agency would have convinced men,
bers of Congress that it had nothing
to do with partisanship or politics
or job getting and was one of the
first administrative reforms of its
kind instituted by the Government
itself.
The President was quick to per-
ceive the damage which might re-
suit from an elimination of the
Council of Personnel Administrator
and promptly stressed the purpose
of the council as aiming at uni
form employment policy and the
applioation of the merit system.
He then discussed with the press
other agencies which he felt should
not have been eliminated.
Mr.. Roosevelt will have the ad-
vantage as he comments on worthy
agencies and blames Congress for
welding an ak instead of a surgeons
knife in cutting expenditures. But
in view of the political nature of the
combat over expenses and the
Nation wide demand for economy,
the administration leaders who pre-
vented the proposal of Senator Har-
rison from being adopted really are
responsible for what is happening.
The House cuts expenses in hit-or-
miss fashion whenever there is no
opportunity for general survey to
be made in which all factions can
be represented.
European parliamentary systems
always have had a much better way
Of handling budget. The party in
power as well as the opposition party
are required by custom to offer rival
budgets. This means that inside
each group there must be scientific
study of all items and concessions
must be made here and there within
the party leadership so as to bring
out budget that will stand or fall
with the parliament itself.
Not Responsibility Here.
Under the American system. there
is no responsibility whatsoever. The
Executive recommends a budget
without previous study in detail by
the leaders of his own party. Then
when a party leader like Senator
Harrison proposes to find out what
items are justified and what ones
should be eliminated, the adminis-
tration persuades other members of
the leadership in Congress to oppose
the move. The result is log-rolling
for appropriations and political con-
f1ict. It would not be surprising if
the Republicans, plus about 60 to IS
Democrats, would succeed in hand
ing to the Senate budget which is
distasteful to the administration,
and then Senator Harrison may in
sist on comprehensive study of the
budget after all. It's about the only
way that big SO, 400, 600, 600 budget
can be handled without permitting
unwise economies to be made or
wasteful expenditures to be included.
And even If appropriations are held
up by reason of the Senates desire
to examine them carefully, the ad-
vantage of a well-rounded budget
will more than outweigh the disad-
vantage of delay.
Reproduction Rights Reserved.)