The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1941-07-09
NATIONS CAPITAL
HARD PUSHED FOR
AVAILABLE SPACE.
TALK OF SCATTERING GOV
EMINENT OFFICES ALMOST
AS HOT AS wAsHINGToN.s
WEATHER
ny JACK sTINNETr
Up Feature Service Writer


WASHINGTON. July 9.-The
talk of deeentralizing Washing
ton is getting SO hot it no longer
can be ignored.
Washington is glutted. / have
told about it often. The steady
influx of humanity to supply the
demand for toilers in national
defense government workers
here now number more than
200,000) has caused such a burst
ing at the seams that high Off
Gals and congressman can no
longer stand the strain.
Something has to be done and
that something very likely will
cause one of the grand scraps of
the year. Already on Capitol Hill
the lines are forming and cab
met members and their lieuten-
ants are arming for battle-a
battle of words to prevent their
bureaus and agencies from be-
ing packed off to Oshkosh or
Tuscaloosa.
Even President Roosevelts
press conference has heard the
first rumblings of a skirmish. 1t
came out of the talk of moving
the Interstate Commerce Com
mission to Chicago move for
which the ice has no stomach
bat which has been suggested on
the floor of Congress with the
argument that the ICC could
keep just as close an eye, if not
a closer one, on the railroads and
such from Chicago as from
Washington. Asked to comment,
the President only replied with
another query: Why pick on the
poor old ice?
just what the something that
has to be done to relieve the
Washington glut will be is not
yet clear. Aside from rushing
construction of new government
office buildings in suburban Vir-
ginia and Maryland and an
nouncng that the regional for
estry office will be moved out of
here, no action has been taken.
Budget Report Awaited
The Bureau of the Budget,
which seems to be all things to
all government, has been making
a study for months and may
come out any minute with re-
port and recommendations which
would give the move 'em-out adj
vocates on the Hill springboard
for action.
The Federal Communications
Commission, the Home Owners
Loan Corporation (Which has less
than a thousand of its $500 en-
ployes here, the Bureau of the
Census, a half dozen agencies
in Agriculture and Interior, and
the Securities and Exchange
Commission are just a few that
have been singled out by con-
gressmen or other officials for
removal TO other cities.
But decentralization by trans
ferEing agencies and bureaus to
the hinterlands isn't the only
scheme that has been advanced.
Several years ago, the National
Resources Committee came out
with a plan to scatter IL ''re-
gional capitals" over the United
States, locating them roughly at
the same points where the Fed
eral Reserve banks are located.
This would mean regional capi-
tails would be established at or in
the vicinities of Boston, New
York. Philadelphia, Cleveland,
Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, st.
Louis. Minneapolis, Kansas City,
Dallas and San Francisco.
The plan originally got into
weller of controversy and after
President Roosevelt was report
ed to be against it, it was allow
ed to go into the discard. Re-
Gently, it has been dragged out,
busted off and has a good chance
of getting before Congress in
the form of proposed legislation.
Rep. Everett NJ. Dirksen of II
linois has announced that he is
going to push through his reso-
luton for a special committee
to report on this or other decen-
tralization legislation.
Sen. John H. Overton of Louis
lana has said he will oppose any
attempt to move any agencies
out of Washington. He suggests
putting all government depart
ments on three eight-hour shifts
a day or rushing through big
low-cost housing projects in the
suburban areas.