The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-03-11

as creatlonS OL
 the devil. Par
 ticularly, hold
 EdsOn ing compar superstructures set on top of elec- tric light and power producing companies were put under the curse and investigations did reveal that the maze of dummy corporations conceived to conceal profits. dodge taxes and in general milk and mulct the public were fearful things, re- quiring at all times the services of the proverbial Philadelphia lawyer for guidance and Interpretation.
 But If 1t is true that the govern ment is now run by Harvard law ycrs who can draft legislation like the lease-lend bill, that will keep congressional lawyers from the sticks arguing for two months to find out what is meant, then 1t must follow that Harvard lawyers are smarter than Philadelphia law yers, and let's have no more argu- ment about that, please. For the intricacies of government organiza- ton are something to write home about, and here goes.
 AFTER YOU
 UNDERSTAND IT.
 People who understand these things, government employees whose business 1t Is to know whom to call up for what and no wrong numbers, all say that the structure of gev- ernment organization Is simple --- after you understand 1t. Your cor respondent is therefore a dope, but If you have finished the crossword puzzle and the cranium crackers In today's paper, and If you have c few moments to spare for another little game, perhaps you'd care to wade waist-deep through fields of waving red tape to see how the government plays with its holding companies
 Take defense Top man Is the President, commander in chief of the army and navy, which is as 1t should be. Under the President or behind him or some place around Is the iirst holding company. That's the Council Of National Defense. It's made up of cabinet members. Une,er that Is the second holding company, the Advisory Commission to the Council of National Defence, made up of industriaiists, big b,isi- ness men
 Now you'd think they would run the defense show, but no, some place behind the White House barn and the A. c. to the c. of N. D. between it and the President ig an- other holding company, the Office of Emergency Management. At this writing there isn't anybody in the o. E. M, except one of the Prosi- dents assistants and his three aS- slstants, though there will be any IS minutes the President gets around to appointing 6 top man.
 o. F. M. may be the real head of the defense effort, but anyway, 1t Is set up to be holding company over o. P. M, the Office of Pro- ducting Management. And Just to complete tho daiSy chain and get you back where you started from, the top men of o. P. M. are the same fellows you'll find in the Ad- visory Commission to the Council of National Defense.
 Neat, isn't it?
 JESSE JONES,
 10-JOB MAN
 Take social security. There's c top holding company, the Commit- tee on Economic Security, which is not e part of the Federal Security Agency, which is the holtldng com pany for the Social Security Board and the c. 0. O., the N. Y. A., the Office of Education, the Public Health Service and the Food and Drug Administrat Down at the bottom of the heap are a few op- erating companies like American Printing House for the Blind, Col umhlan Institution for the Deaf and Howard University (colored).
 And talk about interlocking di- rectorateS, an ot h CT corporation trick which the government frowns on. Jesse Jones is secretary of com. merce, federal loan administrator, chairman of the board of Metals Reserve Company, Rubber Reserve Company, Defense Supplies Corpo- ration and a few others, board member of Export Import Bank and In all, holder of l6 government titles. Emil Schramm, head of Re- construction Finance Corporation, holds 10.
 Now all this isn't just the result of mere bigness, which your gov- ernment has. The whole-set-up is bewileeringly complex even to some of the initiate. c. F. Palmer, defense housing co-ordinator, has the job of keeping straight the activities of IS separate government corporations and agencies which handle different aspects of the housing problem.
 And Edward A. O'Neal, president of the American Farm Bureau Fed eration, recently made list of dup lication of effort in government agencies in which he found six agencies engaged in water conser- vation, five in woodland conversa- tion, five assisting on farm manage ment, seven in land-use planning. And so on.